I See a Pale Moon Rising

The Soup Troop travel for a week and a half by foot and arrive at Last Stop, a small mundane town with an oppressive atmosphere. A solitary road leads through the town to the Wallowa Desert, passing through untamed wilderness and Mt. Vesuvius. A large windmill in the middle of town is spinning fast, chopping up birds unlucky enough to fly through it. The gang go to the Foot of the Beast Inn and talk to the barkeep, Bart. They order food, drink, and rooms for the night. K'harth scans the bar and sees an old Pay-Per-Sword aquaintance of his, Cher. She acts guarded, and speaks cryptically to him in poem. The barmaid dwarf sees Brodo and he recognizes her as his mother, Felina. They're both distressed to see each other, and Brodo pulls her into the back room to talk. She's crying and thankful that he's alive. She asks that he come to her house on the north side of town after her shift ends at midnight, but they can't talk now. A figure approaches the party's table and introduces himself as Seymour Moore, the sheriff of the town. He asks about their business and warns them of a "reckoning". Meanwhile, K'harth and Kinna go to the General Store. They don't find anything worthwhile, but they see an orcish woman walking north that catches their eye. They return to the bar in time for local bandits, the Reckoning Boys, to arrive. They don't present much of a threat, but a slapstick fight breaks out. The Soup Troop subdue them non-lethally. The sheriff thanks the party and they carry the thugs to the jail. The sheriff speaks of rumors of aggressive frost giants up on Mt. Vesuvius, of a lady in town, and folk talking of a "pale moon".

Kinna noodles over the poem K'harth heard from Cher and figures out that it was suggesting K'harth meet her at midnight (pale moon) at the warehouse north of town. As night advances, Bliss stays behind to watch Beefo and the rest leave the bar. Sirrias summons some devil dogs and K'harth sneaks ahead with Phaux to approach the warehouse. It's a clear night with a full moon. Midnight hits and a moon beam of light falls on the warehouse roof. K'harth climbs to the roof and a black, silent lightning bolt strikes . K'harth dodges, but Phaux is vaporized. K'harth peers through the building's skylight and sees Cher and a pale woman with long dark hair who seems to have materialized from the bolt. Behind him, he's confronted by Griffey, who asks what he's doing there. The rest of the party, alarmed by the lightning bolt, open the warehouse doors and see the vampire Bella. K'harth and Griffey come crashing through the skylight. The party attack, but Bella asks to talk, as she's not there to fight. She says she left Brisko ages ago and has her own goals now. She's sick of playing into his schemes with the Shards. Brodo convinces her to put on the dimensional shackles, chained to K'harth, while they parlay. Griffey tries to attack her, but K'harth holds him back. Bella says she used to be allied to Brisko, who promised her he could bring back her vampire lover Chet, but he couldn't deliver on his promise. She sees Sirrias wearing Chet's green jacket, but she holds back her emotions. She wants to trade valuable information about what the First Flame are up to in exchange for her life and for non-interference in her plans. Reluctantly, most of the party promise to leave her alone if she tells them what she knows. Sirrias wants no part of the deal, takes Griffey, and leaves the building. She tells them Brisko has some vampires in his army that she could remove if they let her live. Her grand plans involve using Felina's help to become vampire queen of Gate.

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