SE04 : EP43 - Sucks the Lives Right Out of You

The knife presses against Ryder's neck. not far from the already existing scar. The man barks out questions about why Ryder would return. They are ushered off to another part of town to talk. He is identified as the Albatross, a member of "the family." As they go rounds trying to glean info from each other. In the ned a few facts emerge. One, shortly after Ryder left Kizenak, these businessmen arrived and changed the power dynamics in the area. Two, sometime after that the magical darkness, the birds, and enthralling of the town happened. Three, a Goliath showed up asking many, many questions about Ryder. Four, Albatros points out he believes it all sourced from a single place, deep in the earth, where he believes some sort of "dream machine" is causing all the magical effects. Five, he believes that these culprits are some type of vampire.   They decide to approach this problem by stalking down the tunnels under the town's well.    Eñahkais  struggles to suppress and deal with the disappearance of Yith and Airézen. Then mentally collapses, falling into a fuage state as Dûlwallow. After a few minutes of erratic behavior, the changing comes back into some semblance of composure.   Albatros try to talk straight with Ryder. Discussing the wackos that Ryder is hanging out with. They mull over the past and the current mess. And in the end, Albatros tries to convince Ryder to join with them. Flatly rebuking this offer, Ryder thinks about how poorly things went after they left.   Allie and Orwyn exchange words about trying to take control of this unwinding situation.