Hell Is Round the Corner

The party protects the village of Thysia from The Returned after the fall of several Therosian towns in the countryside.

## Major Plot Points

* While having brunch with King Demetrius, the monarch received word that several villages in the countryside were destroyed by The Returned. He asked the party to go to Thysia, one of the last strongholds in the region and now home to hundreds of refugees.
* Sybil Ringwell's personality changed to that of Schmitty, a ship captain. Using illusion magic, she even took on the personality's appearance. The party was shocked to see this change. Muchomucho M Amor was hesitant to trust Schmitty. The king recommended everyone do an icebreaker.
* Not understanding the rules of two truths and a lie, Sprocket "Ballsy" Gnoman III said he was a master tinkerer, a gnome, and over 6 feet tall. Holy Lady Labya proclaimed she'd be bad at the game since she couldn't tell a lie. Barbara Duke confessed to being bad at the game because all she did was lie.
* Labya tried doing a trust fall with Sprocket but ended up crushing him.
* Relatively easily, Schmitty got Muchomucho to side with him by simply saying he'd earn his trust.
* Dikarus Bottombane questioned the sanity of the party.
* Along the way to Thysia, the group stumbled upon a lemonade stand run by a triton named Buoyoncé. Schmitty and Muchomucho bonded over a round of spiked lemonades. Buoyoncé told the group he recently divorced his husband Gayzee for cheating on him with an elf named Beckera Goodhair and fighting with his sister Solong. Buoyoncé got his revenge and now has dolls made out of Beckera's hair.
* Sprocket poured out the lemonade rather than drink it. This drove Buoyoncé crazy so he pulled out his bat and tried to strike the gnome. Barb used her mage hand to disarm the lemonade stand owner. Sprocket used thunder wave to destroy his small business. Muchomucho made him a doll of hair and Buoyonce named it Green Plant and wept in the middle of the road.
* The party arrived in Thysia and found it surrounded by purple glowing stones. Many public areas had been turned into housing for the refugees. Missing people posters were plastered all around town.
* Schmitty went to The Thirst Is Real tavern where he spoke to a couple of townsfolk. They believed the purple stones protected them from The Returned. Many blamed the disappearances on stupid people venturing off outside of the stones' protection. One grandfather said his granddaughter Meredith wouldn't have left town but still ended up missing.
* Muchomucho, Dikarus, and Barb all found the Gaping Cauldron and Curious Forge closed due to a lack of wares. The cauldron's owner said the mayor mare bought all of the goods.
* Sprocket and Labya went to the Ephara temple that had been turned into a shelter for the refugees. They helped take care of the displaced people. The oracle Poleiz said her daughter Etcetera was missing. She was concerned the mayor mare bought all the wares but didn't know where they're kept. She was also distressed at the callousness for the missing people.
* Poleiz helped Sprocket get more information out of his vision of a silver hand crushing Setessa. She told him the hand belonged to an elf.
* Sprocket, Muchomucho, and Schmitty went to investigate the protective stones around town. Sprocket easily figured out the runes carved on them meant nothing and the purple auras were just a harmless glow. He pocketed some of the stones for tinkering.
* Barb posed as a Better Business Bureau representative and went to the mayor mare's manor with Labya and Dikarus. She intimidated the guards to let them inside. In the mayor mare's office, Dikarus threw books from the bookshelf in hopes of finding a secret door. Barb investigated the very fine and expensive rug. Labya pretended to be the mayor mare to figure out where they'd keep valuables. While she wrote on the desk, she unwittingly activated a secret drawer where the mayor mare's journal was kept. It revealed she was currently at the nearby Erebos temple for some kind of delivery.
* Juxxtina joined the party still very upset about her embarrassing Iroan Games match. Her faith in Karametra greatly wavered.
* The group arrived at the temple and gained access by answering a gargoyle's riddle. Inside the chapel, they found a bearded devil chained to an Erebos statue. The snakes of his beard were decapitated. A message was written in his blood, "He could not hold us."
* After being healed by the party, Diavolos' snakes grew back. He told the heroes that a Returned harpy and her soldiers mocked the god of death by occupying the temple and raising the dead in the crypts. He confirmed to seeing the mayor mare enter with people and supplies. He gifted Sprocket the key to the armory.
* In the Athreos shrine, the party found a fountain with a statue of Athreos. Sprocket put a coin in the wooden boat floating in the fountain an earned an Athreos piety point. He then pocketed the boat.
* Their loud voices attracted two harpies from the other room. The party killed one with ease. The other unleashed her song and took control of several party members, forcing them to attack one another. Sprocket's firebolt proved too much for the winged monster.
* The gnome tinkerer then went into the armory where he found the Scyther. Muchomucho claimed the weapon.
	+ Adds 1d6 radiant damage
	+ If the wielder kills a creature with this weapon, they regain HP equal to the amount of damage dealt in the killing blow
	+ The wielder can talk to crows
* The party entered the holding cells and freed several Thysian citizens, including twins Etcetera and Etcetera (the younger one being very forgettable).
* In a laboratory, the party found a wizard kenku, a crow humanoid. His speech was limited to repeating others. Sprocket created a trinket that repeated the word "Hi" and the kenku passed out after being in an endless loop of hellos. Labya stole a mysterious potion the party couldn't identify.
* In another chamber, the group found a crystal coffin. Barb understood it was used to commune with an attuned deity. Labya went in and met with Erebos. He allowed her to ask him three yes or no questions
	+ Are the Silver Queen and Queen Nekros working together? No
	+ Does Prince Varik mean King Demetrius harm? Yes
	+ Do The Returned know Theros is building an army? Yes
* A narrow wooden bridge connected this chamber to the next. Muchomucho used misty step to teleport to the other end of it. Schmitty tried to cross it first but it leaned to one side like a see-saw, sending him to the ground below. Sprocket's feather fall spell ensured he landed safely on a pile of bones. Understanding the bridge now, the party crossed it easily. Juxxtina had faerie fire assist Schmitty up with rope.
* The group found themselves in a desecration chamber where statues depicting Heliod, Iroas, Karametra, Nylea, Ephara, and Phaenax were defiled and ruined. Our heroes restored the statues, earning many piety points.
* They next discovered the mayor mare meeting with Pterax Caelum, an undead harpy general of The Returned. Labya turned the Returned soldiers, neutralizing them as a threat. Schmitty ended Pterax's ghoulish existence with a fire bolt.
* The mayor mare confessed that the stones around town were to create a false sense of safety. She made an agreement with Pterax that she'd give her the town's weapons, magical goods, and even human sacrifices in exchange for Thysia's safety. The party revealed her conspiracy and the townsfolk killed her, electing one of the Etceteras as mayor but no one is quite sure which.
* King Demetrius arrived in town with the army of Theros. Schmitty turned back into Sybil.