(Unofficial) Guide to the Five Lands

Five idiots try to save the world while their evil DM tries to end it (homebrew 5e campaign)

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[bonesnappers-official]

Session 74

In which the lines of trust are drawn, and supplies are plundered.

Previously On // Next Session

Ignatius in Dr V’s lab in Mean Slimes

I: we need to get her out. she still has a chance to be saved

V: while i agree she does not deserve to be left alone, impulsiveness is not going to be our solution. I will - I am currently sending help in that direction as we speak, and I currently have all the cameras in that room at my eyes. as of now. the accursed is by some miracle, idle.

I: if something happens to her, (but then he leaves to go solve this problem)

Ignatius arrives to meet Tadgh about the same time Zullie leaves the room to go see agemo

I: Tadgh, can i conduct an emergency checkup on your cursed status? Before I do, i’m going to ask you something and I need you to be perfectly honest with me, not that you’ve ever had cause to lie. have you had any direct contact or exhange of any kind of bodily fluids with that gnome.

T: Maybe? we both ate from the same jar of olives.

I: i’m going to conduct this checkup anyway but to keep it completely honest, agemo has had a rapid development - as well as the gnome. it seems when arrived he was already at stage 5, and somehow it was not picked up by dr vesper. and agemo has had a rapid development. so i need to check you to make sure you have not also had a rapid development

T: are you sure there’s time for this?

I: i was instructed to by dr v. i was going to go help agemo, but he is sorting it and I am going to trust in him, cautiously.

tadgh is Stage 3. Obviously

T: listen. I mean, there wasn’t any way it couldn’t have been bad

I: you came back from worse. let’s just hold out for

T: did I? Let’s just do what we can for the others right now

I: and it would appear the person who did it is at least up on her feet, so that’s something.

Zullie’s face: first desperation, and then a mixture of shame, fear, and clearly something that… like when you don’t want to hide something and the more you try to hide it the more it becomes obvious and the more you panic about how it’s being obvious

she just Turns Away from him, like if his eyes are actively burning her

Ignatius looks away. Zullie, i’m going to ask purely out of respect, and I won’t pry if you don’t want to provide an answer because I understand we all have skeletons in our closet. in due time it will come out, but i’d say it’s better to reveal it now than when you don’t want it to and to the wrong person. what has caused such an uncomfortable moment, to you?

she almost tries to speak, then realizes no matter what she says ignatius would be able to see right through it. like… it’s like 10 seconds trying to figure out what she could say, and then she just. stays silent and shakes her head.

she’s Sorry

T: this is not important right now. what’s important is making sure we get back

I: I said i wouldn’t pry and i value my words. as much as it doesn’t seem it, i’d like us to have a working relationship and i’ll keep doing what I have to to uphold that. i hope that for whatever reason you’re not deciding to share it, i hope you legit believe that is the right thing to do and i hope it does not bite you in the ass.

Meanwhile, Lucretia, running after Ignatius hears an old woman’s voice behind her - it’s following her but she can’t hear any footsteps

LO: so what. even if you get there, you just gonna obey the orders of the new doctor? take something out of your mother’s playbook for once.

She trips into Adelaide and Leyrid.

LE: let me go, you have to let me kill the acursed before he hurts agemo, etc

A: you can’t interfere with this, they’re doing - you don’t want to get in the middle of this. they’re doing what they can for your sister and our job is to stay away

LE: get off my fiend, that’s my only family right there

A: if you want her to have a fighting chance, you have to let them do what they plan to do. Ignatius is not going to let anythign happen to her with that gnome, he is - he is a smart man and you have to trust him.

A: IDK what the situation is, they were doing a spell I couldn’t get in 100 feet of and I have my hands full with - albeit, reasonable reaction, but. so I”m not sure what’s going on

DV: Ms Aethylmyr, if you’d be so kind as to bring miss Leyrid to me I’ll make sure she can herself observe with her eyes the process through which I’ll put her sister in security.

LA: you’re not going to get any closer without putting yourself in danger, you can see more over here, come this way.

A: You should go

LE: well, where to?

lucretia takes her off, Adelaide is left to….

follow them

back up top,

I: the plan to go see agemo is no longer possible - you can join me to go see the others where we’ll have to share this info or you can take your chances but I don’t see them relenting on anything

T: where’s the other doctor?

I: hard to say. he has his own little observation room? observation deck? it’s not easy to get into, but

T: do you know where it is?

I: Do you know that hallway that sort of led to where your isolation room was, I think? Tadgh, before you go anywhere, I need to give you something. we will talk about it later, because at this point I don’t know when we will but i’ve been wanting to give you this since we left your cottage. we’re going to talk about this later.

take this, read it when you are alone and when you can process your thoughts adequately because there are some very serious implications

T: do you need any help? do you feel comfortable speaking to vertebra alone?

I: genuinely, she’s the least of my concerns as a person - I’m more concerned on if there’s been rapid progression in her accursion as well.

Sirena: Chaos is Unfolding outside

i’m not payed enough for this

The squad goes back through decon to hang out with dr v

Leyrid gets in front of the glass and plants her lance in the ground and yells “show me that my sister is good and well.”

dr v: i appreciate you two taking her here, but this is the moment I see myself being forced to ask for some dr patient confidentility.

L, A: cool

Ignatius goes lookin for vertebra, gets intercepted by radius who asks

if it’s her you’re going to, i’d like to be there. just in case anything resurfaces.

I": i mean if she wants you in the room, sure. there’s some crucial info to share with the rest of the group about what’s going on.

vertebra is still stage 2 which is whatever.

but the tissue under the scar is dying

her arm is just Fucked

V: what’d i say doc, i’m tougher than that

I: Well, Vertebra

M: Mirriel, thanks.

I: i met you as vertebra, I don’t know miriel, etc. anyway. thge problem you’re facing right now - genuinely the biggest of my concerns is not the curse advancing, it’s the actual physical condition and state of your arm in this moment in time. You see, and you can choose whether you want radius to hear about your medical info -

M: Telphrid is like family. screw the confidentiality. spit it out.

I: to be frank, the tissue is beginning to necrotize which means we only have a matter of time before that spreads to other, more vital parts. if the infection gets into your blood, you’re as good as dead. it is my medical opinion that - i know i mentioned it to you previously as something to think about? i’m seriously suggesting you consider amputation. lucretia is a very capable artificer, i’d put full faith in her ability to construct a new arm for you that would probably put you in full condition than your regular arm at peak health. end of the day it’s your choice but i’m strongly suggesting you consider it

R, the moment ignatius considers amputation, leans against the wall. for a second, M’s breath catches but then it’s louder than normal

I: miriel, i’ll give you some time to think this over - i get it’s big and as your doctor i don’t make this rec lightly, but also as your doc and as your friend i want you to live. this presents the best possible chance. i can give you today, maybe even some of tomorrow, but if we don’t do it by EOD tomorrow it represents no chance in trying

M: if i overweight, how much more time would I have after?

I: if not for the infection taking you, you’d be at liberty of the curse as well. and trust me when I say? neither one, but especially not - at least with the curse, it does the justice of putting you out mentally. if you succumb to infection, you’re there and present the entire time.

M squeezes radius’ hand, goes to : you said lucretia does good prosthetics? do you think they could be used as a weapon? if i wind up in contact with the werewolf, i don’t want it to be with a hand tied behind my back.

I: it’s as i said: i firmly would believe, with the work she’s capable of producing, you’d probably be more prepared as a fighter than before this happened to you with a working arm. i would put money on - she would be able to get you significantly better off than before.

M: okay, listen. i’ll confess right now that despite what it may seem, i’m a coward after all. and the moment I see you come at me with a cleaver, I may or may not freak out. so. this is me telling you, if, from this moment forward -if i start to protest or withdraw my consent, I command you as my doctor and as my friend now to ignore that.

I: if it really makes things better, this is probably the most ideal place we could do this. we’re in the tower of another v capable doctor, so. i have to go update the group, but I will make sure that Lucretia and Dr Vesper are informed and can begin preparing. we do this tonight. we can sedate you - i’d actually prefer that.

All the raptors in the common space

minus the devil twins.

I: not to just rehash everything. level playing field, we all need to be on same page - where are Khalunnia and Ranchor?

Ruins points at a door

I: do they have a good reason to not be here or are they just being petulant?

ruins beats his chest twice, and then makes a crazy motion at his head. ( brand )

I: whatever. you inform them of what we speak abot here, there is not enough time. so tldr, agemo’s curse has rapidly progressed and dr v somehow allowed a stage 5 accursed individual to get in, and he was locked in observation with agemo, vertebra, and tadgh. i’ve checked on tadgh and vertebra -there’s been some progression, but not as severe. that’s why leyrid isn’t here, she’s with dr v as apparently he’s showing her the secure place for agemo. as for questions, i can only answer so much because I have to start preparing for surgery. to which end, i will turn to lucretia. l, how quickly could you produce an arm that is also usable for combat?

L: yeah doable

I: you saw dr v: is now a good time to seek him out? because I need his assistance on this.

L: i guess

Aside:

I: had to think back about why you asked why zotzilaha might be interested in you specifically: before me dr v encountered another of my kind, we’ll say. another dhampyr. and it just so happens

S: so. you’re. what is that? like a vampire ,or - i’m sorry, could you? i don’t know what that is. i just thought you were ill or something

I: it’s a whole thing, we don’t have time to get into all of it - i’m learning more about dhampyrism and it’s something i’ve lived with my whole life. think of it as essentialy vampirism if it was a mental condition. there is a hunger that you Feel, but that’s all it is. a feeling. it leads to some rather grusome transformations and not so great conditions of the victims who might go in your wake,. anyway.

S: is lucretia similiar? it wasn’t the exact same, but she did this (shows missing ear). did adelaide not tell you?

I: no. i’ve.. .no reason to ssuspect that she is a dhampir but given what just happened last night with zotzilaha appearing out of nowehre,

S: i didn’t really want to ask about it, because it looked like she had this bloodlust/frenzy come over her and i’d never seen anything like it

I: the thing is, it’s a mental condition. it’s possible she entered a sort of frenzy, but. i’m undead, or at least partially, and i think that’s a pretty crucial element. anyway, dr v had encountered one. the big thing to understand is that dhampyrs were thought to have been legend, as far as i know. i hadn’t even known there were others like me because it is that rare. so the fact that he stumbled upon one is fascinating and is very - it’s very interesting and also concerning. especially since zotzilaha and his band of fuckass vampires have a weird beef with dhampyrism, because it invalidates the people with it- so that’s why I think there’s a concern. I don’t think you have it, this man absolutely did because he was a half orc and obv not every half orc knows every half orc, but i know not every half orc knows every half orc but it’s a connection i grew, and it’s at least something and i’d feel awful.

S: where’s dr v?

I: i think he’s still in the observation room. there’s gonna be surgery tonight

S: i need to find him. i need to find him right now.

I: we can find him together, it’s- sirena. (hand on shoulder) - look, whatever you’re feeling? you don’t have to feel it alone. i’ve wanted to be here with you, and i hope that this can give you some sollace.

S: not sollace. i need to find him. I need to find him.

I: then we can go. we can go now.

Tadgh’s septum falls off. he stands up shakily and goes to find some coffee

Adelaide goes to bug the twins

and KNOCKS FIRST

K and R are just on the floor, holding each other and shaking.

A: what’s up

(hiding the brand)

A: you guys cannot hide forever

K: we sort of got that impression when he found us

A: who

K: malakar, duh. idk how but one of its adepts must have found us.

A: is there -are you running from something?

K: we’re not aimlessly running from something. we’re resisting.we’re surviving. we are awaiting the return of the one true emperor, and then redben will rule again

A: and by true emperor you mean…. malakar?

K: no, blasphemy. nottik.

A: I just had to make sure we were both playing on the same team

K: what would you know about it? clearly you have other ambitions. you know nothinga bout what we’ve been through or what it takes to be a follower of nottik in these trying times. you know what they say in redben? find yourself a partner who’s an inspiring final guard, because they’re the most faithful that’ll ever be

A: i may not know about nottik but I know what a wretched thing Malakar is

K: how would you know? that was earlier. our ancestors. how were you there when he was around

A: i wasn’t when he was around, but he has his hold on people and places now and that’s what I know about

K: that night. we couldn’t see who did this to us, but you and that elf were around on guard duty, weren’t you? did you see anyone?

A: idk what happened. it was all kind of a blur.

twins smile and nod. well, should you ever need any help with dealing with the old emperor, we are currently training to be proper guardians against it as we speak.

A: what does that entail?

K: we’re training to become redben’s final guards.

A: what if he doesn’t return like you’re expecting him to? what if he has other plans?

k: well, then that’ll be the way nottik chose to return and we’ll respect the emperor’s wishes

A: well. you do better for yourselves to stop hiding yourselves away.

k: at what benefit? we know how the people out there look at us. we’re fiends of redben.

A: i think that a lot of them are very untrusting people, and I think if you gave them proof that we can trust you, that you can at least somewhat be in this with the same motivations the rest of us are, then i’m sure their misunderstanding will fade

k: maybe. but it is what they think of us nonetheless.

A: maybe so. but i can’t list a single person out there who doesn’t make a wildly innacurate assumption about someone else. so.

k: say, the old lady you used to walk to the side of. last time, us and her left in most unpleasant manner. i mean, we can assume what happened but how did it happen? she didn’t look like the kind of person to just croak out of old age?

A: It wasn’t old age. It was -

K: who

A: i don’t know what you know about the goddess lolth and alderiche and the buried black pit and every wretched thing that came with that but 0

K: the goddess notik conquered and subjugated? yes. was it her?

A: yes.

K: they salute. Although short lived, the mission of zelda did share the same goals as those of our old emperor. for that, POWER AND STRENGTH

A: what goal?

K: to subjugate the goddess of spiders, of course.

A: I guess you could say that.

Outside, Almar

AL: you’re not going to open up to THOSE GUYS are you?

AD: i’m looking for info, not giving up more than i have to

AL: get what you’re looking for?

AD: not really. but i think you and i are overdue for a conversation as well

AL: gladly. just name the place, name the place,

AD: I hope you don’t take me for the same state as your companion, our mutual friend. but.

AL: we have a conversation as usual. by the way, what have you done with it?

AD: it’s in someone else’s possesion at the moment. why?

AL: why? it’s yours

AD: after the events of last night, it’s been considered best I don’t have it

AL: ah. i understand. the nights of the event before. (implied ……………………..)

AD: did you see her?

AL: say what?

AD: did you see her?

AL: (loading) OH. the dealmaker. I did see her, yes.

AD: The dealmaker?

AL: well yes. that’s what she calls herself, doesn’t she?

AD: She does. It’s all very - you’re the only other person who can see her, or has seen her

AL: I reckon she’s quite the evasive kind. doesn’t like herself to be seen.

AD: evidently. i just can’t figure out what her angle is. but that’s beyond me

AL: if that’s a relief. sometimes me neither.

AD: If you think of anything that you think I should know about her, I don’t know much besides the fact that i’m not sure she’s even real.

AL: trust me, she is VERY much real.

Connor: HEY. Do we have a problem?

AL: IDK, do we?

C: I don’t know, do we?

AD: oh my god. we’re not doing this. idk what pissing contest is about to happen but we have bigger problems than whatever pissing contest is happening here, so let’s just move along.

AL giggles and leaves. Connor stands there and whispers “freaking weirdo”

AD: do you have something you have to say to me?

C: No I quite frankly was just trying to find a quiet place to practice. there’s been a lot happening and I don’t feel like i’ve anything to be of use right now, which i hate because i hate being a dead weight to others. ignatius clearly has bigger fish to fry, you’ve been looking at me weird for the past three days and idk why, so no thanks i’ll be on my way.

A: fucking. fair enough.

tadgh goes on a walk, looking for idfk. something. alcohol?

Ignatius, hanging out and visiting Dr V

Leyrid is just leaving. she’s walking in such a straight line that she doesn’t even seem to notice Ignatius is There.

I: leyrid. hey. um. if you’re - if you need company?

She bumps ignatius gives him a hug

I: If you need to talk you can, if you don’t, you don’t have to.

(leaves)

I: if you seek company they’re in the main room, if not you can seek to avoid it. Sirena, heads up before we go in - given her response, we’re not walking into a very pretty scenario, i would presume. so. On all fronts, it’s looking like a mess

(through the decon room, light goes orange but not red, nothing outside of ordinary)

dr v is hanging out, welcomes them in - say, while you were on your way out - were you able to encounter miss Egborne?

I: yep. won’t pry for info, because i think her response tells me enough. is agemo alive?

V: she is for now. i trust myself that there may be a cure to be found.

I: well. only known cure we know is in our party, so

V: is it the witch?

I: yep. i know she hasn’t been very responsive since she’s been here, but our friend tadgh talked her out of the room

V: not that. let’s just say me and pure magic are at a bit of a conflict.

I: i get it. before I ask you, I need to ask - she has questions, so I’ll let her handle them.

V: well. how can i help you. yes i’m dr iggy v, same name as your friend on the other side of the glass. if it’s a complaint about the place, I’ll do my best to register and adjust to any constructive criticism.

I: sirena. if you want me in the room I can stay, but if not I can also leave

S: doesn’t matter. you saw a half orc?

V: yes.

S: what did he look like?

V: yes

S: so he was here? where was he. where did he go?

V: to be perfectly honest, my first encounter with him was quite abrupt. it’s the reason there’s now an emergency press in the decon room should something else try to charge me from across the glass. I tried to contain it, but. dr - him. dr v, does she?

I: I’ve given her a very brief summary.

V: but does she know you

I: yes.

V: perfect. as your friend across the glass may know personally, it is - trying to contain a dhampyr while it’s hunting is

S: stop stop stop. you’re - are you saying castor is like.

V: castor? it was - was that his name?

S: he’s my brother.

V: it is a. it’s a very noble name. the same as the twin stars. yes, he was here but he was able to breach out and I think last time I saw any traces of him was months ago.

S: no no no. that can’t be POSSIBLE. No. it' should have been me.

V: miss - miss. Sirena. if it is of any consolation, with all due respect -f there is one type of creature who has any chance of surviving on their own outside there, it would definitely be a dhampyr.

S: what happened? how long ago was this? nine months?

V: i’m sorry. i could look in the logs, but it’s hard to maintain time here esp when all days look the same. but if you give me one second, I. according to this, it was 101 days ago.

S: this is my fault. this is my fault, i shouldn’t have left him there.

V: i’m truly sorry that I wasn’t able to

S: is there a chance he’s still alive? is there a chance I could save him?

V: (nervous stimming)

Ignatius is holding/stabilizing her. Sirena, don’t beat yourself up i’m sure you had your reasons

S: I can’t. he’s the only family i have left. he was the better of me. it should have been me. I need to go out there and find him.

V: no. no. dr v, i command you to restrain her if she tries to leave

S: no, I can’t stay here. it’s not fair. I can’t do this

I: Sirena. listen. I don’t know - do you think he would want you to risk your life and potentially have a worse fate than his own, going out to your death alone? I don’t think he would. you fare better with us - we can help you. let us help you.

S: he’s my better half. without him i’m nothing. how -

I: i may not know him, but from what I’ve seen in knowing you this short time, you’re not nothing sirena. you’re a very special girl and i’m very happy you’ve stumbled upon us. so please, don’t. don’t risk your life. we can help you

S: are you sure there’s a good chance he’s still alive?

I: speaking from experience - if there Is anything that could survive this experience, it’d be a dhampyr. and in the short time you’ve known us can have you seen me go beserk? it’s not easy to subdue but there is a process. every dhampyr is different b ut we can find what drives him and subdue it. it’s possible

S: please help me find my brother. he’s the only family i have left. i can’t do anything without him.

I: we will.

(they hug.)

ignatius puts together “dhampyr’s sister” and goes uh oh.

I: we will do everything to make sure you get your answers - I will do everything to make sure you get the answers you deserve. now. you don’t have to be here for the rest of us if you just want to go process, but.

S: I’ll go

I: if you need anything, you know where to find me.

S: thank you.

I: of course

Sirena goes back to her room.

Ignatius: well. a lot more came of that than i anticipated, but

V: i’m sorry my words lead to such distress

I: no dont’ - just because it elicited a strong emotional response doesn’t mean you have a reason to be sorry. in a roundabout way you’ve helped her more than you could know. from me, personally - thank you.

I: for my end. business we need to attend to - vertebra - you probably know her as miriel. we need to amputate, should do so tonight - i’d appreciate your assistance, or any meds

V: i’m out. maybe have disinfectants, but i’m out of anisthetics. i’d strongly advise using some magic despite my distaste - during the beginning of the spread of the curse, i pretty much used all of my reserves trying to mitigate the pain for those growing increasingly accursed. and when there was nobody around for a while, i’m ashamed to admit that I may or may not have become addicted. i was running out of morphine so i had to detox but - all this to say, I know what you’re asking of me but i have nothing. i’m sorry.

I: no, it’s okay. not the answer i wanted but, can you offer manpower?

V: I will - i suppose with manpower, you don’t mean just a hologram talking to you and not being able to do anything

I: having the hands of a skilled doctor would be nice, but if you can’t even having your holo assistance wouldn’t do nothing.

V: could you send miss aethylmyr to me? there’s a request i have to make

I: yeah she’s also in this so.

V: in spite of the lack of anesthetics, how bad would you say the arm was? like, how long does this woman have?

I: if we don’t amputate the arm by tomorrow night, it’d be futile to try

V: then even with the lack of equipment, you know what’ll need to be done if necessary.

I: yep

V: perfect. didn’t mean to remind you, just wanted to make sure you were worthy of your reputation.

Lucretia heads down

V: ms A: has ignatius told you of miss miriel’s situation yet?

A: yeah I know i was going to go get started on a prosthesis

V: yeah in that case i need your help - i was asked to help, but i can’t expose my body to external agents. so i’ve been working on a project, it was - you can all it more of a side hustle but it regards the possibility of creating a body with full, replicable faculties for me. i figured you may be the best fit to help me on that task. could use a flash of your genius

L: yes i’d love to see waht you’re working with

he brings her to a rudimentary exoskeleton, but it’s exposed and there are rudimentary pieces of - not actual flesh, more some sort of organic composite.

L: what’s this?

V: it’s my side hustle. i’ll make sure to transfer it to you, and if you need any information on the data I’ll make sure to provide it from across from here. and when the time comes (he’s got a sphere he’s holding from the base.)

He rolls up his shirtsleeves and fidgets with something on the keyboard, so that on the side beyond his glass the metal homunculus is moved to her place.

L: so what part is giving you trouble? is it - to be reductive, the brain or the body?

V: I know how to transfer, but need something to host

Lucretia gets cracking. she’s working, he’s just leaning against the glass in awe.

When she’s done, he proceeds to - he’s been taking notes the whole time. something puffs out steam, the lever pops up, and he has to unbutton two buttons of his shirt.

she finishes, and he gets one of the modrons to put a face which sort of resembles him on it as a look-alike. the metal homunculus is then moved onto his side of the field, and he goes. well, perfect. should push come to shove, i’ll use this as backup.

he takes another sphere, presses a lever, and he’s covered once again in steam and when the steam is gone, the metal homunculus appears in a flash of lightning, as beyond the other side of the glass his original body is slumped over on a chair.

the homunculus speaks through the mind of dr v: well done Lucretia. thank you.

L: you’re welcome.

Ignatius does the rounds, looking for tadgh.

while tadgh is lookin around in various labs, he’s sometimes startled by the two hags who see him, giggle, and run away.

he’s. looking like a loading screen and has no septum

I: hey tadgh. just checking in so i don’t scare you. is everything okay?

(he’s holding Some Stuff)

T: just kind of Looks at ignatius and puts the things away and says - “I was just. I read - i was just trying to. i don’t know center my thoughts. but i don’t think it worked. I honestly don’t really know where I am right now. Where are we?”

I: if you need more time, we can hold off on this conversation i just don’t know when else we’ll get time to talk about it

T: before you say what you’re going to say, I have one question. When you told me that I was cured, was that the truth? as far as you could tell?

I: cured in as much as there was no sign of the curse in your body?

T: how did that. Did I - I realize it had been a couple of years since we’d seen each other but did I seem different than I had been beside not having the curse?

I: I mean. not that I can think. you seemed like yourself. I mean, i don’t want to presume that having your soul ripped out of your body and then placed back in wouldn’t have some consequence but as far as I know, you’re the same you.

T: well. alright. what did you - it’s simultaneously a relief and I’m just so confused. and I am questioning everything that I thought was the truth. and I just wanted you to be who i thought you were. what about the letter?

I: i hope i’m who you thought i was and i hope who you thought i was was positive. so you read it - what do you think of it? i don’t have to know about any of the personal things to you if you don’t want to, I’m just wondering what you make of the webshrine-wyvern springs of it all. and a person going down a dark path who was a friend of cara’s.

I: ever since we were in shrinerise i have had suspicion one way or another that the BSF, intentional or not, ultimately led to the deep curse being cast. if cara is alluding to radius in this letter, it all but confirms it. and more so, the fact that someone or something tipped cara off. which confirms to me that it was intentional. this was planned. and it seems like the intention was to frame wyvern springs for it, for one reason or another. now i understand anyone could chalk this up as i’ve always been distrustful of them, but this is a firsthand account.

T: she. i mean, they considered each other family, essentially. so if she thinks that is the case, then. at the very least, I’m wary.

I: okay. i don’t quite know how we can tell this to the others, because we need to guarantee that we’re isolated, but we need to have each other’s back. because it really does feel like we are just in a viper’s nest. we know that they don’t treat us as aything but expendable, and if this is the depths of their depravity, even more so.

T: we all have so many secrets. i just. i don’t know if i can - i mean, we’ve been together for so long now but I don’t feel like i know anything about any of you, really. when it comes down to it. i mean, you don’t know much of your past but that’s not the same for the others. they - I . can we keep this to ourselves for a little longer, just to test the waters?

I: absolutely. that’s why i wanted to check with you

T: i don’t want to seem paranoid, and i know the only way we can stop this is to trust each other but I don’t know if I can.

I: I understand. and ultimately, it’s your wishes. it’s your property, it was in your home. it concerns you and your family. so that’s why i wanted to make sure

T: if we’re right, and radius did what she did - she should have been family. I just. all I wanted was to protect the people I care about. and it seems like every day people I care about become fewer and fewer, not even because they die but because they were never the people i thought they were. I don’t want to be right about this

I: neither do I. but. I also go off of empircal evidence, and I mean. we can bide our time, wait to see if there are any more cards played, but we should start looking for allies outside. because they are not to be trusted.

T: well. I was going to say we should start with Adelaide, but her mind doesn’t always seem to be hers.

I: she can be a bit of a loose canon

T: she’s the one we’ve known longest, though

I: I agree.

T: well. we should stick together. we’ll figure it out, we’ll find out who we can trust, I - I should tell you. I. in the forest. i was warned not to trust someone, named ignatius vesper. and not to trust zullie. i’m choosing to believe that they weren’t speaking about you, but if that’s the case we should be on our guard around the other doctor.

I: we were also warned by those mummies in the desert. it wasn’t so keen to listen to the warning of entities like those, i thought they were just trying to sow discord, but

T: there could be some truth to it. i’m not saying we should immediately turn on our friends, but you should know there is at least things to keep an eye on

I: if i may. i hope it’s not to sound accusatory, but why do people keep asking if they’ve seen you before if i don’t think they’ve had any reason to have crossed your path?

T: I’m. not sure yet, but I have reason to believe that I am not the only one of me that is out there. and I don’t know–if i can’t trust zullie, if she lied about the cure of the curse, then I’m not even sure who I am. obviously there was a span of time that I do not remember, where I was not in my body. and so. well. i don’t know.

I: you’re talking to one of the few people who knows precisely this exact feeling.

T: it’s terrifying. to think that perhaps you can’t even trust your own self. perhaps, since this other has been able to fool others - it might be a good way to have a way of confirming which me you’re talking to

I: was the version you saw - did it - idk if you’d know but did it have signs of the curse? because if you are

T: he seems worn out. like bits of flesh were -

I: actual flesh would be weird. it’s mostly just cartilege

T: couldn’t tell you more than that, except he called me number 6. and so did zullie when i talked to her earlier in her room.

I: i mean i’m not one to. i’m a man of science, i acknowledge that magic exists obviously and this is just obviously a theory - it is as i said earlier, where it would not shock me if having your soul ripped out of your body would not create some sort of issue or some sort of problem. does maybe a part of your soul or i guess - yeah, your soul. does a part of it get lost? maybe splits into some sort of other you?

T: that’s what i was wondering

I: but then why number 6? how many times did she try>

T: the implications are. alarming. if she were to attempt this on Agemo - that is my concern. because if it is part of this cure, i don’t want there to be some part of her out there who has to pay the price. i just don’t know. i mean, perhaps -

I: I’m getting so tired of hearing about people being split apart into mutliple identities. i had it once with me and radius and thought that was bad enough but hearing it is a regular occurence? but uh. anyway. we know what we know, and I want to pick zullie’s brain but it would need to be done in such a manner as to not make her feel cornered. she’s already on edge so maybe we give her more time

T: might be best as a conversation between her and me

I: you’re the first person i’m telling this, but when sirena and i went down to talk to dr v we passed leyrid on the way down and i know we’d set into motion the ritual being done on agemo - judging by the way she looked and how she sought comfort in me of all people? I don’t think we really need to worry about that anymore. I asked dr v if she was still alive and he said something like “she’s safe” which is not really an answer as to if she is her or if she’s secured or what - i don’t know where

T: well, the dr knows what he’s doing.

I: promise me that if anything were to happen to me, you will look after Sirena and keep her safe? she’s very special and I’d rather not see harm happen to her.

T: of course. though, your chances of survival are looking quite higher than mine atm

I: who knows! stranger things have happened. and as long as i’m your gp, i’ll do everything i can to make sure you’re still alive. and also as long as i’m still your friend. that comes first. well, i gotta go start getting prepped for surgery. glad we got to have this talk, and it’s your decision when if ever we start to share this with other people. you have my word.

T: thank you. i think the sooner we can find those we trust and know to protect, the better. we seem to be dropping like flies. I’ll let you get back to work - I’m going to. find something to drink that’s bracing.

I: Fair enough. just promise me you’ll stop loosing extremities

T: no guarantees. though I hope this is the worst of it before, at least the next 24 hours.

I: yeah. I guess only time will tell, but.

T: indeed

I: enjoy the rest of your evening, tadgh.

T: good luck. I won’t tell you to enjoy the rest of yours because, but - if you need any help. i can’t do medicine, but .

Tadgh gets distracted and sees a 1 frame flash of the BM while trying to remember a message for leyrid, and then the necklace shatters a little.

he picks up the necklace, which has shattered a little, and his heart skips a beat. he looks at it - the way this thing has shattered is peculiar. he thought it was a necklace like any other, but it’s simply slightly remained attached by a little part. there’s something else that he’s seen break like this - it’s an egg shell. egg of a white dragonborn.

Sirena was chilling in her room, with the fireplace emanating some weird smell?

she draws her swords, but can’t see anything.

the smoke, for an instant, has a shape. like the one that’s haunting her.

Z, from behind: I grew up far away from here, where the second Creek is spitted out of the Sacred Horns. The bat rescued me and my brothers and sisters. He took us to this cabin in the middle of nowhere. It was freedom, but even the greatest freedom comes at a price.

she turns around, and finds a locked door. and standing against the wall is zotzilaha.

Z: care to finish the fable for me?

S: He told us “beware of the man on the mountain, for he is real and he is the eater.’ how do you know that story?

Z: I know many things. for example, i know about what you call your brother

S: i’m.

Z: and I know it is nearby. much much more nearby than what you believe. however, that is not what i came here to discuss. i will ask one single time, and before you even think of lying to me, this is just a formality. once you’re done answering me, i’ll grab you by the head and read your mind regardless. are you aware of being the chosen to be link of a deity.

S: i. (casts greater invisibility and goes for the chimney)

Z: you do know i’m quite literally a fucking bat??

(she’s climbing)

He rips open the lower half of the chimney and his head turns 180 to smile at her and goes “open sesame”

she hits the dimension door into the main area, where she bumps directly into Ruins - and for a second, she sees the devil shaped mask spinning like a coin on the floor.

S: if you see zotzilaha, i didn’t see you, i wasn’t here, please don’t let him find me

(he puts it back on and turns around)

( he points behind her shoulder )

Z: so before you make anyone lose time, i’ll tell you two things about me: I'm the bat god and the god of the psyche. just thinking about me gives away where you are

S: i don’t KNOW ANYTHING I’m just trying to find my brother

Z: yeah hey me again. i know this is the third time in three days and i don’t want it as much as you. this is deity business, and not the one you’re interested into

S: don’t leave me alone here, please, idk what he wants with me but please

Ruins taps his staff on the ground and crosses his arms, staring in “ready but detatched”

S: i don’t know what you’re talking about!

Z: hits the BILBO BAGGINS (he gets REAL BIG and spreads his arms/wings): LAST CHANCE TO COME OUT OF YOUR VOLITION, XIBALBA YOU PIECE OF SHIT

her mind is being feasted upon by wild animals

Z: so you really don’t know! doesn’t mean i can’t be looking out for him. i’ll follow your moves very closely, Sirena Hosiakari

there’s a cold hand clasping on her shoulder as Ruins shakes her out of it

And zotzilaha is gone.

Ignatius is getting ready for the operation - he runs into Lucretia and behind her, a sort of uncanny valley dr vesper

I: and you’re sure you’ll have full motor function?

L: yes.

V: my aspect may be rough but i should be up to snuff. Were you able to find anyone who can substitute magic anisthetically?

(nothing)

DR V: dr v, i’m told you make a great tea and i’d love to sample. if i can

I: can you taste in there?

V: i tried to do my best, but i think we could use this as the ultimate test.

(Dr V watches Lucretia making an arm for vertebra)

Sirena pulls ignatius aside

S: ignatius. it’s zotzilaha. he found me alone in my room.

I: come here.

Ignatius’ mushrooms are missing.

I: lucretia. you know more about magic than I do. there’s a spell that can locate any object in the vicinity.

L: yeah. never bothered to learn it, I just don’t loose things

I: husbands? uh. anyone else?

he can smell them inside Sirena’s room. he tries the door, mushrooms mixed with smoke and burnt.

everyone rushes in. lucretia pokes at the ashes with in the fireplace, among which are some completely blackened out mushroom remnants.

the entire stock of mushrooms are in the fire and the sun has set. quickly.

[bonesnappers-official]

Session 73

In which Tadgh scrapes Zullie off the ceiling, Ignatius has an out of body experience, and Lucretia engages with a peer.

Previously On // Next Session

Everyone wakes up the next morning in Vesper’s compound in Mean Slimes in Wyvern Springs

to the knocking of the two hags

and they are summoned to the tower’s round table on the first floor for a breakfast! soup and dried and preserved bits.

there’s a hollogram of Dr Vesper sitting on there, eating from the environment of his room behind the glass.

VS: well, I do hope that in spite of all the commotion, it was a restfull night. I apologize in case the meanders of this unsettling tower made sleeping harder for you, but I am actively trying to make it presentable for a group of guests as we speak.

I: are you expecting other people?

VS: oh no. It’s just - as you can see, i’ve been leaving it abandoned for some time. there are only so many rooms that i need to use, even in this form after a point. but it pleases me to have you all here and to have clearly, the best of what the five lands has to offer gathered at my humble table. I hope that I will provide the best headquarters that you can possibly hope for in these trying times, moving forward with your mission. speaking of your mission, i’m sure you’ll also be glad to hear that most of your friends have been cleared out for the moment. they’re still clearly infected by the deep curse, and they will be put back in quarantine if it should be necessary but for the time being they do not present an open threat.

Tadgh, about 15 minutes earlier, got woken up in the quarantine room by the hollogram who said:

after evaluation of your breathing patterns and etc, two of you have been cleared to meet the others again (tadgh and vertebra)

T: can i ask what the criteria was? how do you assess that

V: it’s based on evaluating what stage that’s been getting to

T: will everyone in here get the same kind of food we get?

V: I’ll make sure they get their proper restoration, but they’ve gone beyond stage 2 already and i have to investigate further on how bad the situation is. but as for you and vertebra, there’s still a lot of time on the clock before it worsens.

T: alright. and do you swear that they will be here and safe when I return?

V: as I said. they have value of analysis beyond at least

T: I know. but you won’t remove them from this area? they will remain here?

V: should one of them showcase signals of reaching stage 4, i will provide to move them into a separate room to prevent any further damage to the other. but I can guarantee you this: i am first and foremost a doctor and i will always fight to maintain a life in its dignity until the very last moment

on the way out, agemo takes off a necklace which has a weird shard of something and hands it to tadgh, saying “if the doctor says that i have to stay here, it’s probably worse than it looks so. i don’t want to get ahead of myself, but just in case i may never get the chance to hand this to her, could you please make sure that this gets to Lyra- my bad. she hates it when i call her that name in front of others, and she wouldn’t want you to call her that. it’s my nickname for my little sister. just, please give it to her”

T: of course. but i’m going to do everything in my power to ensure that you get to give this to her when the time comes

and then they’re off! and upstairs.

tadgh and vertebra show up upstairs.

I: hey tadgh we need to talk after breakfast.

vertebra sits next to ignatius, drinks a load of water, and before anyone can say anything does the craziest loudest burp ever.

T reassures Leyrid about agemo

I: takes his cup and does the clinking thing. now that i have everyone’s attention, we didn’t exactly get to debrief last night, did we ? now is a good time, given we have some empty seats, would we like to explain why?

Lucretia catches them up.

I: what’s done is done. it’s unfortunate agemo had to become casualty to zullie’s delusions.

VS: well yes, as a general rule of thumb i would suggest that going forward, it would be best for this group to engage as little as possible with the accursed .

I: dr vesper, what stage is Agemo at?

VS: at least three. I - (he looks over his left shoulder to look at something offscreen) - i’m currently recieving the further exams on the dna that i gathered during the night.

L: could i see them after you’re done?

VS: i was planning to pretty much announce them to the group, especially considering one

I: this just happened yesterday?

L: last night

I: so. she’s stage 3 in less than 24 hours. potentially stage 4.

T: it’s odd. she doesn’t seem as bad off as vertebra, frankly.

V: hey, i’m right here

T: that was not a judgement call. i’m saying you’ve endured quite a bit

I: i’ll take this as an informative note to share with the group - if suddenly an accursed individual seems as if they are perfectly fine, they are not. they enter a terminal lucidity before they decline. if you’re saying she’s okay, i’d have reason to suspect she’s already at stage 4

A: how is that even possible? to be at stage 4 in less than a day

I: maybe her immune system was particularly week.

A: could she have had it and it would be triggered by this?

Something Crashes onto the ground. Leyrid has accidentally knocked over her glass and is staring at nothing

I: i also have to wonder - we don’t know how long the girl was accursed. could have been there from the beginning but she still looked pretty fresh

T: well we don’t know anything. the main important thing right now is, if she’s at this stage, is there anything we can do?

I: the only person who could cure is not present and is in fact, responsible for it.

T: well, who out of us is the most emotionally mature? Adelaide? Can I send you with Leyrid down to like. take her to be outside if they can talk to each other through a window so she can spend time with Agemo if the end is near? and since I have a personal connection with zullie, i’m going to try to - granted I should probably not, but just in case she does die i would like someone who is good at people to comfort leyrid.

I: before we jump to - I have not seen her as a patient, we should wait to see what the reports are from dr vesper before we actually make any assumptions. i was just operating off what i’m hearing

T: i’m not saying we prepare for her to die right now, i’m saying it might be nice for leyrid to talk to her sister and for me to try and consult zullie on helping if things come back poorly - i think it’s important to use the time in the interim to make sure our bases are covered

I: i did want to make sure we covered what happened at the cottage before you left

T: well, we went through the woods, the woods are quite cursed, it’s really - i suppose toccan would be the only one who knew what it looked like before everything but it’s quite diseased and dead. it’s like walking through a field of mold spores. I don’t - anyway, it’s bad and we went to my house and my house was… um. in absolutely pristine condition and exactly how it was when i left it, except encased in thorns because it was built out of the wood of an iescu tree.

V: apologies. you said what? the house was pristine, because it was built from an iescu tree?

I: there was a protective barrier aroudn the surrounded place, but the house itself was also built from an iescu tree.

V: what’s an iescu tree? you’re telling me this vegetable has deep curse preventing -

I: this partially refers to what we spoke about last night and we can speak in private. go ahead/.

T: anyway, it was getting dark, we prepared to spend the night, it essentially seemed like we were being watched and we thought - well ignatius you thought you saw someone or heard my voice?

I: i had thought there was going to be another ambush like on the caravan so we decided to pull tadgh downstairs and even still i heard a voice - his voice - from outside of the cottage when he was very clearly on the floor in front of us

T: anyway. quigly ran into the forest, we followed, unfortunately left the house unprotected, and I don’t know what you saw Ignatius but to me it had essentially become an illusion of what the forest used to be. it. it was very strange. anyway. It seemed there was (ignatius knows tadgh is leaving stuff out and doesn’t want to talk about it in front of everyone)

I: well, I don’t - i speak for myself and radius and we just sort of saw fog. and quigly circling around a little clearing before he beelined to us

T: I also came to a clearing with quigly but it was not real - it was an illusion. but i was able to catch it in time and make my way back thanks to my connection with quigly and being able to tell that he was not actually in front of me. but at that point once we found each other we were too far into the forest for it to make sense for us to come back, so then we - ignatius, did you explain the sewer sitch?

I: we made it back. another group of accursed like the ones from the caravan were at the gates so we had to find another route in, tadgh knew of the sewers being a stealthy way to get in so we did - we did come to find out it exposes you to the deep curse so that was lovely but that was when, after coming out of the sewers, we ran into our lovely friends - one who made an appearance last night. nothing of true import was said by that individual - basilico was helpful and he gave me some stuff that proved useful. one of which is what i gave you, adelaide, for the unsleeping disease. i also got a scroll, which i’ll give to you lucretia because i’ve got no use for it. and a small book of matches that seem to be - do you remember what that torch did when we were in the buried blackpit? that made tadgh indisposed? small effect of that, since it’s just a match. as well as an herb that’s like sage but when you tear its leaves it repels some of the more minor accursed, which i have distilled into an oil so that we can get more uses out of it and it might be a bit more potent.

V: hey, suspicious sage. i thought i’d harvested all the available plants in meanslimes some time ago. good your group was able to run into it. you mentioned there were other adventurers in town? why didn’t they show up

I: they’re vampires. so

V: ah. are you sure the gnome i let in is not one of them? i mean, if i have to be so honest a vampire in my tower would still not be as bad as an accursed, but.

T: can’t recall ever having seen him in the company of them. given there were many in the buried blackpit so it could be possible, but he did not seem. well, i really couldn’t tell you

I: with all due respect dr, you’d know if he was undead if you were taking his vitals

VS: well, heartbeat is not exactly something I can take but.

I: if he’s breathing.

VS: he could be not breathing and still emit stuff

I: I suppose if i am going down with leyrid and adelaide, i can get a good look and let you know

T: with all respect dr v, you haven’t been taking normal vitals like most drs would. you’ve been keeping your distance and doing it secretly, which feels a little invasive. i get the need for security but really i would have sat for you to take my heartbeat. it’s not that dramatic of a thing to do

VS: i understand my methods are unorthodox, but. well. actually, i probably shouldn’t be sugarcoating this. with some very rare exceptions, i have no reason to trust most of you. i don’t know what your true intentions are, i don’t know how many of you are actually against the idea of some of you being accursed, and i don’t know what exactly your plan is. i am giving you the courtesy of the best cures i can provide for those of you who have this illness, but you do understand to this day there has been no recorded instance of a full recovery -

L: one

I: you’re looking at it. the one recovery called you out. he just became infected again. from one dr to another, dr v, he was cured. up until about a few days ago when we were attacked and he was infected again

T: i don’t expect you to automatically trust what we say, but may i rightfully point out we don’t have any way to confirm what you’re saying either - forgive us if we’re a bit skeptical of what we’re doing, we’re just trying to survive. if you want to talk to the two people who know the most, talk to ignatius or zullie if you can get her to - i don’t claim to be a medical professional so i can’t confirm what they said but it certainly felt like i did not have the deep curse anymore.

he’s looking around the circle and is like…… right. VS: i understand your worry. your vitals have been taken, and i’m sorry i wasn’t forthright. going forward i will always ask permission first and i hope that will be proof of the start of my sincerity of intentions.

T: in the time we’ve spent talking, any update on the analysis?

VS: nah it’s going to take a little. I mean like…. no, it’ll still take a while. Ms Lucretia, i believe you were the first one to schedule yourself an appointment with this doctor, so i’ll see you in the clinic downstairs.

I to Sirena: do you need assistance, dear? you look a bit worse for wear. i only ask because i can patch you up if you need

s; just lack of sleep, i’ll be fine

I: if you need anything

S: actually - i was hoping to ask you about. well. the visitor you weren’t too kean about from yesterday? I’ve never met them before. why - did i do something to them? i just don’t understand the panic or why I couldn’t be seen by them. I mean, everyone knows i’m here by now

I: well, I don’t know what their motivations are personally, I don’t know why you are of any concern to them at all, all I know is that I don’t trust them and I was tipped off by one of the more sound individuals in their group to make sure you steer clear of the man we saw last night and that’s all I need to know

S: but I want to know why? what did I do so wrong? I- what kind of divine punishment is being served for me to - nevermind. it’s nothing.

I: sincerely i wish i could give you a better answer other than I don’t know. we can attempt to find out, but it needs to be in a controlled manor where your life is not at risk

S: i didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m sorry

I: we’ve all been there, it’s okay. it’s just - we’ve lost to many people. so.

S: linger back, gather information where I can, confront when we have the full picture

I: there will come a time where we get you those answers

S: starting to believe that a little less each day, but thank you nonetheless.

Tadgh n Zullie: tadgh knocks on the door and no answer

T: hey zullie it’s me. I know things suck right now and people are mad at you and i’m sure you are also having feelings about the situation but. agemo is potentially in a critical condition right now, we don’t know yet, and I want you to be the person I have trusted for the last two years to look after my health. and i know that you wanted to save that girl, and I understand, but. i had a chance to protect these sisters and i failed. and part of that is because of your actions. and i’m not saying i’m angry at you but I am saying i need your help.

zullie mad laughter in the background / hysterical

tadgh cannot open the goddamn door

he turns into an ant, squishes through there

he goes under as an ant, feels his front things being pulled up but then reattaches himself to the ground - walking on the roof.

zullie is just sitting on da roof, convulsing with hysterical laughter.

tadgh goes to tell quigly to go get someone.

detranforms into a person

falls down to the roof (which is covered in shards of mirrors)

she’s laughing so hard she’s convulsing. around her head, there is a twisted crown of jagged iron.

tadgh hits a shot on her shoulder, she babbles in halfling and invites him closer

so he walks closer. because what the fuck else do you do. she keeps laughing and she tries to pull tadgh closer but is so out of it his hand naturally slips out and her arm slams back onto the roof from recoil. makes a loud thud, she holds her elbow in pain as she keeps laughing

tadgh hits her with a dispel magic

the crown disappears from her head and the laughter stops - she pops out of it a little

Z: tadgh? why’d you do that

T: do you remember what happened? are you - besides the arrow wound, which. i’m sorry, that was me - are you alright?

Z: well, i was just a little ago. ten seconds ago, precisely. why would you interrupt that?

T: you seemed posessed. what were you trying to do?

Z: posessed? nooo. - she reaches for a mirror shard and tadgh pins her hand

T: what were you trying to do>

Z: i was trying to have some fun!

T: bad time for fun, zullie. did you hear anything i said before i crossed the door?

Z: you said something?

T: yes. agemo might be dying and it’s your fault. can you save her?

Z: yes. the girl’s bite. it was that, right?

T: yes. i wasn’t angry before. but I’m not saying i’m not now. can you save her?

Z: yes. just give me one minute. i need some time before i get back to work

t: no drugs right now. i don’t know what you’re trying to do but it’s not going to help.

Z: it was helping

T: maybe it was helping you, but it wasn’t helpig anyone else

Z: so what? nobody wants my help. i think everyone has made it pretty clear by now

T: i understand that you feel slighted by the group. and i can’t say that you owe me one, because I certainly owe you. but you do. I’m responsible for these girls, and they don’t have any family other than themselves, and i know you know what it feels like to be alone. do you really want this to be on your hands?

z: bleugh. tell me. you were - well, not you you. but you were - you remember that day? when ichtwig got into the house to save lucretia? you were there with him? why did you guys do it?

T: he would have gone back for any of us. he made that decision on his own. and if i thought that i could have saved lucretia in that situation i would have, but i know my limits. and even so as a result, i became cursed. so don’t say that you’re the only one who lost something that day. i know what it feels like to lose the person you love. i know what it feels like to think there is no hope. but. that doesn’t mean you get to give up on the rest of us. I’m not going to let you. not right now. if you can do something now, you will do it now. afterwards, I do not care. you can do whatever it is you’re trying to do with that mirror - if it kills you, so be it. you can make that choice like ichtwig made his choice . but for now? you have lost that privilege for me. I am begging you. save this girl.

Z: right. uh. listen, i’m out of it. please just give me one moment to dispell everything and put everything in place and i’ll be right to you.

(she dispells reverse gravity and helps Tadgh downwards)

Z: i’ll change a little and be right to you. thank you.

T: well. i won’t say it wasn’t selfish on my part. but.

z: hey. just one thing. how was it for you? feeling like you no longer had the curse. I mean, awakening from that nightmare?

T: before you did something, I would not wish what i saw and what i felt on even my worst enemy. and certainly not someone so young as her, who has so much to live for. so if you can at least - I don’t know if what you did cured me and perhaps we should have a conversation about that, but. whatever it was was better than what i was slipping into. and what you did prevented me from hurting those that i care about. and i want that chance for agemo.

as she closes the door, “thanks, #6.”

adelaide, ignatius, and leyrid are at the edge of the quarantine room - which is a window to the hall that leads to the room. there are no windows in the room

at the end of the hall, there is another window agemo leans on - but there’s like 25 feet of distance.

I: excuse me. in order to conduct a full screening, i would like to be physically present

H: very sorry, but -

I: I’ve delt with individuals of this level before, and i’ve come out unscathed

H: we’re very sorry but dr v has been clear that nobody is to approach them until their stage is cleared

I: then how does he expect me to do my job? to make up for holes he has in his research to be clear.

H: you in person may not be able to conduct experiments, but he’s magnanimously provided a solution (the other hag drags out a flesh golem, and there’s a ceramic jar and a sphere inside a steel cage. Dr v sends his regards and proposes this solution to you - this nosyd sphere has been stored with a particular spell that will allow you to temporarily transfer your mind into this body.

I: i’m sure you can understand why i’d have reservations about this. i trust myself more -sorry. he’s been a lovely host. very kind, generous to offer up his home to complete strangers, even ones who lie to him. but forgive me for saying that i will not be using this. I am, above all, a doctor. i trust the physical sciences. i am not about to use whatever magic this is to transfer my consciousness into something else

H: the principle of this magic is the most science based of all magic - an electrical charge will transfer your brain directly into this thing

I: has it been tested with no flaw?

H: oh yeah. you don’t think the doctor would helt you see where his real body is?

I: almost like a puppet. and he’s transfered himself out of it without a hitch?

H: you’ll need another - there are two spells hosted in this. you’ll have to touch the sphere a second time if you want to transfer back

V: okay, that’s enough. thank you assistants, you’ve spoken well enough. i’ll be totally transparent with you, ignatius. this spell, which is called for your information New Mind, is at least theoretically of permanent effect. which is why i took care of storing two of them in the nosyd sphere so it’s effect could be reversed once you felt your interest as a doctor was fulfilled.

I: I don’t. i’m sure - I. you must understand why I. it’s not that i don’t trust you. it’s that i don’t - accidents happen. we have witnessed it on several occasions. it could be the most sound established piece of tech that you have but there’s a first time for everything. i don’t want to be the first time

V: I understand. but in the same vein, I can’t allow this to be the first time one of your examinations of accursed subjects ends ary.

I: it’s what I signed up for. you don’t become a plague doctor expecting you will never get the plague.

V: yes, but you currently hold the key to the cure for more than one deadly condition. and while it is extremely noble for you to keep putting yourself in jeapordy, there may be more than accursed who suffer from the loss of the memory stored in your mind

I: well. fine. but if something goes wrong - what do I need to do.

V: well, first of all - both of your companions should follow the example of my assistants. this, in an open field - that spell has a radius of 100 feet. everything that it can effect, it will within that area. any mind intelligent enough to be transfered will be mixed up with the bodies

I: what will happen to my body? i need a guarantee that nothing will happen to it

V: i hate to put it in this quite gnarly way, but the fact you find yourself in a peculiar position between life and death makes you the perfect fit for the mindless brain of this flesh golumn transfered into your body because there will be no consequences on the lack of a heartbeat intelligence or a respiratory intelligence.

I: well. the only real way to make scientific discoveries is to do it. it’s born out of a natural skepticism, so. know that i’m not doing this enthusiastically, but I need to perform my duties as a doctor and if this is the only way -

V: i’m also not doing this enthusiastically, which is why i must commend you. should things, for any reason, go south inside - you are commanded for the best of your companions, probably wyvern springs, and probably for the rest of the five lands - you are commanded to grab the sphere and be transfered back to your body. can’t afford your mind to be wasted on the death of a flesh golumn corpse. I apologize for the interruption - but i believe my first appointment has arrived. i’ll still be watching carefully every time.

I: adelaide - please keep an eye on my body. if anything goes awry, please do whatever you can to lead this party, this group. i need. i don’t know, man. you’re one of the only people i actually turn to so I need some sollace that there will be an adequate. as for you, leyrid, i will try my best to get every bit of info about agemo’s condition for you that I can. I can’t promise that it’ll be the news you want to hear, but it will be the truth.

LY nods, but clutches at adelaide desperately

I: and similarly to if anything goes wrong - i want you to know that i deeply regret how i was conducting myself upon our first meeting, and i know i’ve already apologized once. whether you accepted it or not at all - i do need to tell you at least one more time that everything I did I carry with me. and I deeply regret everything. i’m a changed person, I’ve done as much work as I can, and I will continue to do the work I need to do to make that clear to everyone i’ve hurt. now i need you to go with adelaide.

once everyone is out of range, he sits himself in a comfortable way for when he comes back (

lightning errupts from it, enters the ceramic jar which crashes and a double set of lightning errupts from that - one towards the head of the flesh golumn and one to the head of ignatius.

he makes the switch.

out of body moment! first time he’s out of there that he’s fully cognizant

pins and needles but in your Whole Body

feels like falling, the body on the floor jolts and springs up, with the thing putting a hand on his left arm. w

he touches the sphere, but as he’s watching the golumn had errupted a second left arm, trying to claw its way into the body

Lucretia being welcomed by Dr. V who’s sitting on his chair, waiting for her. she walks towards him, he gets up from the chair, gives her his back, spins her around, and sits on it leaning forward against the back.

V: miss aethylmyr. i’m going to try and be as subtle as possible about this, because i believe it’s in your interest. who else? because clearly, it’s not for some, if not most of them. or are you the only one?

L: myself, zullie, radius, vertebra, afiak that’s all of them

V: the halfling wizard, pale tiefling, cursed half elf. okay, you have my medical secrecy?

L: how did you know?

V: well, I saw how it reacted to the sensors of the deep curse detection room. i apologize for almost - well. back at the breakfast, almost. but for what it’s worth, it' really is a marvelous job. i’ve never seen anything quite like it.

L: I know. I am extrordinarily proud.

V: you said you were mostly self taught too, as far as i’m aware - aethylmyr ether’s chain does not really interest itself in this field.

L: my father is a fool for all that he is occasionally a decent inventor

V: reminds me of multiple certain someones from over here. back before the deep curse, a lot of people saw my work as akin to that of a shaman. could you believe it? me? a shaman? but what can I say when it is not in your desire to actually understand what someone is explaining to you there’s not a lot you can say to convince people otherwise.

L: if they won’t listen, their opinions aren’t worth it.

V: indeed. LA, i’ve only known you for 24 hours and i feel like i’ve spoken more words than in my past 157 years, yes?

L: you’re the first person to understand what i’ve been doing in the past… 480?

V: so. you said you wanted to see the vitals? (he grabs the metal panel on the wall, drags it all the way over to the glass.)I made some modification to the glass so now it’s polarized and you should be able see through it

(lots of diagrams that make bell curves of pheremones emitted by creatures to a suspicious sage plantation this tower has somewhere. based on how intense, alludes to a certain gradiation of deep curse that’s almost max and the closer it gets to it, the further away from this an accursed would go but then it inverts.) this data implies a further stage of accusrion beyond the one known.

L: hey what’s that?

V: oh that? clever clever. of course you’d notice immediately. I’d still not like to call it stage six, but at this point i probably should. it’s a further stage of accursion that apparently - it’s very rare. and hard for me to put into words. hard to meet accursed creatures who actually meet that stage, but the math shows us in a long enough timeline it is inevitable for all accursed creatures to reach that stage. before i get too deep into it - tell me, do you believe in deities. i’ve had this same conversation with doctor v, but. depending on your answer, i’ll flavor my explanation in a more understandable way.

L: the difference between believing and knowing.

V: I once knew a person who told me that same thing. well. as you know, the deep curse eminated from the interaction between Lolth and Alderiche. which, if your groups words are to be believed actually used to walk these lands. and the connection to lolth is very important here because i believe for its almost sublife state, the deep curse ultimately a virus. akin to any other one. and this virus’ goal is to eventually evolve until it reaches its perfect state of evolution. stage six is what happens when that virus succeeds in that purpose. as you may have observed, it’s even like nonliving things, objects that can become accursed if there’s enough exposure. and dpending on the nature of the exposure and subject, a stage 5 accursed may present itself in different ways. it may be a mindless zombie or have some peculiar abilities. i’m sure you know what i’m talking about. well, that is because the virus is still replicating itself in the body while granting more power to its host so that it can maintain itself alive while it reaches the perfect evolution. but once that stage is reached, no matter the nature of the subject or the exposure, it will always turn into the same exact thing. i was only ever able to observe one. and from very far away outside the walls of meanslimes, thankfully. probably one of the remnants of the northern provinces like bug easy or even five trees. but it’s hard for me to describe it. it’s - imagine something furry with eight legs and eight paws - similar to a spider in nature but at the same time almost a feline predator. they have claws and underneath their belly they always emit the smoke of the deep curse. those things are deep curse incarnated. anything else before that stage we may call them acursed elves or objects or dragons - it doesn’t matter what they were before at stage six they always become the same. to explain this i’ve tentatively named them deep acursed. if you think anything accursed was a formidable foe, I cannot express hard enough how off limits any idea of engaging with a deep accursed must be. for all I know, even standing close to one is enough to get a massive, ireecoverable exposure to the curse. you see those suspicious sage stats? i believe the reason why normal accursed creatures run away from it is they emit the same pheremones as deep accursed and the last sliver of intelligence in those creatures runs away because it reminds them of what they will become eventually.

L: that is something INTERESTING. because big spiders tend to keep things away.

V: i think it may be what they produce when c oupling

L: that raises more questions

V: you raised earlier you’ve known deities, but also that you’ve known about an after.

L: yes.

V: could you care to describe it to me.

L: as i understand it -

(monitor goes off)

V: you’ve got to be kidding me! why did he activate it immediately. apologies, l, i’ll get back to you in a second. just keep an eye on the vitals for me for now.

Ignatius interjection.

DR V: hey wtf just happened

I: yeah remember the corpse parts? they tried to escape my body and enter the hommunculus and i can’t allow that

he drops his professional look, turns to lucretia, raises an eyebrow like are you hearing this?

L: he speaks the truth.

V: apologies dr v: could you explain this to a novice?

I: you heard me the first time. Lucretia listening in by happenstance?

V: yep

I: she can confirm. we need allies outside of you know who, i believe this man can be of use to us.

Dr V: “of use?”

L: yeah basically that. I wish i had more answers but it’s been on the lower end of my list of priorities.

V: so this divine corpse - these pieces of divine corpse - they recognize that your essense had been transfered and were trying to crawl into the flesh golem body?

I: correct? that’s my hypothesis, at least.

L: could be you died for the purposes of the magic and then -

I: yeah well i don’t want to find out. but i can’t allow that, sorry i wasted the magic i still need to conduct my duties as a dr.

V: you just used two very expensive charges of a very powerful spell. it will take me a while - at least half a day, to find the materials again

I: you know what wouldn’t take this?

L: why do you need to look?

I: I have a duty and i want to answer to Leyrid. and will these results be ready?

V: as a matter of fact, there may be an even faster solution.

(he calls the two hags and orders them to bring the flesh golum to him)

L: Dr vesper. your results.

Lucretia leaves the room.

V: dr v, there’s been a big development. is miss davenport still there?

I: yeah

V: davenport, your job is to take the half orc woman far away from here and from her sister

I to Leyrid: I’m sorry. I’m so sorry

V: dr v, listen to me very carefully. I got the results on both the remaining subjects -they are each worse than the other. agemo is s 4, and the gnome is stage 5.

I: yeah, and that’s what i expected. what about the gnome?

V: that’s the most important thing. i must give my humblest apologies to all the guests of this tower, i was not able to maintain my promise of keeping you safe. the gnome i let in to my security house is, in reality, an accursed creature. a fully developed stage 5 accursed gnome. Dr V, i need you to immediately go look for mr fili and miss vertebra, and immediately examine that they have not been infected, scratched, or in any way exchanged bodily fluids or surface level contact.

[bonesnappers-official]

Session 72

In which Adelaide makes gets her mark and Ignatius spills the beans.

Previously On // Next Session

back in the castle in Mean Slimes in Wyvern Springs

we ended on Ignatius meeting Mr. Vesper

Tadgh continues trying to circle the outskirts and get a look through the windows

fails to get any clue, makes 13 laps of the building before Adelaide notices him

gets close enough to call quigly who says: there’s a weird ghost that’s leading us and your creepy friend downstairs? more updates to come but if you could get here, kind of spooky

t: where are you? i can’t see through any of the windows and don’t know where to go

Q: front door, to the left and down the hall (loosely)

tadgh rings the doorbell, the gate opens through an unseen mechanism, and he is greeted once again by the two hags who are living with the doctor who point him to the end of the entrance of the tower

lucretia wakes up, looks ahead of her, sees… a very thick bit of separation glass beyond which there is a nice looking man sitting on a plastic chair. hands clasped together, looking at her intently and then looking back at some monitors to his side before (security cameras)

L: pardon me?

V: ah. it pleasures me you’ve returned to this plane of consciousness. i had the chance to speak with your friends, but I do not believe we have been formally introduced yet. who do I have the pleasure to host in my… well, i would not say humble, but in my manor nonethless.

L: Lucretia. Aethylmyr. pleasure to make your acquaintance.

V: Aethylmyr. forgive me, is there any chance your family is known for something? I could swear I’d already heard that name prior.

L: My father owns a range of shops specializing in magical sundries.

V: ah aethylmyr’s aethers. i know. well, i’m dr igantius vesper and i’ve been operating in the territories of wyvern springs for a hundred years, and I’ve had to move my things into here. mostly entertainment busienss

L: how have you been holding out for so long? where have you been getting food?

V: let’s just say the previous owner of this place had quite a stash, though I blush that at one point in an attempt to preserve it as long as possible i did resort to some executive decisions. meanslimes, before falling completely to the deep curse, was originally a very wealthy town and with wealth came a lot of exotic pets and animals which, through some of my more shaman-like experiences i was able to breed to get myself a little extension of my resources. i doubt their previous owner would appreciate that, but I also doubt they’re out there to care.

he’s clenching his knuckles tighter

L: Clever.

V: though to be honest. food was not the main problem

L: water?

V: Solitutde was. I do have my two assistants, but they are so far out there sometimes i believe they themselves have the curse and are just good at hiding it from me.

V: forgive me. it was none of your business to recieve that much information after your rude awakening. it’s just I have not had a proper conversation with a sentient being in four years at this point, and even with our lifespan that’s still a bloody long time. I don’t expect you to know what years of solitude and silence could mean.

Lucretia starts laughing

V: glad someone still laughs at my jokes.

L: Occupational hazard, i guess

V: speaking of occupation: all your friends have refused to talk to me about this. but what is bringing a group of 16 very gallant individuals deep into the heart of the deep curse?

L: officially, we’re supposed to be trying to prevent the spread of the deep curse.

V: Well, you’re four years too late.

L: Maybe. but I think we have a good shot, and i’d rather try than just wait to catch the deep curse

V: I’ve been living like that, but it’s only recieved a fifty-fifty appreciation. but please, make yourselves at home. I’ll make sure to leave your friends the best of hopsitality this manor can offer, though I must warn you it’ll be less than what you could find in the likes of hornsbrook.

L: I’ve been on the road for long enough that anything is a relief. Thank you, Dr, but I think I could use the chance to clean myself up a bit.

V: right. he goes to a button, and goes “with your permission, the deep curse detection has the option to clean and purify anyone who walks through it.”

btw miss aethylmyr-that chestplate of yours. is that your creation?

L: not my creation. my modification.

V: oh, ingenious! I used to work on something similar, but then I was… drawn back. we can discuss more eventually.

Lucretia runs into ignatius on the way out

L: we’re going to talk about this eventually, but not right now.

I: yeah fair enough

Sirena and Adelaide

A: i need to sleep. can you keep watch for a few hours?

S: You won’t have me at full fighting capacity, but —

A: I don’t trust this connor kid

S: is there something in particular i should be worried about? i won’t pry if -

A: I don’t know, but i think it would be best if someone was here.

as they talk, a knock on the door

S: you expecting someone?

A: Not really? but can’t expect too much. expect the unexpected.

on the other side, sobbing

It’s leyrid, who goes: hi. I. cannot stay in the same room as the witch right now or I’m going to do something I regret. ca nI please come in? because I feel like if i go with the devil twins, even in their current condition, they’re going to make me do something I regret and -

A: Leyrid? yes.

she comes in, and sits down in a corner holding her knees.

Sirena goes outside

A: are you alright, Leyrid? do you need to talk about it?

L: is there anything to talk about? My sister is going to turn into a-. into.

no, as a matter of fact I don’t really want to talk about it right now.

A: if you change your mind, I’m here. but may I say one thing?

It’s not a death sentence anymore, Leyrid. there are ways…. there are ways to come out on the other side of it

with that - I’m going to sleep. you’re more than welcome to stay here as long as you need. Sirena is outside, but you should rest as well.

Ignatius goes through the decontamination chamber, seeing a lot of smoke, and the light immediately turns - not the spinning red of alarm lights, but yellow.

the door opens and he is directed to a man who is not sitting on the chair behind the protective glass, but is standing as close to his side of the glass as possible, and is staring at Ignatius with blinders

V: well that’s interesting.

I: what is interesting?

V: well, not only you come here claiming my name, but - he interrupts himself. you see, this decontamination hall I constructed is supposed to release a pheremone substance that reacts on its own with another substance that people with the deep curse naturally produce, even at the lowest levels. however, something interesting happened with you - it’s not detecting as if there was accursed imposed upon you, it’s reacting as if there is a more radical, deeper rooted presence of the curse in you. one that is not the curse yet, but could be. and there is only one thing in the entire world that produces that specific reaction.

he walks up to a closed shelf with a door, opens it up, and takes out something which he holds behind his back.

V: it’s a very specific type of organic material that has been affected by prolonged exposure to a mix of magical and electcal neural signals that, in the long run, end up powering the very flesh of the body in a natural frenzy, which is why it allows this kind of organic material to be the root of what produces the deep curse.

he turns around and he shows ignatius a little hunk, probably 40 or 50 founds of flesh.

V: the only creatures with frenzied enough thoughts to affect their own flesh like that are what are sometimes called vampires, but i believe that to be a wrong label

I: well yes, the correct term is dhampyr

V: ah. yes, so you do know about, no offense, your condition.

I: I do. I am very much aware of it

V: then you must be very naive or very insane to walk around at night that close to people who are clearly important to you.

I: well, you must be naive to presume that there is not a way to quell or put down such notions, because that’s all they are really. seeing as how dhampyrism is only a mental state

V: a mental state? I heard about that theory, but i thought it was only a theory. do you have empirical proof?

I: i’m walking proof

V: you’d have to explain a little further. it’s not as important as a cure for the deep curse, but what you’re talking about is still a massive discovery

I: if you expect that i’m going to share this, you need to know i did not come here to mock you or make fun of you.. me having the same name was as much of a shock to me as it was to you. can you at least meet me on that?

V: so you’re swearing to me by whichever gods you may believe in. or whichever science you may believe in, that your actual name is Ignatius Vesper and you just so happen to be a doctor like me?

I: yep. I understand how bizarre that is, but surely you are aware that more bizarre things have happened in this world

V: I suppose so, but probably not as many. anyways, i will give you my trust on that. could you please explain to me what this discovery is about?

I: well, it was only until up about a year ago that i managed to find something that was able to - quell really is the best word, because i don’t believe that you can be fully cured so to speak. it’s more so that - when i went into my research on it, it was out of a matter of looking for a substance that could almost just convince your brain or wherever it’s based out of that you have fulfilled it. without actually having to brutally murder someone. you see, you can only do that so many times before it starts to really wear on your psyche after you’re made aware of it after not having been for so long. you can only attack your friends so many times before it starts to wind you down. I hale from 20th bridge where i was able to forage for and found a very specific type of mushroom that, while not curing the drive, can quell it. and I can confidently tell you that it has been almost a year and a half since i’ve undergone a transformation.

V: which means there’s no way it could have been just a physical coincidence - so it is a mental condition. I - however, is it like… how much does it last? I would suppose that this would mean a continuous renewal for the consumption of this substance

I: correct. it is why I carry (ed: how much goddamn king oyster mushrooms). it requires a great deal to meet the drive, but it seems to be decreasing as time goes on. i’m not eating as many as i was. however, very early onto my research I was not as… mentally fortified to resist, and I had found in that for the duration I had gone (about a week) only eating the mushrooms - if i missed it, I was unconscious for a week. So as it stands, if I were to run out of these mushrooms or be unable to meet a daily dose, it would be about a year and a half, give or take, that i would be unconscious.

V: well. I sure wish I had known this information myself a little earlier.

I: well. I have your name, so it’s almost like you did.

V laughs for the first time: yeah. there was -

he swings the jar of flesh.

V: let’s just say there was a reason i was able to come into this. there was another one - not another one with your condition. another unfortunate soul which did notmake your same discovery, and as if the deep curse as not bad enough for this town, a year or so ago a dhampyr started to ravage mean slimes and hunt for both the last survivors and the accursed too. never seen anything quite like it - i mean, not even the accursed were able to stop it. Hell, that’s the reason I had to bring the press inside of here. had it not been for my two colleagues, he might have even been able to reach me. but

he points at a big lever which is Pointing Upwards

I: this is. i presume… no. we all have our things, so. I won’t pry into why you gestured to that lever while speaking about this individual. for what it’s worth, I don’t think this was a discovery your friend would have made - these mushrooms don’t grow in this climate

V: that’s the thing. judging from - i do not mean to imply anything , wyvern springs has always been a diverse country, but even the clothes or what was left of them - i don’t think he was from here.

I: where do you suspect that he might be from?

V: I could give you a nonscientific opinion, because I don’t have any actual evidence as to where he’s from but I’ll try and explain my reason for my assumption. let’s just say it is not many half orcs that you see around here i wyvern springs.

I: Well, I can understand why historically that may have been the case

V: and especially after the deep curse attack. you would expect that an inhabitant of a people from webshrine wouldn’t want to be here after what happened.

I: or why anyone would

V: fair enough question. which brings me to - I already asked this question to your friend, and everybody except Miss Aethylmyr kindly refused to answer so you are well within your rights not to answer me, so - what brings you here? i understand you are supposedly on some rescue msision, but who proposed that? clearly you can see there’s nothing to salvage here. not that I don’t like the company, but.

I: I respect my colleagues, but i’ve never kept any semblence of allegiance to the people who ““employed”” us - scare quotes, because I’m not sure how much choice we had to be employed. how familiar are you with the high brook government and any particular organizations they may have under their employ.

V: i can tell you what is said around- you guys are definitely not famous for playing fair in political matters, at least not as much as others. the most scorn high brook ever receives here, however, is that old legend about the three day’s war, though i’m not sure they teach that in high brook

I: is there a name for any potential forces who may have been responsible?

V: no, just names. it’s famous here because it was the contrast of two different approaches to death. a certain very renouned war mage from highbrook who went by the name deadraiser and the defender of Wyvern Springs, Joruum

I: is there any rumors as to what their name might have been, or ar there any rumors?

V: that’s all I know

I: doesn’t not align with who is responsible for why we’re here. i don’t like our government, have never felt represented. the reason i bring this up is, our ““employers”” - to say that we’re employed by them would emply that we’re being paid and that we’re here consensually but here we are, I didn’t consent to it

have you ever heard of the org known as the black skeleton forces?

I want all this to be on the table and I think you could be an ally

ever heard of yuyeth? I wonder if he might be the mage of which you speak, i’ve seen him cast a big death spell. and knowing he’s in the pocket of the current president of highbrook - this org found it upon themeslves to - how much time do you have?

I: because if i really want to find an ally in you, i think there’s some stuff you should know

V: look at me

I: okay. not scientific conclusions, just my theories, but i think they’re good ideas. i’m led to believe in a somewhat failed attempt on the high priest’s life, about four years ago the black skeleton forces wound up causing the deep curse to be cast, and that this is an attempt at a cover up. I don’t know what they were up to before that, but whatever they have done it is what brought us into this mess in the first place, as they worked very closely with the high brook government.

V: are you saying that wyvern springs was falsely accused of the attempt on the life of the high priest, and it’s existence was wiped out for a crime the country didn’t commit

I: I’m not saying anything other than, I have reason to believe that it was this secret organization which is behind it all, and if this is the story that the public has been told I would not put it above them to manufacture a cover up to that degee. they’ve shown us time and again that they do not value any human life. when i say we were sent here against the will, i mean we were handpicked off the side of the street and thrown into a suicide mission to clean up their dirty work. I witnessed the death of a friend because of them. so believe you and me, if i can find an ally outside of this - a powerful one at that. an intelligent one. i will try like hell.

V: i understand. I-forgive me, doctor. May I call you doctor V? it feels weird.

I: I understand, I’m in the same boat.

V: I understand, Dr. V

I: I understand, this is a lot of big news to hear

V: i mean. all those millions of people. i kept asking myself who would have been stupid enough, even among our fanatics, to travel all the way to shrinerise and do something that stupid. I mean… this is nightmares I couldn’t possibly imagine

I: especially when you realize it was essentially for naught, as I. How brushed up on world religions are you?

V: well, I’m a Dr and a scientist first and foremost. I do understand that there may be some forces which can to a certain extent have a head start against science, but I do not believe that anything -that there is something that can actually elude everything.

Tadgh, still a bird, strutting down town

he hears gears

Ignatius turns around and there is the flicker for a second of the bleached man

and there’s a clank on the other side of the glass as the lever of the press goes down, and the walls start squishing in until he has like five inches.

V: no! get out of there!

ignatius ooblecks back into shape

V: what devil work is this?

I: it’s the dhampyrism.

V: oh it is not dhampyrism. dhampyrs don’t do that. the other one didn’t do that

I: I mean. idk what to tell you. this is why i brought in the concept of gods and legends - I don’t know. there’s - i’m learning about… i would call it my family tree but i’m not sure that’s how that works day by day. and i guess my uncle became alderiche from legend, he was very real. but in particular, the bsf have a very keen interest in reuniting the body parts which pertain to Iescu. and while i was in your shoes - still am a man of science, i had to accept the fact that some things simply cannot be explained by science.

(zoned out)

I: my friend. i can see i’ve probably overloaded you with a lot of news, probably world shaterring information. we can continue this conversation later, but i think you need to digest what I’ve told you

V: very well.

As tadgh is walking through the decontamination chamber, it tries to pull him to the ceiling and he ignores it even though it Is very strong

the smoke appears and the alarm goes off

dr vesper goes: what NOW? no. no it is not.

quigly runs to the raven right away.

I: hey tadgh can you be Person Shaped

V: not you AGAIN. I told you. the material that I had in this side of the room was as much as i could do to. I explained it to you. those were all the batteries i could create for you with the materials i had at my hand. there was no need to return.

T: i’m sorry, what? who are you?

v is scanning him up and down, eyes flickeng.

I: i can assure you, whoever you think this man is, he is not.

V: yeah, sorry. I. my apologies, mr- I mistook you for somebody else.

T: no worries. I’ve been feeling lately like I must just have one of those faces, you know.

V: anyway. sorry. i’m dr iggy v, yes it’s the same as your friend over here.

T: oh. right. okay. frankly i would have been less surprised if you looked the same as him. who did you mistake me for, if I may ask? who did you think I was?

V: a visitor from long ago. he went in asking for some materials and, in fact, made quite the mess around. between one thing and the other, you know .when you meet so little people, you really end up - all faces become the same

T: oh, i wouldn’t be too worried about your ability to tell apart people. happens to the best of us anyway.

I: anyway. been a while. feels like longer than hours

T: time feels different when your a raven

I: since time passes - can I get that suspicious sage off of you? I have plans with it tonight. I’m going to try and distill it into an oil so that it can last longer and hopefully we get more uses off of it.

ignatius makes some oil of suspicious sage

adelaide wakes up feeling a heavy weight on her stomach. there is someone On Her. it’s Daiala. squatting on her.

adelaide screams and pushes her off.

D: what are you doing? is this how you repay the help I gave you?

A: you scared me. you call what you did to the other two help? what were you THINKING?

D: what I did to what?

A: the devils. khallunia and ranchor. you said you were going to sort them out, and then a quite nasty thing happened.

D: oh, you mean the traitors?

A: what do you MEAN the traitors?

D: they rejected their own nature! they’re working under nottik! in spite of their origin, that’s not the true emperor of redben. i’m sorry, I thought I was doing the good thing.

A: why do you know that symbol? where did you get it from?

D: I used to live in redben once. of course I know that symbol, it’s the symbol of the last true emperor.

A: daiala, you can’t DO that. we are here - we have to work together, whether we like it or not. we can’t have you sabotaging

D: sabotage? i was trying to help. isn’t that the whole reason why you have his gun?

A: no. I have his gun because we came across it years ago, and we took it as loot.

D: you’re. you’re not.

A: no.

D: all the time, ever since I met you, I thought you were just being modest about the gift you’d been given back in the purple mice.

A: diala i’m going to tell you something. I don’t have a relationship with malakar the reason you think I do. I made a deal a long time ago. and now him and I are…. we are connected. and it’s not easy.

D: but. but - if you don’t like it, why not just go tell him yourself? I mean, he is a just ruler after all, isn’t he?

A: diala. what do you know about him? what have you been told, what did you learn?

D: i know that he was the rightful emperor of redben and that he was unjustly overthrown by nottik, and then the entire world suffered because of it. I mean, if the entire world suffered because of the one who opposed malakar, than by consequence malakar was the best for the world, right?

A: diala, malakar was much more powerful than you think. malakar was vanquished because he was a terrible, terrible power hungry man who wanted to ascend to godhood. he wanted to be this terrible powerful thing, and when I ran into some trouble he used that as a connection- as a tie back to our realm. and i can’t do much about it because I made a deal with him.

D: i mean. i thought - you could have told me, i could have done something about it. i could have helped with the eal, they call me the dealmaker, i could have put some weight into it

A: this was long before I knew you

D: what will you do if you ever get to meet malakar?

A: I mean I have met him.

D: no, but I mean. back where he lives in lower depths, at the heap heavens. what are you gonna do? I mean, he was waiting for you there. that’s what I understood

A: how do you know that?

D: well, cause he talks to me.

A: he talks to you?

D: yes

A: how does he talk to you? do you see him? is it inside of you?

D: hold on, someone’s calling. (she pulls out a gun and points it at herself and has half a conversation)

adelaide tries to grab it and fails

A: let me talk to him!

D: he clearly said he’s very offended and he doesn’t want to talk to you right now

A: why is he offended?

D: because you’re treating me badly

A: then he can tell me. i’m not trying to treat you badly i’m concerned

M: then allow me to retort

her eyes snap up, she points the gun at her chest, pulls the trigger

and adelaide feels herself Burn on her chest. and on her chest is the same M for malakar. it says above “chosen”

adelaide Screams

and the group winds up in her room

sirena: divine sense. celestial/divine being, fiends in the form of the twins,

Ignatius looks at it: very clearly magical.

Lucretia thinks about xotzliaha so hard he shows up

Z: listen, I was made to show up

L: LEAVE. I don’t want you here.

z: well this is embrassing. so. uh. i’m gonna see myself out - no there’s a reason I wanted to stay a little longer.

he’s going for the exit and then just his head twists 180

Z: So, lucretia, daughter of virric.

L: what do you mean you heard or experienced or - can you explain again

Z: well, i’m the bat god. i wouldn’t deserve that name if i hadn’t noticed. just like bats have radar to detect from a long way, I can percieve thoughts or psychic waves. call it a psychic radar. it’s very useful when you’re a deity, since you mostly draw power by however many people believe in you. it’s useful to always get an exact location on all of your believers. though as of recently i’ve been able to count them on only a couple of hands.

L: so that’s all that happened?

Z: you’re not my type

L: You don’t want to know what happened to the last man who tried to do something with me.

Z: really. then i should warn the doctor downstairs.

L: the last person who, unwanted

Z: what about someone who tried to make ammends?

L: I’ve spent quite a lot of time trying to make ammends, but apparently i’m the only one - why do you care about my personal life? fuck off?

Z: i’m a god. i care about everyone’s personal life. but like i' said i’ve got more important stuff going on

L: I didn’t think I thought about you. i’ve been trying to figure it out.

Z: these hallucinations - how long

L: Two years. give or take a few months. So it’s just that. it’s just that. I’m a liability.

Z: cute. i can talk to the half orc girl anytime i want.

hologram of dr vesper: hey i heard screaming. what was that.

I: She just had an old wound flair up and needed some dressings changed

A: (moves her shirt)

V: well i see dr v has the situation in hand. hope my presence isn’t needed. see you tomorrow for breakfast. hopefully there will be no more interruptions (And there is a Knocking)

V: as i was saying, known you for half a day and had more emotions than in the past year

I: he’s a charming fellow. so, adelaide. care to explain the nature of why this happened?

Tadgh’s room

V: none of you mentioned there was a 18th member. not to mention a very infected one too. i mean, the detection room fired off almost immediately, without the smoke even going off. he’s probably almost terminal, at least. I have some morphine with me which can make things a bit smoother

T: hold the phone who are you Talking about?

V: there’s someone who’s been asking to be let in. I assumed it was one of your companions. well, he’s accursed.

T: why don’t you jsut talk to someone? you can’t keep letting strangers in, that’s how you got into this. he’s well intentioned and sound of mind enough to not be fully accursed, and as a doctor it is my duty to host any looking for asylum.

and then this fucking guy walks into the other room (shuffling) like someone who doesn’t quite remember how to walk like a person. but there’s something fucked about his gait. but indistinctly so.

walks in, looks around bewildered and rubbing his hands together.

he is a Gnome.

everyone: what

T: uh. hello? and who might you be?

O: I wish I knew? i’m not really sure. I don’t - I mean. I wish I could. I don’t– I don’t remember anything.

T: do you know how you got here?

O: last thing i remember - it’s hazy,, but there was commotion and then I woke up by the bridge and there were lights here and I remembered that I needed to get inside. that things were bad and you should be inside, especially when it’s dark. i just knocked and then I - now i’m here.

T: okay, have a seat. make yourself comfortable. we’re all uh - in here because we’ve been infected by the deep curse but don’t worry, it’s not contagious??? you should be fine

O: that’s one of the only thing i remember. the wo\hole region. it’s – it’s like… gone. there’s nobody left.

T: i know. I used to live here. it was beautiful. do you remember your name?

O: No. I don’t even know - he cracks open a can of something and tries, but experiences it like eating rubber. he looks grossed out and wipes his mouth and offers the can to tadgh.

O- I think. try this, I think something’s not right with it.

tastes fine to tadgh.

all food feels wrong to him

O feels a weird tingle at the base of his neck, and kind of twitches in

Ignatius and Sirena feel it too and mutually acknowledge it.

I: on our way here we ran into zotzilaha and basilico - while i haven’t had time to test these, they’ll help you. they will cure the physical symptoms of the unsleeping disease, and partially relieve you of ringpox.

[bonesnappers-official]

Session 70

In which the party hits the dirt and meets a chud and his chuddlings.

Previously On // Next Session

Last week for the bonesnappers in the forest outside Tadgh’s Cabin

tadgh freaking out: wait a minute. so. if i ask you anything, are you going to answer any of my questions or is it just futile to ask at this point

5: i will answer the questions that i believe to be the least dangerous to answer. i do not trust who you put your trust in, and if i reveal too much, you might go tell them about it.

T: i feel like you’ve already said that. that’s already established. if who you’re implying who you are is the truth, when are you from?

5: that’s the spirit. you know, in a certain way, I’m sort of… from the past. you could say in a certain way i’m just ahead of the curve. you could say that, had you come before me, our place would be switched right now. and ya know, to a certain degree, I lowkey envy you. I lowkey wish I was, in this moment, getting told all these things from a weird me i met in the forest

T: do you, tho? I’m glad - I don’t know what I was going to say with that sentence. you called me number 6. can you elaborate on that?

5: naturally. you are number 6, in the same way i, to the best of my knowledge, am number 5. at least if they didn’t make it up

T: who gave you the number 5?

5: that’s what I’d like to figure out. my memories, due to their nature, are somewhat blurred. that’s also what I want you to find out. it’s hard for me to pass as you from close quarters, but you still look like you.

T: i hope that i look like me. you said this forest is your creation. are you… part of this plane, or?

5: I just needed some time

T: I’m not trying to be rude. where do you live?

5: I have no place to live. after all, i’m about two years old. as a matter of fact, I just created this illusion so we could get some peer to peer talk. some tadgh to tadgh talk. but worry not - once this conversation is done,I will remove the illusion immediately. Don’t worry, I made sure I didn’t get any of you close to dangerous creatures

T: appreciate it. I find your terrible sense of humor to be the most convincing part so far, but I’m not sure I trust you still. so is there anything important you’d like to say before i -

5: i do have one last proposal. i told you you’d be be able to find me when the time came, but there’s an alternative. i’ve been told you progressed quite far in your studies with the wizardess-with zullie. you’re capable of many things, one of which includes taking our cat to a safer place where he can’t be heard. here’s my proposal- having known my cat fairly well for a long time, as you’ve probably been able to observe by now, I do quite well taigh-ish quigly impression. my proposal is -

T: you pretend to be my cat?

5: no. what i’m proposing is once quigly gets back here, put him in the safe place and have me pretend to be quigly

t: I don’t know how i feel about that. how well can you know my cat if you’re only two years old? are there benefits to this beside you fucking off and me finding you later?

5: for starters, if you ask the wrong questions to the wrong people, there will be someone who knows right then and there what’s coming and can help save you. buddy, I don’t know that you know how unworthy of your trust god knows how many people in that group are

T: and how do I know i’m not letting someone into our circle of trust who then will betray it. i’ve known you for aproximately 10 minutes. I appreciate that we’re kind of the same person so you could argue i’ve known you your whole life but i haven’t so I need some kind of proof that you aren’t going to destroy me and fuck over my friends. how can i ensure that you will not be able to take over my mind? trick people into thinking that you’re me and turn them against me? i feel like i’m giving you a lot of power letting you be my cat who people know and trust and who flies under the radar. doesn’t seem like a good deal for me

5: i knew you would ask this, but I’m sorry. I have nothing to offer to you.

T: then I guess I have nothing to offer to you. i mean, I’m sorry. maybe in the grand scheme of things i’m making a grand, colossal, universe crushing mistake, but I choose to trust my friends. I choose to be vigilant and hear what you said, but I am not putting their lives in your hands just because you are too convinced of your worldview. I’ve seen too many people convinced of their own worldview who are fully committing genocides so. you aren’t special.

5: I don’t resent you. you’re just a friend in good faith doing what a friend in good faith would do

T: i mean, considering we’re the same person I could say the same about you

5: oh no, trust me. Even I myself couldn’t believe they’d actually done it back then

T: I hope for my sake you’re lying

5: I hope for your sake these memories of mine are false

T: well, if your ominous words from earlier are true I will find you again should the occasion arise

5: remember the letters.

T: yes

5: Could you spell them out for me?

5 leaves and the illusion vanishes.

Quiggly brings the rest of the squad back to find Tadgh again

T: sorry guys i was having a moment with the mud pit

I: i’m assuming you were the one who broke that illusion?

T: I wish I was, but I guess?

I: either way, we’ve been lured into dangerous territory and I think we should either go back or just reconvene with the group again

I: regardless, we’ve probably ruined the iescu protection over tadgh and cara’s place, he says SUBTLY HINTING

T: I think we’re too far away for it to be worth going back just to close the door. I didn’t expect it to be a safe haven when we got there, and nothing is certain at this point, so I say we press on

I: if i may still be a gracious guest, you and cara kept a wonderful home

T: thanks. i’m glad someone got to see it one last time

I: maybe when this is all over.

T: I don’t want to think that far ahead yet, but I appreciate the sentiment.

as they go, R: but seriously what the hell was it that caused that illusion?

T looks back into the woods and says: I don’t know if i can explain anything that’s happened in the past couple days. I mean, finding my house the way it was was shocking enough. I can only say it’s beyond my powers of understanding at this point.

Back in Mean Slimes there’s a little blot on the horizon of the town as the Horde Approaches

they circle up the wagons and sirena tries to distract the mass of human and inhuman creatures

adelaide takes first watch

behind wyvern springs, rumbling of foosteps on gravel

and adelaide gets the SHIT scared out of her by diala

AL: what’s that!

A: Nothing, it’s fine.

AL: are you sure?

A: yes, i’m sure.

AL: Jesus christ you’re gonna be the death of me one day

Adelaide goes to wake up the dipshit siblings who are asleep and daiala is like “hey, I can go wake them up”

so adelaide walks out the room and then hears a bloodcurdling actually dying scream from the twins who have a brand on their chest of an M surrounded by horns with the words “traitors” under it

malakar’s brand

they’re screaming and freaking out and won’t let ruins get ice on them because that’ll make it permanent

adelaide commands them to Stop, and it helps but not a lot

A: let us help you. it may be permanent but the pain will stop

S: is this something we should be immediately worried about?

A: I don’t don’t know. I know that symbol but don’t know what’s up

Sirena looks outside where the accursed are slowly starting to approach back to the wagon.

Lucretia wakes up, throws up blood and a bit of sirena’s ear, and drives the caravan in circles.

weird fucking combinations of humans and animals grafted together chasing behind them.

it goes well until at one point, from up in the sky from the tower the top of which has a weird electrical thing like movie frankenstein, there is from a subtower something with a dragon which points its head at the sky and shoots out a flair

and the gates of the inner wall open with the flare so lucretia makes a split-second decision to enter the gate

from the tower next to the main thing, another thing pops up full of gears with a megaphone which starts, with a very electrical voice: good choice, I appreciate that you trust me, now please follow the light

lucretia can tell for sure it’s nobody She knows personally, but a little bit of her has the sensation she might have heard this very distinguished way of speaking previously and quite frankly between the accent and dismissive tone of voice it sounds like ignatius a little.

so we drive through the streets of Mean Slimes until we reach the bridge/stairway which leads up to the door of this towered castle, and the caravan can’t access it.

the A squad hits the gates of mean slimes where they see, clawing at the gates, the accursed from the desert

they sneak into the town through a sinkhole

back to the bridge party:

sirena tries to go and pick up adelaide, almar interposes himself to go like “hey my watch partner, my problem”

so sirena shoves him out of the way to get to vertebra.

they almost catch up but Lucretia blows wind at them

the closer we get to the castle the more the girl tries to run away

she breaks out and zullie tries to run after her, lucretia fails to persuade her but Sirena fires off a command

but agemo is gone trying to get after the girl.

lucretia sees agemo holding the girl by the cloak like a bag, and at the VERY last moment, the girl flips around and hugs agemo like a koala. and then bites her. agemo tries to shove her back, but the girl rips a piece of flesh away with her. she lands kneeling, with a piece still in her mouth, and runs back to the hoard.

agemo stumbles through the gate, which then closes on its own. and panic ensues immediately. leyrid is freaking out.

Back in the sewers:

T: man, it’s been so long since i’ve been in here. I used to be down here all the time and then i took an arrow to the knee, but a long story

I: Whoever patched your knee up did a remarkable job. you’ve retained a lot of mobility and i haven’t seen the scar

T: probably that’s why my mom stopped me from being in the sewer because i’d get infected and then i had to watch the store all the time and it was the most boring month of my life and i had to spend all this time with people. fast forward, i’m glad she didn’t let me go back in here because i probably wouldn’t have use of my leg

I: your mom was a very smart woman. and speaking as your physician, I’m very glad she informed you of the nature of how wounds work. and as a friend i’m very glad you have retained use of your leg and didn’t have to have it needlessly amputated. or worse off, died

T: that would have sucked

I: so it looked like that flare came from closer to the inner portion of the city. can you get us there?

they go to leave and hear the sounds of someone lost - and it’s Zotzilaha and crew

so radius got the deep curse from hanging out in the sewers

basilico gives ignatius a pack of anti-chaos matches.

Back to inside the tower: there’s a low-pitched wind flowing through the otherwise quiet tower. it’s not a big floorplan but very tall

agemo is sitting at a wall, trying to tape up her wounds while leyrid cries. she’s more desperate than agemo.

lucretia turns on zullie; what’s gotten into you, you were supposed to be better than that.

z: half trying to justify it to lucretia, half trying to

you were better than this. you were.

Voice: please. I don’t believe it is the right moment to yell at each other, especially considering the value of the brains in this room right now. if you’d be so kind as to follow me, I’ll take you to somewhere safer.

at the top of the staircase is a hologram, and then someone walks through the hologram - a set of weird ladies. sorry master, we know you hate it when we walk through you.

covered in heavy woolen capes that make them look hunched. old women.

LA: please, the master is waiting for you in the safe room.

we are guided not upwards but down into the bowels of the castle

following them around are a swarm of modrons.

led into the basement, where we go through a Very clean white, illuminated hall. pure white light instead of yellow light

and then they lead us to an airlock.

“please please, a security check to prevent any contamination.”

there’s a gust of smoke and the light goes red. attention: accursed subject detected. initializing separation protocol.

they take vertebra and agemo, and the other gate opens, revealing another room with a man sitting behind what seems to be glass.

G: don’t worry, i’m not going to exterminate them on the spot. that would be stupid. it’s not often that you find new chances for a cure, trust me. your two friends have probably more value to this world than you can ever imagine.

he gets up, takes off his top hat, and goes. well, i would say welcome to my humble abode but to be fair this is not humble nor specifically my house. i took it over after the town fell in the hands of the curse. I figured it would have been a much better location for my research.

He raises his hand like he would to shake a hand, and just leaves it against the wall of glass

so, who do I have the pleasure to host?

S: who did the honors of hosting us

of course. he bows, tipping his hat. dr ignatius vesper, at your service

Basilico: my god’s been tense recently. we’ve been trying to persuade him to just go for sacred horns but he’s kept saying he’s felt a familiar presence which he refuses to elaborate on which is weird for him, he normally talks so much. and it’s gotten me thinking. he specifically refers to not just your guys’ caravan, but your guys’ group. but there’s only one person who’s new to your group, and this thing is new. he never talked about this back when it was y’all in the buried black pit or when zelda was with y’all, rest her soul. so that leads me to believe your half orc friend is the key to my master’s recent distress.

I: distress how?

only the blood of the one who sprouted us can satisfy us, which is why we’ve been after kamesotz for so long. so for it to be anything which would distract him from his one purpose in his existence, it must be something…. well, let’s say collosal doesn’t quite give it justice. there is something about your friend that i am, quite frankly, frightened to think too much about. but this is for me to say that by some miracle, pretty much everyone except him has connected, but idk how long until he puts it together. i just think for him having lived some million years it’s hard to distinguish a singular difference in a group. all i’m saying is: if we ever cross paths, maybe in the best interest of your friend not to be seen by our master. we’re not sure that he would do her any harm, but we aren’t sure. well.

Before they leave, vlad takes tadgh to the side and goes “well, son, it warms my heart to see you still alive and in one piece, all things considered”

t: well, one piece might be a lot. how’s it going with you?

V: very well. you know, i was kind of worried about your condition ever since last time we met - last time we met, you seemed to be in quite a pickle

T: well, seems like we’re kind of back there.

v: which actually - there’s soemthing I meant to ask you back then but i wasn’t able to ask you after and when we first met you guys on the caravan you were in too much of a hurry for me to ask. just what exactly were you doing over there a year ago?

T: in the black pit?

V: no no no. that was two years ago. i’m talking about after. I’m talking about the one time I met you near… oh god, where was it. in the province of crownshore city, remember.

T: i’m. i. and. it’s been so long, um. how. how did i seem back then? I’ve…

V: well, you were quite distressed because after all, it was also like the first time I had ever seen you on your own. but you kept blabbering about some stuff like lifespan and having to get away - i feel like at one point, you also mentioned a specific word. oh i wish i remembered, what was it - you mentioned a very weird word, which was if i remember correctly N-GAUGE. he also… hmm. what else. but what mostly worried me was that you kept repeating a very specific salute, which i thought was weird to begin with because we weren’t strangers, but you kept repeating to me “goodbye stranger”. are you sure you remember that? because you seemed in quite dire condition, you may have been traumatized or something.

t: i’m going to be honest with you- i do not remember that, and I find that somewhat concerning. do you remember anything else?

V: it was also the only time i had ever seen you without your cat.

B: the artificer left us a slip of paper, but she just dipped probably because she knew how he’d react when he found it.

I: our missions are uh. entertwined in that way because i would also like to go there myself for someone else. What, if anything, can you tell me about a magician named ruins?

[bonesnappers-official]

Session 69

In which Lucretia gets hungry and Tadgh meets someone with a familiar face.

Previously On // Next Session

the squad hanging out in Mean Slimes in Wyvern Springs

when lucretia goes fucking ballistic

agemo opens the door of the webshrine caravan to see what’s happening

A: what’s happening?

AD: FUCKING HELP

shadowy figure is fucking erland haaland ing

Agemo, grappling lucretia: oh my god this one too?

Lucretia goes down

AG: what the fuck was that? why was she attacking?

Adelaide gets Sirena back up

AG: Is this a regular occurence for her?

AD: No?

S: because i know that half elf just gave that long speech about not keeping secrets, so if this is something that’s new I’d like to know

AD: first time you, first time me

AG: you’re telling me ignatius’ thing is infective?

AD: not that I’m fucking aware of, and he hasn’t done this for a year.

sirena looks at all this: there had been instances of sometimes people just fucking go insane, nothing to do about it.

S: if i bring her back to consciousness, is she going to lash out like that again?

AD: I don’t know.

S: fuck.

they pick lucretia up (having a hard time) and drag her into the webshrine caravan.

AG: what happened to toccan?

S: he fled to his secret base of his own volition. either we hear from him again or we don’t, and assume he’s dead.

AG: not that i disagree with this, but he was our navigator. what do we do now?

S: figure it out. we certainly can’t stay.

L: what HAPPENED to you?

zullie, who’s sitting on the table and holding onto the girl tries to get up but as soon as she does she gets the “got up too suddenly” woozy and falls back.

the girls get the caravan up and SCHMOOVING

and then run into a closed gate. Adelaide hits it with a shattter spell and there’s a moment where you can see the wave that runs all over the wall and then takes on a more and more purple color and then the wave of sound gets diffused and spread out revealing a dome surrounding the city.

looking at it adelaide gets the same sensations he got from trying to understand what was up with the tower of tollshire - like a massive arcane focus that overextends the reach of a spell

it’s an antimagic field. just for the border of the city

Back at Tadgh’s Cabin

Tadgh brings his shit downstairs to sleep down there. because of the Horrors outside

Ignatius and Radius on watch together: she breaks the silence with A Word. Joruum

I: Is she the one that gave you your sword?

R: yes. yes she did. she was the one. and for the record, no. I still have not been able to kill her with it. quite frankly, I don’t even know if it will be necessary, but. I mean, she was beyond the border with five trees when it happened. she probably was in five trees when it happened, so chances of her not being completely lost to the curse right now are next to none. and for her entire life, she had to deal with many prejudices, trying to create a peace between the giants and the rest of the inhabitants of wyvern springs. that’s how she earned the name deadsbane–by helping wyvern springs fight off the undead. so when we parted ways last time, she gave me this. and she tasked me with slaying her should ever a day come where she became a threat to the people she had been trying to defend.

I: very admirable of her.

R: oh it is. she was, by a longshot, the most noble of the three of us. No offense to Cara. It’s just… you first, earlier today you talked about questioning what to live for considering your memories are not- you aren’t sure, sadly, of who you are even. I don’t know what I am. most of the world doesn’t know who I am. so i decided to let my promises and what i do for those i love speak for me. And there is one thing that I want in my life, and for that I would be able to ignore the mission, even, if necessary. and that is bring peace to the love of my life.

I: i sort of figured when we were having this conversation we were here for our own secondary reasons. so i presume your reason is to close your end of the deal that you made with her.

R: have you ever–I know it’s absurd to ask you, considering what we share, but have you ever been in love, Ignatius?

I: I don’t know. I think I might have been, but I don’t know whether it was me feeling it or if I felt as though I should.

R: again. sort of absurd me of all people telling you of all people, but to truly feel like you have found your other half, the one part who was missing, and that somewhere they might be suffering like a rabbid dog–it’s stuff like this that keeps you awake at night, you know?

listen, you know. if you still want me searching to figure out what to fight for that worked for me but. from the few things that I observed, I feel like there are many people that are worth giving promises to and fighting for those promises for. and in your case, I thought there was probably one in particular. but that’s for you. whether or not he decides to - whatever the hell his promise is, that’s for you to figure out, I suppose.

I: at the end of the day, I cannot make someone change their mind on whatever, so. While I may not have - while i’m uncertain about whether I have - I want to. I think. And it’s the crazy thing about learning that your whole life is a lie, I guess, or is just falsehoods planted into your memory? I was angry, at first. and I think a part of me still is, but not because of the nature of it being a lie. purely because of the autonomy that I was not afforded. but at the same time, it does mean that I really have no bonds or attachments. I can - in a way, i have been truly, i think, freed from whatever our past may be. and i want to do good things with the time that I do have here. I can only hope that, as you said, you want to be - your reason for living is the impact on those around you. and while i may have been slow to that start, i am realizing that I - it’s not the first time, i guess, that you and i have been forced to reconcile that we are alike in many ways, and I do agree with you there. And I guess I should take this opportunity to, whether or not you accept, whether or not you think it was valid or fair for me to do so - I will apologize for any ill thoughts of you that I may have had. and if i have ever treated you in a way that has hurt you. I’m sorry. because I don’t want to leave this place with more people hurt than I already have. and if i can atone for anything in any way, even if it’s just apologizing, it doesn’t hurt to try I guess.

R: No. No, I do not accept this apology because I do not deserve it. and listen, heed the words of somebody who has experienced it personally - we are not made to be a blank slate. and if you think there will be any good from the freedom you get by always starting over and trying to just bring good by leaving your past behind entirely, it will - by personal experience, trust me. it will not end well. I tried once to leave everything behind once my days at the orphanage were over. well, look at where I am now.

and then he can hear whispering from the floor above.

Ignatius leans in: it sounds like Tadgh’s voice - normal style.

he stealths over to wake tadgh up by tapping on his shoulder - there’s something upstairs, whoever is doing it is using your voice, follow behind me carefully and quietly.

up the stairs, still can’t see anything but it’s getting a little more clear now - it is for sure coming from the glass window that is essentially right to the left if you enter the room.

tadgh’s voice: "Yes I’m perfect but nothing matches the duty I believe to have towards my beloved one and the promise one day we will reunite"

tadgh, meanwhile, sees the door get thrown open as if by the wind. and quigly gets up, does the pointing thing, and runs out the door.

T: guys, the door just opened and quigly ran out.

I: we should not go outside is the problem

T: I cannot leave your cat

I: I get your predicament tadgh

T: he’s the only family i have left, ignatius.

I: I know, and i’m not saying you - I think this is either a situation where we all go outside or nobody does. we need to stick together, strength in numbers.

T: well, I’m going

I: I will go with. Radius, will you come? I don’t think there’s anything for us here. it would be nice to defend it, but

T: it doesn’t seem like we can defend it from whatever is within.

I: exactly. your call, radius. you can stay, or you can join us too.

they head out the door. the scenery has completely changed. what was once a deserted land of skeletal trees without leaves, mud coming from the branches - it has turned into perfectly lush vegetation - there’s the smell of honey in the distance

there’s fog, still - but not purpleish/blueish, just a normal white

Tadgh tracks quigly - as they walk through the fog, the traces get clearer as they walk.

Ignatius and Radius eventually lose Tadgh as he beats them faster into the woods.

Ignatius ties him and Radius together, and eventually don’t find Tadgh’s tracks but do find a quigly tail.

which approaches them

tadgh, meanwhile, finds quigly grooming himself by a still pool of water

this is Not a real scene. this is what the region seemed to look like when he lived here before he left, and it does not sit right with him and it feels uncanny

he cannot psychically communicate with this cat

Ignatius and Radius : that quiggly hangs out with them, doing figure eights around the leg.

T!Q: quiggly grows and there is a voice. which sounds like it’s coming from - it’s so shattered and rhaspy and stuttering that it almost comes off a broken record. V: hey, apologies for this trickery. I’ve been meaning to talk to you one on one, my dear successor.

it fades into a cloaked figure

05: welcome, number (coughs), still with back to him. Welcome number 6. apologies for this illusion. I do hope this is - but i do hope this mirage of memories is your - please. surely. it is for me.

T: what are you?

05: me?

T: i’m not sure I trust someone who remains hidden

05: trust me. shall I turn around, you shall trust me even less

T: then why should i trust you with your back turned, with that knowledge.

05: your mistrust is badly placed. almost as your trust - your mistrust in me is almost as badly placed as your trust in that. me - i want. I want. Me, I want to see you. I wanted to see the prod- I wanted to see the product of - I wanted to see the product of my sufferings.

T: so is this forest all you?

05: it’s all me. but don’t worry. you will get to this level, eventually. after all. we are on the same path, you and I. I’m just ahead of the curve

t: if this is the path I’m on, I’m not sure I like it

05: trust me, you’ll like it even less when you get there

T: and my cat? have you hurt him?

05: no, worry not. I trapped him outside so we could talk one on one. if my memories serve me well enough, Ignatius should have already found him by now

T: all right, then let’s say I do trust you. and i’m not saying I do, but for the sake of humoring this - who are them that I shouldn’t be trusting if I should trust you. How many cards are you willing to put on the table? because you’re talking nonsense, for the most part.

05: tell me, number 6. how did you survive the deep curse?

T: is that a rhetorical question or just a prompting question?

05: ANSWER

T: a spell

05: a spell. by whom?

T: By a powerful sorcerer.

05: powerful sorcerer. you sure she doesn’t like to call herself the wizardess?

T: you seem to be acquainted

05: and who else? who else told you you had been cured?

T: no-one? well. my primary care physician?

05: Ignatius?

T: are you implying the two people we’re speaking of are secretly in cahoots to lie to me about whether I have the deep curse? because last time I saw the two of them together, they were…. bickering, let’s just say

05: for all I know, they’re all in on it. each and every single one of them. but, if you want to find the trail, start with those that ““saved”” you

T: and what are you suggesting I do?

05: i’ll give you five letters. judge their reaction. make your conclusion. when you find out who all of the conspirators are, find me again.

T: how will I find you? If I want to find you again

05: oh, you’ll find me. want to know how? come closer.

he starts to walk into the pond

Tadgh takes One step forward

he can see, even from a distance, there is nothing there but the pond - the water went shaky for a second and then went back to being calm.

T: fucking cryptic motherfucker.

tadgh fucking jumpscares himself on the water. - but the moment his reflection moves, there is movement in the water.

he stirs it with his sword.

the moon distorts, but then there’s this afterimage of his own face in the reflection. and the sword clinks off something, and then the ““reflection”” pops out and grabs him by the chin and pulls him close enough to see beneath the cloak. and for tadgh, it’s like looking into a mirror.

05: do you understand, now? you will find me.

[bonesnappers-official]

Session 68

In which the RAPTORS turn into vultures.

Previously On // Next Session

Tadgh and Ignatius cooking in Tadgh’s Cabin outside of Mean Slimes

Ignatius starts cooking. tadgh goes down into the root cellar, where he can hear footsteps and groaning up above

he does find some pickles that are salvageable!

Radius and Ignatius, meanwhile.

just Silence. radius, on the other hand, starts cleaning one of her sabers.

radius is turned away from him, but also not doing anything to hide the saber - like she wants him to notice. she’s not gonna be the one to initiate, but body language wise she’s inviting him to speak

I: So uh. that’s a nice weapon you have there. is there a story behind it?

it’s a long saber which has a classic full pommel guard and which is very curved with three spikes

R: this is the original. i normally use a phantom version of it. come to think of it, i don’t think i’ve shown you the original before, not even to adelaide

I: is there a reason to show it to us now?

R: i’m getting closer, so i figure i should check it’ll get the job done should the occasion arise

I: so it’s made of silver?

R: yes, but it’s not just that. it was given to me by an old friend. the first one is made to go through armor, the second goes through flesh, and the third goes through souls.

I: is this old friend, perhaps,

R giggles for a second: no, it was not from cara. she never enjoyed outright weapons

I: she was more a pacifist?

R: yeah, but you should have seen what she would do when someone at the orphanage tried to fight me. this was gifted to me by my other friend.

I: I don’t mean to pry, and if you aren’t mentioning a name it’s probably for a reason, but i am curious about who this other friend is.

R: let’s just say this thing was concieved to kill my other friend’s kind.

I: they’re lovely weapons. i’d hate to be on the recieving end

Radius giggles again, but it’s that kind of. shakey in a “if i don’t laugh i’ll cry” way

I: well, at least it was you who did it. i’m sure that’s what they would have wanted. this sort of thing is never easy, so. i’m just saying I understand.

the sounds outside are so awful they freak out quigly but then they microdose him so he can sleep okay yay he sleeps great

damn. haven’t slept that well in… decades?

at one point, quigly perks up like he sees someone he recognizes outside. and for a second there’s a figure dressed in a cloak

which is not. a friend, it’s looming in the darkness, but it’s just observing. if it was waiting for a moment to strike, it probably would have already.

ignatius asks quigly to wake up radius. quigly looks at it and goes “owl two?”

and then the cloak drops like ben kenobi on the death star

and a weird winged serpentine figure flies away

Ignatius explains, radius goes… quigly percieved this figure?

I: aye, he was nervous so we were going to sedate him but then he ran to the window like he saw something and just observed. didn’t seem threatened by it, though. all i could get from it was if it wanted to attack it would have, but it was very strange

R: where is it now?

Radius and Ignatius take watch together until out of the blue at one point, radius just. talks.

Meanwhile back on the caravan to Mean Slimes

as soon as the gang gets beyond the wall, it’s. there’s not really a main road, and inside is just houses randomly across the entire area of the walled town, until northeast there’s a slightly elevated second wall with a tower. but in the various dispersed houses, you can hear nails scratching and smoke going through the windows. and gargling noises

we split up to go scavenging alongside the caravan so it keeps moving. leyrid, almar, and Lucretia go scavenging,

lucretia opens up the first door because she sees light, and in front of her is a stall with a lantern coming from a closed barn. surrounded by skeletons of various horses, and a skeleton of someone holding a pitchfork. behind the one lit stall

it’s got a bulletin board with headlines, like “a dark new era” - implying at one point the rest of wyvern springs tried to protect this province from the deep curse by separating it from the rest, also wondering about someone known as the “deadsbane” and also wondering about two cities, including the one that was a t the center strike of the deep curse.

and then a flaming horse comes out from behind the door

we’ve got 1k gp of diamond from the pendent

and then searching the rest of the house, cleared by the things.

stuff: in the hands of the dead accursed, a ring of poison resistance.

this house is full of corpses, with a weird table with names on it that look like turns/watches and whoever’s turn it was got to wear something. a ruined piece of armor and next to it, some weird schematics for repulsion armor.

next to all these corpses, - lucretia can tell this group of a half dozen locked themselves in, and it’s kind of weird how they died. more… there are corpses, and that’s what strikes her as weird because they don’t look like being accursed. they look like they died while still not entirely overtaken. and next to the swords that one of the corpses is holding in a last desperate attempt to keep whatever was coming away, there’s a whole-ass chunk of human body on the sword. but it’s not normal human body parts. it’s dhampyr flesh.

she tries to sneak it in her bag and before she can, almar goes “what the fuck is that? what did you just pick” and another male voice going “yeah, tell him. artificer. what did you find? and while you’re at it, why don’t you take a look?” he turns around, and the world becomes dark around the edges, and he sees reappearing, the little threads of the flow of calamity. and there’s a pair of grey ones coming from almar and gray ones coming from leyrid.

Lucretia adresses the invisible wondrew who asks “what monster is it?”

Lucretia: one that shouldn’t be here.

Leyrid: who are you talking to?

L: sorry. i. distracted.

A: hey ladies check what i found! and hes’ got a torn piece of paper which was at the foot of the bulletin board, probably got attached after the one you found and didn’t stay up long enough. he reads out loud

“have you dreamed this man?” and it’s a headshot of the bleached man

Dr wondrew: oh goodness me.

lucretia and leyrid watch a crack in the ceiling, and a bucket falls down from one of the rafters towards him.

lucretia tries to knock him out of the way with the steel defender but he doesn’t move. and then there’s a very thick and heavy mass of brown all over him

lucretia cleans him with prestidigitation and he goes over and hugs her for it.

the first time she’s hugged in 200 years

another one of the corpses which hadn’t been seen originally is a corpse holding a paper plane. and next to it is a book where two pieces of paper have been cut off.

paper plane has a message if it’s unfolded, which reads “valorous warriors of the vela clan. come save us. there is nothing left to be preserved untouched here. no curse you carry can be worse than the one we bear now.”

House next door has noises that resemble screams so we just fucking LEAVE

Back on the Caravan

Sirena up on the front with Toccan

Adelaide goes to hang out with Conor and. read, i guess

A book on devils who ruled redben before the tiefling takeover - talking about a city which still stands in heaphavens which has been turned into a prison town for the last remaining devils from the time of malakar.

connor’s cancan practice is going so well

at one point, connor finally notices her presence and goes heyo! I didn’t know you were interested well, i suspected you might be interested, but i didn’t want to assume so i didn’t ask

A: just something i’ve been researching for a little while now

C: well i happen to know a folk song from redben, but this one is different. it comes from a little more recent times, and for some reason it got famous in the northern parts of redben but the appearance is said to have come from the south where poet’s gulf is.

it’s something that came from like. it was very celebrated around the era of malakar so i thought it might interest you.

A: it does. it might help me to have the lyrics though.

C: no reason. i have it written down here somewhere

she looks at his notebook. sees a torn apart page, then sees a bit where she looks at broken out in love, which he sang on the beach. he then passes by the lyrics of a song called “rocket elf”, another one called “one night in loveborough”, overshoots beyond the song, accidentally goes to the very beginning where he stops because it’s the end of the page and there’s a dedication written “to Connor, for all the songs you’ve sang so far and all those you may sing going forward” - the signature is Calchas

he gives the lyrics to adelaide.

A: thank you for this.

C: you’re welcome. it’s nice to have a crowd. not the parties we had at rebel’s bay, but it’s still nice

A: i used to be a performer of sorts in another life, but. i know what you mean

C: congratulations. tell me what you did?

A: i’ll spare the details because it’s not so much who i am anymore. the memories are starting to fade together. but you and i aren’t so different. and if you ever need a friend, you’re not going to find anyone here who understands

C: thank you. it’s nice to have people you trust. i mean, between you and ignatius, i’m sure that in spite of some ups and downs this is a tight enough group.

A: I think we know what we’re working towards. and that makes it easy for us. easier than it may if people were working towards an ulterior motive. but we all seem… pretty content on finishing this through

C: well, naturally. hey who knows - if this whole war and deep curse issue gets solved, maybe the other five lands will help rebel’s bay against redben.

A: i hope for your guys’ sake they do. you’re a good kid, connor. keep your head on straight, and you’ll be fine.

Adelaide goes up the caravan, passes redben, and goes “can you two grow the head up” and ruins Agrees

anyway in the front of da caravan

toccan is just looking at the maps - they’ve been going for a while. maybe even half a day.

sends sirena out to divine sense

the map almost has a treasure map x on one point which appears very far away, just beyond the border with redben

and a sign on the map- two peaks, man in the valley - toccan goes “oh my my! do you think she’s doing it?”

it’s pointing towards sacred horns in redben.

meanwhile: undead, a lot, everywhere. more external, fewer inside the second layer, none in the tower. two fiends, in the caravan. and then she feels - another presence, this one is Divine. and it’s familiar

heads back in, sees the map, and blue screens. “has that always been there?”

A: it showed up when you cast divine sense

S: okay. look. story for another time. there are a lot of accursed out there, pretty much every direction that you turn. i think the innermost tower might be safe from them, though. but i might have to try and sense them again when i get closer. but be on guard

T: well listen, uh. first of all, we should check my safe place first and then we’ll see the tower.

Lucretia takes adelaide back, sets up white noise machine,

L - i was wondering if someone who was trying to take you out

A: wouldn’t surprise me

Lucretia tries her two checks - protection from poison, and detect magic. magic always leaves a trace - there’s something that has been on her, but not an aura of right now. too old for detect magic to tell.

L: you said you had information?

A: i talked to connor - that thing you did? he wrote down more lyrics and gave them to me, and i saw the inside of his book. there was a missing page right where we thought there was. other than that, didn’t seem to be anybody else besides a note in the back. i don’t know who it was - someone associated with us, or?

L: who?

A: i’d never heard it before, but Calchas.

L: of the two of them to put their nose somewhere it doesn’t belong i never thought he’d be stupid neough

A: you share as much as you’d like to share, but is it information that’s important to share?

L: maybe, if he’s inovlved

A: who is this guy?

L: my brother. one of my brothers. Ichtwig said he might have been involved, but this is confirmation

Toccan, meanwhile, stops the car and puts on the handbrake, leaping out of the house to go up to a house which has relatively somewhat rich condition - bourgeoise kind of house. he goes up to the door, leans forward to try and hear any noises.

there’s screaming inside

T, shaking his head: no, no no.

S: what the fuck is that?

T: would - some - with some luck, that should, and i blush to say it, that is just a creeper inside.

S: Creeper?

T: just a family pet, left to protect that. but i suppose it’s too much to hope

S: What?

T: well, by tiamat, there’s only one way to find out

he casts etherealness, looks inside, sees creeper cursed.

S: if you have no other option, we have to kill it

For the first time, toccan is locked the fuck in.

Sirena breaks the door down - and there’s nothing, just dust and light flashing from the windows

nothing there

t: used to like to play hide and seek. it’s incredibly stealthy.

A: didn’t think to mention that?

T: i didn’t think it would have kept up that habit in an accursed state. it’s probably worth mentioning that it was originally a couatl. very rare descendents of wverns and dragons. they have a psychic protection that prevents anyone from detecting them, even though magic means.

And we fight a couatl, who goes after sirena

lucretia hallucinates ichtwig behind her which is fun

it grows feet and tries to run away, a cape getting up on it

lucretia skewers it with a rapier through the heart, and the cape falls away from its face. it’s 005 or 006. lucretia pulls the cloak over it. it retreats back to the form of a couatl,

toccan is banging against the door, going like “are you there? it’s me toccan” and adelaide sees footststeps of another cloaked figure, which looks over the scene from the landing. it scans the room, looks over them, their eyes meet and there’s a red glow where the eyes would be, it looks down at lucretia, and lets something fall out of its hand. a burning flint falls on the couatl under her, and she hears a pst.

it explodes. the house is shaken, and lucretia gets knocked back. the cloaked figure turns into a winged thing carrying the cape on itself

she gets knocked out, carried out of the exploding house, and then springs to her feet when she looks around - the moon is starting to rise in the sky, and on top of the moon, among the dust, is a figure. it’s the figure of ignatius. and she feels thirsty. and hungry. she wants the blood and bone marrow of everything around me.

[bonesnappers-official]

Session 67

In which Tadgh goes home.

Previously On // Next Session

back from the Beach Episode

we’re at the edge of the forest and can see the formerly fancy town of mean slimes which is a hill on the plateau of

Lucretia pulls ignatius away: hey remember the note?

I: yes, it was quite alarming

L: that had lyrics from the song connor was singing on it. keep an eye on him.

I: If i do get a chance to speak with him one on one, i do think we have a positive relationship, if the chance arises I can try. but thank you for telling me this. this is definitely an interesting development. but I will not jump to conclusions

L: i think that’s best. don’t jump to conclusions, but don’t turn your back

I: Since I have you one on one, would you perhaps care to talk about what transpired the other night?

L: No.

I: Okay. well. would you like some tea?

L: yes, actually

I: i can go make some, because even in spite of the experience we all just had, I do think that - would it be safe to make the assumption tensions are still running quite high, especially for yourself

L: no more than they should be in this environment

I: How do you think, if i may pick your brain on this, and maybe you’re not the right person to ask but you’re the only person I could think to ask this to- what. mm. am I doing the right thing with zullie? I want to believe, and I do believe that she can but am I wrong for having doubts where I think it is reasonable to? Am I being, I guess, unreasonable? Or just - impatient, or in poor taste in any way? I don’t want people to not trust me

L: I’m probably the worst person you could ask

I: i know, but that’s why I have to ask. you knew her the best of all of us. but then I suppose it’s a two pronged question because it is a general question about my perception broadly. but surely you must understand, right?

L: I don’t know what she wants. some things you don’t fix. and your lets all stand together act was nice, but of course nobody here trusts each other. nobody trusts you, nobody trusts me, we’re all not trusting each other

I: Ignatius goes quiet, and gets specifically quiet regarding zullie and subtle accusations or jabs she’s made at him he feels are harsh. and also understands why it would be said and that’s what’s tearing him up.

Tadgh… it’s been four years since he’s been in Mean Slimes. his house wasn’t within the city limits, but was in the northern outskirts (the opposite bit from where we are)

adelaide is at the front of the caravan.

Sirena is hanging out in webshrine, seeing agemo play around with the girl in an attempt to do a clapping game that’s not doing well

on her way back ignatius offers her tea

she takes it. the world’s most silentist tea party ensues

tadgh goes to talk to toccan:

F: hey where are we headed right now?

t: very simply we are currently going to go through mean slimes. i figured it would be kind of a safe bet to get through the town and get some walls between us and the rest of the infection. who knows, maybe there will be some survivors, and not to mention, resources.

F: sounds like a decent plan. i used to live here and am interested in either going by myself (i’m already cursed what’s the worst that could happen) or taking a small group to go see what has happened to my home. assuming that wouldn’t derail the group too much. if radius has an opinion on this, she’s welcome to tune in.

r: what is it exactly you hope to find in there?

f: i just left it in a hurry last time and wasn’t ever expecting to be back here again. at least not with any hope i might see cara again. so. I mean, we built that house from the ground up and I just want to know what’s become of it. i don’t expect it to have survived the test of time without damage but I would like to see what’s become of it.

radius grabs a backpack and goes “i’m coming with you”

tadgh comes to the back where everyone is and sits between ignatius and lucretia

TF: okay. wow. it’s really quiet in here. so radius and I are going to go on a little - my house is really near here, so radius and I are going to go scout and I would like to see what’s become of my home. it’s about a day’s travel so the plan is to just meet back up with the caravan but i figured we should all be on the same page before I like… disappear.

I: there’s still a day left on the ultimatum I gave zullie, so. would there be potential room for another?

TF: if you’re needing a break from the closeness of caravan life, you’re welcome to join

I: i fear i need a lot more than that, but

TF: well i’m offering an out. it’s going to be rough going and hard living, but i would appreciate your skills if you are interested in coming.

vertebra tries to get up and go “a little walk is just what i need right now” and everyone shoves her down

r: I’ll join. not to mention, ignatius, regarding what you said about not having secrets i think there’s something fair that you know.

I: i did want to speak to you anyway so tadgh forgive me for being selfish but i’d assumed she would join anyway and that’s part of why i wanted to

TF: as long as it doesn’t turn into a thing, whatever

I: it shouldn’t have to, and it doesn’t need to.

V: can I come too?

I: no. as a friend, you need to be resting. being practical, you’d be a hinderance more than a help. you need to rest vertebra, please.

V: just call me by my actual name at this point. everyone knows it

I: we all know it, but it doesn’t feel right. I don’t know Mirial, I know vertebra. just like I don’t know telphrid, I know radius. or I know the idea of radius.

V: well in that case, do you practice medical secrecy too?

vertebra asks for privacy and ignatius kicks everyone out of the room

v: you just said you knew me as vertebra instead of miriel. so you know who miriel i? you’re leaving, you’re my doctor, i know what condition I’m in so I know there’s a chance things get dire. so regardless of what I sometimes say about you, you’re a good friend and you deserve to know this having something that used to belong to me.

i: i can only hope I have continued to do what i promise when I recieved it

V: so you do remember what your promise was? could you please say it out loud just so I’m sure?

V: and isn’t it funny i lost one arm to you and now i might do another?

I: yeah. hey i hate giving people choices but it seems you’ve maybe already made peace? i’ll do everything i can to save it, but -

V: i don’t care about the arm. if i ever meet up with that man again and live long enough I won’t need to lose an arm

I: the good thing is we do have an artificer .one who i trust her craft very much.

V: yes yes. but you did give me that promise but we were in a hurry, in the midst of fighting more stuff, i had just died so I was a little shaken even then. do you know what you’re supposed to look for when promising me to take down that creature should i not be around to do it myself?

I: I suppose we did never get specifics there. but. i just. I wanted you to know it wasn’t going to go to waste.

v: i once saw it at eagle’s crown and nearly blew our mission. but. it used to only haunt my hometown. it used to leave traces behind. bodies in its wake. you’d recognize it because they all wind up flesh blobs when it’s done with them

I: that monster has been vanquished for over a year

V: i know it hasn’t been spotted for a long time. all i’m saying is if you ever see it around- should you see it, please. they used to call it the werewolf of twentieth bridge.

radius: out now. now now now now now.

once they’re out, radius

R: well. you said you had something to tell me. i’ll listen to you, but what i needed to tell you you just found out yourself. yeah. uh. as you can tell, she has no clue. we have been doing our best to keep her in the mission while keeping it the most obscure possible from the whole deal with. what we are and what you were.

I: he’s fighting crying while trying to keep his composure. radius’ arms twitch forward but then go back to her side

R: listen. i’ve known her like a little sister for a long time by now. the only reason I was able to sort of keep her at bay and keep her out of trouble and following orders without getting her hurt too much was i kept promising this would give her the best chances of one day getting her revenge. i know she doesn’t know the whole story and you probably want to fix this but you need to understand. for fifteen years at this point she has been living just to kill the creature who slaughtered her parents. if you know what’s best for you, and I know you just talked about not having secrets from each other, but if you know what’s best for you, don’t make her find out.

i: the organization that tasked me with a suicide mission some years ago must know by now she does not take a missio without knowing she might die during it. she should not die without having this knowledge. now i will be wise with how and when it is delivered. but she deserves to know. and not just - it does need to be me. and i am prepared to reap whatever happens as a result of that. i have done many horrible unspeakable things and I am trying to atone. that will have to be one of the things i reconcile with, and she deserves to know. we have a task at hand and we will go forward with this, but

R; that’s understandable. that is very worthy of your character. but i will tell you not - what i’m going to tell you now, i’m not telling you as the bsf member radius i’m telling you as your sister. you. i know that vertebra may appear as silly

I: i’m aware it’s an act

R: if you tell her. that’s the day you die. i’m not sure even I would be able to best her in a combat. i am not sure that anyone in this caravan could best her in a combat. especially not if we’re preventing her goal

I: I fully understand. and i’m prepared if that should be the case. but i’m also frankly have a pencient for not staying dead for long, so. that’s not to say i would even want to come back. but. in this hypothetical if it gave her that closure then. I would do the same if i were her. i unfortunately never had family to feel attached to so well i may not understand that. but i can understand the logic at least. I can hope that she wouldn’t, that she would maybe be willing to see that the work has been done and is stillbeing done to separate who I am from that but I am fully prepared to face that down when the time comes. we have to face our demons at some point I suppose, and if this is one that I may never be able to escape. we’ll worry about that when the time comes

R: then let’s just get this going.

Tadgh and Sirena

T: i’m realizing we weren’t really properly introduced so i just wanted to say. nice to meet you, you probably know i’m tadgh, just wanted to say hi, welcome to the group, have you- how have you been finding it?

S: nice to meet you too

if you need any help, let me know, i know there are a lot of complex dynamics here and I know i need to remember to remind myself to not take it personally when tensions are high because people are going to be mad at people you care a bout and there’s always something going on and someone is always doing something someone else doesn’t like so know that if you ever need a quiet moment or to not deal with that I am happy to sit in silence. anyway. nice to meet you. I’m gonna go over there now.

Adelaide and Lucretia

A: i need to be incredibly selfish for a moment. i have not asked you. i need to ask you about the letter i found on the last day before we left. you said you were going to lock into it, and it’s been chewing away at me. do you know anything?

L: swear you won’t do anything with this yet (explains the thing)

A: fuck. that’s. i will watch him too. because maybe if-maybe my presence will do something.

L: it’s for the best we give away

A: yeah. just. what do you do?

L wait. and see

A: thank you for telling me.

L: out of all the people here you are perhaps the least irrational

A: well. I take that as a compliment coming from you

L: it was.

A: we have a job to do.

L: quite

A: tell me if you find anything else out.

Tadgh, Ignatius, and Radius go off to find Tadgh’s home

tadgh notices the forest is. evil

the shadows are too dark and the trees are dripping purple goop

a nice dry lake edge pine tree eastern oregon climate but the trees have melted together

the trees are rotting like they’ve turned into oil.

radius steps on a rock and it crunches under her feet in a shower of spores because it’s become hollow

the deeper they walk into the forest the more there’s movement of bushes and vines and layers of the ground which follow them at a distance

some of them have rocks for teeth

they’re definitely being followed with Intent

r: everything here can give you the deep curse so let’s try and keep a policy of avoiding until absolutely necessary

there’s shit in the background and at first tadgh thinks it’s another big rock but no it’s his House

the house is weirdly untouched, but everything around it is fucked up

seemingly. not evil. they cross over the circle of grass and nothing happens so tadgh goes up to the door and puts a hand on it

and it covers in brambles like an iescu tree

tadgh steps back and it’s clear his feelings are hurt

ignatius goes to reach for the door handle and the brambles open for him

R goes “hey did you make your house out of iescu tree?” and Tadgh is like “IDK cara just brought me back some wood”

r to t: Radius must have had a corpse part

ignatius prays to get someone to let the others in. and sees in the reflection of the glass a silhouette of a man with a beard and a wreath someone raise their left arm and clear the brambles

on the left arm on the back of the hand there is a weird tattoo

i: huh. okay. i have reason to believe you guys will be fine if you try to re-enter the home.

they go back in and tadgh sees the big butcher’s block table he GAVE CARA AS A WEDDING GIFT

the house is clean and exactly as he left it

picks up the letter he left in the nightstand

ignatius and radius

I: mind if we have that conversation i wanted to have now? I figure this is probably the safest and quietest moment we’ll have to do so

manstanding.emoji

I: it’s been a while since we even caught up so before I say anything how have you been. it’s been two years, has anything of note happened?

R: i forgot to mention because it didn’t become useful until now but i can do this for some reason (she does some body horror shapeshifting)

I: wow. that’s impressive.

R: i can do anyone in the bsf but it’ll take some time to figure out anyone else. i looked into it, but it’s not something that albino tieflings normally can do so i figure it must come from the other side of our family.

I: so it’s actually. that’s what I wanted to speak to you about because - before I actually get into it, do you remember encountering - when you were a very young child - do you remember a shaman that used to wander around and in particular his study of magic was almost a science. alchemical origin, almost akin to how I treat people. You wouldn’t happen to remember this man, would you?

radius thinks REALLY hard about it, but goes “no, not really. that doesn’t ring a bell”

I: before we met, before you really knew I existed, did the name - did my name at any point ever. when you met me did it-was my name familiar to you in any way? as if you heard it in a very distant memory?

R: no? to be fair, the very first time we ever - not when i first met you, but when we asked for the help of ichtwig under the guise of indeking, and he was onto your case as. well. and i remember in that instance, when indeking first reported his conclusion on who the werewolf was, I remember having a vague sensation of dejavu if that makes sense but I figured i had maybe already heard about this

I: okay now i guess i can sort of talk about what i got up to over our two years apart. I uh. I will keep it entirely honest that the first year was very rough for me. the first six months i guess, truthfully. but around about a year, I uh. you would be correct in assuming the shapeshifting is not because of your albino tiefling abilities. because I spent a great deal of the last year in contact with auril frostmaiden. and she has revealed a lot to me about what could have happened. regarding us. the reason i ask so strangely about my name is I don’t really think I am myself. because that man i had mentioned. his name was dr ignatius vesper. but the child who i know saw him was an albino tiefling. so it wasn’t me,

R: her eyes light up and she goes “wait, yes! the guy who used to wander around wyvern springs. he had like a weird huge top hat and a stick and would goa round with a huge jacket and had long hair and was scary looking. ”

I: when you first revealed to me back in. western sixth or eastern sixth and we were with ariel tamaya and you had told me about being -well after auril had told us and we had spoken. was that the man that you claimed had offered a cure to the ailment?

R: no i would have remembered. i said the one who offered me a cure was a man because i didn’t know exactly. but you remember that man as - while supposedly we were. still one. but I - i clearly remember that he once visited the orphanage in Sepulchride. and I remember because he showed some of his basic tricks to me, Cara - and all the others. i was already, when i met that man, i was convinced back then of having a brother. but you’re saying you remember seeing him and I have no memory of that. I very clearly remeber being quite scared of him because for me it was the first time ever seeing him.

I: that also leads me. how much do you know about what happened when we were children, i suppose. like.

r: thanks to adelaide helping me i have some memory of when we were one and i remember a very very cold place and i remember an almost transparent figure looming over me and another figure which i could not see the face of standing between me and the transparent figure.

I: I don’t really uh. know how else to explain this but auril told me that one of us was supposed to. ascend almost. link. not to her, and that. was why we were split. if that makes sense to you.

R: well if we’re right - if auril tells the truth about our bloodline, that by all means makes us direct descendants of a goddess. in which case, we already heard from the likes of Eilistraee that it is possible even for a half blood to ascend to godhood if they are linked.

I: well they failed at doing so. and i believe that is what destroyed my physical body at the time

R: it’s weird though, because Eilistraee also mentioned it was both her and her other half that were linked

I: yes, how much do you know about our potential father. i guess i don’t really know who i am. because i clearly before I became this, I was merely created. i mean, we were split but i would presume you were the one that was desired. why else would i have been left with the curse and all of that

R: hang on, we can’t know that. Lolth and Alderiche kept both Eilistraee and (the other one). And Eilistraee was the first one to rebel after and start a conflict. as for our father, I mean. to be frankly honest, listen. We’ve seen what the kind of man, if we want to call it that, that Lolth communed with. I honestly can’t imagine anyone who could be worse than that for our supposed mother to have chosen as her consort.

I: at least that man didn’t try to take over my body to kill all of you.

R: Wait a second, are you asking me because you have a hunch?

I: that is all that it is for now. i was merely curious if you had even thought about it. I’m not going to reveal anything else because I don’t want to taint or plant any seeds in your brain as to who it could possibly be, i will let you do your own digging because clerely you have almost made peace with not specifically knowing because you don’t trust who it could be. so. yeah. that’s kind of just what I’ve been trying to figure out. why should I even exist? because if they just failed that attempt at ascending presumably you, because i was the one that died, what reason was there to even bring me back? and then to learn, that as you told me, the memories that i supposedly had from this life not even really meaning anything or even being real in the first place, my name not even being mine - what purpose does any of this really serve? and yet, i’m still here.

R: you mention that the memory of that night, dr vesper, is the first memory you really have.

I: that’s really the only memory I have that’s not - that’s the only memory i have from being an albino tiefling and I don’t even know if it’s really mine because i don’t know if the separation would have occured by then.

R: as you said, you’re still here, aren’t you. so i’ll ask you back: is there any purpose in letting yourself die?

I: it’s happened so many times already. if there was a purpose beyond me for needing to be here on the physical realm, I mean. I’m not about to go find out. but.

R: not to mention, all this talk about purpose and whatnot. if you really want to talk about purpose, according to - (she loudly stands up, braces a hand on her sword) - according to a man who has the last say on purpose for everything, the only purpose of everyone in every reality is to have an increasingly worse time until there’s nothing left but bad and unlucky stuff happening.

the floor planks begin to crack, and she continues. do you really want to tell me that you want to abide by the idea that everything you’re here for is for everything to increasingly get worse. because to me it seems like dying for nothing is proving that thing correct

I: that’s not what i said. at all. did you listen? I said that I don’t know who I am. If anything, i’m saying my purpose is to find that out

R: then that should be enough

I: I’ve been given a clean slate. i have questions and need answers so that’s not enough. that sense of grandeur clearly

R: i didn’t say that stayed .

I: I’m the one saying that. because you just - no we’ve lost the point i don’t know why you got all defensive just then that threw me off. um. don’t know why you had to reach for your sword. i thought we were just having a conversation.

R: Well, since i was bringing it up i was fearful i may have summoned a calamity if i talked about the bleached man.

one of the planks beneath her goes as she goes “oh fuck”

Ignatius goes to help radius up, and for a second he sees a movement in the corner of the window, where that individual is looming by his side and lifts his left arm and slams it heavily in the reflection against the plank on the floor. and as he does, the plank Ignatius was on falls down into the crawl space.

R: okay i get it i shouldn’t have said - i’m sorry, do i have to be punished a little more for it

I: don’t say that. you know damn well you could. so just stop speaking.

as ignatius tries to get up, his hand slips a little and when he goes to see what it is there’s something slimey disconnected from the floor space. something soft and velvet to the touch. and it’s an envelope.

ignatius’ eyebrows are knitted and furrowed in such a fashion as to show this isn’t form him but also he’s very glad he received it. now will not be the time this is being spoken about. he puts the letter back into the envelope, and puts the letter back under his shirt.

mostly he’s feeling concerned.

Radius: are you okay?

I: yeah my hand just slipped. let’s get out of here.

quigly goes into Hunter Mode

he goes to sniff at where ignatius left the letter as soon as they get out of the thing

ignatius: yes it concerns who you think, not right now, we fucked up already

T: did i miss something? Is it safe to stay here? what happened?

I: we shouldn’t go out in the open now. this is easier to defend

R: motherfuck we lost track of time

I: how are you tadgh?

T: it’s not what i expected to find. i’ll be alright. we should make some food and try and get some rest. set up a watch.

I: I agree.

they sit around the table, the sun getting lower and lower and more and more red, bathing the forest in blood.

[bonesnappers-official]

Session 66

In which your scribe is about to start the 1L year and therefore is getting lazy.

Previously On // Next Session

THE BEACH EPISODE

Lucretia notices: weird variant of Hero’s Feast. but it’s weird, it should generate stuff around the caster, but this is… more than that.

Ignatius can’t find the boundary of the world

Adelaide has a nap.

and wakes up to a sleep paralysis moment of Zelda. at first it’s a cute moment and then she’s not in a sunny field, zelda’s a corpse and it’s the pits of webshrine

Almar sees her freaking out and is like “hey, are you okay?”

AD: Fine, just a bad dream

AL: Yeah, but tell me if you need anything? you don’t seem so good and we should use this to rest

Tadgh goes fishing and then gets fucking dragged out to sea

and then is being lifted up by a squid or an octopus

T: (STA) hey so sorry to have bothered you, didn’t mean to do that, you’re so cool and big

K: WHAT? WHAT?

T: SORRY FOR DISTURBING YOU? CAN I GET THE FISHOOK OUT OF YOUR ARM?

fails to get heard and gets dragged down beneath the waves into a cave (while wildshaped into a tuna) - and then it’s not a cave, it’s the iris

more apologies

K: mm? what kind of devilish machination is this?

T: Excuse?

K: Since when do creatures like you do what you do now?

T: what? turn into a fish?

K: yeah

T: Long story. i was in an alternate dimesnion, not like the ocean, all celestial and there’s a lot of celestial creatures - anyway not the point i was with this cool which lady who was teaching me how to be a druid because her husband was a druid and they can turn into animals and basically like if i see an animal i can turn into that animal so that’s why i’m a fish right now

K: What fantastic piece of genius

T: Thanks! I mean I didn’t invent it, but

K: I didn’t see such a feat of genius engineering since. hmm. jack

T: Since whomst?

K: How did you get here? you’re not from around here, are you?

T: I’m not really sure, I just woke up here with all my friends.

K: (silence) oh no. oh shit. (starts rotating him with the rod and then THROWS him onto the shore)

Tadgh flops about on the shore, gets nibbled on by tadgh, and comes back to himself

adelaide hears footsteps from everywhere

yells to Almar, who gets up

from the left, she goes looking for the source of the footsteps, where, playing sandcastles is Daiala.

D: hi adelaide! good to see you!

A: hi! how did you get here?

D: that is a good and fair question! I was just chilling and relaxing underneath one of the carriages and all of a sudden i’m here

A: did you happen to meet a man in like a mask? like a devil mask?

D: no. should i have?

they make a sandcastle

D: it’s crazy to be here, i never thought i’d be here again

A: what do you mean?

D: it’s Daiala bay! it’s this little undiscovered bit of shore so I named it after me.

A: where are we? if this is not a pocket dimension

D: I don’t know. I just - again, I don’t know where we were, or how we got here or how I got out of there. It’s just nice to see this place.

A: I bet.

she looks at the frond and it’s weird, because she can tell what it says only from the fact it was told. because it’s been beaten away by time. this is an OLD sign.

A: Daiala, when was the last time you were here?

she brushes it and it crumbles to dust. it is at least a century old

D: you know, for everything that’s going to happen in the future, I generally never expected i would see this place again. thank you for that, adelaide.

some dude interrupts her and goes “no construction on the shore. what do you think you’re doing here?”

A: it’s a sandcastle, dick.

D: No construction on the shore! this is private property! How did you get ehre?

A: I don’t know, we just showed up?

Dude: wrong answer. you ought to leave right now.

A: who are you?

Dude: I’m. John Smithson

A: yeah that’s your real name.

J: I make the questions here. what’s YOUR name?

A: Adelaide

J: and what are you doing here, making sandcastles?

A: we got teleported here by a friend of mine

J: point me to this friend of yours. i want to have a conversation with him

A: no, you can have a conversationw ith me

J: miss adelaide, you are in a very dangerous situation right now. take me to the perpetrator or there will be consequences

A: Daiala, anything you need to say?

A: i will point you in the direction of my friend if you stop lying to me

J: i’m not the one comitting a very important crime right now, miss adelaide

A: trespassing is not that big of a crime

J: it is in this case.

A: what is this place? what are you so concerned with protecting?

J: Not your concern

A: you made it my concern

J: for the last time, miss adelaide whatever your last name is, guide me to the artificer of this machination

A: there is no artificer

in the distance, hiding in the bushes, there are more people approaching her position

adelaide is getting ready to square off hand to hand and he’s pointing a lance at her

A: no, fight me like a man. i’m unarmed. bitch.

he goes to stab her, misses, he goes for a full punch.

I come back from a bio break, Sirena is punching someone

who rips off the life vest, revealing a magnificent pair wings

A: pins him down

A: okay, cough it up. what’s your problem, why are you so intent on hiding your identity, where are we, and why are you being a cunt>

J: you guys are in so much trouble. you have no idea what you even are or what’s at stake for you being here

A: why don’t you tell me so I can understand

J: want to see a funny trick? I should have not agreed to help you guys with this. you know what? fuck you. you’re on your own. most of you are dead meat anyway, and i know that for sure anyway.

A: what is your GODDAMN PROBLEM, man/ i’m willing to cooperate if you can tell me where you are and why it’s a problem

J: that is the same thing I asked Jack when he agreed to keep you here. had it been my way, i would have sent you back to the depths from where you came from and left you as a feast for the fucking kraken.

A: who the hell is Jack?

J: oh, you know. tell me. how are you mourning your losses yet?

A: I grieved and I came out on the other side of it

J: the other side? you don’t know shit about the other side. you don’t know how much more you have to lose.

A: you cryptic asshole

J: you and your weird-ass friends. miriel. telfred. that guy tibia? all dead. you’ll see soon. you’ll see.

adelaide wakes up on the shore, close to where the others are

Meanwhile Lucretia tries to go calculate where they are, and one of the assumptions is wrong. the sun is not following the same route it should be.

And then Sirena comes running back

S: adelaide has information. or she has someone who has information.

a: he’s gone. i was standing over him, and then i was over here.

coming from the yacht and ruins , after the “lock in everyone"” speech from ignatius, is the biggest slow clap

adelaide tells all of above

R: who would know that name?

Lucretia goes hey, where are we? and underhand tosses Ruins the stick

he shrugs. (genuinely does not know)

[bonesnappers-official]

Sessions 58-65 Recap

In which your scribe has been busy, okay???

Previously On // Next Session

The story picks up two years later, with the signal to reconvene heading out to the scattered corners of the continent the party has wound up—from the brothels of Loveborough to the outskirts of Webshrine and rural High Brook to the capital of Hornsbrook. They met in a small town on the border of Wyvern Springs, where the warring nations had called a tentative truce to put together an expedition into the acursed lands. After some time to catch up—Ignatius had managed to pick up a vegetarian diet, and Zullie was able to perform the first successful cure of the deep curse on Tadgh—the mission ran into its first snag when a young half-orc woman murdered the Chancellor of High Brook in an act of revenge. 

After a brief talk to calm things down, the Bonesnappers took Sirena in. The bodies were secreted away in Lucretia’s bag of holding, and she joined as an unofficial camp follower of the RAPTOR mission. The parties are as follows: 

Wyvern Springs: Toccan, a dragonborn man who had his life saved by Tadgh’s wife Cara; Tadgh; and Radius

Redben: Ranchor and Khalunnia, the two succubus former employees of Ariel Tamaya; and a silent masked stranger known only by the nickname Ruins

Webshrine: Agemo and Leyrid, sisters from Webshrine; and Zullie

Horsnbrook: Lucretia; Almar Vixidoor, a member of the elf supremacist Brookend Restoration Association; and Connor, the young man Ignatius freed back in Loveborough 

Highbrook: Adelaide, Ignatius, and Vertebra

Khalunnia managed to provoke Almar and Lucretia into a scuffle, which ended only to be followed by an appearance from the Bleached Man. It was frightened off by a surprising streak of good luck from Ignatius, but not before managing to fell both Adelaide and Sirena. President Vallery resurrected Adelaide, but Ruins was the only one who could make it to Sirena. After a fancy bit of magic involving an ice coffin, he offered Ignatius a moment of recognition. 

The next day, the party made a start for the walls surrounding Wyvern Springs in the mobile huts. They encountered an enormous warped Iescu tree with a carving of the guts, almost crashed, noticed something buried beneath the earth, and spent their night in a sandstorm surrounded by distant accursed. 

The following day, the party encountered another Iescu tree but also a young elf girl in the late stages of the deep curse. Her behavior was unusual for an accursed, as she remaiend nonviolent, but Ignatius believed the responsible thing to do was put her out of her misery. When Zullie heard the ensuing commotion, she booked it and chewed Ignatius out for failing to come and get her, as she could maybe cure the girl like she did Tadgh. 

Despite this fight, she let Ignatius, Toccan, and Ruins observe the ritual. Ignatius’ turn got interrupted, however, by Khalunnia and Ranchor who informed him that the circle of the accursed was much closer than it had been previously. He gave the order to keep moving. 

Meanwhile. Sirena snuck up to join the caravan and joined Lucretia in going through the pockets of the late chancellor. This was a successful enterprise, but brought to a sudden halt as the caravan got stuck in the sand thanks to some magical influence. Ignatius and Lucretia were able to identify the problem as an attack from the accursed. 

The party fought them off, managing to identify the leaders and eliminate them—though not without the animating magic slipping away first, or without Tadgh and Vertebra getting infected with the deep curse. As it vanished, it called out a warning: “Do not trust Dr. Ignatius Vesper.” This was ignored in favor of assessing the situation. Ignatius discovered, thanks to Agemo, that Zullie’s spell had been interrupted and the girl was back to normal. He yelled at her for continuing to risk their lives by keeping the girl around. That fight was interrupted by further knowledge—all the supplies in the Webshrine car had been destroyed during the fight. Sirena returned to her separate vehicle and discovered a picture left in the fallen sand of a man standing in a valley between two peaks. 

Meanwhile, Lucretia went to the front when the caravan screeched to a halt again, discovering in front of the cart the group of Zotzilaha’s vampires. She allowed them to enter briefly, trading them directions to Sacred Horns for a barrel of blood to supplement their food. Zotzilaha recognized Ruins but declined to offer any information about his identity, instead taking his followers and flying off. 

Later that evening, Ignatius was trying to get some rest in the carriage with Tadgh and Vertebra, when he awoke to a sound of clattering metal and a panicked Lucretia standing over Tadgh in the darkness. He pressed her to explain herself, but she refused to offer any answers. That interrogation was interrupted by Radius, who informed Ignatius there had been a fight in the Webshrine carriage over the fate of the girl. He arrived and managed to mediate it to a pause, giving Zullie a day to figure herself out. 

Adelaide met up with Diala, mentee fellow tiefling turned shadow, who informed her she’d made a deal with Almar for his assistance in the fight. Ignatius, back to problem solving, went to find Ruins in the morning to see if he would be able to cast a spell—back in Webshrine, the party had picked up a scroll of modified Hero’s Feast. Ruins indicated he could, and gathered everyone together. When the spell was cast, everyone realized they’d been transported to a beach, and were now dressed for the occasion—setting up what was sure to be a strange hour.

[bonesnappers-official]

if anyone's wondering what the player experience of this campaign is like, we had two weeks hiatus and now for first day back I have to take my anxiety meds before I can eat breakfast.

[bonesnappers-official]

Sessions 56-57

Ignatius falls, Adelaide makes up, Tadgh shoots his shot, Lucretia offers a piece of her mind, and Zelda takes a bow.

Previously On // Next Season

Ignatius awoke alone in the darkness after a cloud of noxious gas knocked him, and the rest of the party, out. He started to explore the empty cavern, praying out for any help. He was answered by the disembodied Auril, who told him she was far away but believed he would make it out. 

Alderiche, by contrast, continued to needle Ignatius to lean into the hunger as he walked through the cavern and begging for the son of the Frostmaiden. Ignatius pointedly resisted, stumbling into Tadgh and enraging Alderiche in the process. In response, Alderiche went to bite the two of them and caught Tadgh, somehow progressing the deep curse to stage 4 in the process. He took this bravely before observing with his near 6th sense that there were a handful of undead creatures scattered throughout the cavern. The party, now back on its feet, split up to attempt to deal with them.

This took some amount of running around, with Ignatius nearly getting knocked out again. He prayed to Auril one more time, who promised she had someone in the area coming. The avatars of Alderiche began to fall one by one, including to said cavalry—a stranger in an owl mask and a great feathered cloak. After a brief standoff with Lucretia, they took off together to help take out the other avatars of Alderiche. 

Meanwhile, Ignatius faced down against one last one but wound up getting knocked out. He woke up to an open ribcage with a great mass of slime and meat biting into him using his own ribs as teeth. Alderiche boasted out that he was at last granted a body, and sucked Ignatius down into the floor. 

Alderiche errupted again in the main room, slumping to life as a giant slug-monster with Ignatius’ torso growing out of the top. What was left of the party squared up to fight, losing hope as Alderiche knocked them aside until Zelda’s body stood up from the floor. In one final blaze of glory she turned to Ignatius, reminding him of something he’d said long ago—”You once said to me, let your friends be your purpose. i return that to you. let your friends be your redemption”—before successfully blasting awya the shambling corpse of Alderiche. She brought Adelaide back to her feet, and the party stood for a half second as the last sluggy bits of Alderiche gave way to the sacred guts. 

The cave then started rumbling and collapsing as Alderiche, who’d become part of the land itself, gave away. Zelda threw up a wall to stop the party from getting any closer to her and sent her on her way—though not before telling Adelaide that she was sorry, and that she shouldn’t blame herself. In that moment her body gave up to the pressure of too much magic being poured into a mortal form, and she dissolved into energy and golden smoke which drifted off towards the exit. 

 The party then scrambled to safety. Ignatius was still unconscious, so Meta helped Lucretia shove his pieces into the bag of holding. She then tripped as she made her way out and saw a glimpse of the Bleached Man. It greeted the party, speaking ominously about their continued utility to it before offering them all a half-blessing—bad luck to those who would oppose them. Despite this blessing Vertebra stumbled, and Adelaide and Lucretia went back to go help her. They panicked for a second as the flood of water from behind them started to rise up, but Code came through on a horse to pick up the rest of them. 

The man in the owl mask suggested he could hold off the flood of water threatening to drown them all for long enough for people to swim, while Tibia said he could teleport one person out of there. Adelaide made him grab Lucretia, which he did, while the rest of the party went floating upwards through the surface of the lake. They emerged on the shores of the lake around Loveborough, where Adelaide awoke to Code doing CPR on her. They had a moment to see a whirlpool form in the surface of the lake before a pool of cursed sludge emerged and bodies started to rise to the top. 

Meanwhile Tibia and Lucretia appeared into the chambers of the president in Tenth Bridge. After a tense bit of sniping back and forth during delivering the status report, Tibia dragged Lucretia back into the room to hear the news—Hornsbrook had declared war on High Brook, because they found Queen Farlander dead next to High Brook Operatives, Webshrine declared war on High Brook for similar reasons, and Redben was also on the path to war. They quickly arranged themselves to go off and find the rest of the party in Loveborough to figure out what would come next.

Meanwhile, the party in Loveborough watched as Queen Farlander got dragged up to the surface. She fell upon President Valery, begging for help, but Adelaide spotted that she was already consumed by the deep curse. Valery tried to insist they could get Ignatius to help, but Tadgh took the matter in his own hands and laid her to rest. With her last breath, she thanked him. The party then turned back towards Tenth Bridge. 

They reconvened when they met up in the middle of the road. As the information came out, Valery insisted they go to ground. The owl-masked man turned to leave, stopping when he realized Adelaide and Tadgh were staring at him. When he asked them why, they explained his resemblance to an old colleague. He reacted poorly, shattering his own mask in a fit of excitement and revealing a confused man beneath it—who proceeded to die of drowning in an empty forest. Valery ignored that, and turned back to the plan: the party would be split to stay in different safehouses until the mission to recover the sacred corpse parts could be resumed. Adelaide would go with Radius to the Purple Mice in Loveborough, where she could be close to Code and Tiara. Ignatius would go with Meta to his old home in Twentieth Bridge. Tadgh would go with Zullie to Enigma’s old compound. Tibia and Lucretia would go to Crownshore City, to keep an ear out amongst the elves. They set out that night.

As the roads diverged, members of the bonesnappers peeled away—to wait out the years of war, and see what would become of this strange new world.

The Bonesnappers will return in The Five Lands: Season 3

[kyotoprotocols]

[bonesnappers-official]

pov what any of the BBEGs see in this campaign

[gods-jester]

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

mark it in the books. today, March 15th (the ides of march) officially marks our halfway point through the Five Lands Campaign. we started this over a year ago in January of 2025, and in honor of that, here are some of our beloved quotes without context

"Your threats mean nothing to me white man." (first ever recorded QWC, Zelda's player to DM)

"“THATS it i’m starting the spreadsheet because thats a war crime." (Baronet)

"The sign changes from closed to very closed." (God himself)

"I don't care how good his tits are, vote him off the island." (Tadgh's player)

"I wouldn't say it's an orgy, but it's close to it." (God, again)

"What's science in the face of yaoi?" (Zelda's player)

"Tadgh is not a written knowledge guy, he's more of an oral history kind of guy" "That is just a way to say he's illiterate" (Tadgh's player, Ignatius's player in response)

"Call him Ignatius Vitamix." (Ignatius's player)

"Where in the five lands do a banana grow?" (Baronet)

"What Should I do?" "Kill it, Kill it with fire, Kill it for good" (Zelda's player to Baronet)

"Do you think of a single fucking thing that comes out of your fucking mouth???" (VERY SPECIFICALLY, Adelaide to Ignatius)

"That's it you lost your skin privileges." (Ignatius's player about Meta)

"If I snore loudly enough can I give her advantage on insight?" (Tadgh's player)

[bonesnappers-official]

I'm on 20 hp, no spell slots, no flash of genius, and no steel defender. we're about to have our second boss battle. send help.

[chanthusiast]

why lolth kinda....

[bonesnappers-official]

Session 55

Kill god, then we'll talk.

Previously On / Next Session

(Content Warning: major character death)

Tadgh, trapped in the corridors of sloth, managed to pull himself back out by remembering Cara and how little time he had left. He whittled her a pendant, and stood up to go face the world. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the party squared up with Lolth and Gargantula. It went to shit almost immediately, with Adelaide getting so desperate she invited Malakar in Lucretia’s ploy to make sure they destroyed the real link backfiring—finding nothing in the broken pod but a little marble with stars in it. Tadgh dove through the ceiling after a well-placed arrow that went straight through Lolth’s arm, but got knocked off her back after attempting to stay there and wail on her. Ignatius noticed a change in Gargantula’s face and realized Gargunnel was in fact the one piloting the body which Lolth taunted him about, reminding him that she was both her and Eilistraee’s link, and if Gargantula/Gargunnel died, the entire ecosystem Eilistraee supported would dissapear. Paralyzed with indecision in the face of Lolth using her body as a human shield, he sent out a desperate prayer to anyone who could help him.

That prayer was answered by Meta, who pulled himself from the ground to cast freedom of movement on Gargantula/Gargunnel. She slipped away and behind Ignatius, but Lolth grabbed Meta and started pummeling him into the ground. Lucretia tried to take out Gargunnel from across the room, but Ignatius stepped in front of the firebolt and went down. Zelda, after needling away at Lolth for most of the fight from the back lines, got in one punch too far when she cast out a mind whip. An already irritated Lolth turned around cast power word: kill—an attempted counterspell by Zelda failed, and a counterspell from Adelaide was counterspelled in turn, leaving Zelda dead on the ground. 

Lucretia ignored this and managed to send out one last desperate firebolt, which caught Gargunnel when she turned into the path of the bolt. She fell, and the link popped like a chain snapping. Lolth screamed out and managed to knock Lucretia down with her dying flail before calling out to Alderiche as she vanished into the air. 

The ceiling of the cavern began to collapse in, and various people who had been present at the sabbath started falling from the sky. A particularly bad cave-in covered Zelda entirely. President Valery hit the floor in front of Meta and started desperately calling out for a diamond. Adelaide went off and begged Malakar for assistance, but he scoffed at her and pointed out that her soul was special. 

Meanwhile, Zelda saw into the void beyond. She lay in the dark expanse of nothing that constituted an afterlife and experienced the time dilation which accompanied it, lying there for so long that the time stopped to mean something and she had forgotten where she was by the time Iescu spoke to her. 

I: Well, do you like it here?

Z: I don’t know, I don’t know where here is. It seems pretty boring.

I: Yes. It’s not how I wanted it to be.

Z: There’s nothing I can do about it.

I: And there’s nothing I can truly do about it either, as of now.

Z: Who are you?

I: I think at one point, so much longer ago than you can remember, you were told that my name was Iescu.

Z: Iescu. It sounds familiar, but I don’t know if I can remember anymore.

I: I think a name that would be better to remember is Arin Tamaya.

Z: I like that name.

I: I’m told she always liked your name too.

Z: She’s the one who gave it to me. Where is Arin?

I: You could say that she’s also here. Unfortunately, my current situation does not allow me to put the two of you in communication. I can only remember what she told me about you, many many moments ago.

Z: She talked about me?

I: Yes. She’s been waiting for a very long time. 

Z: I thought she never wanted to see me again.

I: She was held back by someone as scared and as frightened as she was. I like to believe that you may have reunited one day, even here. But it’s clear that no matter how tight the bond, as of now a force tighter than what I can face prevents me from building this place as I wanted it to be. There is another person that almost visited this place, and who also remembers your name. Adelaide. Does that name sound familiar?

Z: Adelaide? I think–I think I cared about that person a lot. Maybe more than anyone since Arin.

I: I’m sure you did. Not the same kind of care, but as important nonetheless. I’m afraid at one point, we had some differences. And as much as I hate to say it, I don’t know if this place, if it was to be built as I intended it to be, would be open for you.

Z: Oh.

I: However it seems there are still people who care about you, and people doing everything in their power to bring you back.

Z: I don’t—I don’t know if I want to go back. Is it going to hurt?

I: Well. I would say it’s a good thing you don’t want to truly go back. because you cannot. As of now, they will have to make a choice between a lot of people, and you are currently unreachable to all of them. However, I do not know how much you care about coming back. And yes, to answer your question: it will hurt.

Z: What was I doing before I was in this place?

I: This place is… something that I created—tried to create—for those who had done their time in the previous life. But as you can see, there is—the threads are not as whitened as I’d like them to be.

Z: Is there anything I could do from here that would help Arin and Adelaide?

I: From here? No-one truly interacts from here. This place is for the people who are of this place, the previous one for those who it is of.

Z: And which place am I of?

I: This one. you—some very powerful people from the previous one can at times bring back, but ultimately this is where everything leads. You simply got here earlier than others

Z: Then I guess I have to stay here, right?

I: Maybe.

Back on the material, Valery continued shouting for a diamond. More and more people hit the ground, some with a thud and some who got up again. Tibia joined the crowd, and Adelaide harangued him for assistance. He managed to find a diamond for Valery in his bag and Valery managed to bring Meta back up. Meta panicked over the body of Ignatius while Radius and Zullie flew down together on Zullie’s broom. 

Adelaide begged Tibia to help her save Zelda, choosing her life over Ignatius’ when Tibia pointed out he could only save one. Zullie helped lift the rubble off of Zelda with a reverse gravity spell. Adelaide grabbed her and pulled her down, getting the sacred corpse’s ribs for her trouble. Tibia sat down to cast wish, and everyone held their breath.

In the meantime, Ignatius got up to Meta shaking him. He demanded information on Gargunnel’s fate, but Meta couldn’t offer any. Ignatius was furious, but Meta managed to calm him. 

Tibia, meanwhile, turned around with an unusually grim expression, reporting that the worst had come to pass—Zelda wasn’t getting up, and he had run out of wishes. Adelaide tried to punch him and instead just hit the ground sobbing. Valery tried desperately to Revivify her, to no effect—even though it should have been well within the time. Zelda’s corpse erupted with a spasm, and the spine slithered out, where it wound up in Ignatius. Zelda stayed dead.