Session 32: The Clan's Blood Is My Blood (Act III)

Key Plot Developments
Glyn takes advantage of the power vacuum in Gracklstugh. He learns about the Deepqueen's demise; she was found dead not far from the vaults in the Hold of the Deepking, poison in her veins. The council, too, was found dead in the hold. In the absence of the ruling council, Glyn steps up; he uses his social capital to appoint Zeks and Edsel as co-regents. Miss Anna's crystal palace remains intact.

Glyn visits Lemon in Anna's palace. Lemon's adopted a new name (Glyn-Crazy-Glyn-Eyes-Glyn-Nort-Almond-Glyn-Lemon-Glyn-Bogtooth-Duergar). He's a little lonely, though he's spoken with Anna and 'Roomie.' He says Roomie's told him about crashing a wedding in the future.

Glyn speaks with Anna about Suortin, who can only be summoned once a day for a limited amount of time. Anna also has a new prophecy about impending doom; she says it's from the Prince, but we realize she can generate her own prophecies from her connection to faerzress.

Glyn reaches out to the Dark Prince, who greets him on an ethereal bridge. The demon says that he wants to help Drigglezub return to Glyn, but fears that Misu will interfere. He's started a ritual that must not be interrupted. Drigglezub, partway across the bridge, is scared; she knows she could be lost between planes if the ritual is hampered, but has trusted in Glyn and has started the process. She says Glyn must make sure everyone keeps their necklaces on. The Dark Prince, to help Glyn, grants him three large crystal soldiers as his personal protectors.

Glyn is snapped out of the vision by a sending from Trix, who says he needs to leave the city and meet at the Darklake. Glyn immediately reaches out to the stone giants, who want to kill Misu. The stone giants say they'll follow him to find Misu.

Then, Glyn reveals his thoughts to Anna--he thinks the reason she's had inconsistent communication with the Dark Prince is because he's been cut off from power, but the crystal necklaces should help. He also blames Misu for Trix's sending; he thinks she's manipulating his friend. Anna says how proud she is of Glyn--and then, they appear.

Grazilaxx, Sloopidoop, Shuushar, Y, Misu, and the other five family members teleport in to Anna's grove. They start to attack. In the confusion--Anna and Glyn are only trying to kill Misu, Misu is trying to kill Anna, and Grazilaxx is trying to incapacitate the grove to recover Giggles--spells and swords fly. The other grove residents summon lesser crystal wraiths to defend Anna and attack. Lemon complicates the situation by instinctively casting a Silence spell around him, leading to more violence and miscommunication.

Giggles notices the members of the SOB. Desperately fighting to break herself out of madness, Giggles begins bashing her head against the crystals (to no avail). As Misu sicks Bezekira on Anna, Stonespeaker Hgraam enters the fray.

Misu, accosted by the stone giant and the demon, is close to death when Dawnbringer prompts Pix to use them on Glyn. She obliges and takes Glyn by surprise. The sword, radiant light streaming from it, pierces Glyn and shatters both of his necklaces. Glyn gets a sudden vision of the Dark Prince and Driggelzub on the ethereal bridge. The bridge falls away. The Prince says something, but Glyn can't hear it. The goblin girl cries and disintegrates. Glyn's connection to the Dark Prince is severed.

Outside of the vision, something is triggered. Everyone who Glyn gave a necklace to--everyone who trusted Glyn--claws at their throats as the necklaces' crystals pierce them. They burrow, cutting into veins. The hapless victims try to scream as the crystals replace their vocal cords and necks. Thousands of people are painfully transformed, now indistinguishable from the other crystals in the grove. Then, they all shatter into beautiful, sparkling dust. Giggles dies. Zeks dies. Edsel dies. Miss Anna takes her necklace off in time. Misu, beaten to unconsciousness by the giant, dies.

Lemon tries to heal Misu, but it's too late. Glyn, mad with grief, blames a stunned Grazilaxx; he and the crystal-wraith Suortin kill the mind flayer. Shuushar mercifully knocks Glyn unconscious. Bogtooth, firing magic at the remaining crystal wraiths, realizes his spellcasting power has been restored by Dulcinea; she is pleased with his progress.

Hgraam, stunned by the crystals' lethal abilities, attacks Anna (who first provoked his ire when she claimed to openly follow the Dark Prince). Grazilaxx is revived by Trix and subdues the giant.

Then, Anna's original crystal necklace (not the one Glyn gave) pulses with energy as a remote Remove Curse spell is forcibly cast on her. Her madness--the madness that turned her to a pacifist, removed her succubus drives, and made her believe she was talking to the Dark Prince when she wasn't--finally disappears. Her skin turns burgundy, resembling the wine she first gave them. She flies over to the giant and kills it with a witch bolt.

Suortin is killed again by Bogtooth's earth elemental. Glyn, clearly seeing and hearing a demonic Anna, is overwhelmed but completely believes she's doing the right thing. Tremble tries to speak to Anna, but she's too enraged by Suortin's second death to choose peace. Slagathor, who was too absent-minded to wear Glyn's gift, enters the fray, spreading more confusion.

Finally, Grazilaxx is successfully charmed by Anna. The prospect of dealing with the succubus and mind flayer is daunting--but then Slagathor knocks Grazilaxx out (at random!). Sloopidoop, a skilled fighter, finds an opening and stabs Anna, finally banishing her from the material plane. As she disappears, she blames the family for destroying a perfect situation with Glyn.

The battle over--at the cost of thousands of lives--Skriss emerges. She's been listening to the goings-on outside. Everyone is too stunned to acknowledge her.

Misu, dead, sees an image of her mother in hell. Tilphousia blames her for not listening and pushing too hard when she was told to wait. Misu, disempowered and mad, contradicts her mom--who turns out not to be her mom at all, but the Demon Lord of Deception, Nicholas Ice Cream. The demon taunts Misu, blaming her for escalating the situation beyond her power. He claims that he's free now, thanks to her, and has a lot of work to catch up on--including visiting her real mom while wearing Misu's face. Misu, helpless in this dream-space, chokes on ice cream as the lord of deception taunts her.

Memorable Quotations

 * Slagathor: Hello! Welcome to Slagathor new place. Is very big. Anna Miss work hard. Slagathor work hard. And Slagathor also work hard.
 * Glyn: Slagathor, have you seen Lemon?
 * Slagathor: Slagathor have lemon in kitchen.

Anna: I just opened my eyes and I got the sweet pleasure of seeing you there, haven’t I?


 * Glyn: Hello, Glyn-Crazy-Glyn-Eyes-Glyn!
 * Lemon: That was my name. But that ooze is dead. Now, I am Glyn-Crazy-Glyn-Eyes-Glyn-Nort-Almond-Glyn-Lemon-Glyn-Bogtooth-Duergar.

Anna: You’ve brought light where there was horror, but peace will meet its bitter end. Disaster is around the corner, knowing is your only friend.


 * Lemon: Roomie tells me we're gonna crash a wedding!
 * Glyn: What does that mean?
 * Lemon: I have no idea! What's a wedding?

Drigglezub: I was gonna just stay in the afterlife. But from what you told me yesterday…I’ll take a leap of faith. For you.


 * Dark Prince: Glyn. You have done so much more than I ever thought you would. I was prepared to give you such a wonderful surprise today...but it seems like something may get in the way…I want to move mountains for you. I was going to try to reunite you...with her…your necklace is the skeleton key for this darling girl’s resurrection.
 * Glyn: I’m gonna do my best…
 * Dark Prince (last words to Glyn): That’s all I’ve ever asked of you, Glyn.

Anna: Glyn, I don’t know what family means to you, but you’re MY family.

Slagathor: Hey! Who intruding and making trouble outside Slagathor Inn. Also Slagathor Inn! No forget!

Anna: Please! …..Suortin. HIT ME!

Y: OKAY! WHO ARE WE BLASTING? (He sees a crystal wraith Suortin.) THAT’S A BIG BUG!

Lemon: Oh, HAI, Misu! Oh, HAI, Glyn! I dunno what’s happening. I’m just gonna chill.


 * Anna: GLYN! Why are they DOING this?
 * Misu: BLOOD WAR!

Drigglezub (last words to Glyn): Glyn, I trusted you…

Anna: I really, really hope this violence brings you satisfaction! Because, clearly, peace never will!

Bogtooth: Glyn, call them off! Pix is going to DIE! This wasn’t supposed to be like this! I don’t know what you’ve been messin' with, I dunno what WE’VE been messin' with, but one of your family members is about to DIE!


 * Lady Dulcinea: It’s not I like you or anything, okay?
 * Bogtooth: Yeaaah, I know. I don’t like me either!

Lemon: Okay, I feel like a lot of stuff is happening right now. And I don’t know how I feel about it. But I hope we can all get along!

Tremble: I know you’d never intentionally hurt us and we’d never intentionally hurt you! Please--just come back, Glyn!

Y: LISTEN. KID! I KNOW THAT IT SEEMS CRAZY! I REALLY KNOW IT SEEMS CRAZY! BUT THAT’S A F*CKING DEMON!


 * Tremble: Miss Anna! I thought you said you wanted to STOP the fighting!
 * Anna: Suortin was everything to me. And I don’t even know what I said to you ten seconds ago. Anyone who hurts Suortin needs to die.

Anna (last words to Glyn): Have a great night. I’ll miss you.

Nicholas Ice Cream (as Misu's mom): Now I'm supposed to go up there and clean up your mess? Why did you disobey me?


 * Misu: F*ck you. F*ck your plans. Let the Blood War swallow you whole. And, uh, I’ll never take a lick of this stuff again.


 * Nicholas Ice Cream (as Misu's mom): Oh, Misu, didn’t mommy teach you? I can't be caught in a Blood War if I'm not in the Abyss...

Nicholas Ice Cream: Oh, Misu. You pushed and you pushed. You bite into the ice cream, you get that damnable headache, but you just have to get a second swallow, right? I was willing to call it even, you know? But you ratted on me. You took it to the devils. Nobody likes a tattle-tale, Misu. So this is what you caused, Misu. This is on your hands. I kept trying to focus on other business, but you--you little red ant--you kept trying to sting. So now I'm free, Misu. You freed me. And I have so many appointments to catch up on. Maybe I'll start with mom. Maybe I'll wear your face.