In a special performance , Dyskko added a new installment to his ongoing saga of the Dungeon Divas.  Known for what he calls “‘special effects,” his story-telling incorporates bardic magic to make you feel you are part of the story.

In true Dyskko style, audience members felt the heat of Moltenwing the Dragon.  They cried along with Buzz, as he wondered what to do after the death of his mentor, Indira.  The audience cheered when the Divas freed the Shackled Ones from the Great Tree.

Dyskko says this was a final ending to the Divas saga. “I’m ready for something new now.”  Even though his tales have always been fantastical, they have still been grounded in reality.  “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to travel amongst the stars.  I’ve also wondered what if there were no magic? Yes, I think I’ll turn my tales toward some of these ideas.”

Character Epilogues

After killing the beholder Orbius who had posed as Oskar Vhalantru for the last 15 years, the Divas were at a crossroads.  Are there enough people left in the Org Chart of Evil to fulfill their plans?  Do we stop here, or do we pursue them further?  Or do we need to get back to helping the evacuees from Cauldron rebuild?

The Divas made a final attempt to visit the Fiery Sanctum.  There, they discovered that Rmongor had killed all the Shackled Ones in the Tree and no more energy was being channeled.  Looking at the Org Chart of Evil, they realized all the people left to kill were people they hadn’t met.  Where would they be? The Divas spent time at the Church of Pelor reviewing their notes, organizing their supplies and inventorying their loot.  After a long day of discussion, the decision was clear: Use the loot to invest in the City of Cauldron, help the people rebuild, and stay wary for the Cagewrights should they start on the next phase of their plan.

Myntilly – Hoping to spark some renewed energy into the local economy, Myntilly purchased an abandoned building in the NW Business District of Cauldron.  She refitted the ground floor with her own Tatoo Parlor, and moved into the second floor apartment.  Inspired by her leadership, many young adventurers come to discuss their dreams and plans and ask Myntilly for her wisdom while she inks.  Even Cora Lanthanmire has been spotted getting a tatoo.

Sadi – Was last seen heading out of town.  Her plans are to travel to Sasserine, then spend some quiet time traveling along the coast.  “I hope to purchase a small boat and spend some quiet time in peaceful reflection.”  The year has been hard on Sadi, dying not once, but twice, and reincarnated twice.  It puts a touch of darkness on you.  Then spending so much time either underground or in a big city has been difficult.  “I come from a long line of gypsies.  I need to spend some time roaming.”

Ian and Brus – Returned to Kingfisher Hollow.  This city grew a bit following the evacuation of Cauldron.  Many people moved there, thinking it would be temporary, but fell in love with the Amedio forest on the border.  “Now that the town is a bit bigger, there’s a lot I can do here.  There’s a lot of new construction that I can help with, and we can start a second druid hall on the other end of the town.”  There is still some strange sounds coming from the forest, and rumors of undead, but Ian feels up to the challenge.

Acgar – Has become a new prominent figure in the Cauldron Town Guard.  Acgar has become Lead Trainer for the Magical Threats Agency.  “Quinlan had a good idea with this organization, but they need better discipline if they’re going to respond to threats.  That, and they need some strong analysis tools to investigate evidence left behind.”  Acgar is developing a new field called “forensics.”  It also helps the new recruits pay attention when she mentions that she keeps a killer frog in a box.

Indira – It’s taken some time for her his fellow clerics to get used to the new dwarf body, but Indira continues to work to spread the good word of Pelor.  Kristoff remains as head cleric of the Church, and continuing to lead the young headstrong Indira will be a continuing challenge.  Thankfully, Indira has the goblins and Buzz to keep her busy.

Buzz – Speaking of Buzz, he is working to bridge new ties between the differing churches of Cauldron.  The new head cleric at the Temple of Wee Jas, is rebuilding temple after the construction accident last solstice.  Buzz is working to negotiate a construction plan that will be a tribute to Wee Jas without blocking the Church of Pelor from the rising sun.  He is also working toward more unity between all the worshipping halls (to St. Cuthbert, Kord, Wee Jas, Fharlaghn, Pelor) in preparation for this winter’s Flood Festival.  “Last winter there was rivalry between the worshippers and Cauldron really suffered.  This winter will be different.”  Ah Buzz, remember when we first met him?

Elvis Krylscar- For his leadership and commitment to the City of Cauldron, Elvis was awarded a Key to the City. (Standing next to him are at left, Severen Navalant, Mayor, newly returned to the city and at right Quinlan Ghelve, Captain of the Town Guard).  He continues to grow in his leadership role on the City Council.  Sounds like he’ll run for Mayor again.

On the opposite side of the room Myntilly was studying a painting. It showed Cauldron under a fiery sky. “It’s hard to say but I think this is a Betelle. It has his distinctive brush strokes. This is not his usual color palette, of course or his usual subject matter but –”
Acgar interrupted her. “It’s scrying.”
“Wha?”
“It looks like a painting but it’s actually scrying. I believe this is what it looks like up there.” She jabbed her finger upwards.

Sadi pointed at the double doors. “This is where we go next.”

We flung open the doors and saw a giant hazy object surrounded by three figures. The figures were swaying back and forth and chanting. Acgar, with her keen eyesight, said “That’s Orbius. I don’t know what he’s doing, but we should stop it.”

Before any of us could move, the chanting reached a pitch and the figures glowed white and crumbled to dust. The haze lifted and there was Orbius.

He looked better than when we’d last seen him. Then of course, we had almost killed him. He was now covered in some sort of gloop, some sort of slime.

I heard Myntilly beside me, “That’s just….. gross.”
“Part of the ritual, you think? A by product, perhaps?” Acgar sounded intrigued. “We can ask him later, OK?” Sadi smiled. “First, we kill him.”

Terrem saw Orbius, yelled with excitement and ran into the chamber. “Aw crap. Well there goes any chance of using a fireball.” Sadi cocked her head. “Why’s that?” I pointed. “Terrem’s in there! And –” She winked at me.

Myntilly stopped beside me. “Let’s get this party started.” She raised her hands and cast sound lance. You could see some slime fly off and his eyestalks vibrate from the spell.
“Nice.” Sadi reached inside her tunic and I saw her flick a fireball bead into the chamber. It rolled just past where Orbius was floating and exploded.

I whirled around to face her. “I can’t believe that you just did that! Terrem could have been hurt.” A spell whizzed past her head. Orbius had begun his attack. “We’ll talk later! OK?”
Acgar muttered to herself, “Slime and acid… eh probably neutralize the… Holy Storm. Yes!” And she began chanting as rain drop fell on Orbius.

He flew above the rain cloud and just out of sight. Unless we entered the chamber, we couldn’t see to hit him. Smart beholder.

To be continued……

Myntilly read out a sleep spell and the door opened to reveal….. flames. It was a room full of flames. I heard Terrem say “Yes! I was right!”

“Um, there are people in there.” Sadi was at my elbow. “I can’t see anything! Are you sure.”
“Oh yeah. At least two.”

OK. I thought. Ice shield. And suddenly I was wreathed in a ring of cold. I remotely heard Ian say: “I’ve got quench prepared. Maybe I can put out a few of these flames.” And I walked into the room. The cold shield kept me feeling just fine. I advanced another two steps and suddenly a gush of water poured over me and the flames around me. When the water made contact with my armor, the ice shield froze it solid. I suddenly weighed an extra 50 pounds.

The others followed me at least as far as the water had put out the flames.
I heard a voice say “You have come to pay tribute? What is your name, cold one?” I saw a female figure that was flame and flesh combined. Beside her was a dwarf, a fiery dwarf. He and I exchanged curt nods (it’s a dwarf thing) and I bowed low to the female.
“My name is Indira Burningwood.”
She nodded. “That is a good name. You bring tribute to my beauty?”
I fumbled with my pouch. I had diamonds left from the resurrection spell. It was probably less than 10,000gp.
“Indeed.” And I opened the bag and poured a few diamonds on to my hand. “These baubles are nothing compared to your beauty. Will they suffice?” My hands were wet from the melting ice and the diamonds looked even prettier.

The dwarf came forward to take the pouch from my hand. “Burningwood?  What mountain are you from? I don’t know of any Burningwood dwarves.” Before I could answer, the female demon coughed and the dwarf bowed and backed away to her side.

“They are sufficient. You may go.”
I heard my fellows bristle at that. “May I ask your beauty a question before we go?”
I could hear the flames crackle in the ensuing silence.
“Very well.”
“Why are you here. In this place?”
“I am a flame warden.” I nodded. “So this is a sacred space.”
“No. I was hired to guard this place.” I heard a rustling behind me. Myntilly piped up: “We’re lost. How do we get out?”  The flame warden cocked her head. “The way you came in should work.”
“How did you get in?” Myntilly persisted.
“You would not survive the way I travel.” She paused. “I am done conversing. Be thankful that I was bored and that you were charming, otherwise I would have killed you.”
An anger I didn’t know existed reared up inside me. I bowed low. “I feel exactly the same way, madame.” And then, realizing what I’d just said, I backed up quickly, pushing the others out the door.

“Aw crap.” Ian threw up his hands. “What do we do?”
“It’s OK. Let me think for a second…..” I paced the room. “OK. Got it!” I said a small prayer to Pelor and walked out to see the goblins.

“Hi guys. It’s me, Indira. The shining one.” Silence. “I know I look like a dwarf right now. But it’s OK. Pelor has a plan for me. Just like he has a plan for you.”

“As Lingaub can attest, I was dead. Yeah, dead. A beholder killed me. But Buzz saved a little piece of me and my friend Ian was able to perform reincarnation on me. And now look at me. This body (I flexed my arms) is strong. This body (I thumped my chest) is sound. This body is a righteous vessel for Pelor’s work!”
Without thinking about it I gave a Dwarven warcry. “<Thrund. Throng. Trogg!>” (which loosely translates into “Axes. Armies. Ale.”)

Later, as we were packing up to do back down below, Buzz came in. “Your talk really did the trick. They are on fire to do Pelor’s work. Although I think most of them are worried that when they die Pelor will bring them back as gnomes or something!”

A few minutes later Ian was at my elbow. “That was a rousing speech. Well done. Um, but, your Dwarvish is …. unconventional. You are not rolling your Rs properly. And there’s a click that you should do with your tongue on hard Gs….” He paused to see how I was taking this. I smiled encouragingly. “Um, OK and a <thrund> is a crossbow. Not an axe. You should have said <az> that’s the word for war axe.”

“Ian! Leave her alone. She’ll figure it out!” Sadi called from across the room.
“I think we should get in the habit of calling Indira ‘He’. We might be able to use the dwarf body as a spy.”
I turned to Acgar. “You’ve been thinking about this? Interesting idea, but didn’t I just blow it by talking with the goblins?”
“Not necessarily. They are, after all goblins. They’re not known for their acumen.”

It was, it was not a bad awakening. I smelled lavender and heard my name as if from a distance. “Yah! What?” I tried to sit up and Ian was beside me. “Just breathe. Breathe. Mmmmmm. And release. Haaaaaaa. Relax, Indira. You’re safe.”

“Um, Indira. Hi. How are you?” Buzz’s face came into view. “It’s great. I mean, it’s great to see you.” His eyes filled with tears but there was something else, a sadness.

“I remember. You healed me…..” My voice was strange. “What’s wrong with me? My voice! What’s wrong with me?” I reached up to grab Buzz’s arm and saw a squat hairy hand come into view. It had my ring on one of its stubby fingers.

When I woke up again, I was alone. Someone had put a mirror beside the bed. Probably Mintilly. She’s tactful.

The first time you see your face, you should be alone. What the mirror showed was unexpected. I saw a dwarf in the mirror. A dwarf with a nice thick black beard. Beard? Did dwarf women usually have beards? Had Durilin shaved every morning and I just didn’t notice?

And then I realized something else. I was male. A peek under the covers to make sure….. Yep, no doubt about that.

I dropped the mirror on my chest. And started laughing. I laughed until tears ran down my face.