Episode 29: Bros Before Woes

"'Taxi and Mountain punch the feelings out of eachother...'"

Episode Events
As the party continues to travel to Togindor, the three days travel and activities during it occurs in sequences.

Br'aad and Taxi wake up early, and decide with the success of the previous baking attempts to try and experiment once more. During the chaos of cooking, Taxi spills the batter while Br'aad yells out various instructions and throws various ingredients into the bowl. Br'aad turns Taxi into a goat using Polymorph and uses the milk for the batter. Surprisingly, the muffins turn out quite well, and throughout the following days attempt to bake more recipes.

Taxi continues his training regimes, gaining extra strength.

Velrisa reflects on her situation that occurred with Akar, meanwhile keeping an eye on the party and the ship, keeping things functioning and orderly.

Mountain takes a chance to talk with Chirp about their destination. Chirp tells Mountain that Togindor is the capital of the Dwarven kingdom in the north of Ingris, and has a large population of non-organic lifeforms that the dwarves used as soliders, but now are simply citizens. The king of the kingdom is King Ragrum, a rule heavy king that doesn't seem entirely sane. The queen of the kingdom is absent, she had to move to a dwarven continent to assist in politics.

Taxi and Mountain go to train together in the pit Taxi made earlier on the trip. Training combat ensues.

Taxi punches, missing. Mountain waits for Taxi. Taxi uses Fury Of Blows, hitting him multiple times. Mountain hits Taxi hard near the lungs. Taxi punches Mountain in the face. Moving too fast, Taxi misses two hits, and Mountain grabs him, twisting him to the ground. Mountain grabs Taxi's staff, dropping it in front of Taxi. Taxi gets up, kicking Mountain, and goes into Fury Of Blows, hitting both. Mountain moves quickly behind him, hitting him in the back. Taxi rushes up to hit again, and Mountain retaliates by trying to sweep him off his balance. Taxi hits once more, and Mountain hit him hard in the jaw. Training combat ends.

Mountain and Taxi talk about Taxi's fear of dying or losing others, which leads into a conversation about Mountain's wife. Mountain explains that he and his wife were falsely accused of burning down their own tavern, and she was killed due to it. Taxi explains that he lost his mother as a child, and was left alone for his childhood, living in a forest, where he developed animalistic habits. He speaks about how he met Oriana years later, and traveled together, but his animal habits didn't leave. When a fight occurred between Oriana and Taxi, he physically hurt her, causing her to leave the next morning. Taxi first went to find Oriana again in The Great King's Wharf to apologize and make up for what he did to her. Taxi and Mountain go to drink together.

Sylnan, who has kept to himself most of the days, begins to pray to Katherine. Katherine answers, and beginning to materialize around him is the fountain and forest of Katherine's realm. Sylnan expresses his regrets and fears, and Katherine shows him something she has observed. The water in the fountain shows imagery of the sky ship, and occasionally there is a pulse that flies towards the ship, and upon reaching halfway through, fires back into the direction it came from. Katherine explains it is an arcana that is searching the ship, and each time it searches, it only takes notice of two souls; Sylnan's and Velrisa's. Katherine explains that while she does not currently hold the power to assist with the demon, it is possible for her to gain that power through followers of her.

Sylnan and Br'aad cross paths, finally talking with each other. Sylnan admits to his inner demon and possession, which Br'aad confirms his knowledge of already, and that he knows it is getting worse. Sylnan asks Br'aad to look out for him, and apologizes for all he has done. Br'aad tells Sylnan about what happened with Akar and their plans for an exorcism in season 2 episode 25, Broken Faith. The brothers end their conversation, leaving to the kitchen to bond over making scones.

Mountain and Taxi, who were drinking together, both get heavily intoxicated. They sneak into the kitchen where Br'aad is cooking, and quietly drop Great Grapes into his food. They then proceed to sneak up towards the captain's quarters, where they find the door is locked. Taxi attempts to pick the lock, resulting in Cedric waking up. Not amused, he tosses them a bottle of whiskey and tells them to drink until they pass out, and shuts the door on him. Taxi and Mountain take his advice and whiskey.

The next morning, the party arrives at Togindor, a large city. It is a beautiful city, filled with a large population of non-organic beings. As the party lands, they are greeted by a young dwarf, one of royalty, accompanied by two poised warforged. The female introduces herself as Princess Meralyn, Mountain's sister. The warforged later introduce themselves as Castor and Tontor. The party tours the castle, taking notice of the many replicas of a strong warhammer from an older King named Tarik, the symbol of hope for the kingdom. King Tarik notably was the starting motion of the war between dwarves and elves.

After Castor's tour, the party explores the town, stocking up on supplies, freshening up, and sight seeing.

Gathering in the throne room, the party meets the king of Togindor, King Ragrim, sitting on the throne. He studies the party, stopping on Mountain. He stands, approaching him, greeting him with relief and joy. Ragrim explains that Mountain was taken away as a baby, and left in the mountains due to his 'tainted blood' as the child of a servant. Due to this, Ragrim assumed him dead, and only after hearing word of his adventures, sought him out again to see for himself if Mountain was truly alive. Mountain does not share this joy, and approaches the conversation with anger.

King Ragrim offers the party a quest for a large sum of money, and requests a further conversation with Mountain at a later time. He and the party dine at a large banquet meal. He makes a request to Velrisa that she donate blood for their research in exchange for anything she desires, be it money or intelligence. They dine awkwardly, but still enjoying their food.