Episode 86

The party meets up in the common room the following morning. Marisol seems to act oddly, but she dismisses it. Lily mentions seeking out Dr. Bane to help ward her family’s home. Marisol joins her and they convince the Dr. to cast Hallow at the house, however the service is expensive. Marisol puts another ward on the family’s backdoor before they begin their walk back to the common room. Along the way, she suggests drawing fan art of Lily and Hyacinth together to sell to the fans.

Before the party leaves, Ingred and Lily have a conversation about visiting Brutal Energy. Lily says that they won’t go unless Ingred tells her what she plans to do, but she is stubborn about it. Everyone eventually groups up and they head to the lyceum, where they get teleported (with Scorch) to the Sidross Region. They head towards the city of Rarrie. The morning is nice and cool, however as the day progresses the party sees dark clouds approaching the trail. They soon find themselves in a thunderstorm, having to avoid lightning strikes and push through the mud and rain. The next day is much nicer. Mud still coats the ground, but it doesn’t hinder their travel. They arrive in town early in the afternoon. It is a small town surrounded by a spiked log wall.

They navigate through town until they find the house of the contractor, Kota. He is an older gentleman with a polished-bald head and relies on a cane to get around. Lily introduces the party and he provides them with a map after a moment to ponder. He explains the job in more detail. The bulette feast on ores and are attracted to noise. The party discusses a plan of attack before heading to a blacksmith to acquire some ore to entice the creatures. Marisol gets them kicked out of the building after frightening Kota with loud noises.

The blacksmith supplies them with a barrel of slag and a pickaxe, which he gives to K. They arrive at their destination soon after and notice many holes in the ground. A boulder shifts close by and uncurls into a bulette! Marisol lures it into the center of the field. The creature goes back into rock form after consuming the barrel. Ingred points out another moving rock on the other side of a *real* boulder and Marisol hops onto the rug to get a better look. Ingred attempts to mount the bulette but fails.

She runs back to the party and the beast follows. The bulettes are dealt with swiftly, but not before K hops onto one's back in a rodeo fashion. Ingred is the only one to get dunked on. They harvest the pelts per Anthos’ request and take some of the meat, since Ingred is interested in trying it. Anthos admits he wants to use the pelts to make ew horse armor for Scorch.

The party checks back in with Kota and heads towards the city of Asenah. A child walks up to Marisol and hands her a basket with a cloth draped over it. Inside are three freshly baked bread loafs. He is startled when Marisol gives him a dirty look, but she apologizes quickly. The kid runs off. They eventually reach a familiar fork in the road and settle down for the night. To their surprise, the monster meat actually tastes delicious! It is tough, however. Marisol and Ingred try to get K to try a piece, but he refuses each time. Marisol suggests that Lily becomes the chef from now on and the party agrees. In the morning Lily confesses to have used magic to make the meat taste better since the leftovers were horrendous. Ingred’s brain goes on airplane mode.

They soon find themselves in the middle of Asenah. Marisol is introduced to the mausoleum and the party ventures down into the vault, leaving Scorch and Sirika behind with the magic carpet. Adventurers and scholars fill the library. The many floors are as busy and magnificent as usual. They are greeted by an attendant, who heads their way with haste and smiles politely at the group. He looks to be in his 20’s and has curly brown hair and a scar over his right eye. It appears to be missing. Marisol takes cover to avoid socializing. He introduces himself as recorder Colt. Upon request, he sends for a loremaster.

It takes a few minutes, but the loremaster arrives upon the invisible platform. He is an older man with white, frizzy hair and two different colored eyes: greenish yellow and blue. He gives them a nod and tells them he is loremaster Gelos. He snaps his fingers and creates four copies of himself, one for each party member. They lead everyone to their respective floors with the platform, except Ingred, who decides to walk. They go about doing their own research. Over the course of 8 days, the party is provided quarters and meals as they learn about their desired topics. See the following episode for details.