Nothing Lasts Forever

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## Players

### Cast

Keni as Sol'una / Mar'ku'lus
Xeno as Vera
Screwy as Petravian
Grem as Lovette
Beardy as Karis
Foaly as Kurla

*Check Please!*

"**Nothing Lasts Forever**" is the *Check Please!* 2022 Christmas special episode. It was livestreamed on January 7th, 2023 on the Check Republic's Twitch channel, and is considered a quasi-canonical part of season two. It features regular Player Characters Vera, Petravian, Lovette, and Kurla, along with returning season one Party member Karis, and Sol'eana Poly'hym'nia's two children Sol'una and Mar'ku'lus. The characters Mu and Pringle from *Snake Eyes* season one (along with tragic pseudo-cameos by Jaculus and Pae'dor) also appear, along with Kailani and Zefa, forthcoming characters from season two, are also featured.

## Key Points & Highlights

* On the morning of the Harvest Festival in Prae'si'dium featured at the conclusion of "Freedom and Failures" (C1 S2 E60), Mar'ku'lus and Sol'una wake the adventurers of Fortune's Favor (sans R'issen and Jiro) for a hearty breakfast.
* The children proceed to once again send the Party members into the memory orb, this time deliberately; they discover themselves in a strange, technologically advanced city that they soon discover to be a future version of Mythelion.
* The Party members encounter Zefa and Kailani, who inform them that Pringle had attempted to infilitrate a nearby tower several days ago to retrieve the memory orb, but had not been heard from since.
* En route to the tower, the Party members attempt to sample local cuisine, only to be met with a cold reception by the stall owners, leaving them unable to try corn dogs or funnel cakes.
* Entering the tower, they find it decked out with Christmas decorations and ringing with holiday musical cheer; however, after consulting historical records that list Vera, Lovette, Petravian, and Kurla as terrorists, and under orders to eject any and all outsiders, the receptionist proceeds to shoot Petra with an unfamiliar projectile weapon called a "gun".
* After subduing the receptionist and making their way through the strange tower in their search for the orb, the adventurers deal with unknown technology, vomit-inducing moving rooms, and heavily-armed Dark Elf assassins bent on expelling or killing them... all of whom seem to be missing body parts.
* Petra finally gets to give a literal bear hug, with unfortunate results that nevertheless appear to bring the touch-starved oread some much-needed physical and emotional comfort.
* Pringle is rescued from her cell, and based on her horrifying experience in "The Labyrinth", immediately warns Karis that Petravian is not to be trusted, while Petravian innocently helps himself to the Christmas feast of the Dark Elves.
* Entering the next chamber, the Party discover Pae'dor's dead body being used to artificially produce fresh organs to harvest; Petravian goes berserk, shocking even Vera with his bloodlust as he reduces one of the two Dark Elf scientists to a fine paste.
* The Dark Elf in charge of the tower, referred to by their followers as "The Celebrant", makes remote contact, urging the Party to reconsider their actions and to withdraw immediately.
* After attempting to heal the long-dead Pae'dor and finally laying them to a more dignified rest, then exploring the room further and finding nothing of value, the Party members continue forward.
* In a room dominated by another large Christmas tree and an equally large statue honoring the memory of the deceased Sa'Sho, the Party find a lone Dark Elf tuning a piano, with whom Karis attempts to reason in order to prevent further bloodshed and loss of life. The Dark Elf agrees to lead the Party onward, but cannot promise what will happen next.
* Encountering two final assassins in the art-filled penthouse (along with the piano tuner), the Party members are heavily wounded, but eventually emerge victorious from the gunfight.
* Fortune's Favor finally come face-to-face with The Celebrant, revealed to be a heavily-altered Mur'ca'lu'mi, who became the *de facto* leader of the Dark Elves after the deaths of the rest of their family, and has since been working to advance their civilization in order to attain perfection by harnessing the power of the orb.
* Narrowly defeating the mutated Celebrant in a fierce two-round battle and sending them (twice) falling from the skyscraper's top floor, the Party members recover a heartbreaking note written to the Celebrant by their deceased sister, along with a key to unlock the memory orb's locked chamber on the ground floor.
* Ending their Christmas adventure on a melancholy note, Fortune's Favor recover the orb and release their memories into it, finally returning to Prae'si'dium.

## Trivia & Notes

* As is referentially and thematically appropriate for an episode that draws heavily on the 1998 action-thriller movie *Die Hard*, the episode's title is taken from the 1979 Roderick Thorp novel on which the film is based.