A Couple of Mistakes

**A Couple of Mistakes** is the forty ninth episode of *Another Bad Side Quest.* The party scrambles as they misplace a member of their group and attempt to find their way in the next leg of their journey.

## A Couple of Mistakes

### **Synopsis**

**Pre-Show Shenanigans**

* Weird energy in the studio tonight, Darrin is screaming and Mak is eating chicken and rice, what could go wrong?
* Zach is back!
* Jon is out this week and next but don’t worry, the DM has ideas for that

As the ice tomb shattered and that half orc woman's eyes opened, a wave of force blasted out and threw Bo, Yashani and Seren, who were close to her ice tomb, against opposite walls. As Bo recovered from the wind being knocked out of him, he and Yashani saw a half-drow woman, Esmeria, phased out of the ice wall from the waist up, smiled and grabbed Seren. Esmeria started to yank Seren back into the ice wall with her and in spite of Bo firing a bolt from his hand crossbow into her shoulder was unable to stop her and Seren from disappearing. Meanwhile everyone outside the room, with RX, Sterling and Quincy back in the room with the broken merchant cart while Alaerith and the Blistercoil Weird were back in the front area of the *Cold Room*, heard the commotion and ran for the room with the tomb. Bo, noticing the half-orc woman stood from the remains of her tomb which had sank back into the icy floor failed to activate *Captura* on her, in spite of Sterling casting *Silvery Barbs* to distract her, and as the orb flew past her disappeared as she turned into a mist that eventually faded.

When everyone gathered in the room that used to have the ice tomb Quincy asked what they touched and Yashani explained she didn’t touch anything, that Bo touched the ice, that the woman woke up, that Esmeria took Seren and the woman turned to mist. Sterling took up the doorway, spread out as much as he physically could, to make it near impossible for anyone, invisible or otherwise, to step past him, but as he looked over the mist realized she likely had become the mist itself and was probably already gone. The party worried about Seren and where Esmeria might have taken him and thought of ways to possibly locate him, but remembered even Sterling’s *Locate Object* spell on Seren’s staff or *Ob’s Charm* would only tell them that Seren was still in *Dusterburyan Lighthouse* with nothing else more specific to help find him.

As the others discussed what to do Bo cast *Detect Magic* to look around the room, discovered the odd bit of ice in the corner he had seen earlier gave off Conjuration magic and informed the others. Sterling assumed it was another teleportation device and noted, from what they had seen so far, passing through ice in one place would mean passing through ice on the other side just similar to how they went from the dirt of the potted plant to the dirt in graves previously. Quincy commented they were tired of being cold and when Alaerith had the Blistercoil Weird move closer to her for warmth Sterling noted it was still fascinating to him. The group agreed there was more to investigate before they thought to go anywhere near the ice. Sterling took out a scroll, wrote out a small warning sign that read *“beware of teleportation”* in case Seren returned to this place looking for them. Alaerith, noticing this, cast *Prestidigitation* to create a temporary trinket, a ring, threw it on to the ice to see what would happen and when the group saw it slowly sunk into the floor agreed to go somewhere else.

The party headed back to the last hallway branching from the room they were in and found two unexplored openings, one that lead into a room with a single chest at the far end of a slope downwards towards it, which drew immediate suspicions, and another to a wall of ice that looked into a small room with a cot. RX and Sterling investigated the ice and found nothing of note, with RX going so far as to throw a piton at the ice, but the piton bounced off with no effect. Bo moved towards it, while concentrating on *Detect Magic,* found that the ice also gave off Conjuration magic around it, told the others and the group agreed it was likely another portal and decided to continue further down the hall first.

Sterling and RX led the party further down the hall and into a small room with another hallway branching off from the wall to their right, heard a crunching sound and as they felt the ice give way under their feet managed to step back before the ice entirely gave way, but immediately were affected by some kind of enchantment enticing to go towards the ice, jumped into the 40 foot pit and heavily injured themselves as they impaled themselves on the spikes of ice below, with RX having one go completely through his abdomen and foot, while Sterling had smaller spikes go through his under arm and another through his calf. Yashani questioned why the two went in the hall without a care in the world while Sterling and RX requested help. Quincy quickly lowered a rope, with Yashani readying to pull them up with it and RX lifted himself up from the spike he was impaled on, but as he did a gush of oil and other fluids left him, accompanied by electricity that crackled across the wound and and smoke that leaked from within him. Yashani asked RX to help Sterling off from the spikes and RX noted it would likely kill him. Alaerith, noting Yashani needed to remain above as the only one strong enough to lift anyone out, descended the rope to help get Sterling out. Meanwhile Sterling, thinking of a solution to get out, reached for his *Ring of Rooster,* but found it was missing from his items as well.

Safely at the bottom of the pit Alaerith kneeled beside Sterling and cast *Prestidigitation* on the ice spike Sterling's arm was impaled on in an attempt to melt them away, but when he found it didn't work cast *Firebolt* and held it's energy to melt it. Sterling, who felt pained through the process, cast *Phantasmal Force* on himself to whisk himself away to happier place, to Alaerith and RX's confusion, but the continued damage to free him of the remaining ice spike made him drop *Phantasmal Force* and was left *Unconscious*. Alaerith, panicking at seeing Sterling going limp, activated *Life Drain* using his Ruined Moon mark to help heal him with own life force. Sterling stood Bo questioned if they needed to do anything about RX, as in the panic and time it took to help Sterling the mist leaking from RX had created a layer of it that floated across the floor of the pit. Alaerith took out the lodestones borrowed from Sterling and cast *Mending* repeatedly for 20 minutes to seal the holes in RX’s form as Quincy and Yashani grew impatient, unsure of what exactly was happening below as they waited. RX, now repaired, climbed partially up the rope, activated *Telekinetic Movement* to lift Sterling up out of the hole and once up Quincy also activated *Life Drain* to heal him as well. Quincy then started to wrap Sterling’s still bleeding wounds as Yashani activated *Hand of Healing* to heal him. As RX climbed back up, Alaerith noticed that the mist that had left RX’s body shifted and swirled before it dissipated entirely, requested to be pulled up and Yashani proceeded to pull him up.

The party, now reunited, noticed a path around the pit at the center of the room they could walk along to reach the next hallway. The party moved down the path illuminated by the flicker of firelight and all, except the Blistercoil Weird, heard the noise of murmuring voices and a cackling laugh coming from down the hall. Sterling activated *Ob’s Charm* to ask if they all heard it, suggesting they get the jump on these “scallywags” and Quincy instantly groaned and berated him to never use the word again. Meanwhile Bo cast *Recall*, walked around the pit, activated *Translucence* to turn temporarily invisible for six seconds and made his way down the hallway to investigate the sound. Bo came to a doorway near the middle of the halls length, looked into it, saw a terrifying sight of a rotting woman with tendrils of seemingly bleeding hair that appeared to move of its own accord as the hair lashed out and struck him as as he activated *Sainted Reprisal* to to strike back with radiant magic, while *Recall* returned him to his previous position. Bo quickly explained what he saw just as the horrifying creature cackled loudly and began to make its way down the hallway towards them, calling them playthings. As the group fled, Sterling, in a flash of being too clever for his own good, jumped into the pit and failed to cast *Negative Image* on the creature, due to miscalculating the time to cast and losing sight of the creature, and fell into the bottom of the pit. As the party questioned what to do RX told the group to run, that he could handle this and jumped into the pit. RX assured Sterling that whatever his idea was was good and just needed to work on timing, picked him up, thought to himself that he could lift and push things with his powers and pondered if he could do so to himself before he activated *Psi-Powered Leap* to wreath himself in electricity, jump and get themselves out of the pit again. As they appeared out of the pit the group noticed the creature was no longer there and Sterling quickly deduced she was now invisible.  Quincy activated *Life Drain* to heal Sterling again and as the Blistercoil Weird dissipated everyone ran back down the hallway back into the room with the furnace.

Realizing that the room no longer had a door Sterling started to ritually cast *Tiny Hut*, but noted someone needed to keep the terrifying woman out for 10 whole minutes. Yashani wondered if they should just take their chances with the ice patch with the Conjuration and Bo pointed out they were sitting ducks for 10 minutes or risk finding something just as bad on the other side of the portal. With Sterling already a decent ways into his spell, the party decided to hunker down and defend him as the dome slowly forms, with Bo, who cast *Transient Bulwark* on himself, and Quincy near the doorway while Yashani stood at the doorway. As they waited Yashani requested those near by to step away, stepped 10 feet outside the doorway, pulled out *Umbra*, cracked it on the ground to activate *Umbral Bite* causing a radius of darkness to appear around her that only she was capable of seeing through. As Yashani stood at the ready she and the group outside saw a ghostly image of a mask with a moth on it, that Yashani knew was her mother, until they both spotted a distortion in the darkness and her mother flew to it, hurled daggers at the distortion causing the creature to drop *Invisibility* before it retreated from the darkness and left down the hallway it had come from, cackling all the way. As *Tiny Hut* finally finished in its entirety Yashani was called back into the room and everyone huddled inside just as Umbral Bite's deactivated and the darkness vanished.

Sterling warned if the creature could see the dome she could dispel it and the party, minus Sterling who remained in the dome, used the cots and what they could find to blockade the doorway. Sterling recalled on his studies that the creature was a hag, though he wasn't sure what specific kind it was. He then told the group at least it wasn't a night hag, warning that night hags fed on their souls while they slept or turn their souls into slugs that would then be sold in the Nine Hells and was reprimanded by several party members for giving unnecessary and terrifying information. Alaerith enquired if there was a connection between the hag and the half-orc woman, specifically if they looked alike in any of their features and Quincy said it was simply their own bad luck in a place full of bad things. Alaerith then suggested they should take watches through the night and RX offered that he could simply use *Sentry’s Rest* to keep an eye out while he recovered his energy. As Sterling, exhausted from the day, passed out Alaerith cast *Enhance Ability : Owl’s Wisdom* to help his perception before he went into his *Trance*. Quincy approached Bo, explained that the healing bullet worked and asked if they can make another and Bo agreed. The two worked outside *Tiny Hut* until the bullet was finished before they both went to sleep as well. Likewise Yashani meditated as usual before finding sleep, with visions of her mother still on her mind while RX went into his *Sentry's Rest*.

About three hours into the group's rest and despite Alaerith's attempt to fix the gaping holes in RX, RX felt something was not quite right and as he pondered on it felt a bolt of electricity run through his body and was jolted, causing his left arm to stick straight out without his conscious thought to do so before it released. RX noted this was new before he felt a rumbling rolling feeling where his stomach would be as the feeling of electricity started to build inside of him, twisting as it did, before it finally faded.

Alaerith woke from his *Trance* an hour later and two hours later RX likewise woke from his *Sentry’s Rest*, and spent the next two hours staring at his abdomen in an attempt to scan it and discover what was wrong. The rest of the group woke with Sterling finding Quincy laying three quarters of the way across him and complained about and Quincy argued he was still a comfortable pillow despite him being a “bag of bones”. Sterling commented that was an insult and Quincy simply said yep without a word. Bo quickly asked RX if he was ok and RX replies he had no idea. Alaerith informed the others he had been doing that for the past two hours and when Quincy asked what he was looking for and RX explained he was unsure, though he felt a rumbling in his stomach. Bo and Quincy pondered if he was simply developing a sense of hunger but RX retorted that he was not. Sterling pointed out that RX was fully impaled, that mist seeped out of him while he still had a hole through him and recalled Twynn mentioned an elemental god supposedly resided within RX. RX compared himself to a butterfly and theorized he was in the process of changing and Sterling wondered he was suggesting his body was the chrysalis. RX noted it was his acting theory and when Quincy asked in concern if caterpillars really did turn to goop in chrysalis Sterling said it was true. RX added it could be the things Twynn had mentioned might happen and were happening early due to the impalement he had experienced.

Bo confirmed that Alaerith had repaired the holes on him and Alaerith said his magic was working and was sure he had. As RX removed his shirt to inspect his form for any weak spots or leftover damage Yashani asked where he felt the energy and RX explained in his abdomen, but noted it did spread to his arm when he previously lost control over the appendage for a moment the night before. Sterling cast *Enhance Ability : Owl’s Wisdom* on Yashani to aid her attempt to check RX's body as Yashani asked permission to touch RX like when she healed him back in Masq's shop. When RX agreed Yashani placed a hand over his abdomen, used her ki to sense whatever it was that gave and felt the pulse of electricity again, but also felt something else push at RX’s body as if something wanted out, realized something in his making was broken and was beyond something she was capable of healing. As Yashani did this Bo went behind RX, stuck his incorporeal arm in where RX was impaled and was instantly struck by a major shock of electricity before being flung back against the wall behind him. As Bo dusted himself RX asked Bo to ask first before performing such an operation on him in the future while Sterling noted they should remember that for any encounters with ghosts or incorporeal beings. RX then asked what Yashani discovered and Yashani explained as best as she could that his body's energy was trying to leave, that the weak point was where it was impaled.

RX noted he had questions for Twynn, pulled out the small box Twynn gave him before they left his home outside of *Krak,* activated it and the group all heard heard Twynn’s voice ask what he needed. RX explained how he was impaled and how Alaerith magically repaired it and Twynn noted that the barrier within wasn't fixed and was a problem. Yashani asked how to fix it and Twynn noted without the barrier being fixed it was a matter of time before what was within got out. Twynn added the only one who could do that was his father as he built it and RX told him how the group was within a pocket dimension, that time seemed different in there compared to outside and likely wouldn't be able to contact him. Twynn asked how long ago this had happened and when RX gave the rough estimate of eight and a half hours or so said RX he had about a month before an explosion 100 times bigger then a normal one would come out of him followed by lightning. Quincy asked if there was anything they could do to prolong that timeline and when RX said Alaerith probably did so when he repaired him Twynn agreed. As Alaerith started to panic Sterling asked if there was anything the group could do, noting he could cast *Fabricate* and Twynn noted a pound of obsidian might increase the strength of the repair, as it was the main component his father used for the barrier. RX asked Sterling to refrain from tinkering until they had everything they needed before officially establishing no one should do anything to his body without asking him first, which some of the party noted was a sort of full circle moment as consent and boundaries was one of the first things the party worked to teach RX. RX thanked Twynn for his assistance and Twynn said he was happy to help and let them know they could ask if they needed anything else. Bo asked for his help to get out of the demi-plane and Twynn said he didn't know which they were in before adding he was on a boat to Gilesha and might be out of range for a bit. Quincy asked why he was headed there and Twynn says he was going to pick up certain materials *Luthinus.* Sterling asked how to fight a hag and Twynn said it depended on the type of hag. RX thanked Twynn before saying good-bye and deactivated the small box.

As *Tiny Hut* dropped the party discussed whether they should check the patch of ice in the *Cold Room* or go back to the *Dead Room* to put more space between themselves and the hag. Sterling suggested they make a plan to get the jump on the hag, worried about it following them now that it knows they are here. Quincy suggested to leave it alone, arguing hags were intelligent creatures and asked why they wouldn't leave the *Cold Room* other than if she was happy there and Sterling retorted that hags feed on people and could follow them for a nice meal or to use their souls. Bo added that they could also go back through the *Dead Room* and through another door to put more doors between themselves and the hag if it did follow them. The party discussed the other doors they had skipped including the wooden door Sterling saw when he cast *Arcane Eye* that had a room with a cot and mirror, but Bo shut down the idea of mirror travel again anytime soon. Ovarandi’s explanation to Yashani was also brought up as the party assumed they needed to get to the *Desert Room,* which was after the *Cold Room,* but Yashani explained it wasn’t so much instructions and more what she knew of the layout from what she had traversed. The party eventually agreed to investigate what they found the day before without going down the hallway with the hags and then decide what they wish to do.

They followed another pathway, but found it led to found another empty room and headed back to the main room of the area. The party, aware that the hag could still appear anytime, discussed more of Sterling’s idea to possibly get the jump on the hag they had found with Sterling curious about the party’s abilities, aware they were all powerful in their own right, but not sure exactly what they could do. Bo noted that he could see invisible creatures and Quincy explained they had used quite a few magic bullets recently, but still had the *Negative Image* bullet that they had made with Sterling a while ago. Quincy, noting how reckless yet clever Sterling’s plan had been, wondered if RX could levitate Quincy over the pit, that they could shoot the hag to drop it on the spikes and afterwards anyone with ranged abilities could unleash on her from above. Yashani and RX noted they didn't have ranged abilities to use and Quincy suggested they could instead wait for the seemingly inevitable moment the hag got out of the pit. As they talked everyone, but Bo, noticed at the mouth of the hallway leading to the pit a gnarled and hunched woman, with her head spun entirely around. As the figure looked at them it's *Unsettling Presence* activated and RX, Alaerith and Quincy were all left *Stunned* before the hag flickered in and out of existence and disappeared. Yashani laid a hand on the Quincy and activated *Hand of Healing* and simultaneously activated *Physician's Touch* to help her break away from the stun. Sterling immediately cast *Grease* on the ground between the hallway opening and the party in the hopes of tripping anything that tried to come close, while Bo cast *See Invisibility,* but saw nothing in sight. The party soon heard the cackle of the hag down the hall and Sterling and Quincy immediately went to to Alaerith and RX respectively to break them from their stun with smelling salt and smacks respectively. Once the chaos subsided, Yashani and Sterling realized the hag they saw was different to the first one with bleeding hair. Sterling, with that knowledge, immediately lit the grease he created on fire to create more of a barrier to prevent them from following them.

The party returned to the room with the ice they assumed they could teleport through and, realizing they had no idea where it went, decided to send Nubbi in first to check it. Bo cast *Beast Sense* on her to use her senses before she trotted over to the patch of ice and slowly began to sink through the ice patch. Nubbi dropped into a pond and was ejected without her doing from a thin layer of ice over a pond, landed on solid dirt a few feet away, looked around a bit and found she was standing on dirt, on a piece of land only 30 feet in diameter that floated in the sky. Nubbi saw there were other small floating isles in the sky around her, with one that had a dense forest, one that had a house and another topped with a small mountain with varying elevations. and within a decent jump of the next. Nubbi also saw large isles as well, with one that had a citadel made of gems and another with a large sewer pipe and, from where Nubbi stood, a number of smaller isles seemed to lead to the larger isle with the citadel, while in the opposite direction there were smaller isles like a path that led to the forest. Nubbi investigated the edge of the isle she was on and saw there were more small isles that disappeared below cloud cover and from the clouds there was a large silver spike that stood up. Bo recounted what he saw through Nubbi's eyes to the others, noting if they were looking for a desert, it didn't seem like they will find it here. Nubbi jumped back into the pond, returned to the *Cold Room* and Bo thanked her while Quincy fed her a ration as a reward for good work. Sterling noted even if they didn't go through the portal now, they at least knew where they were headed if they needed an escape route.

Sterling asked Bo when the hag caught him snooping and when Bo said was likely when he was invisible noted that *Arcane Eye* may not be as helpful as the hags might spot it snooping around. Sterling suggested they could distract the hags while he would try to cast *Arcane Eye* to take a look, but reazlied effectively do so would require a lot of skill and precision that most of the party doubted they have. The party eventually decided to check the chest in the other room to see if there was anything useful, while also prolonging entering the hallway with the hags again. RX entered the room with the chest, stood at the farside of the room, threw a piton at it which harmlessly bounced off of it and let a whole minute pass before the group decided the chest didn't jump up to eat them. Sterling, believing it was safe, walked to the chest and as the icy floor concaved inwards fell into another pit and was stabbed by a number of ice shards as he fell. Sterling groaned and muttered that he hated the place as he climbed the slope up to the chest, opened it and found a number of glowing mushrooms. Quincy recognized the mushrooms looked like ones they saw in *The* *Underdark* and informed the group of that. Yashani wondered if the chest could be moved or acted as a strange portal to *The* *Underdark,* but other than the mushrooms, realized the chest was entirely mundane. RX noted that anyone made of flesh shouldn't do that again, but when Alaerith commented that he shouldn't either as they knew something was happening to him noted he might not have much choice where they were.

The party contemplated investigating the next room with the sheet of ice, with some worry they were getting close to the hags to be heard, but when Yashani pointed out they had not been particularly stealthy up to this point and had likely already been heard the party agreed and headed there. Bo suggested he could activated *Anti-Magic Strike* on the ice as the piton the day before didn’t do anything, but Yashani suggested they could try knocking first. Bo shrugged as he did so and the ice opened like a doorway to everyone’s surprise. Bo stepped through the doorway into the room and the party followed close behind when Bo was not instantly attacked and noted they all just stepped through a mirror. RX noticed a wooden door in the room, opened it and found himself in the room with the room of barrels. As the party spaced out between the new room with the cot and the room with the barrel and Bo knocked the familiar door with amethyst, while RX called out for anyone who might be there and received no reply.

Quincy offered they had an idea, although a bad one, pointed out that Alaerith had magic that let him run especially fast and in theory could use it to lure the hags out of the hallway, through the door, run to the planter and disappear and the group would be free to go down the now free hallway as the hags would be away from it. Yashani countered that they could just kill the hags while Sterling offered they could combine the two ideas with Alaerith luring the hags out while the party prepared to surprise them with held attacks. Yashani added that the hags had been in the room far longer then, were now bored or hungry and were content to wait as long as they needed to. The party bounced back and forth with ideas of to do, but with no clue on what the hags were capable of made it difficult as anything they could try might be countered and offered brute force might be their only idea. Sterling offered that he could cast *Slow* on the hags to prevent spell casting and Yashani added that she could use her staff to let them be stabbed by her mother. As RX refilled his waterskin with oil Yashani activated *Hand of Healing* to cure Sterling, but noted she would only do it the one time until he was actively dying. The group decided for Yashani and RX to be in the front, with Bo and Quincy in the back for long range and the spellcasters being in the middle and Sterling added that he could teleport someone with him to the other end of the hallway to bring attacks from both sides. Bo also added that before he was caught he saw there was a room behind the hag, but in the surprise of the hag’s appearance didn't get a chance to look beyond her and had no idea what could be in that room.

As the group talked they soon heard a voice over *Ob’s Charm* that called out for Quincy, that they, Alaerith and Yashani recognized as Kaziyea, causing Quincy’s face to go pale and their eyes went distant as they quietly called out Kaz’s name in return.

1. ↑ The best perception check of all time! Mak got a 33, Jessa, Zach and Ian got 23s, Haelley rolled two Nat 20s for a 24 and Jeremy got a dirty 20
2. ↑ Bo's *Ioun Stone of Awareness* protected him from being surprised by the creature.
3. ↑ Haelley rolled an 18 Intelligence check to make sure Quincy would actually know that, we can assume Quincy read a book or two on butterflies
4. ↑ Majority of the cast/party theorized it was a mimic, how wrong they were lol
5. ↑ Zach intended to use *Ob's Wraps* to warp away if attacked, but learned it can't be used against saving throws.