Episode 142 - The Painful Choices of the Living

After a somewhat stressful end to our last session, the gang does what it does best – focusing all of their (remaining) efforts to solve the problem at hand. Sure, things seemed awfully grim, but there has to be some arcane magics or divine assistance that we could harness. What is Geodude up to? That guy was alright. Our adventurers are crafty and resourceful so I have to assume that everything will be alright.

## **Story**

### Long Story

Welp, Thom and Aludra just died. Slaad the Slaad seems very happy. There are two gross Slaadpoles squirming around on the ground. Bucky is screaming, and Ros is trying to console him. Harper curls up into a ball on one of the slabs. Jaela slaps him and tells him to check Thom, see if he is still breathing. She checks Aludra. Neither of them are breathing. Jalea decides not to cast Revivify on Aludra, as it does not restore any missing body parts. Harper has lost it, trying, eerily calmly, to put Thom's body parts back into him. Jaela kills Aludra's Slaadpole. Ros runs out of the room. Jaela runs out too, yelling for Adira. Harper snaps the neck of Thom's Slaadpole. At 54 seconds, Jaela casts Revivify. Aludra opens her eyes for a second, and then immediately dies again. Ros and Adira enter, with two robed figures. Jaela explains the situation, and one of the robed figures figures picks up Aludra, another goes to get Thom. Jaela follows Aludra. They enter a chamber, but a devil tells Jaela she is not allowed through. He says that if she wants Aludra to live, she has to stay outside. After a while, Thom is also brought into the room. Harper, still in shock, meets up with Jaela. Jaela tells him that Aludra and Thom are dead, and Harper just says *"Huh. Okay,"* and curls up in a ball under the table.

Adira comes into the room, and slaps Harper. He comes back into reality a little, and seems not to remember. Adira tells them that Aludra and Thom will be fine. Harper makes her assure them that they aren't gonna put any demon shit in them or anything. The two robed figures enter and say that Thom and Aludra are both breathing again. Jaela runs in and they reconnect. Thom learns of the death of his Slaad son and seems distraught. Thom asks a horrified Bucky who killed Thom's Slaadpole. Bucky says that it was an abomination, and deflects the question. Thom presses him, and Bucky reveals that it was Harper, who doesn't remember doing it. Bucky asks how many times she has died now, and she doesn't even remember anymore. Bucky claims it was three times. Jaela is super hungry, but still doesn't eat their food, she eats from her rations.

Having settled down a bit, Harper and Adira converse about their plans. It seems she is quite the fan of Erathis, who clearly wants these guys to save the world, so she is with them. He tells her that, once all of this is done, she should leave the devils. She again warns them not to go through the mysterious door, and they depart for bed. Harper of course goes straight for the mysterious door. It's locked. Jaela lockpicks it. Inside is a display case on the wall, with 8 shurikens in it!!!!!!!!!!!! There's also a mannequin with an extremely fancy hat. There also seems to be a label for a missing machine that reads *"Brain Device Removal Station."* There's also kraken repellent, double poisoned antidote, a spider gut squeegee, and a ring of water breathing, which Jaela takes. They decide not to tell the others about any of this, because it's all so very, very stupid.

Back with Thom and Aludra, the two recently resurrected members of the party have noticed a slight pain behind their ears!

### Short

Thom and Aludra have just died again. Two baby Slaadi are writhing on the floor. Jaela kills one, and Harper, in a shocked stupor, kills the other. Adira brings men in robes to carry the two bodies away, assuring them that they will be fine. This proves (mostly) true as they come back to life, Thom expressing his distress at the death of his Slaad son, and both of them notice a pain behind their ears, as if they've had devices planted in their brains! Oh, also, Harper and Jaela checks that stupid room they went passed last time, and find a bunch of stupid stuff in it.

## **Trivia**

* Only now does Bachmann question the nature of Steve's inhabitance of Thom's mind. Michael rules that Steve is a consciousness within Thom, not a spirit or a haunting
* Dragonborn have 7 nipples, but they are located in various spots
	+ Thom, however, cut his nipples off a long time ago to achieve bloodied status
* This might be the darkest episode

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - Lord Titus Harper
* Jennifer Cheek - Aludra Wyrmsbane
* Mike Bachmann - Thom Vidalis / Steve Meloncamp
* Nika Howard - Jaela

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Bucky
* Ros
* Slaad the Slaad

### **Inventory Updates**

* +1 Aludra to the Party
* +1 Thom to the Party

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [On-hold] - End the Demon Apocalypse / Kill Fennekin
	+ [On-hold] - Destroy the Demon Portal device with the Hammer of Sundering
	+ [On-hold] - Destroy the Army of Bahamut
		- [On-hold] - Kill Gruemar the Silver
			* [On-hold] - Get to New Newfoundland Land
* [Optional] - Clean up Drunkeros
	+ [Optional] - Investigate the Mind Flayers in the Swamps of Ichtaka
	+ [Active] - Investigate the Church of Bahamut's army
	+ [Optional] - Recruit the assistance of the Dwarves in Deephome
	+ [Optional] - Recruit the assistance of the Elves in Galanthis
* [Backburner] - Find a way to get Steve Meloncamp out of Thom's head

### **Quotes**

**"Who? They're not dead. They're fine..."** ~ *Lord Titus Harper*

## **Rolls**

* **Recap**
	+ Bachmann - 3
	+ Nika - Nat1 - Reverse Bappered
	+ Tim - 3
	+ Jennifer doesn't roll

* **Thom** rolls *Insight* to see if Bucky is lying about the Slaadpole - 18
	+ He thinks he is hiding something

* **Harper** tries to pick the lock on the locked door - 7
	+ It doesn't work

* **Jaela** then tries the same - 9
	+ Whoa! It works. It's the worst lock you've ever seen