Having reunited once more the party has a short discussion about the previous day. Nom and Mokon wait for the others outside while Alora, Dorus, and Fay venture inside the overgrown swamp hut to get some clarification due to the shoddy notes taken by Dorus (or lack thereof) pertaining to the Splinters of Adeline. Malaak was happy to oblige, explaining she could help narrow down their search. Malaak also reiterates that they are in fact The Sage and continues with short and somewhat cryptic descriptions of each remaining Splinter. The Soul Cage - A beacon of pain; The Wildheart - An open mind and heart; The Enigma - One with an unmatched intellect and brilliance; The Dreamer: A vessel with the ability to make dreams and nightmares a reality; and The Darkness - Pure deceit, lies, and trickery. Noticing the generally confused look of the group, Malaak gives one more gift. With a prick of her finger from a metallic serpent’s fang, a single drop of blood mingles with the bubbling liquid within the dark cauldron. Malaak then produces a smooth white stone dropping it into her swirling concoction. A few moments later a long green arm reaches feverishly into the depths of the cauldron to produce the white stone once more. Malaak then explains the stone will glow brighter as the party gets closer to one of the Splinters (excluding Malaak’s of course). The stone can only give a general area of one such vessel but is unable to pinpoint the exact location of the souls and of which body each soul inhabits.
“The splinters are scattered throughout Vedra’l. One to the northeast, another to the northwest, a third to the southwest, and another to the Southeast. One of the souls escapes even my sight.”
Fay and Dorus stand uncomfortably beside Ton’s body which is now completely covered in moss, fungus, and vinescompany each taking time to verbally stab one another. Fay is none too impressed with Dorus (yet again) after he explains that he, in fact, was the one who ended Ton’s life with little more than the nudge from Malaak.
“It’s a process,” Malaak interjects.
Somewhat frustrated, Alora changes the subject asking if Malaak could help with Merrylegs’ illness. After a not-too-thorough physical of the small steed, Malaak creates a tonic to help with symptoms although they were uncertain as to the exact cause of his condition.
With the lack of exact direction Dorus, Alora, and Fay exit the hut to see Merrylegs biting and nipping at Alejandro. The massive dire hyena was tolerating the torment well enough, until he wasn’t, and proceeds to push the small creature to the ground. Unphased, Merrylegs stands to resume his goal. Alora quickly goes to her mount gently persuading him to stop before Alejandro takes things to a more deadly level.
The crew almost forgets one of their (apparently) less important quests to acquire faster travel throughout the land by way of balloon. For many, many, many… many, many, many days our party has chosen to traverse the massive land of Grimshackle by foot not because of a lack of options, but a… a REALLY good reason. But today, the group decides to track down their gas-producing swamp grubs. Malaak knows exactly where to find them as does Grumble who happily meanders his way to your goal. Three large hives rest in the mud. Malaak warned the group that the grubs were attracted to vibrations and not so much noise. Dorus has the idea to magically rumble the ground directly where an open sack lays… it works… swamp grubs exit the water in droves. Alora, being a little more cautious creates a tiny hut just in case. After reviewing their situation Fay notices smaller grubs falling fleshy sacks on the side of the hives. As Dorus diverts some of the grubs away from the hives Fay makes a direct line toward the largest larval sack for a hopefully bigger payday. Unfortunately, she does not pay much attention to the swamp that she must cross and is almost instantly stung by multiple grubs as she secures the larval sack. She feels her vision begin to blur and her legs weaken. Alora jumps to her aid casting lesser restoration to remove the poison. Nom takes notice of Fay’s drugged state and secures two large grubs in a pot for later swordplay. Mokon spends much of his time trying to get Grumble to wrestle -- Grumble is not interested.
Making their way back to Malaak’s hut she slowly asks the group if they were successful. Dorus produces a full sack of grubs. Malaak quickly reaches into the sack, grabs the fattest rub she can find, and eagerly takes a big bite. With moist *POP* the grub wriggles in pain -- Malaak takes another juicy bite. “Delicious,” she monotonically exclaims as she wrings the remaining liquids from the grub onto the overgrown body of Ton.
“It’s a process,” Malaak states once more.
Exhausting all their questions and their patience the crew packs up to leave. Just then Dorus' stomach groans in pain. Malaak speaks, “Are you feeling better today? Dorus?” Malaak gestures to a significant pile of vomit beside the floor where Dorus had slept. Dorus has no memory of being sick. His stomach growls once more.
The crew pack their mounts, say their goodbyes to Malaak, and head toward Benny’s where they can hopefully procure an improved mode of transportation.
The route will take most of a day on horseback. As they continue forward the mist and fog-covered swamp gives way to a bright and shiny day and an intense burning on Dorus' arms. Dorus does his best to cover his skin and readies his hood to protect his face. Unfortunately, his exposed hands and trunk do not fare as well, and, by the time the group makes their first stop on the trail to Benny’s, Dorus’ exposed skin appears to have a healthy dose of sunburn and his stomach has reached epic levels of hunger. Nom offers to cook the group some unicorn meat. Alora is absolutely NOT interested, the others are not opposed so Nom builds a small fire. Dorus, not as interested in cooking as he is in instant gratification, grabs a raw piece from Nom's hands and begins to eat. The meat comes up as quickly as it goes down. Angry and hungry Dorus heads into the woods to find an alternate meal.
Each of the crew takes some personal time while they take a short rest. Alora, worried about Dorus, follows his tracks to find him eating a recently caught raw rabbit which he promptly vomits. Alora finds some large leaves to protect Dorus from the sun and the two head back to the campsite.
Following the smell of delicious roasted unicorn meat Dorus and Alora walk into the clearing to see an unsupervised Merrylegs nose deep in unicorn parts. Alora quickly pulls the small steed away from the pouch with Nom’s help. Uncertain of his intent Alora wipes the blood from his muzzle.
Theories swirl about Dorus' current condition. Did he get bit by something? Is he turning into a werelephant? Why is he so handsome? Despite their efforts, no true answers are found. The crew remounts and continues toward Bennys.
Once they arrive at Benny's hilltop home and laboratory they notice many significant changes. The once quaint home is now a much larger metallic building. Electrical arcs and sparks hum overhead between large cylinders where windmills once stood. The old wooden bridge has been replaced by a steel road. And at the end of that road stands a massive part man part machine. “Come closer,” it bellows. The group complies and continues on to explain they are here to see Benny. “Wait here”, the thug replies, disappears around the corner, and then returns with an enthusiastic, “Go ahead.”
Benny’s lab interior is also vastly different than remembered. No longer are there shelves littered with books and papers, instead, the massive building houses pipes, gears, huge machines, and herds of automatons. Mechanical noises and whizzing gears are almost overwhelming. The heat in this large open chamber is almost unbearable. Pipes creak and moan and waves of heat escape. In front of the group is a huge mechanical drilling machine that stands 15 feet tall and three times as long. A giant drill rotates loudly on one end of the machine leaning over a freshly tunneled hole in the earth. A large oval steel door rests closed to their left. It has only been a few weeks since the group had visited Benny. How did he make so many changes in so little time?
As the group stands in awe. A tall elegant mechanical being approaches the group. “Hello, welcome back. Where is Nom?” Its body is new, but the voice is clearly Benny, albeit slightly less monotone. The group explains Nom’s new aesthetic. Benny finds the change fascinating and begins to poke and prod at Nom inquisitively. “Where is your prosthetic?” Benny questions. Nom explains that her arm was regrown during her “reincarnation”. “How unfortunate. Interestingly you have come at a good time. We have many new prototypes to enhance your fragile mortal shells.” Nom and Fay's ears perk. “We have been hard at work on an eye stalk, mechanical legs, forearm and hand prosthetic v2, and absorption lungs. Who would like to be upgraded with which implant?” Benny’s head tilts to the left slightly. The group decides to give the upgrades a little thought before making a choice.
Dorus asks about the large metal door and what lies beyond. “We all have our secrets Dorus,” a forced rigid laugh escapes Benny as a strange synthesized meow cuts through the organic buzz. Socket, Benny’s cat, appears from behind a closeby bench. Socket too looks different -- less cat and more metal. Benny picks up Socket holding him gently. “Have you returned my automaton, Alora?” to which she explains the small robotic figure was lost during a battle. Benny seems unfazed by the news and after a brief pause, he explains the automaton has been destroyed. Benny continues on to ask if they have procured the grubs and leather to repair their balloon. Upon handing the items to Benny a mass exodus of automatons scurry past the group relieving Benny of the necessary items for repair in the process. “Repair should not take long,” Benny responds.
As curiosity and questions flow, another appears to the conversation, Omylia, whom the group remembers as a rescued girl Benny had saved previously. Omylia too looks more refined. Sharp edges have been smoothed, external gears are no longer seen, and her overall look is much more pleasing. Her metallic pieces move almost as though they were flesh and bone. Not too subtly the group asks her about Benny (as he stands mere feet away). She is excited to praise Benny and his amazing accomplishments including her own upgrades. Some in the group seem concerned about Benny’s enthusiasm about replacing organic parts with mechanical upgrades. “It is true Benny can sometimes appear overly excited for advancement, but he always has good intentions. I’ve never seen him hurt anyone out of anger. We actually have many talks, him and I. I think it helps him understand us and our emotions. How we feel and think. He has always treated me kindly.”
At this point, Dorus has become increasingly hungry. He can barely concentrate on the discussion with Benny. Leaving the group he approaches the outside thug with expectations this hulking mechanical man would be eager to give his lunch to a Loxodon he met only moments ago. Dorus was wrong and is none too impressed that his entitlement did not get him what he wanted. He slings a few choice words at the guard as he walks back inside -- the guard could care less. And to prove how much he didn’t care about Dorus’ needs throws his rations over the cliff edge to prove a point.
Reuniting with the group a herd of small iron automatons rush by the group once more. “Repairs to your gas balloon are complete.” Without so much as a word of thanks the group proceeds to ask if they can have the large drilling machine they see before them. Benny explains this is the second prototype they are testing as they lost their first in the heat of the molten earth and that this version is currently not available for use.
Nom and Fay, circle back to Benny, upgrade offer asking for more information on each option. After a brief explanation, Nom opts into the eye, lungs, and arm and Fay agrees to upgrade her legs. Alora, Dorus, and Mokon are less than interested.