Into the Mirror 17, The Way Out

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The search for a way out of The Sands of Eternity took Flynry, Toddleheim, Elianna and Cerys, with Vythorn, the Arbiter, in tow, from a lost skirmish in the dunes to a town built inside the remnants of a vast soul and on to a ringed machine in a sea of lava. It was not a Deathmatch, but it had plenty of near-deaths, a shop full of magical junk and a fire giant cut in half. It also had a betrayal. The way out worked, but only for one.

The Story

Surrender in the Sands

The episode opened in the middle of a losing fight outside the library, against the raiders of a band led by a young-looking man named Sky. One of the enemy’s wizards opened a gravity sinkhole in the middle of the party. A void orb dragged Flynry, Toddleheim and the Arbiter into its centre, and Flynry and Toddleheim dropped. Elianna was hanging on by a thread, but she still spat hellfire back at the wizard, who answered with a single ominous “Hmm.” Then an orc raider with a greatsword cut down Cerys and Elianna one after the other.

With the party unconscious around him, the Arbiter was the last one standing. Sky pointed his glaive at him: “Doesn’t have to be this way. You could just surrender and you can live. And we’ll take your stuff.” Vythorn had no real dog in the fight and no real weapon either, so he ceremonially drew a dagger, threw it into the sand and said, “You win.” Then he leaned in with one more suggestion: “You sure you don’t want to kill them? They’re very troublesome. I’ve dealt with them before.” Sky looked at him. “There’s something wrong with you.” The unconscious party never heard any of it.

Sky whistled, an army crested the dune, and his mages healed the party back to their feet. All he wanted, he explained, was half their stuff. Elianna tossed over some gems, Toddleheim threw down one of his old books, and Flynry unslung his shortbow. Cerys offered a torch, rations and a shield: “What do you want from us?” When one of Sky’s dragonborn whispered that he sensed something magical among them, Flynry pinned it on the Arbiter’s unsettling aura. Sky already had his doubts about Vythorn, so the lie landed. “Forget it. Forget the whole thing,” Sky sighed. “I guess you can keep your stuff.”

The Free Thinkers

Impressed by fighters this notable, Sky invited them home. His people, he said, were not outlanders, which was a dirty term: “we like to consider ourselves free thinkers.” They were free from the rule of the queen of the walled city of Mortaurios. “Things there aren’t what they seem,” he warned, and admitted he didn’t trust the queen. When Flynry brought up what had happened to the king, Sky agreed there had been “a fair bit of fuckery around that.”

The king’s sand sickness drew a scornful spit. Sky’s people had lived in the sands for years, and to him it was “just another lie of the queen,” meant to keep her people locked inside. “Or did you think the walls were for protection?” His band dealt in rare artifacts on the black market, and they knew a way into the city. As a show of good faith, he told the party that the library dampened magic. After a few miles of walking, Elianna and Toddleheim felt their power return. Vythorn noticed it too and said nothing.

Inside the Heart

Under the celestial sky, Sky halted his army and whispered, “Take me to the heart.” The green sand cracked and fell away into stairs, which led down through an archway into a vast hollow cavern of green and blue crystal. The party soon realised it was the same stuff as the soul gems used for currency in the city, only unimaginably larger. Soul gems are dead people. Flynry asked whether it matched the gem Locket is made of. It was similar, but not the same.

Hundreds of thousands of people lived there, in a mining town of stilt houses, hanging bridges and pulley elevators. In Sky’s hall, carved into the crystal wall, the party ate and rested while Sky lounged on a cushion and Vythorn stood stiffly at the side, refusing to sit. Flynry admitted this was a warmer welcome than the city had given them. “It’s a nice place, I guess, if you don’t know any better,” Sky replied. “But it’s just another prison.” Everyone there knew the cavern was “the remnants of a vast soul,” with “a lot of unspent time” in it. They could only mine so far before it collapsed on them.

Sky had more to share. There were other hidden strongholds in the sands, including a very cold one on a snowy mountainside. Some opened when you spoke a name, and some through reflective surfaces. Mirrors and polished crystal led to “echoes of planes,” places that had perhaps once been connected and had broken apart. Flynry made his wish plain: “I like the living. That’s the plane I’d like to return to.” One place was said to have once been “an adjoining of worlds” connected to the land of the living. It was called The Oasis. Cerys politely refused an escort, pointing out that Sky’s people had nearly killed them all. “You don’t trust us,” he said. “That’s smart.”

Shopping with Cyrus

Before morning, Sky walked them to a junk-piled shop run by a kobold he called Cyrus. The kobold was flush with soul gems and hungry for anything unique. Cerys came away with a holy longsword and Toddleheim with a fine warhammer, already paid for by “a good deal with your friend here.” The kobold had heard of a statue called the Golden Lady, but he had never seen it: “Everyone’s owned it at one point or another.” Flynry asked about a red eye-shaped pendant, and the shopkeeper dove into a heap of jewellery. He came back up with a necklace that made its wearer immune to disease, nothing could harm you, “well, except like swords and stuff.” Glancing at Flynry’s belt line, he added that it also kept down certain “ailments” below the belt: “you look like a man who likes to have a good time.” Flynry agreed: “Party animal I am.”

Flynry offered the Atlas of Endless Horizons, and the kobold’s eyes went wide: “This is not what you want. This is fine, but I have better.” He handed over a periapt that closes wounds, “If you ever find yourself close to death, you’ll want to be wearing this baby”, and flung the Atlas over his shoulder into a pile of glowing magic. Elianna got the disease necklace in exchange for her rose-gold emerald amulet, which the kobold bit and declared a unique soul gem.

The Polished Door

In the morning Sky made one last pitch for them to stay. He confessed that he didn’t much like leading. Some of his people begged him to invade Mortaurios, and he had no interest in it. Elianna, who asks everyone this, asked whether he was happy. “At least here we get to be in this giant soul gem,” he said.

Flynry angled his sword so Elianna could see Sky’s reflection, which shows a person’s true urges. In the blade, Sky reached into Vythorn’s pocket as he walked past. In reality he never did. He was nothing sinister, just kind of a pickpocket who was always thinking about finding things. Elianna quietly pulled her shirt over the orrery. Sky led them to a small cave where part of the soul gem had been polished to a mirror. “I hope we meet again,” he said, “and hopefully the next time you’re not passing through here as soul gems.”

The Oasis

The mirror clouded, and in a blink the party stood in a field of broiling lava that stank of sulfur. “Oasis, my behind,” Flynry said. Things swam in the lava, humanoids clawed their way out of it, and giants walked on the horizon. Ahead, a great structure of arcing rings hung over the lava on four bridges laid out in a cross. It looked like their orrery, which began to vibrate and, as they got closer, glow blue in Elianna’s shirt.

There was no keyhole. “Every key needs a lock,” Flynry said. At the centre of the runic platform the orrery floated and spun, and then nothing more happened. Vythorn stepped in: “May I?” He adjusted the device’s rings, and the giant rings overhead moved with them. Then the machinery groaned, and fire elementals poured from doorways at the ends of the bridges, followed by two cat-like rakshasa carrying huge swords. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Flynry asked. “No!” said Vythorn. “Just give me five minutes.”

Holding the Platform

Cerys hasted Vythorn to make him work faster. Elianna summoned a downpour over the party that sapped the elementals, and Toddleheim raised a volcanic earth wall that their fire could barely crack. Toddleheim then read the ancient writing aloud and shouted the phrases to Vythorn. Flynry’s sword skittered off the elementals’ rocky hides, so he fell back on his old monk training and beat them with his fists. Vythorn’s tinkering sent the rings whirling so fast they smashed the bridges and dumped the far guardians into the lava. Cerys froze one elemental in place with holy terror. Elianna’s command to “Halt” barely worked: fire elementals don’t speak any language she knows, so they stopped for a second and then kept coming. When the rings began to align in a blast of hot wind, the last elementals gave up and leapt off the platform.

Then a giant hurled a flaming boulder. With a natural 20, Flynry shoved Toddleheim clear and took the rock square on the chin. He planted his sword in the burning rubble and looked back at Vythorn: “This is it.” The giant hauled its upper half over the platform’s edge like a towering final boss and brought its greatsword down. Cerys went supernova in a scream of radiant light. Elianna’s banishment slid off it, and Toddleheim’s attempt to shrink it failed too. When the giant mangled Flynry, Elianna ran in to heal him and wrapped him in sanctuary. All the while Vythorn kept promising, “I am almost there.”

The Way Out

As Elianna rushed forward, Vythorn’s voice came from behind them: “I wish it could be different, but this only works for one.” He tore the orrery apart and pulled it over himself like a portal. In the same moment, Toddleheim realised what one of the lines he had been reading aloud really said: the key had only one use. “Nothing personal,” said the Arbiter. “The Grandmaster has to be saved.” He dove through. The blast ripped the giant’s top half clean off and left a stump of blood against the sky. The party was left standing alone on the platform.

Notable Moments

• Vythorn surrendered with a ceremonial dagger, then tried to talk Sky into killing the party. Sky was disturbed by it.
• The outlanders’ town is built inside a colossal soul gem, “the remnants of a vast soul.”
• The kobold shopkeeper tossed the Atlas of Endless Horizons into a junk pile as if it were nothing.
• Flynry’s mirror-sword revealed Sky to be a harmless would-be pickpocket.
• Flynry rolled a natural 20 to take a flaming boulder to the face for Toddleheim.
• The Arbiter took the one-use way out alone, and the explosion tore the giant in half.

Memorable Quotes

• Sky: “There’s something wrong with you.”
• Sky: “A dirty term, I suppose, but we like to consider ourselves free thinkers.”
• The kobold shopkeeper: “You wear this thing, you are immune to disease. Nothing can harm you. Well, except like swords and stuff.”
• Flynry: “I like the living. That’s the plane I’d like to return to.”
• Flynry: “Oasis, my behind.”
• Cerys: “You have got to get us out of here, man. By Thorn.”
• The Arbiter: “I wish it could be different, but this only works for one.”
• The Arbiter: “Nothing personal, the Grandmaster has to be saved.”

Who and What Appears

Characters

Flynry (BdTeej)

• Former monk who reverts to monk technique: Flurry of Blows, ki points, Stunning Strike, magical fists, Opportunist. He also casts Inflict Wounds.
• Carries a sword whose reflection shows a person’s true nature or urges (the “Sword of Truth” in his player’s words). He used it on a guard before and on Sky this episode. Uses a greatsword in the fight.
• Knows from “the large book” about the Golden Lady statue and an eye-shaped pendant with a red gem.
• Traded the Atlas of Endless Horizons for the Periapt of Wound Closure. Lost his shortbow to Sky’s toll.
• Wants to return to “the living.”
• Never been to a party; “not the leader of anything besides maybe lunch.”
• Took the giant’s rock for Toddleheim.

Elianna (ParallaxStella)

• Tiefling cleric: Hellish Rebuke (once per long rest), spiritual weapon, Create Water, Command, Banishment, Cure Wounds, Sanctuary. Speaks Common, Infernal, Abyssal, Celestial.
• Carries the orrery hidden in her shirt (the “third boob” running gag). It vibrates and glows blue near the Oasis.
• Treats Flynry as the leader. Empathetic; asks every NPC if they’re happy.
• Traded her amulet (rose-gold chain, emerald) for a Periapt of Health.

Toddleheim (Ahnubyss)

• Wizard: Mold Earth, Comprehend Languages, Sleep, Cause Fear, Acid Splash, Enlarge/Reduce, Magic Missile.
• Gave up an old book to Sky; received a +2 warhammer.
• Unknowingly fed Vythorn the line saying the key works for only one.

Cerys (also heard Cerys; player uncertain)

• Aasimar: Channel Divinity Abjure Enemy, radiant consumption (“supernova”), Haste.
• Has been in the sands longer than the others and brought them to the city (Mortorios). “That’s all I knew.”
• Gave a torch, rations and a shield to Sky; received a +2 longsword with holy damage.

Vythorn / the Arbiter (Mudcat)

• Travels with the party.
• Surrendered to Sky by throwing down a ceremonial dagger, then urged Sky to kill the party. Sky: “There’s something wrong with you.”
• Noticed the library’s dampening fade and stayed silent.
• Deciphered and worked the Oasis mechanism with Toddleheim’s help while hasted.
• Used the orrery as a one-person portal and abandoned the party: “Nothing personal, the Grandmaster has to be saved.” Sky’s reflection showed Sky picking Vythorn’s pocket.

Sky (Mudcat; also spelled Skye)

• Young-looking leader of the outlanders, who call themselves “free thinkers.” Wields a glaive. Commands an army that includes an Orc Raider, a wizard, dragonborn and mages.
• Black-market dealer in artifacts and soul gems. Lives in the hollow soul-gem cavern; has been there a few decades.
• Distrusts the queen; calls sand sickness a lie and the city’s walls a prison. “Not really the book learning type.”
• Doesn’t like leading, and refuses calls to invade Mortorios.
• The Sword’s reflection shows him as a pickpocket, always thinking about finding things.

The kobold shopkeeper (Mudcat; possibly named Cyrus)

• Disorganized junk-pile shop near Sky’s hall.
• Bites gems to test them. Flush with soul gems; wants unique items to resell.
• Has heard of the Golden Lady but never seen it.

Locket (mentioned only): made of a soul gem similar to, but not the same as, the cavern crystal.

The queen and the king of the city (mentioned): the queen has ruled “several centuries at least.” The king is unwell, with “a fair bit of fuckery” around it.

Oasis guardians: fire elementals, two Rakshasa (cat-like, large swords), lava-dwelling humanoids, and fiery snake/cat/dog creatures. A huge giant (fire giant, per table talk) with a greatsword and thrown flaming rocks, +5 Cha and +10 Con. Its top half was ripped off by the portal’s explosion.

Places

• The library (outside the city): its area dampens magic, teleportation and pathways. Sky says other such zones exist and are the natural state of the shifting sands.
• The heart / the outlander cavern:
  • Entered by whispering “take me to the heart”; the sand forms stairs.
  • A colossal hollowed soul gem, “the remnants of a vast soul” with “a lot of unspent time.”
  • Hundreds of thousands live there in stilt houses with pulley elevators, mining crystal. Mining is finite before collapse.
  • Sky’s carved hall; Cyrus’s shop; a polished soul-gem reflective surface in a small cave.
• Mortorios (the city; spellings vary): walled and ruled by the queen. Sky “know[s] the way in.”
• Other hidden strongholds/cities, including a very cold snowy mountainside.
• The Oasis:
  • A lava field smelling of sulfur, said once to be “an adjoining of worlds” connected to the land of the living.
  • The ringed structure sits on a cross of four bridges over a lava opening, with a round runic central platform.
  • Its writing matches the orrery’s. It works with the orrery as a one-use key. The bridges are now partly smashed.

Items

• The orrery (heard “Ori”): the key to the Oasis. Ripped apart by Vythorn and used as a one-person portal.
• Atlas of Endless Horizons: traded to the kobold, who threw it in a pile.
• Periapt of Wound Closure (Flynry) and Periapt of Health (Elianna). The kobold first offered the Health necklace to Flynry as “immune to disease” plus “belt-line ailments.”
• +2 longsword (holy damage) for Cerys; +2 warhammer for Toddleheim.
• Elianna’s rose-gold emerald amulet, now the kobold’s.
• The Golden Lady: a rumoured gold/bronze inscribed statue, “said to be powerful.”
• The red eye-shaped inscribed pendant from the book; not found.
• Flynry’s truth-revealing sword.
• Soul gems: dead people, used as currency.
• The Arbiter’s ceremonial dagger, thrown down in surrender.

Lore statements

• Soul gems are dead people and serve as currency. The outlander cavern is one gigantic soul gem.
• Reflective surfaces (mirrors, polished crystal) lead to “echoes of planes” that may once have been connected and broke apart. Every surface leads somewhere different.
• Strongholds open by speaking a name, being shown, or a reflective surface.
• “Sand sickness” is called a lie of the queen by the outlanders, who have lived in the sands for years.
• Outlanders were exiled for dissent against the monarchy or for keeping soul gems, or have “no function” within the walls.
• The Oasis key works for only one person. Vythorn’s stated reason for taking it is saving the Grandmaster.

Full Round-by-Round

Every beat of the episode, with timestamps (click to expand)

Cold open — the party falls to Sky’s raiders (mid-combat)

1. 0:00:00 The file opens mid-fight against Sky’s band in the sands outside the library. An enemy stab at Toddleheim misses. The players admit they’re “not really in a position to be taunting.”
2. 0:00:54 — Gravity Sinkhole. The enemy wizard uses Careful Spell to spare his allies and casts Gravity Sinkhole in the middle of the party. A void orb forms; everyone feels heavy and is sucked toward the point. The Arbiter fails the save, and so do Flynry and Toddleheim. Cerys and Elianna resist the pull and take half damage. Flynry and Toddleheim go down. Flynry, Toddleheim and the Arbiter are dragged together into the centre.
3. 0:03:49 — Hellish Rebuke. Elianna, left on 3 HP, Hellish Rebukes the wizard. He fails the save and takes 12 fire. He answers with an ominous “Hmm.”
4. 0:04:58 Flynry’s player complains that even with the Arbiter on their side, every enemy still has the Arbiter’s snark. Mudcat: “The day you realize that the Arbiter’s just me.” (table talk)
5. 0:05:13 — The Orc Raider. An Orc Raider with a greatsword cuts down Cerys and then Elianna. The table shouts “TPK!”
6. 0:06:46 — The Arbiter surrenders. Sky, the leader, points his glaive at Vythorn: “Doesn’t have to be this way. You could just surrender and you can live. And we’ll take your stuff.” Stuck in the gravity void, the Arbiter looks around at the bodies and shrugs, since he “doesn’t really have a dog in this fight.” He has no real weapons, so he ceremonially takes out a dagger and throws it down: “You win.” All the final blows were non-lethal.
7. 0:08:18 — Vythorn tries to get the party killed. Vythorn tells Sky: “If you want my stuff, you can take it. But… You sure you don’t want to kill them? They’re very troublesome. I’ve dealt with them before.” Sky looks at him: “There’s something wrong with you.” The party is unconscious and never learns of this. Flynry’s player later confirms at 0:20:09 that Sky never told them.
8. 0:08:55 — The army. Sky whistles, and an army comes over the sand dune. Elianna’s player: “I knew it.” Sky’s mages heal the party back to consciousness with a few HP.
9. 0:09:01 — “Give us half your stuff.” Sky: “I didn’t really want to make this a big deal. We just wanted some stuff… You all have been through a lot today… Give us half your stuff.”
   • Elianna throws some gems.
   • Cerys offers a torch, rations and a shield: “What do you want from us?”
   • Toddleheim throws one of his old books in the sand.
   • Flynry unslings his shortbow and tosses it down.
10. 0:10:32 — Something magical. Sky looks disappointed. One of his dragonborn whispers in his ear that there’s something magical here, and his mages nod.
11. 0:10:55 — Flynry’s deception. Flynry says the magic they sensed is their own spellcasting, then blames the Arbiter’s aura: “we just ran into that guy in that building, and he’s done some things that I can’t explain… there’s something off about the presence he brings.” The deception roll has advantage because of Sky’s existing doubts about Vythorn, and it works. Sky: “Forget it. Forget the whole thing. … I guess you can keep your stuff.”

The outlanders — “free thinkers”

12. 0:12:26 — The invitation. Sky invites them home, since they’re “notable fighters” and he has “quite a group, a collection going on.”
13. 0:13:08 Cerys: “Are you all outlanders?” Sky: “A dirty term, I suppose, but we like to consider ourselves free thinkers.” “Free from what?” “Free from the rule of the queen? The king and that place?”
14. 0:13:41 — On the city. The party says they’re new. Sky: “Things there aren’t what they seem. Seems to be a well-oiled machine, people living in harmony, but between you and me, I don’t trust the queen very much.” Flynry: “Especially not after what happened to the king.” Sky: “A fair bit of fuckery around that.”
15. 0:14:47 — Sand sickness is a lie. Cerys mentions the king’s sand sickness. Flynry explains it as long exposure to the magical sands that mess with the mind. Sky spits: “We’ve been living out here for years. Just another lie of the queen. … Keeps her people locked inside of those walls. Or did you think the walls were for protection?” He adds: “We can get in those walls if we want. We know the way in.”
16. 0:15:53 — Black market. Sky says they are “in the business of rare artifacts… something of black market dealers. We find things out here and we sell them to folks within the walls. Or whoever’s buying.” Elianna says all they did in the library was read, so he can go scrounge.
17. 0:17:10 He won’t name his home unless they come: “Information carries with it a price.”
18. 0:17:34 — The party debates. Elianna leans on Flynry, whom she has taken to be the leader of the original group. Flynry’s player: “If you’d known Flynry before this place, you would not have assumed that he was the leader of anything besides maybe lunch.” Flynry speaks in character: “All that is certain is this group, what we have, our goals, our ambitions. How is this group any different than the group in the city? Besides the fact that they tried to murder us.” Elianna asks Sky if they can come and learn about the culture. Sky: “We’re very hospitable people… first impressions notwithstanding.”
19. 0:19:43 — The library dampens magic. As a gesture of good faith, Sky warns that the library has a certain effect on magical properties, so they must walk a distance first. After a few miles, the dampening that Elianna and Toddleheim felt fades. Vythorn notices too but says nothing.

”Take me to the heart” — the hollow soul gem

20. 0:21:26 In the green blowing sand under the celestial sky, Sky halts the army and whispers. Flynry hears it with a perception roll of 23: “Take me to the heart.” This is not a portal like Motorios’s. Instead the sand cracks, parts and falls into stairs leading down into a chasm, then through an archway into a huge hollowed-out cavern of green and blue gems and crystals, like being inside a giant hollow crystal.
21. 0:23:10 — It’s a soul gem. History rolls reveal that its colour and texture are almost exactly those of the soul gems in the city, only far larger. Flynry asks whether it matches the gem Locket is made of: “That one’s similar, but not the same.” Mudcat confirms “the soul gems are dead people,” and this one looks exactly the same.
22. 0:24:19 — The town. Hundreds of thousands of people live there. There are hanging and stilt structures, pulley elevators, landing zones and crystal being mined and hauled: “an underground mine town… a working town.” Sky leads them over hanging bridges to his residence carved into the crystal wall: a long hall with cushions, tables and food, where a few dozen people follow them in.
23. 0:26:16 — Long rest. The party rests and eats. Sky lounges on a beanbag-like cushion, picking at a plate. Vythorn stands at the side and won’t sit. Sky: “Do you drink food? I don’t know what you like, but I’m sure we have it.”
24. 0:27:53 Flynry: “Admittedly, this is a decidedly warmer reception than we’ve received in the city.” Sky: “It’s a nice place, I guess, if you don’t know any better. But it’s just another prison.” He adds: “Here, you’re free to come and go,” but it takes a lot of currency to run.
25. 0:28:33 — The remnants of a vast soul. Flynry: “This entire structure is made of currency.” Sky: “It’s no secret to anybody here that this is the remnants of a vast soul. Can only imagine the kind of creature that would possess something like this.” They can only mine so far “before the whole thing collapses on us.” He looks up through the translucent roof: “a lot of unspent time here.”
26. 0:29:38 — History. Sky has been there “a few decades.” Others have been there “hundreds, thousands of years, perhaps.” “I don’t know a time when the queen wasn’t in charge here. … Several centuries at least.”
27. 0:30:34 Cerys says she’s been here longer than the others and brought them to the city: “There’s nowhere else to go, other than the wilderness.” Sky: “Well, I suppose that’s good news for us, then, if our secrets are safe.”
28. 0:31:01 — Other strongholds. “This is not the only stronghold that exists outside the walls. There are many cities.” Each has a different way in: “sometimes speaking the name is enough, other times you have to be shown, or even through the reflective surfaces.” Flynry perks up at “reflective surfaces.” Sky: “You do know about the different planes?”
29. 0:32:07 — Information for information. Sky asks what they were doing in the city and library. (Table gag: nobody has noticed “Elianna’s third boob”, the orrery hidden in her shirt.) Cerys: “We’ve been looking for a way to get back to our homeland.” Sky says his people have scoured the library many times for similar reasons. “Some of us wish to go home. Others of us are content here.”
30. 0:33:17 — Echoes of planes. Sky: “reflective surfaces, mirrors, sometimes in the crystal themselves, they can lead to different locations… some sort of reflections of the living world or different planes. Not the plane itself, but echoes of planes. Potentially, they were once connected and have somehow broken apart.” Every surface leads somewhere different. He won’t share others’ secrets until he trusts them.
31. 0:35:20 He says there are a few other cities as big as Mortorios, all hidden. He recommends one: “sort of cold, very cold, mountainside, if you like the snow.” Flynry: “I like the living. That’s the plane I’d like to return to.”
32. 0:36:06 — The Oasis. A mage whispers to Sky. “There is one place that was said to be connected to the living. At one point… not anymore, certainly not unless you possess some sort of power to open a portal. It’s called the Oasis. This was once an adjoining of worlds.” Older folks claim it leads to the land of the living. Cerys: “I feel like I’ve heard that before.”
33. 0:37:47 Cerys says they’ll go alone: “You did just… nearly kill us all.” Sky: “You don’t trust us, that’s smart.” He’ll show them the door in the morning: “If you don’t come back, I’ll know it, maybe it worked. And, you know, or you’re dead.”
34. 0:39:13 — The dampening zones. Elianna asks about the library’s power. Sky doesn’t know whether it’s “an ancient power or a curse or the building itself.” Within a radius, “my spellcasters are weakened… Teleportation becomes very difficult. Opening pathways… even to our own home becomes seemingly impossible.” There are other zones like it, which he takes to be “the natural state of the sands. As the sand shifts, so does the structure and power of this place.” He has seen only a handful, mostly barren patches: “Maybe there’s something under the sand… I’m not really the book learning type.”

The kobold’s shop

35. 0:41:46 Sky walks them half a block through the haphazard town to a small structure: “Cyrus, some folks, some customers.” A small kobold, “this small dragon figure,” climbs up to his shop window: “What do you want? What can I do for you?” Inside are piles of junk, weapons on the right and magic items in the back.
36. 0:44:04 — Weapons. “You can find plus two weapons here easily.” Cerys takes a +2 longsword that deals “righteous holy damage.” Toddleheim at first holds back because he has nothing to trade. The kobold says, “That stuff’s all fine. You can just take what you want. I already worked out a good deal with your friend here,” so Toddleheim takes a +2 warhammer.
37. 0:44:43 — The Golden Lady. Flynry describes a small statue “gold to bronze in coloring,” with inscriptions on the sides, which he knows from the large book. Kobold: “The Golden Lady. I’ve heard of it. Traders here and there say they’ve seen it or had it. Everyone’s owned it at one point or another. I’ve never seen it. Does it exist? Maybe.” An insight roll of 27 shows he’s telling the truth. He offers to put out feelers: “maybe you’ll come back in a week.”
38. 0:45:50 — The red pendant. Flynry asks about “a small eye-shaped pendant with a red gem in the middle.” The kobold dives into a pile of jewellery and disappears, then pops out with a silvery ruby necklace. It looks similar to the one in the book but lacks the inscriptions. His pitch: “You wear this thing, you are immune to disease. Nothing can harm you. Well, except like swords and stuff.” He glances toward Flynry’s belt line: it also suppresses “ailments… you look like a man who likes to have a good time.” Flynry: “Party animal I am.” His player notes he has never been to a party in his life.
39. 0:48:35 — The Atlas trade. Flynry offers the Atlas of Endless Horizons. The kobold’s eyes widen: “This is not what you want. This is fine, but I have better.” He swaps the necklace for an oval, vertical red pendant: “If you ever find yourself close to death, you’ll want to be wearing this baby.” It is the Periapt of Wound Closure. Cerys: “That would have come in handy about 20 minutes ago.” Flynry: “I’m quite familiar with being close to death.” The kobold chucks the Atlas over his shoulder into a pile of magic lights.
40. 0:53:09 — Elianna’s amulet. Elianna wants the disease necklace. The kobold suggests a nice shirt (“Shirt on your back looks great”), which the table runs as a gag about the orrery in her top. He then notices her amulet: a rose-gold chain with an emerald. He bites it: “Oh, this is different. [Nana?] Soul Gem. Unique.” He trades it for the Periapt of Health. She doesn’t need the amulet to spellcast.
41. 0:56:21 The kobold says to come back if they find stuff.

Morning — Sky’s nature, and the door

42. 0:56:57 They rest and fit their new items overnight. Flynry wakes disheveled and comfortable after not sleeping on the ground. Sky: “Time to go, or have you decided to stay?” Cerys: “We will still be on our way.” Sky again: “You sure you want to leave? It’s a nice place.” “Just looking to give folks a home, I suppose.”
43. 0:58:17 — Sky’s problems. “The problem with being in charge is that people always want something from you.” His people want to live on the surface behind walls, want food and clothing, and “some of them are begging me to invade Mortorios and overthrow it. I don’t really have any interest in that.”
44. 0:59:20 — Why exiles. Elianna asks why his people aren’t allowed in the city. “Thrown out for speaking a little too loudly against the monarchy. Trying to keep a few extra soul gems for ourself. Making waves generally… many of us just don’t have a place within the walls. We don’t serve a function.”
45. 0:59:52 Elianna asks whether he’s thought of leading them within the walls. “I don’t really like leading these people.” She asks: “Are you happy?” Mudcat notes Elianna asks every NPC this, and her player says she’s very empathetic. Sky: “Does it really matter here? … at least here we get to be in this giant soul gem.”
46. 1:00:42 — The sword’s reflection. As they did before with a guard, Flynry turns his back and angles his sword (the mirror) so Elianna sees Sky’s reflection. In it, Sky looks no younger; he’s already young-looking. But as he walks past Vythorn, the reflection shows Sky reaching into Vythorn’s pocket and pulling something out. In reality, that isn’t happening. It is a glimpse of his urges: he’s always thinking about finding things. “Nothing sinister… he’s kind of a pickpocket.” Elianna pulls her shirt over the orrery and checks her pockets: “Well, if we find any places that you can scrounge through, we’ll just drop by and let you know.”
47. 1:02:54 — The polished gem. Sky: “The door’s open, or the theater’s open, or I don’t know.” He leads them to a small cave where part of the soul gem has been highly polished into a reflective surface, whether by people or by nature he isn’t sure. “If you’re looking for the Oasis, this is the only way I know how to get there… The stories of the living world, I think, are just tales.”
48. 1:04:03 Flynry checks for resonance between the orrery, his sword and the mirror. There is none, but the surface clouds and swirls behind their reflections. Sky backs away: “I hope we meet again and hopefully the next time you’re not passing through here as soul gems.” Cerys: “Ha! Funny. I hope not.” (Table: “He’s so pushy… He’s totally Hondo.”)

The Oasis

49. 1:05:35 In the mirror they see themselves somewhere else, as with the snowy mountainside before. In a blink they stand in a field of lava: broiling heat, the smell of sulfur everywhere. In the distance is a large structure with large rings that arc over in different directions, like the orrery. Flynry: “Oasis, my behind.” Toddleheim: “This is not what I was expecting either.” Cerys: “That thing up ahead kind of looks like our thing.”
50. 1:06:53 — The orrery reacts. Elianna clutches the orrery in her shirt. It vibrates and, as they get closer, glows blue. (JRPG-physics gag.) She pulls it out so it doesn’t shine through her shirt. Cerys: “This might be the key.”
51. 1:08:00 Vythorn: “Well, let’s… I’m still here. Let’s get on with it. … I’ve been in worse.” He leads them over lava pits.
52. 1:08:47 — What lives there. Perception rolls reveal:
    • creatures swimming in the lava, and humanoid figures clawing their way out;
    • large humanoid giants walking on the horizon;
    • fiery snake-like, cat-like and dog-like creatures moving across the shelves.
53. 1:09:34 — The structure. It hovers over a large opening in the lava on four bridges in a cross shape, with a large round central platform under the rings. The writing matches the orrery’s, in many languages, some readable and some not. Runic sigils cover the platform. Vythorn: “Looks like might go well with that device you’ve got.”
54. 1:10:51 — No keyhole. An investigation finds no stand, keyhole or sword slot. Cerys suggests speaking a place-name. Flynry: “Every key needs a lock.” The orrery’s phrases are repeated in the platform writing, though not in the same places. Near the centre the orrery begins to float, whirl and glow, as if pulling them in, but nothing more happens.
55. 1:12:52 — Vythorn takes over. “It’s definitely some sort of key, though, as the book said… I think maybe I can decipher it.” To Elianna: “May I?” He interrupts the orrery’s spinning and adjusts its rings, and the giant rings overhead move in response. “I think I’m on to how this works.”
56. 1:14:35 — The guardians wake. The machinery grinds and shakes. Humanoid fire figures (fire elementals) appear from doorways at the ends of the bridges. Vythorn: “I need more time… I suppose that you’re just gonna have to defend me.” The bridges are 15–20 ft wide.
57. 1:16:31 — Mold Earth. Toddleheim blocks off the right bridge with an embellished Mold Earth wall (“the doom music just kicked in”). Behind the elementals appear two large cat-like figures carrying large swords: Rakshasa. “Whatever was set in motion to guard this place is now activated.” Flynry: “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Vythorn: “No! … just give me five minutes.” “Don’t have five minutes.”
58. 1:17:53 — Haste. Cerys casts Haste on Vythorn “to make him work faster.” Initiative is rolled.

Fight — the Oasis guardians

59. 1:19:17 — Rain. Elianna goes first. She casts Create Water as a 30-ft cube of rain over the party; Mudcat rules the fire elementals have disadvantage in it. She then summons her spiritual weapon.
60. 1:21:29 The walled-off elemental pounds the Mold Earth wall, but the earth is volcanic, so its fire barely cracks it.
61. 1:22:19 — Comprehend Languages. Toddleheim casts Comprehend Languages, touches the rings and ground, and shouts out words and phrases to Vythorn, giving him advantage. He then tries Sleep on the far Rakshasa. It “didn’t even break stride” (it has more than 20 HP).
62. 1:25:27 An elemental’s two touch attacks miss Cerys. Toddleheim: “Too slow, baby!”
63. 1:25:56 — Flynry. He stays in the rain and swings his sword, but it barely bites the elemental (“metal against rock-type enemies”). He sheathes it and falls back on his monk roots with Flurry of Blows, taking a little fire damage from touching it.
64. 1:28:21 — The rings break the bridges. Vythorn’s Arcana and Insight checks, with Toddleheim’s help, make the rings around the bridges spin so fast they smash pieces of the bridges. The elementals and Rakshasa on the far ends fall into the lava below and are knocked out of the fight, not killed. The central platform is cut off.
65. 1:29:58 An elemental already on the platform attacks Vythorn and Toddleheim. The heavy rain sears it for 28. It hits Vythorn again.
66. 1:31:24 — Abjure Enemy. Cerys uses Channel Divinity: Abjure Enemy. The elemental is frightened, its speed drops to 0, and it is stuck in the rain.
67. 1:32:21 — “Halt.” Elianna casts Command (“Halt”) on the other two. It fails because fire elementals don’t speak Common, Infernal, Abyssal or Celestial. “They stop for a second and then they start moving again.” Her spiritual weapon then deals force damage and finishes the frightened middle elemental. Flynry reacts with Opportunist and an unarmed strike; Mudcat rules his fists count as magical.
68. 1:36:52 — Cause Fear and Acid Splash. Toddleheim casts Cause Fear on the two elementals by Cerys and Flynry. Both fail, so they can’t move closer to him. Acid Splash deals 8 (“It is effective”).
69. 1:40:23 A frightened elemental hits Flynry and Cerys. They don’t catch fire because they’re in the rain cloud.
70. 1:41:41 Flynry’s Inflict Wounds rolls a natural 1; he follows with Flurry of Blows.
71. 1:43:10 — The elementals flee. Vythorn, hasted, works on: rings align and some stop spinning, while the outer rings “really take off” in a hot wind. The elementals that can still move jump off the platform and leave. Cerys won’t bother with opportunity attacks; someone offers to “attack them with insults.”
72. 1:44:58 — The giant’s rock. A flaming giant rock comes hurtling at them, thrown by a giant. Toddleheim has the lowest Dex save and is targeted. Flynry rolls a natural 20, tosses Toddleheim out of the way and takes the rock square on the chin.
73. 1:46:47 The giant lumbers through the lava toward them. Cerys: “You have got to get us out of here, man. By Thorn.” Vythorn: “I’m working as fast as I can. Just give me one moment. Just hold him off for a few seconds.” Flynry plants his sword in the shattered, burning rock and looks back at Vythorn: “This is it.”
74. 1:47:11 — Boss fight. The rain douses the rock’s flames. The giant reaches over the side of the platform, its top half towering like a raid boss, and brings its greatsword down on Cerys.
75. 1:48:07 — Radiant consumption. Cerys has everyone step back, “goes full supernova” and blazes radiant light while screaming. The 10-ft aura turns out to do only 5 damage, and it costs an action. Elianna’s player: “It’s like David and Goliath, if Goliath won.” Flynry’s player: “one of those balloons you let go of.” Mudcat rules the initial burst does 5d6 “because that was way too cool to be this lame”, for 20 total. Her +2 longsword then misses.
76. 1:51:11 Elianna: “Hey man, Vythorn, how’s it looking?” Vythorn: “I am almost there. I’m almost there.”
77. 1:51:32 — Banishment and Reduce fail.
    • Elianna casts Banishment at 4th level. The giant has +5 Charisma and saves. Flynry’s player: “Was he just picking up ladies at the giant bar?” Mudcat: “Just because he’s big doesn’t mean he’s not cool.” She hits it with her spiritual weapon and steps behind it: “Yeah, okay, well, hurry up.”
    • Toddleheim tries Enlarge/Reduce. The giant’s Con is +10 and it saves (“He’d have been under the platform”). Toddleheim adds a Magic Missile for 17.
78. 1:55:06 Flynry’s Stunning Strike through his greatsword attack doesn’t stun. His follow-up blows land.
79. 1:56:52 The giant swings at Cerys and misses, then cleaves Flynry for 23: “I need some loving here.” The table notes the new periapt is about to be useful.
80. 1:57:57 Vythorn’s checks are high: “That thing is looking pretty damn complete… a matter of a few more moves.” There are “like five brinks.” Cerys provokes the giant with her radiant light to keep its focus on her.
81. 1:59:26 Vythorn turns to Elianna while fiddling with the orrery: “Your friends are going to die.” An uncertain voice adds: “[Due?] thanks to you. Can’t you heal them?” Mudcat has Elianna roll a secret d20; the players hate it.
82. 2:00:46 — Cure Wounds and Sanctuary. Elianna, “squishy,” reluctantly runs up to the mangled Flynry. She heals him with Cure Wounds at 3rd level for 21 (“Oh, those hands are feeling nice”), then casts Sanctuary on him as a bonus action. Flynry’s player: “Flynry sits down… starts writing a thank you note. Dear Anna, thank you so much for the sanctuary.”

The betrayal

83. 2:03:32 As Elianna rushes forward, they all hear Vythorn behind them: “I wish it could be different, but this only works for one.” He rips the orrery apart and pulls it over himself like a portal he’s pulling himself through.
84. At the same moment, Toddleheim, still comprehending the languages, realizes that a line he had fed to Vythorn without reading it properly said the key is for one person: one use.
85. 2:04:30 “Nothing personal, the Grandmaster has to be saved.” Vythorn dives into the portal. An explosion from the orrery goes over their heads and rips the top half of the giant completely off, leaving “a stump of blood… in the sky.” The Arbiter is gone, and the party is left standing on the platform. The file ends here.