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As the group continues heading towards the city of Ors Themar, they pass more denizens of the Underdark: an umberhulk and a hook horror, to be precise. As Galahad asks Yurik if he knows the way to continue, Shanks, who had scouted ahead, tells Zechs in his Spies Murmur that he hears voices ahead. After Zechs tells him to get closer but be careful, Shanks, unfamiliar with the language the voices are using, immediately realizes they are speaking Undercommon. Zechs relays that they are talking about the party, and they seem uneasy and untrusting, at least mostly. Zechs informs Shanks to hold his position, assuring him that they will come to him shortly while remaining stealthy. It’s at this point that the group, Zechs taking the lead and accompanied by Galahad, is accompanied by the trio of Drow that are there.

The conversation is tense and skeptical, as the group of Drow describes the current situation of Ors Themar. While the party is told that Enich is likely not alive anymore, they say they want to confirm that information for themselves. Upon speaking further, they realize that they have a shared ally, Nedyrae, who is Chico’s replacement at the Tavern. As this is happening, Yurik whips out a game of Dragonchess and asks Arguile if he’s up for a game while the likely long discussion takes place. After a relatively close match between the two, Arguile comes out the victor. Galahad, walking back, informs the party that the group will be escorting them down to Ors Themar.

Continuing, the group hears loud droning noises and is informed that these are the Chasme they will likely encounter while there. Giant insect-like creatures that are not to be taken lightly. Sabal shares his dark story about the siege from his perspective, and it’s genuinely haunting. And Galahad offers the story about Collateral’s liberation of Invenas. The two bond over how they want to go out, and Sabal says that so long as he takes a bunch of them out too, he’d be okay with that. Yurik and Arguile discuss how Yurik is so sure that Enich is alive, and in turn, Yurik tells him that it is similar to how Arguile knew that his mother was alive and out there. Eventually, they are on the outskirts of the city and are planning their entry. Learning from their last attempt to enter a city amidst a siege, they decide not to use the front gate. Once inside, they take stock of the wreckage and do their best to avoid being seen, all the while hearing the ominous droning sounds that grow louder the further into the city they go.

There's so much happening, and that's where we pick up…

Find out what happens next in this episode of the Medusa’s Cascade: Collateral Damage!

Theme Music is written and performed by Efflorescence

Edited & Mixed by Thomas Lapierre III

Check out the show at themedusascascade.com

After exploring the outskirts of Grimdale, the party set off from town, following new leads and fragments of information. Guided by Rubin, an old Earth Genasi guard who’d long left city life behind, they traced signs of the spreading blight to a nearby river, where corrupted remnants lingered. Rubin shared what he knew about Nymora and its darker dealings, pointing them toward the forest ahead.

As the group traveled through increasingly blighted terrain, they were interrupted one evening at camp by a thief. Cereius quickly ensnared the would-be robber with Entangle, revealing a familiar face: a goblin named Pancho Vagabond. Once a fellow guild member of Kyver’s, Pancho greeted him not with warmth but with a string of profanities, which Kyver was more than happy to return. Their colorful exchange led to a tense conversation, during which Pancho revealed fragments of information about the Vitalis.

That night, We’ahqa struggled with haunting whispers echoing in his mind, “One of four must die.” He tried to push the voice aside, though thoughts of the blight and the suffering villagers lingered heavily. As the others settled down to rest, Pancho invited Kyver to join him on a familiar kind of job: robbing a nearby caravan, just like the old days. But Kyver, having turned over a new leaf, refused.

Moments later, as Pancho wandered off into the dark toward the caravan’s distant lights, something massive and unseen struck. The creature, four-legged and swift, snatched the goblin up in its jaws and vanished into the woods, leaving only silence in its wake…

Theme music written and composed by⁠Efflorescence⁠

Edited & Mixed by Thomas Lapierre III

Check out the show on themedusascascade.com