We return to our heroes after a long break. Attempting to infiltrate a fort in their pursuit of Dr. Madam Trolley, the Ashen Company finds themselves face-to-face with a Death Tyrant. They best it fairly quickly, and start to explore the otherwise empty fort. Null finds some keys that help things along. However, after a minute the Tyrant returns at full strength so we have to backtrack and start the battle again. As Berrik banishes the Tyrant to buy them some time, Lotty surmises that there must be some kind of totem in the vicinity that keeps it from permanently napping. We lock it the room we found it in and run upstairs, trying to get as far away from the banished monster as we can in one minute.
We are rushing across some palisades towards a door when we hear a crash and the screeching whine of bending metal. It's out and coming this way. We see it appear through some grated windows at ground level across the courtyard behind us. We're not sure whether to run, fight or look for the totem at this point. It takes advantage of our apprehension and targets all its rays at Flynn, who is closest to it. Flynn, who is invincible, is unfazed by this and shrugs off seemingly countless effects. Null tosses a Chill Touch back towards the creature, and then moves forward to unlock the door ahead. Inside, she spots some furniture to her left and a curious stone dais on the opposite side of the room. She lets her friends know there's something weird in here. Flynn casts Blindness on the Tyrant and puts some distance between them. In short order, all of the Ashen Company are inside the room. Flynn conjures a Wall of Stone, so that when the Tyrant regains sight we'll be out of view.
We all gather around the empty but definitely not empty dais and try to figure it out. We're sure there's something hidden here. Everyone is pretty sure we're not supposed to step on the dais. Null takes out a single ball bearing and tosses it towards the dais. As it hits the platform, the room suddenly crackles with a burst of chain lightning. Okay, nobody touch it! A combo of Arcana checks and Detect Magic from Berrik tells us that the dais is hiding 5 magical effects: 2 illusion of 2nd level or lower, 2 evocation of 6th level or lower and 1 conjuration of 8th level. At this point we hear the Tyrant bust through the grates and enter the courtyard, and we figure it's probably got its sight back by now. We are currently hidden from view, but it will be searching us so we have to act carefully. Thinking the higher level effect is the most important to dispel, Berrik dispels the conjuration. As the Tyrant is still roaming around outside, he uses pink exaltium to cast the spell silently. Wild Magic surges as he crushes the exaltium in his hand, and he doesn't know that any future scrying he does will now relay wildly inaccurate visions. Berrik senses that whatever conjuration magic that was present is only temporarily suppressed. Okay, that clearly wasn't the Death Tyrant totem we were looking for. Now what?
Despite our caution, the Tyrant is closing in. Null takes off, trying to lure the Tyrant away while the rest of the group figures out next steps. Berrik's eyes search the room for clues and he quickly notices a faint red light emitting from inside the drawer of a nearby desk. The drawer is, of course, locked. He tears the Knock spell out of Ezra's now tattered spellbook and casts the spell to pop open the drawer. Picking up a glowing red miniature figure of the Tyrant, he knows this is what they've been looking for and that he needs Lotty to start smashing it immediately. Berrik hands the figure over to our party tank and she obliges. As soon as her wrench makes contact with the figure, the Tyrant stops following Null and retreats to deal with whoever is messing with its longevity. It throws everything it has at Lotty, who almost succumbs to a Sleep Ray but manages to stay conscious. As she smashes the Tyrant's mini, the monster continues to retaliate. She shrugs off another Sleep Ray, but can't overcome a Petrification Ray. Lotty drops the mini and takes out an Anti-Petrification salve from her pack, placing it next to her before she freezes up. Flynn does what Lotty would have told him to do, which is blast that Death Tyrant doll to smithereens ASAP. As the totem is destroyed, the Tyrant's eyes flare red. Except Lotty, who is now petrified, everyone goes all in to defeat the creature.
As soon as the Death Tyrant falls, Berrik rushes over to apply the Anti-Petrification salve to Lotty before it's too late. Before too long, the entire Ashen Company is limber again. Berrik returns to to the dais to figure out next steps. He figures the conjuration effect he suppressed will be back in ten minutes or so, and suspects it may be a demiplane or teleportation effect (despite such things apparently being impossible in this place.) In the mean time, he gets to work dispelling the illusion effects. Flynn sidles up to Lotty and asks if she will cast Catnap on him while they wait for the conjuration effect to return. She obliges and Flynn starts power-napping in a nearby barrel.
Null doesn't really need healing or rest right now, so she uses this time to rifle through the furniture in the vicinity. Inside some combat undergarments from a nearby drawer, the rogue finds a small handwritten note that reads "How many times do I have to tell you? The passphrase is: Good children get rewarded." She shudders as she is hit with a flashback of the second part of that mantra: Bad children get punished. As Trolley's words echo in her mind, she is rattled by the unwelcome memory but manages to shrug off any immediate debilitating effects. Null walks the note over to Berrik and lets him know that she has the passphrase.
As Flynn's Catnap comes to an end, we gather in front of the dais to prep. Berrik dispels one of the remaining evocation effects, while either Flynn or Lotty (I don't remember who) dispels the other. The gang gets some last minute healing in before they go to confront Trolley wherever she's gone. Starting with Null, the Ashen Company each recites the passphrase scornfully as they step onto the dais and through into a newly available demiplane.
The Ashen Company appears in a rustic, humble kitchen with three doors. They find an equally humble adjoining bedroom. As we try to snoop, we find the contents of it are illusory. Flynn opens the door opposite the bedroom and finds a long hallway lined with even more doors. The warlock is eager to get moving and starts rushing down the corridor, randomly opening doors. He eventually opens a door and witnesses a horrific tableau of a child being beaten and whipped. Flynn fails a saving throw and becomes frightened. He shuts it and keeps going, advising his pals not to open any doors. As Null passes a small closet, she can't help but feel its familiarity - she knows this is where she and other children would have been kept between procedures at the orphanage. Null grits her teeth and urges Berrik to keep moving.
As they further explore the complex, it's clear that this place is a copy of the orphanage basement. They enter a sterile looking chamber with several familiar-looking, person-sized vertical tanks. We most recently saw gooey, naked lightning guys in these back in Pacapa. Flynn explores further, going through a door to the south of the chamber. It's the control room from the orphanage basement, where a small fire turned into a destructive inferno thanks to the clumsy interventions of Flynn and Silas. Flynn's fingers twitch at the sight of so many levers and buttons.
Is this real or another horrible manipulation? Guess we'll find out!