Jacaranda stood silently as Ylis harangued Morgan, each word a nail driving into her soul....she had not gone for money but she had still abandoned her charges.....Ylis and Ayo seemed hale which gave her self-immoliation some slight balm but still...

The weight of all the people she had failed crashed down on her shoulders, she did not even comprehend the unintended kindness Ylis had given Lester......she had failed them all....

Her hand reached out desperately to clutch at Ylis arm and she collapsed to her knees wracking sobs spilling out of her.

" I'm sorry........I.......please.....I......daughter......please......."

She collapsed face down on the tortured earth, her tears mixing with Lesters heartsblood as she fell into a pit of self-loathing she would likely never fully escape.....

DM: Point of order, but the Sleep spell will wear off after a minute. I will fast forward through that because it doesn't solve Lester's problem, but spend the spell slot because it did work for a minute before he woke as a result of the spell ending. Since this happened before arriving back to the others, we will do both the present situation where Ylis has brought the storm, because I love it, and also settle this Lester issue that happened before arriving back with the others. 

The only new people that Sacha, Ylis, and Ayo's crew are meeting is Frekor (and MAYBE Lester (ominous music plays)). Brother Bombur has been with the crew since the beginning of this adventure. 

TL;DR: Bombur, Morgan, and Randa still need to settle the issue with Lester (and maybe bring him back), and Ylis has the storm waiting for them once they do. We will play both scenes. 

Lester screams once he wakes, the horrors beginning anew. "No no nooo nooo noooooo!!!!!!"

Quote from chrisbodmann >>

[ooc: Bombur will wrack his brains trying to remember anything he can about the Far Realm. Anything he can use to save this man’s life.]

[will use Command to try to calm Lester down. Would prefer calm emotions but we use what we got].

 DM: I think the 19 Arcana covered the Far Realm info for now. Command also only works for the span of a turn, which is about 6 seconds. 

Ylis sees Randa in pain and hurries to her side.

"No no no, you didn't let anybody down." she hugs her from behind. "You went to keep an eye on that other guy. Somebody had to do it...I guess..."

"Next time we'll just let him go on his own." Some. tears flow out and wet Randa's back, "I'm happy you weren't here actually. You might have gotten hurt or killed or had your soul stolen or some other horrible thing. I'm so glad you're safe."

She goes on to explain how just knowing that creatures like Bert and Ernie exist make her skin crawl, and Randa ia better off not knowing the experience.

Bombur does his best to ease Lester's suffering. "We have to get him back to a city where I can find someone who can help him. We must hurry."

[do we know the closest town?]

(OOC: I'll try to make the two timelines collide... while I prepare myself for Ylis's scolding.)

Morgan looks disconsolately at Brother Bombur.
"I told you it wouldn't last..."

He shakes his head.
"Let's grit our teeth and… cover our ears. Let's get him to the others and hope they're more resourceful... or creative than we are."

He glances down at the poor bandit.
"I hope this doesn't add pain to the pain..."

Morgan pulls out a strip of cloth and "gently" wedges it into the bandit's mouth — mostly to muffle the shouting, and partly to keep him from biting his tongue (Morgan isn't entirely sure that's actually a thing, but he remembers hearing it somewhere).

Brother Bombur and Morgan help to carry the confessed murderer and thief back to the others, where Ylis is preparing a most humbling and severe scolding. 

DM: Bombur knows that the group is two days out from the city of Bazzoxan, which is where the party was encouraged to go to find answers on the Vestige of Divergence they carry. They also know that the city is under martial law and while they did not know why at first, they learned through encountering patrols from the city that a tear in reality to the Abyss allows warped creatures through to attack and kill. 

DM: Also, it seems that the timelines are back in sync. YAY! Now to resolve the attempt to kill Lester. I will let it play, so if Brother Bombur intends to stop Ylis, give me a Perception Check vs Ylis' Dexterity Check to see if Bombur can see it before Ylis does it. 

[Bombur rolled a 14]

Dex check 12

Doesn't matter what the roll is. "Bombur if you stop me now, I'll find another way to end him. No matter what anybody does, he is bound for the ever after." 

Brother Bombur, has been traveling with the group for about 11 days now and he has gained an understanding of who everyone in the group is. Ylis is a generally happy, upbeat person. She is young and eager to make a friend, but also a powerful outlet for the forces of nature. In this moment, he knows that Ylis is reeling from not only the attack by Far Realm marauders, but also everyone here just survived being attacked by these bandits of murderers just hours before, Lester among them. Ylis is not prone to lies, and she sometimes can be consumed by a tempest of emotions. 

He sees Ylis' hand twitch toward her dagger. Ayo and her crew are too wounded to fight over the issue but Bombur glances over and sees the following:

Maggie, Entropy, and Irvan are in full agreement with Ylis and are wont to do it themselves if Bombur interferes. 

Ayo and Galsariad see the logic and necessity in it, though for different reasons. Gal simply thinks Lester has earned it, while Ayo sees that Lester is suffering inhumane torture and this is a mercy he does not even deserve. 

Dermot, having suffered greatly not just in his own body, but being forced to witness the people he loves harmed, would normally be against such actions. But he turns away, which may be as close as he is capable of getting to an endorsement. 

DM: Brother Bombur, how do you proceed? 

Quote from Wysperra >>

Dex check 12

Doesn't matter what the roll is. "Bombur if you stop me now, I'll find another way to end him. No matter what anybody does, he is bound for the ever after." Morgan should be happy she has somebody to kill.

 Noticing that tension is rising between who he thinks are friends, Frekor gets in between Ylis and Bombur with his arms extended to stop any of them from aproaching the other.

-Hey! I don't know all the details on why you are fighting, but I know that this is NOT the place nor the time for you to be fighting. There are people injured, so let's get everyone to safety first and THEN you can discuss whatever the problem you have between each other, ok?- say the ranger trying to be as polite as he can while leting them know what is the priority.

Quote from FrekorSummers >>

Quote from Wysperra >>

Dex check 12

Doesn't matter what the roll is. "Bombur if you stop me now, I'll find another way to end him. No matter what anybody does, he is bound for the ever after." Morgan should be happy she has somebody to kill.

 Noticing that tension is rising between who he thinks are friends, Frekor gets in between Ylis and Bombur with his arms extended to stop any of them from aproaching the other.

-Hey! I don't know all the details on why you are fighting, but I know that this is NOT the place nor the time for you to be fighting. There are people injured, so let's get everyone to safety first and THEN you can discuss whatever the problem you have between each other, ok?- say the ranger trying to be as polite as he can while leting them know what is the priority.

 OOC: There is NO real conflict between Bombur and Ylis. The rolls were just there to see if Bombur wanted to interfere with Ylis executing the bandit.

It should be noted that the "victim" is a known bandit who had earlier that day attacked the party - he is guilty of known and unknown crimes already. He was then subjected to torture and removal of his eyes which made him go insane. The three of them (the away party - Randa, Bombur, and Morgan) were self considering how best to treat him or put him out of his misery. 

Sacha feels a twist inside her stolen by malevolent aberrations. The emptiness is nauseating. She doubles over and empties the contents of her stomach.

”Karma,” she spits up, “For a minute I lost control, so now I’ve lost myself.”

Sacha goes over to Entropy and tries to offer her sympathy in a way she would understand, “Losing one eye is still a shame, though. We will do what we can to replace it when the occasion arises. I bear some responsibility for what has occurred. If you will allow me, I would like to do what I can to heal the damage of my decisions.” 

As the split party reunites, Sacha follows behind Ylis. Her face fills with guilt as Ylis lashes out at him. 

“Morgan’s not the only one at fault. Blame me too,” Sacha says, “When the bandits were running away, I considered running after them. I’m fast. I could have caught and killed them before they warned Bert and Ernie.”

”And then I lost control. Instead of finishing the job quickly and cleanly, I wasted time tormenting and interrogating Dallur. I let my anger, hatred, and loss get the best of me, and I took it out on a bandit that we should have just killed during the ambush.”

”And when I came to my senses, I let my emotions control me again, and I split the party. I deserve the blame more than Morgan was. I’m sure whatever loot he was searching for would help us in the future. Although his goldlust can get the best of him from time to time, it was my actions, inaction, and decisions that led to these horrible things happening. Blame me. It’s my fault. In retrospect, I’m glad I remained here to fight off Bert and Ernie, but the fight would have been much easier if we remained together.”

Sacha looks around at everyone in both groups.

”I’m deeply sorry and will remain so for the rest of my days.”

“And I’m sorry for this, Bombur. I need to finish what I started. I hope that, with time, you may come to forgive me..”

Sacha throws her spear at the bandit, aiming for the throat. 

Dexterity check: 4

If that fails, Sacha uses Heroic Inspiration to reroll: 18

Attack Roll, if necessary: 23

Randa lays still on the ground...

Though Bombur is Perceptive, he cannot see everything at once and with his attention focused on Ylis, there is nothing stopping the exceptionally quick Sacha. It is highway justice, though it may not be a particularly savory justice for all. There are exceptions to those finding it leaving a bitter taste in their mouth. Entropy claps her gauntlets enthusiastically. "About time!" She marches up to Sacha. "You connect to the World Tree but you cannot carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You are in control of only your own actions, not the actions of others. I for one am only sorry that my body gave out before I could fight these monsters." She looks at Frekor. "Though I was not a complete embarrassment. I did bring that one along."

Galsariad holds his shoulder and raises his other hand. "Of course, if that dullard Dallur said that the people in the cave were like us, it stands to reason that they could be owners of powerful magical artifacts like us. Even if they found nothing th-AH!" Galsariad briefly doubles over in pain before righting himself. "Even if they found nothing, it would have been worth exploring. Magical items are better in our hands than theirs."

"Listen, we learned something today," Ayo stands and says. "Well, uh, we learned a few things, like how a weird bundle of red sticks landing in your wagon is plenty reason to run. But we also learned that we should try to stick together."

"It was dynamite." Galsariad adds, trying to be helpful.

"If you say so. Look, everyone is upset for almost getting killed. I get it. But aren't we on an adventure to save the world? There is going to be risk. Some of us might die. That's what we signed up for, right?" Ayo looks to Frekor, the newcomer. "Oh, by the way, we are saving the world... we think. We don't know yet, but Elder Ushru said that since we found a powerful item, it might mean that we are. But I don't know if I can tell you about it because it's not mine to tell. So... welcome aboard?" She says, not entirely sure how the heroes might feel about it. 

Bombur will not allow someone to be killed in cold blood. Especially someone who is suffering. 

“You all need to control yourselves. I understand you are red from the forge, and the flames of anger have been stoked. But I entreat you all to temper your anger for the moment. This man is suffering, and as a servany of the Allhammer, I must do what I can to help him. I will ensure he also sees justice for his crimes, but not now. Not like this.”

He stands holding Lester and looks at all of his companions. “Besides the charity that we should all give to fellow beings, Lester here is our best connection to the forces that Bert and Ernie represent. Killing him severs that connection. So I would like to find an expert in the Far Realms and while seeking to free Lester’s mind also understand more of what forces we are up against. So we can have both charity, compassion, and strategy.

”I entreat you all to stand down. And once you do, please let me know what I can do to aid in your injuries.”

Bombur looks at all of them. 

Bombur shakes his head. “Murderers and fools.”

He casts a healing spell on Lester. 

Quote from Wysperra >

OOC: There is NO real conflict between Bombur and Ylis. The rolls were just there to see if Bombur wanted to interfere with Ylis executing the bandit.

It should be noted that the "victim" is a known bandit who had earlier that day attacked the party - he is guilty of known and unknown crimes already. He was then subjected to torture and removal of his eyes which made him go insane. The three of them (the away party - Randa, Bombur, and Morgan) were self considering how best to treat him or put him out of his misery. 

 (OOC: I know that your characters aren't going to actually fight, but he can see that there is a conflict on what to do with the bandit. He is like "we should first help everyone else and get somewhere safe, and then you can have the discussion on what to do with the bandit".)

Frekor starts to get somewhat annoyed that Ylis and Bombur are talking about the morality of killing a defenseless bandit instead of focusing on the safety and well-being of the people that they've been traveling with.

-Enough! Can't you see that there still people hurt? We need to get them to safety. You can choose if you kill or not the bandit later.- says in almost a pleading voice for the fight to stop.

(OCC: should I roll for persuasion so that they listen?)

DM: It may not be a good idea to leave it entirely up to the dice gods. They are fickle creatures. But roll one anyway, just to see how confident Frekor sounds and it can influence Ayo and her crew.