Awareness-360

As Sora scoops up the dwarf survivor Findo from the churning waves around Nistora’s wreckage, she thinks about the Duchess Serena and all her bullshit. This close to the water, she can see the sinking dead bodies like in Titanic, whatever that is. She lands back on the deck and the heroes discuss what to do next, seeing that their efforts to save any other survivors will likely be fruitless due to the fact that anyone who survived is actively drowning. Even Findo the dwarf appears to be in a highly weakened state. After the eight hour journey to Kinista, Findo limps off the ship into an uncertain future after 20 years of slavery.

Nahk, traumatized by having to fight and kill his friends KB and Rho, sticks Hobbes into a broom closet. Hungry Hamboy Hugo’s stew from that morning’s fishing catch gave him a bad bug anyway. Adding to that trauma, Natalya, reskinned, gives Nahk a helmet made out of KB’s head. He’s OK with it, I guess. Natalya goes on a rampage, enchanting anything she can get her hands on. She hands Casimir some pocket sand after Casimir asks for Rho’s ashes to be weaponized.

The ship comes across some cargo. As the sailors haul it up, they come to the grim realization that the ship must have been crushed by the impact of Nistora or swallowed by the waves created by the cataclysm. Natalyla sews Livius a nice striped full body bathing suit from the purple and yellow bolts of fabric recovered from the flotsam. Would be a good costume for Waluigius.

Nice eugoogalizing

The heroes land close on Lemba (recalling that Abraham is a wanted criminal after stealing a flying boat and murdering a fairy), eulogizing their friends who died in a freak gasoline fight accident–I mean their friends that they killed. Natalya crafts KB’s body into a tombstone and sets it into the beach while Rho’s ashes return to the island she was borne out of, perhaps one day to return again.

Sora was truly the Tai to Rho’s Matt (but Sora was not the Sora weirdly enough), and much like Tai and Matt, Tai ended up having Izzy (Livius?) murder Matt by turning him into dust. I dunno, I’m out of Digimon touchpoints. OK how about Rho did a reverse Wizardmon. Anyway Sora said she knew she and Rho disagreed a lot and missed her for those two days she was gone, gallivanting with that giant who they resurrected. Livius calls Rho or KB “a good friend for a long time and a long friend for a good time.” Who can remember. Casimir bursts into tears.

Hobbes is too worried about the fairies seeing him, so he’s good belowdecks. Also he kind of hated KB anyway and was probably neutral on Rho, so he’ll be fine. We’ll find out what he says after he recovers from food poisoning.

Sora pats Nahk’s helmet since it is KB, and everyone remembers that she is the one who decapitated him. Casimir remembers the good times when Rho let him sit on her shoulder. Casimir then reminisces about KB, saying, “It was funny when you ate that book and Livius got angry.”

Abe thanks Rho, “even though we were never in the same room at the same time,” for babysitting his party. He tells KB that he was a “slugger,” regrets they could not adventure more, and I guess maybe a little bit feels weird that is one of the ones who landed a killing blow on him.

Nahk eulogizes Mama Rho, calling her a good caretaker who brought a lot of warmth, whose betrayal shocked him to his core since he thought she would stick with the Damage Sluts forever. Nahk then eulogizes KB-180, saying he respected him but reaffirming that “he was sus as fuck, and I’m glad I was right.” Which like, OK?

“You guys need to work on your eulogies,” Natalya says.

Here today, gone to-merrow

Abraham uses a third level spell slot to contact a merrow to guide the heroes to the “Demiplane Engine under Aurochs” and the merrow is all like, “I don’t know what that is!” Abe sighs and Nahk starts looking out for signs of the merrows hunting (blood in the water, gulls in the air).

The heroes spook a young warrior merrow under water, badgering him with questions. The warrior retrieves Devo, his leader who has a cool headpiece. He tells them that they’re a totally different clan of merrows, but I guess that’s fine because that means you’re too stupid to betray us or whatever, but please don’t turn into a whale, that would be really scary.

Classic water level

Devo leads the heroes (who turned on their water breathing, forgot to mention that) down to the holy site: the mound under the water. It appears to have religious significance to these merrows but after promising that the intended ritual will increase the hunting range of the merrows, Livius convinces Devo to lead them to the site.

The heroes find a well mortared portal, in front of which immediately appears a trio of water elemental creatures. Devo cries out, “Goddamn Kodama, interfering on my territory!” Which sort of fools the heroes into thinking he would attack the monster in anger, but instead he flees like a fucking coward along with his army of 10 merrows. Those Southern merrows were nicer I guess.

Sora tries thrice to charm the uncharmable Olhydra, the leader of this watery trio, but fails. Abraham valiantly teleports before the towering colossus of water, slashing at the beast as it sprays acid at Abe with every hit. The beast casts a powerful underwater storm, which is like a 9th-level spell, so this gal means business.

Casimir becomes a big ole whale and bites at the water, which is good because everyone is water. Abraham is consumed by the Olhydra, getting pummeled from within, but Natalya is able to keep him on life support. Sora compliments Abraham as he cleverly thunder steps to escape the Olhydra’s watery grasp, which Abraham takes as a challenge, but Sora doesn’t hear it anyway because she’s deafened by storm.

Nahk gets swallowed up by the Olhydra, while the storm blasts Livius with lightning, causing him to drop concentration on Casimir’s whaleshape. Nahk busts out and he and Casimir start battering the watery colossus.

The water elementals still pose a nuisance and prove deadly to Abraham. As Sora tries to resuscitate her friend and Livius flings stars and Natalya sends thoughts and prayers, Nahk and Casimir are swallowed by the Olhydra. But like a motorcyclist inside a big metal sphere, with Casimir as the assistant who is standing in the center, Nahk spins around in the water and tears the Olhydra to ribbons. Strange as angels, dancing in the deepest oceans, twisting in the water, Nahk and Casimir emerge victorious and that other water elemental that was killing Abe? He dead now and now Abe up! Nice.

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

The heroes enter the doorway of the mound, pulling themselves through the underwater corridor. Sora, Livius, Casimir, and Abraham pass by familiar frescos, in the same vein as those they found under Aurochs Island two months ago. Or two years. Who can tell.

A massive brass structure appears before them, faintly glowing. A pipe rises up to the ceiling of this room while the dome on the floor has three consoles, each with icons depicting the relevant spices. The heroes slot in the keys into each of the consoles as the room goes eerily quiet.

Wow, can’t believe you guys ditched him

Back on the ship, Hobbes awakens from his slumber, a bowl of chicken soup on the chair below his hammock. He fumbles out, stretching, eating the soup and feeling much improved from the day before. He goes topside, and Salty Sabrina, from underneath the mangonel on the ship, lets him know that his friends went on without him, realizing time was of the essence. As Hobbes begins to fret over Nahk and Casimir and Natalya and the other guys too probably, I don’t know how he feels about everybody else, he notices that Sabrina has stopped moving her arm. She had been twisting a tool to tighten up the mangonel, but now she was completely frozen. And when Hobbes goes to check on her, he discovers that he cannot move at all. Everyone around him seems frozen mid-movement.

Except for their eyes. He searches Boatboy Bucephalus’s eyes: fearful, searching. Each bugbear and human sailor is the same. Frozen in place, stopped in time.

Hobbes hears footsteps behind him.

It is day 40 (!) since the Battle of Aurochs Island, the first engagement in the Argoti-Mineosi War.

The Argotnauts are underwater in the Demiplane Engine Room under what used to be Aurochs Island.

Hobbes is on the ship, unable to move.

All islands completed.

All three keys have been retrieved and have been slotted into the Demiplane Engine.

Malory Whisperbottom is on the material plane with Hespero.

You have three solid cubes with keyholes and a ring of seven keys:

• One of the pine wood cubes is on the floor of the ship
• Livius has the cube made of bone found in Iskos Valley Village’s elders’ hut
• The Alchemist has one of the pine wood cubes and the ring of seven keys; she dropped the obsidian cube containing her heart into the ocean

You are on a demiplane, and Zulon has been on the material plane for ten full days.

• Previous episode: the real jet fuel was the friends we betrayed along the way
• Next episode: a lively curbstomping
• Mini Game: The 40 Days Campaign Minigame Ruleset