Session 131

As Kogano led the charge to defend Marakan from the Bakari, Summer moved to a better position and began taking shots at the Bakari. Meanwhile, the Bakari charged into the town and began assaulting the Ettinor, managing to bite three of them. Merrick summoned his Crown of Stars and sent out hurtling towards a larger, more muscular Bakari. Meanwhile, Dain closed the distance by charging forward and using Misty Step to appear next to one of the Bakari about to bite an Ettinor woman, hitting it twice with Stormsmasher. Kogano continued charging forward while beckoning a second spirit and sending them both after nearby Bakari, dealing devastating blows to them. Skinner joined Kogano and beckoned a spirit of his own, and as the more muscular Bakari went after Dain, noting how much damage he had dealt to the other Bakari, he got him good twice with his greataxe before going in for a final, deadly strike which Dain was caught off-guard by, hurtling toward his head. However, Skinner employed his runes, deflecting the blow with a cloud that blew it to the side, causing it to bury itself into the neck of the Bakari that Dain had previously attacked. The Bakari began furiously trying to bite every Ettinor in sight, and bit several of them to death. Upon seeing this, the group cursed, but were horrified when they saw the Ettinor stand back up, their skin red and tusks having sprouted from their mouths -- it seems not even death could save them once infected. After exchanging a few more blows, one of the more muscular Bakari Savages managed to bite down hard on Skinner's neck, and Skinner could feel the infection trying to take hold. However, Skinner was made of stronger stuff and managed to fight off the infection immediately.

Summer then sent an arrow flying straight through the head of the Bakari Savage that had bitten Skinner, killing it. This gave two of the Ettinor an opening to escape down the path leading towards the docks. However, the Bakari pressed their attacks against the others, killing two others outright while attempting to convert them. Merrick decided to place a Sickening Radiance amongst a large grouping of Bakari, seeing that all of the Ettinor in that area were already dead, causing their skin to be scorched by the intense light. Dain then followed by lining up with two of the Bakari and raising Stormsmasher into the air, channeling a Lightning Bolt that passed through the two, frying their nerves. Merrick then finished off one of the Bakari with a mote from his Crown of Stars, causing the Bakari to explode in a shower of radiant sparks. As the fight raged on, one of the Bakari was killed by one of Kogano's spirits, and he did something Skinner was not expecting -- as the Bakari's spirit emerged from its body to seek Akronite to be reborn, Kogano opened his mouth and drew the spirit of the Bakari toward him. His mouth appeared blacker than the blackest night and as the spirit clawed at nothing attempting to escape, it began to spiralize until it was sucked into Kogano's mouth. He then blew a shimmering breath toward a distant Bakari, causing the spirit of the absorbed Bakari to be beckoned -- not as a Bakari, but as Ettinor, its former self. Kogano's spirits began to tear the remaining Bakari apart, and with the group's help, the Bakari were finally defeated. As the spirits of the Bakari arose from their bodies, Skinner felt an unnerving sensation in the air as Kogano immediately Soulbound every Bakari on the battlefield, their spirits being pulled into the Soulstones embedded in Kogano's arms, a feat which baffled Skinner.

After the battle, the group found Kogano somberly standing over the body of one of the fallen Ettinor. He lamented that this was a weekly occurrence, and that each time someone was lost, and without fail, the townsfolk blamed him for not protecting them. The group hung their heads, thinking about the innocent lives they were unable to protect. Kogano then got back to the matter at hand -- Andozar. Kogano said that if he was to help them, they needed to understand more about a Lich's Soulstone. He explained that the process of becoming a Lich involves separating one's soul from their body while still alive and putting it into a Soulstone. This required that they first use the Soulbinding art of Carving to carve their own body to prepare it to be controlled by their soul remotely. Once their soul enters the Soulstone, it forms a bond that allows the soul contained within to control their physical body from any distance. However, should the Lich's vessel perish, a new one would be grown from the Soulstone within a few days, allowing them to regenerate completely. This immediately set off alarm bells for Skinner, who explained what they had seen in the mines in Koranir, explaining how the Bakari seemed to do the exact same thing with raw Akronite. This horrified Kogano, who thought about it and said that this explained why the Bakari's spirits seemed to linger and always come back -- because they were the same Bakari he had killed previously. He implored the group to tell someone of this immediately, and said that he would have to tell the townsfolk in the hopes they would listen to him and search nearby caves for Akronite that the Bakari may be using to regenerate to come back and attack. The conversation then turned to the Soulstone again, with Kogano saying that they still needed to find Andozar's Soulstone, and he explained that it could be anywhere, but it would be somewhere familiar, as he needed to be able to reach it quickly should anyone ever attack it. He asked what the party knew of Andozar, and Merrick produced Andozar's journal that they had found at his wife's grave in Kethiken Sholar. Kogano thumbed through it, commenting on the various locations mentioned in the journal entries, with Kogano noting it couldn't be Mythwell since the party said he had destroyed it, and deciding it could not be the Ruins of Keogan, as they had already been there and had explored it thoroughly. They also decided it could not be Thalassarion, as Kogano agreed that that would make it too easy for his attackers. So they decided the only remaining option that made sense was his home town of Araphor, north of Geledon. The group recalled that they had passed through the town on their first journey to Thalassarion alongside Tyllaetha, Nashar, Anael, and the three fledgling recruits, and recalled the townsfolk behaving oddly, greeting them with song and dance as they passed through the village. Merrick wondered aloud if Lod'exenter itself could be his Soulstone, but Kogano clarified that a Lich's Soulstone was no different than a normal one, being made of Akronite and other compounds, and that it would be small, but identifiable. Skinner asked about how to deal with his mind-boggling number of spirits, and Kogano explained that there's no way he could possibly contain so many, and he must have some sort of vessel for containing so many, and that if Skinner could find it, he could set the spirits free by destroying it, or try to wrest control away from Andozar in a contest of wills, with Kogano suggesting the former option; saying that the spirits of Thalassarion had suffered for long enough. Kogano offered to demonstrate how to take control of the spirits away, and Skinner practiced with him, taking only three tries to snatch one of Kogano's spirits from within the Soulstones embedded in his arms, immediately beckoning it.

After parting ways with Kogano, Skinner decided to pay one last visit to his family on the eastern edge of town, unsure when he would be able to again. He made his way to his aunt's hut, and found his cousins Teor and Keanut outside their hut with weapons at the ready. They asked what had happened, and Skinner explained the battle and the Bakari having bitten a number of the townsfolk, and having killed several more. He even showed off his bite, which frightened Teor, who turned his blade at Skinner, seemingly afraid that he would turn at any moment. However, Skinner explained that the effects could be resisted by those with a strong will, and said that they could as well. They seemed incredulous, but relaxed upon hearing this. Skinner also mentioned how the Bakari regenerate, and recommended that they get together the town's strongest to explore the nearby caves to see if any Bakari were using Akronite to regrow there. Skinner implored his cousins to accept Kogano, citing his protection of them, but they could not see eye to eye, with Teor spitting at hearing Kogano's name, calling him unnatural. The two invited Skinner and his friends to stay for the night, and spent the night telling each other stories of their travels and lives, and with many in the group getting their first taste of Gothirian cuisine. After a night of higher spirits than the rest of the day had been, the party woke in the morning, deliberating about what to do next. They eventually decided that before they continued searching for Andozar's Soulstone, they should finally deal with Merrick's bond to the Deep One so that he would not be a liability in the future. Merrick suggested teleporting to his hometown of Phenedulon in southern Arak and chartering a boat somewhere to the Whispering Abyss, where they would make the risky gambit to break his bond forever.

Merrick took the ring from Dain and spoke the command word, pulling them through a tunnel in the plane of Callamus, seeing an all-blue version of Aellorah hurtling past beneath them, and having a strange encounter seeing a glowing white bird flying alongside them, who cocked its head in confusion. As they snapped into place, arriving outside Merrick's adoptive parents' house, his father came rushing to the door to see the source of the commotion, just in time to see Skinner, stomach upset by the disorienting sensation of teleportation, vomit all over Merrick. Merrick's adoptive father slowly shut the door, not knowing what to make of what he had seen, but after Dain, annoyed, spent some time cleaning Merrick off with Prestidigitation, his father re-emerged, asking what was going on. Merrick explained in two sentences what he had been up to since he left Phenedulon years ago, eliciting a very confused reaction from his father who had no idea who the "Deep One" was or what a Soulstone was. Merrick backtracked, asking his father if he remembered the Whispering Abyss, where he had been orphaned. His father vaguely recalled this, but said that it had been a very long time. Merrick explained that he had been forced to bond with a malevolent entity that dwelt within this region of the ocean, and that he was going there to finally break the bond. His father seemed supportive, if incredulous, and asked if he needed anything, offering some food, which Merrick graciously accepted. Merrick's father made an off-handed remark about Skinner, asking if Merrick was dining on flesh now, with Skinner going back and forth with him, antagonizing him. His father called Skinner disgusting, and changed the topic, inviting Merrick and his friends inside.