Session 28
Date: 14 October 2020
Prev: Session 27
Next: Session 29
In the morning, they're awoken by Dreli strolling down the hall singing "Good Morning to the Sun". The Lighthaus Inspektorz take about an hour to drag themselves downstairs, where Dreli with a picnic basket is waiting for them. Mino tries and fails to peek in the basket.
As they walk, Dreli hums "Mambo No. 5", a historical ballad. The party asks her questions on the way and find her answers frustratingly useless. They ask if the quiet zone around the stones is normal, and she says it is. Mino asks "what is the heart of the universe?" to which Dreli replies: "the oneness that connects us all". She comments that Mino's aura shows him in tune with the universe more than the other party members. Corrin asks a question that has been haunting him for a while: "Is the moon a plane?" but Dreli says no, it isn't. Mino asks Quill to write that down, and he does, but the minute Mino isn't looking, he erases it. Mino ties a string to his horn to remember.
The party asks about the rest of their auras. Nergil's is "ordinary", which is a lie that Nergil doesn't catch. Corrin's is bright blue, but shadowed. She deliberately insults Quill by telling him his is dull brown. Raen's is the most dramatic and interesting to her, "the saddest red, with shots of gold, and flashes of black lightning".
When they arrive at the stones, everyone moves in to check for moss, but they don't find anything. Dreli moves forward, eyes closed, and pronounces that they have successfully cleansed the taint (she is oblivious to this phrasing's alternative meaning). When Quill expresses doubt, she sneers and informs him that "I don't remember ever meeting someone whose mind was so hopelessly Mundane."
She moves around and starts talking to the trees. They're sleepy, but after a while, she finds one with a longer memory that was awake recently. The tree reveals that “a shadow man dispersed a seed into the tainted area up to a year ago”. Dreli then casts animal friendship on a nearby squirrel, who remembers that when the shadow man came, all of the animals fled, and it was a dark and stormy day. Mino is suspicious that Dreli is not translating correctly, so he begins casting speak with animals on his own. In the meantime, Corrin describes the man in the lighthouse to the squirrel via Dreli. The squirrel remarks that the man walked awkwardly and had a "dark leaf covering" (aka clothes) and "dark fur" (aka hair).
After a few minutes, Mino finishes casting and speaks directly to the squirrel who confirms everything that Dreli had been saying. The squirrel also adds that he smelled of "human hardstone", which Mino realizes is metal. Mino follows this by asking if the man specifically smelled like metal, or just the area? but the squirrel is unable to differentiate. He asks why the squirrel and other animals ran, and the squirrel just says that it was not a place it wanted to stay. The party thinks on this for a moment - is the shadow man from Mechanus? Quill shows the squirrel the gear they found in the lighthouse, and the squirrel confirms it's the same scent. Corrin has Ro sniff the gear. Because he remembers the smell from the lighthouse basement, he picks up a faint scent that takes them down the trail that leads up to the top of the standing stone hill, but it ends abruptly. The party realizes he must have teleported away. Mino floats the idea of going to Mechanus, but Raen questions if they're ready for that.
At this point, Dreli is setting up the food. The party asks if there are any forest temples nearby, and she says no, more to the north. When asked about nearby nature spirits, she tells the story of Tahm Kench, the River King. The party debates whether or not he would count as a nature spirit. During the meal, there is a ripping sound. Dreli has a headache and exclaims that there is something in town and begins running down the trail. The party quickly rises and begins to follow, but she stops and says this would be too slow. She casts tree stride without using verbal or material components and Quill realizes that she is psionic somehow, which gives the appearance of being a druid.
As the party arrives through the portal Dreli makes into a downtown square, lined with planters and trees. As each person comes out the other side, they see a marilith engaged with a couple of town guards. Raen immediately uses the ring of invisibility, while Mino rages and charges forward. Nergil follows up with a fireball, but they're unable to stop the marilith from killing two of the guards. As he attacks Mino whispers a plea to Winnehild for strength, which the marilith hears. She replies using her telepathy, telling him "You are not worthy to worship her".
Quill casts haste on Mino as he and Raen begin attacking. Corrin drops his bow after a couple of shots and moves in with his shortsword, but finds himself unable to make much of an impact. Raen realizes the marilith can see through his invisibility. The party also quickly realizes that Dreli is all but useless in a fight, but are cheered when Pasky rockets out of nowhere to join them. Faced with more foes, the marilith summons a pair of herzou to aid her.
Corrin uses conjure animals to summon two spider kings. One spider king webs the herzou, and the other one trips, but it's enough of a distraction for the remaining townspeople in the square to flee. Dreli attempts and fails to entangle the demons. Meanwhile, Mino attempts to disarm the marilith unsuccessfully, and the marilith parries Raen's attacks and Quill's shocking grasp. She counterattacks everyone around her and grapples Mino with her tail. The hezrous are tripped up by the spiders, but manage to break the webbing. A pair of knights join the fight, although they attack both the spiders and the marilith (not reacting in time to Corrin's attempt to explain the situation). Nergil blights one of the herzous as Mino breaks free of the marilith's tail and counters with his greataxe.
