Ascending the Apocalypse: Session 8 Bastions, Bread, and Interrogations

The blood has barely dried from the Court of Stars ambush, but the party is given no time to grieve. Lost in the treacherous depths of Narzkuldra and still reeling from the loss of an ally, they stumble directly into the crosshairs of a Last Bastion recon squad. Now, under the harsh watch and interrogation of Captain Bentley McCallahan, the survivors must defend their actions, forge a tentative truce, and figure out their next move. 

Content note: strong language, violence, gore, and body horror. 
Editor's for this episode: Brady B.

Players:
Caleb as Evindal Rovaris
Izzi as Vivian Sithe
Jes as Sovah Dammon
Michael as Sovearis Brae

Brady as D.M.

Thank you for all of the support

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The following episode of Five Sided Fables is intended for mature audiences. It contains adult language, rapid violence, and intense themes that may be distressing for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

SPEAKER_05 0:14

A small, hurried imp darts through the air, wings flapping rapidly in a frantic rhythm. His red skin gleams in the dim light of Nar's Cauldra. The war-torn landscape stretched out below him. It scarred earth, a patchwork of shattered ruins, and destroyed infrastructures. The wind howls around him as he clutches a small purple luminescent flower bud, glowing faintly with an ethereal light. His eyes darting nervously as he glances back towards the tower. The distant silhouette of the large, no longer moving tower fades into the horizon, leaving only the darkened, blood-streaked skies above. The flower in his hands hums softly. He veers sharply. And Nar's Coldra's barren wastelands fall away behind him, and a massive portal yawns tall as a skyscraper, its swirling edges flashing with crackling energy. A vortex of orange and red beckons, the fabric of reality itself warping and bending around the edge of the portal, as if the very air is being torn apart. With a shrill call, he dives into the rift, the world around him spinning into chaos. The vibrant purple glow of the flower is only light that swirls in this void. Its illumination, a stark contrast to the crushing darkness of the portal. The air is heavy, the scent of sulfur burning and brimpsome thick in the nostrils as he plunges through. He emerges. The world changes in an instant. Gone is the war-torn expanse of Narskaldra, replaced by the vast fiery expanse of Avernus. The first layer of the nine hells. The sky above is a deep, sickly red, the sun blotted out by dark clouds rolling with endless thunder. Rivers of lava snake across war-torn battlefields and canyons, their fiery paths weaving through jagged cliffs and broken, charred ground. The imp dives lower, his wings cutting through the scorching air. Blasts of heat rise from the molten rivers below. The sound of distant streams echo across the expanse. Tormented wails of the souls, lost in the infernal pit. A black, flat expanse stretches ahead, desolate and imposing. The spires of a jet-black citadel stands monument from the vast volcanic landscape. Dark clouds swirl ominously above it, streaked with sickly green lightning that cracks the sky. The river sticks. An internal flow of black, viscous liquid on fire cuts through the land like a massive highway, winding its way towards the citadel. Its surface is slick with the weight of countless souls drifting the silent torment. Their faces frozen in internal screen, their forms barely visible beneath the oily red sheened surface. Imp slithers beneath the Citadel's shadows. The Citadel itself is a monolithic structure, its black stone covered in sizzling runes that hum with infernal energy. The lava flows freely from the ducts within the Citadel's walls, spilling out of drains into the river of an endless cascade of molten blood and fire. The small imp's wings beat furiously as he flies into the Black Citadel, the massive dark iron gates clanging shut behind him with a resounding echo. Inside, the air is thick with the oppressive weight of infernal magic. The heat is nearly unbearable. The stone floors are cold, and yet beneath his wings, as he zips past towering walls of black onyx marble, their surface gleaming like polished obsidian. Red banners hang from tall, twisted columns that ripple gently in the sulfuric acid, their fabrics stained with the colors of the damned. The interior of the citadel is imposing, tall. Soaring columns line the hallways, each one twisted and wrapped in dark, unholy designs that pulse with faint magical runes, glowing dimly in this low light. The high ceilings are lost in shadows, disappearing into an abyss above. The dim glow of lava from small, intricate vented ducts gives the place an eerie, haunted glow. The imp darts faster through the great hall, his claws clutching the purple flower bud, which continue to glow faintly in the darkness. The sound of his wings echoes through the long corridors as he flies past a massive archway. The stonework intricate and terrifying, the archway's top is adorned with a twisted gargoyle's face, their eyes hollow and menacing, their stone mouths frozen in twisted eternal grins. Beyond the archway lies a small courtroom, a chamber of dark grandeur. The imp's heart races faster as he gets closer, the urgency of his mission intensifying. He flies faster now, drawn to the inner sanctum, where the true power resides. Past more columns, down on a side hall, and into a chamber of a lounge fit for a goddess, its luxury in stark contrast to the rest of the Citadel's jagged, harsh architecture. The room is dim, the shadows cascaded across a tall, beautiful woman who lounges languidly upon a Sidian throne. Her presence filling the room with an unshakable, dangerous grace. Her long, slick black hair flows down her back, reaching the curve of her waist, shining like the deepest midnight. Each movement of her head sends the strands rippling like liquid darkness, her beauty enhanced by a dangerous aura. Her charcoal eyes gleam with a deep, unsettling light. Her smile, a Cheshire smile, twists from her lips wide and sharp, a predatory curve that speaks of cruel delight. Her body is sculpted with sinuous curves, every motion deliberate and fluid. The most striking feature is this scorpion tail coiled beside her, its long, segmented form gliding and twitching like a body of a cat ready to strike. The tail dances with a serpentine elegance, its barb sharp and deadly. She wears a little more than a thin, almost see-through veil of a silk robe that clings to her smooth, dark yellow skin, a hue that seems unnatural and otherworldly. The robe barely covers her, the delicate fabric shimmering faintly as it clings to her body. Her fingernails and toenails are black and claws, sharp and long, reminiscent of a predator's deadly grace. Her gaze shifts downward, and the faintest flicker of amusement dances in her eyes as she watches this scene unfold before her. At her feet, past the base of the steps, is a shallow pool of blood. The dark waters in it swirls and bubbles with slow, rising motion. It pulses rhythmically, as if breathing. The rippling blood thickens and a single arm pierces through the surface. The hand, with a wet, sickening slap, presses onto the marble floor, pulling itself forward. Out of the surface, it continues to follow the arm, a shoulder, then the top of a head. The waters bubble up in a thick, rapid burst as form emerges from the depth and the imp freezes mid-air, staring in horror. A bearded devil rises from the blood. Its body slick with oily dark icker of the river sticks. Eyes wide with burning rage, his furious expression twists with recognition, fury flaring across his contorted face, his beard matted and twisted, moves like a living thing as he drags himself from the pool, the glistened red water dripping from his frame. His skin slicked, his body burnt, injuries crack with little fire, remnants of his last demise. As he pulls himself free of the river's embrace, the devil gasps, inhaling the pugid air of Avernus. Not again.

SPEAKER_04 7:34

Not again.

SPEAKER_05 7:36

With every grunt of effort, the devil stumbles forward, his rage only growing as he stands fully, his broad shoulders rising with fury, the heat of his anger seems to boil the air around him as he glares at the woman on the throne, his fists clenched. She watches him rise, her eyes gleam with amusement, her smile widening like a cat that had caught a mouse. Another failed resurrection. She purrs. Her voice is a silken melody, but with a sharpness of a blade. Is this how you repay me? So eager to return to this endless cycle, the bearded devil snarls.

SPEAKER_04 8:12

I do not wish to be reborn from those waters again.

SPEAKER_05 8:16

Watches the devil for a moment, a soft laugh escaping her lips, like a sound filled with both amusement and disdain. How predictable. Her voice is dripping with this mock sympathy. You still don't understand, do you? You will never defeat Sova without more power. And you, my little bird, are destined to be nothing more than my playthings. Forever at my mercy. Her voice grows colder, more commanding. I control the outcome. The more you struggle, the more delicious it becomes. The bearded devil's fists clench tighter, his nostrils flaring, his stance widening as if to challenge her. I am no toy. I will before he can even finish the sentence, the woman's tail lashes out with a speed of a striking serpent. The barbed end of the tail pierces through the imp's small, fragile body, piercing with a sickening crack, the sharp tip driving deep into the creature's torso, past it into the wall as he's impaled against black onyx, the stone cracking under the force of the strike. The imp's body jerks violently as a high-pitched dream escapes his lips. But it's cut short as the tail twists. The barred point turns slowly into his flesh. The room is filled with the sound of bones snapping. The imp's life drains away as he is pinned to the wall. His body twitches and throws of his final moments. The demoness watches dispassionately as the imp's struggle fades, the glow in his eyes dimming. With a single smooth motion, she retracts her tail, pulling the imp's lifeless body from the wall and dropping it to the floor. The sound of torn flesh slaps the stone like a discarded wet rag. She rises from her throne, her eyes gleaming as if she steps over the fallen imp, her feet silent on the cold marble floor. She glances down at the purple flower bud that the imp had carried so desperately. She reaches down, her long, sharp nails curling around the flower as she lifts it from the ground, her scorpion tail moving with a predatory grace that starts to coil around the bearded devil's shoulders, the barb pointed at his chin, pressed ever so slightly into his flesh. Her gaze shifts to the bearded devil, who stands stunned in silence, his fury replaced with a flickering of apprehension. Demoness's lips curl into a smile, her gaze locking with his. She steps toward him. The flower beneath two fingers is presented as though it were an offering. He muses, her voice light and mocking, her eyes full of dark promise. Perhaps you would like a second chance. We now get to our stage. We find ourselves inside the tower, wearied, tired, emotionally and physically. Just minutes ago. The marble floor beneath your feet, cold and scattered, remnants of stone soldiers lie in twisted heaps nearby. Some parts have been shattered beyond recognition, others still clinging to some level of semblance of life in the battle of the night before. The blue hues of magical flames on sconces that litter the walls that stretch upwards towards the tower, as shadows across this long, spiraling stone staircase. The air is thick with silence. Only the hum of arcane energy that flows through the cobblestone walls sets the somber tone. The group of dark cowed leather soldiers take off their hooded masks. A large orc leans against the stairs. This towering behemoth of an orc stands with his arms crossed, his posture relaxed but weary, his skin a deep greenish-gray, the scars of countless battles visible across his broad shoulders and large muscular arms. A tattoo of a Roman numeral, dwarven, dwarven numeral four, is boldly inked on the corner of his forehead, snaking around the curve of his eyebrow, his eyes narrow as he observes the group, his jaw clenched tightly as though he's just waiting for someone to snap. And then sitting on a pile of rubble, analyzing each one of you now, a young human male, no older than Soba, stands slightly apart from the rest of the group. Tan olive complexion has medium curly dark brown hair that falls into loose waves swept back behind the ears. His most striking feature is the automaton prosthetics that replace his legs with sleek and functional. His expression and demeanor is a quiet one of curiosity and careful calculation. His body language is methodical as he takes in the surroundings. He looks between the members of the group, though his gaze lingers longest on Sova. And then standing in the center of the room, arms crossed, his eyes sharp, as though trying to dissect everything that had just happened. Is a man in his mid-40s, dark white skin, black hair streaked with silver, his beard neatly trimmed but carrying a certain roughness. As though he's more accustomed to dirt and grit than the comforts of grooming. Black leather armor is tight-fitting but not restrictive, adorned with half-dozen soul coins embedded in the fabric. The coins gleam faintly in a low light, each one etched with ruins and depictions of devil's faces that pulse with a strange, eerie magic. He watches Vivian and the others with quiet scrutiny as he steps forward and speaks up. Right. So let's start from the beginning. Who are you? And how did you manage to get here?

SPEAKER_06 13:38

Well, to be honest, uh don't think all of us all of us quite rightly know. How we got specifically here.

SPEAKER_05 13:52

Sorry for the long monologue. He looks at Evandal who d who speaks up before anyone else. You don't know how you got here.

SPEAKER_06 14:01

Last thing I remember is I was a part of a scouting mission. And then I woke up in a vat. You broke out. We made it here.

SPEAKER_05 14:09

Roll a persuasion check for me. That was a 12. He looks at you, Evandal. You guys are more in the throws after combat. This fatigue that kind of sets in. You more emotionally, Vivian and Sova.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

I would definitely say Vivian's not answering these people. She's probably sitting down on a rock or some debris nearby or whatever. She's holding the rest of Saurus's bongings in her arms.

SPEAKER_02 14:35

Sova would be uh sitting up against the wall. Uh I believe the last thing I was doing was uh connecting with the long sword that I found.

SPEAKER_05 14:47

But uh he looks at you, Abendal. As you try to convince you don't remember much, he takes a beat, stares at you, analyzing every feature of your face. Ghost. Have them queue it up and heal them.

SPEAKER_09 15:01

I made food. It's on the table.

SPEAKER_05 15:05

Just around the corner is a table. Stone slab, actually. Spongeless, flavorless, uh bread-like food.

SPEAKER_09 15:14

Behold bread and heart attack. It'll suffice.

SPEAKER_06 15:19

Indeed it will.

SPEAKER_02 15:32

Right. Um, I I could really use something to eat right about now. It's been a couple days, uh, so I I'll be more apt to talk after I get uh a little bit something in my belly. And I will go over and and partake of the sponge cake.

SPEAKER_09 15:49

There is 45 pounds of food on the table.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

I could probably eat a quarter of it.

SPEAKER_04 15:55

You can all rest up no more than an hour.

SPEAKER_05 15:58

We're leaving as soon as we can.

SPEAKER_03 16:00

Leaving? Leaving where?

SPEAKER_02 16:03

Here.

SPEAKER_05 16:03

There's a gigantic tower.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

And now it's suddenly stopped.

SPEAKER_06 16:09

We're the ones who caused it to stop. With some minor repairs, we could probably move it.

SPEAKER_03 16:13

We've not figured out a damn thing about it yet. What are we leaving it?

SPEAKER_05 16:18

Yeah, we're leaving it. My survival instincts are screaming at me, and right now they're saying this is a large tower that's no longer moving, that was moving. Whatever's flying around out there is going to see this and report back. And then come with more. Especially if you're dealing with the court of stars.

SPEAKER_03 16:35

Vivian's gonna walk over to Ebendahl. We cannot leave until we figure out what the hell we were in.

SPEAKER_06 16:40

I know. Keep your emotions in check. It's no time to freak out. Clearly, this man is a man of authority. We need to treat him as such. Otherwise, we know better off of a situation.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

Vivian is gonna kind of push off Ebendal and storm away towards the food.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Do y'all have like any salt or anything? This is I mean, I'm getting it down, but like water'd also be nice.

SPEAKER_03 17:03

Damn it, Sova.

SPEAKER_05 17:04

The orc that is also eating food next to you grunts. No.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

Right. Eat. No, yeah, I'm I'm pretty Um. Who had the remote last? I believe Vivian was the one that was carrying it last, correct?

SPEAKER_05 17:20

Yeah, uh, it would have been actually Savarus who had it. Uh he had found it and then he got murdered.

SPEAKER_03 17:25

I just have like his like tack type, but it's like a satchel. Yeah, like built type thing, though. Because he's an assay.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

Well, we didn't have we didn't have any of that. He had a bag of he he had a pouch that he found.

SPEAKER_06 17:40

And with disintegrate isn't like anything non-matchable. It wasn't disintegrate. Oh, it wasn't.

SPEAKER_07 17:45

I was I his body's still there. He just got his torso fucking blown off.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

He got hollow purpled. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 17:53

Vivian holding all the uh Saver's things and such holds a dismantled broken remote. It is not unrepairable, it is just heavily damaged.

SPEAKER_09 18:04

Is that the remote? The broken thing there?

SPEAKER_02 18:08

That that was the remote. May I?

SPEAKER_03 18:11

Vivian's gonna like look kind of like gross out at this thing that's next to her. Not like more than normal. I understand.

SPEAKER_09 18:18

But I get that a lot, believe me.

SPEAKER_03 18:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_09 18:21

Um, I want to cast mending on it. Yeah, go ahead. Cast uh mending on it. What does your mending look like? Hold it with with both hands and just kind of like bring it close to my chest, and there's just a little like quick flash. Like an easy bake oven. I make shrinky dinks.

SPEAKER_05 18:39

Because it is a magical device that does require runes to also be fixed and everything. I would like you to roll me a d20 uh ability check of your spellcasting modifier.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Uh oh. DM you in your d20s.

SPEAKER_09 18:57

Um, that's gonna be a 15.

SPEAKER_05 19:01

15. You bring the remote to your chest as that warmth kind of starts to emanate out of it, that fire. Magic sheens over the device as it starts to repair itself, the screws, the cracks starting to mend and be adjusted into a remote that is now there in one piece. There you go.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

Expectingly.

SPEAKER_06 19:27

Does it look like it would actually function, or does it just look outwardly like fixed?

SPEAKER_05 19:31

Your choice of investigational arcane.

SPEAKER_03 19:35

Punch the button, bro.

SPEAKER_09 19:36

Uh Commander, may I have a look around the tower?

SPEAKER_05 19:38

You already seen Bentley pull the ranger aside as he nods upwards. Cast is going up the stairs and already doing so. He looks at you as you ask the the question. Of course. Start with the upstairs.

SPEAKER_03 19:50

But hold on, I hold on a minute. I won't have you just protruding through our stuff.

SPEAKER_09 19:56

It's not our stuff. I didn't see your name written on the tower, to be fair.

SPEAKER_03 19:59

I didn't see you traveling in the tower. I didn't see you come out of a giant test tube in the tower. It's my tower.

SPEAKER_06 20:06

Okay, let them do the thing. They're just gonna find out what we already done.

SPEAKER_09 20:10

Truth be told, ma'am, that seems like this is your prison.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

Well, until I figure out exactly what it was, it's mine.

SPEAKER_09 20:16

Well, I intend to help you find out what it is.

SPEAKER_03 20:19

Great, then we're going.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

We have already mapped it out. I could just show you to the locations that we're aware of.

SPEAKER_06 20:27

Also, I got an 11 on that Arcana check.

SPEAKER_05 20:29

11 on the Arcana check? Stupid lower three. The best way to note, uh, if it works, is if you press a button. I will hold off on that. Okay. But it seems to be intact more or less from what you gather. Bentley actually starts to walk upstairs and says to you guys, as you're as Vivian is kind of huffing and puffing, like, don't go through my tower. She says, do whatever you want.

SPEAKER_10 20:49

That's kinda happening.

SPEAKER_05 20:52

As he goes up to the first platform and takes a left into what would have been the I guess the living quarters.

SPEAKER_02 20:57

I'm gonna grab like a fistful of the the bread and kind of kind of like square it up with the orc. And kind of like it in more of in a respectful kind of way, not in a are we are we dressed by this point? I mean, I got pants on.

SPEAKER_06 21:14

Yes, you are dressed. We did I'm basic- I'm pretty sure we did that combat naked.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

No, I got pants on.

SPEAKER_05 21:20

You're wearing the prisoner's garb in Skyrim, essentially, like when you You are wearing curtains.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Um I'll like I'll square up with the orc and just kind of like a respectful kind of acknowledgement, and then just kind of follow behind, uh, keeping an eye on everything.

SPEAKER_05 21:35

He sees you approach him and do what you just said that you did. And he he's eating like a bowl of uh of bread and he kind of like turns his shoulder a little bit to you.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

So I will uh just kind of like follow in behind everybody. Slowly making my way to the um I think it was on the sixth floor, it was the cultivation floor where we found the door that we couldn't open. So I'm just kind of following. Following along until we get to that point.

SPEAKER_05 22:02

So there is the mid-40 man. George Clooney is on the first level. The robot leg ranger. He went upstairs even further to like the seventh floor. And then uh the orc is gonna stay on base level by the entrance. So up to you guys to what you want to do for your short rest here. Ghost, what floor are you going to?

SPEAKER_09 22:23

I will go to the lab and R D.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

So Vivian definitely wants to like be walking first, but every time we turn a corner, she's gonna let Ghost go first still, and then be like, I know where we're going, and walk in front of him again.

unknown 22:36

Like a cat.

SPEAKER_06 22:38

Bevindal will be following Mr. Grumpy Pants.

SPEAKER_05 22:43

We'll do you first since you're on the first floor. Bentley goes into living arrangements area as he kind of investigates the space. You see him kind of just start knocking over different furniture and looking around the space to see what's going on. He's checking these small little closetways as well. And he notices like as things that you didn't even get a chance to notice because you were exhausted and just came out of everything that you happened to do. He's coming in with fresh eyes. As he opens a water closet, he sees here in the space is a functioning shower that well, that would have been lovely. As he presses these switches on the door, water starts to come out of like this ritual rune on a faucet head where the water comes out warm.

SPEAKER_06 23:22

I know I know you're just turning on a shower, but it might be a good idea to take a little more precaution. This is a a castle that might be.

SPEAKER_05 23:29

How long have you been here?

SPEAKER_06 23:30

Uh captured here, I'm not really sure.

SPEAKER_05 23:33

Um, awake. The date is currently. He gives a date, and it has been six months from the last time that you remember or recall.

SPEAKER_06 23:40

Oh, that's not too bad.

SPEAKER_05 23:41

So you are in some type of a coma?

SPEAKER_06 23:45

I think they had us under some sort of spell. We were in some DM. Do we remember like the reality we were in?

SPEAKER_05 23:53

You remember everything that happened in this reality. And I will also state for everyone here who was in the VATs, um, you have this whole entire life of being with Evan Dal Sova, Vivian, and Sabrus. You guys lived as a mercenary company, more or less, that kind of took these odd jobs here and there. Um, you had moments where you guys were just like enjoying life. None of the backstory that we've developed as player characters, but everything that was in this fabricated space. It's almost like you lived a double life, and now you have these memories and these emotions and feelings still. But now you're also grasped with the reality of what life is now, right?

SPEAKER_06 24:34

They they appear they had as someone that spell, some other alternate reality, where they completely replaced our memories, our lives, everything we knew about ourselves. And when we broke free, we were finally able to take back our lives, so to speak, and free this castle of their possession.

SPEAKER_05 24:53

He gets in your face as he starts to examine you, his height looming over yours, as he looks down at your right arm, and he starts to investigate this area, he places a hand on you, don't move, as he examines the wound that you had, and what you remember and what you recall from that is that it was just a nub. However, there is a there is an itching thing that now calls to your attention. This budding purple flower now starts to sprout from the wound and where it was at. Those scars are kind of laced and stitched with the vines and the roots of the flower itself as it goes even further into your And this would be something I'm just noticing as he's looking at my arm, too. You're just noticing, yes. What's this?

SPEAKER_06 25:40

I honestly could not tell you.

SPEAKER_05 25:43

As uh you see his eyes flash over with uh a golden hue light as a spell is being cast in this moment. He looks at it and he immediately clutches your your tunic and pulls you in closer. What do you know about this?

SPEAKER_06 25:56

I don't know a damn thing.

SPEAKER_05 25:58

I need you to make a Christmas saving throw real quick.

SPEAKER_08 26:02

You're a wizard, you're great at those. Yeah. Shut up, Michael. You're managing.

SPEAKER_05 26:12

Thirteen. Okay. As you're speaking out loud, it just feels natural to tell the truth. You are under this space as the warmth kind of like you feel trusting to him that you let him know, or all these things. He just asks you about it, you respond, his grip lightens. Apologies, I'm I understand.

SPEAKER_06 26:27

I understand, believe me.

SPEAKER_05 26:29

The others, what do you know of them? The Aladdrin. Speaking of Vivian. Yes.

SPEAKER_06 26:33

Well, she's rather temperamental, but powerful sorcerer nonetheless. I believe uh I don't know much about her besides my time in the alternate reality. She seems strong-willed and powerful, if not a little sassy. And the other one missing his arm. Sova. Yeah. Strong as a cow and eats like one too. That's quite honestly all I know. Again, I I was in a reality with them, but anything, any memories from that reality I assume is false.

SPEAKER_05 27:05

In this reality, what were they like?

SPEAKER_06 27:07

I mean, I don't know. We hunted monsters, carried out our own lives.

SPEAKER_05 27:13

And do you feel influenced by any type of fiendish magic? I'm talking anything. No violent outbursts.

SPEAKER_06 27:21

Not as far as I've seen, no.

SPEAKER_05 27:23

No changes in your psyche.

SPEAKER_06 27:25

Again, not that I've noticed, no.

SPEAKER_05 27:27

Right. He looks over at the shower that is now still pouring. I'm gonna do some more digging around.

SPEAKER_06 27:32

Do you need any help? I've mapped out the tower. If you're looking for anything specific, I know where the damages are that's preventing the tower from moving.

SPEAKER_05 27:40

Presents a hand up. No, I'm gonna keep you at arm's distance for now. Listen, I don't know you, and this is Norse Cauldra. I didn't last long here by being frosting.

SPEAKER_06 27:51

That's fair, but I think I'm only gonna be helpful.

SPEAKER_05 27:53

You wanna be helpful? Go talk to Kast. He leaves the room.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

Can I meet him at the door? I've been following behind, and I I like as he tries to step through the door, I'll interpose.

SPEAKER_05 28:05

In the way?

SPEAKER_02 28:06

Yeah. You move. I find it a little strange.

SPEAKER_06 28:12

Just let him do his job.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

I understand he's doing his job. I do find it a little strange he's worried about infernal magics on us, and I'll flick one of the coins on his tunic.

SPEAKER_05 28:23

The moment you touch him, he puts you into a type of wrist lock that stops you from touching him. My methods are my own. I get people home safe, and if you want to go home safe, you're not gonna ask me questions. You're simply going to move. As he moves you out the way, you now notice as he moves you out the way, the orc is standing directly behind you. Axe at the ready and full in loin.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

I'm a one-armed man in cloth pants. While I understand the intimidation factor, I oppose, I just like to keep information out in the open. And I'll point to the coins again on my arms released. Be careful of those as well. We may have been in infernal tubes, but those aren't the most holy of things they are either. And I'll kind of stare at the orc and kind of give them a smirk.

SPEAKER_05 29:15

You smirk at the orc and you see that Bentley is now up the stairs.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

I'll walk past the orc and I'll be like, that's a good axe. And I'll keep walking up the stairs behind Bentley.

SPEAKER_03 29:27

So hot.

SPEAKER_05 29:28

You hear it quietly just sheath back into his little holster.

SPEAKER_06 29:31

I will go find Vivian, because I'm gonna honestly tell her that home dude is super interested.

SPEAKER_05 29:37

We'll jump to we'll jump to Ghost and Vivian. Ghost, you cut through this corridor and you can see uh a few of the rubble soldiers as well as faint traces of sulfur and dark mush acre. That is the decaying coerpses of imps and fiends. And then, of course, ahead you see the tubes in which they talked about being in earlier. Broken glass in the center of the room, and on this gallery, catwalk that kind of lines the room are these other tubes far end of the wall. Four of them. Two unbroken, other two broken, with the light flickering and some of the water still on the ground yet to be evaporated, and of course, a operating table that is just slightly to the right with corpses and piles of bodies nearby, looking as if they've been experimented on and such.

SPEAKER_09 30:31

Those corpses, can I look at them and determine exactly what the cause of death was? Roll medicine check.

SPEAKER_05 30:37

You see ghost as he starts to approach the bodies of these corpses in the far right corner of the room. There are also different types of glass panels that have these flickering lights, some cracked and broken. But as he's looking at these bodies, we got a what?

SPEAKER_09 30:50

15 plus 8, so that's 23.

SPEAKER_05 30:53

23. The lacerations on the body, the way that the blood clots around the wounds and everything else tells you that these lacerations were administered when it was alive. However, you do not see what the cause of death would be outside of when you examine some of the brains, and some craniums are actually opened where their brain is explored and you see a lot of these protrusions in them as if they've been prodded and they had been stuck with needles and rods and such. Uh, there's even some that have a few of those rods and needles in some others, and there's various different types of bodies as you try to account, like what's the what's the demographic that they were trying to do? And it looked like just random civilians varying in their age, varying in what type of race they were. Uh, some human half-elves, some dwarves, some halflings, some children, some elderly. And the table itself still houses one more body. This is just a human male, is uranium exposed with some of the prods that lead to wires that connect to some of these monitors that I was talking to Vivian about. And of course, there's just a bunch of debris and shrapnel from the glass of the other tubes that kind of destroyed a lot of the vicinity that is nearby.

SPEAKER_03 32:13

After watching Ghost examine these bodies and kind of just getting a sense of the air of what he's looking at, she's gonna walk over to the body that's on the table, and I'm gonna pull out the remaining needles from the head.

SPEAKER_05 32:27

As one is deeply large in the brainstem into that spine, and there's this sickening feeling of seeing this face at some point. Familiar, almost like a dream.

SPEAKER_03 32:43

And kind of like brush over this man's face with some compassion. What did they do to them?

SPEAKER_01 32:48

What'd they do to us?

SPEAKER_09 32:50

Did you have any wires or needles prodded into you whenever you escape?

SPEAKER_01 32:55

No. When I woke up. You have to understand that this alternative I'm not asking about what you experienced in it.

SPEAKER_09 33:04

I am asking what you experienced after. Wires, needles, anything that's No. Why did they keep you in a tube if they didn't do it? How am I supposed to know?

SPEAKER_05 33:15

Ebendahl comes around the corner alongside Bentley. He kind of looks around. You didn't hear him approach Vivian at all. It was only until Ebendah comes around the corner that you see him finally in the space. As he looks over to you, Ghost, what you find.

SPEAKER_09 33:30

Experimentation wires tapping into different parts of the brain, compiling something using magic. They had these four intest tubes. Vivian, she says that nothing is different.

SPEAKER_03 33:46

I'm still looking down at this dude's face.

SPEAKER_09 33:49

That pile of corpses there was at one point on the tape. They were cycling through. They needed them for something. But they needed bodies.

SPEAKER_05 33:59

And lots of he still stares at Vivian. Ghost, I want you to do a psych evaluation on everyone stuck in these tubes. Alright.

SPEAKER_09 34:10

I'm sure you're aware that people don't typically like psych evaluations.

SPEAKER_03 34:14

Yeah, Vivian's going to whip her head towards him and just kinda glare at Bentley.

SPEAKER_05 34:18

And he's glaring back, unfazed, stone cold, as he looks at you. If they want to go home and be safe, they would listen.

SPEAKER_06 34:26

It's alright, I'm a medical doctor. I'm just gonna kinda put like a hand on Vivian, just kind of look around and be like, calm down. I am qualified.

SPEAKER_03 34:34

Start looking at us like that.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Looking at us like we're crazy.

SPEAKER_06 34:36

He's got a job to do, think about it. Like we're animals. He's just trying to stay alive.

SPEAKER_09 34:43

Again, I am a doctor. I am not a random person doing psyched. Of course.

SPEAKER_05 34:49

As you guys are having this conversation, Bentley's gone. Again. Sova comes around the corner to see everyone.

SPEAKER_03 34:53

Vivian's now going to turn to Ghost. Who the hell is that guy?

SPEAKER_09 34:57

Commander Bentley.

SPEAKER_03 35:03

Uh-huh. And who stuck a stick up his ass?

SPEAKER_09 35:06

I believe when the portals to Avernus opened, he lost many people. As did everyone else. So you understand.

SPEAKER_03 35:12

Everyone else. Vivian's walking away from Ghost now.

SPEAKER_06 35:16

Evan Dahl's gonna focus in on one of the younger corpses. And a stare.

SPEAKER_05 35:21

You stare in a face of a child and a flash of a memory from within. A girl holding her father's hands. They're walking down a cobblestone pathway to a fire festival. And then flashback.

SPEAKER_02 35:37

I'll also uh point out that I was kinda in Bailey's way as he was trying to leave the room again. But not like directly in his way, just annoyingly in his way.

SPEAKER_03 35:47

Um, Sova's still being an asshole, just so you know, Brady.

SPEAKER_02 35:51

Just like, just like absent-mindedly, like, oh no, sorry, I just uh my bad. Uh I'll move.

SPEAKER_05 35:58

Just the oh.

SPEAKER_03 35:59

Oh, he just squeezed right past you.

SPEAKER_05 36:02

He rolls his eyes and huffs underneath his breath as he continues to keep going up the stairs.

SPEAKER_03 36:07

So in all this process, I'm definitely going over to Sova. I'm gonna brush past him the second that Ghost speaks.

SPEAKER_05 36:14

Okay. And then Evan, I believe you're I'm gonna be the cooperative member of the party here.

SPEAKER_06 36:20

You're gonna do the psychivo? Yeah. Whenever Ghost is ready.

SPEAKER_02 36:24

I'm keeping up with uh with Vivian and and Bentley.

SPEAKER_06 36:28

Yeah, I'll let the conspiracy theorist stir up their trouble.

SPEAKER_03 36:31

Vivian's gonna look over at Sova. You still have bread, Sova?

SPEAKER_02 36:35

Oh yeah, I still got a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 36:37

She's gonna like hold her hand out.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

I'll break off a piece of this bread, I'll hand it to her. It looked really weird too, because I had to kind of like hold the bread up against my chest and like pull part of it off with my hand with like my finger and my thumb, and then I hand you the bit of bread, and I have the majority of it still in my hand.

SPEAKER_03 36:57

Thanks.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

One arm.

SPEAKER_03 37:01

No, thank you, Soba.

SPEAKER_02 37:03

Yeah, of course. I'll keep an eye on the big orc, but I'm trying to keep up with Bentley.

SPEAKER_03 37:10

Yeah, she's gonna step a few paces away with the bread and then turn and be like, you know, I think with all this watching, Bentley could use some.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Let's go find him.

SPEAKER_02 37:18

He's right up he's I'm following. He's right, he's on the stairs right there. He's gone. I missed him. I mean, I I know where he's going. He's going up top.

SPEAKER_03 37:29

She has an evident smirk on her face now, and she's going to grab the rest of the bread out of Sova's arms, not aggressively, Sova, just to hold it for him, link arms with him, and we can do a happy little faster pace towards the direction they last saw Bentley.

SPEAKER_06 37:43

Try not to piss everybody off, please.

SPEAKER_03 37:46

Now, when have we ever done that? Let's go, Sova.

SPEAKER_02 37:49

There's only one way out of the tower when you get all the way up top. Uh I know what.

SPEAKER_03 37:54

Let's not do that again.

SPEAKER_02 37:56

I could probably do it again. We'd be fine.

SPEAKER_03 37:58

You you can stay away from heights, sweetheart.

SPEAKER_05 38:01

Okay. You guys all start to go upstairs. Ghost, you get the feeling that like maybe the laboratory is not the best spot.

SPEAKER_07 38:08

Uh yeah, I was thinking either the library or the living quarter to find a place to lay down. I mean the room full of corpses isn't the best place to do a psychic evaluation.

SPEAKER_03 38:17

Corpses and trauma that we just experienced?

SPEAKER_09 38:20

Yeah, no, I I would either the library or the like living quarters to find a place to like sit comfortably.

SPEAKER_05 38:26

Oh yeah. Either one. You guys managed to all kind of reconvene. Sova, as you are passing the hallway on the left, getting closer to the sixth floor, I believe, for the cultivation room with the locked door, that curiosity gnaws at the back of your head as everyone starts to continue to keep walking up forward. There is a yearning to want to get behind the door.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

Nah, you're right. I do want through that door, but I don't have the remote anymore. Is the door Does it look like it's still got the the runes of protection on it?

SPEAKER_05 38:54

Yep. Ever so slightly shimmering.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

Do we ever just try the handle?

SPEAKER_05 39:00

No, or you did not try the handle.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

I'm gonna just do that. Okay. You try the handle. I'm gonna walk up and I'm gonna like jiggle the handle. Maybe it's a maybe it's a push. I'll push forward.

SPEAKER_05 39:11

It pushes open? Oh shit. No, I'm kidding. Oh shit, that was the that was the password. It stays unbudging. It's locked. Locked. Go ahead and Arcana or investigation. Your choice.

SPEAKER_02 39:25

Um, I got a plus one either way. That'd be a 14.

SPEAKER_05 39:30

Magic itself doesn't allow slight movement of some of the.

SPEAKER_02 39:34

Your door would naturally have like a little bit of give. Like a shift or a move. This has got nothing.

SPEAKER_05 39:39

Right. This doesn't. It's it's immovable.

SPEAKER_02 39:42

Does it feel like I'm holding stone or I'm touching some sort of barrier?

SPEAKER_05 39:46

With fourteen, you feel like you're touching barrier, and it's really weird. It's not like other types of barriers, like your shield, for example. It doesn't feel like it would stop a momentum. It just it's it just won't budge, magic-wise. And it's weird. Super weird.

SPEAKER_02 40:05

I'll turn around back to seeing Vivian. Like, why did you did you wanna wait, did you have Vivian, did you have the remote? Who who has the remote?

SPEAKER_03 40:14

Oh I don't have that thing. I think they we gave it to that doctor, man, and then Evan Dal was fiddling around with it again.

SPEAKER_02 40:20

Alright, fair enough. Well we'll talk about that later. I'm fine.

SPEAKER_03 40:23

I love that me and a sword promenading around.

SPEAKER_06 40:27

I feel like it's gonna be a common theme, and I'm here for it.

SPEAKER_03 40:30

I love it.

SPEAKER_05 40:31

Can all three of you, uh my Vat characters, Vat babies, can you go ahead and roll me a history check, please?

SPEAKER_03 40:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 40:41

History uh 12.

SPEAKER_06 40:44

I also got a 12.

SPEAKER_03 40:45

13.

SPEAKER_09 40:46

Oh Vivian, you remember just as much as they do, but you also remember you left the oven on.

SPEAKER_03 40:54

Vivian has has never cooked, darling. She's never cooked.

SPEAKER_05 40:58

There's something that you guys feel like you're forgetting. And with the excitement of everything in the new group here that is exploring the space, Vivian's feeling of territory, so your feeling of what's behind the door, and Evandal. The feeling of that little girl that you saw. Everything is preoccupying your mind, and you feel like you're forgetting something.

SPEAKER_06 41:18

Do we still have like our memories back?

SPEAKER_05 41:20

Yes, you do have your memories back.

SPEAKER_06 41:22

So I remember my past.

SPEAKER_05 41:24

Everyone remembers their past.

SPEAKER_03 41:25

But we wouldn't know each other's actual past. We would just have the fake past.

SPEAKER_05 41:29

The last six to eight months, however, are a little bit more murky. As almost like if something had deliberately erased how you got here. You guys get up to the seventh room, you find the hallway, there's a right through the library as you enter in, and you can see Bentley and Cast are talking to each other. They are whispering something as you guys come around the corner. We don't have the resources right now. I just have that feeling. And Cast is arguing with him. It's like, no, I don't think that's a good idea. If we break this protocol, then you guys walk in, they both look at you, and they look back at each other. No arguments. I just have a feeling. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_06 42:04

Evandal's gonna kind of peel off and wait for a moment where Cast is a little separate from Bentley and try to talk to him.

SPEAKER_05 42:12

Callahan starts to go towards other bookshelves as he starts to pull off different books and start to pour over them quickly and kind of just like discardingly, just like haphazardly, just like whatever.

SPEAKER_06 42:20

Oh, that irks Evandal so much, but he doesn't do anything about it.

SPEAKER_05 42:25

Please roll me a wisdom saving throw, Evandal.

SPEAKER_02 42:28

I was actually gonna just drop Vivian's arm and just walk towards cast.

SPEAKER_07 42:33

I haven't rolled above a double digit yet. Whoa, bad D20 rolls me upon you.

SPEAKER_09 42:40

Take mine.

SPEAKER_03 42:41

Vivian is going to grab Sova's arm and like pull herself to him in her attempt at stopping him, because he cannot pull him to her. And she's gonna be like, hold on, give it a second. We need to be smart about this. I don't know what their problem is with us, but I want to find out before we deal with them accordingly.

SPEAKER_02 43:01

I'm judging by the the attire and the demeanor that these guys scout out into Nar's Cauldra, kinda like myself. So I kinda understand the apprehension, especially when there's humanoids around. Uh more importantly, the cast fella's got some legs that look familiar in a different kind of way. I don't know how that sounds, but I just kinda wanna Your business is your own, darling.

SPEAKER_03 43:32

You're you would just, you know what? Have fun with that. Vivian's gonna turn around and be a little flustered and walk away. We don't keep changing. She wasn't. She just was a little stunned.

SPEAKER_02 43:45

And I'll I'll approach cast.

SPEAKER_05 43:48

Before that. Evan, there's a moment when you see Bentley, he's pulling off tomes and books and scrolls as he's haphazardly just kind of going through them and throwing them about.

SPEAKER_06 43:56

I would say this would pull me away from going over to cast at To like anything he's like throwing onto the ground, I'm gonna like pick up and like neatly stack back together.

SPEAKER_03 44:06

I've an almost passive aggressively stacking books.

SPEAKER_05 44:08

I am an irritation at first, because it's just disrespect as a former librarian. It is disrespect on books that have hold so much knowledge, but then there's a level of each one that drops now is almost like a personal attack to you. As ghost, you can you can start to see that he's visibly getting more and more upset. Vein that kind of just like pops in the corner of his forehead, an anger. There's a sensation of wanting to hurt him.

SPEAKER_06 44:36

Sir, I I understand you're trying to get information, but books really don't hurt people, so you've just handled them a little more delicately.

SPEAKER_05 44:43

Continues to keep pulling off one more book after the other.

SPEAKER_06 44:45

They they provide more information that way, you know, so they're not harmed or damaged.

SPEAKER_05 44:50

Information is better to have thanks to you You don't understand. We don't have enough time to be worrying about how to place books. This isn't a library. Oh, but we got enough time for you to walk around all the damn castle and then every fucking corner. Please. There's a moment where Ghost, as Evandal was slightly starting to move his fingers rhythmically to a almost spell-like attack until you speak up. As he looks down at you, Evandal, he looks back at Ghost. In the situation, Sova in the distance. You can feel Evandal's anger kind of starting to writhe within yourself as well. This anger that is starting to fuel in the back of your spine, that anger that kind of just burns the chest a little bit more as you are about to approach cast, as well as your head looks towards Vivian. Your emotion is that of joy. Feels like command. Feels like oneness. And then it starts to sink in.

SPEAKER_03 45:45

Vivian's gonna hone in on that immediately from her razzled state of walking away to over to some chair or couch or something away from Sova. She's honing in immediately on this feeling and is completely directed at Bentley. And she's gonna just start gravitating towards the situation.

SPEAKER_09 46:05

Do I notice anything about the roots on his arm?

SPEAKER_06 46:10

I mean, I'm wearing a curtain, so it's probably not hard to see.

SPEAKER_02 46:12

I've got some like high water linen pants right now, so.

SPEAKER_03 46:15

I've definitely fashioned mine to be like more of a boho thing than just a straight curtain, but here we are.

SPEAKER_05 46:21

There's nothing really different. You recall a time where you've seen an injury similar to this of Savrous, who had something of the sort. And with Savris, when you had seen his, it was only after gotten his wound. With theirs, it is a little bit longer, and there's something that kind of starts to pulse this. Like magic is being pulsed almost like blood through veins.

SPEAKER_09 46:44

But what I do notice is it's it is similar to Evandal. If I may. Commander, you told me to do psyche valves. I would appreciate it if you would leave the room. One, so I can have patient discretion, and two, because you are not the easiest to get along with, if I may be blunt.

SPEAKER_06 47:06

Boeing. Try not to fuck with any more books, please. He throws one as he leaves.

SPEAKER_03 47:11

Vivian is a hundred percent just like almost entranced by like this feeling, and she's just kind of like watching him, not with any malice or anything towards that, but almost like entranced by whatever's radiating.

SPEAKER_09 47:24

I'm gonna walk over and grab that book he threw and stack it neatly on the table.

unknown 47:29

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 47:30

By the way, any of these books look like some Evan would like to read? Roll investigation.

unknown 47:40

Finally.

SPEAKER_05 47:41

18 plus 8. There's one scholarly book that is labeled My Accounts Over Time and Space, and it has the initials TC. And because you rolled so high, there's one more. Before you had picked up the book of Hypnomancer's Guide to Hypnomancy, there are some loose papers that are kind of collected into a small bind of strand that's in the corner. Um, and it looks like journal notes. Blackthorne's notes on purple flower. Where's the orc in this situation? Just chilling on the doorway frame, arms crossed, leaning.

SPEAKER_02 48:18

And uh cast.

SPEAKER_05 48:20

Cast had watched that whole scene kind of unfurl, and he had slightly moved his light crossbow from his back to slinging it over his shoulder as it's bound down by the hip a little bit more, as he continues to pour over a few of his own belongings out of a pack on a table nearby, as he's pulling out some uh gadgets and gears. He's pulling out a scroll and he's getting a stone and he's trying to like get this situation ready. You're approaching.

SPEAKER_02 48:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:45

I'm gonna slink over on the other side simultaneously.

SPEAKER_05 48:48

As he like looks up at you guys. Hi. I will also walk up shortly after. So does the orc.

SPEAKER_02 48:57

Understandable.

SPEAKER_01 48:58

I don't think we've met. I'm Vivian.

SPEAKER_05 49:01

Hi, Vivian. I'm cast.

SPEAKER_01 49:04

How long have you been traveling with that Bentley fella?

SPEAKER_05 49:07

I don't mean to be rude, but I kinda have to get this done.

SPEAKER_01 49:11

What are you working on?

SPEAKER_05 49:12

Um trying to uh radio back the last bastion. I let them know that we are gonna be bringing you guys along with us. Um, however.

SPEAKER_06 49:21

Radio back, or you're trying to meet someone specific.

SPEAKER_05 49:23

Are you familiar with Sergeant Gutierrez? I don't know. Am I familiar? You are not familiar with Sergeant Gutierrez.

SPEAKER_02 49:29

While they're engaging with Cast, I'm gonna like squat beside him and look for a look for a familiar piece on one of his prosthetics.

SPEAKER_06 49:39

Silva, Silva, that's that's rather rude.

SPEAKER_02 49:43

I mean, you're not wrong as I flick a uh emblazoned lavender sprig on his leg.

SPEAKER_06 49:49

Emundal will immediately turn around and walk away.

SPEAKER_03 49:52

Vivian's gonna take her fingernail and like trace it across like his shoulder and be like, this is nice.

SPEAKER_05 49:58

Vivian, you're being weird.

SPEAKER_01 49:59

Did you make this yourself?

SPEAKER_05 50:05

Immediately familiarized with this work. However, it looks sleeker and even slimmer than some of the designs that you recall. However, as you get close, he backs up from you and you feel the orc's presence behind you once again as he places a hand on you. Trouble. As Cass is like, no, it's okay. It's okay, Faleon. It's it's fine. He's examining you with his own eyes.

SPEAKER_02 50:31

Are you I'll stand up as the orc is there. I give him a smirk and be like, I I get being in trouble a lot, and I'll turn back Personal space. You're right. Um as you bear down on me, but you're right. I'll turn back to cast and you're right, I I am Sova, and I recognize uh that handiwork. It looks a little more finished than the last time I saw it though.

SPEAKER_05 50:59

A wave of relief to see you, and then there's this wave of like somber. Yeah. Uh you didn't I'm really hard at work more so uh since you um since you left. So now it's just my job to get you back home.

SPEAKER_02 51:18

I'll turn to Phalion and uh don't jump. And I will produce the axe and set it onto the table. He jumps. Uh little trick I picked up when I was like seven. I'll gesture to the purple ribbon that is uh around the haft of the axe. I'm I'm well aware, and uh I refuse to die till I find my way back there. I know I come off as abrasive, but I am willing to work with y'all, and I am aware of y'all's presence. That's all I really want to say. And I'll dismiss the axe. He jumps again once more.

SPEAKER_10 52:06

Oh no!

SPEAKER_03 52:09

Well, this has been fun, guys. Just gonna walk away.

SPEAKER_06 52:13

Whenever that whole situation started, Evandal turned around and he walked back over to Ghost. So, how uh how's this evaluation going to go?

SPEAKER_09 52:23

So far it's not going good. You all are dysfunctional, you seem to be harboring some intense grief, suppressed rage. At least two out of the three of you, from what I've gathered, have unprocessed rage issues. Vivian seems to display an inferiority complex. I'd rather a stupid. And you you care for books, I'm assuming something scholarly.

SPEAKER_06 52:48

Yes, I was um a uh teacher and librarian in in former life.

SPEAKER_09 52:53

Do you have a formal education in arcane arts or where did you study?

SPEAKER_06 52:59

The uh back when it was referred to as Andrachia at the uh magical university there in Andrachia.

SPEAKER_09 53:07

Okay. It seems that there's some trauma, obviously, from waking up in a vat.

SPEAKER_06 53:13

I could have told you that.

SPEAKER_09 53:15

That's the evident part. The not so evident part is that injury on your shoulder. That injury. I've seen that before. Did you have that before you came to this tower? Absolutely not. Interesting. Vivian? Yes. Any abnormal please on your body as something that wasn't there before you woke up in this tower. No don't lie to me. Well, there is something you've noticed visually.

SPEAKER_03 53:52

I mean, I think it's kind of pretty, but it's it would be pretty clear on Vivian's.

SPEAKER_09 53:56

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 53:56

It's uh completely on your turn.

SPEAKER_03 53:58

So yeah, Vivian's gonna like brush her hair out of the way and like it's it's tied between the things a little bit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 54:03

Evandal instinctively just like turns his head away.

SPEAKER_07 54:06

So those.

SPEAKER_09 54:07

Do you have anything similar?

SPEAKER_02 54:08

Oh, watching Taylor work is stuff. I'll turn around and just kind of like with my my one arm point to my shoulder.

SPEAKER_09 54:18

Not good. Okay. I've seen something like that before. However, yours is slightly different. The one that I saw before, siphoned magic. It looks like you all are still able to cast it. May I?

SPEAKER_06 54:38

That's cool.

SPEAKER_09 54:39

Um, I want to do like a thorough examination of his shoulder. Nature or uh medicine. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 54:44

Vivian is immediately right next to Abendahl. I'm a staring down ghost.

SPEAKER_00 54:51

That's a natural 20.

SPEAKER_05 54:57

You examine it a little bit further. The flower itself is very similar to the one that you have come across once before. It does radiate a illuminates a type of magic that you can just pick up on a beat, and there's a second where it's different. The flower, although it's in a budding sensation, you can see that it kind of moved a little bit with the magic that he was about to cast earlier, and it seemed to flourish his magic. The most concerning thing about it though is how the thorns that kind of hide underneath the skin, the at least the the roots, there are times when it pulses with this light lavender magic, kind of like a light through skin almost, as if pulsing blood. That never happened with Saverus. If anything, it just moved and it twitched. This one has been altered to some capacity.

SPEAKER_09 55:49

So it it it's been altered in some capacity to almost like in what way? Like ignite the the like blood in the in and using the wing.

SPEAKER_05 55:59

And with a natural 20, it's really nice. Uh however, you're not in the best of operating environments, as well as you only had you've only had one that you've had before. But you can tell that this one compared to Savrous' back when you knew him is different and it it's almost like it has been changed in the sense that like it has been activated almost like when you charge a battery. If that makes sense, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 56:22

So Saverus was working with almost like a dead battery, and these guys have like a charge battery.

SPEAKER_05 56:26

That would be the conclusion to make, metaphorically speaking, that Savrous's was pulling energy because it was dead, while his is charging him.

SPEAKER_09 56:36

Okay. Um, and then do I also have any knowledge about like the process of the flower from what Saverus remembered from that?

SPEAKER_05 56:45

Even Saverus didn't have a lot of information on his outside of the fact that it was embedded into him by a devil. There was something different about that devil, which he knows about. Yes. And there have been rumors prior, especially in your guys' um trek through Nar's Cauldra, that there are rumors of these creatures that have been able to slaughter hundreds of pound thousands within the Blood War on the material realm. And there's only one out of like hundreds. They're rare to come across, but they're terrifying too, as well. And most people who account for them have barely survived to even give a report on something like that. Sauverse was the only one who really managed to survive something like that.

SPEAKER_09 57:25

The one that I've seen seems to have been, I don't know, the proper way. Um a butling, a seed. It wasn't fully fleshed. And this is different. This is active. It seems to be almost it seems to be enhancing your magic in some way using infernal magics. Is it a form of curse or a contract? It's definitely not a contract, but it it's kind of like a curse, but not a curse. Meaning a spell that removes those would not affect that. It may slow the process, it may agitate it. Yes, yes, it is. It is alive. It is parasitic in nature, it is feeding on your connection to the weave. Magic through your veins. It feeds on them. And it also seems to it seems to draw on your emotions, affect them in some way. So I'd suggest that for all of you, try to take a moment to breathe before you act rashly. Because you never know if this thing is trying to agitate you in some way, or if this is actually your own emotion. Not until you get a handle on it and get a proper assessment.

SPEAKER_06 58:35

That is definitely concerning.

SPEAKER_09 58:37

Although considering where we are. Have you all noticed anything odd or different or strange after getting the buddling put into your body? Have you all been able to do something that you have not done before? Have you all been able to, as your magic felt different, altered, stronger, weaker?

SPEAKER_03 58:56

My magic's been fine.

SPEAKER_06 58:58

Definitely it feels primal force igniting my power when we were fighting that assassin from the Court of Stars. But I I didn't think anything of it at the moment.

SPEAKER_09 59:09

I just I noticed during that fight, but I figured maybe that could be something that you all were used to.

SPEAKER_03 59:17

Our friend had just died.

SPEAKER_09 59:19

He was my friend as well.

SPEAKER_05 59:22

Bentley walks into the room quietly. Sovent notices him because he appears by his side as he talks to Cast and he speaks. It's time to move now. Now, and he is in a hurry. We'll leave through the front, but we have to hurry. As you can start to hear now, guys. The sound of war horns in the distance. As he starts to pull everyone to the side, Faleon and Cast in a hurry, puts his stuff back into his sack. Uh Bentley, I wasn't able to finish anything. The protocol, what about the protocol? And he's like, We don't have time for protocol, it's time to move. As you can start to hear more war horns in the distance, hear it because it's around the corner from the balcony. He's like, we're moving now, downstairs. As he starts to appear off left, you guys follow?

SPEAKER_10 1:00:18

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:19

Right. First, Bentley, the direction to last Bastion. Give me a cardinal direction.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:25

North.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:25

Right. I will quickly move to Evandal. Remote. Now.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:29

Remote? You you need the remote.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:31

Why? If we're leaving, I'm gonna try it.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:34

I just give it to him, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:36

I will snatch the remote and as quick with my 40 movement speed, I will move as fast as I can, get within range of the door, press the button.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:46

Heard the Sova Rushes, presses the button.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:49

No response.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:50

Press the button on the side. No response. Press the button on the bottom. No response. Alright. It has been mended. The arcane on itself has been damaged. As you are pressing these buttons, you hear those horns a little bit louder. As everyone's starting to mitigate and go out and move down stairs. Sova, as you're about to turn over the lip to get to the stairs, you hear just the hallway behind you. Sova. There is that feeling and that looming sense of M again. As you guys are starting to head down the stairs, Sova, please make me a wisdom-saving throw.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:24

Mm-ki dokie. 15. Guessing the laugh was a no.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:30

Damn it! You stupid bitch! And we're you guys were heading down, so I'm gonna say, like, you're about 40 feet downwards.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:38

In the tower, if I remember correctly, the the hole it's like it's hollow all the way through.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:43

Yeah, so we could yell up potentially.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:46

And I'm I I'm at the very top. You turn around, immediately drawn by that still, that fury, that anger of six months here. Something calls you back. The balcony. As you walk through the lip of the door out to the railing side, you can see just beneath you. Does anyone want to go back? Go after Sova?

SPEAKER_06 1:02:10

Yeah, I'll I'll turn around after a no response.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:12

After no response, we all turn around.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:14

Bentley barks at you guys. Leave him. We're moving.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:17

You're moving.

SPEAKER_09 1:02:18

I'm going back. Since when do we leave survivors, Commander? I'm gonna turn around.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:22

We'll say this, Sova. You look over the edge and you can see battalions on battalions of different themed armies as they start to march with their banners held high, their plaided armors, and these dark leathers and metals. Amps are starting to fly in the horizon and droves, as you can see him now as he starts to march forward from one of the battalions as he gets close. And you can see on an arm of his that has been cut off at the wrist. Bones, gigantic thorns wrapped and enveloped in the wrist and the forearm as the flower now in a full bloom. As he presents his forearm and his flower, and you can feel this wave of malice kind of just direct towards you as it comes off in a hot wave, the feeling of anger and wrath as he looks at you. Sova. Connect it now, stova. As his uh forearm starts to split open these large, thick roots, splitting open his forearm and leaving a space to allow bone and blood to drip down in an icker as a large protruding bone starts to spiral into an arrow tip as he points his wrist towards you, and the sinew that was his muscle fiber starts to stretch taut. I will try to back away from the edge. A sonic boom as it goes. Oh yeah, you guys are there now. As you guys are rushing to see Sova as Sova's kind of backing up a little bit, and you notice this sonic boom that immediately impacts the side of the balcony. Sova, need you making a dexterity saving throw. I got good at those.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:21

Okay, I I want to use I want to use the guiding radians. Whenever you cast a spell the first level or higher, you can choose an ally within 30 feet. The ally gains glowing orb and advantage on their next saving throw.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:33

You're on the observation deck, you're just coming past the door, so there's like a solid 50 feet ahead of you as you're like rushing to Soba and you're trying to get him back. As he's kind of starting to step back.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:41

I'm gonna use a second level spell enhanced ability.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:44

So it's also gonna have the added feature.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:46

Yeah, who's getting enhanced ability?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:48

Soba.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:49

Yeah. And I'm choosing to upgrade his wisdom. Yeah. We're gonna upgrade his wisdom.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:57

That's motherfucker's stupid. So with a with a advantage. Okay. And then for guiding light.

SPEAKER_09 1:05:04

He does have advantage on this dexterity saving throw because of the guiding radius or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:08

Yes, he does. With my advantage, that comes out to a 15.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:15

So dumb.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:16

No is my dexterity.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:18

It doesn't matter. He got us in the situation. This is the second time we've been near death at the top of this tower in the last couple days because of this motherfucker.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:26

Look, we're controlling. I got a plan. I always got a plan.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:32

15. You take 28 points of damage. Alright. From the rubble that's fallen down and flying about, some of that magic only briefly gets you before you, Vivian, now activating your flower. And it starts to bloom, and you see this illuminescent now ghost as everything in sequence of quick events. You catch the glow on her chest as there's a second where Silva Vivian and Evandal's eyes kind of gleam with. A lavender light color as she activates her flower. That's what you notice. That is on it.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:06

I am going to turn to the crew, moving as quick as possible. And if I can, I'm going right towards Vivian, and I'm gonna try to scoop her with one arm and go back inside. Alright, keep up.

SPEAKER_09 1:06:21

Basically, from the moment we reached the doorway, I would not have gone on the balcony and ran back. I would have stopped right at the doorway. And if I can get 60 seconds, I wanted to cast Magic Circle.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:33

Okay. Silva, you will be coming up with Vivian. You rush past the door lip, only to find Ghost is currently preparing a uh spell. Currently in your way at the moment. Just get past me, especially with Vivian on your shoulders. So you're just now behind him. Evindal, same thing if you try to get past him. As you guys are squeezing by as Ghost, you finish up your magic circle, mark that spell slot down as you put that down on the ground.

SPEAKER_09 1:06:58

Ghost kind of places his palm down on the ground in between the doorway, and like a white and yellow radiant heat just kind of like starts to burn and etch a rune into the ground. Very thin light screen just kind of like envelops in a cylinder.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:15

As it burns upwards, rises up. There's a moment where you can start to hear the imps batting their wings as they come through.

SPEAKER_09 1:07:22

So I can select one or more of the following types of creatures: Celestials, Elementals, Faye, Fiends, or Undead. Obviously, I'm picking fiends. I can pick all of them if I wanted, but fiends for sure. The creatures cannot willingly enter the cylinder by non-magical means. And if they try to teleport or enter plane or travel to do so, it must succeed on a charisma saving throw. Any creature has disadvantage on attack rolls against targets within the cylinder. And targets within the cylinder can't be possessed or gain the charmed or frightened condition from those creatures.

SPEAKER_08 1:07:52

Basically made a fucking wall.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:54

Oh yeah, and you did. As these emps are now starting to fly, you can hear them batting against the way as you hear them screech and scream on the other side. You guys managed to run down the stairs. Get to the lip, the 500-foot drop from the top.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:06

I'll uh I'll I'll look towards everybody. Alright, all at once. And I'll look towards Vivian. Y'all trust me?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:14

What what are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:16

And I will put my back to the railing and then just tip off. Indicating the other two other two should be.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:26

You cast Featherfall and.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:28

Yes. I will I the other two presumably will follow me.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:33

Are you I mean, are you telling me? Yes. Yeah, I am. You're perceptive enough to know what Featherfall spell is being done. Okay, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:41

I'm screaming.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:44

You manage to fall all the way down to the bottom as in a soft land as you meet now Falion and Bentley, who are running down the door closed right now, as Bentley opens one side of the door. Crossbow bolts start to fly into the door itself. He closes it once more, puts his back against the stone wall.

unknown 1:09:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:05

I'm gonna run up to the door and cast Arcane lock on it. Nice. Nice. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:11

Fucking baller.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:15

Okay. Okay. So it will maybe magically locked, and I believe only me undoing the spell will open the door. Or a knock spell, I believe. Or not.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:24

Oh, that's so cool. Alright.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:27

That is so cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:28

Big dick plays. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:30

I will see those bolts and him shut that up. I will just run up, put my one hand on it, and just kind of think for a moment, and a giant clock will just appear on the door and just kind of just tickle through like the outer hand and then just stop at the 12 and just stay there. And just like lit in like a golden amber color.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:44

Very nice. Um, okay. And now you hear just on the other side of the door a large creature banging against the wall. And in between each thud that gets closer and closer.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:06

Sova. Open the door, Sova. We have unfinished business.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:16

Hey guys, it's Michael. Thanks so much for listening to Five Side of Fables. If you enjoyed today's episode, the best way to support us is to like and follow the show on your favorite podcasting platform. It really does help us bring more of these fables to life. Until next time, thanks for being part of the journey.