A Storm Approaches: Episode 02

### Reddit Thread

***A Storm Approaches* Episode 2** was streamed on Arcadum's Twitch channel on July 6, 2021, and premiered on Arcadum's YouTube channel on July 9, 2021.
In the fortress, the party fights some Spectral Warriors and Mungus hatches three winged serpents. Aisu, instructed by Crowley, destroys a shrine of the Resting Monk.

## Summary

*Summary originally written by u/AsAlternateAsItCanBe*

The party enters the gates of the Soma fortress and sees nobody despite Momo calling out loudly. The group moves onwards and finds an unused sauna filled with clean water. Aisu decides to heat the sauna so that it will be usable when they return. After exploring some more rooms, Mungus finds boxes containing supplies, purifying salt for rituals, and three jade eggs. While the eggs do not seem to be magical, Mungus’ Illithari side feels that the eggs have a slight presence around them, so he decides to keep the eggs. Buroken takes the salt and the rest of the supplies and puts them on Socko’s back. At a fork in the path, Mungus and Momo order their familiars to scout the east side while the group heads west. The party finds a room filled with three statues: two gazelles and a stone dragon that holds the Soma symbol. In the middle of the room is an indentation with a scorch mark on it. Mungus detects magic around the dragon statue, so the group inspects it more closely. Momo sees a key in the statue’s mouth. As she grabs the key, a pulse of energy comes out of the dragon, and Spectral Warriors appear around them. A divine wind begins to blow.

As the battle begins, Mungus is surrounded and attacked by two of the Warriors. However, the Warriors are cursed to be defeated, so their attacks are not that effective. Sus’ke hides behind a pillar and tries to shapeshift into one of the Spectral Warriors while Aisu casts Shield of Faith on Mungus. Four enemies charge towards Momo, but suddenly the key glows softly. A barrier forms around her, making most of their swings miss. Sus’ke reappears disguised as one the Warriors and stabs one of them in the back. Aisu tries to help Mungus by throwing her glaive, but it misses and sticks into a wall. Seeing this, Mungus flings the Wand of Guiding Bolt towards Aisu, but Buroken is the one who picks it up and fires it. The Spectral Warriors then swing at Momo and knock her unconscious, so Aisu immediately goes to her and casts Spare the Dying. Buroken fires the Wand once again, killing one of the two enemies in front of Mungus, and dashes toward the other one, throwing the purifying salt at it. The ghost immediately dissipates as it touches the salt. Finally, Sus’ke swings out at the last Spectral Warrior and defeats it.

With the combat over, the party decides to rest at the sauna to heal Momo before venturing further. Before they leave, Mungus checks the stone dragon again and discovers that there is a curse on the statue. Also, right below the statue’s plaque, there is a message written in an arcane language: *"Harness the storm, and know its power."* Buroken moves into the middle of the indentation and feels a surge of power radiating around him. Despite his intuition telling him to move away, he waits there to see what happens. A lightning bolt strikes him, knocking him out. He is saved by Socko, who is able to swoop in to take him before another bolt hits. Getting curious about the indentation, Mungus throws one of the jade eggs in there. Once again, lightning hits. The egg starts to crack, and a small green winged serpent hatches. Mungus throws the other two eggs into the lightning, and a blue and a white winged serpent hatch from them. The party then heads back to the sauna and takes a short rest. As Momo wakes up, she notices the three winged serpents around Mungus. She casts Animal Friendship on the young beasts and hears that they enjoy their surroundings and all the new experiences. They then name the white one Pearl, the green one Japchae, and the blue one Dabu.

Romulus reports that he and Socko saw an armory on the second floor, so the group decides to move up there. They enter a large room filled with statues that depict honored Soma warriors. There are also six peasant statues holding offering bowls and two statues of the Resting Monk on the east and west side of the room. Momo inspects the Resting Monk at the west side and sees a silver statue of a rice ball in its hands. When she takes the rice ball, the hands go up, as if a mechanism activates. Buroken goes to the other Resting Monk and finds a bronze rice ball, carefully picking it up using Mage Hand. As the party investigates the room, it is revealed that it represents Glies. The different peasant statues represent each a different region of civilization, and on each of them is written "Feed the hungry." Momo places the silver rice ball at the top left statue, while Buroken places the bronze one at the bottom right statue. The rice balls are then locked in place, and a drawer opens beneath two of the warrior statues, where they each find a Potion of Greater Healing.

Mungus orders Romulus to scout ahead. When he returns, he reports that he has found a golden rice ball further ahead, but it is guarded by more Spectral Warriors. There also seems to be a holy training ground to the southern end of the third floor. The party tries to retrieve the rice balls, so Aisu chops off the hands of the peasant statue. As a result, the Resting Monk statue begins to crack slightly. Due to desecrating a shrine by wounding something, Crowley comes into Aisu’s mind and orders her to smash all the peasant statues. Aisu obliges. Buroken tries to stop her, but to no avail. Aisu cuts two more pairs of hands, and as a result, the Resting Monk at the west side of the room fades to dust. The party confronts Aisu, but they are interrupted by sounds of enemies rushing in from the east.

## Featured Characters

### Main Characters

* Aisu Kurimu
* Buroken
* Mamo Socko
* Mungus
* Sus'ke

## References

1. ↑ Date is shown on YouTube VOD
2. ↑ Verum Weekly: Summary of Streamed Games of the Week (July 8th, 2021)