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@ -34,9 +34,7 @@ As Themberchaud and Cogyth--- so the dragon addresses the party's quarry--- get
> Themberchaud has finally respected my wishes about... his _health!?_
Assured for the moment of their security, but acutely aware of the need to depart before the dragon gets to devouring the cake beneath their feet, the party question their orbic interlocutor. As Carmal explains the chaos Cogyth's _festivities_ have brought about in the surrounding country, conversation turns to the vanished villagers and to the farmland Louisa saw, now nowhere to be found. In answer, the beholder calls out a name, "Cheshira", and the three-armed hag of before winds into existence at his side. Party members glean details of their relationship, and of the situation there concerning, in snippets of heated conversation between the fiend and the aberration.
Cogyth employed Cheshira as security, to prevent interference by townsfolk with his celebratory preparations, but, in attracting an adventuring party to his abode, the hag has gone too far. Were their business not concluded, she would surely be fired, but since it is, she should take her things and get out of his sight. The beholder's anger hints he was unaware of the rise in missing persons, and his conduct tells the party they needn't worry about him repeating the mistake; to willfully sow chaos in the northern lands runs counter to Codyth's lawful nature.
Assured for the moment of their security, but acutely aware of the need to depart before the dragon gets to devouring the cake beneath their feet, the party question their orbic interlocutor. As Carmal explains the chaos Cogyth's _festivities_ have brought about in the surrounding country, conversation turns to the vanished villagers and to the farmland Louisa saw, now nowhere to be found. In answer, the beholder calls out a name, "Cheshira", and the three-armed hag of before winds into existence at his side. Party members glean details of their relationship, and of the situation there concerning, in snippets of heated conversation between the fiend and the aberration. Cogyth employed Cheshira as security, to prevent interference by townsfolk with his celebratory preparations, but, in attracting an adventuring party to his abode, the hag has gone too far. Were their business not concluded, she would surely be fired, but since it is, she should take her things and get out of his sight.
Though questions still burn on party member's tongues, the dragon's desire to eat cake soon overcomes his contentedness in companionable conversation, and he bounds forth to shovel untold quantities of sponge down his smoking gullet. Not even Themberchaud could possibly consume the whole of Brog Burgest, but our heroes aren't ones to stick around a ravening full-grown dragon--- party members split as best they can. Louisa takes to the air with Gottlob in tow. Clementine, polymorphed into an ancient winged beast by Carmal, carries the rest of the party cloudward. Cheshira, for her part, makes haste down the mountainside, hoping to escape before her absence is noticed.
@ -50,11 +48,13 @@ As off a spring, Louisa acts. She knows exactly what spell the situation demands
Having handled the main threat for now[^banish], Louisa turns her attention to the final eyedrake--- already nearly fallen to her party member's efforts--- on the heels of another anti-magic blast that targets Clementine and Almuth; for his part, a second time. The monster's breath weapon whips the feeling from their limbs; eddies of featureless force tug their bodies to and fro and toss them bodily, writhing, into the dirt. Clementine falls unconscious immediately, but Almuth is awake to feel the catastrophe the creature wreaked upon him. His limbs are shattered, his torso crushed, his flesh made so much pulp. The world shrinks away like a falling star, and with a final, gasping prayer to his Goddess, Almuth Cheerio, Peace Cleric of Eldath, grows Still. [^still]
Guided by a llama's deep-borne instinct, Louisa spits her retaliation: a fireball that sends the eyedrake crashing dryly to the ground, body singed and wasted like a black-burnt piece of toast[^toast]. The dissolution of the dimensional magic that holds the party apart from material reality, which began as Cheshira disappeared, is completed with the death of her last creation, and Brog Burgest quakes back into view. Gottlob quickly revives his fallen comrades, Almuth included--- thank Eldath the paladin had diamonds--- and Carmal is sure to grab an eyestalk or two off the blackened eyedrake to keep as proof for Laeral that the party indeed _killed_ a beholder today.
Guided by a llama's deep-borne instinct, Louisa spits her retaliation: a fireball that sends the eyedrake crashing dryly to the ground, body singed and wasted like a black-burnt piece of toast. The dissolution of the dimensional magic that holds the party apart from material reality, which began as Cheshira disappeared, is completed with the death of her last creation, and Brog Burgest quakes back into view. Gottlob quickly revives his fallen comrades, Almuth included--- thank Eldath the paladin had diamonds--- and Carmal is sure to grab an eyestalk or two off the blackened eyedrake to keep as proof for Laeral that the party indeed _killed_ a beholder today.
Adventurers note from afar that Themberchaud seems to have devoured what of the cake pile he wants and, with the Hag's captives in mind, start back up the mountain, hoping to encounter the scene from which Louisa was hurled so violently before, but empty-eyed bodies found motionless on low, caky slopes, are a sure indication that the unnatural place went with its maker. Scattered across the remains of Brog Burgest, the party find all the people of the cyan fields, Louisa's body included. Search and rescue is an arduous affair, and what remain of the pile bathes villages below in russet sunbeams, reflected in iced gradients, as the party make their return to Neverwinter. Passing the gentle bend of a quasi-foothill drumlin at which they first beheld Cogyth's postprandial behemoth, party-members turn to regard the pile once more. They cannot help but find it... beautiful.[^toaq]
In the afternoon's clear air, it's plain to the party from afar that the dragon has finished his meal, and with the Hag's captives in mind, they start back toward the mountain with hopes to find the scene from which Louisa was hurled so violently before, but empty-eyed figures met wandering by low-laid slopes are sure indications that the unnatural place went with its maker. Trawling at the base of Brog Burgest's remains, the party recover each and every person of the cyan fields, and Louisa's body is happily among their number. Cogyth appears on the ground, to greet them with words of peace, as the last of the abductees are rounded up, and assures the party of his innocence concerning the rise in missing persons--- to willfully sow chaos in the northern lands is wholly counter to his nature. Seeing the earnestness in his eyes and knowing firsthand the affection he has for his friend, they can't help but believe the beholder--- an aberration in more ways than one.
Back in Waterdeep by the Neverwinter Portal, adventurers receive news that dulls the excitement of victory more even than the temporary death of their compatriot makes uneasy conversation. Words placed in Carmal's mind by Tasha's "sending" tell him the party's greatest fear of course has come to pass--- Open Lord Laeral Silverhand knows of the party's deceptions. Rwntincer sent an emissary of goodwill, an elemental, that found Laeral and an unexpecting and un_welcom_ing host--- this is Tasha's warning to her pawns and protégés. Stern words will be had with Rwntincer if he ever shows his face again...
Search and rescue and the parting pleasantries with Cogyth constitute a lengthy affair, and what's left of the cake pile bathes hills below in reflected russet sun as the party makes its return on foot to Neverwinter. Through a drumlin foothill's gentle bend from which they first beheld Cogyth's postprandial behemoth, party-members turn to regard the pile once more. In that warm, right light, they cannot help but find it... beautiful.
Back in Waterdeep by portal, adventurers receive news that dulls the excitement of victory more even than their regret at the brief death of their compatriot. Words set in Carmal's mind by Tasha's "sending" alert him that the greatest fear of course has to pass--- Open Lord Laeral Silverhand has learned of the party's deceptions. [Rwntincer](/writings/umbral3/), "the Cyclone", sent an emissary of goodwill, an elemental, that found Laeral and an unexpecting and un_welcom_ing host--- this is Tasha's warning to her pawns and protégés. Stern words will be had with Rwntincer if he ever shows his face again, but for now, it's their own consequences that the party must consider...
[^neverwinter]: [Neverwinter](https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Neverwinter) is a northern city of craftsmen and artisans regarded as among the most cosmopolitan metropoleis in Faerûn.
@ -74,8 +74,4 @@ Back in Waterdeep by the Neverwinter Portal, adventurers receive news that dulls
[^banish]: Louisa casts banishment, sending the night hag directly to hell.
[^toast]: Faithful to the scene as it happened.
[^toaq]: She jıe sono de ké poqme hú meı keıke da.
[^still]: As in the Stillness. Mhm.