Episode 8: Naked Mole Rat

The Heroes run for their lives as the Mines collapse all around them. Will they make it out? Or will this ancient site be their tomb?

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Episode Summary
The episode begins with Fillius waking up, his skin burning from the Shard’s magic. He immediately sees the cavern shaking and crumbling around the group. His eyes fall on Rasend, who is considerably larger, with glowing red crystal shards covering his body and burning silver eyes.

As Aratal awakens, a portal opens near Rasend and a tall Drow steps out, followed by two other figures wearing silver masks. The tall Elf wields a staff adorned with a silver dragon. They begin speaking to Rasend, paying no attention to the Heroes or Mason on the floor.

Fillius drags himself over to Belrun, trying to wake him up. In a panic, Belrun puts a knife to Fillius’ throat, not recognising his friend now covered in burns. Aratal wakes up Immeral with a kick and turns his focus to the tall Elf, trying to get his attention. The Elf initially orders the two guards to kill the Heroes, but Rasend intervenes and promises to go with them if his friends are spared. The Dragonborn disappears through the portal with the robed figures.

Feeling the urgency to escape the mines, Immeral grabs Mason by the collar and begins dragging him to an exit. This makes it difficult to dodge the falling debris however, so the Monk decapitates him with the help of Belrun and Aratal. They race towards the only exit they know, over piles of bones and stone.

As the group near the entrance they arrived through, they hear a rumble, guessing that their escape route had just been blocked. Belrun remembers that there was a wall letting through a breeze and breaks through it with an arrow. Through the hole, they find a small room and a ladder leading up through a shaft to a faint light.

At the top of the ladder, the Heroes find themselves back in the surrounding forest, seeing no trace of the calamitous energies which the Shard of Omalgus had been emitting. Catching their breath, they begin to make their way back to the camp. The episode ends with Aratal and Immeral trying to hide Fillius’ scarred face with illusion magic.

Characters (in order of introduction)
Players
 * Belrun
 * Fillius Senneck
 * Immeral Nial
 * Aratal

NPCs
 * Mason Silentdawn
 * Rasend Dracon
 * Zebinox (not named)

Key Events

 * Rasend joins the Silver Eye Cult.
 * Mason Silentdawn is killed.
 * The Heroes escape the mines before their collapse.

Notable Battles

 * Other
 * Immeral: 1 Skeleton (outside combat) and Mason Silentdawn
 * Fillius: 2 Skeletons (outside combat)
 * Aratal: 2 Skeletons (outside combat)

Quotes

 * ”Is Aratal able to hear the conversation?” – Ray (Aratal)
 * ”You can hear what they’re saying but, uh, I don’t know if you understand the language.” - Adam
 * ”What language-“ – Ray (Aratal)
 * ”They’re speaking Draconic.” - Adam
 * ”I do.” – Ray (Aratal)
 * ”You understand Draconic?!” - Adam
 * ”You open your eyes; you had a great sleep you know, for a moment you finally got rest. You haven’t had that in a while.” – Adam
 * ”I just dream of rum, all the time. That’s all it is.” – Michael (Belrun)
 * ”What kind of rum is it this time, black cherry?” – David (Fillius)
 * ”It’s actually a whiskey, you know, I like to play the game." – Michael (Belrun)
 * ”Go back to sleep you drunk.” – Fillius
 * ”Argh, but I need more liquor. I’ll obviously need more liquor if I have to look at that grin for the rest of my life…” – Belrun
 * ”You might want to choose your words wisely…” – Adam
 * ”[Aratal] doesn’t really choose his words wisely.” – Ray (Aratal)
 * ”[Belrun’s arrow] has actually, uh, severed, uh… about a quarter of his throat is now wide-open…” – Adam, about Mason Silentdawn
 * ”[Adam making gargling noises] …with that being said, Immeral will look down at him and instead of grabbing him by the neck collar, he will just grab by his hair and then start pulling.” – Cody (Immeral)
 * ”You know what, I’m going to turn back into a bear, because-” – David (Fillius)
 * ”It’s the naked mole rat!” – Cody (Immeral)
 * ”Oh god, please don’t stare at me for long, I’ve had nightmares that are dreams compared to your face.” – Aratal, to Fillius
 * ”Before [Aratal] drags me, I check my waist to know that I still have the damn head.” – Cody (Immeral)
 * ”It’s not on you. You son of a bitch.” – Adam
 * ”How much do you guys trust me?” – Belrun
 * ”With my life.” – Fillius
 * ”Well, metagaming-wise, I don’t trust the shit out of you because you left me for dead…” – Cody (Immeral)
 * ”I WENT FOR HELP!” – Michael (Belrun)
 * ”I’ll touch him and heal him with Cure Wounds.” – David (Fillius)
 * ”[muttering] Above the waist please…” – Michael (Belrun)
 * ”I’ll touch you wherever the fuck I want.” – David (Fillius)

Trivia

 * Michael retells the events of the last episode for the third time.
 * Aratal used Mage Hand for the third and fourth times, to get the Cultist Leader's attention, and to help decapitate Mason.
 * Fillius rolled his fourth Nat20 to dodge falling rocks as the chamber collapsed, and his fifth to open the lock at the top of the the ladder.
 * Aratal, Immeral and Belrun all fell unconscious whilst trying to escape the crumbling mines.
 * Immeral rolled his first Nat20 of the story whilst dodging falling rubble.
 * Aratal rolled his first Nat20 of the story whilst dodging falling rubble.