"The Dire Descent" (RT2x03) is the fifteenth episode of The Re-Slayer's Take. Acting on Devexian's tip, the Re-Slayers venture into the treacherous Spectrum Gorge, seeking a missing fragment of Frog. But what they uncover is far more perilous than they planned.
Synopsis[]
Outside their new headquarters, Frog tells her friends about Devexian and their conversation, and show them her sketch of him, making Heera say he is attractive, and Farah wonder if the monk had a crush on him (something she still doesn't get). The blood hunter expresses her concern about Timpani's ability to bring them to the Spectrum Gorge, and he argues that teleportation magic isn't simple; when Frog asks, they confirm they want to go there with her to look for her missing pieces. The Aeormaton tells them they are like her family, and Heera jokes about them getting along too well to be family, changing the subject when her friend asks about her relatives. They decide to leave in an hour, during which Farah questions Poogs about the last cupcakes he made, until he confesses that he gave some to their neighbor, Bongo, and he passed out while driving a carriage; when Farah realizes that one of the ingredients, slug milk, can be prepared as a sleeping potion, suggests to the goblin to bake more cupcakes, some with slug milk and some without it, accompanying him as he does and then keeping the first batch. While they are doing so, Heera modifies her poncho so she can put her new egg there safely, and notices some movement, realizing it will hatch in less than a week.
When they are all ready Timpani casts Transport via Plants and they appear in the Spectrum Gorge, a place filled with mist and vapor, with a mining camp in the distance. The druid tells his friends how nice it is to arrive to a place without the threat of a scary ghost nearby, and in that moment, a landslide starts, and everyone but Frog is dragged by it. Timpani casts Wall of Stone to help, but trips and falls again; meanwhile Frog hits a dark and warm rock, and her gloves (and the other weapons) start shining, as the black stone reveals itself as part of a magma landshark filled with marionettes. Timpani casts a second Wall of Stone (accidentally sending Poogs through the air, although Heera grabs him) and Farah shoots the monster, identifying the undead influence after wounding it and watching it scream. The blood hunter injects herself with one of her experimental purchases, and she melts into pink goo, shocking Heera, to whom she tells that if she doesn't asks questions she won't ask about her egg. In the mining camp they see a man inside a building, watching them, and a bat gets close to them before returning there, so they start following, with Frog using the poncho to take Farah (now moving slower) with them; since the landshark is getting closer Frog throws her friend towards the building and is knocked unconscious when the monster bites her, although Timpani rescues her immediately and gets her inside to heal her, as the creature sinks beneath the earth.
The man that was looking at them is an elderly dwarf who allegedly works with the miners, but when he moves in front of them Heera notices an illusory element surrounding him, and asks about it, making him reveal his true form: a fey-like man, Xella Blacktongue. He seems to be fascinated by Frog and her Aeorian, so Farah puts herself between the two of them, as Heera identifies him as the merchant Devexian told her friend about. Timpani, curious about Xella's odd appearance, asks if his magic is fey in origin, and he mentions an encounter with a hag in his childhood; Farah, however, deduces by his looks that he probably spent years with her, making the merchant admit that his parents gave him to her, although Heera tells him they won't judge him for that. Frog checks her new tome and confirms that the Slayer's Take defeated a magma landshark in 784 PD, and Poogs realizes the Timberblight is behind its return; Timpani then admits that in their encounter with Osysa the sphinx insinuated to him that Putridius wasn't completely gone and had spread through the earth, although he didn't understand it when she told him. Xella explains his own story, telling them he arrived with his bodyguard Sasha two months ago, as a member of the League of Aeorian Historians, but two weeks ago the landshark appeared and during a mission it attacked Sasha and ten other people in the mines; using a magical tooth the merchant confirmed his bodyguard is likely trapped in the monster's stomach. After Timpani senses the presence of a subterranean river below them, Heera suggests that if Xella helps them they can defeat the undead creature, and then they can make deals. He guides them to a workshop, where Frog finds one of her missing pieces; Xella helps her understand the purpose of said piece (Identify objects), and expresses interest about Farah's current jam-like body, although she simply deflects by saying she's willing to try experimental products if the merchant has them. Before they leave Heera decides to leave her egg with Xella's bat-like construct, for safety, and Timpani expresses his confusion after so many new changes and surprises in the group.
After a short rest Xella guides the group to the tunnels and tells them to stay close, since his magical boots will protect them from the tremors; Poogs offers Farah to travel inside his backpack but she refuses, explaining she hopes that her body will return to normal if she keeps she doesn't spread too much. As they walk, Xella asks Frog things about her mechanical nature, and she intially answers him happily; however, when the merchant expresses his interest in examining her she (remembering Devexian's warning) expresses doubts, although reassures her by telling her they won't do anything she's uncomfortable with. In that moment Heera, crouched and surrounded by a dark aura, Commands their guide to sit, and his armor produces insect-like legs to prevent him from doing so. During that tense moment the group realizes that the water is receeding and find a whole in the wall, where the current goes through, plugged by a purple fungal formation. In that moment they hear the magma landshark's scream in the distance.
Featured characters[]
Re-Slayers[]
Returning[]
- Ear-Devourer, the skull spider
New[]
- Xella Blacktongue
- Micah, his mechanical bat
Mentioned[]
- Devexian
- Bongo, carriage driver and neighbor of the Re-Slayers
- Embersmith & Embersmith, dwarven miners, one of them missing
- Unnamed hag
- Sasha, Xella's bodyguard
- Osysa
- Dr. Fitzwaggle, a potionmaker from Josgren's Hollow
Quotations[]
Trivia[]
References[]
Art:
- ↑ Re-Slayer's Take S2 promotional art, by Elaine Tipping (source). Used with permission.
| |||||||||||