Session 57: A Pinky Promise and the Twins Reunited

General Summary

The fight with “Not a Baby” continues until the God Eater casts “Mass Suggestion” on the entire party with only Anya resisting. It tells them all to meet it on the first floor then sends an incendiary cloud at Anya, who manages to avoid most of the damage through dodging and her Yakuza tattoo. Offa works his way back through the portal, injuring himself when interacting with the walls around him with his mage hand then stumbling into the fiery cloud himself. Anya blights the creature as the others, having done as the monster asked, realize what happened and run back up.
Seeing Offa hurt and burning, Sikander throws a healing potion, but it slips and breaks. Silas asks Scent for help and sets off a stink bomb that explodes, damaging everyone and knocking Offa unconscious.
Everyone else jumps back into the fight with “Not a Baby” (except the dowager empress and Tal, who both remain downstairs with A’flora secured to his side) and Clover’s spiders finish off the God Eater. As the fiery cloud dissipates, Anya heals the party then further tends to Offa’s wounds. He explains what he found through the portal and they all head in.
Within, they hear voices and Silas becomes Lord Mirt. Further up, they find Isamu and Nemui, both covered in Cherry Blossom tattoos, as well as Yoko Ono. Silas enters with an evil laugh, attempting to convince the others of his identity. Isamu takes the bait and then flips the script, telling Silas Lord Mirt is owed a reckoning for his betrayal, prompting Nemui to attempt staking Silas/Lord Mirt. Dancing out of the way, he attempts to shift the fight’s focus. Isamu summons 6 ninjas and berates Silas/Lord Mirt for allowing his vampires to eat their way through Isamu’s people.
Scent sets off a Stink Cloud as Clover comes up, finding Isamu and several other Yakuza doubled over. She heads after the Yakuza while Anya marks Isamu and shoots him. Nemui attacks Anya and Silas with her axe on a chain, catching Silas and pulling him in.
Offa and Sikander come running up the stairs, Eldritch Blast slamming into Isamu and Wibbles following up, landing several hard hits.
Isamu, seeing Sikander, tells Sikander he is willing to parlay as they have a common enemy in the God Eaters and Lord Mirt and in honor A’flora’s loyalty to her working her way up through the Cherries. They learn Isamu’s goal is to gain power, however possible, and to maintain it through his family line. Lord Mirt’s betrayal has placed The Cherries and the Cherry Smashers on a similar side and it hard for Sikander to come around to the idea of a temporary truce.
It is finally agreed that the truce, an agreement of non-engagement between the groups, will last until Lord Mirt was dealt with or they all died in the attempt. After that, all was fair game again, including a possible one on one fight with Sikander and Nemui. To seal the deal, a “pinky swear” is made, wherein everyone removes the tip of their chosen pinkie (or other finger in the case of Isamu) and offers it to the other group. As they all hesitate, Anya pulls Thundergrace from her belt and uses it to remove her left pinkie tip, handing it to Isamu with the promise she will see him dead if he breaks his word.
The others slowly follow suit, except for Offa, who takes one of the Yakuza’s pinky tips and offers it (to Isamu’s amusement) and Sikander, who bites his off then offers it to Isamu.
The deal made, both groups settle into a tentative long rest to recuperate while Isamu explains that only Lord Mirt could open the portal within the Dread Garlu statue and that Samyra herself is a portal for the God Eaters to come through. Realizing Offa’s connection to the god was the key to getting any further, they all head up after resting.
Along the south wall is a statue of onyx Dread Garlu and during his inspection of the statue, Selle learns it requires an arcane connection and then goes mad. As the others make sure Selle is safe, Offa connects to the god, seeming to fall into a deep trance (possibly dead?) and comes face to face with the god.
He beckons Offa to join him, to become his sustenance, but he pushes back, “Master, it is not yet my time. You must show us the way through.” It is a battle of wills until Offa succeeds, with Dread Garlu saying, “Someday you will be part of me” and he blossoms into a black flower. Anya casts Spare the Dying on Offa and as he comes to, begins to heal him some. While Offa slowly comes out of the trance, the black blossom forms on the statue and they see a portal open.
Entering, the entire place is made of dark purple sand, sinkholes appearing all around them. Ahead is a wall of sand with the shape of a gnomish woman, and Silas calls out, “Samyra, can you hear me?” She appears to reach out toward him, and in his mind tells him to leave, that she can’t be saved.
Lord Mirt appears and after tense conversation tosses the ball that binds Samyra to the sands down to them. Silas manages to grab it and nearly falls into a sinkhole himself. Sikander, still wrestling with the deal made with the Cherries, shouts, “Little One, finish him!” and in a rare moment, Anya doesn’t hesitate and fires off two arrows, with one connecting. Lord Mirt falls from his throne and lands in the sand, becoming a portal as the Dread Gloaming emerges from him.
Towering over them, Offa offers himself in exchange for Samyra and is damaged by the poison it spouts out.
Holding the small, warm ball, Silas smells the moss from his youth. Looking back at the others, he says, “I hope we get the chance to deal with the Cherries” then thrusts both his hands with the ball into Samyra’s form in the sand. She starts to panic, “I told you to run, this can’t work, don’t sacrifice yourself.” He tries to but is unable to resist and finds himself pulled into the sand, his form appearing to hold Samyra’s hand as the Gloaming stands over the party, unsure of their next steps.
Report Date
27 Oct 2024

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