Terms of Service (Recap of episodes 0-7)

The story begins with seven strangers: Arguile, a Tiefling Rogue searching for his mother, and a member of the Masterful Gains Guild. Galadlòriel, a Wood-elf Cleric of the Arcana Domain searching for her parents and a follower of the Protector. Kaleb, a Water Genasi Blood Hunter with a mysterious past, and dark pastimes. Kyver Sabertooth, a Tabaxi Rogue with a hatred for Humans and a member of the Royal Vagabonds. Shanks McNasty, an Eladrin/Wild-elf Fighter trying to start over and a former member of the Hell Riders. We’ahqa, a Water Genasi Circle of the Shepherd Druid, and a hermit looking to fulfill his father’s final wish. And Zechs Kushrenada, a Tabaxi Ranger trying to recover his childhood memories, and a member of the Shuffle Guild. These seven receive a mysterious card with a Medusa’s head symbol on one side and a number on the other, each on their separate paths and spread across several planes of existence. As each reads the card, they are instantaneously transported to an open field with a small building in the middle. 

Unsure of where they are and who they are with, the strangers cautiously make their way toward the building. As they approach, they all notice a circular wooden sign hanging outside the structure with the same Medusa’s head imprinted on the card they each received. They enter what appears to be a tavern that is bigger on the inside. A half-orc, who introduces themself as Ciruk, greets them from behind the bar (Shanks is seated in a corner as the rest of the group enters). As they all cautiously take seats within the tavern, a lanky human ma, (think Matt Smith as The Doctor), bursts into the room and reveals that he is the one that sent them each their cards. His name is the Journeyman and he is a contractor of sorts. The job he’s offering requires a combination of talents he feels this particular group has. After many questions about payment, his powers, and his intentions; he informs them that the card number is the sum they will be paid if they complete their mission. The mission: to take the path through the forest to the village on the other side, just outside the cursed valley of Barovia. The forest is supposedly infested with zombies and other undead creatures. They agree and enter the forest. After an arduous battle with a small enclave of zombies, they vanquished their foes and rested for the evening.

The party awakes in the forest to find that their companion Shanks has disappeared but they continue down the wooded path toward the village on the other side. There is some teasing from Kyver and Arguile towards Galadlòriel (Glad) for her love of nature and trees, (this is a running joke for quite a bit). Walking into town they notice a peculiar sight: the tavern that they embarked on the day before had somehow traveled to the other side of the forest. The majority of the party heads to the tavern while Glad and Kaleb make their way to the temple in the center of town. It is here that they meet the Goliath Paladin Galahad, a follower of the Platinum Dragon, who is knee-deep in old tomes and scrolls. After a short conversation about his research on his oath, the Oath of Conquest, Glad invites Galahad to join them at the tavern. After the three finish their meditation, prayer, and research they make their way over to the tavern. They walk in to find that another stranger has joined the group, the Kenku Artificer Attros, a dark and mysterious figure with a strange symbol on his cloak who only speaks aloud in Edgar Allan Poe quotes.

A long conversation goes on between the group and the Journeyman where he tries to assuage everyone’s doubts. He tells them that they don’t need to worry, not only does he have the money promised to everyone, but they’ve passed their first test and their next mission will be walking through the door any second. During this conversation, a messenger from the village of Barovia bursts in requesting the party’s presence at the behest of the Burgomeister. The party is a bit taken aback. The Journeyman explains that he needs them to help him take care of the plague in the valley of Barovia. In return, he will help the party with each of their quests. Most are a bit incredulous at this offer, as they have not told anyone, not even the other members of their new party, what they’re looking to accomplish. The Journeyman tells them that he knows what each of them is seeking out and begins to very vaguely list each person’s future goals. He reiterates that if the party is successful in helping him free the valley of Barovia, he will help them with their crusades.

The party accepts the mission and sets off to the apothecary and blacksmith for supplies required for their travels, Zechs makes a custom order on a bow that has blades attached to it and Galahad makes a deal that if they come back alive and save Barovia the smith will give him a free suit of plate armor. The group then makes their way into the mist of the forest and is ambushed by another horde of zombies. After the battle and fighting, both with the zombies and each other, they successfully defeat their foes. The party continues through the mist until they happen upon a Vistani camp in the middle forest. There is a rocky start to their stay there, but the tension soon lessens and they are invited into the larger tent in the camp to speak with the matriarch Madame Eva. There they are given a tarot card reading in which the path to success was laid out for them. 

Zechs is the last party member to leave the tent, asking Madame Eva if she can do a reading for him. He explains that he does not have any recollection of his past up until his 16th birthday. She tells him: “You have a dark and shadowed past. Dark and winding like the path you’re currently traveling. To find what you are looking for, you must conquer the foe within yourself.” While the rest of the party either heads to sleep or makes friends with the travelers, Kyver decides to try and rob the camp. He is successful to a point until his cloak catches on a stray nail, and he faceplants, scattering the objects of his plunder all over the ground and waking up the entire camp. A fight almost breaks out between Vistani and the party until Attros comes to the rescue with a set of manacles and a high persuasion to let the party leave with their lives. So instead of a long rest, they must continue through the mist-choked forest. 

Wandering through the fog and mist after just escaping with their lives from the Vistani camp, they reach eroded gates marking the beginning of the realm of Barovia. Through the fog, they hear a resounding “YURRR!!”. Upon a cautious approach, they find that Shanks is there to meet them and rejoin the party. In the slight bit of confusion surrounding their ally’s return, Kyver slips his bonds only to have Zechs manacle himself to Kyver. The party continues traveling through the woods spotting a dancing light in the mist that is identified as a Will-o-wisp. Despite protest from Kyver, they follow the light to a derelict tower with a single chest inside it. The party fans out and places itself in tactical positions inside and at the entrance of the tower. Arguile makes his way in to pick the lock and with very little trouble he is successful. Galahad follows behind and with his long sword, he opens the chest. The ground underneath the party shakes and zombies burst from under their feet. 

A battle ensues with the party beginning to show signs of working together. Galahad smites the undead, We’aqha wild shapes into a pather, and the Tabaxi fight side by side while still chained together. Arguile deftly makes his way through the fight picking off wounded enemies, while Shanks and Attros sit at the entrance taking potshots with their bow and Eldritch Cannon. Kaleb sticks to the back, out of harm’s way, while Glad prowls through the horde dropping enemies as she goes.  After a hard-fought battle with several one-shot kills by Glad, they finally make their way out of the forest and into a clearing. As they enter the clearing that holds the village of Barovia, the cry of a blood hawk is heard in the distance. It swoops down to Zechs and it is a gift from his mentor Argo. The offspring of Argo’s trusty hunting companion, Zechs introduces the party to his companion Duo. While making this introduction, Shanks slips back into the forest with the party only noticing a bit later.

The party makes their way into Barovia and finds the local tavern, an inn called “Blood of the Vine”. There they meet the Burgomeister’s son, who not only pays for their room and board but sets up a meeting with his father for the following day. The party then slowly disperses throughout the evening to their rooms while talking about their backgrounds and reasons for adventuring. Kyver passes out drunk on his table and Attros decides that it would be a solid idea to chain him to the table and take the key with him. As the evening comes to a close Galahad has a dream in which his deity Bahamut, the platinum dragon, speaks to him and warns that violence should only be used as a last resort. 

As the party arises from their night’s rest, they split into more minor factions. Argile and Zechs stay behind to pick on Kyver as he makes several attempts to escape the chains given to him by Attros. Galahad, Attros, Glad, and We’ahqa leave almost immediately after breakfast to search the town for supplies while waiting for their midday meeting with the Bugermister at his family’s estate. Before leaving, Kyver, who is still chained to the table, asks Galahad to help him out of his chains. Galahad responds by destroying the table without relieving Kyver of his bonds. With Zechs and Arguile chuckling about the state of Kyver, the other four make their way out of the tavern towards a mercantile. 

The four meet the proprietor of the establishment: Bildrath. His selection is few and prices are outrageous. The quadra questions him on his prices and they find that he is the only game in town. Since no new items can be brought into the realm of Barovia, trade has stagnated, and since demand is only up when people like them wander in he must capitalize when the chance appears. The four balk at this and tell him he can fuck off. They leave the store as Zechs and Arguile make their way toward it. The groups exchange pleasantries and the two are informed that the prices are crazy high and the guy running the shop is kind of a dick. They acknowledge this and make their way inside. Galahad, Attros, Glad, and We’ahqa make their way into the barely populated village to see about talking to any of the locals for more about what’s happening here. Meanwhile back in the mercantile, Zechs runs interference for Arguile who manages to steal a health potion from the unsuspecting shop owner.

Attros splits off from the group while the other three go to investigate the sound of weeping in a nearby house. He investigates an abandoned building and soon finds himself in a battle for his life with several swarms of rats. Galahad, Glad, and We’ahqa find the source of the weeping on the second floor of a barely lived-in house. It is a mother weeping over an old stuffed bear. She tells them that her daughter had been taken by Strahd and she is scared that she will never see her again. The three ask her who Strahd is and she looks at them as if they were crazy. She refuses to talk about Strahd, as she fears it will call him back to her residence. It’s at this moment that the three hear a loud thunderclap from nearby and rush toward the sound. The scene they come upon is that of Attros lying unconscious on the floor with swarms of rats starting to gnaw at him. The three quickly jump into action and save their fallen comrade. 

Meanwhile, Kyver finally escapes his bonds and makes his way across town to a slightly rundown house. Most of the village is seemingly abandoned save for the house at the end of the avenue.  Standing outside it are a boy and a girl who caution him of the monster in the basement. From outside, Kyver can hear the sound of a baby crying. Not a huge fan of humans in general, Kyver tries to physically move them aside but is unsuccessful in doing so. Regardless, he makes his way into the house’s double doors where he finds wide halls the width of the house. On one end, a black marble fireplace and a red staircase on the other. Mounted on the wood-paneled wall over the fireplace are a sword and several ornamental suits of iron black plate armor. This is a place that was once wealthy and there may be valuables to be found. Kyver searches the house, taking the sword into the main hallway. Then he cartoonishly looks for more things to ransack only to find himself flat on his butt with a curtain on top of him. Making his way to the second floor he finds a library/study there he steals what he perceives as the most expensive book there.

The rest of the team meets up at the house that Attros almost died in. The sound of thunder rolls through the small village and the group sees the Medusa Cascade appear before them. They witness a quick exchange between the Journeyman and Shanks before Shanks is thrust forward with the door closing behind him. Shanks looks around and realizes that Kyver is missing. Shanks looks to Zechs and asks, “Where’s ya, boy?” Zechs replies, “We may look alike but he’s not my people.” Arguile quips, “Can he even survive without us?”

Using We’ahqa’s locate objects spell on Kyvers gold they manage to find him at the rundown house. The two kids inform them of the monster in their basement and the baby on the top floor. The group asks the children if they have seen Kyver. The children inform them that someone fitting that description did go into the house after almost kicking the brother of the two. Arguile makes a quip about Kyver not having good aim. “He missed? Yup, that’s Kyver.” The group, led by Galahad, decides to help the children. They make their way into the house. Baby first then deal with the monster in the basement and hopefully find Kyver along the way.

Zacks asks Galahad if he could take the lead because of his collapsable pole. Lots of 10-foot pole jokes ensue. Making their way to the second floor they find Kyler in the library study. After reprimanding him from leaving the group he asks Glad about the book he found in hopes that he retrieved something valuable. She told him in a passive-aggressive sarcastic way, “Why would I tell you even if I knew.” The baby’s cries continue to pierce through the air. Glad and Shanks encourage the group to continue following the sound of the baby crying. They follow the sound of crying to the third-floor staircase. Once upstairs they are met with an animated suit of armor which they battle with. 

After defeating the armor the group explores the rest of the floor gaining loot and finding a secret stairwell leading up to an attic. In the attic, they find a door. The team broke the door only to find out later that Kyver had the key the whole time. Once the door is broken down, the sound of crying stops. There, inside the room are the remains of two small children. After investigating Zechs finds a replica of the house they are currently in the size of a dollhouse. They realize that the skeletons on the floor have the same clothing as the children they had seen and spoken to outside. The ghosts of the children appear and inform them of a passageway leading to the basement. The party makes its way to the basement to confront the monster however Zechs and Arguile are possessed by the two children. Zechs manages to escape possession but the little boy possessing Arguile needs convincing.

The group decides to rid the house of the monster in the basement to help the children rest their souls. However, the boy child possesses Arguile’s body. Arguile is shaking and moving strangely. Galahad tries to convince the boy child to release Arguile. “I know you’re scared but we need our friend to defeat this monster.” Arguiles’ convulsing body shuffles to the doll house where he picks up the boy doll. The ghost of the girl child goes over to Arguile and places her hand on him to console him. She informs the group that their names are Thorn and Rose. 

Shanks convinces Thorn to release Argyle, “Hey Rose, would it be possible if Thorn can release our friend so we can go fight the monster, and then we’ll bring him right back when we’re done with the monster? And then we can play?” A small spectral orb comes out of Arguile’s chest and Thorn appears in front of Argyle. Thorn hides behind Rose timidly. Rose asks to come with them. Zechs agree as long as they don’t possess them. Arguile snarls at Thorn who shakes a little. He then convinces Kyver to join them using Atros’ newly found gold as bait for him to follow them into the basement. “Hey Floof, get up here. The bird has three gold rings. I know you want them.” Kyver replies, “What’s with your face you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” “The stupid kid possessed me”, Arguile laments. “You want me to kick’em?” Kyver asks. Rose gives Kyver a death glare, scaring Kyver. Making his fur stand up.

While heading downstairs they hear disembodied voices and chanting. Glad starts to cast Calm Emotions to help ease the children’s minds as well as her own. From the edges of the room that they enter into, a dining area, a serpent-like monster known as a Grick appears but the party makes quick work of it. The party continues forward, out of the dining area, Kyver and Zechs argue about which room they should go in. Zechs is concerned about the dangers that might be at work in the house. Kyver teases him saying let’s just go into the Kumbaya room then and hope for the best. Zechs comments on how Kyker just has a way of getting under everyone’s skin. Attros, tired of the bickering, flips the bird at them both. Arguile, however, encourages them to continue following the chanting. Not long after this, they encounter ghouls in the cramped corridors leading out from the dining area.
 
While the party begins to make progress and downs most of the ghouls, We’ahqa breaks away from the group to scout ahead and is attacked by a mimic disguised as a door. Zechs follows We’ahqa and can help keep him conscious until the rest of the party can defeat the ghouls. With the ghouls defeated and We’ahqa saved from the mimic, the party takes a short rest to regroup. Continuing inside the house the team split s up. Following the west side of the hall, they find a room. There is a broken bed and a footlocker. Galahad attempts to open the footlocker but he and half of the party are attacked by ghasts.

A ghast slashes Galahad, piercing his armor straight to his skin but because of his Stone’s Endurance, the attack had no effect. A glow emits from his chest and the wound heals instantly. Another ghoul takes a swing at Glad but she swiftly moves out of its way. She notices a cold spot on the wall but focuses her attention on the ghasts. Meanwhile, Kyver goes through the entryway guarded by the mimic and finds a statue holding a crystal ball. Attros follows behind Kyver to keep an eye on the situation, not wanting to leave the rest of the party being attacked by ghasts. 

Back on the other side of the hallway, Arguile bursts into the room with the ghasts to help Galahad and Glad. The ghasts are unphased and attack both Arguile and Glad. Blackened claws rip into both of them. Zechs sees Attros running down the hall he follows him. In the statue room, Kyver observes the statue. Keeps a 5-foot distance away. Shanks sees a claw come at Arguile and uses his archery expertise to trick shot and kill the creature. We’ahqa watches in amazement and yells out, “Ricochet! Take your aim! Fire away, fire away!” The arrow bounces from the floor and ricochets between Galahad’s legs. Almost hitting his crotch. Unfortunately, he is a bit too late and Arguile is struck by the creature, becoming paralyzed. Gald summons her Spiritual Weapon; a scepter with a blue gem and attacks one of her enemies.

Arguile is still paralyzed. Galahad thinks about moving Arguile out of the way but makes an attack at the same enemy Glad hits. Galahad and the creature exchange swings and misses, but with the creatures distracted We’ahqa drags Arguile out of the room to safety.  It doesn’t come without consequence as a ghast scratches him upon his exit. In typical We’aqha fashion, they compliment the creature on its attack. In the statue room, Attros uses Ray of Frost on the skeletons on the wall just to be sure that they won’t animate and the three of them walk to the statue.

Kyver picks up the orb and five Shadows appear from the walls. Three of the creatures attack Kyver and he quickly goes unconscious. Zechs advances quickly and sinks his blade into one of the shadows. On the opposite side of the hall, Shanks continues to attack the ghasts from a bit of a distance, trying to keep the creatures off of his companions. He is not as successful as he would like and Galahad takes a vicious attack and falls unconscious. Zechs is successful and kills a shadow, placing Hunter’s Mark on another, and attempts to throw acid at one but misses.

With a continual onslaught of arrows from Shanks, Gald uses her amulet to enhance her spiritual weapon and continue the attack on the undead creatures. In the statue room, the Shadows move closer to Zechs, Kyver, and Attros. As they advance, Zechs picks another off with his bow. Attros uses the spell Thunderclap to push back and destroy two others advancing from behind. The two remaining shadow creatures attack Zechs and Astros both missing. We’aqha races into the room to find Kyver unconscious and attack one creature with Primal Savagery, killing it. They then use Healing Word to heal Kyver and bring him back from the brink of death. With a final blow from Zechs, the final Shadows is destroyed.

After a few shots, Shank destroys one of the ghasts while Glad uses Magic Missile to dispose of the other one. Arguile’s paralysis ends and Galahad is healed. The team looks through the locker finding various valuables. Meanwhile, with Attros, We’ahqa, and Zechs the orb rolls across the floor toward We’aqha as the dust settles. We’ uses a cloth to pick up the orb and gives it to Kyver. Kyver splits off from the group, a bit embarrassed. While the rest of the party rests together, We’ahqa goes to Kyver. They have a short conversation about what just happened and We’ahqa tells Kyver not to worry because he cares and wants to help him. Just then, the chanting begins to pick up and they both realize that they know where it is coming from. Further down into the basement.

After their rest, the group heads down further into the basement toward the chanting. “He is ancient! He is the land!” echo through the staircase and the chamber below. They enter what looks to be a room of relics and alcoves all over the walls. Glad turns to Kyver, “Don’t touch anything!” Attros flares a Ray of Frost in his hand to ensure that he doesn’t. Zechs decides to move in and observe the relics, in case they might have some relevance but he can tell they’re useless. Shanks and We’Aqua snoop around and find jail cells and a secret door within one. Galahad uses his Divine Sense to see if there’s anything behind the door, though he can’t sense anything concrete. He does get a feeling there’s something behind the door. Just before they open the secret door, Galahad sees something shiny. Being paranoid the group checks carefully. It turns out to be a gold ring on a corpse, so Shanks grabs it. 

“You grave robber!” Arguile jokes. Shanks ignores him and uses a lever within the wall, opening the door and revealing a 40ft room with a small moat built in. Rusty chains hang from the ceiling, and a stone altar, stained with blood, is on a dais towards the back of the room. As they walk in, the chanting abruptly stops. Zechs takes out his pole, makes a dick joke, and uses it to measure how deep the water is. They figure it’s about 5ft. 

Glad jumps into the water and makes her way to the dais, with the party in tow. When she reaches the dais 13 hooded cloak figures appear and start to chant, “One must die!” Confused, the party looks around the room and sees a mechanism on the wall nearby. Several run over and try to figure out if it will help or create more problems for them. We’Aqua jumps in after them and he notices that it might open the gate next to it. He continues to look around the room and finds a pile of weeds and refuse in one of the corners. 

Glad: “Hey guys, why don’t we just leave?” 
Kyver: “the door is open..” 
“One must die! One must die!” The chanting continues. 
“Who must die? Who must die?” We’Aqua mimics in response. 

The team tries to figure out what the figures truly want and possibly find a loophole. Since they’re not planning on sacrificing a member of the party, they brainstorm. Maybe they can use one of the bodies they already killed. Shanks starts to go back for the skeleton they passed by but as he starts to leave Glad gets off the dais. As she does so, the chanting switches to, “Lorghoth the Decayer, we awaken thee!” A Shambling Mound awakens. “This tree we can kill,” Glad says.

The party begins its battle against a mass of rotting plant matter and human remains. They quickly find out that the Shambling Mound is resistant to non-magical attacks. The casters of the group begin to sling spells at the creature with urgency. An onslaught of spells and arrows fly across the ritual chamber, resulting in some serious damage to the mound. A part of the way through the fight, the now-falling-apart mound lets out a discordant roar and summons a second one. The party begins to battle as Magic Missiles fly and Divine Smites flash within the chamber. Eventually, the creatures are destroyed, with Kyver firing the kill shot on both.  The chanting stops and the figures disappear.

They investigate the area to see if there is anything else to deal with but come up with nothing, they then make their way upstairs and speak to the kids. “Did you kill the monster?” Rose asks with Thorn cowering behind her. Zechs speaks up, “Oddly enough the asshole over here killed both of them.” He points to Kyver, “So he might not be as bad as we thought.” They look to Kyver in amazement and think, ‘He did something useful?’ “Could you do one more thing for us?” Rose asks, “Could you put our bodies to rest? They’re up in the attic. We want to go to sleep.”

The party agrees and Zechs and Galahad retrieve the bodies from the attic. The kids then show them their crypt. They thank them and smile as the disappear. Though they’re happy they helped the kids, the party is ready to get the fuck out of the murder house. They try to leave but poison gas begins to surround them. Glad, Zechs and Galahad start to cough and take damage. They try to break through the windows but they’re bricked up. Attros figures out that the gas is coming out of the fireplace and tries to freeze it with Ray of Frost. It slows it down but isn’t successful in stopping it completely. They must go down to go back up and make their way through a trap door to avoid the swinging scythes in the doorways.

They race through the basement back to the secret staircase up to the attic. Trapped in the hallway by more swinging blades, Zechs dives through the doorway to the children’s room in the hopes that the replica dollhouse will have some clues to get out. Unfortunately, he finds that the only way out is through the front door and smashes it in frustration. Out in the hallway, the rest of the party tries to investigate the orb again hoping to find something but it’s just an orb. Then they investigate the doors and realize there’s a pattern to the blades. If they run at the right time they might be able to go through. 

Attros runs through the blades but doesn’t time it right, he is unconscious but alive. We’Aqua speaks up and reminds the team of the chant “Once must die”. We’ahqa sneaks back toward the basement to sacrifice themself to save their friends, and Kyver notices and follows. Zechs and Galahad see Kyver leave and follow too.  They convince We’ahqa to stop and they return to the group. Galahad uses his size and strength to run through the walls to get to Attros and is attacked by rats. He stomps and crushes the rats around him as he pours the potion of health, given to him by Glad, into Attros’ mouth. 

Glad suggests grabbing a rat to sacrifice it. Kyver listens and grabs once and starts to get attacked by them. Having successfully grabbed one, he rushes downstairs to the altar but the sacrifice doesn’t seem to have any effect. We’Aqua takes their scimitar and stabs their belly, trying to sacrifice themself again. Zechs and Kyver try to stop them. There is a tense back and forth where the blade switches possession a few times until Zech takes the blade and holds We’ahqa down using his claws forcibly then uses cure wounds. We’ahqa doesn’t understand why they won’t let them do this to save the party. They inform We’ahqa about the brittle walls and that potentially being the quickest way out, without anyone dying. They break through several walls and continue to fight and kill swarms of rats until they successfully break through the outer walls.

They are met by the Journeyman outside. He claps and grins smugly. “Excellent job you guys,” he looks clean-shaven and dressed well. “Well, that was fun to watch.” We’Aqua looks as if they just figured something out. “Wait a minute, is your name the Journeyman because you travel a lot!” “There could be something to that,” JM replies. “Dude, that is a very specific name, good thing your parents named you that! Anything else would have been terrible.” “I know right?” Jm chuckles as he places his hand on We’Aqua’s shoulder and says, “Friend.” “Friend back, man! Friend back!” We’aqha exclaims from Galahad’s back.

Back at the tavern, JM lets them know they’ve missed their meeting with the Burgomeister, but he can help with that situation. Without really getting into details, JM lets the party know that he has some ability when it comes to bending time and space. He then gives all of the party members two-inch wooden tokens with the tavern’s insignia on one side and strange circular writing on the other. These coins are a direct way to connect with him and the tavern. If they’re in trouble, they can use a token to contact him. However, they’re one-time use and will become mundane wooden tokens after use. JM tells them to rest and ready themselves for the task ahead.

Shanks asks to talk to The Journeyman in private. We’Aqua turns himself into a flea to listen in on their conversation. This conversation reveals that Shanks was picked up earlier than the rest of the party. He was brought in to lead the group because of his prior military experience. Shanks explains that the party is full of wild cards that do stupid shit at stupid times. The Journeyman counters that this is the reason that he was asked to come in and lead the party because, after all, he is capable of doing more than shooting things in the junk. Shanks shakes his head in frustration and makes his way to the door. JM stops him, pulls out an ornate wooden case, and presents it to Shanks. It opens to reveal an intricately carved and shaped Elven Long Bow. The Journeyman explains that this is called Mind’s Eye and once he’s mastered himself the bow will be able to make any shot that he can see within his mind’s eye. Shanks thanks him and absconds to his quarters. 

The following morning, the party is rested and ready to meet the Burgomeister. The Journeyman asks what they think they’ll do once they’re finished with the meeting and the party relays to him the Tarot cards that were meant to lead them on a path of success. At the sound of one, in particular, JM becomes a little jumpy and decides to give a boost to Shanks’s new bow. He then pulls out a wrapped package and gives it to Zechs. It is the bow that he had custom ordered a few days ago, but with some modifications and additions to it. Zechs thanks him profusely and slips him a letter to his mentor Argo. Shanks rallies them together one last time before they head back out of the tavern, making a promise to each other to try and work together as a team.