A Storm Approaches: Episode 03

***A Storm Approaches* Episode 3** was streamed on Arcadum's Twitch channel on July 13 and 27, 2021, and premiered on Arcadum's YouTube channel on July 29, 2021.
Due to technical issues, the session was cancelled on July 13 and continued on July 27.
Each party member gets cursed with a different book and Mungus offers "Everything" to the Gambler Black. They fight more Dishonored Warriors and are on their way to recover a scroll.

## Summary

*Summary originally written by u/AsAlternateAsItCanBe*

(The footsteps the group heard in the last episode came from a group of dishonored warriors and archers. But as Arcadum tells them that they are behind the schedule, it is assumed that they win the fight with all of their spell slots exhausted.)

Having defeated their enemies, the group moves to the third floor as Romulus tells them that the golden rice ball can be found there. While exploring, they find a room full of books about martial prowess. They find several interesting books, but Sus’ke searches for a book regarding immortality in particular and finds a locked book titled The Path of the Immortal Blade. As he unlocks it, spectral chains swing out from it and bind him by the neck, the curse of the book making him a follower of the Immortal Blade. Sus’ke will have to kill worthy creatures, or else he’ll grow more and more feral. Mungus detects six other books that have a similar arcane energy as Sus’ke’s book and gathers them. Each of the books teaches the fighting styles of certain types of creatures, the Immortal Blade for example being the styles of the Undead. Buroken immediately grabs the Deep Blade, which teaches the styles of Aberrations, and fleshy, waterlogged chains wrap around his body. Mungus takes an interest in the Bane Blade, which teaches the styles of Fiends, and is marked by a symbol on his cheek. Aisu then takes the Singing Blade, which teaches the styles of Fey, and a necklace is formed around her. Lastly, Socko attunes with the Shining Blade, which teaches the styles of Celestials, and a tiara forms on top of her head.

Having finished cursing themselves, the party continues on their way to find the golden rice ball. They reach a praying room with a Resting Monk statue, the rice ball in the offering bowl in front of it. However, they aren’t alone in this room; the spirit meditating in front of the Monk introduces itself as Lord Soma. Soma is not keen on fighting them at this hallowed place, and he welcomes the party inside to rest. The group takes him up on his offer and rests near the Monk.

During his sleep, Mungus awakens in the Dream Realm. As he is walking around, he feels a presence watching over him. Mungus commands it to show itself, and the Gambler Black appears before him. The patron says that Mungus bears his mark on his cheek and wonders how he got it, so Mungus explains what has transpired in the fortress. He then asks for power, so the Gambler asks him back on what he is willing to sacrifice for it. “Everything,” he replies. Pleased with the answer, the Gambler Black summons a Black Die and commands Mungus to roll it in any sacred areas. Upon waking up, the party sees that Mungus is holding onto a black cane, but they also notice that all three winged serpents have disappeared. When they closely inspect the cane, they see the shape of a three headed snake coiled around it. As Mungus tries to summon it, a black, inky serpent appears, calling itself the Smiling Saint. It explains that, in exchange for the three winged dragons and Romulus, it will be Mungus’ familiar instead. Though Mungus is unamused, the Smiling Saint assures him it’ll be useful, showing him the Black Die.

Before they leave, Aisu takes the golden rice ball from the offering bowl, and suddenly the incense in the room stops burning. Mungus remembers his conversation with the Gambler Black and rolls the Die inside the room; the statue of the Resting Monk immediately crumbles to dust. Soma and his warriors appear from the west, so the group runs eastward. They run into a dead end, so they barricade themselves inside the room by placing a line of salt in the doorway, preventing any spirit from entering. Soma looks into the room and declares them blasphemous thieves. Though at first the spectral warriors are unable to pass the salt, Soma prepares a giant ballista to fire into the room. He fires, and a training dummy in the room explodes. As a result of the arrow passing through the doorway, the line of salt is blown away, signalling the start of combat.

Buroken coats Aisu's weapon with salt and fires a Guiding Bolt at one of the Dishonored Warriors. Aisu casts Shield of Faith on herself. Then, all at once, the soldiers charge in while Lord Soma reloads his ballista. Buroken throws a handful of salt on one of the spirits, immediately making it dissipate. Socko tries to talk with Soma to convince him to let them go; however, they decline to give back the golden rice ball, so he fires the ballista but misses everyone. Buroken fires a Guiding Bolt at Soma and breaks the ballista in the process. Mungus then casts Fog Cloud, which makes the archers unable to attack. Meanwhile, Sus'ke transforms into one of the Dishonored Warriors and approaches the unsuspecting Dishonored Archers. Buroken fires another Guiding Bolt at Soma, critically hitting him. He explodes, and the rest of the spirits disappear as he fades away. Soma leaves behind a brass key which Momo takes and a spear that they leave behind.

The group continues to explore the floor and enters a room that is full of paintings of Soma's wife. The group then moves to Soma's personal chamber, where Aisu finds a scroll marked with the elemental symbol of Wind. The scroll talks about how the Child of Fire is slain by the Pale Emperor and warns that the Child of Wind will have to be accompanied by a storm if it wants to blow with any strength. The group also finds a personal chest that belonged to Soma's wife, which contains a letter addressed to her husband. It tells them that she was ill and expected to die soon, but she didn’t want her husband to be distracted from his duty to the Emperor. She urged Soma to not fall into despair when she is gone; she will wait for him at the Heavenly Falls. The group continues and finds a stone dais covered in swirling winds. In the middle floats a scroll, so Socko orders Sock to grab it. However, he is unable to get near it; he hears a voice that states that only the Stormlord may enter. As they try to get to it themselves, they are all flung off the dais by the winds. When the party investigates the nearby statue, they see it is a statue of Lord Soma holding the spear that they left behind. Buroken retrieves the spear and tries to enter the stone dais once again; this time he is not knocked off and is able to approach the center. As he reaches out for the scroll, the winds cease. They hear a voice coming from the east, and an old man appears before them.

## Featured Characters

### Main Characters

* Aisu Kurimu
* Buroken
* Mamo Socko
* Mungus
* Sus'ke

## References

1. ↑ Date is shown on YouTube VOD
2. ↑ Verum Weekly: Summary of Streamed Games of the Week (July 30th, 2021)