As Null and Lotty remain stuck behind a new stone wall, the rest of the group scatters to try to find them a way out. Berrik and Grug enter a room nearby, while Flynn wanders off to see if there's a way around.
Berrik and Grug enter what appears to be a bedroom. Grug immediately fails a WIS save - that bed looks awfully comfortable! They lay down and fall asleep, compelled by some magical influence. Berrik searches around the rest of the room, trying to locate any secret levers or buttons that could release his friends. He finds neither of those things as he shuffles through the empty books and papers that clutter the desk. A spell effect fires off here but he manages to shrug it off, overcoming the urge to pick up the quill on the desk. Berrik tries to wake Grug with a Shocking Grasp, but is unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Flynn wanders a corridor and spots an ominous door - it opens creepily, inviting him to enter. The goblin does so without hesitation, and the door shuts behind him. Flynn finds himself inside an octagonal chamber with a raised marble dais in the centre. The arcane vibes in this place are off the charts. Flynn feels pulled to stand on the dais, which surges with power beneath him. Can it be controlled? Hell yeah, it can! The warlock harnesses whatever the fuck is going here and gains the benefits of a long rest. He feels AMPED. Now to find his way out of here. The door behind him is closed, but he continues to search until he finds another door leading further into the tower. He escapes this chamber only to quickly find himself trapped again - this time behind stone (much like Lotty and Null).
Speaking of, Lotty is getting impatient with their friends' rescue efforts and decides to use her scroll of Stone Shape to get the hell outta here. Null and Lotty are relieved to finally be free, and reach out telepathically to find their friends. Flynn is trapped somewhere alone, while Berrik and Grug are closer. They find an exasperated Berrik and a sleeping Grug first. Berrik explains that he hasn't been able rouse them. Null suggests trying to get Grug up with Berrik's Arcane Hand. Wondering why he hadn't thought of that, Berrik uses the Hand to scoop up the half-orc. As soon as Grug is no longer touching the bed, they wake up. Grug is pleased to see their friends again, but is sad to longer be dreaming about being surrounded by beavers :(
Okay, now time to find Flynn! Telepathically, we reach out to him. Where did he go? South? We try to find our way to him, but are met with dead ends. Flynn starts tapping his staff against the wall. We double back to the bedroom and Null tries to listen at the eastern wall - She can hear him. We start looking for secret ways out of the room. Null notices the smoke from the fireplace is dissipating in two directions - there is some kind of gap back there. The reckless rogue volunteers to army crawl through the roaring fire (don't worry - she can probably dodge it!), but Lotty reminds her that their bond is still active, Not wanting to hurt Lotty, Null concedes that they should probably try other things first. Berrik tries to swat at the fire with the Arcane Hand. The clearly magical flame does not go out, but the force of the Hand's blows in the fireplace do cause the gap behind it to open further. There is definitely a passage back there. Lotty decides to dispel the fire, which is exactly what we needed. The fire disappears and the party is free to walk through. Grug, who had been perusing the empty books while everyone else fretted about the fireplace, reluctantly puts down a beautifully embossed one with a polar bear on the cover. Off we go.
Once through the passage, we find ourselves in a corridor. The tapping has gotten louder. We wander around until we are as close as possible, but it's clear there is no entrance. A wall separates them and Lotty is out of Stone Shape scrolls. What now? Flynn attempt to Dimension Door to the other side, but the spell fails and he is propelled into a wall, taking damage. Luckily, the rest of the Ashen Company don't see any of this. Frustrated, he just decides to spam Eldritch Blast at the wall until it crumbles. About 15 minutes later it does just that in a spectacular fashion, crumbling and creating a massive pile of rubble. Well, I guess we dig now? An hour or two goes by. The Arcane Hand fades. The Ashen Company are sweaty and tired from heaving rocks, but they finally free Flynn. Berrik takes his second level of exhaustion and is seething with jealousy at how well-rested Flynn looks. We muse about taking a short rest, but ultimately decide not to (despite how ragged a couple party members are looking). Null feels bad, given how much additional damage Lotty has taken from their Warding Bond. She hands Lotty a healing potion to help bring her up. We keep going, finding our way to a room with three dragon head statuettes. Opposite them is a door with stairs leading up. Another level? Fine.
The next level of Ezra's tower bring a whole new round of yikes. The party enter a massive experimentation chamber filled with nightmare fuel: stone slabs wrapped with chains, a puddle of fresh blood, Tesla coils, large enclosed metal vats, and a way-too-big cistern that feeds to 3 more vats (these ones made of glass and filled with glowing purple liquid). The aesthetic is eerily similar to what the Ashen Company had recently found in the basement of Madam Trolley's orphanage. Null is very bothered by this. A door in the southeastern corner of the room leads to a small chamber with a curious orb/statue situation, while a hallway to the south leads to two more doors and further into the guts of the tower. Everyone is curious about the orb room, but Berrik is the first to enter and the door closes behind him. He examines the orb, which is held in the lap of the statue (a seated, hooded figure). The orb gives off a Divination aura, which is entirely Berrik's jam. Berrik engages the orb, the statue lurches forward and puts their hands on his shoulders. He quickly figures out that it's a super-powered scrying orb: it will let the user see into present or the past of a person, and it won't be hindered by any wards against Divination magic. Despite the creeping feeling that there will be a cost to this, Berrik decides to find Ezra in the present. He does without issue, his vision zooming through time and space until it stops on Ezra. Berrik sees the wizard underground in a desolate place (The Lands of Desolation, maybe?), locked in battle against an unknown person. Blue lightning shoots from Ezra's fingers, keeping his opponent’s beams of red lightning at bay. There is no way to tell how long this battle has been going on, but it's a small relief to know that Ezra is still alive (at least for now). Having seen enough Berrik exits the vision, and is suddenly struck with a draining force that seems to weaken him. Ah, there is that cost. He leaves the chamber and relays what he saw to the party - Ezra lives and is fighting something, probably in the Lands of Desolation. His friends are pleased to hear the news, but are shocked to see Berrik's current state. The hobgoblin appears to have aged a full 15 years. Berrik has had enough of that chamber and the party agrees to move on to explore the hallway to the south. Lotty is still curious however, and hangs back to ask Berrik more about the orb. Can only wizards ponder the orb or can any caster do so? And it can see into the past? Something is percolating in Lotty's head.
Down the southern hallway are two opposing doors. The one to the west sports only a large stone slab and not much else that grabs the attention of the party. The one to the east appears to be a study or workshop of sorts, and the contents are as creepy as the rest of this place. Flynn picks up a book called "A Treatise on the Implications and Practices of Cloning". The party notices another door in this room, but it's locked. There is a message written on it, but no one can read the language. Flynn then casts Comprehend Languages and we soon learn that the message reads "In order to proceed, copies needed three". Oh dang, we gotta clone ourselves?! What the hell kind of test is this? We wander back to the experimentation chamber and as we see the vats are reminded of the gooey naked lightning guys from the orphanage - I guess we know what to do. We conveniently find 3 diamonds and 3 Clone scrolls in a pile of junk in the corner of the room. Each casting also a requires a cubic inch of flesh from the person to be cloned. So which of us will be cloned? Flynn has already given his pound of flesh to this place. Null has emotional baggage with this whole set-up (and cloning Null probably wouldn't work anyway, as she had found several failed clones of herself in the orphanage basement). That leaves Berrik, Lotty and Grug. Berrik volunteers a portion of his already ruined ear and Grug chops off their non-dominant pinky finger. Lotty muses about taking part of her ear, but instead opts to try to flay the scars on her arm from her tangle with the bone book. She wants those words - I shall not meddle in the Marionettist's affairs - off her forever. Null hugs her as the cut is made. The searing pain makes Lotty think it worked and a Cure Wounds from Berrik makes the area look like new. However, Lotty soon feels even worse pain on her upper arm and blood pools through her shirt. She lifts it to see that the words have simply moved. Anger fills her and the rest of the party. They won't be rid of him that easily.
Flynn is the one to cast the spells, reciting the scrolls and throwing the diamonds and bits of flesh into the large cistern. Copies of Berrik, Lotty and Grug soon appear in the vats of purple liquid. Curiously, they all appear conscious and fully equipped. Lotty tries to make the best of the situation and smiles and waves at her clone. It slowly waves back, but does not smile. The party can't seem to shake the feeling that something isn't right with these copies. No one thought to actually read the chapter on the "Implications of Cloning" and now it all just feels ethically gross. We should leave. The clones continue to stare. The party returns to the workshop room and finds the door open - it leads upstairs to the next level. Flynn and Null try to make light of things by racing to the top, with Grug lingering below to make sure Berrik and Lotty follow. They don't and Lotty sends a telepathic message to the party that she just wants a few minutes in the orb room before they move on - she won't be long. Null lets Flynn win the race and the three of them return to the experimentation room in time to see the door close behind Lotty. We're all very worried, as Berrik did not leave his experience there unscathed.
Inside the orb room, Lotty huddles with the statue and decides to peer into the past - Null's past to be specific. She tries to find her friend at 10 years old, presumably before she ended up at the orphanage. A pastoral scene of a farm in springtime fills her vision. Greenery is everywhere and she can hear cattle in the background. A young brown-haired, green-eyed girl in a cotton dress is playing in a field with other children, a similarly-aged boy and girl. The kids run and chase each other for awhile before returning to a cottage that is filled with the smell of freshly baked blueberry pie. A young woman in her thirties greets them warmly and asks if they had fun playing. The green-eyed girl runs up and hugs her mother's legs - "Yes mum, it was so much fun!" Mum tells the kids to eat their pie before their father gets back and says that they have a surprise for the children... tickets to a play in Pacapa tonight! All are excited. Lotty's heart sinks, the vision fades and the orb takes its payment - she ages 13 years, but doesn't seem any worse for wear (perks of being a long-lived gnome). Lotty exits and returns to her friends, who seems puzzled at why she would have gone in there. Flynn tries to shepherd everyone back to now open stairs - there's more tower to get through.
As we start to move Lotty catches Null and calls her back, explaining to her what the orb is capable of and telling her what she went back for. "Why would you do that?" Null stammers as shock and dread fill her chest. The gnome apologizes for not asking first, but goes on to explain that she wanted to find answers for Null regarding her mysterious past. Lotty recounts everything she saw in the vision to a stunned Null. The changeling is having trouble processing these revelations: She feels deep down that Lotty is telling the truth, but cannot recall any of it. She struggles with the foreboding feeling that delving into her past will spell doom for herself and her friends, as it did when she last tried to do so at the orphanage. She had given up on the past and doesn't know what to do with this. Lotty magics an animated image of the woman onto a scrap piece of paper, showing it to Null. Again, Null senses the truth of it when Lotty says the woman is her mother, but can't find a connection within herself to grasp onto. She feels like a broken toy and it hurts. Lotty offers to go back in, as she thinks she may be able to find the woman in the present day. In spite of the cost, she would do this to help her friend find closure. (Damn Lotty, that's some ride or die shit.) Null has tied herself in knots - She can't ask her friend to do this. Does she truly want answers, even if they're ugly and frightening? Does she even deserve to get her past back? What will it cost her, cost her friends? What if she's not the same person anymore? What if the woman doesn't like who she is now? What if Trolley and the Marionettist fucked her up too much to salvage these connections? What if it's too late? What if it hurts?
Lotty tries to reassure her friend but sees that the turmoil in Null isn't subsiding. She backs off, not wanting to force things. We won't get another chance like this, but it has to be Null's call. The gnome goes to rejoin the rest of the party - we should move on. Null lingers back, wrestling with her thoughts once more. After what feels like an eternity, she finally comes to a decision - "Lotty, wait." The gnome had nearly made it back to the end of the hall, but she turns around to rejoin her friend. Null knows its selfish and ill-advised, but she can't just move on with her life and forget about this now that she knows there's something there. If Lotty is absolutely sure she is willing to do this, would she go back in? Surprising no one who knows Lotty and the Ashen Company, she is sure and she will.
Flynn's frustration at a further delay is palpable when Lotty telepathically announces that she needs a few more minutes. Null begins to pace anxiously as the door closes behind Lotty - she's already regretting what she asked her friend to do. Inside, Lotty huddles with the statue once more and seeks the woman from the farm, but this time in the present. Her vision moves through infinities until it settles on a rectangular building with a courtyard against a snowy landscape. Focusing, the scene enhances to show a room on the inside. Lotty sees a woman reclined on a chaise longue, the same woman from the farm - she's older now, her hair showing streaks of grey. She's speaking to a seated figure in the same room:
"...I know we've been over it before but something is not right! That's why I'm here. I know I have children. I can't remember their names or their faces but I know they're out there. I feel it in my heart."
The now-familiar figure replies, her saccharine tone making overtures of reassurance: "Well that is why we have brought you here - for your care... Maybe we need to increase the dosage to keep the bad dreams at bay. Don't worry, we'll help you get through this."
The woman, now seeming defeated and crestfallen, answers: "You're right, I wouldn't have been a good mother anyway. Thank-you Dr. Trolley, I'm going to see to the garden now."
Lotty found what she needed and the scene ends. The orb won't let her go without payment, however. She feels the draining sensation again, harsher this time. This one cost her 20 years. 33 years of her life gone for the sake of a friend in need. Lotty, forever a real one, takes a moment and gathers herself before exiting the orb room and facing whatever comes next.
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