This Could Get Dicey

Remember the ultra marathon the boys just ran? It left Lü with four points of exhaustion, Ellis with three points of exhaustion, and Emil with two points of exhaustion. Now that they’ve made it to Mistfall, they have no clue where to go to feel safe. The Academy might be the best place to get rid of the plant, but the school nurse there might just tell them to rest for a second or give them ibuprofen and send them back to class. They decide they need to take care of themselves first!

They enter the city of Mistfall once again, literally dragging themselves through the streets to the Squirrel’s Folly. They try to hide and make half-assed attempts to disguise themselves, and it doesn’t really work. Everyone is a huge mess. It takes them 20 minutes to get two blocks to The Squirrel’s Folly’s warm embrace. Cue that beautiful Squirrel’s Folly track. 

Elarin is real chill about keeping their presence in The Squirrel’s Folly secret from any prying ears or eyes, but she hasn’t seen Elizabeth around in the last few days anyway. But Elarin would like to recruit the boys to help around town with a couple of jobs. 

She tells them about a boat that disappeared from the docks a few days ago, even though nobody was on board. Also, she has a ship with a lot of cargo she would like the three of them to stand guard over as it makes its way to Roseglen. They agree to follow up on the boat that disappeared from the docks after getting a bit of rest. 

Lü’mis lets the others know that in order for him to rest and start to get rid of some of his exhaustion, he needs to be around wilderness, but doesn’t want to harm anyone’s garden or home. This leads the group to the unthinkable – they have to go back to the woods for the night. 

Lü’mis enters into a trance and warns the others to stay 10 feet back. Ellis and Emil have a chance to talk while Lü gets his mindful resting meditation in. Ellis falls asleep from exhaustion, leaving Emil to look around. He is eating to-go food from The Squirrel’s Folly for a bit without realizing that he has actually started eating the dirt from the floor of the woods. 

When the three of them stir from a long rest, they awake to the super cool, very imposing form of Elizabeth Lavax eating an apple. She holds them there, with an offer at threat of death or capture. There is a home in the Silver Summits where a collector of sorts has a tome that the Court of Outlaws wants. Get the tome, the Court of Outlaws leaves us alone. Or they could just kill us. Difficult choice. 

Lü gets up to join the chat, leaving a perfect 10 foot radius circle of death where there was previously verdant woods. Ellis points out that they don’t really have a choice, but Emil is insulted that Elizabeth didn’t kill them in their sleep. He goes on to say that the three of them, exhausted and dirty as they are, made the Court of Outlaws look like fools. Emil wants Elizabeth to take them a little more seriously. Elizabeth handles it like the badass villain she is, saying “perhaps if you do this job, and do it successfully, and bring back the tome, and don’t die, then yes, maybe we will start to take you a little more seriously. And maybe there’s something for you on the other side of it besides just living.” It’s good to see the violent events of the woods haven’t taken the deal making out of the businessman from Venzor!

Ellis is real pissed about making deals with the Court of Outlaws, but Lü makes the titular point that they should keep their enemies close. The group decides to bring the plant matter straight to the Academy for fear of losing it or having it taken. The group tries to hype up Dev once more, who maybe has ambitions to be a professor! Someday. 

The drop off with Elaran goes well! They fill Professor Danielle Stravich in about the landlord, the pedestal, the plant, and all the crazy shit that happened over the last week. She absorbs it, and in true academic fashion, needs time to absorb what happened. 

She drops some information about the indigo magnolia plant for Emil, though, handing over some research she did and pointing them to the library for further research. The group decides to split separate ways and take care of their most immediate need: Lü to meditate in the woods, Ellis to the Squirrel’s Folly, and Emil to the library to dig into the research he just got. 

The research presents several pieces of information: 

• The indigo magnolia grows in the Elder Woods. It’s a tree with gray and white bark that grows when it’s frosty outside. It’s hard to get to and always away from beaten paths.
• The bloom is used in curative ways, but is difficult to track the use of as it’s been sporadically used. 
• A couple of scientific studies were included in the research:
  • 50 years ago Sir Quay Nythod attempted use of it in a Heroism potion to increase someone’s inherent willpower. It somewhat worked, but the patient was still scared of a dragon they were facing and he died by dragon. Duh. 
  • 112 years ago another scientist, Guinevere Salmonay, used this plant for to try and cure a patient who had started showing similar symptoms to Emil. They were eating dirt and becoming tree like. 
  • The last study failed, but did identify Emil’s condition as being called Drysblood. Finally, some answers. 

Emil has a lot to work through here, but he makes sure to ask Isabella, the librarian in the Academy, to do a bit more research on Drysblood. She agrees to look around and encourages Emil to come back after a bit of time. 

Damn, y’all! This one was a packed one. It’s got the drama, the humor, the lore drop! Thankfully, they boys are in Mistfall, where nothing can go wrong, right?