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[Spoilers Episode 14]
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Episode 14: Secrets for Sale
You began the night before the Battle for Mouse. Dolly (having revealed her mission from the Spinner and the party agreeing to turn from the Web) refused to hand over supplies to the Gloam. You did, however, decide that delivering the bag as promised could give you an element of surprise. You soon set to planning your attack:
Dolly, Raidion, and I (tCNtM) would deliver the bag to the Gloam (Dolly and Raidion claiming they had left the rest of the party behind whilst I waited in the trees)
Raidion sent a Firebolt
into the sky. Endellion, Kelnys, and the Grenwyrd brothers would attack from the castle trapping your enemies in a pincer. I was keen to use the bag of holding to transport Kylen (Endellion's biggest and strongest brother) into the brewery beyond the walls and thus into the thick of the action. Along with Dolly you went to convince the barbarian to go along with the ruse, but despite Endellion's permission, Kylen refused to leave his brother's side.
Meanwhile Raidion sought out Lesota (Endellion's mother) finding her on one of the towers overlooking what would come morning be a battlefield. He asked her about family and about love before Lesota offered him words of comfort and acceptance along with a very awkward hug.
Kelnys was preparing for the morning and, along with Wilder the Cook, searched for Goodberries
in the well-stocked pantry beneath the kitchens. As he did, Endellion (or Eloen) took a moment to herself in her father's observatory far above the rest of the hubbub as Castle Grenwyrd prepared for battle.
Below in the courtyard, Dolly bolstered her companions with a speech. I (tCNtM) was still unsure that the plan (in its current state) would work. Together you formed a new strategy:
Construct an explosive that could be detonated in the brewery to help level the playing field and catch the Gloam unawares.
Endellion had returned to the courtyard and (having teased Eden from the sidelines as he trained up a militia) sparred with her eldest brother, learning that her weapons were capable of greater utility than she had previously realized.
That night you all returned to Endellion's room where Raidion pitched his new nickname to Endellion. Pebble. The fact that Endellion neither attacked him, nor stormed out of the room spoke volumes for the growth of their relationship.
Kylen woke you the next morning. You put your plan into action. Dolly and Raidion entered the brewery to speak with the Gloam whilst I watched from the trees. Inside the brewery the Gloam had begun to grow suspicious and made an attempt to seize the tiefling and the wood elf. Dolly casting Darkness
to cover their escape as Raidion slammed the homemade bomb into position by the door.
As Raidion and Dolly sprinted towards safety, I (tCNtM) emerged from hiding and lit the place up. As the gates opened, Kelnys and the Grenwyrds stormed into battle. Kellen sniped from a distance whilst Eden and Kylen charged straight into the throng, as I (tCNtM) picked off Gloam warriors with his crossbow. Dolly cast Shatter
. Endellion fired arrows into her foes. Torian attacked with unexpected ferocity. Raidion killed multiple enemies with a devastating fireball and Kelnys was behind a hedge.
Just as you seemed to be in the ascendancy, Eden fell. His siblings and militia stunned into inaction by his death before Dolly brought him back with a Healing Word
.
As the battle continued to rage, I entered the smoldering brewery where he was met by an unexpected foe. Morgan. He struck I with a Blinding Smite
almost downing the Kobold, as Raidion began to hear the familiar whispers of the deck in his pocket before they coalesced into a single word:
"Help."
I was calling out, blinded and cornered. Hoping for the aid of his friends in bringing down his foe, but Morgan the Oathbreaker Paladin summoned new reserves of fervor from his fellow Gloam members as they all attacked with sudden speed. Finally Raidion arrived to aid his Kobold companion. A clutch use of Hypnotic Gaze
finally paying dividends as Morgan was rendered incapacitated. Kelnys and Torian formed a rear guard and were dealing with the Gloam that attacked in waves. Endellion fougth alongside Eden and Kylen. I had managed to flee the brewery with Dolly unable to act as Raidion remained inside with Morgan. The wood elf was stunned to realize, that merely by wishing it could be so, he had teleported from the building still retaining enough power to cast Fireball
.
As you mopped up the remains of the Gloam warriors, you descended en masse upon Morgan who had left the brewery and was moving into the main body of the fight with a resigned heaviness. Kelnys struck him with lighning as Dolly stabbed Morgan with a dagger who in turn struck her down (with what surely would have been a killing blow) before Raidion called (for the first time) on the Deck of Many Friends
. As the card began to spin and glow, a figure emerged, Revenna Snacks. Her hair a flock of ravens that descended upon Morgan, causing him to miss his previous swing at Dolly, though she still dropped unconscious after he attacked again. Raidion revived Dolly with a Goodberry
before it fell to Endellion to land the final blow on Morgan who (tear-stained and blood-soaked) thanked her as he breathed his last.
Revenna became a flock of ravens and was absorbed by the card which then turned to dust. Then a figure appeared in the sky. Barabask. He accused the party of killing the Virtuous and betraying the Antiqua, naming them 'God Killers' and declaring that they were in league with the Gloam. He then proclaimed himself the new god of Reliquiae, Barabask the Sinless.
You stand in the snow. The frozen ground hard beneath your feet, surrounded by bodies. Steam rising from black blood in the crisp winter morning. The image of Barabask fades, the clouds darkening. You can hear the calls of far off birds, the wind in the trees, the ragged breathing of those beside you still suffused with the exhiliration and terror of battle.
Then Kylen swings his axe towards the sky where Barabask appeared and shouts
"Fuck you! Fuck you! You will not harm my sister! You will not take her from us!"
You hear footsteps in the snow and Torian is running back towards the castle and you can hear him sobbing, immediately having burst into uncontrollable tears.
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