The Miss Demeanor Ep. 13

### YouTube VOD

***Miss Demeanor* Episode 13** was streamed on BrettUltimus' Twitch channel on the 14th of November 2020, and premiered on the World of Io's YouTube channel on 20th of November 2020.

## Summary

*Written by u/Sir\_P1zza, edited by u/Justa5crub & u/PalladiumDrake*

Inside the Tower of Xenocrates, the split crew continues fighting the two Gemini Robots. In the left room, Armstrong and Alice face off against a robot that misses part of his plate armor and an arm, while Luna and Layton in the right room fight against one that has his cannon and an arm ripped off. The left robot strikes out at Armstrong, who by now can barely stand. However, Armstrong leaps up and stabs his rapier into the robot’s head. As the robot is almost destroyed but still standing, Alice inputs the commands for the shock option. With a massive lighting strike, the robot gets destroyed. As the robot gets destroyed,  a voice echoes through the room: “Error, one autotron missing from Gemini Protocol, please administer treatment.” On the right side, using a combination of the shock option in the console and a well aimed Shatter, the robot gets destroyed as well.

Two doors open up, revealing a center room connecting the two rooms. The two groups enter the room and find two crates. While Armstrong and Luna are collecting the items, Layton remarks that Alice has grown. They find a Quartz Spell Gem that is capable of containing second level spells. They also find a magic quill that is able to give any person a tattoo, which gives the wearer Death Ward once per day. Alice uses the quill on Layton’s left arm, and the ink forms into vines and leaves. On the end are not roses but rather skulls. The crew peeks ahead to see where the room continues and finds a console and a weirdly formed bridge that is made of metal. The console states that: “Xenocrates Monorail currently offline, please activate at the Tower of Archimedes console.” A prompt shows up: “Would you like to activate the Archimedes Titan?” Still tired from their earlier fight, the group opts to exit the tower, not knowing the repercussions of this activating the Titan.

They pick up Lauence who was waiting outside of the ziggurat and return back to Sholo’s hut. They find Wood Gnome outside, unconscious, pulseless, and cold to the touch. His life force is halted through magical means, and Alice kicks open the hut’s door. The group immediately barrages Sholo with questions, but he calmly exits his hut. He opens a jar with a blue glow and spreads the insides over Wood Gnome, who then jolts awake. Sholo quickly apologizes and explains that it had to be done, because Wood Gnome truly talks too much. Layton shows Sholo his new companion Scrum, whom Sholo identifies as a son of the Deep One. Layton removes the egg from the Bag of Holding, but when he looks into Sholo’s eyes, he realizes that Sholo might be dishonest about the ritual. Layton and Armstrong go back and forth with Sholo. Although they’ve made a pact, Armstrong fears the risks of giving sea monster eggs to Sholo. Layton threatens the kobold by squishing the egg a bit, and Sholo becomes desperate. He tells the crew that he is a caretaker of the Deep One and needs to take care of his children.

Alice becomes annoyed and just wants to give him the egg, but Layton accidently blurts out that they’re also trading with Armstrong’s soul. Sholo becomes tired of this conversation and returns back to his hut, letting the crew discuss among themselves. Armstrong explains that he has promised to Sholo to give him his soul when he dies. Layton jumps in saying he offered his soul as well, but Alice just becomes more angry. He believes that they’re too excited to die and become martyrs without trying to find a way to let them both survive. Luna talks about the horrors of giving up one’s soul, but Armstrong calms everyone down. He says that it will only happen when he dies, and he’s not planning on dying soon, winking at the crew and implying he’d handle the kobold later. Alice says he doesn’t care and pouts.

The crew decides to follow through with their original plans and give Sholo the egg. Layton asks if he’s planning on bringing back the Deep One, but Sholo says he has never left. They ask about the Tower of Archimedes, but Sholo says that he has only been awake for one week. Layton warns Sholo that should he bring doom to everyone, Layton will personally snap his neck like a twig. Sholo gathers the pirates together, but Laurence does not follow. He pulls off his glove and shows a wedding ring. He tells the group that his husband is still back at Kresheart operating a mine alone. The crew encourages him to return to his home, and they also ask if Laurence wants to take Wood Gnome with him. He quickly refuses.

The crew gathers around Sholo, who now begins his ritual. Shadowy tendrils appear around the group, and they reach into the air before going down and entering each pirate. A darkness falls over each member, and their bodies go cold for a split second as the feeling of death rushes over each person. The last thing they hear before the darkness is Wood Gnome saying: “Uhh, I’d like to leave as well…” Life surges back into the crew, and Sholo points over at the wrecked Miss Demeanor. It slowly stands back upright and starts to hover as the open hull is filled with translucent, void-like tentacles. A tear falls down from the eye of Captain Armstrong.

Sholo tells the group that The Deep One will grant safe passage to Krakesque. After they destroy the warmaster, they will get the opportunity to return as well. Sholo tells them that if they’re interested in more deals, he’ll be right where he is. However, he gets interrupted when tentacles erupt from the ground and chokes Sholo. His neck snaps, and his body goes limp. Both he and the egg are now gone. The crew decides it’s a problem for a later day and takes a night's sleep inside the hut.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Date is shown on YouTube VOD