Papers Please

The heroes enter Nistora airspace and are surrounded by three cloud giant airships. They are asked to “Declare your intentions or depart.” The heroes do so and exchange hostages in order to go through the customs process. Sora heads over and gives all the necessary info and requests an audience with King Almsbrood. The giants say that there is a long waitlist, due to their son’s recent death, but that he can get them in to see the Duchess Serena. Sora accepts, realizing that the heroes don’t really have a week (after all, the Bakasura will be returning, not to mention the time they’ve spent away from home). You are somewhat known as the small folk that helped the Duchess Serena bring Paloma to justice.

The heroes take this in stride, realizing that the job of customs officials in raider giant society is kind of a retirement gig, likely due to the low traffic. The giants mostly hang out, making elaborate breakfasts. The giants hop onto the ship, taking stock of the valuables, and escort the heroes back to the rickety air docks of Nistora. KB pretends to be a statue but sneezes, even though he doesn’t need to breathe.

Taking the perilous stairs down to the surface, Sora, Livius, and Rho are escorted through the main port city on Nistora, in the shadow of the Castle of Nistora, which is constructed of mundane materials: a castle ruin fixed in places with cloudstuff. The city reveals the strata of Nistoran society: giants going about their normal daily business while humanoid slaves work in the dizzying heights of a city build for giants.

Rug Stuffin’

When the heroes arrive at the Duchess Serena’s estate for their audience, they find a small manor, constructed entirely of cloudstuff, with the surrounding land being vineyards and farmland. Once in the presence of Duchess Serena, Livius surreptitiously casts true sight, allowing him to see Serena in her true form as she disguises herself as Sora for a joke. Livius discovers that the duchess is just a giant who can shapeshift rather than something different.

The Duchess returns the broom to Sora as a show of good faith. Sora negotiates better terms for the islanders on Osteros. The Duchess offers one even better: She would relieve the Osterosi of tribute entirely if the heroes were to assassinate King Almsbrood. Sora says she’ll think about it. The heroes try to figure out what the fiendish presence on the island must be and the Duchess alludes to a creature living in the center of the island that is potentially what the kodama were referring to.

The Duchess agrees to help, noting that the heroes doing what the kodama want will free the demiplane, and that is what the Duchess wants too. She tells them that the giants will exact a big tariff on the ship for docking there, but that the nobles often take stuff off the top, so she sends Rho, Sora, and Livius back to the ship along with one of her people. They stuff the others into some rugs that the Duchess is taking as is her right as a corrupt noble.

Abe stays on the ship with the crew and his husband while the rest of the heroes get stuffed into wine barrels. KB tells Abe he’ll miss him since they bonded a bit while the others were away. KB is placed into an extra wet barrel. Nahk and Cas are in a single barrel. Someone said, “I only pee on people’s rugs that I hate and the Duchess made me hate you.” So that happened.

The heroes wonder whether Duchess Serena will just betray them, but as they are taken past Almsbrood and his wife and taken down into the cellar and hear a knock telling them the coast is clear, they realize that maybe she’ll be as good as her word and that she really would like to get out of this demiplane too.

Nahk: “Knock knock!”; Casimir: “Casimir Casimir!”

Nahk and Cas peer through the bunghole and remark that the coast is clear. Nahk uses his strength to rip the lids off the rest of the barrels and the heroes sneak into the garden maze. The map the Duchess provided leads them through the maze and down into the catacombs, where Riffrick is entombed.

The gang tries to be stealthy but KB lets out a klaxon amber alert, which lures three giants to them. Nahk does two card tricks, with Livius remarking, “My favorite part about a card trick is getting hit in the kneecap afterward with an axe.”

Hobbes gets flung and, in an 80’s movie freeze frame, narrates, “You’re probably wonder how I got here: a sarcastic changeling getting flung across a lawn by a cloud giant.”

Nahk kills one of the giants and says, “Is this your card?”

KB fake laughs covered in gore and calls himself “the lawn mower.”

The last giant flees, misty stepping onto a hedge and calling for help.

It is the later afternoon on day 37 since the Battle of Aurochs Island, the first engagement in the Argoti-Mineosi War.

The Argotnauts are in a hedge maze in the Castle of Nistora, having slain two giants and raised the alarm of the castle.

One island left: Nistora.

All three keys have been retrieved.

The dogs are on the flagship.

Malory Whisperbottom is on the material plane with Hespero

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

• KB has one of the pine wood cubes
• Livius has the cube made of bone found in Iskos Valley Village’s elders’ hut
• The Alchemist has one of the pine wood cubes, the obsidian cube found at Natalya’s tomb, and the ring of seven keys

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

• Previous episode: your worm has cats
• Next episode: tastes like clues