Episode 32: Take Your Time

"'The Five Fools learn that a certain disaster approaches, and deal with an untimely foe...'"

Episode Events
Brendan steps forward, claiming it has been far too long. Mountain wanders off to dismember Sarc, trying to be unnoticed at first, before meeting eye contact with Brendan.

Velrisa flies upwards, to investigate what is above the gears on the ceiling, but as she attempts to look between the gears she feels the air get heavier. She pushes past, and only sees darkness for a brief moment before she starts to see small flurries of light, ribbons forming into different shapes and colors that she cannot understand. When she closes her eyes and opens them, the ribbons of light are gone, and it is just darkness once again. She emerges the moment with a painful headache. She ponders what she just witnessed and begins to have flashbacks of her past adventures, and even the parents that disowned her. She sees different parts of time all happen at once, in places she had never seen before, with people she's never met.

She recovers, successfully keeping her mental state in tact, only leaving with a feeling of unease and a throbbing headache. Velrisa suddenly realizes that the cogs seem to act as some sort of portal into another plane. She rejoins the group and Brendan.

Brendan steps out of the hallway. This leaves Sylnan confused, asking who he is. Brendan scolds him, telling Sylnan that he shouldn't speak to his father that way. Sylnan is doubtful, despite Brendan insisting he already knows who he is and why he's there. Brendan looks past Sylnan to Br'aad, his eyes turning a purple color. Sylnan steps in between of them, breaking the eye contact between them. Brendan states that he requires reconciliation for "things lost" that he didn't want to lose.

Mountain descends the stairs to mutilate Sarcs body, meanwhile Sylnan hears the voice in his head protesting. He feels a tearing pain in his left shoulder blade. Mountain succeeds in chopping off Sarcs right arm, despite feeling something pull on his arm to stop him. He turns, seeing the soft shimmer of a string coming from the side of his forearm, the other end protruding from Sylnans back. Suddenly, the entire party can hear the voice in Sylnans head out loud, stating that "It wasn't supposed to happen this quickly." followed by the sounds of strings being pulled. Suddenly, Sylnan feels stiff, pain travelling down his back for a moment. He then feels clarity, feeling more in control than he had in a very long time.

Mountain hears footsteps behind him. As he turns around, nobody is there. He hears the same voice in front of him, despite not seeing anyone there. The voice tells Mountain that he doesn't like how he's treating his new body.

Sylnan disregards the footsteps, knowing Brendan is his priority. He becomes very protective of Br'aad, telling Brendan that he was the one that left them as kids, and he has no right to lay a finger on Br'aad.

Taxi, hearing this, casts Faerie Fire, but it is unsuccessful. He then casts Dispell magic, targeting the origin point of the voice. Nothing appears in that area, but Brendon steps forward, asking if his sons will embrace him. His words then slur, as his form melts like wax coagulating into pools of grey liquid.

Sarcs corpse begins to be pulled to the podium by strings. The voice that resided in Sylnans head echoes through the entire chamber now, claiming that they destroyed his vessel. The voice threatens to take one of the party as his new host, causing Br'aad to cast Dispell Magic on the corpse. The corpse falls limp, as if the strings broke by Br'aads spell. The voices form is seen for the first time, as a looming gray form, strings coming from its long claws. It reaches out to Sylnan, strings wrapping around him. Sylnan, meeting eyes with the creature, feels a familiar sense of dread.

The battle commences, and the party fights for a while. During the fight, Hilltree gets temporarily charmed by the creature, and attacks Sylnan by casting a fireball. Sylnan barely dodges the fireball, vaulting off of Mountain to get high enough. Br'aad casts suggestion, making Hilltree cast a second fireball at the creature. Due to casting these spells, Hilltree's arm is burned severely. The battle continues, and Hilltree, still charmed, stabs Sylnan with a dagger. Taxi casts Dispell magic, successfully saving Hilltree from the creatures grasp. Hilltree panics, realizing what he had done to Sylnan.

The creature, upset by Taxi saving Hilltree, kills the dwarf captain. The shadow creature lays its eyes on Br'aad. Br'aad is unable to protect himself from being charmed, which causes him to see his party as enemies, rather than friends. The shadow creature, who now controls a charmed Br'aad, casts Shatter at Taxi and Velrisa. The spell renders Taxi unconscious.

Br'aad also tries to cast a curse on Velrisa, chanting "Your life will be just a stupid blip, this curse will make you constantly slip." However, she saves from the curse. Sylnan approaches Br'aad and slaps him, attempting to snap him out of being charmed. The slap briefly brings Br'aad back into consciousness but is brought back into the shadow creatures grasp, while also realizing he is being possessed, not charmed.

Velrisa heals both Taxi and the Captain, despite not knowing whether the captain is alive. Mountain orders Taxi to use entangle again, which succeeds in grappling the shadow creature and allows Mountain to take a strike towards the creature. The creature breaks from the vines, pulling Br'aad towards him with his right hand, ordering Br'aad to cast vicious mockery on Taxi.

Sylnan uses his daggers, trying to cut the threads connected to Br'aad. When his efforts do not succeed, he results in slapping Br'aad again. This time, the slap pulls Br'aad back to the real world, the threads breaking from him. Br'aad, now snapped out of the possession, stabs the shadow creature with his dancing reaper while simultaneously casting heat metal on the blade.

The creature reacts by wrapping his threads around Br'aads neck, preparing to strangle him.

Velrisa checks on the captain, finding out that the captain sustained multiple neck injuries, but he is still alive. She heals him, and begins to walk away before he stops her, and asks her to give his hammer to Mountain. As she takes the hammer and makes her way to Mountain, Velrisa hears the captain speak a long saying in dwarvish, but cannot translate it. She throws the hammer to Mountain.

As Mountain catches the hammer, he feels a certain passionate power fill his body which gives him a boost of confidence. Mountain goes to strike the shadow creature, hearing the distant chanting of soldiers in the back of his head as he hits the creature, feeling a powerful energy emerge from the hammer as a blinding light punctuates through the air, the powerful clap of thunder can be heard on impact.

Mountain goes to swing at the creature again, but the creature rips the hammer from Mountains grasp, dropping it as he claims that Mountain is not worthy to wield such power. Taxi follows Mountains lead, striking down against the creature with his staff. Taxi, with a kick, knocks the creature to his knees. Taxi and Mountain both strike the creature at the same time, killing it.

[midroll]

As the creature falls, Sylnan hears it whisper "I will soon awaken." He feels a brief burning sensation in his left arm, and when he looks down, the purple glow is immediately gone. He unwraps the bandages, noticing that his arm is completely healthy now. Hilltree clings onto Sylnans leg, sobbing, apologizing for stabbing him. Sylnan notices that Hilltrees arm is singed, and his tumor has grown back to a reputable size. He calls for Velrisa, who helps to heal Hilltrees arm. Br'aad examines Sylnans arm, but finds nothing, determining that his arm is completely normal.

Br'aad apologizes to the party for attacking them. Taxi asks for repayment by transforming the elephant into something smaller, however Br'aad doesn't have the spell slots to help. Br'aad suggests they come back for the elephant later, or to take a chance with the Wand Of Wonder. Taxi and Sylnan are very against the idea, but Mountain encourages him. Hilltree stops them, asking how they're supposed to get out. They look down the hallway that Brendan had come from, but it doesn't seem like it would be an exit.

Mountain walks over to the captain, discovering he is paralyzed, and picks him up to carry him.

Sylnan tries to talk to the party about what just happened, and what they just fought. As Taxi casts Flaming Sphere on Sarcs remains, Velrisa also tries to examine Sylnans arm. However, Velrisa doesn't feel any trace of the curse in his arm. The party looks to the corpse of the shadow creature as it begins to decay into ash. As Taxi burns Sarc's remains, he notices the amount of tribal tattoos that seems uncommon for someone with such bloodlust, also finding it odd that he was blue. Taxi asks if they're going to talk about the elephant in the room, which excites Hilltree because he gets the joke, but it frustrated Sylnan.

Sylnan voices his distrust of the king, which garners a negative reaction from Mountain and begins an argument between the two. Sylnan claims that it can't be a coincidence that Mountains father sent them into the same cave Sarc was in, but Mountain asks why he would bother to question it. Sylnan explains that Sarc said he wanted Velrisas' blood, a similar statement that Mountains dad also made. Mountain denies it, questioning why his father would take it through Sarc instead of just getting it on his own. However, Sylnan doesn't have an answer, but brings up the fact that the king doesn't hold power in the kingdom, and wonders where the queen is. He also questions what the Queen will do if she finds Mountain in the kingdom, as she doesn't want him there. Mountain interrupts him, asking what his problem is and states that "Just because your dad is wax, or whatever the fuck he is, you wanna come after mine?"

Sylnan quickly states that the situation isn't about Brendan. Despite Sylnans caution that something might not be right, Mountain tells him that he needs to step off, because he talked to his father and claims they can trust him. Sylnan refuses to believe it, but Mountain tells him to believe whatever the fuck he wants, and to rethink some shit if he has any thoughts to hit Mountain again.

Mountain tries to push it off, saying they can discuss it later but they need to find a way out of the cave first. Sylnan says it's the perfect time and suggests they just take off with the hammer, since it's useful to Mountain. Mountain jabs at Sylnan, claiming they don't need to rob everyone. They begrudgingly stop the discussion to find a way out, but decide to rest in order to gather themselves. Mountain examines the hammer, discovering that the hammer and his Flametongue were crafted in the same manner. Sylnan examines the large vault door.

Taxi continues to try to find out how to get the elephant out of the cave, attempting to dispell the magic that brought the elephant to the cave in the first place. As he prays, he hears the voice of Nula, who commends him for caring for the elephant and praises him, returning the elephant to its home out of the cave. The rest of the party sees the elephant, surrounded by white butterflies, vanishes. Taxi sits down, and meditates. Br'aad walks over and talks to Velrisa, apologizing for attacking her earlier. He also asks her what she saw above the gears on the ceiling, but she says the feeling she felt up there was unexplainable and she almost felt like she was in another world. She also explains that she got a pounding headache from looking up there, and her necklace began to glow after she went up there. Br'aad suggests it might be because of her penance but she isn't sure, just knowing that passing the gears was a horrible experience for her.

Br'aad decides he wants to go up beyond the gears on the ceiling. Velrisa asks how he plans to get up there, and he suggests she throw him. Hilltree comments that the group is already in enough danger. Br'aad realizes Hilltree makes a good point, and decides not to go up there. Hilltree tells the group that he likes it much better when they speak, as they have better ideas than him.

(Trigger Warning: Brief mention of suicide. Skip underlined words if this may upset you.)

Br'aad asks what Hilltree would do in this situation. Hilltree explains that he would take one of his daggers and take his own life. Br'aad and Taxi tell him he can't do that. Hilltree asks why not, and Taxi explains that the party wants him around. Hilltree tries to justify it, explaining that he would only do it if he was by himself, because he stands no chance. Taxi comforts him, saying that he has the party with him.

-It is safe beyond this point.

Hilltree points at the singes on his arm, claiming that he didn't know how he did it. Taxi points out that Hilltree has the capability to cast it, and they can experiment more with it once they get out of the cave. Mountain decides that the best call would be to get the captain to safety, as he won't survive long if he's left in the cave. As they discuss how to get the captain out of the cave, they begin to hear a noise begin to fill the room. A figure begins to form in the center of the room. They recognize it as the same creature that they just fought. However, when the creature spots them, it holds its hands up and gets down on one knee.

Sylnan approaches the creature as it claims its come to a decision. The creature states that it doesn't have much time left, and will cease to exist completely within the hour. The shadow creature offers to give the party something before it leaves. Sylnan asks if it's for possessing him for so long, but the creature quickly decides that the only thing he cares about are the dreamers. The creature explains that if they could kill it, they have the potential to take down a dreamer. It stands, and offers to show the party what they need to see.

The party follows the shadow creature as he explains that they're in a time chamber that was created by gods. It continues, explaining that one of the rooms was designated to Ob'nockshai. Br'aad expresses his relief that Ob'nockshai was locked away, which leaves Sylnan confused. The shadow creature explains that Ob'nockshai is barely an ancient one, only because he is a bastard kin of the Elder God of Time, and the Elder God of Trickery. He was described as being the creation of two domains, one of order, and one of chaos. He was also described as being hated by every other deity, and when the Elder Gods realized their mistake, they locked him in the time chamber. His only order was to warn the deities a month before the end of the world, but he escaped, fleeing his duties.

The party discovers that roughly 22 years are left before Ungaroh arrives, and begin to joke around about leaving. The Shadow creature immediately interrupts them however, telling them the clock is broken, and Ungaroh is already here. The creature explains that roughly 102 years ago, Ungaroh rose on his own unannounced to the world. The humans forgot about the single remaining dragon turtle and that's when the incident at the Barren happened and many lives were lost. Sylnan makes a comment about Mountain being alive 102 years ago. However, because he was so young and lived with giants when it happened, he never heard about the calamity and doesn't remember anything of it.

Taxi asks what happened to the other dragon turtles. The shadow creature explains that roughly 200 years ago, the other three dragon turtles were vanquished by a group of heroes that used the power of the elder gods to pilot ancient suits of armor that could fight back against the dragon turtles. Ungaroh was the only one to escape back to his own domain.

Br'aad asks if they can use the same suits, but the shadow creature claims he has no idea where they are. Sylnan, after a moment, realizes that he might have heard of the adventurers and asks if he knows what their fate might've been. He also says he's looking for Valentin, describing him as very old, despite being a physically young man.

The shadow creature is unaware of the adventurers fates, but assumes they're alive but elderly, and won't be in any fighting order. Taxi asks what the creature wanted them to see, and the creature motions to the Unhalektong. He continues to explain how Ob'nockshai left his post, began to kill a few ancient ones and take their places, and work his way up to get more powerful. He also blames Ob'nockshai for Ungaroh being dormant under the sea, lying in wait to attack again once he is strong enough.

Mountain, confused, asks which one the shadow creature wants them to kill, as killing both might be too much. The shadow creature corrects him, saying he didn't tell them to kill anything at all, just to vanquish the dreamers, which includes Ob'nockshai and Ungaroh. Mountain suggests that he may also be a dreamer because he can have dreams, however the shadow creature quickly denies that, stating that dreamers are elder gods that create everything to exist merely by thinking. He also explains that Ungaroh and Ob'nockshai were dreamers, but they deviated and will.

The shadow creature, after a brief argument with the party, fades away. Sylnan begins to feel dejavu, and wonders if he had already known the information they were just given because the creature possessed him for so long.

As Br'aad stands in the room, he feels a connection within him, the same feeling he felt when he signed the pact with Ob'nockshai. As he goes to raise his hand, he finds that Unhalektong follows the movement with his hand. As he tries to flip the hourglass, it does not flip, but it spins 3 times and begins to shake violently and rattle. As the shaking subsides, a significant portion of sand in the upper chamber of the hourglass is gone. He begins to see words reflected on the glass, spelling out "81 days."

The party (albeit, slightly confused) comes to the conclusion that they have 81 days to kill both Ungaroh and Ob'nockshai, or the world will end. Br'aad suggests they let the world know, but Mountain, recalling on events at the wharf, claims it wouldn't be a great idea.

Br'aad, in an attempt to increase the days on the clock, spins the hourglass again. However, the hourglass moves slower than before and despite his efforts, the sand in the hourglass doesn't change. As the party decides to leave, Hilltree stops them to discuss a very important issue. He, fairly panicked, asks how Br'aad is moving the hourglass. The party begins to wonder the same. Br'aad tries to convince Hilltree that he can do it because he's rich, and that only rich people can move things with their mind.

Sylnan asks how much money Br'aad actually has and Br'aad quickly backpedals, telling the party that he can really do it because of his connection to Ob'nockshai. As the party begins to ask questions about the connection, time briefly stops for everyone but Br'aad. He panicks, thinking he was allowed to tell the party about Ob'nockshai. The voice of The Storyteller assures him that it's fine, and time resumes. The party begins to hear footsteps. As Mountain continues to question Br'aad, the Storyteller appears, with a florescent white aura, and suggests Mountain quiet down. The Storyteller smiles warmly, comforting the party. The party, increasingly confused, wonders who he is. The Storyteller introduces himself as a god, and as Br'aads mentor. Mountain and Sylnan wonder if they need to kill him too, but they quickly find out from the elder god that they cannot kill him. He introduces himself as a deity of time, which quickly leads Sylnan into pointing out that Ob'nockshais' father was also a deity of time. The Storyteller recognizes that Sylnan is too quick to pick up on things, confirming that Ob'nockshai is his son.

Mountain tells the deity that they'll have to kill Ob'nockshai, a notion which the time god fully welcomes. The Storyteller offers to help them retrieve the warhammer and get out of the cave. Taxi asks why he couldn't have done that for the elephant, which he explains that he, as a god, is not allowed to interfere and merely being there with them breaks many rules.

The Storyteller brings the party to the room where the warhammer resides. He warns the party that they are not alone, and that they must act quick. Mountain approaches the hammer, and as he grabs it, he feels a brief surge of strength. As Mountain is at the podium, Br'aad asks if the party is about to get ambushed. The Storyteller confirms it, pulling out a quill from his coat and writing in the book.

As he writes in the book, a singular doorway forms in the wall, leading to a staircase leading directly upwards. Br'aad tells the Storyteller to teach him how to do that, but he refuses. Before he leaves, the party asks him many questions. As he begins to walk away, he claims that their lives may repeat themselves, and he vanishes.

The cavern begins to shake, and blue rips in time form on either side of the party and many black-cloaked dwarves step out of the rifts. As they run to the opposite side of the cavern, Br'aad casts from his Wand of Wonder, summoning a swarm of flies. Large metallic automatons emerge from the rifts. The two automatons shoot out large spiked chains at Velrisa. She is impaled in the back, right below her sternum. Mountain hands the captain to Sylnan, and uses the artifact hammer to try to break the chain. The chain takes the blow but does not break.

Sylnan, apologizing to Velrisa, tries to pull her off the chain with no success. He tries to pull her off the chain one more time, again, not succeeding. She is then pulled backwards out of the parties reach. A dwarf, referring to her as a sacrifice, casts dimension door. Both the dwarf and Velrisa disappear.

Br'aad points at one of the other dwarves, asking who he works for. The dwarf smiles, and reveals that the Queen sent them. The automatons begin to move towards the party, preparing their chains to be launched once more.

Taxi, in a panic, casts Wall of Thorns separating the party from the two automatons that were barreling towards them. Mountain protests, but they all leave anyway, ascending up the stairs.

Velrisa comes to, waking up to see a dark room, realizing she's in a rusted cell. An elderly dwarf stands in front of her.