Nope. Definitely sounded different.

(Good job to to YoFizz for keeping Gash's character sheet up-to-date.)

Gash nods. "It took 6 hours to transcribe it last night, but I did it," he whispers back to Dog. "I have it prepared."

Come night fall, everyone beds down and before too long, Gentoa and Neventi are asleep. As Gash begins to cast, Dog, Bulwark, Martin, Tock, and Althus look on, some of them from their bedrolls or tents.

DM shield:

Muttering and gesturing for a full minute and neither Neventi nor any of the caravan neighbors wake up to notice Gash's spellcasting. As the spell reaches its conclusion, he lightly touches Neventi on the arm and a soft golden glow shimmers over Neventi.

"That should have done it," Gash says, stepping back.

Tock makes a quiet fart sound for some much needed comic relief

(Does the amulet have some kind of easy catch to remove? Dog will try to do so, using gloves or a cloth to not touch it. He'll pause, and look to Tock, and pull away his clumsy goliath fingers and gesture to allow the kenku to try. )

Tock nods and casts Silence on the area they are currently in.

He will then very gently try to get the amulet off of Nev. (sleight of hand? pure dex? Anyways a d20 roll: 10 to use as a base)

Tock very gently removes the amulet.  Neventi stirs but does not wake.

(oh man i've been sick so not very active, thanks for autoplaying Gash so well!)

(Feel better soon!)

In the morning Neventi awakens, bleary eyed but alert. She emerges from her tent holding Gentoa, who is tugging at her mother's wild golden hair playfully. Seeing the others breaking camp and making breakfast, tending the horses and chatting with the neighbors, she says to nobody in particular, "Good morning. Where are we?"

"Nev my dear, how are you feeling? What is the last thing you remember?"

Neventi stares down at Gash, her eyes darting back and forth as she searchers her memory. A smile creeps across her mouth. She lets out a relieved sigh. "Oh, you found me. I knew I could count on you!"

She grabs up Gash in a big hug that lifts him onto his toes. "I remember putting on an amulet, one that I knew would curse me to hunger only for taking Gentoa to live with the warlock Aucasia. After that it is a blur. I can't tell dream from reality. The minotaur, the angels and devils, something about horses and longing to leave Masa. You were talking to me constantly, but it was only in my head. You were never there."

She picks Gentoa back up as the little girl fusses for attention. "In any case, I can't in good conscience give the Hells what they want now. Thank you. For coming for me. For releasing me."

She takes the child urging her towards the horses to go and visit with them. The dazed nature of her behavior is clearly gone.

Dog, seeing this, literally drops to his knees, tears in his eyes, and is completely speechless.

Turning to Gash after a few minutes, he mouths the words "thank you." Dog has been wanting to do this exact thing for seemingly so long that he can't remember what it's like to have a healthy Neventi Drahm with him. He doesn't trust himself to talk to her and is shy if she tries to talk to him. He feels guilty for hiding so much from her. He goes and plays with Genny, introducing her to the horses.

(If Nev presses, he will break into tears again and tell her everything. And he will apologize.)

“Nev...” Gash not holding back tears either. “It was dreadful. I tried to save you before but you stopped me. The look you gave me. It was the worst. I’m so happy we freed you. I’m so happy you’re back. Here... here.” Gash pulls out the ring of mind shielding. “Put this on. You remember I used to wear it. But I think it will help you more. Make you feel safe at least. At the very least it would make my mind more at ease”

Gash then tells her everything. FeyTok. The new party members that agreed to help. The properties of the ring. And then finally asks, “so then, where to?” At any point allowing her to stop him from overwhelming her. 

Neventi accepts the ring, although the torrent of information Gash is trying to convey is too overwhelming. "We have a long ways to go still," she says. You don't need to tell me everything at once!"

She greets Martin, Bulwark, and Althos as if for the first time. She cries at learning about Feytok's death. She holds her breath until she learns that Keyrie just went to rescue the horses.

"I was wondering who this motley crew of mounts were," she says.

When asked where they are headed, she just laughs. "I couldn't possibly know," she says. "I met a deva...I think. But I don't know anything about her or what the heavens interest is. I also don't know anything about the Cloud Giant...I can't even remember his name. I need your help to figure this out. I'm completely in the dark now."

Gash, having talked through breakfast and packing up camp, climbs onto his pony, following behind the wagon and filling Neventi in with more and more details as they ride.

"That's all an incredible story," she says at one point. "But I will need more than just the facts. What should I do?"

Martin stares at the amulet for a moment and tilting his head. “Hm. Passalwyck, Passalwyck, Passalwyck.”

and waits to see if his hunch pans out that A: she’s fey, and B: calling a fey’s name three times has the potential to call their attention 

Martin trots along on Cranky waiting for... Something to happen. But nothing does.

Martin shakes his head and laughs at himself.

“Wait... wasn’t that the name of the giant? It sounds so familiar...”

Dog finally begins to recover, mostly through playing with Genny again, his usual puppy games now with more prestidigitation. 

When he finally works up the nerve to talk to Nev again, he makes a horse joke. "So I figure we can find an abandoned house between here and the next town, and let these horses move in, and then we can buy a large stagecoach and some camels for the next leg of the journey. That work for you, Ms. Drahm?"

To her assuredly horrified look, he'll grin back. "Kidding! I'm so glad to have you back with us in truth, Nev. I can't tell you how awful I felt not being able to be straight with you back in Masa. Those first few messages we got back from you as we approached seemed odd, and then Jalienni (sp?) telling us that he still had you, and that you'd decided already, and that we had to wear those collars.... well it was just terrible. I didn't want him to die, but I was so angry at him. Mind slavery is the worst thing you can do to someone. Do you remember anyone else he worked with, other than two bearded devils? And do you remember what he said that made you want to put on the amulet?" He sighs. "Then seeing you, finally, only it wasn't you, and thank goodness there was enough left of you to be kind with us and a good mother to Genny -- don't worry, that never went away -- well, I just didn't know what to do. I tried to apply my mind to finding out what the rules actually were and find the accords. We did a not-so-great job of that, but we know more than we once did. We only have a guess about what the final rules are, and apparently we can only find out what they are if we go visit heaven or hell. Which seems difficult. I'm only a mere mortal, but I think that heaven needs a new lawyer. They probably prevented a lot worse from happening, but what they got was pretty terrible. Anyhow, our best guess is that you have a year to decide on a steward for Genny, and if you don't, this Passalwyck woman will appoint two representatives from heaven and hell to present you a formal offer. I don't know if the accords say what happens if you ignore that offer. I also don't know why you need a steward in Genny's life. You're doing a good job to raise her, and you have good protectors. And again, I'm a dumb goliath, and though I'm completely enraptured by her, but I don't really know why there is such a fuss on such a scale about who raises her. Is there a prophecy that tells why they're so interested in her, what she's supposed to do or not do when she grows up?"

To Gash's wondering, Dog says, "Marduk. That was the cloud giant. He offered to protect you and Genny on his island estate with the only catch being that you can't leave unless the protection disappears. We learned about that option from that dryad. Heaven's option is the Mage King himself, who seems nice, but for some reason only wants to completely adopt Genny if he is her steward -- you could still be there and be in her life, but he would be her father. Hell, as you know, is offering Aucasia, who has no catch other than that she will accompany you and Genny wherever you go, even after you leave her home. If I've messed any of that up, let me know, Gash and Tock." [Looks to DM: you too.]

"But for now, all the proscribed options before you are to the west of us. That's also where the new, interesting things are in this kingdom, away from our pasts. So let's ride west for a while. And I'll stop talking now."

Dog will do his usual periodic flying up to get a good sense of what's around them using his boots. He's happy to be back together.

"Greetings Neventi. It is good to meet you without the corruption of your mind. Your offspring enjoys drawing on my shin guards, as well as covering them in mud. The mud is difficult to remove."