Session 7 (10/15/2021)

## Day Three, Evening

**The** adventurers agree to take Shasta's letter to his father in Sillea. The route will take them from Seidan to the outpost of Pinechill, and on to Midward. There, the permafrost of Seidan begins to thaw. After Midward they will pass through Durnendal before reaching the capital city of Sillea.

Shasta tells them that the journey to Sillea will be about two-and-a-half month’s journey on foot. A carriage ride will take one to one-and-a-half months, depending on stops and any maintenance requirements.

The adventurers head upstairs for one last night of rest in Shasta's manor. As they all bed down for the night, Holly just can't seem to get comfortable. He hops down from his tower of mattresses, rummages around between the layers, and pulls out one tiny, dried pea. “This!” He exclaims, “This is why I can't get any sleep! Who did this??”

Pele snickers and looks away. She says, “I'm surprised you even felt that through all those mattresses. You are our Princess and the Pea!”

Holly casts the pea aside and climbs back up into bed. Everyone settles down and soon falls deeply asleep.

## Day Four, Early Morning

**The** night passes uneventfully, with no raging mayors or exploding robot ghosts. The adventurers wake up early the next morning – so early that the sun hasn’t even begun to rise. It’s nearly 4 AM, and the house feels like it's growing colder. There is no delicious breakfast smell wafting through the halls because no butler now means no breakfast and no one to maintain the fireplaces.

Swage wakes up rested and alert, even without the lure of sweet rolls and bean water. After the perilous day he had yesterday, Swage has woken up extra early to offer his prayers to Gond. As he prays, he can feel the warmth of Gond’s wisdom and guidance. Gond acknowledges the Firbolg’s loyalty and allegiance, and for his devotion, he has blessed Swage with the power of Gond’s forge.

When his prayer is complete, Swage feels buoyed by Gond’s favor. He takes out one of his steel ingots and uses an artisan's blessing to craft another pen. But this pen will be different from the elaborate instrument he crafted for Estafador. The pen will be shining steel, with a longer and wider barrel. “A fleshlight,” he says to himself. As he continues to work the metal, he corrects himself. “No, wait - a flashlight.” He adds a loadstone so he can attach it to his armor, and he plans to fit the with a color filter and add an eternal flame – if only he can find a ruby.

As Swage busies himself with his pen, the door to the armoire slowly creaks open. Gary silently steps down to the floor and quickly scuttles out of the room and down into the kitchen.

The kitchen is empty, and Gary searches through every cupboard, pulls out every drawer, and looks into every cabinet until he finally finds what he needs – a glass jar that’s just the right size for a desiccated human head.

Next, he needs good, strong alcohol to keep the head perfectly preserved, but all he can find are a few bottles of wine and pitchers of mead. He figures the wine will just have to do for now.

He drops the head in the jar, then fills the jar up to the brim with wine. He screws the lid on tightly, and he scours the kitchen again until he finds a burlap sack large enough to hold the jar.

Upstairs in her room, Esha is having a stare-down with her scimitar. She sits on her bed and glares at it from across the room. She doesn't know why it spoke to her, or even how it spoke to her, but she is frightened. In frustration, she throws one of her red cap mushrooms at it and angrily yells “Was that you who spoke to me last night?” She holds her breath, then sighs. “Why am I talking to a sword?”

She hears the voice ring through her ears asking, “Well, have you figured it out? Your purpose?”

Esha responds that she doesn't know if she even has a purpose, as she wasn't even meant to exist. The scimitar encourages Esha, asking her what drives her. Esha replies that she’s mostly motivated by revenge, specifically revenge against the elves who had made her this way. The scimitar goads her on by calling the elves disgusting, pointy-eared creatures that must be destroyed.

The scimitar decides that it will accept Esha, for now. It has been asleep up since the last war, and since Esha is its new master, she must now give it a name. It also threatens her that although its blade is meant for others, it could be just as easily turned on her.

In the other bedroom, Pele stirs in bed. She can’t smell any breakfast cooking. She knows that today will likely be another long day, and she'll need to find something to eat. She thinks of a deliciously crisp apple, reaches into her handy haversack, and pulls out a sooty lump of coal. She sighs and rolls over and starts idly tapping the clear glass of Larry's jar that she had placed next to her bed. Larry responds by tapping back against the glass, and Pele is determined to tame this caustic ooze and make it her friend.

Dove sits on her bed, leaning against the headboard with the Demonomicon open across her legs. She hears the faint tapping of Pele’s fingers and looks up at her over the top of her book. “Just be careful with that thing,” she says, as she goes back to reading.

Gary comes shuffling up the hallway, with strange sloshing noise coming from the lumpy burlap sack in his arms.

Just then the door to Shasta's room opens, and the mayor steps out into the hallway. He sees that the adventurers’ doors are open, so he leans up against the wall. “So,” he says. “What's the plan?"

Kaz wants to know if any of the shops in town are still open. Shasta says there's a general store, a few specialty shops, and a great restaurant. Shasta even generously agrees to cover the cost of all the party’s supplies, as thanks for delivering his letter to his father. He also offers them one last chance to be sacrificed, just in case, they're still interested.

The adventurers clarify that they appreciate the offer, but they still do not wish to be sacrificed. Shasta says they can talk more in the kitchen, and the adventurers walk downstairs.

The air gets colder and colder with each step. The lack of a cooking fire coupled with a gaping hole in the wall leading to the cellars has made the kitchen drafty, damp. and unpleasant. C345 is standing downstairs in the kitchen, looking vacantly into the hole in the kitchen wall. He turns around as he hears the group descend and cheerfully says good morning.

Pele asks how C345 is doing, and if maybe he would like to become Shasta’s new butler. This would allow him to stay close to home and would ensure his safety.

As they’re talking, Shasta comes down the stairs into the kitchen. He sees C345 and stops in his tracks. With wide eyes and a fearful voice, he shouts, “Why is there a metal man in my kitchen? I haven't seen one of them since we killed them off!”

Kaz and Pele quickly try to diffuse the situation and convince Shasta that C345 is not dangerous and will not hurt him. Pele offers that C345 is a friend and that he could be an excellent butler and colleague to Shasta.

C345 looks sadly at Pele and asks if this means that the adventurers don’t want him around anymore. Pele puts her hands on C345’s shoulders and looks into his eyes. “Listen,” she says. “It’s very dangerous for you out in the world, and the last thing that we want is any harm to fall on you. Shasta has never lived here on his own, and he could use your help to keep him and his home safe and comfortable. This isn’t a goodbye – this is a see you later.”

The robot sighs and dolefully asks, “But for how long?” Pele’s chin quivers and she replies, “Well, we don’t know for how long.”

C345 casts his gaze down to the floor. His eyes flicker, and he raises his head. He says that he will stay here and help Shasta, if the group promises to return.

Pele makes a fist with her right hand and extends her pinky finger. “Here,” she says, “We'll make a pinky promise on it.” C345 blinks at her in confusion, so Pele reaches out and folds his thumb and three fingers into a fist. She loops her pink finger around his and shakes their fists together. “This is a pinky promise,” she says. “It means that we will come back here no matter what, or we will die trying.” She drops her hand and quickly turns away before C345 or her fellow adventurers can see tears start to well up in her eyes.

C345 straightens up, sticks his chest out, and gives Kaz an enthusiastic slap on the back, just like the Goliath had done to him. “I'm not worried,” the robot says. “Kaz will be there to take care of you.”

Shasta reluctantly agrees to allow C345 to become his new butler. Swage tells him that C345 is very smart and can learn just about anything as long as he’s shown it once. All Shasta will need to do is show C345 what needs to be done around the house and he will do it.

Shasta brightens and says, “Excellent! First things first. Now tell me, how exactly…does one make tea?” The adventurers look at each other and make a collective groan. Shasta has no clue how to do anything for himself around the house.

Pele wipes her eyes, clears her throat, and starts explaining the steps for making tea. She tells Shasta first he’ll need to get the teapot down from the shelf, then fill it with water, and then… But before she can finish, the mayor bounds out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He’s back in a flash with a pen and a notebook.

He sits down in a chair, crosses one knee over the other, and flips to a blank page in his notebook. He says, “Okay. Continue!”

He quickly scribbles down notes as Pele goes on to describe heating the stove and measuring out the tea leaves. She and the rest of the group quickly realize that trying to explain to Shasta the entire workings of a household will take entirely too long.

Dove suggests that while they are in town, they could hire a housekeeper to teach C345 what to do. Pele reminds her that the general population has a negative opinion on automatons and bringing in a housekeeper could be dangerous.

Gary thinks a minute and gets out his disguise kit. He tells the party that they could just disguise C345 as a human and no one would suspect a thing. Gary opens up the kit and begins to adorn C345 with the trappings of a refined gentleman. Pele watches, and she realizes that maybe Gary doesn’t have the same idea of “refined” and “gentleman” as other people do. C345’s eyebrows are garishly wonky, his skin tone is lifeless and flat, and his robotic mouth is still noticeably non-human-looking. She gently asks Gary if she can help, and Gary is glad to let her.

Pele’s life in a traveling acrobatic troupe has taught her a thing or two about makeup and costuming. With a few small adjustments, the disguise is complete. C345’s bronze metallic skin is in is now a bright white, with rosy cheeks and artfully applied eyebrows. A majestic false mustache hides his robotic mouth, and the addition of a jaunty cap and a beautiful scarf has made him look like a normal, just very pale, man – at least from a distance. The disguise may not hold up under scrutiny, but it's a marked improvement. Pele thinks that C345 looks spookily pleasant.

C345 confidently puts his hands on his hips, and says to the group, “I look dashing!”

Shasta says that C345 needs a new name since the name he has now isn’t fitting for a human. Pele suggests that his new name could be Cain.

“Cain. I like it!” the disguised robot says. “It's…puuuurfect.” The group laughs, happy to see that he is already picking up Shasta's attitude and mannerisms. With tears in her eyes, Pele says, “Cain, welcome to the surface world.”

Before the adventurer’s head into town, Swage asks Shasta what year it is. Surprised, Shasta says, “Why, it's the year of the Solstice!” Dove is confused. Last she knew, there are solstices every year.

Shasta elaborates that this year is different. The moon will be at its highest, and the earth will pass in front of the moon and block its light. “Oh!” exclaims Dove. “An eclipse!”

He continues his explanation, saying that when the eclipse happens, a door to another plane will open. Towns all over the kingdom will build monuments and statues of gods for the event, and there will be celebrations, festivals, and theatre shows. He recalls a particularly compelling performance of “The Boy Who Cried Demon” he saw as a child. He was thrilled with the story, and by the young tabaxi actor who was the star of the play. Kaz asks if Shasta was that actor, and although he claims that it wasn’t him, he continues to reminisce about the performance. Shasta adds that the Solstice and its festivities will begin in about four to six months from now.

The mayor says that the adventurers will always be welcome to stay at his manor, but from now on he’s going to have to charge them rent on account of the busted-up kitchen wall. “But all the bricks are still there!” protests Kaz. “Yes, yes,” says Shasta, “but the time and tools and talent to fix the wall are not free.”

At the mention of the gods, Swage asks Shasta if he truly worships Tyr. Shasta replies that Tyr protects the house and that Baldur protects the town…. from Shasta himself. Swage suggests that that Shasta should probably find a new shaman, and maybe do fewer sacrifices too. Shasta said he had conferred with Baldur, but Baldur said the fog cloud was out of his control and admitted that he was even fearful of it.

Pele looks around the room and asks if the religious among them would like to talk to their gods.

Gary pauses for a second, then falls to the ground. He raises his voice and shouts, Myrkul! Why?? How? What?”

“This is some weird praying,” Pele says quietly.

A gravelly voice, angry and low, rings in Gary's ears. “Why do you disturb my slumber?"

“People here are dying. We did,” says Gary. “Thank you for reviving us, by the way.”

“Who are you,” asks the god.

“Gary”

Gary feels a deathly chill, and in a blink of an eye, he stands in front of an ethereal blackness. The darkness almost feels gentle, with wisps of black nothingness moving on and around his body.

“Hmm…Gary,” says Myrkul. “You're one of my followers, but where have you been?”

“We died,” says Gary.

The dark form of Myrkul moves through Gary's body. “That's interesting,” the god says. “That soul you have is not your original soul, my boy.”

Gary squinches his eyes closed in confusion. All this time, he had assumed Myrkul was the one that had restored their souls. “Can you help me?” Gary pleads.

Myrkul instructs him to go to the graveyard and look for his sigil, and then Merkel will check the land. But for now, the god needs to rest.

Gary feels warmth return to his body and he bolts upright, standing stiff as a board. Everyone has been staring at him while he was seemingly unconscious. Pele blurts out, “I am SO SORRY, Gary! You look just awful. I will NEVER ask you to do that again.”

Gary looks weakly off into the distance, and mumbles, “I want to get in my dresser!”

Kaz was not moved by this display. He holds his maul close to his mouth and teasingly whispers into it as if he were talking to a god. Suddenly, his maul gets impossibly heavy, and Kaz almost loses his grip on it. He barely manages to hold on to it, and then pulls it quickly into his chest. Panic strikes his heart, for he knows that if your weapon falls from your hand, it is a sign that death will soon follow. Kaz decides this is something that he shouldn't take lightly.

Dove closes her eyes, touches her fulgurite necklace, and thinks of Nula. She gives thanks to her goddess for always protecting her and her clan and expresses her gratitude for saving her from death. The tabaxi feels a gentle breeze brush through her fur, and the vegetal smells of her forest home fill her nose. She feels comforted and reassured that she is truly cherished in Nula’s eyes. She sighs happily and opens her eyes.

Shasta looks around awkwardly, and says, “Okay, alright, - Cain and I are going to leave now. You are welcome to stay another night if you want, but don't break any more of my walls.”

The mayor and his new butler leave the kitchen and disappear upstairs.

After recovering from his conversation with Myrkul, Gary tells the group that they need to go investigate the graveyard. Kaz also wants to do some shopping before we leave town, and Swage says he wants to have another chat with Captain Gardis. Dove and Pele also don't want to leave town until they take a look at the caverns below the Great Hall.

The adventurers decide that their first stop will be the general store, and then it's on to the graveyard to look for Myrkul’s sigil.

As they step outside into the light of the morning, they see a lovely carriage parked out front of Shasta’s manor. A stately horse is hitched to the front of the carriage, and a figure sits in the coachman's seat with a black hood draped over his face. The figure pulls back the hood and joyfully calls out, “Hello friends! Are we getting ready to leave?” The Archivist had taken them up on their offer after all.

Dove is thrilled to see Estafador again and is even more so at the sight of his carriage horse. She asks his permission to pet the beautiful creature, and Estafador warns her that the horse’s mane could be a little prickly. As she walks up alongside the horse, Dove can see its body is skeletal, and a flickering blue flame follows the stroke of her paw as she pets the horse’s hide.

The adventurers fill the Archivist in on their dealings with Zertis, their plans in town, and their upcoming departure.

Dove enthusiastically tries to explain “shopping” to the Archivist, and he decides he would like to try out this strange human ritual. The tabaxi emphasizes that coins are exchanged for goods, and not souls. Estafador seems slightly dampened to hear that no souls will be involved, but then an idea flickers in his eyes, and he dives his hand to his robe’s pockets.

He pulls out a small handful of gold coins. They look like the everyday gold coins you'd find in any till or travelers’ pockets, but the Archivist tells the group that these are demon coins. On closer inspection, they are just slightly darker than a standard coin, and the magically sensitive members of the group can feel a small twinge of negative magical energy emanating from the coins. Gary’s eyes widen as he looks at the coins.

The hunched cleric asks Estafador just how many of these special coins he has. “Oh, you humans do love your coins,” he chuckles. The Archivist rolls a coin across his fingers and does some simple stage magic, making the coin disappear and reappear. He explains that a demon can carry these coins will no ill effects, but the same coin will always cause something unfortunate to happen to any mortal who possesses it.

Gary asks if anything good could happen as a result of the coins. “No,” Estafador says. “I don’t know why people want them, but they do.” He smiles teasingly at Gary, who hasn’t taken his eyes off the demon coins.

Swage is uneasy about the “catch” that seems to come with these coins. He asks Estafador if the magical items he had gifted them earlier could turn around and become curses. The Archivist tells him that no, the items are safe. The Firbolg’s intuition tells him that the demon is telling the truth.

As they walk from the manor, Pele notices that no one in town is giving Estafador a second glance. She’s sure that this eccentric figure would draw some attention, with his flowing robes and demon horns and the like. Estafador says that he’s disguised himself as an ordinary human and that he only lets his trusted friends see his true form. Gary blushes at being called a friend. Pele appreciates this clever disguise and tells the Archivist, “You are going to have so much fun traveling to the capital with us.”

The group reaches the general store and pulls open the door. The bell above the door chimes, and Estafador jumps a bit as the sound startles him. He collects himself and looks around. The shop walls are lined with wooden shelves holding all sorts of jars, boxes, bottles, and canisters. There’s a long counter with a chipper boy standing behind it. He looks at the group with bright eyes and a broad toothy smile. “Hello!”

Estafador startles again. Dove calms him and tells him that there should be no stabbing and no hellfire from him right now. The Archivist seems disappointed, but Gary whispers “Not yet at least” to him.

The shopkeeper says that he’s happy to see the group again and that they’ve added some new friends since the last time - indicating to Esha and the disguised Estafador. No one can remember ever being in this shop, so Swage asks the shopkeeper what they bought the last time they visited. The boy lists off all their purchases – a pickaxe, some tools, and herbal kit, some metal shavings, and a rope. He is surprised that the firbolg can’t at least remember the rope, since the rope seemed to excite him. Swage despairs again at the loss of such a great length of rope.

The shopkeeper reintroduces himself as Timmy, and he doesn’t seem to mind that no one had remembered his name. He tells the group that they requested some potions the last time they were here, but the shop was sold out. The shelves have since been restocked, and now Timmy can offer them four potions at 50 gold coins each.

Pele tells Timmy that the group will take all four and that the mayor will be covering the bill. Timmy seems impressed that they had become so close with someone like Shasta. The adventurers tell him that they earned Shasta’s favor by traveling up Mount Tyr to find the shaman. Timmy brightens and asked what it was like to meet him. The group laughs, joking that he was “dead silent” when they first met him, and then he “really lost his head” when they wanted to talk. Timmy says that doesn’t sound like the shaman at all – that he’s normally a nice guy, if not a little strange. Timmy frowns a bit as he remembers being told that the shaman licked his feet after he was born.

The adventurers start to barrage the shopkeeper with their purchase requests. Esha wants some chaga mushrooms, but Timmy explains that mushrooms aren’t normally something the shop carries. Esha offers him some cremini mushrooms, which she tells him are delicious when they’re cooked. Timmy offers her a few silver coins in appreciation, even though he admits that he doesn’t like the taste of mushrooms.

Swage asks the shopkeeper for a ruby. Timmy says, “Oh yes, a ruby - right away.” He turns his back to him and acts as if he’s headed back to the storeroom. He stops and looks Swage sarcastically in the eye and says, “No – of course, we don’t have a ruby! What kind of store do you think this is?” Timmy says the only type of gem he can offer is a strand of pearls. Swage says to add that to their ticket, and the shopkeeper marks down another 100 gold on their tab.

Kaz steps up and sets his enormous maul on the counter in front of Timmy. He asks the diminutive shopkeeper if there’s anything like this in stock. Timmy explains that the shop normally doesn’t carry weapons like that, but he might have something for him. He ducks back into the stock room. Kaz can hear small hands rummaging through boxes, and metal clanging against the floor. Timmy comes staggering back to the counter, holding a hammer that must weigh as much as he does. He hoists the hammer onto the counter and pushes it towards Kaz. “The last guy who used this hammer left it behind,” Timmy wheezes, “But you can have it if you want it.”

Dove does a mental checklist of things she might need, a remembers her two essential items – arrows and food. Timmy has a quiver of arrows available, and he shows the group the shop’s assortment of rations bars. The concept is kind of familiar to Dove – instead of having individual items in her ration kit, this would be like everything mashed together. It sounds kind of gross to her, but also kind of interesting. She looks at the pressed blocks on the counter. They’re brown and look like compressed squares of chocolate cake. Timmy explains that he has two flavors, chocolate, and strawberry. Dove tells Timmy that the chocolate one might kill her, and he says that’s fine since the strawberry ones taste better anyway. He pulls out a stack of banana leaves and wraps up two strawberry bars for Dove, and a chocolate one for Pele. Esha asks if Timmy has any ration bars made without any animal-derived ingredients. The shopkeeper says he has a few made primarily with nuts, but as they aren’t very popular, he has quite a few in stock. Esha asks for two, and Timmy wraps her up as well.

Gary asks Timmy for the strongest alcohol he has. Timmy wants to know if the alcohol would be for drinking or for sanitizing, and Gary says he doesn’t care just as long as it’s strong. Timmy carefully reaches under the counter and grabs a glass jar with both hands. He slowly lifts the jar and places it gently on the counter. “This is the strongest we have. My parents don’t let me drink it, but I smelled it once and it made my eyes water,” he says. “I guess you can taste it if you like.” Gary takes a small sip from the jar. He’s immediately hit with the gag-inducing onslaught of pure grain alcohol – it was less like a drink than it was a drain cleaner. Tears form in his eyes, and he coughs and shakes violently as he forces himself to swallow. “It’s perfect,” he croaks. “How much do you have?”

Timmy internally debates the ethics of selling more than one jar of such strong alcohol to one person, but at the end of the day, a sale is a sale. He puts two more full jars up on the counter. Gary asks for another empty jar, and if he could see the shop’s selection of burlap sacks. Timmy had never met a burlap sack connoisseur before, and he takes out some musty bags he had stashed in the far corner under the counter. There are a few small bags, probably meant for transporting fresh berries or dried bulbs. A few sacks are medium-sized, with “ONIONS” written on the side in thick black lettering. Timmy also has a few bags caked with clumps of dirt, which were used to haul potatoes for his family’s dinner. Gary thinks the medium size bags will fit perfectly, and he asks Timmy if he can smell them. “Sure, go ahead,” says Timmy, growing more and more concerned. Gary buries his face in the bag and breathes deeply. He can smell the earth and the funky sour-but-sweet smell of the onions. The other adventurers had been browsing the shelves, but they all stop when the rank smell hits their noses. Pele sees Gary holding the offending bag, and just sternly says “No.” Gary puts back the oniony bag and takes two larger potato sacks instead.

“Do you have a bathroom or anything?” Gary asks the shopkeeper. Timmy points him to an outhouse behind the back of the shop. Gary stands on his tiptoes, wraps his arms around the jars and bags on the counter, and shuffles towards the back door. “I’ll be right back,” he calls over his shoulder. Once he reaches the outhouse, Gary pulls the jarred shaman’s head out of his bag. Its twisted and dried face is vaguely visible as it bobs around in the dark red wine. Gary carefully tips the jar and pours the wine out into the now empty jar. “No need for good wine to go to waste!” he thinks to himself as he screws the lid on tightly. One by one, he pours the jars of alcohol into the jar holding the shaman’s head. Its face can be seen more clearly now, with just a light pink tint to the liquid. The enclosed space of the outhouse has concentrated the alcohol’s strong fumes, and Gary feels a little woozy as he stumbles back towards the store.

Inside, the adventurers are gathering the last of their purchases. Esha adds two bags of salt, and Pele and Swage both want two flasks of oil. Swage also wants a healer’s kit, but he balks at the price of 150 gold. He protests to Timmy that healer’s kits normally only cost around five gold. Timmy reminds him of the law of supply and demand – since the healer’s kits are so sought-after in this town, the price has gone up accordingly. He reassures Swage that the kit is well worth the money and opens it up to show him the high-quality bandages, splints, and ointments. Dove reminds him that Shasta is the one paying for it anyway, and Swage agrees to take the kit. Gary staggers inside and asks for a sewing kit and a new disguise kit.

Dove isn’t a stranger to magic, but this is the first time in her life that she’s been able to use it. She flips through the Demonomicon to see if any spell ingredients might be available at the shop. All the required ingredients seem so specific and expensive, so she takes a chance and asks Timmy if the store sells holy water. Timmy laughs, takes out a small bucket, and knocks a small hole in it. “Here you go!” he jokes. “Now any water you put in there will be holy water!” Dove stares at him for a minute while the joke lands. She bursts out laughing, gladly accepts the bucket, and asks Timmy for a cork.

She catches her breath and looks over at Estafador. No one has seen him inspect or seem interested in any of the goods for sale. Dove asks Estafador if he wants anything, and Swage sees if he could cheer him up by asking Timmy if the shop sold pens. Timmy says that yes, they do, and Estafador smiles as he glides up towards the counter. “Are you interested in making a deal, then?” he asks the boy. Before Timmy can respond, Kaz grabs Estafador by the shoulders and steers him away. “But you said I could have anything!” Estafador protests. Kaz quietly and sternly tells him that they’ll find him some bigger, more damaged souls later. The Archivist sighs and chalks “shopping” up to just another confusing human thing. Kaz, Pele, and Esha gather their purchases and lead Estafador outside to the street. Esha asks them to wait for her a minute as she runs across the street to the herbalist’s shop.

Swage, Dove, and Gary stay behind in the store. Swage softly asks Timmy about the ominous cloud that’s been harming Seidan. Timmy responds that he’s been okay so far, but a few of his neighbors and friends have died. While Swage talks to Timmy, Kaz’s mind starts to wander. He tries to remember just how long this group has been traveling together. He recalls a town - not this town, but some other town they must have visited previously. They were at some sort of party, in a beautiful banquet hall of a stately manor. Pele was entertaining the crowd with her fire skills. Holly was stealing from a man’s pockets. Then Kaz realizes they were all there -together, but just not together as a team. Everyone in the group was operating independently to achieve the same purpose – to find out why people had been going missing from his manor. He can’t remember when this was, but everyone looked much younger. Kaz tells Dove about this memory, and even though she doesn’t remember any fancy parties, she does feel like she remembers a time when Pele had more empathy than she does today.

Dove closes the tab with Timmy and tells him to give himself a big tip before delivering the bill to Shasta since he had been so helpful. Timmy smiles brightly at her and tells the group to have a good day. As the three walk out the door, they hear Timmy joyfully call out to the back room, “Hey, Mom! I did a good job today!” Gary pauses. He realizes that Timmy had just been shouting to an empty room.

Gary confides to Pele that he thinks Timmy’s parents are dead. He tells her that they should do something. Pele asks if Gary wants to take Timmy with us, and Gary sternly says no. He suggests that maybe the group could send Timmy to live with Shasta and Caine, but Kaz says the kid looks like he’s doing fine and that maybe the group could slip him a little more gold or something. Estafador’s ears perk up at this conversation, and he casually moves towards the door to see if he could snag an orphan soul after all. Pele grabs him and plants him back on the street with the rest of the group.

Meanwhile, Esha walks into the herbalist’s shop. She’s greeted by a woman who looks both old and young at the same time. While she appears to be in her 20s, her clothing, movements, and demeanor give the impression of an elderly woman. The herbalist helps Esha find everything that wasn’t carried at the general store – Chaga mushrooms, dried mistletoe leaves, and a beautifully crafted but lightweight mortar and pestle set made of stone and wood. She leaves the shop to see her friends arguing in the doorway of the general store. She rushes over, wondering what could have possibly happened in the five minutes she was gone.

Gary has written a note: “Shasta – this is Timmy and he’s an orphan. Can he live with you? Thanks!” He tells Timmy to give this note to Shasta when he goes to deliver the bill, then folds the note and reaches out to slide it into Timmy’s apron pocket. Kaz, Pele, Dove, and Swage are all arguing about what to do. Gary looks at the group, and Timmy looks at Gary’s outstretched arm and the note that’s halfway in his apron pocket. Finally, Kaz and Pele raise their voices and say, “He’ll be fine!” The group goes quiet, and Gary says “so….no note, then?” he pulls his hand back, and drops the note in his pocket. They say goodbye to Timmy again, and leave him standing bewildered in the shop doorway.

The group walks up the street toward the cemetery, followed by Estafador. The town's graveyard is small, with only one mausoleum hulking in the back corner of the lot. Most of the grave plots are small and marked with wooden crosses or engraved stones. A few graves are covered with flat stone slabs. Gary walks past the graves, scanning around for any signs of Myrkul's sigil. He reaches the base of the mausoleum and looks up at the towering, cold marble structure. The construction and decorations on the mausoleum indicate that someone important was interred here. As Gary follows the columns upwards with his eyes, he sees the carved skull and dagger of Myrkul's sigil on the head crest of the mausoleum’s doorway.

Gary opens the door, followed by the other adventurers. Inside the mausoleum stands a beautifully carved state of Myrkul himself. He is depicted as a skeleton wearing a sacramental robe draped over his body. His bony hand holds a dagger. Gary is in awe, not only with the vision of his god but also by the skill of the sculptor. Myrkul's every bone is carved to be a perfect anatomical match to a human skeleton. Gary drops to his knees at the foot of the statue, and cries out, "Praise be, Myrkul!"

Pele and Kaz feel a cold ripple move through the room. It's a sharp, crisp, and penetrating cold, and it takes their breath away as if they had been submerged in freezing water. They gasp and exhale, and they see their breath turn into a fog as it leaves their mouths. Dove, Swage, and Esha don't feel the cold, but they are concerned to see Pele and Kaz's stunned reactions. Gary rises to his feet, lifts his arms, and implores, "Praise be, Bone Daddy!"

The low gravelly voice returns to Gary's mind. "Now I remember you, Gary," Myrkul says. "You are a sick, twisted soul."

"Thank you, my lord," responds Gary, humbled.

"Gary," says Myrkul. "Whoever has replaced your soul is not of this plane. I can't determine what might have killed you since I can't feel any residual magic. There is magic emanating from the Great Hall, but I do not know who or what is in there."

"What can I do?" asks Gary. "Where do I look? These souls must be returned to you."

Myrkul tells his disciple that he will first need to confer with other ethereal beings, and this has the potential to become a very dire situation that could affect other places as well.

"Enjoy your new soul," Myrkul adds ominously. "But when this problem is solved, you belong to me."

Gary bows his head and says, "Yes, my lord. I am at your service."

He can hear nothing but silence ringing in his ears.

Estafador stares at Gary. "What was that??" he asks, wide-eyed. "That was creepy!"

"That's my god!" says Gary, cheerfully.

The cleric repeats Myrkul's words to the other adventurers. Swage pulls out the spyglass and gazes at the statue of Myrkul. While the skeleton statue looks whole to the naked eye, Swage can see in the spyglass that there is a void in the statue - several of Myrkul's ribs are missing. Gary takes the spyglass, lifts it to his eye, and then pulls it away. He walks up to the statue and puts his hand on the statue's ribs. He can feel the carved bones, and he is perplexed why this tangible part of the statue does not appear in the spyglass. Gary asks if anyone knows what it means. "Gary!" Pele chides. "This is your god!"

She begins to run her hands over the statue and its base. She doesn't find any carved letters or feels any missing pieces, but when she gets to where the base meets the ground, she finds a loose stone. Pele lifts the stone and discovers a small bundle of leather wrapping. She unwinds the wrapping carefully and reveals a strange bone necklace. Its chain seems to be made of finger bones, with a sternum bone hanging from it like a pendant. Pele walks over and gives the necklace to Gary. "Here!" she says. "I got you a present!"

Gary is so touched by the gesture. "That is so sweet of you, Pele!" he gushes. "I didn't get you anything, though!" He begins to search his pockets for a gift to give in return, but Pele quickly shouts, "NO! No. That's okay, Gary!"

Swage wants to perform a ritual to detect the presence of magic in the room. Kaz places his new hammer down in front of the firbolg, and Gary adds the bone necklace. Dove waits and watches Swage but gets fidgety and decides to go outside. She walks past the stone slabs, but nothing strikes her as unusual. The stones are carved with dates and names of townsfolk, but none of the dates are recent. She keeps wandering through the lot, idly looking for a funny name or an interesting rock.

Back inside the mausoleum, Pele still searches the walls and statues and slabs, determined to find a clue. Esha tries to sneak up behind Pele. The Genasi pauses, and without turning around, says, "Esha, you smell like soil." Pele sees that there are two graves set into the stone floor, covered with heavy iron lids. She asks Kaz if he can move the lids out of the way. Kaz gets a grip on the lid of one grave and lifts it. Inside is the mummified body of a woman. She is wearing elegant robes, and a necklace bearing the sigil of Myrkul. Her body is completely desiccated, and Gary thinks she's been dead for at least 50 years.

Kaz opens the other lid, and this grave contains an equally mummified body of a man. He is also dressed in eloquent robes. He has a crown of thorns around his head and a ring with Myrkul's sigil on his finger. Pele reaches down to grab the ring, but at the last minute, she decides to use the mage hand instead. Her mage hand slides the ring of the bony finger and drops it into her hand. The skeletal finger breaks and the mummified body sits straight up in its grave. Its head turns to face Pele, and she screams in fear. Dove hears Pele and rushes back into the mausoleum in time to see Kaz put his big hands on the body's shoulders and push it back down into the grave.

Gary looks down at the body, internally conflicted about whether he should take its crown of thorns or at least a few bones. He moves the body's robes aside, and he is shocked to see that the man's body is missing the same three ribs that are missing from the Myrkul statue. Pele and Gary discuss what this could mean, and Pele says that she knows in some cultures, people will take relics from a prominent dead person's body to feel close to that person. She adds that there are other cultures where followers of a deity will mutilate themselves as an act of devotion. Gary inspects the man's skeleton again and scurries over to check the woman. She is also missing three ribs. Gary can see that these ribs were removed before their owner's deaths, and he wonders how hardcore these people must have been in life.

Swage completes his ritual, and sees a magical glow emanating from Kaz's hammer and the bone necklace, and even from the ring in Pele's hand. Nothing else glows. The necklace and the crown of thorns on the mummified corpses do not have magical properties. Gary struggles internally if it's right to take items from the grave. He asks Myrkul to give him a sign if he doesn't want the graves disturbed. He waits quietly for a few moments, and when nothing happens, he understands that it is okay. Gary leaves the Myrkul necklace on the mummified woman's body, and Pele takes the crown of thorns from the dead man and places it around the statue's head.

## Day Four, Late Morning

**The** adventurers leave the mausoleum and walk back towards the Great Hall. On their way through the graveyard, Esha wild shapes into a giant badger. They re-enter Seidan and approach the two guards in front of the Great Hall. These guards are not the same as the ones that were posted up previously, and they are immediately suspicious of the group. Pele causally tells the guards that they need to go in and check on the bodies - not for something weird or anything like that, of course. They've uncovered some new information and simply need to look over the bodies one more time before they leave town. The guards refuse to let them in, and Swage says maybe Captain Gardis could weigh in since he knows about their situation. One of the guards said he will go get him, but it will take nearly an hour since he is currently posted on the outskirts of town. The adventurers promise to wait, and the guard hurries off out of sight. Gary watches the guard vanish around the corner, then slides up next to the remaining guard. He asks the guard if there was some way maybe the group could make it worth his time to look away for a moment. The guard angrily turns on Gary, shouting that he better not be offering a bribe, as bribery is punishable by law.

Estafador coolly glides over and puts his arm around the guard's shoulder. H diffuses the situation, almost bewitching the guard with an offer to make a deal for anything the guard could want - riches, power, anything. He begins to walk off with his arm around the guard. "Don't forget about those special coins!" Gary calls out to Estafador. "Oh Gary, I surely won't," he says over his shoulder as he whisks the guard away.

The adventurers can easily access the unguarded hall, and within five minutes they've reset the levers and knobs hidden in the floor. The stars in the ceiling align, and the fire pit on the floor again becomes a staircase leading underground. Gary cuts two eye holes in one of his burlap sacks, pulls it over his head, and casts Continual Flame on it. Dove thinks that this is going to mess with her Darkvision, but she reminds herself that it’s more important that everyone gets to see, not just those with Darkvision.

Dove leads the group down the staircase, which is wider than expected. The adventurers can descend the stairs with enough room for four people to walk side-by-side. At the bottom of the stairs, they enter a tall, echoing room. Dove sees six cells – three on the right-side wall and three on the left. Everyone spreads out and peers through the bars of each of the six cells.

Dove can see four red eyes shimmering the back of the far left-side cell. Kaz stops in front of the center right-side cell, and the glint of beady eyes catches his attention. He throws his torch through the bars. It clatters on the stone floor, illuminating three fluffy bundles of snowy white fur. Kaz relaxes when he realizes it’s only a cage of snow hares, but he pauses. Something about these creatures just doesn’t seem right. One of the rabbits lifts its head, and the firelight shines on its demonic eyes and a wide mouth full of sharp, pointy teeth. Swage catches a glimpse of the dripping maw of the rabbit and hurls a flask of oil through the bars of the cell. The flask shatters on the floor and instantly ignites, coating the rabbits in burning oil.

Kaz never likes to miss an opportunity for battle, so he takes on his favored enemy – doors. He grabs the cell bars and rips them right out of the stone cell walls. He throws the bars aside and stares down the hellish, burning rabbits. Pele calls out, “Let’s put these buns in the oven!”

Two rabbits leap at Kaz, biting and slashing at the Goliath and doing more damage than he expected. One of the rabbits in the cell in front of Dove heads the call of its brethren and runs to the bars of the cell. Frustrated that it can’t get past the bars, it spews a viscous liquid at Dove – instantly poisoning her. Swage uses his bone whistle to summon his spectral wolves, Wax and Wane. The wolves appear on the battlefield, as Swage calls out “Strike while the iron is hot!” A glowing orange anvil appears, hovering over the horde of rabbits. The words “In Gond We Trust” are stamped on the side of the anvil.

Feeling the pain from the rabbits’ attacks, Kaz beings to rage and goes into a frenzy, striking at a rabbit who attacked him. Dove is feeling the effects of the rabbit’s poison attack and misses the first shot of her ambush attack. She steadies herself and manages to strike true with her second shot. Pele summons her sorcerer’s power and casts a firebolt twin spell at the two rabbits nearest Dove, but both rabbits deflect the attack. Another rabbit dodges Swage’s shield, hitting him with a debilitating bite. Esha returns to her Simic form and rushes over to relieve Dove’s poisoning. Gary also calls forth his spiritual weapon, a shimmering spectral scythe. He turns and hits two rabbits with chill touch, knocking them back with the necrotic attack.

The rabbits regroup, and two lash out again at Kaz. He blocks one, but the other rabbit can bite through his tough skin. The third rabbit aims its wrath at Wane, biting the wolf through the gaps in the cell bars. Swage takes a mighty swing with his mace, landing a crippling direct hit on a rampaging hare. He calls down the fire of Gond’s forge, and his loyalty is rewarded with an extra fire attack. Wax and Wane snap at the rabbits with their crushing jaws, but only Wane gets ahold of one. Kaz hoists his vicious maul high above his head. He swings it down directly on top of a leaping rabbit, crushing it against the stone floor with a sickening crunch and turning it into bunny schnitzel. Kaz picks up the maul, still dripping with rabbit blood, and swings it into the other attacking rabbit. The mangled ball of fur is knocked through the air and smashes against the cell wall, then slides lifelessly to the floor.

Dove has recovered from the poison attack, and she channels her anger into her next arrow. She confidently aims at the fluffy nightmare hopping toward her, knocking it back with her arrow’s velocity. Pele summons another twin spell and brings a thunder attack down on two unfortunate rabbits. Suddenly, she is hit by a surge of chaos magic, and she is involuntarily transformed into a beautiful and well-manicured potted plant. Gary looks over at her in horror. “No, Pele! Don’t LEAF us!” Swage lets his shield down for a split second, but it’s just enough time for one of the devilish rabbits to leap up to his neck and bite him with such force that Swage drops to the ground unconscious. Esha conjures an ice knife and vengefully flings it at the rabbit that attacked Swage. The knife kits the rabbit but explodes on impact and sends jagged ice shards flying through the air. The shards strike Kaz and Wane, and the body of the unconscious firbolg cleric. Gary knows that Swage is on death’s door, and he’s not ready to see his friend’s soul sent to Myrkul. He casts Healing Word on Swage and can stabilize him. He angrily swings his spectral scythe at the rabbit. The spiritual weapon strikes the rabbit squarely broadside, hurling it against the cell wall hard enough that all that remains is a blood splatter dripping down the stone.

Swage bellows with rage and reaches out to the nearest bunny with Inflict Wounds. His large hands wrap around the rabbit, and he tears the rabbit’s head clean from its body. He breathes heavily as he crushes the two halves of the rabbit in his balled fists. Wax and Wane snarl and snap at the remaining rabbits, and Kaz gets in another big hit with his vicious maul. Dove is sick of these awful rodents hurting her friends. He steadies her bow and takes careful aim. Her bowstring twangs, sending an arrow straight through the rabbit’s devilish red-eye and pinning its dead body to the floor. The potted plant wobbles a bit. With a puff of smoke, the plant vanishes, leaving Pele is standing in its place. Esha misses her attack with the sentient scimitar, and the disembodied voice of the sword taunts her for the mistake. Gary sends spectral hand speeding towards the last remaining rabbit. It delivers a forceful uppercut, crushing the rabbit’s skull and releasing a fine spray of misty blood.

The adventurers stand motionless for a moment, panting heavily and looking around the room at each other. They simultaneously drop to the stone floor as their adrenaline rush runs out. Dove wanders over to the far cell to retrieve her arrow from the rabbit’s skull, and she pulls out one of its teeth for good measure. Gary sits up, looks at Pele, and weakly laughs. “Hey, Pele….at least you aren’t BUSHED anymore!”

“Yea,” Swage croaks. “You were ROOTED to that spot!”

Everyone laughs between gasping breaths. Kaz looks around, annoyed. “Come on! You know I don’t like puns! I just don’t get what’s funny!”

Swage hands the remains of the crushed rabbit in his hands to Wax and Wane. They deserve a snack. He retreats to the corner, clutches his snugglebeast Topka to his chest, and immediately falls asleep.