May 21, 2026 · Strategic / RP Heavy with a Combat Cliffhanger
'Surely you can't be serious.' 'Have you seen Shirley 2.0?' New splint mail. AC 17. Could take a bigger beating. Caelum, one exhaustion deep from an all-nighter, was less impressed.The mausoleum had its name chiseled off. The Ebon Gospel had its final pages torn out. Somebody, somewhere, is actively erasing Mexoz Valaryn from history. The boss has hidden helpers.Sister Helwin tried to keep it together. Her grandmother walked the Black Pilgrimage trying to stop it, and lost herself somewhere along the way. Last anyone saw her she was 'a jibbering moth, massive flesh teeth and arms.' That is what the path does.Idril made the case for the cemetery. Orion made the case for reinforcements. Oggy made no case at all, then slipped into shadow and trailed Orion to the council chambers. Party of six becomes 4 + 1 + 1 in a single conversation.Investigation 18 to find the council. Persuasion 15 (with +5 nobility background, after a string of nat 1s nobody mentions). Result: 8 foot soldiers committed, full assault locked if scouts confirm. Lawful good wins again.'I am trained in deception. I waited until you left.' Oggy, almost dissolved into shadow-smoke, three feet from a paladin who has no idea. The stealth specialist confirming the lawful good guy isn't ratting on the chaotic neutral one.One hour of Find Familiar. Two minutes of actual ritual. Fifty-eight minutes of arguing about the name. Lurd? Lurdi? Corvus? Lenore? The raven settled on Lirdi (Idril reversed). The raven did not get a say.Disguise Self plus dead-body costume. Performance check: nat 22 plus 5, total 27. Kimber did the literal Michael Jackson Thriller dance in front of actual zombies. They swayed along. Idril walked past her at stealth 25 like the only adult in the room.Sneak attack: 28 to hit, plus 3d6 sneak damage. Scimitar between spine and skull. Idril deliberately did NOT use the Sword of the Pack Leader because it howls on kill. Total professional. The zombie did not make a sound.'SHIRLEY SCRUMPTIOUS!' Shirley, screaming his own name, charges the perimeter zombies one beat after Idril's silent kill. Three minutes of careful stealth: gone. The half-orc fighter cared not.A zombie's teeth find Kimber's sleeve. 19 piercing plus 16 damage. Failed CON save. d100 = 13. She has 13 days to cure the zombie curse or join the cast. 'Your disguise will no longer be a disguise. It will be perfect,' said the DM.For the first time since April 9, Mexoz Valaryn was right there in the center of the cemetery, Moonstone Crown still on his skull. The party watched him. Then they didn't. Gone. Again.
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