Merla and Lysandra ask the feymother why she needs the help of her mother, the Mother Soulweaver. She tells them that Altarian’s soul is being held by the Forge Builder, one of the three rulers of the Abyss, who will want to use it to bargain with the Mother Soulweaver because he’ll know she won’t have forfeited the ambitions and plans she was preparing the last time she was in power. She tells them that creatures from the Abyss are greedier even than the Hells and their deals are always first in their minds. Speaking to her mother might be difficult right now because of the fight in the Hells - the gods will be descending from Heaven, but the feymother knows her mother is crafty and will survive somehow. She hopes that the mission with Medusa will reveal her weakness.
Jhin and Lucia arrive, Cassian leaning against a wall outside. Lucia gestures for Lysandra and Merla to come outside, and tells them that she’s seen Onyx, Rupen and Illusius petrified in the vision from Lord Kuhloo. Upset, they ultimately agree that they should sleep and regain some strength before tackling this problem. They also briefly discuss the tiefling Karnach that Lord Valgore took away from the fight with Bynrora and Guan - Merla tells them that Lord Valgore threw him into the Abyss.
Jhin also shares some information about the Abyss - it’s run by three impossibly powerful entities: Mangsa Prima; Hitam Kaki; and the Serpent (Jhin and Jurmungandr’s ‘colleague’). Going to the Abyss at our current level of power would be a death sentence.
Re-entering the main room with Altarian’s body, the feymother seems to be concentrating. She tells us that the Mother Soulweaver will be just as eager as we are to get Altarian’s soul back and the best thing for us to do is to sleep and we will talk in the morning. A fairy escorts us to a treehouse that Merla and Lysandra recognise as Altarian’s. It’s untouched - he’s not been here in some time.
Since it’s still afternoon, Jhin heads towards the sounds of training in the distance and Lucia heads off to find a library, leaving Merla and Lysandra in the house together. Merla reassures Lysandra that we will get him back and Lysandra gets upset, saying that this has all happened so quickly. They find cups in the cupboards and start drinking from Altarian’s wine tap, catching each other up. They Send a message to Daisy, who tells them about Marillion training with Markus, and discuss the little they know about Lysandra’s transformation before deciding to head out into the village. Merla mentions Lord Valgore entrusting Lucia with the nom nom and Lysandra says she doesn’t know why he trusts this party, that she trusted this party and now half of us are dead - Merla reassures her.
Jhin finds a training field with a horde of sylvan men and fey orcs training. He joins them, drawing a crowd impressed by his strange fighting style. One of the fey orcs notices the adamantine arm in Jhin’s pack and compliments it - Jhin tells him he only acquired it recently and isn’t sure what to do with it. The fey orc suggests that he could turn it into a kind of shield for 10GP - Jhin gives him 20GP and the fey orc tells him it should take a day and to come check in the village forge for it.
Lucia finds a library and has a few topics of study.
Petrification - she finds it’s usually non-lethal but that some rare creatures use it to cause instant death, combining the petrification with the killing instinct of what is usually an evil creature. Overcoming normal petrification can take weeks, but the type of petrification Medusa uses will require the stone magic to be removed then the body to be brought back to life. The Dispel Magic spell followed by Revivify should work, since the body was effectively frozen at the moment of death.
The Abyss - mainly that us going as we are would be a death sentence. The books cover the three Abyssal entities above and mentions that the Abyss doesn’t seem to serve a natural purpose. Liches, necromancers etc are all known to use Abyssal magic. The deals done there aren’t so much contracts as they are mutually beneficial arrangements - people who don’t keep the terms of the arrangements tend to be tormented, have life force or youth drained, until they submit. All three abyssal entities dislike one another but seem uninterested in invading each other or other realms, preferring to lurk and consume.
Lysandra and Merla aren’t able to find the armour shop Merla found last time, although they aren’t surprised because Lord Valgore did say that he’d buried that shopkeeper himself. Even the building is gone, like he never existed. They stroll through the village, Merla trying to tempt Lysandra with magical trinkets and luxury clothes. They can’t find disguise kits but do find Greater Healing potions at 50GP each, Lysandra buying 2 and Merla 4. The village is bustling and full of life - they seem to be preparing for a funeral.
Jhin also visits a shop, buying 5 Greater Healing and 5 Superior Healing potions. He also looks for weapons but is overwhelmed with the selection and leaves.
All four return to the house, where an elven lady enters with a tray of food, including a bottle of blood for Lysandra. After dinner, Jhin meditates with the Dragon’s Thunder Valley lightning sword, attuning his sense to it and realising that it’s lightning crackles correspond to his emotions. Although seemingly not sentient, the sword does feel alive. Lucia, Merla and Lysandra meanwhile share the information they found out during the day.
Merla and Lysandra leave, Merla to go summon and spend time with Markus and Lysandra to retrieve Cassian. They find Cassian and fill him in on the situation - he’s sceptical about our ability to face Medusa, but heads towards the house. Lysandra asks Merla not to mention to Markus that she’s married, since her parents know she’s engaged but not that they got accidentally married.
Merla summons Markus, who arrives sword in hand and sweaty from training. She tells him she just wanted to check in - he’s confused about why the party is in the feywild and Merla fills him in about the chase with Salabana and Altarian’s death, with Markus expressing his sorrow. Merla continues to tell him about everything that’s happened to us, chastises him for not getting more excited about her being able to breathe fire, and they wander around shopping together. Markus takes advantage of being in the feywild and kits himself out with new armour and weapons, while Merla buys an enchanted lute that will force -1d4 on an enemy’s saving throw for 200GP. Markus advises that a calming spell may help with Medusa.
Lysandra walks back to the house, stopping by to stare sadly at Altarian’s body through the window.
Jhin dashes to the shop from earlier just before it closes and asks for a Robe of Stars for 200GP. He also asks if they have any chess sets and the owners tell him he does have a feywild chess set that’s dear to him, and asks if in return Jhin’s mage friend could help release the contents of a white-starred crystal that he doesn’t want to show the wizards in town - Jhin says he’ll bring her back in the morning and heads back to the house. He knocks on Lucia’s door and hands her the Robe of Stars - she takes it, and tells him it’s enchanted and quite powerful, that the shopkeeper should have details on how it works, and that it’ll suit him, and hands it back - Jhin heads to his own room.
Before bed, Lysandra Sends her mother a message telling her about Altarian’s death, Altarian being a god, and seeing her dad in the Hells. Her mum replies with love and warmth telling her to come home.
As they sleep, Merla sees a vision of the Hells - the Legendary Six are desperately hurt and trying to run as Athena rallies the hordes towards them.
Lysandra finds herself in pitch blackness and hears a familiar voice - Salabana - telling her she wants to bring Altarian back and so does he - he has a deal to offer. He tells her that he will protect and defend Lysandra and her family as she travels through the Abyss, as long as she returns Altarian’s soul and brings him back to life - Lysandra asks what the catch is, and Salabana seems genuine when he tells her that he loved his brother and wants him back. No other being can protect her in the abyss - Lysandra convinces him that she can’t make deals without full details - Salabana tells her that if she makes a deal with his mother, she will be crafty and make sure he doesn’t get to return with Lysandra - that his mother despises him and won’t let him near Altarian and that Salabana wants to use Lysandra as his weapon. Lysandra is unsure, pulling promises from Salabana that there are no tricks, that they’ll be protected on the way back out of the Abyss as well, and that once Altarian is back the deal is over, and has no bearing on the wider war.
Lysandra eventually agrees to the deal - everyone currently in the party gets +10 to saving throws as they shake hands, Salabana’s cold as ice. Salabana tells her that for her benefit and to know his intentions are honest, your beloved Six will live, and then he disappears and Lysandra snaps out of the dream.
At exactly the same moment in her vision, Merla sees the Six miraculously healed, with their allies Asmodeus and Astak also being fully healed, before she wakes.
Lysandra spends the rest of her night rifling through Altarian’s drawers - she finds his previous engagement rings, inscribed Altarian and Yvonne, and gently returns them.Merla, immediately after her vision, heads downstairs where breakfast has already been served, and taps her foot impatiently waiting for the others. We all come down for breakfast and Merla fills us in, before realising Lysandra’s holding something back too. Lysandra also tells us about her deal, causing dismay. Merla reminds her that Salabana murdered Rupen’s dad in front of him, imprisoned the feymother, tried to steal her husband’s dead body, and isn’t exactly trustworthy. We decide to see what the feymother makes of it before heading to the shop for supplies and scrolls.
We find the feymother staring at a map of the fey realm, and Lysandra tells her about the deal. She asks what he wanted in return and sheds a tear when she hears he just wanted her brother, then sighs and says it seems we are making a trip to the Hells. She intends to accompany us through the Hells to the gateway to the Abyss, although she can’t go further. We tell her we need to get our party members back first, and asks about how to return to her in the feywilds from Medusa’s cave - she gives Lucia a 9th level Teleportation Circle scroll to use. Merla hugs her and Lysandra apologises for making the deal, but the feymother tells her she would have done the same. Merla tells her about the Legendary Six healing, she warns Merla about having to choose between her draconic and her fey magic, and she tells Jhin her brother must have loved him and to go in peace.
We visit the scroll and potions shop briefly - Merla buys 3x Calm Emotions scroll for 5GP each, and Lucia buys 4x Revivify scrolls and 4x Holy Water at 5GP each. Merla also buys a ring of feather fall for 40GP.
Jhin visits the forge, which is unexpectedly built out of fiery wood. The fey orc emerges and presents him with the altered adamantine arm, perfectly polished and adorned with the insignia of the fey wild, helping Jhin to buckle it on - Jhin removes his Necklace of Adaptation to allow himself attuning slots. Guan’s Vambrace is a +3 shield, adds 1d8 force damage to punches, gives resistance to slashing damage and immunity to crits.
Jhin mentions the shopkeeper’s crystal to Lucia, but they decide to go back after saving Onyx, Rupen and Illusius. We go back to the feymother, briefly paying respects to Altarian whose body is under the Gentle Repose spell, We tell the feymother we’re ready to go and and her eyes glow as she levitates off the ground and teleports us right back in front of Medusa’s cave.
We see evidence of small scuffles taking place after we left, with no sign of Bynrora or our party members. Everyone blindfolds themselves except Lucia, who peers into the cave entrance and sees statues, but not our three. Merla hears Medusa’s snakes hissing and everyone closes and covers their eyes. Lysandra casts Zone of Truth around herself, affecting all of us, and greets Medusa telling her we’re not here to hurt her, we want to get our friends back and find out how to kill Athena. Medusa, carefully avoiding the Zone of Truth, says ‘Kill Athena, you say?’ and Lysandra tells her that her dad is currently in the Hells fighting the demon princes.
Medusa tells Lucia to open her eyes and she refuses, telling Medusa she’s seen her friends turned to stone. Medusa tells the group that no one comes up here to help and Merla tells her that we did - we hurried to get here to try and stop Jhin’s brother Guan (and gestures to what remains of Guan scattered around us), we met her brother Illusius on the way and brought him with us, we’re here to get some information. We’d be very grateful to be able to leave with our friends and some of her wisdom. Merla tells her that she’s sorry for her friends’ behaviour, for them walking into Medusa’s home, and tells her that we have bigger things to do, we just want to get our friends and some information and leave her in peace.
Medusa asks why we would come up here, why our friends would come up here, and why her foolish brother would come up here, and Merla reaffirms that we came here to get information about Medusa. Lucia blindly pulls all her books out of her pack and tosses them towards Medusa’s feet, telling her Illusius’ book is in there and she can see for herself that he spent years researching her plight and just couldn’t get here safely. Jhin reminds Medusa that Lysandra’s zone of truth is affecting all of us and that she knows we’re not lying - he tells her they’re here standing in what remains of his brother, who we killed to protect her.
Slowly, Medusa tells us we’re free to enter and claim our friends - she will keep her darkness up so that we’re safe, and her voice starts to fade further away as Merla calls after her, sympathising with how lonely her life must be,
Jhin enters the pitch black cave, asking Medusa to provide directions in the darkness, and she guides him forward as Lucia follows closely behind, calling to Merla and Lysandra to wait outside and be prepared while they try to bring at least Illusius back. Reaching out, Jhin feels Illusius in front of him - the three were holding hands, so he’s connected to both Rupen and Onyx’s statues. Lucia Dispells the magic and Illusius turns from stone to dead flesh, hands still held in Rupen and Onyx’s, and Jhin darts forward to hold him up so the other two statues don’t break under his trapped weight. Lucia pulls out the Revivify scroll and hesitates, warning Medusa that she needs to read the scroll to bring her brother back and can’t do that if Medusa’s standing in front of her and turns her to stone - with no response, Lucia kneels, looking down as much as possible, and opens her eyes. She successfully reads the scroll and Illusius gasps back to life, Jhin immediately warning him not to move.
Illusions calls out ‘Medusa?’ with no reply - Merla from outside calls to him telling him she’s glad he’s back and can he please tell his sister what his intentions here were. Illusius calls out to his sister that he was worried about her and trying to find a way to bring her back, and he’s sorry it took so long. Lucia also calls out to Medusa, telling her that she’s going to bring the other two back - no response, so she Dispels Magic and Revivifies Rupen, then Onyx, warning them both to shut their eyes. We make our way carefully out of the cave, with Merla starting to berate Onyx and Rupen as soon as they start to emerge. Jhin gives them both a greater potion of healing, since they came back to life with 1HP, then smacks them both in the back of the head. Bickering breaks out and punches are thrown as the party reunites.
