You Lonely Live Once

## Synopsis

In Season 2, Chapter 37: You Lonely Live Once, Erland cautiously felt his way through the swirling vortex of ice and wind to locate Orba, who had just collapsed to the ground after sustaining a brutal series of strikes while attempting to break free from the storm.

With a potion of healing as her saving grace, it was time to turn our attention to Safira – who we hoped had the necessary angle to finish off at least one of the two bandit mages and return the beach to an even playing field.  An arrow struck true, and while it didn't break the magician's concentration, her animus form occupied his attention long enough for the rest of us to rally – and it was just moments later that the momentum began to swing back in our favor.

Graven's dust of sneezing and choking incapacitated one of the armored foes who'd returned to shore – and after wiping out both enemy spellcasters, their ranks were quickly thinning.  Still, the leader had plenty of fight left and he didn't take kindly to our interference in their affairs – so with stalwart resolve he urged his troops to battle on.

At one point, in a last-ditch effort to take one of us with them, the bandits had Graven surrounded – and despite his considerable defenses, he eventually succumbed to the onslaught of attacks.  Immediately after, however, the bandit leader drew his final breath – a defeat that signaled to his underlings that it was better to retreat than fight on in futility.

We only had time for a hasty patting down of the bodies before clamoring into the rowboats, still clinging to the hope that whoever resided in this secluded cottage had managed to elude the first team sent to the island.  The waters were choppy and contained additional obstacles like the occasional pebbleback pincer crab hovering just below the surface, but we reached the docks without capsizing and it was there we caught our first glimpse of what was really going on.

As we charged up the hillside, three scrambling bandits seemed to be in pursuit of a vaguely humanoid shape that was using empty picture frames as portals to evade capture – and as we swooped in to the rescue, we began a secondary skirmish that thankfully wouldn't last nearly as long as the conflict on the shore.

Upon learning that their companions had already died or dispersed, the brigands asked for mercy and we obliged – sparing us having to expend any further resources and giving us immediate access to the hut where we began to poke around.  Some calming words coaxed out the inhabitant, who revealed himself to be a boggle – a fey manifestation of loneliness that had carved out this cliffside dwelling as a way to remain useful and attract visitors.

Apparently some bandits had enlisted his services to track ships coming around the northeastern tip of Anti-Suyu, identifying vessels ripe for piracy as they continued west toward Dylosuun and beyond.  Spud, as he was called, inadvertently shared some of this information with another group – a transgression that labeled him a traitor and was the catalyst for the attack on his home.

He was grateful for our company – and as we conversed he revealed another interesting tidbit relating to the derelict Mollefaire boat we'd heard about way back in Navika-Pura.  Spud believed a sea hag had begun the process of making the shipwreck her lair, which (while dangerous) meant the majority of the spoils might still be unclaimed despite the crash happening weeks prior.

The boggle had identified a method of discerning when the lair's defenses were temporarily disabled; knowledge that could prove to be life-saving if we went forward with our investigation – but for now we needed to simply rest and wait out the storm.  There didn't seem to be such a thing as overstaying our welcome with Spud, so we hunkered down inside the cabin and prepared to teach the creature a game to pass the time.

## Trivia

* Natural one count: seven natural ones were rolled in this Chapter. 1 each by John and Matt, 2 by Anthony, and 3 by Riley.