felicity gives us a box, philip storms off, tanum dies again
[shad]: we go to the room & lock the door [kayla]: we don't have a dead body this time, it's fine! [kayla]: for once
[emily]: by the way, havi has a cold because when we all fell into the water [emily]: he got a lil sick [emily]: so he sounds like a fuckin dweeb [emily]: a little more than usual
the group climbs a huge set of stairs leading out from the trials. literally only tanum & havi have a -4 dex penalty for the rest of the day because of all the stairs they climbed.
felicity talks to dahlia about the “big job” she’d been hinting at. turns out she’s been talking about the cult of sorrows, the same cult tanum & lia were roped into, & the job is a big heist. felicity can’t tell the group what the item is until the whole party is on board with the job. she tells dahlia to convince the rest of us.
[emily]: is there any impending danger [kayla]: why didn’t you do that with the door with the mouth??? [emily]: I DID IT while we were in the dungeon!! & ben was like [emily]: “well things are, generally, looking kind of shitty” [emily]: which didn’t help at all
the exit leads them to just under ironforge. we try to determine just how bad it would be for a couple of drow to come up out of the sewers in the middle of a dwarven city, especially considering the current political climate.
jamal transforms into a fox & accompanies us into the city. we check into an inn
[shad]: we go to the room & lock the door [kayla]: we don't have a dead body this time, it's fine! [kayla]: for once
dahlia explains felicity has a smash & grab job for the group. felicity steps forward & asks the group how they feel about stealing from the mage’s college. we’re kind of … ehhhh about it. we like xavia & she works there!
jojo: i have ... stolen a lot of things in the past jojo: i can't really say that this is the path i want to go down again
the group declines the job unless they are provided more information.
havi: i mean ... you can, you can go ahead? uh havi: you probably wouldn't have any use for me in that situation [kayla]: but you roll so WELL [emily]: i KNOW
ireth: my problem is-- ireth: not that i'm afraid ireth: because i can't be--
ireth is concerned what would happen if we were caught. felicity says we would probably be killed by the mage’s college. on the other hand … the cult would probably kill us if we didn’t take the job.
felicity offers a LOT of money, but the group still declines. felicity leaves. joaquin follows her.
joaquin: how do you know so much about me? felicity: *laughs* oh, cassidy
felicity explains the cult wants them to steal … the archmage of the mage’s college. she presents joaquin with a small box.
felicity: this is for when you meet the archmage.
joaquin tells her to come back tonight, after they’ve discussed it again. dahlia claims she didn’t know felicity was in the cult … we don’t believe her.
we notice tanum looks uncomfortable. his eyes go wide when joaquin sets the box down.
joaquin: do you know what this is? tanum: i know what it does. jojo: what does it do? tanum: that box ... it will ... shrink a person down & pull them inside.
joaquin explains that felicity wants them to capture a person, not a thing.
tanum: oh no ... jojo: "oh no" what. tanum: so ... there are ... a number of people at the mage's college who have already signed on with the cult. tanum: if the archmage is replaced with someone who supports the cult ...
tanum is implying that if the cult took over the college, the dwarves would win the war since the cult is mostly dwarven. one of the cult’s main goals it to use the ankh we have to kill one of the drow gods, weakening their people.
dahlia: guys ... does a drow god getting killed really affect us everyone: yeah... yes. it does actually
the group argues more. dahlia & tanum are in favor of helping the cult, everyone else is hesitant.
tanum: havi ... we could buy everything back ten times havi: we’re not—- havi: you CANNOT use that as a way— tanum: havi i’m— i’m not trying to hold this over your head, i’m just ... i’m just laying out the facts jojo: in favor of helping the cult. tanum: i’m in favor of not DYING.
we argue some more. we consider pretending to work for the cult so we can infiltrate it & rescue meekus. we notice philip is missing. some of us go to find him sitting on a bench outside. he tries to leave in an angry huff but ireth stops him.
ireth: philip what what’s wrong philip: they KILLED HIM philip: & you’re gonna work for them. it's good to know where your loyalties lie.
jojo & tanum are waiting inside.
tanum: so ... how about that joaquin jojo: tanum: his swords are pretty big jojo: tanum: swings around two of em jojo: sure does [ashley]: joaquin is standing like right there [x] 59:45
once everyone is back inside, havi locks the magic box in another box for safe measure & ties the key around his neck, under his clothes. someone knocks at the door. everyone panics because we have no idea what we’re going to tell felicity. but … it’s clint! along with lia, lindsay, & reginald
ireth: what are you doing here i thought you were supposed to be at the shaman’s??? lindsay: we’ve been ... keeping track of you guys havi: are we really that obvious
lindsay & co. are here because they want to take down the cult & are hoping we have more intelligence regarding the matter.
ireth: i wish nifty was in this group ... that would be such a turn of events clint: he would ... prefer to not be involved joaquin: *grins*
as everyone is chatting, a random dwarf just. walks into our hotel room. and we’re like, what. hello. excuse me. the dwarf is wearing the same clothing as the other cult members. he holds up a crystal and breaks it. two sets of symbols appear in the air, the same ones that were on tanum’s heart, and float around. tanum and lia suddenly collapse.
[emily]: LMFAO [shad]: [shad]: are you SERIOUS RIGHT NOW BEN [x] 1:15:48
joaquin immediately kills the dwarf. caranthir closes the door. jojo runs over to lia, who is turning blue and convulsing. with his glasses, havi can see both tanum & lia’s hearts are now missing.
jojo: UHHHH HAVI havi: SHE DOESN'T HAVE A HEART. HER HEART IS GONE jojo: DO SOMETHING!!!!! havi: WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO jojo: CAN'T YOU STOP ... DYING??? havi: SHE DOESN'T HAVE A FUCKING HEART [rachael]: i have a poisoner's kit, is there anything i can-- [ben]: they're missing-- I DON'T THINK YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND [kayla]: WOULD FOG CLOUD WORK
tanum takes out a knife, cuts his hand, and starts smearing symbols on the ground. joaquin restrains him before he can get anything accomplished. after the group screams and panics for a moment, the two on the ground go quiet.
[ben]: tanum & lia are dead. [emily]: UGHHHHHH [everyone]: [emily]: AGAIN [ashley]: YOU'RE NOT EVEN SAD [x] 1:21:30
ireth makes a snide comment about how jojo can carry their bodies since he clearly loves doing that. he punches her. havi determines the hearts were transported away, they are together, and somewhere in the capital of the city. we assume if we can find the hearts and put them back in their bodies, they’ll … be … fine? but we have to figure out where to store the bodies.
havi: man we are keeping the same track record here with dead bodies in the hotel rooms huh
havi prepares to cast gentle repose on tanum & lia.
[shad]: it's a spell that can prevent them from turning undead [ben]: oh is that important to you? [ben]: that your friends don't die and then are later used against you? [shad]: :(
[emily]: tim just has like, this wolf on his screen [emily]: and it changes every time i look at it
ashley is curious about the nine soul sword joaquin has & how many the cult might have. havi knows there are 9 in existence, but is unsure if the cult has the remaining 8.
[emily]: i already WENT THROUGH THIS SHIT [emily]: I DON'T NEED THIS AGAIN [kayla]: him dying? do you actually care about the wellbeing of tanum?? [emily]: i-- havi does!!! [emily]: they like, spent their entire life together [kayla]: i thought havi was kind of peeved [ashley]: that's just how havi is [emily]: it's like being pissed off at your best friend, i don't want them to DIE [x] 1:32:23
everyone mopes for a moment.
[ben]: i mean, they both would have been undead, and there would have been some other consequences, but ... [ben]: tanum could have kept them both alive [kayla]: if we wouldn't have stopped him? [everyone]: UGHHH [emily]: god damn it. he was literally like "uhhh i'm dying but i can help" and joaquin was like "nah" [shad]: but we don't know that he would've been successful!!! he could've fucked up [emily]: he SEEMS to be PRETTY GOOD at necromancy
the group is definitely going to infiltrate the cult now. joaquin & dahlia sneak ahead to see if they can gain any intel. they notice another cult dwarf right outside the inn but sneak past him.
[emily]: i care about the fact that killing a god ... kinda seems douchey