Two nights later, the party finds themselves in a jail cell, covered with an antimagic field. 😎Bori and 🧔♂️Harald are managing stoically, while 🧌Gronk and 🐰Faefina are not handling as well. On night one, books and food are offered. On the second day, no one appears. Gronk realises that this is out of the usual for a quasi-military organisation.
During one of her many naps, Faefina dreams of a stark sun over a dense forest, in front an enormous tree. There's a campfire by the tree, with a cauldron on it, stirred by an old woman with a big bun of braided hair. She offers Faefina a seat and a bowl of carrot soup. She introduces herself as Granny Weatherwax. Faefina gobbles down the soup, and explains that she is trapped in a cell. The woman tells her not to cry, and asks more about where she's from.
She asks about the Cranes, and asks which world they're in. She explains that Faefina must free herself to travel to this tree, and the Elven enclave. Faefina explains that that is their plan, and the woman promises to do what she can to help. Faefina wakes with a jerk, back in her cell.
Deelio the Minotaur walks in, and asks if the party would like to get out. Deelio asks who our leader is. Gronk realises that Deelio should know this. Faefina realises that Deelio's appearance is right but his movements are stilted. Bori remembers word of the Ultimate Parasite, that would hollow out people, and live inside them for a while. It asks about the keys for the cell, and Gronk asks it to find them.
Faefina notices a black ooze surrounding the cell and snaking between the bars. Harald cannot see it, and Faefina jumps onto Bori's shoulders. The antimagic field dissipates, and Gronk misty steps out of the cell. He finds the keys and opens up the cell.
The party recovers their weapons and possessions from a nearby cell. Venturing upstairs, they find the place deserted, with papers abandoned but weapons caches empty. The party finds 97 Gp scattered amongst the mess. Faefina puts on her Rose Glasses, and sees men rushing in to grab weapons, while a men with jerky, disjointed movements attack and infect them. One of the Cranes, with Kineeta on his back fends off the infected. Using her eyeliner she sees in a safe 6 magical candles of invocation.
She finds a rat foraging for food, and the rat tells her to find the villages hiding in the major hall, and to avoid the hollowed ones. The hollowed ones seem to still have their brains partially intact, but are controlled by the parasite. Their skin is also very hard. They also have some form of hive mind.
The party asks the rat to find Deelio, hoping to lure him (and the other infected) into the basement. The rat finds Deelio resting in one of the houses, resting. The party enters the darkened house, and Faefina enchants a lantern with light. They find Deelio in the bed, in a very unnatural position. Gronk wakes him up, using Friends. Gronk uses Suggestion to convince him to go to the basement with the cell, and to call all of his friends.
Deelio walks to the basement, and calls the remainder of the parasites. Gronk convinces him to step into the cell, and the party hides upstairs as ten more infected head into the basement.
Deelio twitches, and says that the leader says they should leave.
Gronk casts Wall of Fire, covering the bottom of the steps and through the room.
Faefina fires her crossbow, hitting an infected for 13 and 2 radiant damage. It falls on it's back, arms and legs twisting backwards, and crawls towards her.
Faefina casts Spiritual Weapon, which hits the infected for 8dmg.
Harald takes position near the bottom of the stairs, and readies himself.
Bori drinks a potion of Speed, and runs down the stairs and through the wall of fire, avoiding damage. He hits an infected three times, missing each time. Realising his position, he runs back up the stairs, again avoiding the fire.
Gronk upcasts Shatter on the group, dealing 34Dmg. Several of the infected find their skin splitting, and are clearly badly hurt.
Two infected walk through the fire, taking 29Dmg.
One hits Harald for 4Blu dmg, and the other for another 4.
Harald strikes back, and Gronk uses Tides of Chaos to help him hit, but still misses.
Another two step through the flame, and start climbing the stairs. They step in front of Faefina, one punching for 4Dmg, but Faefina dodges the other.
Two more, climbing on the ceiling, attack Bori, but miss both times.
Two more walk through the flames.
Faefina hits one for 20Dmg, and the Spiritual Weapon hits the other for 22. The one Faefina hit collapses like porcelain, shattering in pieces onto the floor.
Harald hits one infected, missing twice, and it too splits and shatters to the ground.
Bori hits each of the three infected in front of him, smashing two of them. Seeing them fall apart shocks his nonviolent sensibilities.
Gronk casts Shatter again on the 7 infected in the basemeent, dealing 23Dmg. The infected next to the spiritual weapon collapses, and the Wall of Flames swallows the remainder.
The last one left, Deelio, misses Faefina.
She hits back, but also misses.
Harald also misses Deelio.
Bori steps forward, staff spinning, and brings it down on Deelio's head, smashing him to dust
Gronk stops the Wall of Flames, and remembers that the leader Deelio mentioned is not there. The party finds the townspeople in the great hall, and warn them that the leader is still at large. Gronk and Faefina notice, in the distant, an approaching skyship in the distance. Faefina suggests leaving, and at that point Luthor Malachai, bones crunching, steps forward. "Don't leave", he says. "Joanne, and Torville, are coming." Faefina realises that the party has been on that airship before.
Faefina hits Malachai, but misses. She summons Spiritual Weapon, which hits for 12dmg.
Gronk uses Shatter for 21Dmg. Cracks appear on Malachai's skin.
Bori swallows a Speed potion, and attacks three times, hitting twice for 30dmg. More cracks spread over Malachai's skin.
Harald hits once, dealing 10 Lightning dmg and 11 Phy dmg.
Shadows engulf Harald and Bori.
Faefina shouts for Harald and Bori, and fires an Arrow of Seeking, and misses.
She then uses her Spiritual Weapon blindly, flailing and hitting Malachai for 7 dmg.
Gronk can't see a way to hit Malachai without hurting Bori and Harald. He holds back.
Bori, surrounded in darkness, flails and senses a direction in which the darkness abates. Moving into the light, he sees Malachai, and stands there, stunned.
Harald, still in the darkness, steps back and finds himself in the light. He sees Malachai, and notices powdery gas seeping from his hands. Harald charges and hits for 5 lightning and 12 phy dmg.
Malachai hits back at Harald, spraying him with 14 poison dmg.
Malachai disappears in a cloud of poison, and reappears in view of Faefina and Gronk, panting heavily and with skin splintering.
Engulfed in poison, Harald fights out of the cloud of poison unaffected.
Faefina uses Seeking Bolt at Malachai, but misses. Her Spiritual Weapon also misses.
Gronk unleashes 5 magic missiles into Malachai, who screams in pain. The cloud of darkness thins and fades.
Bori attacks five times, hitting twice and stunning Malachai, knocking him prone.
Harald strikes down, smashing Malachai into pieces.
The skyship is now closer, and the 🎖Genial General, leading the Lenthori army, appears over the hill and greets the party. The soldiers set up a perimeter, and asks about the distress signal they received. Harald fills him in on the infected, and the General mentions that Lady Hillaria is also in the New World. The general suggests the party stay in the village for a while, as is army has the area surrounded. He scratches Faefina behind the ear, and she bites him.
Behind the General, the party sees a priest, followed by Kineeta. She steps into a beam of light, with Joanne, Torville, Neka, and other members of the True Way. They declare the site as theirs to the General. The General has his men search for any remaining infected.
Neka suggest leaving to avoid attention. Joanne offers the sky ship as a way for the party to get to the 🌳Druid Enclave. The party agrees, and a beam of light covers the party, transporting them onto the ship.
Party gets beamed up.