Into the Deep

Drink of the Night
The Sashay (best drunk with pinky out, made with Crème de violette, saint germain, lemon juice, club soda, grape juice)

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The Story

 * Dawnash can feel the fiery glow off the projectiles coming from the keep. The party is on the ram, which can hold about 20 people, heading towards the gate
 * The party discusses what they intend to do, Jingles wants to make a fiery blockade
 * Dawnash says the he is fine with the blockade, but if he can promise to keep him safe, he would like to get into the trebuchet. They suggest calling out to keep to let them know that they mean no harm.
 * Jingles does not think Dawnash's idea would work too well, he would probably die
 * Hyllenae telepathically speaks with Helios and asks if they could move faster. He responds, in a horsey celestial voice, that he will try. They move forward about 30 feet, now being 90 feet away from the gate
 * Dorian can talk loud
 * There is a javelin from a ballista that gets embedded into the top of the cart
 * Dawnash jumps out of the cart, sprints toward the gate, casting message to tell them that they mean no harm, but he is not able to get it to anyone. He assumes Patient Defense and hears two arrows just miss him Dorian also jumps out and runs forward, telling Dawnash to get down and pulls out his holy symbol
 * Initiative as the people behind them catch up
 * Hyllenae sees an arrow fly past her head
 * Trixie gets hit with an arrow and falls unconscious
 * Amalthea tries to help with the ram, but nothing happens
 * Dawnash casts Message to Dorian to ask who it is they are there to see, then calls that they are there to see Ozabren, they were sent by Shalia and they have her apprentice, an arrow then misses him
 * The ram is very heavy, it would require more than 8 times the man power they have to flip it.
 * Helios gets hit with a ballista bolt, Hyllenae cuts him loose, with Trixie over her shoulder
 * Jingles climbs onto the top of the ram and fires a Firebolt, but misses, then tries to duck behind some of the wood
 * Archers fire at Amalthea and Hyllenae, knocking her unconscious
 * One arrow hits Dorian, and one hits Dawnash, who catches it, tosses it to the ground, then yells at them to stop hitting then, they have the princess of Praetos with them. They stop firing and begin to open the gate
 * Amalthea runs over to Hyllenae, Camille takes Trixie by the scruff of the neck. Amalthea pours her healing potion into Hyllenae's mouth
 * Dorian runs over to Trixie
 * The army is getting closer
 * Dorian uses his last spell slot to heal Trixie
 * Hyllenae yells out at Jingles to light it on fire. He uses 2nd level Burning Hands to light the ram
 * Trixie is being princess carried looking back, and fires off an Eldritch Blast at the cultists. The screams are starting to die down. Flaming projectiles are being shot form the keep
 * Dawnash feels a large pike being pointed at him by a high ranking individual telling him to get on his knees
 * The gate closes
 * They are asked what they are about, Hyllenae and Dorian take out their symbols. Dawnash says the Hyllenae is a princess is again
 * They move behind the wall to get out of the path of shots through the portcullis
 * They ask for water, they are moved to a location to the side
 * They are asked how they got there, they tell them that it was one of their projectiles that freed them. The soldiers around are gaunt. There are some sounds that seem like the prisoners that they were in cages next to them.
 * Dawnash sees one of the prisoners brought in, and asks the guard if he may. The man is bleeding and missing an eye. He rests his hand on the prisoner's head and says that it is his job to carry on their names. Hyllenae uses Lay on Hands to close his wounds, sealing skin over the missing eye. Dawnash tears some fabric off and uses it to make the man a blindfold, telling him that they are brothers now. The prisoner is surprised that they made it, putting his hands on Dawnash's shoulders and beginning to cry from his good eye.
 * Trixie goes over and asks Jingles where her cat is. He asks what cat, she is not pleased. He recalls that she was in his robes when the fire projectile went off in front of him, which easily would have killed anyone, and cats are not hardy. He feels movement in his robes, and claws. She jumps out of his robes to Trixie, sweaty and covered in soot. She smirks and looks to Jingles, saying that she knew he could keep her safe. She looks at the cat, saying she is no ordinary cat and they will talk later
 * Jingles is upset about the state of his haversack
 * Dawnash tells Hyllenae that they need to find Ozebren, that is why they are there. Hyllenae goes over the Helios and uses Lay on Hands for 10 points
 * A woman introduces herself as First Lieutenant Danica, saying that she has been there for a while and needs to speak with them. She motions to the ruins of the city, everything is in ruins. She says that Ozebren does not wish to speak with them now, so they need to bear with her
 * Jingles and Trixie are rolling the vase. Mugsy comes over and takes the vase, carrying it over his head
 * They enter a candle lit area, hearing pains from wounded soldiers. The keep is meant to deal with sieges, but they are running out of supplies. Dawnash thanks Danica. There are three bedspreads there, but that is all that they can offer. A nurse comes over and asks if there are any wounded, seeing all of them and giving them some wet bandages for their scrapes
 * The party gathers before resting and asks what they are doing here, this is a war and they have no stock in it. They need to find out what is going on and report back to Shalia. Hyllenae asks Jingles if he recognized any of the glyphs on the cultist's clothes, he does not, but he knows that they were is a lot of places, like the beams of the gallows and trebuchet. He sketches what he remembers. Hyllenae looks at it again and sees that it seems like an opposite to the iconography of Celesital
 * The party sets down to rest for the evening. Trixie and Jingles are in beds, but there may be something that they didn't see in the bed rolls. Dawnash goes over to Amalthea and tells her that her carelessness almost got them into a lot more trouble. They discuss they Camille is important to all of them, and that Dawnash was careless as well. They both need to use their heads more. The moans of the soldiers in the room causes Hyllenae and Jingles to not really get rest, Dawnash rises after his meditation to try to aid the nurses, or play a soothing tune or something. Hyllenae and Jingles get a point of exhaustion, but can use the time as a short rest
 * (Break)
 * Dawnash is helping the nurses, but he is trained more in herbs. He is going to give the soldier, Redin, some sweetsin to dull the pain of his amputated leg. He asks the soldier some questions, he gives the nurse a look like he is concerned he is going to die. He is beginning to twitch, dealing with the fact that he and his brothers are dying in a war, but eventually stops
 * Hyllenae goes outside and sits by Helios
 * Trixie's bed is taken by a soldier being brought in with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. She calls out Princess, saying that they need to talk, asking what she is. She goes to an ally to talk. Princess has a flame start at her feet and crawl up her body, revealing an imp with red skin and a pink belly. He, the imp is a male but wishes to continue being called Princess, woke up in a vase. He does a backflip and drops a stone, which he jumps to, Trixie takes it and sees it as the stone from the haversack. She asks if he can talk back to the cast form. He does.
 * Ozebren does not want to be bothered right now, he sent his corporal, Renedra, a large man with a big white beard, scars, and carrying a sword like Hyllenae's. Renedra asks who they are and what they want. He asks about Hyllenae's business of the Athenae coming there, to which she points out that she was sent by Shalia, but he does not know her. They already knew that the cultists were not barbarians, tbu their messengers were killed when they attempted to send messages back to the keep of Kyleum. They are encircled
 * Hyllenae asks what they know of the cultists. They are known as The Cult of Baralel, a demon. Dawnash thinks that it may the demon he saw, but Belial is 50 feet tall. He rules an entire plane of hell all on his own and has been trying, for centuries, to break free. Renedra knew that they had demons in their employ. Dorian asks if they have a library, saying that he has an idea and wants to do some research
 * Dawnash tells Renedra that the barbarians that the cultists are pretending to be are on their way and are pissed. They don't know why the cultists care about this gate, they could just move past. Renedra takes them to a throne room and sits down. They ask is Ozebren is even still alive, he says that he will let them speak with Ozebren if they complete a task for him. Dawnash does not take kindly to this, they nearly died, they can communicate back to the keep they want to, they have alerted the barbarians of the siege and they will come to help, they will not complete a task for him. Renedra tells him to settle down, calling him a drow. Dawnash doesn't know what his race has to do with this. Guards step out and ask if Renedra needs help. Dawnash says he might. Jingles says that the soldiers are not doing well, they don't have much, and their lives rest on the party, asking him to take them at their word. He says that he still has a task for them, they are dealing with more than cultists, they are being invaded by a large insect queen burrowing under the keep and laying her eggs, she is about 70 feet long. The soldiers are coming up and taking their men.
 * A picture of the creature is brought out, it is a large, grub like creature with large side talons, a gaping maw, tentacles under its mouth, serrated teeth, large eyes and eyes down its sides. Dawnash does not know of this creature, but knows of things like it that can get very large if fed well. Dawnash says that he will need to be shown the are the scouts looked.
 * Dawnash points out that the creature is sensitive to light, but even if they defeat the insect creatures, they will still be surrounded. Renedra agrees, saying that he will give them more incentive, giving them two guards to go with them and 5 healing potions.
 * Hyllenae steps away to communicate to Hyllenae and see what it is that Shalia wants them to do. She does not know, but they were right about the baron. She knows that Athena will guide them.
 * Hyllenae goes back in and tells Renedra that Kyleum has fallen from within, no help will come from them. They inform Renedra of Baron Davian Thorne. Jingles took a job from him, he knew there was more to him then met the eye, he did not joke when he said that he was not someone they want to mess with, he has power beyond his station. The person he was sent after, he was not able to bring in, and he has not spoken to him since. Thorne is not a great fan of him, he is politically powerful and always seeks more. They don't think that the cultists want to get through the gate, they want something within the keep.
 * They discuss the size of the bug creature and how much it would have needed to eat to grow so large. Jingles speaks of Melkios, the torturer, and how he was freed by one of the fireballs, Renedra looks interested and asks how it looked, the alchemist of the keep comes over, Gadart. They discuss that the cultists were looking for a way in, so they haven't found it, so they didn't wake the bugs. They go to where Gardart has been working. Dawnash feels a humming behind a cabinet in the shop, the same kind of energy inherent in Jingles, the same kind of energy in the chunk of bluestone they found. He has some section where he is crushing it up, he is unsure what to call it, maybe Bluepowder, which explodes with fiery might. He opens the cabinet and there are many shards of bluestone on racks. Jingles recognizes it now as much more refined than the one he has. They have had this stone for a while, the High Captain keeps it
 * Jingles asks to be walked through the process. It is crushed bluestone, sulfur, a salt of some kind made from crystals from pig manure. He makes a small bag of it, which he holds out on a stick, then it explodes. He pulls a sheet off of something in the corner, it is like the projectiles they saw before, but more like iron flasks full of this powder, there are two of them, about 2 feet in diameter. Dawnash tells Gadart that he did good work, and says that they may have their solution for the bug problem, asks Gadart if he can craft a wick to detonate the bombs after some time. Jingles is interested in if he knows to process of refining the blustone. It was refined when it was brought here by a mage named Willard. He then asks how big of a boom the big bomb would make. Gadart says it would level the keep. Gadart eats a little of the bluepowder, bewildering everyone. Trixie uses the time to steal two bluestones. Dawnash asks if he may taste it. Gadart eats a little more and says he shouldn't it's not a good thing to have, but then give him some. He feels like the keep was moving around him, but then it subsides. Gadart says that that is how he gets his best idea
 * The party wonders if the bluestone came from below the keep, but Renedra says that it was not. Dawnash thinks that Ozebren is a coward
 * A cart is set up with one of the bombs, they are told not to shake it. Dawnash asks Renedra to keep the second one there, as a failsafe, making sure he understands what he is asking. He does.
 * Jingles says that he appreciates their enthusiasm, but he will not be too useful, he and Hyllenae did not sleep well. They take a corner and take their rest, including Helios. They rest well
 * Dawnash asks Trixie what her plan his with the bluestones she has. She points out that the soldier said that the cultists were getting more accurate but couldn't see the keep, Trixie wonders if it is the demon they saw before helping them. Dawnash says that maybe Jingles shouldn't get the stones, he has raw power and he is unsure how they will react. She will keep the bluestones for now. Dawnash seems to indicate that he knows about Princess. They discuss their demons and Trixie says that trusts he has their wellbeing at heart, if he keeps hitting his friends, he needs to find a solution.
 * Jingles wonders if Gadart got the fuse figured out. Trixie instructs Princess telepathically that if she goes down, he is to feed her a potion. Gadart comes out covered in soot saying that he did not figure it out, Jingles boops him on the nose and casts Prestidigitation, he looks like seth rogan underneath. Jingles gets some rope and asks for some oil to soak it in to use as the fuse

Characters

 * First Lieutenant Danica
 * Dannielle - Head nurse in the area the party stayed after entering the keep
 * Redin - the solider with the amputated leg, from Masthead
 * Corporal Renedra - the person sent in the stead of Ozebren, older man, with a large white beard and many scars
 * Gadart - The alchemist at the Keep of Zetona
 * Willard - the mage who refined the bluestone the keep has

Items

 * Stone from haversack - princess has it, Dark Shard Amulet from Episode 7

Quotations
"*The* Duncan, how's he been?" Dawnash, "You know Duncan?" Guard captain, "Everyone knows Duncan." Jingles @ 59:00

[On a rock] "What does it do? Did you steal it?" Trixie, "No.." Princess, "Bummer..." Trixie @ 2:13:10

"Dawnash, sometimes I just steal things that are pretty." Trixie "You haven't stolen me yet.." Dawnash @ 3:33:55