Episode 71

This is Episode 71 of Dice, Camera, Action.

The Party
(Anna) Evelyn - Human Paladin of Lathander

(Holly) Strix - Tiefling Sorcerer

(ProJared) Diath - Human Rogue

(Nathan) Paultin - Human Bard

The Ziggurat
The waffle crew has to cross a bridge that has a brontosaurus lurking underneath it. Its neck is long enough to almost reach the bridge.

Evelyn really wants to befriend it, but the group urges her to leave it alone. They cross without incident, and a few days later they come to Orolunga.

There's a ziggurat here. Inside it is an oracle who supposedly can help the heroes on their quest.

There are a lot of steps to climb to get up to the top of the ziggurat. These steps have magical obstacles that must be overcome.

As the heroes climb the first set of steps, the vines covering them get thicker and thicker, stopping them from ascending further. Evelyn is flying and she loses all ability to move further up due to the mysterious magic of the ziggurat.

Paultin spots a little black creature. It's a forest spirit known as a chwinga. Clutching a purple orchid and an orange orchid, it bounds up the stairs, unimpeded by the vines.

The group grabs orchids of the same colors and does what it did. They are able to ascend the first flight of stairs.

They make a crown of flowers for their owlbear, Waffles.

They try to ascend the second flight of steps. Again, they cannot seem to make any progress. Gravel prevents them from doing so. Again, the chwinga shows the group the way. Purple orchid in one hand, and a red orchid in the other.

The group comes to the third flight of steps, which is covered in poisonous snakes. This time, the chwinga swallows a snake. It throws the flowers away. Swallowing the snake allows it to climb the stairs.

Paultin has been figuring out what to do every step of the way. Paultin wants Evelyn to swallow the snake. The snake uses its tongue to tickle her lips.

She lets it slither into her mouth and she swallows it. She feels it vanish. The rest of the group does the same. Now they can go up the final flight of stairs and enter the interior of the ziggurat. Waffles and Dragonbait will wait outside.

The Oracle
Inside the ziggurat, they find a naga coiled around a hookah, making puffs of smoke in the air. Each cloud puff looks like a different thing - a dragon, a ship, a carriage, etc.

The naga wants Diath to smoke the hookah. Paultin and Strix smoke it.

Diath says he's trying to find a spellbook and the glasses of Mr. Fox. The waffle crew seeks the Soulmonger and wants to know how to destroy it.

The naga gives the group some information:
 * The things they seek are in the lost city of Omu.
 * The naga says that Dendar wants to swallow the sun.
 * The naga points out that Ras Nsi is suffering from the death curse too.
 * She tells the group about the trickster gods.
 * She offers to heal the group. Evelyn has an ow-y. The naga licks her wounds until they're healed. Evelyn likes this.

Shedding Skin
The naga wants the group to "shed their skins" and receive enlightenment. Paultin volunteers. The naga licks him and peels the skin off his face. There's another Paultin underneath. The old skin is cracking.

The group is in disbelief.

He is granted the blessing of wound closure. While he has the blessing, he stabilizes whenever he drops to 0. This lasts until the next new moon, which is about 30 days away.

The naga points out that "other forces" might have the puzzle cubes required to get into the tomb.

The naga tells the group that once they leave the ziggurat. they can't come back.

Strix asks about Skizziks. The naga knows someone who looks like Strix. "All will be made clear when you meet yourself."

She further informs the group that Acererak's phylactery is not on this world.

Evelyn asks more questions and it comes out that there are doubles of everyone but Evelyn. The hags!

Paultin asks, "What if we're the fake ones?!"

The naga urges the group to focus on killing Ras Nsi.

The heroes go outside. The stars look vast and wavy. One star winks at Evelyn. End of session.