Episode 390 - Temptation's Hand

We return to the Tower of Grey in order to find our next step to complete this god killing artifact. Unfortunately, bad news is waiting for us, as it tends to do, in place we look to for comfort and safety.

## **Story**

### Long Story

Okay, I can't let this stand. The episode begins with a refresher, in which the cast recounts who is who and where. The Tower of Grey are hanging out on *The BTS*, everyone's favorite airship that isn't *The Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap*. With them are The Sorrowful Man, Bercy Hamhands, Oliver Hairmouth, Angel la Pamela Sanjerita, and the three Bone Card fighters they rescued from Lucious Incendous. They are Pandora Thorne, Duclaw Honeypaw, and then... Tim says Sharpe Lestat. Sharpe is dead, he was left behind at The Elite Forge to fight Tiamat. Wordsworth Zics is the one that was brought back to the ship. Also, a lot of time is devoted to talking about the Orb of Annihilation on the *BTS*. Toby wants to show Boris. You guys remember Boris? Course you do. Also, Skud's dog, Squelch has been there the whole time. Sure.

After all the tomfoolery, Toby heads off to his bedchamber, but upon entering, he's no longer in his bedchamber. Encased in darkness, a robed figure sits upon a throne made of metal and bone. Only one eye can be seen. Well, less an eye, and more a glowing red pin prick where the right eye would be. Behind it, are Toby's clone tanks. She introduces herself as Vecna, a terrifying character that Toby knows and is intimidated by. She tells Toby that he is naught but a puppet, being used by others, and that he must team up with her. Her mission, she claims, is to free mortals from the interfering hand of the gods. And Toby, on the verge of gathering The Orb, a weapon capable of slaying the gods... That's too juicy an opportunity for Vecna to pass up. The issue is that, upon assembling the artifact, Toby and his friends will die, and the Orb will be used to torture people all across the realms! As the champion of secrets, Vecna serves as a compelling foil to Toby, the seeker of truths. Two sides of the same coin. She urges Toby to think about it. At that, Toby's oldest clone turns in the tank, revealing a withered left hand, and a bulging, bloodshot left eye, a black slit for a pupil. Scary stuff.

He runs out and decides not to tell the others, despite Rowan attempting *(attempting)* to be friendly and get him to open up. Angel le Pamela Sanjerita announces that they've made it The Tower of Gray! They're greeted by Older Man Weck, who announces that Bucky is here! Or, as he refers to him, Prince Wyrmsbane! Also, Ros has returned! She's here, too! Along with sad news. Ray has died. That's a bummer. Rowan goes off to be alone for a second. After Toby warns the others of how hot Ros is, he sends off Hoby to fetch Rowan, and together, they enter the Tower to meet the young prince.

They meet in the un-named meeting room, where Toby showed off the Toby Gang back in the day. Ros rests comfortably against a comfy chair, while Bucky wears full plate armor, carrying his dad's Battle Crazed Greatsword. He's pissed at them for running off after Aludra and Jaela went missing. Ros has been unable to find them, but she has found Ray... She produces the body of Rowan's late friend, revealing that the body is covered in mushrooms and spores. Very *The Last of Us*. She was found in the most dreadful of all places, The Slime Pits of The Abyss...

Toby whips out his trusty ol' Crystal Ball of Telepathy, and begins to attune to it. Rowan, meanwhile, is concerned for her friend, and asks if it was a painful way to die. Older Man Weck (what does he know about it) informs them that her soul is likely still intact, prompting Toby to cast *Wish* to then cast *Resurrection*, and bring Ray back from the freakin' dead! And it works! She's alive!

She summarizes what we learned back in Episode 332. In Sigil, they were attacked by Adira Harper, who *Mazed* Eckhart Dayhammer. At this namedrop, Eckhart Dayhammer bursts into the room. He escaped his Maze, hurray! Ray continues, picking up where we left off. After Adira promised to show them what she was up to, she took them to The Abyss. There, they were captured by some mushroom people. The group was split up, and Ray became overburdened by the spores. She did manage to escape, but was unable to make it out of the Abyss, and she succumbed to the spores. She died. And then she was here!

Bucky wants to get going, and prompts them to get out The Orb. Upon pressing the final button, however, they no longer see the Burning City that they expect, but instead, a huge complex of mushrooms. It's the Slime Pits! So that's where they're headed off to next! But first, they must rest. Everyone's tired, and in need of spell slots, Ki points, and HP. Toby absconds to his "clonatorium" with Boris, whereupon he asks him what he knows about Vecna. The two head to Toby's hidden plane thing and meet Marlamin Windlore (Erynn Colleen must be on break). They check on Toby's clone, and OH NO! It actually is wounded. Boris explains that he can use the eye to cast spells, and gives True Sight. BUT, there's a chance that when it's used, it will destroy your soul, and give it to Vecna. That's not good.

Toby returns to the others, and everyone goes to sleep.

### Short

Whoof. This was a big one. The party gets to the Tower of Gray, where they meet with Bucky. Also, Ray is dead, but Toby resurrects her. Oh! Speaking of Toby, he has a meeting with the God of Lies and Deception, Vecna! Vecna warns that if they use the Orb, they will themselves die. In order to avoid this, she encourages Toby to join up with her. Ultimately, they learn that the final piece of the artifact is in The Slime Pits of The Abyss, and that's where they are to go...

## **Trivia**

* Sharpe Lestat is dead
* Branson is dead
* Tim gives us a rundown of the clones he has right now:
	+ 2 Tobies
	+ 2 Rowans
	+ 1 Lahni
	+ 1 Skud
	+ 1 Baby Bercy (not ready yet)
	+ 1 Baby Frank, about toddler sized (not ready yet)
	+ 1 Boris
	+ 1 Baby Toby 2 (not ready yet)
	+ 1 Baby Amber Reeves (not ready yet)
	+ 1 Rake
	+ 1 Ava
	+ Isuuld doesn't have one
* Rowan doesn't know if Older Man Weck works for the Tower of Grey. This is extremely funny to me
* Ray and Rowan were childhood friends
* Tim states that Chilli Manilli is dead. This is a tragedy
* Bucky has, in fact, met Skud and Lahni before: Episode 347 - The Gremp
* Rake is an herbalist
* Toby 2 is named Terrance, Trey, formerly Toby 3, is dead
* The "mushroom children they almost ate" are, of course, Ralphie and Edgar
* Terrance and Terrance's simulacrum, Toby 4, bring tasty treats for everyone
	+ Lahni orders a deep-fried deviled eggs, but with egg salad sandwich innards
	+ Rowan orders sour sausages. I never thought Lahni's desert snack would be less horrifying that Rowan's, but here we are...
	+ Skud wants dog treats, because they're shaped like bones
* Upon further review, Eckhart Dayhammer had actually shown up after his *Maze* adventure, so this re-union had already taken place! I forgot about this, too, until editing his character page.

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

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - Toby Treacletart
* Jennifer Cheek - Rowan Grey
* Mike Bachmann - Skud Derringer
* Nika Howard - Lahnik "Lahni" Caplain

### **Non-Player Characters**

* The Sorrowful Man
* Bercy Hamhands
* Oliver Hairmouth
* Angel la Pamela Sanjerita
* Pandora Thorne
* Duclaw Honeypaw
* Sharpe Lestat / Wordsworth Zics
* Vecna
* Older Man Weck
* Ros
* Bucky
* Boris
* Rake
* Ray
* Eckhart Dayhammer

### **Pets/Familiars**

* Squelch
* Hoby
* Terrance

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Greenham
		- The Tower of Gray

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [On-Hold] - Stop Tiamat!
* [Active] - Destroy The Orb!
	+ [Active] - Find the final missing piece
		- [Active] - Investigate the final location, The Slime Pits
		- [Active] - Find Adira Harper
* [On-Hold] - Return to Catherine Beanlord's graveyard in The Elemental Plane of Earth get the body of Tuck Frump
* [Active][Jaeludra] - Investigate the Great Colosseum in Caer

### **Quotes**

* **"You're Vecna? Wow! Holy crap! You're so bad! Oh my gosh! This is not good at a-- Why are you-- This is so bad!"** ~ *Toby Treacletart*

* **"Oh, Toby. This is a nut that even you can't bust"** ~ *Toby Treacletart, to himself*

* **"You can always talk to me, or... whatever..."** ~ *Rowan Grey, a good friend*

* **"*HE GETS PAID?!?*"** ~ *Skud, of Older Man Weck*

* **"Ros is really hot and scary. So, don't be caught off guard. For some reason, Lahni, I feel like you're gonna hate her. I don't know why."** ~ *Toby*
* **"You don't understand how hard it is for me not to hate her!"** ~ *Lahni, or Nika?*

* **"Did you even bring me a garlic knot?"** ~ *Bucky*

* **"Shit. Yeah, I died."** ~ *Ray*

* **"Just, real quick. I just wanna say, the chat is backing me up. They're called, Big Momma's Pickled Hot Links!"** ~ *Jennifer Cheek*

* **"I'm loving life!"** ~ *Boris*

## **Rolls**

* **Recap**
	+ *No Recap*

* Everyone rolls *Insight* to see if Toby was practicing self-love
	+ **Rowan** - 16
	+ **Skud** - 24
* Against Toby's *Deception*
	+ **Toby** - 15
		- He's freaking out, man

* **Toby** rolls *Investigation* for the body of Ray

* Some people roll to see if they know anything about the Slime Pits
	+ **Toby** rolls *Arcana* - 14
	+ **Skud** rolls *Religion* - 16
	+ **Rowan** rolls *Nature* - 12
		- Collectively, they know a little about the Slime Pits

* **Michael** rolls a d20 to see who is on guard in Toby's hidden zone
	+ 7 - It's Marlamin Windlore