Episode 15
General Summary
The party make their way to Beth's Baths, hoping to wash off the dirt and grime of the Deddo Forest. Upon arrival, they find foamy bubbles escaping through the door frame of the establishment. Atlas opens the door and a naked man rushes out into the street, screaming wildly as he goes. Further screaming is heard within, and the group begin wading through the floor to ceiling foam in order to help.
The shouts are coming from the large public bath area, so Godric leads the way through the bubbles, creating a path as he goes. In the public area, the group find panicked bathers being attacked by bathtubs - bathtubs with sticky tentacles and large gaping mouths. Some of the bathers are lead out of the danger, while the party deal with what they correctly identify to be mimics. The bath-mimics are eventually defeated, and Beth, the owner of the establishment, wades through the foam to give her thanks. Apparently she had had a new delivery of baths earlier in the day, and when they added salts, they began foaming up uncontrollably before attacking people. At the party's suggestion, Beth gives them the address of the bath manufacturer, and the group investigate to make sure this isn't going to happen again any time soon. At the bath-maker's home, the group are satisfied that this was just two mimics trying to secure a meal as mimics do, and no maliciousness from a 3rd party is involved.
While they wait for the bathhouse to be cleared out, Godric and Atlas visit Ariadne Knightsbridge to catch up on what they found in the forest. Ariadne confirms that she has sent people to research 'The Wicked One' and the Seed of Mortona, and will begin sending patrols into the Deddo Forest to see if it could be deemed safe for travel once more. Ariadne also confirms that she does indeed share a last name with Alaric Knightsbridge, but doesn't have any royal lineage that she is aware of.
Returning to the bathhouse, the group finally take a well deserved break - on the house. Deciding to opt for the public baths, the group strip down and bare all - physically and metaphorically, as they share their reasons for becoming an adventurer and other stories. Hope also has a bath, which she tries to run away from.
During the bathing, the group are visited by Adina, The Diviner, who had scried their location and decided to pop in. Seeing the group are all nude, Adina decides it's only fair that she is also nude - and so strips off upon arrival. The divination wizard doesn't seem to be quite all there, a possible side-effect of her permanent True Sight, which she explains happened due to a misfire when she first cast the True Seeing spell. Meeting Atlas and Godric for the first time, Adina comments that Atlas has a 'haunting', referring to a lingering spirit about his person. Atlas quickly changes the topic, and content that the spirit is benign, Adina explains the reason for her visit. She explains that the University of Magic is holding a council meeting tonight to discuss the implications of the Shadow Dragon's existence, and the Shadow portals. Abenthe, The Conjurer is particularly interested in this, as he is hoping to discover the secret of planar travel. Adina will contact the group again once the meeting has concluded. The wizard dresses herself once more before taking her leave - taking care to duck under something unseen as she goes.
Sufficiently clean, the group leave the bathhouse and head to their respective places of rest for the evening. On her way to the College of Exquisite Arts, Veda bumps into Harmony who is just leaving. The brash young bard has a brief exchange with the tiefling, who notices that the half-elf is carrying a book under her arm. The full title is obscured, but the one word Veda does catch is 'Hell'.
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