Her heart grew three sizes that day, one for every abandoned friend

Nahk goes into his mind palace and figures out how to get down to the catacombs in the most effective way based on the map from the Duchess. As the heroes begin fleeing, they lose track of Casimir, Hobbes, and Livius. The Monster Squad eventually finds their way to the entrance of the catacombs. As the door closes behind them, Sora says, “What about our friends?” before regaining her composure and playing her concern off as sarcasm. Nahk saw that moment and was endeared to her.

“They knew the risks, and should serve as a good distraction.”

They are surrounded by mortared bones and skulls as the countless dead of Nistoras centuries gone by lead them deeper inside. At one intersection in the top floor of the catacomb, the heroes hear a weeping in a direction not marked by the map. After Rho throws her stones and gets an uncertain response, and Nahk reminds the heroes of the last time they went after disembodied weeping in the lighthouse on Quebra, they decide not to find the source of the weeping.

“Wait, why are we speaking common?”

They come across another fork and hear a pair of giants whispering (in giant). Sora goes invisibo and finds a troop of eight giants in pursuit in an atrium, having used an alternate entrance into the catacombs. Mourners are also in the atrium, disrupted by the appearance of these soldiers in their time of contemplation. Sora decides to set a fire and cry out some taunts as she causes a diversion.

Sora runs back to her friends even as they inadvertently lure the giants to them by sneezing (KB) and getting spooked by a branch touching their shoulders (Nahk and Rho). Deeper in the catacombs, they find a less mortared and unfinished part where thigh bones and skulls lay scattered about, seemingly centuries old by this point. Among the skulls, KB finds a familiar face: Hobbes! Having made his way around Sora’s diversion by face-changing into a slave of the Nistorans, he makes his way back to the heroes.

“I got mine!”

The heroes happen upon three doors! KB blasts in through one, causing enough noise to attract a gang of six spiders. They dispatch them in a thorough manner: Rho sets three of them on fire, weakening them severely for her companions; Hobbes breaks out of the webs and Shelobs one of them; Sora pins one down with an arrow to allow KB to swat it with his great axe; Nahk crushes the other two with his glaive; and the remaining two spiders are scared off by this display of violence.

KB goes into investigation mode and finds a necromantic book and sticks it into his shredder-mouth, completely destroying the book FOREVER. Unfortunately, KB does not remember everything he eats (which is a Hello from the Magic Tavern reference).

Nahk is like WTF and KB is like it’s necromancy! It’s evil! We didn’t need it at all! After a voice from on high assures them that that’s not a book they need for any leveling reasons, whatever that means, the heroes are less pissed but still decide to deactivate KB’s investigation mode (which KB lets them think is a thing). They also find a ledger of names, which no one decides to read until later. Should’ve left KB’s investigation mode on a little longer.

Binders full of dead people

The heroes stick their noses into the next door. Leads down a long dark corridor and some masonry is visible. They then go into the third door and KB spots a book on a table along with a lit candle! Nahk’s blade turns black, indicating the presence of undead and pulls KB out of the room, shutting the door. After a short discussion, they decide to just go in and kill whatever ghost that is, which they can’t see yet! What a plan?

Anyway they go into the room and are trapped inside while Sora, Hobbes, and Rho are outside when a cloud giant ghost appears, freezing them with a howling wail and dragging them closer. Nahk and KB start investigating the room: A spectral figure is reading over a schematic of a containment structure or oubliette; it is an architectural diagram of some kind. The candle next to him is turning green, black, and then to smoke, in an alternating fashion.

The cloud giant ghost clobbers Sora after she blasts him with a psychic blades attack. Rho is desperately trying to keep her pals alive with healing spells.

Nahk lights the candle when it is smoking and turns it a warm orange, which makes the specter finally see them and recognize them. The specter introduces himself in common as Master Mason Fulston. Nahk and KB desperately try to get the giant ghost to help them get out of the room, but he seems to be unable to interact with the room in the same way. They look at the ledger and learn that Fulston is a mason who worked on some great project for Ulstred the king. The ledger is full of names, some humanoid, some giant, with numbers beside them. Fulston seems to be centuries old. KB grabs the candle and steps to the door and opens it, which in turn dissipates the cloud giant ghost! You solved my candle puzzle.

Sora realizes then, looking at the map, that there are infernal letters written upon it: Ch R G and T. Rho tries in vain to mend the book that KB shredded. The heroes take a breath to let Rho cast heals and let Sora collect her heartseeker arrows full of spider blood.

As the heroes are about to venture deeper into the dungeon, beneath the catacombs and into whatever the strange map has in store for them, the two remaining spiders skitter back. They look up, only to see them knocked off the ceiling by a pair of firebolts and cut to ribbons by flashing scimitars. Casimir and Livius step out of the shadows.

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

The Argotnauts are beneath the catacombs of Nistora.

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: one barrel extra wet
• Next episode: I am not a necro boy I am a necro man sir