Day 36 (S25-28)

day 10 of the 2 weeks of diplomatic immunity

In the morning, Rina and Alice went to break the news to Caspian, who was literally putting himself back together when they knocked on his door.
"Good morning, what did you decide?" Caspian said excitedly.
"We're going to do the fish mission first, then we will join you after to deal with Falsewater," Rina said to him.
"But... why? I thought Enoch said you would help me."
Rina looked at Alice, then back to Caspian, "We will help you, we just need to finish one other quest first."
"Please don't wait..." he said, "I don't have much time."
Rina looked at Alice again, who used dominate beast on him.
"You are to remain wherever we put you until we're ready to help you, got it?" Alice said to Caspian.
Caspian then just smiled and said, "Ok, whatever you say."
"I don't like that you've done that," Rina said, "Like he's some animal."
"It worked, didn't it?" Alice answered, "Now, let's all get going to Greenwarf and get this fish thing taken care of! Follow me, Caspian!"

He then followed her, as did everyone else, and they climbed onto her golem to travel to the tree.
They used a treestride once again to get to their tree just outside of Greenwarf.
The dozen or so orphan boys were guarding the tree, with buckets on their heads, and little sticks they pretended were swords.
"Hey boys!" Rina said as soon as she got through, "Looks like you're doing an amazing job at keeping our tree here!"
"Yes, we fight off monsters and people all the time!" one of them said.
"All the time? Well, that seems like it calls for a raise!" Rina then gave them each 1 gold piece.
"Wow! I've never held a gold piece before!"
"Spend it wisely!" she said, "And don't forget to protect our tree."
"Wow, you're our heroes!" the kids said as they left to spend their gold.

The party, Neely, and Caspian all travelled first to Darwin's lab.
"Oh, hello," Darwin greeted them, "I have done some more research on the Kandaroo. We should all get a game plan for what's to come."
Guppo then also came downstairs to the lab, "We know where the Kandarro are coming from now, at least we think we do."
"Something big in the lake?" asked Alice.
"Yes, something big in the lake, indeed," started Darwin, "We believe it is a giant Electric Catfish, it's the only explanation for the zapping feeling that Kin got, and something large enough to host a colony of Kandaroo this long without dying."
"So, what do we need to catch such a fish?" asked Kin.
"I figure 550 feet of really good rope, and a giant ball of catfish bait," answered Guppo.
"How long will it take to get those things?" Rina asked.
"A few hours, probably." Guppo answered, "If I work on the rope and Darwin works on the bait, that is. Longer if I have to do it all myself."
"We can also help with some of that," said Aurelius, "I'm happy to help make rope."
"I can help with the bait," said Neely.
"Well, better get started then," said Darwin as he and Guppo left the basement.

Caspian stood there like a mindless robot the entire time, just smiling.
Rina felt bad for him, "This is one of the last days the poor boy will spend alive," she said to Alice, "It isn't fair to not let him make decisions."
"It's his own fault," Alice replied, "he wouldn't listen to anyone. Not you, not us... not even Enoch, apparently. Enoch told Caspian to wait for you to help, but he's planning on doing it even without you. He can't just wait?"
Rina didn't have an answer, just looked at poor Caspian, still physically falling apart - Rina had never seen a zombie, but Caspian still reminded her of a zombie.
Moments after Darwin and Guppo left, a cold air entered the room.
"Oh no... not now..." Rina said.
"Rina!" Agronoch exclaimed as he appeared in the corner of the room, "And Caspian! How are my two favorite Warlocks?"
"Aren't we your only warlocks?" Rina asked.
"Yes, for now."
"Then that also makes us your least favorite?"
He laughed, "So... what's wrong with him?" Agronoch said as he gestured to Caspian, who was still just standing and smiling, not saying a word.
"What's wrong with him is that you reanimated a corpse, and failed to mention that to me when you gave me this little side quest," Rina said in an annoyed tone.
"Also, I control him mind right now," Alice said, "He's a bit of a liability."
Alice then commanded Caspian to move to the other side of the room, and he tripped and fell while doing go - his scalp coming completely off his head, and multiple bones broke.
"Um..." Enoch started, "Is he going to actually be able to do this, you think? Like... is he ok?"
"No, Enoch, he's not ok," Rina said, "Why did you do this to a kid?"
"He's not a kid! He's over 18..." Enoch answered.
"Barely 18 is still a kid, Enoch," Rina said, "How did you end up with him as a warlock? Why would you pick someone like him - an idiot whose barely an adult and not even alive - after choosing me? I'm 300 years old and actually have some brains in my head... and you put us in the same category?"
"Calm down, Rina! I chose you for... reasons. Good reasons! He just happened to be in my vicinity when I found his soul. He was incredibly close to my domain when we died, so I just flew up and caught him. I've never made a contract like this before, so I wanted to give it a shot!"
"What do you mean you haven't made a contract like this before?" Alice asked as she looked at Rina and Enoch back and forth.
"I just mean... there's a difference between you two, that's all."
"What aren't you telling us devil?" asked Alice.
Caspian then stood up, grabbed his hair, and placed it back on his head. He then put his bones back where they should be. He smiled and looked at Agronoch, "Oh, hey! Did I mention I'm grateful for-" he tripped again, this time not able to get up right away.
"So..." Enoch started, "You're going to take care of this right away, right?" he said pointing at Caspian.
Rina sighed and looked at the party, Kin shaking his head a little.
"They... well... we... have decided to do one more thing before we focus on Caspian," Rina said hesitantly.
Agronoch looked down at the very broken Caspian, "Why would you wait? Look at him! Your other thing can't be postponed for even a day?"
Rina could tell that Enoch was frustrated that he wasn't a priority.
"I'm sorry, Enoch. But my contract - not his - is what I am focused on. And our other job has taken priority over his job," she answered, "You didn't tell me this had a time limit, and you also gave him many more details than you gave me. I'm doing my duty for you first, then I will focus on his."
Enoch got quiet for a moment, and looked at Caspian, then back at Rina.
"Ok, fine. I'm just... asking... once again... that you reconside-"
Alice cut him off, "Who do you really think you are?"
He looked at her, shocked.
"We are all working on Rina's contract for you, so we all get a say on what exactly is a priority. You aren't doing anything, you're just giving us more work."
Enoch looked at Rina, she just stood there with her mouth agape.
"Well..." Agronoch started, "Sorry to be giving you more work, The Bound. But it's no matter if he succeeds or not, he's going to die anyway - I get his soul anyway..." he said it with confidence, but Alice and Rina could see he was unsure if he was telling the truth.
"You don't even believe that, do you?" Alice asked.
Enoch laughed a fake laugh then turned away, "Good luck with your little fish job, Rina, I'll see you later."
He then disappeared in a puff of frost, leaving some ice on the water of the fish tank and barrels.
"I think he's being watched or something," said Alice, "Something about the way he acts just doesn't add up."
"I've wondered that, too," Rina said, "Last time we talked, he tried to tell me something, but a Wall of light forced him away."
It was clear to them that there was something Enoch can't tell Rina because he's being monitored heavily by someone.

"Let's get going," said Kin "We should go to the Greenwarf adventuring guild to try and get information on Edward Falsewater's location or schedule. And find out if anyone has heard of girls going missing."
So they all left for the Gallian, except Neely and Aurelius who went to help Guppo and Darwin.
They left the passed-out Caspian on the floor of the lab, unsure what to do with him.
"I'll just tell the golem to not let him go anywhere," Alice said.
At the Gallian, Kin and Alice passively listened for any information, and Rina asked people directly.
"Have you heard of women going missing recently?"
"Why? Who wants to know?"
"Just a friend of a friend..." Rina said, "His sister went missing so I'm helping to find her."
"People go missing all the time, it's no concern of ours."
Rina reported back, "No one seems to know or care about the missing girl."
"No one seems to know when Edward Falsewater is supposed to be in town, either. Only that he's probably staying in one of the larger inns on the north end of town," Alice answered, "But! I did hear that he tends to disguise women as other people to keep them as sex slaves."
"I wonder if the soldiers around him are actually women in disguise," Rina suggested, "Why would one guy need all those soldiers, anyway?"
Kin tried to Scry on Elysia based on what little information we had, but he had no luck.

As they were sitting in the Gallian, having a drink, Alice saw a waiter taking a tray of a honey-mead shots to a table in the back. The figure at the table was cloaked, but clearly looking directly at Alice.
"Hey, look at that person over there," Alice said to Rina.
Rina looked, and saw that the waiter took yet another tray of honey-mead shots to the table, and returned with shot glasses still half full with mead.
"Why are they only drinking the honey off the shots?" Rina said, "Leaving the wine is a travesty."
The hooded figure got up, then began to walk out - walking right by their table. Alice jumped down as started to follow them.
"Alice, wait, where are you going?" Rina said in a loud whisper. She didn't answer, so Rina just followed, leaving Kin alone.

Kin decided to go look for other information elsewhere instead of sitting at a tavern all alone. He always preferred to not stand out, so he'd rather be lost in a crowd than sitting at a 4-person booth by himself.
He heard a bell ring in the distance, so he went near it. It was the bell of the Church of Luminus, ringing in a pattern that most would know signifies an important, official announcement for all believers.
Kin joined the crowd of people circling up around the church as one of the Cardinals of Luminus stepped out onto the podium.
"Believers!" the cardinal yelled to the crowd, "I and Pontifex Coldwell. Luminus has spoken to me this day of an important calling for you all! This day marks 9 months until this great calling - god requires you all to rise up in your clay selves, and march to the top of Mt. Luminus! If you are a true believer, you must attend this Pilgrimage to Mt Luminus - if you do not, you will be punished in a fitting manner in the afterlife. If you do, you will be recognized as a true believer, and will be rewarded!"
The people of the crowd murmured, until one person yelled, "And what has Luminus done for us?"
Then another, "Yeah, the church can't even keep its promises to fix our Missing Fish problem!"
"Adventuring groups have done more for us than the church!"
Another couple of people recognized Kin in the crowed, "Hey, isn't that Kin Ray of The Bound?"
"Yeah, it is!"
Many people in the crowd began to compare Kin and the Church.
"Kin, don't you plan to help with the Fish problem?"
Kin hesitated a moment, and said in a very sarcastic tone, "No, the church is doing SO well at that as it is, why would anyone need to intervene?"
The crowd got riled up even more against the church, "Yeah, like they're doing so much!"
"Fuck the church!"
"Fuck Luminus!"
"Luminus isn't real!"
"The church is shit!"
The crowd got rowdy and a young boy threw a rock at the Pontifex.
Kin turned to run away from the church, and used a Misty step to teleport away just in time to see the Pontifex yell, "Violence will not be tolerated!" and cast a giant ray of magic at the crowd of people.

Rina and Alice were chasing the hooded person around the building and down an alley. They tried to be quiet in their movements, but failed.
The person turned around, and suddenly Rina could not move - she had been stunned.
Alice stopped, too. The person then removed their hood o reveal an almost-shaved head of white hair, and spoke to them.
"Oh... forgive me," she began, "I thought you would be more violet... I thought you were looking to kill me."
Rina looked at her, confused.
The woman removed the stun and kept speaking, "I am Mayoay, of the Twilight Coven," she said, "Alice, we have been looking for you for a while."
"Who, me?" Alice said, surprised, "Why me?"
"You are the one who was prophesied... the Pradhana, the one in the center of a cycle..." as Mayoay spoke, her cloak began to buzz and hover up from her body.
"What is happening to your clothes?" Rina asked.
"Oh, they're my bees!" Mayoay responded.
"You just happen to have bees in your cloak?" Rina asked again.
"Yes! Would you like them to go into your cloak? It's a great feeling!"
"Nope!" Alice yelled as she hid behind Rina.
"I'm all about experience!" Rina said, "Bee me!"
Mayoay ordered the bees to do the same under Rina's Clothes of Mending, which was essentially just a long cloak. Rina listened to them with her Beastspeach ability, and they all were just saying "Honey!" over and over.
After they all went back into Mayoay's cloak, she asked, "Well, did you like it?"
Rina paused a second, "I loved it! In concept it seemed odd, but I'm so happy I did that!"
"By the way," said Alice, "We are members of the Sprite Light coven. At least, we are working towrd it."
"Oh, yes! I heard you are to go through the Witch Trials soon!" She said, "I will be there, and I will be rooting for you, The bound."
"So, how do you know about the Pradhana thing?" Alice asked.
"Are you those who study the future?" asked Rina.
Mayoay winked, "We are at that! I will be happy to tell you more... after you complete the trials."
"Why not now?" asked Alice.
"I must learn more about your abilities," Mayoay answered, "It is a test all of us must take before we get certain information."
"You said you're from the Twilight coven, Right?" Rina started, "We heard from someone in Vorovni that yourCoven Has Worries about something."
Mayoay looked at Rina, surprised, "Oh! Yes... I'm sure you have heard strange things recently on your many travels. Have you not?"
"Strange things? Like What?" Rina replied.
"Songs... chants... giant things speaking that should not be?" Mayoay reminded them.
"Oh, like... the Jarl?" Alice asked.
"Indeed... but that is neither here nor there right now," said Mayoay as her cloak began to hover, "I must leave now, as I have things to attend to. Good day, The Bound, I will see you in a few day's time for the trials!"
As she spoke, the bees lifted her off the ground entirely, and she flew off.

Just then, Kin came up running to them, "We need to get to the docks... now."
As the girls looked behind Kin, they saw flashes of light magic all around the church.
"Kin, what did you do?" Rina asked with judgement.
"Nothing, let's just get to the boat!" he said as he continued to run in that direction.
They got to the docks to find Aurelius, Guppo, Neely, and Darwin all ready to go. Guppo's boat, also called "The Guppo", was rigged up with a large wooden fishing pole and a large reel wheel.
The bait was all tied up in a ball with twine - it was full of old fish pieces and seaweed to hold it all together, with one large hook inside.
"Time to head off!" Kin said as he hurriedly got onto the boat.
"We should check on Caspian," said Rina, "It's not fair that we just leave him without telling him anything. Besides, doesn't that spell end soon?"
"We don't have time to deal with him," said Alice, "I'm sure the Golem will keep him there. We will get to him later."

They all got onto the boat and set sail. Rina immediately got seasick. "I should know better than to eat before sailing..." she said to herself.
Aurelius complained about how hot it was in the sun, Kin let him borrow his Floppy hat to keep the sun off him.
Alice climbed the mast to enjoy the wind in her hair, and Neely spent time talking with Guppo and Darwin.
Everyone had a great time in the hour-long boat trip to the deepest part of Lightwash Lake.
Kin guided them to where he saw the vision of the giant Electric Catfish in his commune with nature.
"We should put the bait down here," he said, "Let's hope we have enough rope."
They let the bait down until the rope went slack, and waited.
"To catch a catfish, you have to wait for them to slowly take the bait near the bottom," Kin said, "It's not like other fish that like to chase their food - like bass or pike."
They waited for what seemed like forever, until it finally happened - the thick wooden fishing rod was yanked downward, and the boat began to move sideways.
"That's our fish!" Kin yelled as he cast Water walk on them all, "Everyone, get ready!"
The party took turns on the reel - first Aurelius pulled it up a few dozen feet, then Rina who was able to match him.
Kin used Control water to make a whirlpool just above the fish so the party could see down to it.
Neely threw her dagger and hit it for a little damage, and Alice summoned a water elemental to go down to hit the fish.
Guppo steered the boat, and Darwin went into hiding under the deck.
Aurelius and Rina continued to reel in the fish, and Alice was able to help them.

Other ships began to appear in the area - some were small fishing boats, others were larger passenger ships. One ship was particularly ornate, and a man stepped out onto its deck and yelled, "Do you need any help?!"
"No!" Alice and Kin both yelled back, as Alice cast Fog Cloud on the water - obscuring them from any onlookers.
"I wonder if that's Falsewater..." Rina said quietly to herself, still thinking about Caspian, "If Caspian was here, I wonder if he'd be swimming over there."
"Rina, get your head in the game!" Alice yelled as she cast moonbeam into the water.
Rina threw some eldritch blasts at the fish, and it was heavily injured by the time it appeared above the water.
It looked around for a moment, thousands of Kandaroo emerging from its gills, then it swiftly turned and tried to pull the entire boat down with it - knocking Aurelius and Rina onto the water.
"At least it wasn't into the water!" Aurelius said as he waived at Kin.
"We shouldn't stay down here, though!" Rina said as she saw the catfish swimming toward them.
She grabbed Aurelius by the arm, and used Dimension Door to get them both back on the boat.

After Alice's Moonbeam, the party noticed the sky never got lighter again. In fact, it started to get darker. The clouds began to form a circle above them, with lightning bolts skipping between the clouds.
"The fish is controlling the weather!" Alice yelled, "Be careful, we could all be toast!"
"We have to get the fish out of the water before it dies!" said Darwin as he stuck his head up from the deck's hatch, "Otherwise, all the Kandaroo will just leave its body and decimate the entire ecosystem here!"
Rina nodded, and continued to reel in the fish, finally pulling it onto the boat.
Kin ran up to it to try and kill it, but didn't do nearly enough damage. As Kin's fist made contact with the fish's nose, a giant bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky onto them.

End session.

The giant catfish rained lightning down on them.
Guppo was killed immediately. Neely and Kin went down, but were still on the boat. Alice and Aurelius were knocked from the boat, and Alice went unconscious.
Rina used Tomb of Levistus, which kept her alive through the lightning. The fish thrashed about on the boat, and destroyed Rina's ice block. She was then able to get Kin up with a potion, and Kin was able to get Neely up.
"Darwin!" Rina yelled, "Get out here and steer the boat!"
Darwin stuck his head up once again to see his brother's body in pieces on the ship. He was stunned, and didn't know what to do.
"You can mourn later, right now we're all going to die if you don't get to that steering wheel!" Rina continued.
Darwin snapped out of it, and got to the wheel.
With one last eldritch blast, Rina finished off the catfish - all of the Kandaroo then spilled from its gills onto the ship.

Aurelius, barely conscious, sees Alice on the water. He looked back to see that the boat was barely in-tact enough to stay floating, and the catfish was dead. However, he knew that Alice was about to explode again, just like she did in the Taste Tree Forest. If she did it here and now, the boat and all of the people on it would die.
With one heroic decision, Aurelius stood up, and - using all of his movement to dash - he picked up Alice and ran her as far away from the boat as possible. He had no potions, so spells for healing - only the ability to protect the rest of his friends from certain death.
At the end of Aurelius' movement, the sky turned dark, the color of the world disappeared. Aurelius, holding his friend in his arms, said goodbye.
Alice's explosion could be heard for miles, and - even through the fog cloud - her strange, colorless lights could be seen.
Rina looked out in horror to see that Aurelius and Alice were both unconscious on the water. Only, Aurelius was sinking... the water walk could no longer work for someone who had died.
"Darwin! Get this ship over there!" she pointed as he steered.
Kin used Misty step to get over to Alice and revive her, but it was too late for Aurelius.
Kin grabbed Aurelius from the water before he sank, "Come on, buddy, come on... Don't die on me again."
The ship got closer to Alice and Kin, who were now both trying to get Aurelius to come back.

One of the ships had broken through the fog. It was painted white with gold edges, and on its mast flew a flag with the 9 Pointed Star of the Church of Luminus. As Kin and Alice were trying to get Aurelius, arrows and javelins came hurling down at them from the white boat.
"We're trying to get our friend!" Alice said, "Have some respect!"
They didn't listen, only sent more arrows that missed them again. Alice sent an air elemental to their sails, trying to push their boat backwards.
Rina put up a wall of fire in front of them, just far enough away to not burn the boat, but close enough that they couldn't move forward without it getting caught on fire.
"We aren't going to fight you, but we aren't looking to talk either!" Rina yelled at them.
They seemed to respect Rina's wishes, and backed off a bit.

Darwin finally got the boat all the way over to Kin and Alice.
Alice tried to get onto the boat on her own, but ended up not being able to.
"What's taking you so long?!" Rina yelled from the boat, "Get him up here!"
"Why don't you just wildshape?" Kin said frantically, "Turn into something that can get us up onto the boat!"
She hesitated, trying to climb up on her own again, and failing again.
"What is wrong with you?!" Rina yelled again.
Alice reflected on what just happened - she fell, she killed Aurelius, she didn't want to feel out of control again - and being in beast form made her feel less in control.
She looked back at Aurelius, and finally decided to wildshape into a giant spider - picking him up and carrying him and Kin onto the boat.
Alice stayed in Wildshape, not wanting to speak to anyone.
"Aurelius!" Rina yelled as she tried to shake him awake. "Come on, kid! Come on, wake up!"
His hands were black and nearly fried off, his arm and one of his legs were blackened from the inside.
Kin put his hand on her shoulder, she looked up at him and he shook his head. She looked back down at him, and finally just let him go.
"Enoch..." she whispered quietly, "Agronoch... come get him."

Darwin began turning toward the docks of Greenwarf again, still trying to keep his composure.
The fog cloud had gone, and the ships were all sailing into the harbor to dock as well, many of them curious about what just happened.
As they docked, Alice - in spider form - carried the giant Electric Catfish off the ship. Rina and Darwin wrapped Guppo's body in the torn sail from the ship, and carried him. Neely and Kin did the same for Aurelius.

Everyone at the docks wanted to take some small credit for helping with the fish, so they all offered to help them carry it. Many other adventuring parties were also keeping the members of the church away from the bound - not wanting the church to be able to get credit at all.
The party went to the Gallian with the fish, and collected their reward.
"How do you want to split this now that we're... down a couple members?" Kin asked the group.
"I just want the same amount we agreed on before, then I'm taking my brother home..." Darwin said.
They gave him 1300 gold for his home, then the 8750 for his and Guppo's shares.
"Let's put Aurelius' portion into the party fund, also..." said Rina, "I don't feel right just portioning it out."
"Why not?" asked Alice, "His money is all technically ours now." Alice then began raiding Aruelius' pockets and took his gold for herself.
"I think the party fund is a good idea," Kin said to Rina as they divvied up the money.
"Let's get a room here and figure out what to do with Aurelius..." said Rina, "I'm not sure if we should bury him or cremate him or..."
Kin put his hand on her shoulder, then nodded.
Rina went to the front to get a room, "You all don't need to PAY for a room!" the tavern owner said, "You've solved our Missing Fish problem, AND brought us this giant catfish to feed the whole city! The room's free as long as you need."
Rina waived Kin over, he reached down to pick up Aurelius, and Neely helped.
They took his body to their room, and Kin came back downstairs. Rina and Alice were still there, trying to decide what to do next.

"I really need to go get Caspian," Rina said, "We've done this, I need to work on that."
"We should really all go together," said Alice, "and Kin and I need to rest before that happens. So does Neely."
As Kin came down the stairs to meet the girls, he overheard a couple of nobles just outside the door of the Greenwarf adventuring guild.
"Yeah I heard some guy just jumped at Edward Falsewater and tried to kill him!"
"Didn't he explode or something? He killed himself and 2 guards with some ice explosion!"
"Yeah he said something about revenge, then ended up barely hurting Falsewater at all."
"Dumb kid..."
Kin approached the table where Alice and Rina were sitting, "Uh, guys... I think Caspian went without you. I heard some people talking about how Falsewater was almost killed, and some kid exploded into ice while trying to kill him."
Rina looked horrified, "Damnit... Enoch's going to be pissed."
"We tried to tell Caspian to wait," said Alice, "he didn't listen to anyone. He didn't listen to Enoch or you."

Rina didn't say any more about Caspian, just changed the subject, "So, what should we do with Aurelius' body?"
"Neely and I got his armor and all of this belongings," Kin said as he got everything out of his bag, "Here's the compass he had, an his soul book..."
Rina snagged both of the items, "I wonder if we could read the Soul Book..." Rina said.
Just then, they saw two very well dressed individuals outside of the Gallian - one was a man with a giant sword, and the other was a petite woman wielding a dagger. The weapons were clearly those of the Fingers of Luminus, Rina knew immediately that the woman was the Pinky finger based on Drake's description of her weapon.
The man walked in as the woman disappeared in the crowd outside. He walked up to them and sat down at their table.
"Howdy, folks. I hear you've got quite the high reputation as an Adventuring Party. The Bound, is it?"
"Yes, and who might you be?" Rina asked.
"The name's Roy. Roy Richmond, Middle finger of Luminus," He responded, "What do you all say we have a drink, eh?"
The bartender came over, "I'll take a whiskey - neat," ordered Roy.
"I'll have the same," Rina said without hesitation.
"Me too!" said Alice.
Kin just shook his head, and the bartender went back to get their drinks.
"May I inquire as to what you intend to do with the body of dear Aurelius?" Roy asked.
"We don't have an exact plan yet," said Alice, "Why do you care?"
"Well, ya see, I'm... pretty new to my job," Roy started, "and I could really use a boost in my reputation in the eyes of the church. Bringing back the body of the son of the Grasping Finger... well, it certainly wouldn't hurt."
"I'm not sure he would want his body to belong to the church," Rina said, "As I'm sure you know, being acquainted with Alric Ravenwood, Aurelius had not followed Luminus for quite some time. We want to do what we believe he would have wanted."
"I know you think you know the boy," Roy said, "but I was there when we was growin up! Such a unique little kid. Then he just disappeared."
"Yes, he found his own path in life," Rina retorted.
"Well that's a shame," said Roy, "A real shame. Tell ya what, I'll give you a little time to mourn him, but I will be gettin his body one way or another. We could do this the easy way, or the hard way."
"Can you give us a minute to talk this over?" Kin asked.
"Sure, I'll be right back," Roy said as he got up and walked to the door of the Gallian.
"I think we should do it," Kin said, "We can do funeral rites for him, Roy did say we would have a little time."
"But we know the church is splicing souls," Rina said, "I don't want something like that to happen to him."
"We have the soul book," Alice said, "If we have his soul, they can't splice it into anything."
"Maybe we can figure out how to send his soul to the afterlife somehow," Rina suggested.
After 10 minutes, Roy walked back up to the table, now everyone's drinks were there, as well.
He drank his in one gulp, "Now, you handin over that body to me, or what?"
"We will, but we would like a day to mourn him first," Kin said. "It's about 3pm now, so how about we deliver him to the church by 3pm tomorrow?"
"Well, now you're sounding reasonable!" Roy said, "But how's about you deliver him to the church by... say 8am instead."
"How about noon," Alice suggested.
"9am is my final offer," said Roy, "that or I can fight you for it here and now. Your choice."
"Fine," said Kin, "We will deliver his body to you by 9am tomorrow."
"Good, good," Roy said, "It better all be in one piece, too - ya hear?"
"Of course..." Rina said.

"Now, onto the fun conversation!" said Roy, "What was the deal with all that... lightnin and smoke and all the colors leavin the area while you were reelin up that fish?"
"I used fog cloud so no one else could get our catch," said Alice.
"Yeah, and the fish itself is what summoned that lightning," Rina said.
"And all that missin color? That big explosion sound?" Roy asked again.
"So many crazy things happen during a fight," Rina said, "Some spells just get out of hand sometimes."
Roy seemed satisfied with the answer. He then got up from the table, "Well, it was nice meetin you folks, I'll see you tomorrow at 9!" He then walked out of the Gallian - the Pinky finger was waiting for him just outside the door where he previously stood.
"So, that's another finger," said Rina. "Now we know if the pinky finger, the middle finger, and the grasping finger - none of which were the guy I saw when I used scry on Gabrielle."
"So he's either the ring finger or the pointer finger, and there's one other we haven't seen," said Alice, "Plus that Roscoe Baldwin guy who is the one that died."
"Yeah, didn't they say they found him Dead in his Chambers? By suicide?" Kin asked.
"I think so, he's the one whose name was on that Gold circlet I got from the Golem," said Alice.
"Roy must have replaced him," Rina said "He mentioned he hadn't had his job very long."

End session

"I'm going to use sending to contact Therius," Kin said, "Maybe we can help us decide what to do for Aurelius' soul. He was a paladin of Therius, after all."
Kin's sending was brief: "Aurelius died, we want to release his soul properly to the afterlife. What should we do?"
Therius replied: “Curious (CURIOUS cuRIUS curius CUrius)... Release (release) the memories (MEMories, memories) from the body (boDY, BOdy) to rest (Rest REST) his soul (Soul, SOUL, soul…)”
"Release the memories?" Rina asked, "So, maybe we burn his book?"
"We should also destroy his holy symbol of Therius, too," said Kin, "We don't need the church learning about that detail."
"Let's see how much of his soul book we can read tonight," Rina suggested, "Maybe it can tell us more stuff about the church or the fingers or... something. He grew up in that space, after all."

They all retired to their room for the night, and got busy reading his soul book. Little of it was easy to read, but what could be read was useful.
They got the names of the remaining Fingers of Luminus, and some information on the High Cardinals.
"It says here that the church of luminus doesn't see death as being a bad thing," Alice read, "...that they think death is a gift. Like, the best gift they can give someone."
"They must really think the afterlife is better than this, then," said Rina.

As they read through the night they got tired, Rina and Alice became exhausted.
Rina then could feel a strange pulling within her mind, it felt like Agronoch was trying to reach her. She leaned into the feeling to try and get closer to him. She heard him in a conversation with someone else that was not at all about her, or even with her.
"Yes, my father is coming soon! Yes, looking forward to all the festivities. No, let me get YOU another drink…” He then started just whispering under his breath to Rina, “Rina… I need to talk to you directly. I need you to get as close to death as possible so we can speak in private. Do it soon.”
As she pulled back out of the mental conversation with Enoch, she mentioned it to the party, "Enoch needs me to get close to death to... talk to me in person, I guess.
"Does that mean... going to a cemetary?" Kin asked.
"Um, I don't think thats what he meant, no."
"Does it mean jsut sit next to a dead body?" asked Alice, "Because Aurelius is right there."
"No, I'm pretty sure I need to... almost die," Rina answered.
"Well, you'll have to do that after we burn the soul book," Kin said.

Next: Day 37 (S28)