Finkoo and GB taught each other tinkering and wizarding respectively. Cyl went over the goa-making text and began trying to imbue her intentions into the boulder. Kali tried to help Primeheart with his face injuries from yesterday. Primeheart then went to help the illithid with their hunting, mostly through discussing the craft of using the rest of the animal – not just the meat. They mostly shrugged off his help because they were mostly interested in the meat. They were highly focused on efficiency.
Beer Forge
The bar was fairly busy, though relaxed. The party discussed what they would talk to Zeknar about and then headed out talk to him. This time they hoped to meet Zeknar himself and not another Hag in disguise.
Skyroot Forest
The party crested the last hill and walked up to his cottage. Smoke rose out of the chimney and the brooke babbled behind the cabin. GB knocked and Zeknar greeted them coldly, but invited them in nonetheless. Zeknar accepted their gift of eggs and acted less cold afterward.
Zeknar said that the eirshale on the top of his staff was just a fancy rock—it wasn’t clear if that was to do with him playing dumb or if he didn’t know. GB learned that the logs that Zeknar burned were created in some sort of Counterspell ritual.
Kali eventually stopped the party from beating around the bush. She asked whether Zeknar constructed the identity of Zeknar, when he was reincarnated, or if he took it from someone. Zeknar stood from his chair and said that he was sad that there were not more of them there. He was expecting there to be more. He said: “You already started the fight and I, in my Master’s name, will finish it.”
Cyl grappled Zeknar, but he immediately threw up some sort of impenetrable barrier that knocked her off. The party was unable to get through. Piles of sludge were then seen to be slowly crawling toward the cabin.
The party was able to dispatch the oozes and jellies that “rushed” the cabin. Another nine minutes or so of prep and the wall of force that Zeknar had thrown up dropped. Despite Zeknar nearly disintegrating Cyl, she was able to remove Zeknar’s staff from him. The staff, she discovered, was sentient—the next of Mawblade’s brethren.
Cyl resisted the staff’s influence, as it attempted to crawl into her brain and take over. GB, believing that Zeknar was evil, walked forward to end him. As he approached, Zeknar’s eyes brimmed over with tears--seemingly of relief. GB halted midstride.
Din thanked them. He apparently was completely changed from the confident, arrogant, drunk that the group had known as Zeknar. Din was a timid, sad, and relieved dwarf. GB walked away.
GB felt disgusted with himself for how much he still wanted to kill Din, not believing his transformation was true. He felt weak and evil himself. He kept it to himself at the time, but the group learned about his emotional distress later.
Kali brought Din home and gave Wabura a proper funeral service with Din. Din told Kali about having been killed by Wabura, having awoken as a dwarf, and how Wabura left the staff with him out of guilt. He told of how the staff taught him, how it began to control him, and how it so completely dominated him. He explained how he killed Wabura and dragged the body to where the party would find it. He offered his help to take the party to his home—he would love to go home. At last.
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