[Spoilers Episode 5]
[Spoilers Episode 5]
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Episode 5: The Girl in the Cell
Last time we began in the aftermath of the fight with Jasmee. The five of you and (Housewives' Choice) Morgan, the newly dead, alone in the forest. Holding a letter in which Barabask had condemned you. Morgan told you it was time for him to depart; that he would be reporting back to The Spinner, who had been kept abreast of developments up to this point.
Knowing that your path led towards Baruun, you said goodbye. Before the sounds of the Festival of Benediction and the promise of caramel treats proved impossible to resist. Dolly, I and Kelnys convincing Endellion and Raidion to let them 'check out' the market.
You slipped unnoticed into the tents, I stealing his body weight in artisanal gnomish popcorn before Endellion was finally able to take the edge off with a goblet of spiced wine. Dolly spied an opportunity to make some quick coin and set up a store hawking the many spoons that Kelnys has made along his travels.
A crowd soon gathered and spoons were selling like hotcakes before Endellion spotted Pollyanna (the junior cleric of Theolon who you first met when you entered the festival). Kelnys scrambled to gather his spoons as you all prepared to run before a clutch use of Thaumaturgy from Dolly attracted the attention of Pollyanna and the other festival goers to a new caramel seller's startup. It's rich story telling.
You left the festival, and guided by Kelnys, you knew the roads well. Made your way to a tavern, the Old Oak. There you drank and ate your fill; Kelnys gifting Dolly an ornate spoon and I gleefully discovering the existence of high chairs.
As the others made for their comfortable beds, Raidion sought out the quiet of the forest. He dug a hole in the earth and buried a deck of cards inside it, silencing the perpetual whispers and screams he could hear in his head. With that done, he burst into uncontrollable tears (God he's complicated, but I know I can fix him!)
The next morning you headed for Baruun, taking a shortcut through the forest so as to avoid a ponderous journey by road. As you made your way through the dense trees and foliage, Kelnys spotted light and heard whispered voices. I (the character, not the me) and Raidion snuck forward, spying two figures dressed in slate gray cloaks with silver masks. They were disagreeing over their orders (to wait in the forest) with one of them relishing the chance to "bleed the council" and making particular reference to someone called Trusk. The other insisted that, having written the message, they were now to wait for further instructions.
Raidion snuck back to relay this to the others and Dolly approached, but a misplaced step in the dry bracken alerted the vicars to her presence. She attempted to pass herself off as a lost traveler heading for the toilet miles from the road, but as she headed back into the dense forest I watched as the masked figures prepared to follow. The kobold bolted back to you all with Dolly still in the open and the others hid as an arrow flew from the trees and struck Dolly in the chest. Another followed and Dolly fell. Two enemies, one wielding an axe and the other a bow, approached to inspect the body. Raidion cast web, restraining two of them, as Endellion emerged to slice into the axe man. A third enemy emerged from the trees, wielding a rapier, and he too went on the attack.
I was first to Dolly, bringing her back with a potion of greater healing and from this point on, Dolly rescued from death, it got pretty dark. Raidion killed the archer with a mote of acid. Before the rapier-wielding mask man battled with and (sliding a rapier between his ribs) downed Kelnys. I (the character, not the me) slew the axe man with a crossbow bolt as Dolly brought Kelnys back with a healing word. Raidion cast mind spike on the rapier wielder and gained the ability to psychically locate him.
Realizing the danger he was in, your remaining enemy fled into the forest with the words, "the shadow will flood". Thanks to the Mind Spike, Raidion and I were able to track him through the trees before another well-placed crossbow bolt to the back brought the runner down. I approached, wearing a mask like that of his enemies (having cast silent image) and attempts to gain more information, but learning little.
You discovered a letter on the body. Raidion arrived and begrudgingly praised I before reading the letter which said, "Camino, write the message on the mural, then return to the forest and wait. The water will soon rise."
As Raidion put the letter in his pack, he discovered the deck of cards he buried in the forest had returned to him. As you searched the bodies in the area around the campfire (where you had happened upon your enemies) you discovered black paint and and a brush before Raidion suggested that Dolly, Kelnys, and Endellion adopt the identity of the three enemies you had killed, and wait for instructions to arrive. This course of action decided on, you remained in the forest and that's where we are now.