The Age of Worms / The Champion's Belt pt. 14 / Von the 17th, 3593 CE / 7-31-22

After a long night of exploring the Coenoby, Not by Choice is grateful that the following day has been set aside for the Champion's Games contestants to rest. Hush tries to improve the quality of the food by offering to help Palemon the cook/medic, but the old man refuses, insisting it wouldn't be proper for a gladiator to be preparing his competition's rations. Hush then proceeds to attempt and woo the leader of Drunken Devilry with a song, to some degree of success. When the team's manager, Efraym Smallcask, arrives to check on them, they must break the bad news of his beloved Lahaka's demise and transformation into a zombie. Using Nari's magic, they sneak past the guards and back into the Titan's House, where Nataliya has been keeping watch over both Lahaka and Bozal Zahul's trapped chest. Efraym is heartbroken to see the state of his love, but also notices an important clue; an impression of Loris Raknian's ring on the dead woman's neck, showing he was complicit in her murder. Efraym believes that presenting the corpse of a woman whom Loris murdered and then raised using necromancy will be sufficient to destroy his reputation and power in Kedesh. The party agrees to smuggle Lahaka out of the Coenoby, settling on the sewers as the easiest route. They also manage to disarm and open Bozal's chest, distributing the loot within. Later, the escort party consisting of Nataliya, Hush, and River, make their way through the sewers, but find themselves confronted by a pack of gricks. Nataliya releases his companion Esster from her carry companion spell, and the group prepares for battle.