Episode 201 - Wit's End

## Synopsis

Our Lady of the Deep emerged from the destroyed Divination Tower, her tentacles holding her towering above the students. She raised one tentacle towards Winsler, who felt a psychic force attempt to anchor him to the ground and just barely managed to shake it off. Serinepth stood up and took off her blindfold, she threw her hand towards the giant brain in front of them and sent crackling bolt of lightning coursing through it. She stumbled backwards, trying to get away from the Lady. Mira yelled encouragement to Integrity, inspiring her and casting *Haste* before following Serinepth away from the fight. Winsler stood before the ancient brain of Our Lady of the Deep, and gave life to ten bricks around them, animating and commanding them to attack their mortal foe. He then also ran further away. The bricks charged towards the brain, then threw themselves into her squishy flesh. Purple blood began pouring out of the wounds as she pointed to Winsler again.

He heard a voice in his head say, *"Enough of this,"* and a wave of psychic energy burst through his mind, breaking his concentration on the spell.

Integrity ran at an unnatural speed towards the Lady of the Deep, jumping through the rubble and climbing the ruins of the Divination Tower. She stabbed a nearby tentacle with her jade dagger, pinning it to the stone before slashing at another tentacle and hiding behind a nearby pile of bricks. The tentacle she had stabbed lifted up and started to crash down towards her when Mira yelled out, *"Don't touch her!"* The tentacle flinched slightly, and hit the ground mere inches away from Integrity instead. The Lady of the Deep crawled further out of the ruins, the tentacles writhing around her constructing crude wings as she took to the sky. She hovered in the middle of of the courtyard and sent out a blast of psychic energy that tore through each of the students. Winsler, Serinepth, and Delnys steeled their minds against the worst of the blast, but Mira and Integrity felt stunned and locked in place by the pain racing through their minds.

Delnys reached up towards the giant brain above her, black tendrils of energy lashed out from the palm of her hands to drain its life force and restore her vitality. She turned to see Mira watching her, and ran over to help. The Lady of the Deep pointed a tentacle towards a nearby breezeway, sending out a pulse of energy. Serinepth looked towards it, and saw a creature emerge from its invisibility. It wore a gold, silver, and black robe, and had a writhing mass of tentacles covering most of what used to be the familiar face of Professor Doss. It walked over to Serinepth, using its tentacles to pick her off the ground and attempting to latch into her mind. Serinepth fought off the creature's mental assault, put her hand against its chest and cast *Cone of Cold*. It blasted through the aberrant form of Professor Doss, freezing the courtyard and breezeways behind her.

The purple spark in Professor Doss' eyes faded to her natural brown as she momentarily broke free of the Lady of the Deep's control. She gasped and said, *"Miss Sinderman, oh god,"* before dropping Serinepth to the ground.

Mira stammered some words of encouragement to Winsler, before trying to break the stun effect from the Lady of the Deep's mind blast. She looked at her friends, at Delnys, knowing she needed to be there to help them, and slowly regained control of herself. Winsler charged at a nearby tentacle and tried to stab it with the spear. As he awkwardly swung it towards her, she pulled back and he struck nothing but air. She lashed out towards him with the same tentacle, but he jumped out of the way as it slammed into the ground where he once stood. Integrity's head was ringing, both from the Lady's psychic blast, and from the lethargy that washed over her when Mira lost concentration on her Haste spell. The back began to bleed a thick black blood, as a dull voice in the back of her mind whispered, *"I thought you were stronger than this. You were stronger than this when you destroyed that piece of me, why is it now you can do nothing other than lie on the ground, Horned One."*

The Lady of the Deep pointed a tentacle towards Mira, sending a beam of psychic energy piercing into her head. Her body felt cold, and the final whispers from the Network stopped echoing inside her mind. As she hovered above Winsler she said, *"Get away from me, you little pest,"* before stabbing him with another tentacle. It slammed him against the ground before picking him up, as the massive brain floated back towards the ruined Tower. As they moved she threw away his helmet, reconnecting him to the Network.

*"You pest, you've killed me scholars, you've interrupted my proceedings, you have tried your very best to defeat me, and now I will make quick work of you for it."*

She reached the Tower, and started to climb back inside. Delnys ran towards her, throwing a bright green *Acid Splash* that impacted and burned the soft tissue of the Lady's brain. In front of them, a glimmering purple *Wall of Force* surrounded the ruins of the Divination Tower, preventing the students from following her. Professor Doss hobbled to Serinepth and said, *"My mind is not my own, she took me over in my office, there was a moment of— It was as if I was taken over, possessed, I could see what I was doing, but I had no control over what I was doing, she gave me—"* Doss pulled out an intricate spellbook with gold markings, which Serinepth recognised as the spellbook Winsler had taken from Artis' Cottage— *"Take this from me before I can do any harm with it, please. I am going to lock myself somewhere and try to keep myself from doing any further harm. I am so sorry students."*

Serinepth took the book. *"Be safe."*

*"You lot of you need that a lot more than I do."* Doss moved to put a hand on Serinepth's shoulder, before recoiling at the sight of her skin and running off.

Serinepth ran towards the spear Winsler had dropped, turned to the fleeing form of the Lady of the Deep, and threw it. The spear arced over the *Wall of Force*, flying straight and true into the brain of Wildcliff's founder, and emerging on the other side. It slammed into the stone wall of the Tower, before dissolving into golden dust. The Lady of the Deep quivered for a moment, as the purple wall blocking the students from passing flickered, then dissipated. Mira dashed forward, strumming her lyre and sending a wave of psychic energy back towards the brain, unfortunately this seemed to have less of an impact than she had hoped. Coiled in the tentacles of the Lady, Winsler inched closer to death.

Integrity bolted up from her stupor, dagger in hand. The whispers of the Progenitor still taunting her, she saw the Lady of the Deep fleeing into the Tower, she saw Winsler unmoving in her grasp, and she saw Mira and Serinepth standing below. Sheathing her dagger, Integrity began to climb towards the third floor of the tower, with the secret passage to the Halls of the Deep. The Lady went further into her lair, whispering in Winsler's mind the entire time.

*"I will make you into one of my servants as well. You have information, your brain is filled with useful information for me and I cannot wait to have it all at my disposal. You're here now with me, could you tell me young gnome, young student, there's another orb, where is it?"*

Winsler refused to answer, the tentacle around him coiled tighter as he was dragged into the depths of Wildcliff.

Delnys ran up to Mira. *"I can do something, but only if there's no one else around, and I don't want to do that unless it's an emergency. I just need you to know that ok, so if there's like some situation— We're going to get him back, I know, but if there's some situation where not everyone makes it, if you're not around I can do something very strong."*

*"Um, ok, I won't get too close to Henrietta, what's going on?"*

*"I— I'm just worried that Winsler's going to die, and I'm worried that this is all going to go horribly, and I— I— I don't know if all of us should go in there is all Mira."*

*"I have Revivify, I'm going to try to get up close, and if things go bad I'll get out of there and you can do your thing ok?"*

Serinepth ran towards the tower, a misty light enveloping her body as she teleported even further, landing next to Integrity before running down into the Halls of the Deep. She saw the glowing tank of saffron water, her tentacles pulling her and Winsler towards it. Standing to the side, watching everything, was Bailey Blue. His back was slumped, and a tentacle-like creature was wrapped around his head. He looked at Serinepth, a purple spark in his eyes.

Mira also dashed up the tower, yelling to Integrity that Delnys had something powerful she could use as a last resort, then following Serinepth down the staircase. As Bailey saw her, he sighed. *"Ah Mira, you've arrived."*

*"You suck, but we're going to help you and we're going to get you out of this."*

*"There's nothing to help, this is where I'm meant to be. Protecting Our Lady of the Deep."*

Winsler, suspended in the Lady of the Deep's grasp, felt his hold on life slip away. The yellow water beneath him turned blue, and from its surface a conical home emerged. The door opened, and the blue-skinned, hunched over form of Seltie walked out with a teapot, and took the lid off. She waved at Serinepth and Mira. *"I'm here to collect, Winsler!"*

A small blue whisp of Winsler's soul flew out of his mouth, and entered the teapot. Seltie shut the lid and yelled, *"I'm still open for business for you two girls if you would still like it!"* She slammed her door shut, and her house began to sink below the surface once again.

Winsler felt his mind split in two, part of it bouncing around a teapot, while the other fell away from his body, through the ground and away from everyone and everything. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, and a voice behind him said, *"I've waited many years for you to join me here. Welcome, my young friend, to the rest of your eternity in the Plane of Lem."*

Integrity ran down the staircase after her friends. She saw them frozen in place, the writhing mass of Our Lady of the Deep, and Winsler's dead body in her grasp. Bailey asked, *"Oh, did you come to save me too?"*

She pulled out her dagger and faced him. *"Why don't you shut the fuck up."* She sprinted past everyone, and dived into the saffron water of the Lady's tank.

Henrietta shook Winsler's body, dunking him under the surface of the water. *"Oh, what a shame, it seems he died. That pesky hag... I had such great plans for him."* She dropped his body into the water, and it began to sink besides Integrity. *"Bailey, please deal with those two. I need time to collect my thoughts."*

Delnys finally joined the others, looking at the scene in front of her. *"What happened, where'd he go?"*

Mira stammered, *"He's in the water, I have to go after him! I have to— I have to bring him back!"*

*"I— I can't do anything to help if all of you are in here."*

*"But I have to get Winsler!"*

*"Go get him, and then get out, and we'll all get out together, ok? I'll make sure no one else comes in."*

*"Ok, stay safe."*

Delnys turned to the entryway, ready to protect them from anything that tried to follow. Bailey walked towards the group of students, moving like a puppet on strings. He raised his hands and cast an *Eldritch Blast* towards both Mira and Serinepth. One bolt slammed into Mira's shoulder, while the other cracked the wall next to Serinepth's head. While Mira recovered from the blast, Serinepth aimed over his head, lightning flickered around her body as static electricity filled the air. She stared at Bailey as a huge blast of lightning erupted from her hands and tore through his patron. She tried to walk past Bailey, but he put his hand out a hand to block her. Mira desperately tried to think of a way to reach Winsler, and began strumming her lyre. The Lady of the Deep began to slow down, and Mira ran as far away as she could.

Integrity peered through the thick fluid surrounding her, trying to see the orbs. Just at the edge of her vision, at the bottom of the tank, she saw three orbs of green, yellow, and blue. She swam down as far as she could, teleporting to get closer to the bottom of the tank. Above the surface, a large tentacle slowly slammed into the ground next to Serinepth, who heard a sluggish voice in her head say, *"Stay away from me. I need to be alone with my thoughts. Bailey, take care of them."*

Delnys ran down the staircase, past Bailey Blue, yelling at Serinepth to grab Winsler and get out. Another tentacle smashed next to Delnys, once again failing to hit anything. Bailey raised his hands, then slammed them onto the ground. The stone beneath Serinepth's feet turned pitch black, as large tentacles emerged and began wrapping around her, trying to hit her. She danced through them and dived into the water to find Winsler's body. From the top of the staircase, Mira looked down at Our Lady of the Deep, and conjured a final psychic lance to pierce her mind. She turned and slid down the rubble of the tower.

Integrity reached out her hands, the current of the water changing, pulling the orbs towards her. The Orb of Progress seemed to be boiling on the inside, but calmed the moment she touched it. She felt a jolt go down her spine, and the Progenitor's glee as she reclaimed her orb. She felt her mind sharpen again, and her body grew to its normal size once again. She swam as far towards the surface as she could. One of the Lady's tentacles reached down to try and pluck Serinepth out of the water, it crashed into the water's surface and sent waves throughout the room, but was unable to grasp her as she swam towards Winsler. Delnys raised her hands, they started glowing with a green necromantic energy as she prepared an attack. Bailey pointed towards her and released two more Eldritch Blasts that slammed into her back.

She cried out in pain and from the outside Mira heard and yelled, *"Stay away from my girlfriend! Delnys, kick their asses, you've got this!"*

Serinepth pulled Winsler's body over her shoulder, then climbed out of the pool. Delnys shouted at her to get out of the way, and she dashed as far as she could towards the staircase before teleporting outside and placing Winsler on the ground. Mira knelt over him, pressing diamonds against his chest and begging him to come back.

Integrity finally broke the water's surface, gasping for air. Delnys again yelled for her to get out. Integrity vanished from the water, appearing next to the staircase as the Lady of the Deep once again tried to hit Delnys with a tentacle. It crashed into her, grasping around her and lifting her up.

Bailey looked at Integrity as she started to run up the stairs. *"You really left me behind. You said you were going to save me."*

*"We both know that it would have gotten worse if I'd stayed there. I really want to save you, we're more alike than you think."*

The purple spark faded from Bailey's eyes for just a brief moment. *"I think it's a little bit too far gone for me right now."* He held out his hand and blasted her in the chest.

The air crackled around Serinepth as she sent another Lightning Bolt towards the Lady of the Deep. The massive brain looked terrible, burned, with missing tentacles, but persisted.

Just before she ran up to the rest of her friends, Integrity pleaded one final time to Bailey, *"If you can snap out of it, I think we can still help you."* She joined Serinepth, Mira, and Winsler at the top of the staircase as they watched the fight below. The Lady of the Deep submerged Delnys before the water of her tank, gripping onto her even tighter. A wave of deathly green energy burst out from Delnys' hands, enveloping the Lady of the Deep, as well as Bailey who gasped and collapsed to the ground. The unmortal brain of Wildcliff's founder hovered for a moment longer, before falling into the saffron water below, dead.

Mira ran back down the stairs and held Bailey in her arms. In between raspy breaths he said, *"I guess this means you won."*

Bailey Blue took his final breath, and died in Mira's arms.

Serinepth descended into the chamber again, as Delnys pulled herself from the water. She was struggling to breathe and seemed badly hurt, but was alive. Integrity sat besides Winsler's body, the crows in the nearby trees shrieking, *"BB! BB! BB!"*

She pulled the soaked pages from the List of Warlocks out of her pocket, and wrote Bailey's name. A portrait of a young man, with tentacles pulling him against a chair, sitting in front of a large tank of water, holding a massive brain. The rest of the page slowly began to fill out. Henrietta Hedricks was the patron of Bailey Blue, when she died, their psychic link killed him too.