Episode 67

The battle with Marcellus leaves Collective Action in ruins. Two heroes — Roan and Barnabus — lie slain, their light extinguished. Meepo vanishes into shadow, fate uncertain, and Blair is dragged away in chains. Within the depths of Marcellus’ lair, Blair is “reunited” with supposed parents — the Vaynaxians — who seek Caderyn. But the bond they claim does not exist. Blair is not Caderyn. There is no homecoming here.   Marcellus, dissatisfied with the Quintessence’s failure, consigns Blair and the elves to a cell, demanding the scythe be yielded. Torture achieves nothing. In the silence of imprisonment, Blair communes with the weapon itself, which now remembers its name — Requiem. Once, it granted dying souls their final wish, but Caderyn’s bargain twisted its purpose. Requiem confesses the truth: Blair is not a vessel of Caderyn at all, but a body of its own making. In the truest sense, Blair is the scythe given life.   Days pass before salvation comes in the form of Chance, a flame-haired rogue sent by a mysterious white-haired patron. With shadows and steel, she frees Blair from captivity, even as Marcellus’ schemes deepen.   Far from the dungeon’s gloom, Groban and Celine return to Kureta City to bear the sorrowful news. A royal funeral honors Barnabus Orbeck, his name etched forever in history. Among the mourners appears Lyra Brightsong, who vows vengeance in his name and refuses to be turned away. Back in Takari Peak, a guild memorial is held, tankards raised for Barnabus, Meepo, and Roan. Among the crowd, Aveline — Meepo’s Dragonborn companion — steps forward, swearing to take up their cause. Both Lyra and Chance are welcomed into the guild, though in strange fashion they are raised immediately to gold rank, as though fate itself insists they be ready for what comes.   Seeking rest from grief, the adventurers turn to a silver quest in the distant Great Ice Desert. Yet as night falls, the world itself convulses. The sky ripples. The stars fall. Clerical prayers shatter mid-breath. A cosmic disturbance reverberates across the heavens, and none can say what has broken.   When dawn comes, it is upon uneasy hearts. With the weight of loss heavy on their shoulders and the cosmos itself in turmoil, Collective Action sets forth once more, stepping through teleportation to Kitaun, and onward into the frozen wilds of destiny.