The Dead Room of Dusterbryn

**The Dead Room of Dusterbryn** is the forty sixth episode of *Another Bad Side Quest*. The party wakes from whatever rest they have found and decide to try to plunge deeper into the the unpredictable rooms of the Dusterburyan Lighthouse, but will they ever make it out of the Dead Room?

## The Dead Room of Dusterbryn

### **Synopsis**

**Pre-Show Shenanigans**

* Several cast members were having technical issues, so the VOD has some occasional mix ups, but the show must go on!
* Reminder : The ABSQ main campaign will soon be switching to a recorded format. Episodes will still be posted on Youtube and all your favorite podcast services, but will no longer be streamed live on Twitch. We will still be holding on to Twitch for potential future projects
* Also the first week of every month there will be no release to fend off future burnout for the cast and crew

### **Part One**

Alaerith screamed as he was jolted awake from his nightmare and woke woke most of the party. Yashani immediately grab *The Book of Sanguis,* recently returned to her, to assure herself it was still there and then looked around to find out who was screaming, while Sterling reached out to reinforce Tiny Hut before remembering Seren cast it instead of him. Alaerith, still panicked and unaware, threw off the covers as he tumbled off the cot he was placed on and scrambled against the wall. Yashani went to Alaerith and reached out with a hand activated *Healing Hand* and *Physician’s Touch* to ease his panic with a wave of warmth, startling Alaerith before he started to calm down. Yashani asked how Alaerith slept and Alaerith commented as good as any he had. Yashani asked if he was sure and Alaertith admitted no before he struggled to stand to his unsteady feet. Meanwhile Seren stood to his feet and just observed Yashani. Alaerith commented on realizing where they were and when Yashani asked where he thought they were said he didn't know, but anywhere else.

Sterling headed over to Alaerith’s cot, picked up the clothes that he had created the night before before and offered them to him to Alaerith's confusion. Sterling explained, admitting even though these new clothes are nowhere near as nice as the ones Alaerith, that since his gifted shield didn’t work he was hoping this might help had before and pointed out a rune for “Friend” he had inscribed on the back of the Alaerith’s replicated old cloak. Alaerith nervously asked why Sterling made these and Sterling explained that the place they were in was cold, that Alaerith was wearing less optimal clothes, noting he knew everyone lost items when they passed through the mirror and that was possible Alaerith lost his clothes. Sterling handed the clothes to him and Alaerith thanked them for it and just held it. As Alaerith looked at the clothing everyone noticed he had a sense of trepidation, rather than excitement at seeing the replicated clothes. Bo, Quincy, Seren and Sterling also picked up from Alaerith's reaction that something unexpected happened to his clothes. while Yashani picked up that he had the slightest feeling of wariness of Sterling. Yashani commented that the new clothes would likely fit Alaerith better and Alaerith nervously laughed at her words. Sterling asked what the group's plans were for the day, but was cut in by Quincy who complained to Sterling they were cold and told him to come back, as they had woken up more slowly than the rest.

Seren dropped Tiny Hut*,* headed back into the room with the stairs to the room where the party found the crates of food and water and after finding it was mostly decimated, with some barely salvageable, and Seren instead sighed, said his prayers, cast *Good Berry,* returned to the group and handed them out to the party members. RX, now finally awake, greeted the group before he headed up the stairs in the next room, quickly followed by a concerned Bo as some of the group reminded him of what happened with the potted plant, checked to see if all the barrels there contain oil and found each one was, with some containing that same crude oil from before, some more filtered or aged than others. RX then took his time to peruse his options before he picked one to fill his canteen with. Meanwhile, Bo investigated the doors they found the day before, aware that the stone door covered in moss led to the *Dead Room* and the two other doors, the wooden one and the black one with the amethyst, and noted there wasn’t a handle or a lock. Bo pulled RX over to the doors, asked what he thought and RX noted that he did like gems and pondered on using it as a replacement for the amber he lost. Bo quickly stopped RX's thought in progress to ask if he knew anything about gems and their magical properties and, while RX recalled Masq explained some of it to him, only recalled a bit about diamonds being good for the head. Rx also pointed out if there were gems there would like them before declaring they had done enough standing around and called down the stairs for everyone to join them upstairs. Alaerith shyly asked for a bit of privacy to change and Sterling agreed and mentioned a new trick he had as he headed straight upstairs., Quincy followed him mindlessly as they wrote in their journal, while Yashani and Seren opted to remain behind so Alaerith wasn't left alone as they waited for him at the bottom of the stairs.

Bo asked Sterling about gems and their properties and Sterling, as an archeologist, revealed that amethyst was actually his birthstone before noting it was related to increasing someone's intelligence. Bo interrupted Quincy’s writing to ask if anyone in the Order of Ruin was intelligence based and Quincy noted the Reaper was a known wizard and Kalistock appeared to have similar abilities, which might mean he was also reliant on his intelligence, but was unsure. Sterling added that tales of Sezrin say he was mentally “fortitudinous” and Bo admitted he was just trying to get a beat on whose door the amethyst might be. Sterling noted they should talk about the plans with the book before he changed the topic and asked someone to hold onto him. Quincy cautiously agreed with a hand on his shoulder, but Sterling wrapped Quincy's arms around them as he cast *Arcane Eye* causing a magically, incorporeal copy of his own eye to rise into the air above him and become invisible. Sterling explained he could use the spell to investigate the new rooms so they could be more cautious, though he couldn't see through his own body hence he needed someone to hang onto to him.

Sterling called RX over and asked him to record Sterling’s descriptions of the room the party had already explored from the first room, to the room of rations and then onto the room with the stairs and up to where they were now as RX created a sort of audio map. Sterling moved his *Arcane Eye* to squeeze between the gaps in the doorframe of the wooden door, found a room with a cot and a standing mirror, similar to the one that brought the party here, but found the *Arcane Eye* it couldn't pass through the black door with the amethyst as there wasn't a gap large enough for it to pass through anywhere along the frame. Sterling asked if theoretically if they found another mirror it might act as a teleportation tool or exit and Quincy reminded him the Reaper mentioned there were exits to this place and while the mirror seemed obvious and too close to be true, wouldn’t surprise them if there were ways of moving between rooms other than just doors. Sterling suggested they should the room they were in an investigation, as well as the fountain, citing that Robert’s appearance in the room would be an odd waste of magical energy if he teleported magically rather than using a pre-existing entrance they simply hadn’t found. Bo reminded them that last they saw, they left three to four ash specters in that room, but Sterling reminded him he could send in his *Arcane* *Eye* into the *Dead Room*. Sterling send it inside, found the ash specters were gone and Quincy noted that the trap had been reset. RX and Sterling made moves to head in, but Bo and Quincy quickly stopped them and suggested they wait for everyone else to return to go in together.

Back downstairs, when Alaerith was sure Yashani and Seren had their backs to him removed his borrowed clothes, put on the clothes gifted by Sterling, taking a moment to notice the rune for "Friend" Sterling on the cloak, then cast *Prestidigitation* several times on Yashani's borrowed clothes repeatedly till they were clean again. Alaerith then tried to quietly return the borrowed clothes back to Yashani's grasp without Seren noticing, though Seren did appear to hear his footsteps and mostly ignored it. Alaerith quietly got Yashani's attention, shyly thanked her as the color in his face darkened significantly and Yashani smiled as he told him he didn't need to mention if if he didn't wish to and put the clothes back in her bag. Yashani then pointed out the others were upstairs and were wanting to make more progress today and the trio headed up to join them.

As the group headed back into the *Dead Room*, without being chased or fearful of whatever lies in wait, the party noticed neat rows of unmarked, unnamed graves within, the mausoleum Bo had entered during combat when Robert tried to impersonate him, a cellar door in the ground next to the steps leading up to the mausoleum’s front door and two smaller mausoleums at the far end of the room, near the door where Bo discovered the ash specters. Sterling investigated the fountain to see if it was magical, found it was entirely mundane and Quincy flipped a copper into the water to make a wish. RX found a door behind the mausoleum the party had entered through, large and framed with pillars with a wrought iron dragon head adorned on that appeared to breathe out little wisps of smoke. RX reached out to try and open the door causing a blast of flame to burst from the dragon’s mouth and as RX cast *Absorb Elements* to resist the flames a voice called out from the door, in Draconic, *“You are not the King”.* The group checked to make sure RX was alright as he returned to the party a little singed.

Sterling noticed a grave in the northern corner of the room, just across from where the party entered, topped with a metal grate as if to hold something in. Sterling sent his *Arcane Eye* through the grate, into the grave, and found a tunnel that went a short ways before it entered a new room with six stone tombs, etched with different symbols of calvary, war, arcane, nature, destruction and life. Sterling asked Bo about the urn he touched and if there was a particular name and Bo mentioned the name he found, *Yannhis M. Belroadine, 87-133 AA, Lord and father*. Sterling said he asked because he found a room of tombs, which started a debate as to whether or not they should leave the tombs alone.

Nearby, a few feet off, Seren asked Yashani in a soft voice if they were ignoring the fact that Alaerith had a nervous breakdown. Yashani asked if Seren meant to make him sit down and talk before noting Seren had been around for awhile, Yashani even more so since Seren left, and that talking was not something Alaerith liked to do. Seren asked if she even asked and Yashani replied everytime. Seren noted he had talked with him previously before noting they were in a place meant to break them, which worked by dividing and conquering, and now more than ever they needed to know what made him tick. Yashani told Seren he was welcome to try, but reiterated that while she has talked with him Alaerith did not talk back. She added that at most she gleaned were from his facial expressions and body language, noting he was not good at concealing himself that way, that she didn't know how likely they were to get him to talk, that she was familiar with nightmares and knew you don't wake up screaming from being where you were, but in a place you didn't wish to be or a place you wished to escape. Seren gave his worry that they were blind and leading more blind people and when Yashani noted it was likely the idea in this place said in that case he wished to know who was blind with him. Yashani reiterated again that he could try, that she would help if she could, but knew that you can't extract information someone wasn't willing to share and had to be done as a friend and Seren nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Sterling struggled to open the grate, but eventually pulled the spikes holding it down from of the ground. Bo asked what he was doing and Sterling reiterated that there was something in the cave. Quincy said that he mentioned there were stone coffins and Sterling replied he had a way to get it out. Bo commented that touching an urn caused five spirits to appear and that they might not want to touch the gigantic tomb, but Sterling just gave a thumbs up and dropped himself into the grave. As Sterling disappeared into the tunnel, Quincy called back to Yashani that Sterling was doing something stupid. Yashani sighed, looked at the back of Alaerith's nearby head, said she had nothing more to say on this matter, but had something to say about Sterling going off by himself, that she might keep it to herself or say it to his face and dropped into the grave after him. Sterling activated *Manifest Mind* to summon Tollanessa out, had her lift up one of the casket lids and hearing a sound turned to see another lid had scraped open, dropped to the floor and something slowly rose out of it.

### **Break!**

Quick pre-combat break to get everything set up as apparently we (\*coughcough\*Sterling\*cough\*) have yet to learn our lesson about *not touching*.

### **Part Two**

Sterling watched as a figure appeared from inside each of the caskets, with rotting skin and elongated faces, saw them all face him, activated *Ob’s Charm* to say it was a bad idea to touch the caskets, which he was quickly mocked for, then turned to run down the hallway straight into Yashani, leapt onto Yashani and and latched onto her Yashani he cast *Dimension Door* to teleport the two from underground, back up into the *Dead Room* with the others and apologized to Yashani and let go of her. Yashani gave him a withering glare, went to them grate over the grave, picked it up and easily placing it back over the grave, pushing the stakes that held it down into the dirt, said she wasn't in the mood to see those things as she walked back to the door they entered the room from and tried to open the door, but found it was locked behind them. Alaerith, after learning what happened, followed Yashani to the door, observed the door with the intention to cast *Misty Step* an appear through any cracks in it, but seeing none was there readied himself to cast D*ragon Roar* at the first creature came from the grate.

Seren went to the grate, stood on top of it, using his weight to hold it down and readied himself to cast *Word of Radiance* if anything came up. Bo sighed, noticed Yashani wasn’t finding luck opening the one in front of her, told Sterling he was going to kill him after this, headed to the next nearest door, then ran, leapt and cast *Time Hop* causing himself to flicker out of existence. RX also sighed, recalled a time in which someone said *“fucking god damnit”* in his memory, found a clear recording of Quincy cursing, played the recording outloud as he headed for the grate with Seren and, finding his pitons were not as useful this time around, waited for whatever would came next. All six elder bodaks teleported from below to the *Dead Room,* as Alaerith's *Dragon Roar* failed to affect his target, approached the group, as Seren’s *Word of Radiance* cast divine magic into his target. One bodak forced Quincy to inhale a noxious green haze from the bodak's eyes and mouth leaving them *Frightened* and *Poisoned*.

Quincy, thankfully wanting to run anyway, made their way to the door with Yashani and Alaerith, as an bodak used it's reaction to strike them, checked to see if their *Thieves' Tools* could help and finding no lock to pick whirled around and cast *Bless* on Seren, Alaerith, Sterling and Yashani causing a familiar mantle of electricity to fall over their shoulders. Sterling managed to resist the nearby bodak's effect, though it's damage forced him to drop *Arcane Eye,* before he also made a run for it, as another bodak used it's reaction to strike him, pulled out a few papers, cast *Fireball* causing two miniature replicas of the red suns to appear that he flung at the furthest bodaks, which circled each other and eventually collided in a burst of flame, as one of the four targeted bodaks resisted it, while the other three took the full brunt of the flames, then ran to the door that charred RX. Yashani failed to resist the nearby bodak's effects, though she resisted being *Poisoned* or *Frightened*, before she approached the nearby one, struck it twice with a kick and punch, then activated *Flurry of Blows* and punched it twice more.

Alaerith resisted the nearby bodak's effect, recalled the battle against Silence and taking inspiration from Sterling created a bolt of fire to cast *Dragon's Breath,* but finding it wouldn't appear haphazardly cast *Firebolt* at the one near Yashani before he headed south near where Bo disappeared. Seren, currently surrounded by bodaks, resists the nearby one's effects, pulled his staff up along the curve of his shell and slammed it against the ground as he casts *Aura of Life* to grant protection from necrotic energy to any nearby. Bo reappeared a little ways away from where he had disappeared, in front of the two mausoleums that the party had yet to properly investigate before, called back to Sterling he was going to wring his neck, cast *Moment to Think,* looked at the doors, found both were fairly standard, dropped the spell, moved back to the cellar doors at the biggest mausoleum, cast *Recall* in case he needed to bounce back to where he was before and found the doors didn't have handles as *Recall* brought him back to the other end of the room. RX fails to resist the bodak's effect and was left *Frightened* and *Poisoned*, though some of the necrotic energy was deflected thanks to Seren’s spell, then headed off to join Sterling by the dragon door.

Three bodaks condensed on Seren while two advanced on Yashani. Three bodaks missed Seren, while two hit Yashani, though Sterling used his reaction to cast *Silvery Barbs* to make one miss. Quincy, seeing the bodaks closing in, waffled between dropping down to create bigger hits with *Reputation* or having a better shot of actually hitting with *Panache,* decided on the the latter as they fired on one near Yashani causing it to turn into a pile of sludge, as Alaerith used his reaction to activate *Soul Drain* and channelled it's dying energy to heal Yashani, then shot the other bodak near Yashani leaving it *Prone*. Sterling came from behind the building where he and RX were holding up, as one bodak used it's reaction to activate *Pestilent Gaze* sending poison into him. and as he coughed cast *Fireball* again while activating *Awakened Spellbook* to change the flames to force energy, as well as *Metamagic* : *Careful Spell* to protect Seren and Yashani from his magic, with one bodak that managed to resist his magic, while the others took the full brunt of energy causing two bodaks to fall, then returned to his prior position.

Yashani failed to resist the nearby bodak's effects, though she resisted being *Poisoned* or *Frightened*, ran to the nearest one near to Seren, struck it with one of her two strikes, crushing through the bodak’s ribcage causing it to crumple to the ground and dissolves into a puddle of goo, then activated *Flurry of Blows* and struck it twice more causing the second to fall as well. Alaerith, after being startled by the remaining bodak, cast *Firebolt* on it managing to burn away its clothes in the attack, and after being reminded of his own incident quietly apologized before running to his previous position. Seren patted Yashani’s shoulder in praise and thanks for her clearing out the bodaks, stepped closer to the fountain, cast *Sacred Flame* on the last bodak as it took the full brunt of radiant magic, then cast *Spiritual Weapon* causing his spectral to appear and smacked it with it's limbs. Bo, thinking better of rushing towards the remaining bodak, pulled out his crossbow *Iter’s Thread*, fired at it one of his two bolts, while activating *Anti-magic Strike* to empower the blow, then turned to one of the other mausoleums and tried it's door, but found it was locked.

RX, still *Frightened*, focused on drawing in the dirt. The remaining bodak shambled to Seren, struck at Seren, as Quincy used their reaction to activate with *Gambler’s Taunt* to nullify the attack and draw its attention, and the bodak used it's reaction to activate *Pestilent Gaze* and sent poison into them leaving them *Poisoned* and *Restrained.* Quincy failed to resist the bodak's effects and though the necrotic energy was mitigated by *Aura of Life* was once again left *Frightened.* Sterling called Tollanessa from the underground tomb, had her cast *Magic Missile* causing sharpened words to fly towards the bodak and rip into it, leaving it struggling to stand as it clung to unlife, then laid *Prone* on the ground near RX. Yashani, seeing Quincy quite hurt, moved to them, activated *Hand of Healing* and simultaneously activated *Physician's Touch* to heal them of the poison, then moved to the last bodak, activated *Flurry of Blows,* struck it with one of her two palm strikes through the chest, as Alaerith used his reaction to activate *Soul Drain* to take the energy from its dying form and channelled it to heal Quincy.

As the bodak disappeared, Yashani heard a small sound at her feet and found a gold key, with an intricately carved “B” at its head. Yashani picked it up and saw the words “Manor Belroadine” inscribed along the shaft of the key. Meanwhile, Sterling stumbled from behind the mausoleum where he and RX had been, headed for the covered grave again and Seren dropped his shield, intercepted Sterling, grabbed and tossed him to the ground and sat across him with a palm to his chest. Seren admonished Sterling for his actions, that he believed Sterling was a learned man and needed to learn from his mistakes, because his actions got many people severely hurt, then helped him to his feet and, noting his injuries, cast *Cure Wounds* on him. Across the way, Bo stood before the mausoleum he had been inspecting, saw as parts of the doors moved and heard a \*click\* sound as the door unlocked. Bo cast *Recall* on himself, opened the door just wide enough to let Nubbi through, saw some stairs that went down five to seven feet, a room brightly lit by torches and an ornate stone coffin in the middle of the room with engraved marble horses rushing like waves of water on top. Bo dropped *Recall*, cast *Beast Sense* on Nubbi, told her to look inside and be careful and not touch anything and as Nubbi went inside Bo saw the room didn't look inappropriate for the tomb's setting.

Bo activated *Ob’s Charm* to tell the others what he has found, making a mirthless joke that letting others know about things before touching appeared to be a novel strategy, that the door had previously been locked, that it unlocked when the fight was over and, while they could leave it alone, felt the correlation seemed important enough to investigate. Yashani asked if there was a name and Bo, through Nubbi's eyes, saw a name on the tomb, Ovarandi Umbranax, and after telling her that Yashani recognized it as the name of her mother. Yashani immediately lost interest in the key she found and quickly headed towards the mausoleum, quickly followed by Alaerith and Quincy concerned about her. Meanwhile Seren told Sterling that he was a learned man, that he needed to learn, to use his intelligence to let them work as a team and that if they had handled it correctly less harm would have been done. Seren then guided Sterling in Yashani's direction and Sterling, agreeing with his words, suggested he ready himself to cast *Banishment* and he would empower it if needed. RX abandoned his rather impressive drawing of a castle that he had been working on to follow the others.

Bo, seeing Yashani, assumed they were going in and walked down inside to join Nubbi. Alaerith, concerned that Yashani wasn't the type to go off on her own and believing something caught her attention, asked if she was ok. Quincy, also of the same mind, trusted that it was important and followed quietly. Seren, believing something might come, activated *Channel Divinity :* *Twilight Sanctuary* to aid the group. Sterling, seeing Seren was healing, readied himself to cast *Otiluke's Resilient Sphere* if anything became hostile. RX filed in behind everyone and stood close to Bo.

The group saw the tomb together at the center of the room and dispersed around it, with Bo remaining near the exit as they looked around. Yashani found herself frozen at the entrance of the room as she saw the tomb with the same name of her mother and, being so in tune with Sanguis and the feel of life around her felt something within and, though she knew it wasn’t a pulse of life, recognized it as the power of something that existed within that tomb, chaotic and beyond any form of understanding. Yashani told the others that she felt something there and when Alaerith asked why they were inside if they had this feeling said she didn't feel it until they came inside. Yashani felt the pulse again, almost as if it was calling to her, and Sterling asked if they should discuss this. Bo reached his hand out, cast *Detect Magic* over the room and learned whatever was inside was magical and radiated Evocation magic. Bo warned Yashani that they should get out of here and Yashani said that "She" wanted her to go to her. The group asked who "She" was, but Yashani ignored them as she and felt the pulse again. Seren, Alaerith, Bo and Sterling started to barely feel the pulse again and Bo immediately said the group needed to go. Sterling asked Seren what he thought should do and Seren, still with *Aura of Life* and *Twilight Sanctuary* active, covered the tomb with his glow, felt it pulse with magic, that it recognized Yashani and was responding to her presence. Seren told Yashani as much, let her know that this could be good or very bad, but whatever her decision was the party was there for her in this moment. As the party agreed and Quincy and RX, as non magic users, now started to feel the pulse, Seren added whatever the decision was it needed to be quick.

Bo cast *Recall* on himself and made his way out of the mausoleum. Sterling tried to ask Tollanessa what was is in the tomb and when Tollanessa said she didn't know, but suggested they should go. Sterling anxiously reiterated her words to the party and Quincy stepped beside Yashani and slipped their hand into her's for reassurance. Yashani told the group the tomb bore her mother’s name and as Alaerith moved to her side wondered if this was what she left for Yashani to find, with her face looking childlike, hopeful and sad than the party had ever seen before. Yashani approached the tomb, feeling the magical energy pulse like a heartbeat as she grew closer, saw her mother's name was beautifully carved all around the tomb in Common, Orcish, Sylvan and Celestial, placed her hand over the top of the stone and the tomb started to crack and shatter as it exploded outward.

1. ↑ Mechanically this has no benefit to this, but brought a conversation from the cast about new damage types such as Emotional damage and effects from Depression and Anxiety lol
2. ↑ Using RX’s *Keen Mind* feat
3. ↑ Requiring a Constitution save that Haelley/Quincy are historically very bad at making
4. ↑ As Alaerith doesn't have *Vile’s Fang* on his person or the necessary material components the spell doesn't work
5. ↑ Accidental goof from Zach who said it was his *Master Scrivener ability* that let him do that
6. ↑ Jessa rolled a Wisdom saving throw to determine what Yashani would do and failed with a nine