Rain of Terror

*Snatched! In the midst of hard won revelations and a daring jailhouse rescue, our heroes have been taken by the most freshman cult in Cordelia. What plans do the Fractus stans have in store? Can Count Ivan weather the storm? And who will it be that reckons with the Terror of the Desert? All this and infinitely more, awaits you....if you dare.*

The 15th episode of Rude Tales of Magic where the party is captured by The Children of the Atmosphere.

## Summary

The party and Rainn Anatomies are captured by the robed cultists worshiping Fractus. They are dragged to their temple depicting Fractus' many gifts and miracles while their leader Alto Stratus informs them that they must join or die. Bellow turns into a lizard to escape but it quickly captured.

They are put to three trials, with Albee passing the test of the mind by answering their riddle. Bellow guides her through finding the answer of roughly "What is higher than the sky, more powerful than god and when you eat it, you die?" to be "Nothing." The second trial is the test of the body. While everyone looks at Bellow, Stirfry steps forward to accept. He has progressively more balls thrown at him, which he catches and juggles before being overwhelmed. He is to be killed by "burial at sky" before Bellow uses Thaumatergy to summon whispers of "Fractus loves Stirfry." The confused cultists lower him again and attempt to sacrifice Rainn instead but Bellow intervenes again.

When the cult presses the matter, Albee explains what happened to Kreedis and Fractus while they were on Mt. Fractus. Alto decides that Fractus is displeased with them so far and that they must instead remember him by a warpath of blood. The two groups battle for a short time before Cordelia summons an illusion of Fractus to float over them. Frederick combines his own magic to make it speak in Fractus' voice, getting the cultists to bow to the illusion and beg for mercy. Thinking fast, Frederick commands them to go to the top of the temple and drink the water they loved to receive from Fractus and pee it out.

The party escapes in the confusion and learn through Rainn that all rituals and spells are flawed or balanced in Cordelia. The fact that they survived are signs that it had a weakness. He advises them to visit his brother Ulcer Anatomies in Ruleshaven to the north who may know a way to reverse the ritual. Parting ways, the crew takes the scorpion-drawn carriage left by Johnny Ketchup and ride to the jailhouse. Bellow uses Charm Person to have the clerk Nastybone Onceover free Ivan from jail. Outside, the party sees the rumored Devil of the Desert devouring people from the roof of the temple. Stirfry recognizes a fully grown Flipcup and happily calls to him to no reply. Cordelia calls for him and hears the outraged bearowl shouting angry profanities at them as he divebombs Stirfry. He mistakes it for a hug and avoids any real harm from the scuffle before Flipcup attacks Cordelia instead. She helps make amends with his anger for being malnourished and kept in a pocket as a child, patiently talking him through the fact that he's free to do as he pleases now.

With Ivan freed, the party rides off into the desert to follow their only lead on restoring Polaris University.

## Trivia

* The trial of the body is the first time Stirfry juggled in is life.

## Link

https://rudetalesofmagic.simplecast.com/episodes/rain-of-terror