39 - Family reunion
Previous session: 38 - The power of Friendship (and this gun we found)
On Paildreo's track...
To be able to follow Paildreo on the Catwalk, we have to deal with the Morphoids and Morphlings blocking our way.
We're recovering a bit before venturing forth.
- Axel regains 6 HP from their [Second Wind]
- Balnorin casts [Mass Cure Wounds] and the party heals 20 HP.
- Persy passes his helmet to Nesvalyn.
We decide to go after Paildreo, and quickly this time, as we assume they cleared a good part of the path. And in our way, there doesn't seem to be much enemies, and we avoid the rooms filled with enemies.
[Perception - Pass ✔] Balnorin has the feeling we're being followed and shares the information.
When we stop to look back, no one shows up. We decide to prepare an ambush, and we go to a corner and observe. Persy casts [Invisibility] on Axel so they stay ahead and perceive who is following us.
[Stealth - Fail ❌] We're trying to hide (but doesn't seem effective with the noise we're making).
[Perception - Fail ❌] We see behind Axel an arrow of purplish energy forms and lunges directly in Balnorin chest (dealing 31 dmg).
There's a silence for a moment...
[Perception - Pass ✔] Persy, Axel and Nesvalyn heard scuttling noises, as the entity seems to go away from us.
Persy casts [Cure Wounds] on Balnorin and regains 7 HP.
Nesvalyn tries to focus where the creature went.
[Insight - Fail ❌] It's hard to pinpoint precisely where it went with all the Minero around.
Reylynn casts [Longstrider] (twice) to make it benefit the whole party.
We keep progressing towads the bridge. Suddenly we hear and see a light screen bipping near us.
We answer the call, as we see it's the private Malory calling, but she's not in the mess hall anymore, she's running through the corridors.
We hear gunshots behind her, and she ducks for cover.
he slams the panel, ending abruptly the call.
We resume our march, and we reach a steel door who's locked, separating us from reaching the bridge.
The Bridge...
Reylynn casts [Knock] on the steel door before Nesvalyn finishes his sentence...
↪ [Acrobatics/Athletics] When the door slides open and it opens to the Astral Sea and Reylynn, Nesvalyn and Balnorin stay still, whereas Axel and Persy are attracted in the room, being dragged into the void vacuum.
Axel manages to get back using the Broom of Flying and Persy using the Pirate Hookshot.
We manage to close the door back once everybody is back.
[Perception] No trace of Paildreo on the bridge during that event.
Balnorin casts [Locate Creature] to detect Paildreo, and finds out they're not on the bridge, but back on the floor below us.
Upon saying that, he leaves and starts to track Paildreo.
During the way back, Axel was pretty curious about what is this fiancé thing and about the past of the party. Persy shares some of his growing memories on the way.
Back on Paildreo's track...
We keep tracking Paildreo, and once on the proper floor, the hallways have much more Morphoids. Luckily for us, they're more focused to do a task, like they entered a work mode. They're touching things that turns them into crystals, probably colonizing the place as a last step of a siege.
We go to the room Balnorin senses Paildreo, and it appears to be a training hall or the place they test the equipment needing space to operate.
On the far sight of the room is a circular window with the indication "Lab", where Paildreo should be. We're progressing towards the Labs.
[Perception - Pass ✔] Axel and Balnorin notice on the left an observation deck, spotting figures in it.
[Insight] Nesvalyn senses three arch figures, looking a lot like him, but more distorted. One of them was a Dragonborn, and the other two are unrecognizable, making it impossible to know their original race.
The one in the center screams in an high pitch, echoing through the hall. Balnorin responds back with a scream using [Thaumaturgy].
Nesvalyn sees what is going to happen to him when he'll reach the final stage of his morphosis, becoming one of these horribly disfigured crystal humanoid hybrids.
They leap down to the deck, and land safely.
The one on the left puts their hands like they're pulling a bow and an arrow appears, and they morph through us.
The one on the right reveals some wings (similar to Nesvalyn) and her hands glow with purple crystal lights.
The one in the middle (and the ex-dragonborn) summons crystal battle axes, and they start creeping towards us.
Persy casts [Cure Wounds] through Ozzy to heal back Balnorin.
Balnorin spits in his hand and put it on the wounds
The door opens slides open, and we get in, and it closes behind us. We get decontaminated by pairs, but we all make it in the end. We process through the plastic curtain, and we're entering a quite spacious lab, similar to the one we saw back to The Dome, but more advanced and what we deduce more research oriented. We notice a couple of morphoids on the side, sealed.
Standing on the board and removing their helmet, we see Paildreo in front of us, not facing us yet.
The Reunion...
They turn around to finally face us, where we can notice an aged gold Dragonborn, in their 60s. Then they welcome us.
They nod silently.
Nesvalyn removes his helmet.
They come over and rush to touch my face, but retains to do so when being close by.
We follow them and we sit down. We notice it's an enclosed space, as we don't hear the noise outside, giving a safe feeling. We can even observe the Astral Sea, with some dusts of the Minero, deadly, and yet rendering beautifully.
They go to quickly search something near the scientific gear.
Paildreo gets back with a syringe.
By the time Axel shares their thought, Paildreo injects the vaccine on themselves. Nesvalyn stands up and takes them by the shoulders.
They count under their breath, which seems to be a long moment, especially for Nesvalyn.
We hold our breath a bit more, as we're unsure what to expect as long they don't say anything.
They lean closer and kiss romantically Nesvalyn, catching him by surprise, but not too long before finally sharing that intimate moments after so many decades.
Next session: 40 - Love, Death & Metal