As time resumed, Traven rejoined our heroes. He had been off doing his own thing but still keeping a general idea of where the rest of his travel companions were. Upon seeing Mitsui, an enemy and traitor who had previously abandoned the group, he casually walked up to her and pushed her off the ledge, hoping she would fall to her death. Not willing to risk her surviving and returning, Traven cut the rope that the party had used to climb up.
While Seraphina was rather unconcerned with what just happened, (not having faith in MItsui in the first place and knowing the fall wouldn’t kill her), Zesh was shocked, and Kida was infuriated. Kida rushed Traven, knocking him to the ground and started pounding his face in the ground, bloodying his face and her fist. Traven tried to cast Hold Person, but Kida resisted the effects. He tried a second time after getting pummelled some more, this time succeeding. He followed up by flinging Kida over the side as well.
Seraphina was now angered. She took her bow out and notched an arrow, ready to shoot Traven if he tried anything else. Zesh tried to approach him to talk, but he attempted to pull her down and knock her off the edge. Luckily, she was strong enough to resist, as Seraphina shot Traven, missing the first time. Still refusing to participate in the violence, Zesh tried to walk away, but Traven swung and hit her with his blade. Finally having enough, she cast Wall of Fire around Traven, burning him and trapping him. Seraphina climbed a tree and shot a few more arrows, this time hitting and killing him. Wanting to make sure he was finished, they pushed his body off the ledge.
Meanwhile, Mitsui had landed safely enough. Being a monk, falls were not nearly as dangerous to her as to the average person…still, she wasn’t as safe as a wizard with Feather Fall so did take some damage. Upon picking herself up, she immediately decided to look for some food, still being rather hungry.
On her way to breakfast, she noticed the large Tortle, Kida, plummeting to the ground as well. She rushed over to Kida to see how she was. She saw Kida on the verge of death, bleeding, in shock and pain. She immediately tried to see if she could do anything to help her friend. Shortly thereafter, another body came crashing down: Traven. As Traven hit the ground, blood and guts scattered everywhere. Mitsui examined the remains, specifically looking through his possessions for anything that could help Kida but found nothing. Mitsui wanted to make sure this man was dead. She took his skull and ate all the flesh and brains attached to it.
An hour later, Zesh came flying down, as Seraphina had loaned her Winged Boots to help solve the situation. Mitsui immediately jumped in front of Kida, protecting her, but Zesh assured Mitsui she was only there to help. After promising Mitsui she would just heal and then step aside, she used a few spells on both Mitsui and Kida to heal them up and true to her word, stepped aside. She then grabbed the cut rope, and flew back up, and Seraphina tied it back together before hurrying down to see Kida. Kida was by now feeling a bit better but there was still tension between Seraphina and Mitsui.
All three of them climbed back up and the party continued their journey, following Mitsui toward Ironslag. Along the way, they were met by Corvix, a young soldier whose platoon had just been wiped out by a group of fire giants. He decided to travel with the party for safety; which, while not overly enthusiastic about the idea, the party allowed him to follow along on their journey to Ironslag. A few hours later, they came across a group of dead humanoids, Corvix’s platoon. The party helped themselves to some of their gear before continuing on their journey.
When it came time to rest, Corvix was still an outcast and slept outside the group’s main circle. As Corvix started to play some solitaire with his cards, Tao noticed and asked if she could play cards with him. The two continued for a while, when all of a sudden Mitsui yelled out. There, in front of her, was Traven. It seemed as though only she could see and hear him though. Traven thanked the party for ending his wretched existence, but Mitsui still wasn’t convinced. This kept on happening each night until they reached Ironslag. For whatever reason, Traven was stuck haunting Mitsui, as none of the other members could see or hear him.
Seeing the adamantium doors once more, Mitsui explained how they opened the first time. Although the party tried once more, they failed to open the doors, and just like Mitsui did, decided to wait for a Fire Giant to show up. When they noticed one, they all hid. Upon its approach, the walking tin can, Zesh, stepped out and drew the Fire Giant’s attention, albeit unintentionally. The party fought, knocked it unconscious, and started trying to use it to open the door. They said the key phrase, stood it up in front of the door, and said it once more, Mitsui using her imitation voice to perfectly imitate a giant. Nothing helped. Annoyed with the stupid door and stupid giant, Mitsui climbed up to the stupid giant’s lips and moved them while saying the key phrase. Much to her surprise and joy, the doors swung open, allowing them to infiltrate Ironslag.
Thus time came to a standstill, a dangerous area waiting for our heroes to return.
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