The Miss Demeanor Ep. 10

### YouTube VOD

***Miss Demeanor* Episode 10** was streamed on BrettUltimus' Twitch channel on the 10th of October 2020, and premiered on the World of Io's YouTube channel on 17th of October 2020.

## Summary

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

With the storm raging on, the crew leaves Sholo’s hut in search of the Deep One’s eggs. Laurence follows the rest of the crew, but Wood Gnome prefers to stay behind in the hut. Sholo allows this with the condition that he’s not allowed to touch anything. As they’re walking, Alice asks for some clarification on the deal with Sholo. Armstrong explains their search for the eggs but leaves out the part about them trading their souls. The further they go south and the deeper into the jungle they go, the more traces of ancient architecture show up. The pillars and stonework appear mostly unfamiliar to the crew, but they notice that they’re much more advanced than today’s architecture. Eventually they find a rune-inscribed large stone that is the size of a casket. Luna and Alice study the runes and realize that they can activate the stone with a controlled amount of arcane energy. Luna does so, and the sigil illuminates a faint blue light. After studying the mechanics Alice believes there are more stones towards the north.

They travel north without much trouble, and they find a ziggurat, a  pyramidal stepped temple. Outside, a similarly inscribed stone can be found. Although opening this one is a bit harder, Alice manages it. While unlocking it he learns that there are two more stones in the area. Higher up on the ziggurat they find a table-like stone etched with similar sigils; it appears to be a lock with keyholes that can be unlocked with normal lockpicks. However should one fail at lockpicking it, the lock will stay closed for a long time. Unlocking the different inscribed stones is a failsafe assistance but will not unlock the main lock itself. The crew decides to explore the rest of the outside levels of the ziggurat before attempting the lock. On the top of the structure is a sitting humanoid statue with a faded face; the statue itself is made as if the humanoid was a god. In the four corners,  four statues are flexing their perfect bodies. Although they look human there’s a sense of unfamiliarity for the humans; it’s as if they’re an offshoot of normal humans. While exploring the rest of the ziggurat exterior, the crew realise that the building was submerged in water not long ago. With this knowledge, Layton and Armstrong repeat their theory that Sholo is actually the Deep One, knowing that the Kobold has lived on the island for so long. The crew decides to unlock the rest of the stones before trying the main lock.

On the south side of the island, they find a set of stone stairs that lead into a crypt. The crew goes down,  dries their clothes using Prestidigitation, and lights a few torches. In the main hall, an ancient statue stands; its make resembles the advanced architecture of the surrounding ruins. The ground is covered with a weird goo, and the air smells of rot. As the crew follow the origins of the smell, they find tens of cracked, rotten eggs the size of a large person. Before they can study the eggs, they hear a sloshing sound from a small hallway to the west. As Layton slowly approaches the west, a monster darts out and attacks him. It’s a snake-like creature with tentacles; there’s no doubt it’s one of the hatchlings from the cracked eggs.

Layton and Armstrong quickly rush into the hallway and attack the hatchling while Luna takes a quick look at the eggs. They appear to have cracked naturally, and there could be more hatchlings waiting deeper in the dungeon. Laurence fires his two pistols over the shoulders of Layton while Alice fires barrages of Magic Missiles. The hatchling opens his mouth wide like a snake and shoots out a Conjured Tidal Stream, knocking back Armstrong, Laurence and Luna. Most of the hallway is now filled with waist-deep water. All the torches go out, and Laurence’s pistols are put out of commision. Armstrong waddles out of the water back into the main hallway, lights up a light, and calls everyone to fall back to the main hall. Surrounded by darkness and waist-deep water and with an approaching hatchling, Layton uses a soul to light up his sword with a green fire to light up his surroundings. The hatchling writhes through the water and lashes out at Layton, who barely survived the attacks as he’s falling back. The crew falls back into the main hall, and as the hatchling finally comes out in the open Armstrong strikes out with his rapier and dagger. Meanwhile Laurence has finally cleared his pistols of water, yells out “*Die, Krakesque scum*!”, and kills the hatchling with a bullet through the head.

Layton holds out his blade over the creature to take his soul. Something different happens. A vibrant purple energy hums around the creature before his wretched soul is sucked into the sword. The other eight souls within Layton’s sword now double their output for they have been enslaved and corrupted by the presence of The Deep One’s influence. Layton feels that The Deep One is pleased for having one of his kin sucked into the sword. Layton now knows that the sword is of The Deep One. The numbers on his shoulder have turned from Primordial into a language The Deep One speaks.

When Layton turns around, he realizes that most of the crew have never seen him do this. He has explained it to Alice and Armstrong in the tavern, but this is the first time Laurence has seen this. The Dwarf is shocked by this action and how the rest of the crew is okay with this. He quietly rests alone contemplating his actions while the others take a long rest at the entrance of the cave.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Date is shown on YouTube VOD