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.

Teresa, a rogue we’d met in in town, spoke up. “OK who’s this Ember chick and why does she want to destroy Cauldron? It’s not exactly high on my list of places to visit, much less destroy.”
I smiled. “While you guys fill her in, I’d like to try to find Embril. Acgar, can I borrow you and Hamouk? I think we can do a batch of locate object on that unusual brooch of hers.” I held up the map of Sasserine. The temple of Wee Jas, the main one, is here in the upper right hand of the map.

And if we fly in expanding half circles we can, perhaps find the brooch and Embril.”

We were, unfortunately not successful. An hour of flying allowed us to cover a good portion of the city and the brooch was not anywhere. At least, not that my spell could detect.
“Well,” Acgar said, rubbing her chin, “either she’s not here or she’s ditched the brooch.”

We got to Rumbleguts in time to see Ian leaving with the animals. “It will take some time to find a coastal pine and then of course we’ll land in Kingfisher Hollow…..” Acgar nodded. “Right. Travel by tree.”
We told the others our bad news. “I’m not convinced that she’s left the city. She’s probably just taken off the brooch and put it in a lead box.”
Teresa laughed. “You really have a grudge against this woman! Wow. It’s um, gratifying to see someone so….. focused.” I put my hand to my heart. “Pelor has laid this task upon me. I know he has a task for you, if you let him in.” I stared at her. That ought to shut her up, I thought. She dropped her eyes and said, “We could disguise ourselves and take a look around.” Myntilly clapped her hands excitedly. “I have the disguise spell. And we have Ragnara’s hat of disguise.”

We made our plan. Myntilly and I would dress as acolytes of Wee Jas tasked with delivering a letter to Embril. Acgar would keep watch and Teresa would scout around back, dressed as a tourist. As we broke apart Acgar started to speak. “I know. No killing. Got it.”

Myntilly is much more charming than I am so I let her do the talking. We got inside the temple. A young man walked up to us and Myntilly showed him the addressed letter and explained that we were to deliver it to Embril herself. “I am sorry. There is no one here with that name.”
“Obviously,” Myntilly smiled, showing her dimples, “there is some mistake. Could we speak with the High Priestess? If she’s here.” He bowed and backed away.
A few minutes later a finely dressed older woman walked up to us. She made the traditional sign of Wee Jas. She placed her hand on her belly, then moved it to her forehead and then to her mouth. We followed suit, mumbling the words. “Feel Death; think Death; eat Death.”
She folded her hands in front of her. “I am Krystana, high priest of Wee Jas. What would you have of me?” Myntilly went into her letter spiel. I really got the sense that all of these people were telling the truth. They had no idea who Embril was. At this point I just wanted to get out of here alive.

Tears welled up in my eyes. “I can’t believe that Brother Jackson would do this to us!” Krystana turned to me, startled at my outburst. “Child! What are you talking about?”
I grabbed the letter from Myntilly’s hand. “We came from Cauldron. We walked almost the whole way! (My voice hitched up as real tears began to flow down my cheeks.) And, and, and she’s not even here! She’s maybe not even real! I was so scared. I’ve never been outside of Cauldron and he said we had to come. Had to come to complete our training!”
Myntilly patted my shoulder and smiled in bewilderment.
Krystana nodded. “I understand. My father was a carpenter and as an apprentice he was sent to a neighboring town for toe nails. Toe nails!” She smiled at me. “Let me see that envelope again.” I handed her the slightly damp letter. She read the name: “Embril Aloustinai. I am sorry, child. The name means nothing to me.”
I nodded and sniffled. “Could I have some water, please?”
Myntilly grabbed my arm. “Please don’t trouble yourself. My friend is overwrought. We’ll go back to the inn and begin our return journey in the morning.”
Krystana smiled. “Waxing moon guide your journey. Go in peace.”

Teresa met us around the corner. “Are you crying? What happened in there?”
“Embril is not there. They’ve never heard of her,” Myntilly said grimly. “And then Indira let loose with the tears.” She turned to me. “What is up with that?”
“I just suddenly really felt like crying. I mean, I believe them. They are good people, you know for death worshipers. And I thought Yes! Get yourselves out of there quickly! And a country bumpkin having a crying jag seemed as good a way as any.”
I blew my nose. “Let’s go home.”

Taj’s husband Jim is an amazing terrain/model builder and he helped get the project started. They used dental plastic for the material. Taj spent about 10 hours total on the painting and assembly.

And about 3 hours on actual gluing and touch-up painting. It looks amazing in the finished state. It was almost a shame to set it on fire.

I bellowed in triumph, knowing that we would prevail against these foes. Thanks to god and my friends, we were winning this unexpected battle. Various had blinded a few of the guards. Myntilly threw orb after orb of acid at the one standing giant. Ian and Brus took on a couple of the guards. Qwerty was trying to distract the giant with jokes.

As the three guards tried to bring me down, Various flew closer and cast grease on a few of the guards.

Suddenly my fight looked much better: I had one guard down, one guard blind and the other was slightly dazed.

Sadi had a guard sneak up the stairs behind her as she was letting her arrows fly. He tried to stab her, but luckily Various’ grease spell had caught him as well. He slipped and in doing so made enough noise to alert Sadi. She swiftly turned around and fired three arrows at him. One or two hit before he rolled down the stairs.

The grease worked on the giant as well. He was on one knee, trying to get up when suddenly the rock that Myntilly was standing one became a geyser of mud!

He had been able to cast (I found out later) transmutate. The rock became a geyser of mud that shot 100 feet into the air. It must have felt like the temple ceiling rushed towards Myntilly. She was able to tumble away and avoid being crushed by the force of the mud.

I was facing the right way to see the rock blow up. I almost dropped my mace. I was that surprised. I didn’t know rock could do that.

I was surprised a second time as the prone guard swept his sword at my feet and I landed on my back. The breath was knocked out of me for a moment.

The blinded guard roared out and brought his sword down in a killing arc. He caught my leg just above the knee and I screamed and grabbed my leg.

Various flew back down, behind the dazed guard. She sent a wave of colored light out of her wand. From my vantage point on the ground, I could see the color swirl around both guards’ heads.

One dropped his weapon as he tried to grab the waves of color. That gave me just the time I needed to inch away and heal my leg. I said the words through gritted teeth. It was possibly the most painful wound I’ve yet taken.

When I was on my feet again I realized that Acgar and Hamouk had joined the fight! I smiled with relief. Although she’d disapproved of our, OK my, actions, here she was to help us out of a bad situation. She flew in and landed on one of the guards.

The giant turned kitten was squirming in Qwerty’s arms. The geyser of mud had become a pool of mud that oozed across the temple floor. The giant’s feet were at the edge of the mess. Myntilly floated a few feet above it. Again she hit the giant with acid. When the giant fell, it was as if the others took it as a signal. The three guards around me all tried to run away at the same time.

Various giggled at the sight and wiggled her wand again. One guard slipped and landed face down. She’d greased his shoes.

I had cast sun scepter and a ghostly mace was banging down on one guard’s head as he tried to run.

So I turned to the last of the three. I called down flamestrike on him! It was as if he were suddenly bathed in a bright shaft of sunlight. He fell down and didn’t move.

It was a great plan — a quick disguise to fool the two half-orcs out front of the temple and then, bam! we’re inside. The first part was fine; we just hadn’t planned on six more guards and the giants.

I’ll begin at the beginning.

Ever since we heard about the Jasidian expansion of the temple, I have been praying for guidance. The Temple of Wee Jas, the new, expanded temple, will block the morning sun from reaching the Temple of Pelor. This is a problem. And I am the solution.
Add to this the fact that one Jasidian cleric hired assassins to remove us and another one swapped spell components to remove the head Pelorian clerics and we have just cause to be inside the temple after hours.

If you were Acgar you’d be saying that it’s one thing to be inside the temple, it’s another thing entirely to be planning on blowing the roof off it. I didn’t have an easy time convincing my fellow adventurers to blow up the temple. I laid out my arguments and waited for their questions.

Acgar was the first to speak. “This is evil. You are talking about willful destruction of property, not to mention whatever innocents get caught in the rubble. I want no part of it.” She looked at me for a long moment. “You’ve changed. We were too long on that evil plane, perhaps.”

Her words hit home, so I hurriedly called out to Sadi.
“Sadi! Please be the voice of reason, OK? What more proof do we need that Wee Jas is tied up in all of this?”
Sadi shrugged. “I’m in. How do we do it?” Myntilly rubbed her chin. “We really just need to take off the top of the temple. That’s not so bad.”
Inside I was cheering. Outwardly I said, “Exactly. This will be surgical.” I turned to Ian. “You know about stuff like this, right?” He looked startled. “Me? What?” I felt a little sheepish. “You’re a gnome. So you kind know about engineering and stuff, right?” He cocked his head. “I can do some simple carpentry, I guess. Is the temple made of wood?”

I stopped, because I realized I had no idea what it was made of. “I….” Various interrupted: “I have made a study, hurried though it is, of Cauldron’s architecture. It’s a small sideline of mine. A few journals publish my monographs on architecture and design. The Jasidian temple is made of stone. The facade is quite clever actually. You see they’ve added stone and then shaped it to appear as a single rock, hewn if you will, from the ground in one act. Quite breathtaking, actually.”

No one knew quite what to say to all of that. Sadi stood up. “We need alchemy. If we’re going to do this, let’s go see Weer.”

Imagine that Cauldron is a clock. The Jasidian temple is at four o’clock; the Pelorian temple is at five o’clock and Weer’s Elixirs is at eight o’clock. We walked up to Weer’s shop. He greeted us heartily. “Divas! Buying or selling? Always welcome!”

“We need to clear away a quantity of stone.” (I spoke the literal truth.) “Ha ha! Easy to do. Easy. To. Do.” His eyes glowed with pleasure. “The best method will be a lovely little concoction called thermite. You take powdered aluminum, rust, some potassium chlorate and a pinch of sugar. Give it a spark and there goes the rock. Molten iron. That’s the ticket.”

Myntilly smiled. “That’s perfect. Can the spark be, say, a lightning spell?” Weer drew in his breath. “I don’t know! Let’s do a little experiment, shall we?”

He took us out back and set up a small clay pot. He filled it with a pinch of several powders, put a lid on it and shook it gently. Myntilly put a fist-sized rock beside the pot. We all stood back about 30 feet. Myntilly cast lightning at the clay pot. There was a flash of light and lots of heat and when it died down, Myntilly’s rock was half melted.

“Well,” said Weer, “I guess lightning will work just fine. Thank you, young lady. I never would have thought of it! Now, how much do you need?”
I turned to Various. “How big is the temple, would you say?”
“What temple? You said you needed to move rock! What are you planning here?” Weer’s face got serious. Myntilly jumped in to cover my mistake. “She’s just trying to figure it out based on the Pelorian temple as a comparable size. You know? How people do that…..” He was silent for a moment. “Yes, yes. Of course! You’re a Pelorian. Why would you blow up your own temple? Ha ha!”

Various scribbled some figures on a piece of paper. “I’d say we’re talking about 3,000 square feet. Give or take since it’s really the top we’re concerned with.” Ian looked over her shoulder. “Are you sure? As we place the thermite around the temple –”
“Cave!” Myntilly yelled.
“Yes, the cave,” agreed Ian. “As we do it, we’ll need to account for the Bezoni effect.” Various nodded vigorously. “Yes! True. If we take the square of the area divided by the hypotenuse of the ceiling to floor angle……” She bent over the paper.

“I don’t know from Baroni or his effects, but I can tell you that you’ll need a powerful sum of aluminum. And she ain’t cheap.” Weer did some of his own calculations. “We’re talking somewhere in the neighborhood of 35,000 gp. Give or take.” There was a moment of silence as we all thought about the money.
I cleared my throat and smiled. “How’s our credit?” Weer did not return my smile.

Various looked up again. “I can make aluminum. Get the rest.”
Weer raised his eyebrow at this, but he quickly did his sums. “1,750 gp. Rust is cheap. Potassium isn’t.” He moved around the shop, quickly filling casks with the materials. “You be careful with this. You could blow up a block of Cauldron if you’re not careful!”

As we left the shop I couldn’t help but grin. “I love it when a plan comes together!”