Episode 22

Content Warning
This episode contains horror themes involving blood.

Recap
''The Strings of Fate face off against a slew of blood-starved nobles. With their friends and loved ones endangered, can they traverse the Beasts of the Bleed and find sanctuary?''

Part 1
The episode starts with a flashback to Bonnie's escape from the Church of the Morninglord several days prior. Injured, they are forced to leave one of their revolvers behind, and with only six shots left but more than six pursuers, they know the odds are not good. They contemplate going out with a bang but they remember two smiles - the second of which had saved her from the first - they decide that it would be a waste to die here. Instead, they dive beneath a pile of waste. They hear Vincent and the soldiers rush by, but cannot call out. Finally, they are pulled from the refuse, and they wonder if maybe "she" had come to save them again.

Back in the present, the party and the new arrivals - Bonnie and the fire genasi - face off against the four creatures in the alleyway, which Vincent recognizes as vampires. The battle commences, with some initial greetings to Bonnie and her companion. Vincent is stunned by the hypnotic pattern of the gold in the alleyway, and is bitten by a vampire in a blue dress. When another goes to try to hit Azzurum, he dares them to "try" - and the vampire scores a critical. Lidara thinks they should both get their shit together, and peppers the enemies with a shot from her Splintershot bow. Azzurum is able to banish one of the vampires using a Banishing Smite with his whip, and the fire genasi turns one of their heads into mist with a punch of his gauntleted fist. The other two flee.

During the fight, Lidara notices that one of the pools of blood beneath her feet shifts, and suddenly bubbles up to wrap a hand around her ankle - with a small slice in her skin, it takes control of the blood in her body and controls her like a puppet, forcing her to take swings at Vincent with her dagger. When the vampires turn to run away, the blood creature begins to run as well, taking Lidara with it. Azzurum uses Lightning Lure to pull her backwards, and Lidara is able to rip free from the creature. With a few more hits, the blood puddle is destroyed. Foes (mostly) vanquished, they suddenly remember that the banished vampire will be back any moment now, and flee. Vincent hauls the Walsh grunt along and they run.

The fire genasi introduces himself as Wolfgang, and Bonnie and Wolfgang lead the party to a building with blocked and barricaded doors and windows where four other individuals wait inside - survivors from Wheldon. The party catches up with Bonnie, explaining what had been happening while she was gone, and Vincent apologizes again for not finding her. Bonnie is understanding, and tells them in turn of her rescue by the Tempest of the Unheard. When Bonnie hears the that genasi family is safe, she is relieved, and the group discusses their next steps. It is decided that Wolfgang will escort these survivors to the undercity while Bonnie and the party will go get the genasi family, Tasha, and the others from the manor. Wolfgang will then meet them at the halfway point. They also discuss calling Doc Berry later to ask about the planar bleeding.

Before they leave, Vincent questions the Walsh grunt that they saved from the alley. He explains that he was asleep in the Walsh manor, and he heard from others that someone saw Thorns setting fire to the manor. They rushed to the center of town because the Thorns had gone too far, and they wanted to fight. Halfway through, he had gotten wounded and started heading back - and that's when all hell broke loose. Vincent presses him on whether everyone seemed in their right mind or under any kind of influence, and the grunt explains that although he had done some things he wasn't proud of in the fight, everyone seemed sane, and just wanted to defend themselves. As he was running away, he noticed some of the fighting sounded more violent than others, and then he saw one of his coworkers get torn apart by a wolf creature. After that, he hid, hoping that everything would be better by morning - it wasn't.

Part 2
The party arrives at the manor safely. The grass is now dead, and the hedge maze is soaked with crimson while bits of blood rock creep onto the decorated areas. The genasi family is still within the Sanctum. Selk is singing a lullaby to the twins in a woman that they do not understand, though Azzurum catches enough to know it is a story about a woman touched by the sea.

The party fills in the family, Aona, Tasha, Renaer, and Archie on what they had seen outside in the city, and explain that they are going to get them to safety in the undercity. The family (minus Aona) is alarmed by the descriptions of the hellish landscape and the monsters, and although Vincent tries to explain the technicalities of the magic, it does little to calm them. Renaer bandages their wounds before they leave, and Vincent implores him to take it easy and not do anything reckless. Vincent also gives Tasha a dagger for her to defend herself.

They successfully sneak though the city, although they can hear the sounds of fighting in the distance, particularly the sounds of the knights of the Morninglord and monsters. After they meet up with Wolfgang, Lidara gets the vague feeling of being watched, and when she takes a second look around, she notices Finnegan Walsh standing on a distant rooftop, just watching them. They decide to not engage, so long as Finnegan is only watching. They arrive at a sheetmetal barrier blocking off a tunnel to the undercity, and when Wolfgang knocks, it is moved aside so they can descend.

The undercity is surprisingly normal compared to the Wheldon above, with no signs of corruption or planar bleeding. The community is clearly banding together, and they can see lines for people getting food and makeshift cots being erected for the wounded.

Wolfgang leads them to a sheetmetal structure, and the door is opened to show the interior of a once-abandoned building that is now filled with couches, a big table with a map on it, and bed space for more wounded and sick. They meet several members of the Tempest of the Unheard, including the hail genasi tinkerer and inventor Rowen, and the earth genasi healder Doctor Neerja. They are also reunited with Astrid, the water genasi they had previously met at the Church, and leader of the group. Astrid says that is is good to see Adela again, and Selk scolds her.

Astrid and the party discuss the overall situation in the city, and Astrid asks for their help in getting people out of Wheldon before they work on fixing the overall problem. They decide to rest while deciding on their next course of action.

Azzurum calls Davil using the Sending Stone necklace. Azzurum asks what the sky is like where Davil is, and he replies that it is overcast but it has been a nice day. Davil also says he is thinking about taking some time off and meeting Azzurum somewhere. Azzurum would love that - if he can make it out of here. He explains that things are looking horrible and that he thinks they're in hell, briefly listing their problems as "nobles, vampires, bats, planar bleeding, Jarlaxle." Davil is alarmed, frantically asking Azzurum where he is and saying that he is running out right now. Azzurum assures him that he is fine, and Davil tells him to to do anything reckless until he gets there. He tells him "I can't lose you," and Azzurum replies the same way.

Meanwhile, Lidara assists Astrid in chopping vegetables and preparing food. Lidara asks how long Astrid has been in the area, and Astrid explains they do not live in Wheldon but have been in the general area for a few years. She then asks Lidara if Lidara has a sibling, as she reminds her of someone she knew a long time ago - they have the same smile. Lidara questions her further, and Astrid says that she used to be "more acquainted" with the Church of the Morninglord, though not of her own accord. When she broke out, she asked the other girl to go with her, but she didn't come. She guesses that if she was still with the Church, she would maybe be a nun now. Lidara thanks her, saying that she had been looking for her for a while and that this is more information than she had gotten in the last few years.

Renaer and Archie are being treated by Doctor Neerja. Victor gives them the ledger from Tyron's office, in case it could be any help in treating the poison. The ledger itself is a list of transactions, listing names and amount paid and quantity of product. The first half is all for a substance called Elysian Lily, but the second half is for a different product called Crimson Lily. It notes that Valentina was in charge of obtaining resupplies. Doctor Neerja says that this is not useful for the poison, but remarks that Crimson Lily is an expensive, potent fashion drug that is meant to "increase one's thirst for pleasure." It is very popular in Wheldon, and while they had wanted to disrupt the supply to the nobles, they never found who was selling it. Lidara recognizes the name Elysian Lily as an upper. The Doctor then assures them that Archie and Renaer will both be fine, although it will be a while before Renaer is in top form again.

Vincent calls Doc Berry by way of Sending, briefly explaining that the lower planes were bleeding in and asking for any help. Doc Berry casts Sending back, saying that he had been to Wheldon to treat some "interesting rot" on the head of the families there. He also says that the Wheldon area has always had a history of extraplanar activity, and he recommends asking the Aquaine people, since they had been able to keep the bleed at bay.

Vincent doesn't know much about the Aquaine people, but has he thinks about the time they've spent in Wheldon, he thinks about the clocktower. He knows that every hour, on the hour, something is supposed to happen that has not happened since they've been here...

The Strings of Fate

 * Azzurum Esen-Carr
 * Lidara Mormaer
 * Vincent Obra
 * Renaer Neverember

Returning

 * Tasha Thorn
 * Bonnie O'Donogan
 * Selk
 * Aona
 * Adelaide
 * Tidus and Tidan
 * Cygnet
 * Archie
 * Wolfgang
 * Astrid Downs
 * Finnegan Walsh
 * Doc Berry
 * Davil Starsong

Debut

 * Rowen
 * Doctor Neerja

Mentions

 * Jarlaxle Baenre
 * Tyron Thorn
 * Valentina Thorn