Ep. 106 Recovered Kingdom Chapter Eight

## Listen

Ep. 106 Recovered Kingdom Chapter Eight

—Excerpt from an unnamed explorer's journal

Drakir, Beric, Dex, and Booyah find themselves locked in alcoves. Belashyrra appears before all but Drakir. He has offers to make them, ways to help in the war. Beric and Booyah accept, though Dex doesn't find it worth what he could potentially be giving up. They find the Glaive of Darkest Depths, one of the weapons they need to stop the quori.

Beric gives up something very dear to him to help in the search: his eyes. Once Drakir learns of the deal they've made with the creature who kills his tribe, he leaves them and doesn't come back.

## Synopsis

Beric, Dex, and Booyah find themselves standing next to each other, Belashyrra in front of them. When Beric points out this is not good faith, Belashyrra argues that Drakir would kill him if he appeared to them all. He did what he promised; he took care of the death slaad. The neothelid was a mile away; he didn't know it was here protecting the elder brain tank, and he even tried to help with that, too. He cast Fear on it, but it failed. He turns into the drow who was slinging rocks at the death slaad to demonstrate how he helped them. Yes, he promised them all the same thing and yes he would have broken the promise if just one of them had broken their part of the deal, but he needs *all* of their help.

They're upset at him for not being honest about what deal they were making, but Belashyrra insists he held up his end. The glaive is in the sarcophagus, but they have plans to make without Drakir around. At this Beric grows more upset and says it's not okay to trap them in here, lock Drakir away and abduct them to wherever this place is.

They have two other weapons to find, and Belashyrra knows where to find them. He has offers for all of them. With a snap of his fingers, they're all back in their separate alcoves.

### Booyah's Offer

For Booyah he offers to strengthen Planar Justice. He can manipulate it so that it's mounted on his shoulder, and he can fire it using the suit. It will be able to tuck back into the suit, as well.

*"He gets a third attack? Oh, you're gonna regret that offer."
—Philip*

Booyah agrees; from his point of view, Belashyrra was true to his word. He hands the weapon over and Belashyrra takes it, then places a hand on his left shoulder. Booyah feels tugging and something moving.

### Dex's Offer

For Dex, Belashyrra wants to give him the ability to (if it's weak enough) blind a creature with a word, and to power up his Fireball spell. He would receive a Khyber Mark, anywhere he wanted on his body. He would be able to cast magic innately from his person. He would ignore anything that had resistance to fire damage, and cause more damage in general.

Hesitantly Dex says if he turns him down, that doesn't mean they're on different sides, but getting marked seems like a big deal. Drakir would pick up on his new ability to use magic, and find out they made a deal. After some consideration, Dex turns him down.

### Beric's Offer

Belashyrra stands before Beric. He comments on how they were making progress, but it seems they've backtracked - which Beric does not appreciate at all, and feels like he's being talked down to. Belashyrra tells him he's just trying to help them find the artifacts, and that one is in the middle of a desert, and the other on the top of a mountain. He'll give him the ability to know *exactly* where they are, but it has a price. It's not him exacting a cost; it's simply how the magic works. Beric will have the ability to track down the Destiny Arms, know exactly where they are at any moment, know if a creature is wielding them and if they are, know who that creature is. What he needs is Beric's eyes.

*"Hi."
"My parents raised me not to curse."
—Belashyrra and Beric*

He'll be able to know the exact location, to the point of being able to mark it on a map. Belashyrra knows where they are, but doesn't have the ability to tell Beric without the cost; that's how the magic works. He tells Beric what (according to him) he is able to: they each have unique properties to fight the Quori, and they're called the Sword of Magma Falls, Glaive of Darkest Depths, Spear of Desert Winds, and Maul of Glacial Heights. If they're brought together onto the plain of Dal Quor with a red stone inserted into the slots, they can undo what they have done and prevent the apocalypse.

Knowing it'll cost him more than just his eyes, Beric asks for another thing to be added; a path to the next weapon. Belashyrra can get them out of Khyber, but that's as far as his powers go. Beric makes it clear that they are not on the same side; they both want the Quori destroyed, that's all. This one deal and then they're done.

Beric orders Drakir released, and makes the deal. Belashyrra swipes his hands across Beric's eyes, and all he sees is blackness.

*"Do it."
—Beric*

### Weapons

Everyone exits their alcoves, and Beric has skin covering where his eyes were.

Dex pushes the lid off the sarcophagus. Inside, laying on a skeleton, are three weapons; a glaive, a sword, and a dagger. The dagger looks like it's drow made and ancient, with a serrated blade and the hilt resembling a demonic head and wings. The blade of the sword shifts; the curve changes directions, or one edge is sharp and then it's not. Dex asks Drakir to take a look with Detect Magic.

There's necrotic magic surrounding the dagger, and when Drakir grabs for it he recoils as he hears incoherent, ominous whispering in his head. He comments that it might be alive, but he doesn't get the sense that it's intelligent.

The glaive is dark and its shaft is made of oily black metal with a spiral running up it. At one end is a broad silver blade that ends in a wicked point and always flickers with a dull shimmering radiance. It has a fist-sized slot that would house a gem.

Drakir takes the dagger to bring to his people, and Dex takes the shapechanging sword. He picks the glaive up to look at it, and Booyah starts heading over to see it.

### Drakir leaves

*"Tell me what you have all been doing. Nothing happened in my alcove."
—Drakir*
Before Booyah can take a look at the glaive, Drakir stop him and asks what they've all been doing. His alcove was dark and full of nothing. Without missing a beat Dex says he was in the dark; Booyah starts getting flustered and has more difficulty lying. Drakir continues his question, asking over and over what they were doing in the alcove, getting more agitated. There aren't doors, the stone came out of nowhere, Beric returned without eyes, and Booyah's weapon is changed. Drakir's Shadowblade comes out as Booyah still holds back what really happened.

Booyah scrambles to come up with a reason and says a magic circle appeared, creating a magical effect that he didn't understand. Another blade comes out.

Booyah starts questioning why Drakir is more worried about this than Beric not having eyes, and Drakir says angrily that he's extremely concerned, but he's also concerned that they're lying to him. Dex points out that Drakir hasn't said anything that's happened in *his* alcove, either. Eventually Beric comes clean.

*"It's for the war. I gave them up for the war."
—Beric*

Beric tells Dex and Booyah they shouldn't be loyal to a creature that's known them nothing but bad faith. They share more about what happened, and Beric tells Drakir they made a deal with Belashyrra.

*"You have a way out of Khyber now?"
"That's what Beric just said."
"And you need the weapons for the war."
"Absolutely."
"And this is one of the weapons?"
"Yes, it is."
"Fine. Good hunting."
—Drakir and Dex*

Drakir throws the sword on the ground, turns, and walks out, turning invisible as he exits the door.

### Leaving Khyber

Beric explains that though he's blind, he can still see the auras of magical items, as if he was using Detect Magic. Dex gives him the glaive to use as a walking stick until they can find him something more suitable. They get Belashyrra to teleport them to Sharn, with the understanding that they'll be back in a few days. Dex takes Beric's arm and hands him the ribbonweave instead, assuming that will be more socially acceptable walking through Sharn. He pulls out the Polymorph Blade for himself to have a weapon handy.

Beric considers staying at the Kensai monestary, but ultimately they decide it's better to stay together, and so Booyah is left with the bill for the inn and the skycab.

End of episode.

## Locations

* Khyber
* Sharn, Breland

## Spells

* **Drakir**
	+ Detect Magic  [0:35:07]
	+ Invisibility [0:48:45]

## Quotes

"We add for fun! Let's play."
*—Jeff 0:01:32*

"I've had, in a very, very short amount of time, an immense amount of experience of immortal and near-immortal creatures talking to me like they're the headmaster of a school and I've just been summoned to their office. I hate it more than I thought I could hate anything, and it makes me want to *kill* you."
*—Beric 0:22:59*

"What did you do?"
"What happened eyes?"
"What did *I* do? \*\*\*\* you!"
*—Dex, Booyah, and Beric*

"See Booyah on back Booyah?"
"'See Booyah on back Booyah?' I'm gonna need more words in that sentence."
"This poor flustered goblin."
*—Booyah, Philip, and Jeff 0:42:29*

"Booyah just worried cause Beric no have eyes! Why you no concerned about Beric eyes? That's what trouble Booyah."
"I am extremely concerned about Beric not having eyes! I am *extremely* concerned about Beric not having eyes. I am also concerned that you are lying to me. Both of you."
*—Booyah and Drakir 0:43:39*

"I recall that somehow or another you stopped being really strong. I can't quite remember what caused that to happen, but…"
"Why don't you *look* back in your memories a little harder, *see* if you can remember? Chump."
*—Beric and Dex 0:53:58*

## References and Footnotes

1. ↑ Booyah offers to take his knee, but Beric doesn't think this will be at all helpful.