Scenes From A Destination Wedding Weekend, Part 13: The Defense Of The Hollow Garden

Mona

{reveal "Author Citation"} Buttercup is an eliminated contestant from Harem Hotel: A Run Through the Underdark. {endreveal}

Mona is panicking. One minute, she was trying to balance a stack of chocolate chip cookies on her nose to impress Noah the slime girl, and the next she is in a strange place with everyone else from their set, plus this random cat-lady.

“Headcount. Should be ten on our end, plus Dinah.”

Tyalangan’s calm demeanor helps Mona breathe a bit easier. At least someone is taking charge. Daphne is counting out loud while the Host chants in whale(?) and there are only ten people here.

Mona is back to panicking. She checks in, does a recount herself. Jenny is nervous, but is slowly calming. Kevin is concerned. Winter is also panicking. Summer? Where’s Summer?

Tyalangan finishes chanting and her eyes glow like a starry night sky. Mona can read her emotions despite it. She’s not panicking, forcing herself into an artificial calm. Her tablet is out. She’s scanning the feeds, then, with a yank, pulls Summer back to the rest of them. She’s naked, wobbly legged, her love nectar dripping down her thighs like she was pulled mid-coitus. On the other hand, she has a sword in hand and her feet are surrounded by gusts of wind?

“MICHAEL! Where’s Michael? Mama, you have to send me back! NOW!”

Tyalangan looks like she is suppressing a whole different kind of emotion. “Now’s not the time, daughter. Sitrep. Andy’s Endgame has started and it’s going to be potentially wild. All civilians from Andy’s world will have already been sent back home. He’s fine. Breathe. And get dressed for combat. That goes for the rest of you, too.”

Combat? What are we doing? Mona doesn’t know what to do, so she just focuses on breathing. Then Winter gives her something different to focus on, as he equips his dark leather armor on instantly. Tyalangan drops a basic set of splint mail for Kevin, who takes a bit more time to get dressed. Swords go in sword belts. Jenny has a magic stick with some vines wrapping around it?

Tyalangan assumes command once more, “We have been asked to keep watch over the Hollow Garden. Elevator stays open; we don’t sabotage it or bar it. Andy or the Contestants come down, we are not allowed to provide any aid, outside of incidental interference from protecting the residents here. If hostile forces arrive, we protect said residents and our civilians. Skye, Scarlet, you are on front line. Alex, flex spot, artillery, healing, or front line, whatever is needed at the moment. Daphne, crowd control, artillery, plus be ready to drop Bubbles in to reinforce the front line. Kids, follow Dinah and listen to her directions. You lot are on ‘help keep the residents calm’ duty.”

“But, Mama...”

“Not a word, Winter. I don’t know how dangerous this is going to be and you have a Mistress to protect.”

That shuts Winter up. He still looks tense. So does Summer, and, to a lesser extent, Kevin. Jenny looks more nervous than anything else.

The strange cat-lady gives Tyalangan a lingering look, then pauses. Dinah looks at Harper’s children and at the cast of her season, evaluating where they could be best deployed. “Alright, kids, listen up! Ahead at the center of the Garden is the Gentle Hearth. It’s the quietest part of the Garden, and the Mildreds will have taken every guest there. That’s the defense. This here? This is the Amber Pastures. It surrounds the Gentle Hearth and a few other things besides. You’ll see whatever’s coming.” She looks at the drow twins, studies Kevin and Jenny, then Mona. “Alright. Your Mistress will be with the women in the Gentle Hearth. Mona, right? You’re tasked with helping them not panic. For some of them, this will be triggering. Even if it’s not, they’ll be afraid. Many can’t defend themselves. Your task is to make sure they’re as calm as you can make them. We don’t want a stampede or someone running out of the Hearth and straight into whatever’s happening.”

She turns to the others. “Kevin, Jenny, Summer and Winter. You’re backup support here. Any of you can move quickly? There’s too few for a perimeter, but Mildred will supplement you. I doubt anything’s making it through Harper and hers, but if anything does, or there’s a second front, you are the last defense of the Gentle Hearth. Got it?”

She looks at Harper. “Arabella told me a little of what’s coming. Up there, is Nergal. Down here, unless she’s wrong, it’s going to be his harem. They’re dead, like him. That makes them more dangerous. They’re not supposed to attack unless specific circumstances occur, but mistakes can happen, and Nergal is a bit oversensitive. He still nurses a grudge against Arabella, so I’d expect them to attack the moment they arrive.” She hesitates. “Good luck, Harper. You owe me a talk if we both make it.”

Harper nods, once, definitive. Sword drawn, she smirks, “Undead, eh? An incidental specialty. Funny how picking anti-hag spells despite objectively better combat options existing sometimes turn to our advantage. WHEN we all get out of this, Dinah, I will be at your disposal.”

Mona and the others follow this Dinah. The twins, by far the most trained for this, are already stalking ahead. They are soon already disappeared into the darkness. Kevin has a bit of a twitch in his hands, trying to be steady. “This is a real thing, right? Not a false alarm or a training exercise? Not a simulation where pain is turned to something less and nothing happens if we fail?”

Dinah’s eyes when she looks at Kevin are... sympathetic? Sad? Her expression is... complicated, but her voice is soft as she says, “Afraid so, Kevin. I know it’s scary. I don’t blame any of you for being afraid. I’m afraid myself, you know. I’m afraid for Harper, for Scarlet and Skye and Daphne and Alex, for the people in my care, for Andy and his harem who are going to get the worst of this, and for Arabella. Whatever happens today, this place is going to change – that is, unless the Verant decides to shut it down for good when Arabella is gone.” She places a cool, steadying hand on Kevin's forearm. “Look. I know you guys can fight. The twins, yes, but you too. And I know what awaits you at the end of your own journey. Consider this training, okay? You’re not the ones being tested. Pain may be pain, but you won’t be injured too severely or killed. And that’s even if any of the demons make it through Harper and her wives. You’ve seen what she’s capable of.” She pauses and looks at Mona and Jenny too. “You've all seen what Harper can do. And upstairs, the moment Andy wins, this is all done with. I promise.”

Kevin nods, a slight waver in his voice. “Yeah. It’s one thing when it’s training. It’s another when it’s the real deal. I got this. I hope...”

Jenny and Mona shudder at the same time. Mona recovers first, offering a (only somewhat shaken) hand on Jenny’s forearm to steady her.

Then, gathered in a frightened huddle, is a mass of people(?). Some definitely don’t look like people at the distance. More Mildreds are about, some watching the perimeter, some comforting the residents. A few people(?) look ready for a fight, including a guy with a giant fuzzy red spider body? The fuck?

Mona asks, “What IS this place?”

Jenny answers, “The Hollow Garden. A place for those too broken by the show to find healing. Everyone over there is either an eliminated contestant or a harem member for such a horrible Master that they might as well have been eliminated.”

Mona squeezes Jenny’s arm tighter. “I didn’t... I’m sorry... Are you going to be okay being here?”

Jenny nods, “Yeah. We’re protecting them, just like Tyalangan protected me.” She pauses, turning to Dinah, “Is Mona going to be okay? I don’t know how the residents are going to react to a master here...”

Dinah blinks, surprised by the question, then nods. “Yeah, she’ll be okay. First time Andy came down here, he was concerned the same way. Took on his female shape so he wouldn't remind the guests of traumatic events. To be honest, Mona doesn't quite have ‘Mistress’ tattooed on her forehead. No one’s going to know unless someone talks, and if they do, the most likely reaction will be apathy or withdrawal, not violence.” She looks at Mona. “I’ll ask you to rendezvous with Marie. The other guests know her, she can help if anything happens.”

A Mildred approaches, dressed in her white nurse’s outfit. She looks more... human... somehow, than the Mildreds upstairs; also, the outfit is sexier. “Nergal has almost arrived,” she murmurs, “We are going to receive a group of honored guests soon, and a group of less honored guests will come for them.” She pauses, then draws closer to Dinah and whispers something. Dinah’s face pales. “Why didn’t you-” she starts demanding, but Mildred murmurs something else and Dinah takes a deep breath, clearly trying to compose herself. She turns to the others.

“Alright, update. Upstairs, Nergal is almost through the gates, and will manifest momentarily. Mildred tells me that Arabella will trigger the first phase of the Endgame as soon as he does. When that happens, most of Andy’s harem will be transported here. They’re not here to be protected – they’re here to formulate a plan of attack, and to keep them away from Nergal’s immediate reach. Since his demons are on the way, he’ll likely try to use those to capture three of them: Laura, Myra, and Riley.” Her gaze shifts to Mona. “Marie, too. She’s at risk as well.” She closes her eyes and her mouth twists as if she were savoring something sour. “Sarah is not here. She’s the last of the ones in danger, but one Mildred is stationed with her. Apparently there were... issues.” She shakes her head and mutters “Of all days, I swear...” Then she recovers her composure with visible effort.

Kevin closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. “Okay. I guess I am tanking with the drider? I hope Winter and Summer are prepared for a sneak attack, if it comes to it. Jenny, are you good?”

“I haven’t had a lot of practice, but I’ll manage.”

Mona gives another reassuring squeeze. It is the most she can do right now. Then, she needs to let go, following Dinah into the crowd of residents. As she tries to keep their spirits up, using her cantrips to provide some fleeting glimpses of whimsy, she can’t help but wonder, why does Tyalangan keep me so helpless? Isn’t the whole point to have me save the world? I just don’t understand it...

Harper

Harper went into full combat mode as soon as she was sent to the Hollow Garden. She clicked on her UI overlay from her She Goes Where No Ordinary Hoppalong Would Dare transformation immediately. She and her wives are all here; unfortunately, Mona and the rest of the kids don’t show up in Harper’s “party menu.” The queen calmly issues her first orders. Daphne is counting as Harper starts casting Foresight. By the time the count is one short, she’s not done, but needs to push through. Foresight will help me find whoever is missing.

It takes more effort than she’s willing to admit to suppress her motherly urges when Summer is pulled back as if she was fooling around a coat closet right before the situation went FUBAR. She still does it. The situation is potentially too dire to get onto her adult daughter about hooking up with a stranger, especially in the environment where most of them are in a harem. That can wait until they get home.

Balancing minimap scans, Foresight visions, party status condition notifications, and the conversation through her tablet’s camera feed once Andy’s companions arrived takes considerable effort, but, again, she still does her best. So long as she can claim that her protection was just incidental to her task of protecting the Hollow Garden residents, she will satisfy her desire to be Andy’s rearguard shield while complying with the waiver.

So, as the sea elf was distracted, Daphne gets the first hit in. A swarm of the corpse brides of Nergal approach, and the mermaid’s Aquan rattling of the words to Chain Lightning catches the sea elf’s attention. The arc of electricity hums through the air, hitting the lead ghost thing, then splitting off in six different directions. More of those things get blasted. Not enough to drop them, but a good start.

Alex moves forward as Harper turns to face the foe, her greataxe drawn. “You shall not pass!” she shouts, then quips, “I always wanted to say that.” Eilistraee’s Grace falls upon her, as does her radiant consumption. Alex should grab the stragglers.

That gives Harper all she needs. Targets acquired. Time for the show-stopper.

The sea elf starts with Time Stop. A few seconds of the world frozen to evaluate. The Foresight visions of the various ways the fight can go rattle through Harper’s brain as she applies her melee combat buffs. The whispers could be a problem. It takes but a moment to slip in the ear plugs she keeps in her Inventory (she DID teach Felix onomancy, so she is prepared to counteract it if the kid went rogue). Then, right before the world would begin to spin again, Harper strikes.

The others would see Harper standing beside them in one moment, and a flash of silvery light streaking among the foe the next. The sea elf severs the furthest one she could get to while casting in two, then rushes through the next. The velocity of her Steel Wind Strike deafens her while the spell does its work. Five hits on five enemies in a blink of the eye. Five souls sent back to Kur, torn apart as someone taking a machete to a piece of paper.

As the spell fades, the whispers can be heard. Several of them. Little snippets of how she could die, heavily muffled by the ear plugs and counterargued by Foresight visions. Ridiculous... preposterous... okay, that one could theoretically happen... back to ludicrous. Her first slash of Tercanonehtar nearly cleaves a ghost in two, the other, at a second corpse bride, less so.

It’s the ghosts’ turn. They, probably seeing that the only threat they can reach is the one right in front of them, do everything they can. The brides swarm around, barely missing Harper’s space as they attempt to pass through her. The Bladesong is designed to be unpredictable. The grasps were their downfalls. Harper casts a clutch Shield, absorbing the last bit of damage for most of the hits she took. The only hit that could have done anything only barely made Eilistraee’s Grace dim. And Fire Shield flares from every one of those hits. They look confused as they feel bitter cold for the first time in what might be millennia. And, suddenly, the fight is over.

Harper: +27 XP (Banished 6 Level 12 monsters, x0.375 penalty [overleveled])

“Sitrep! Everyone still up?”

Mona

When the bedlam started, it was sudden and unexpected. A creepy dead lady rose from the ground, shrieking. Her big clawed mitts smack Kevin around and he instantly doesn’t look good.

Then the whispers start. Little innocuous things, if it weren’t for the content.

“Scared little slaver girl. So weak, so pathetic. Too fat to run away. Your slaves die protecting you, then you die alone.”

“Trip on a branch. Impale yourself in the neck. Don’t even need to waste effort on you. Worthless.”

“Break your bones. Bleed you dry. Eat your soul. Make the world a better place.”

Mona is so distracted that she didn’t notice how the fuzzy red spider-guy had no effect with a really good bite. She does see Winter jump up from behind the creepy lady and thrusting. Mona doesn’t know enough about fighting or anything like that to understand how to stab a creepy lady that pops out of the ground good, but that looked... not a good job?

Kevin’s hits looks real good, to Mona’s novice eyes, especially the super shiny second hit. The creepy lady hisses. Jenny fires off some kind of magic beam from behind the Mistress. Summer’s version of the “sneak behind the lady and backstab” technique looks even less effective than Winter’s.

“Hey, lady, what’s your deal?”

The whispers continue.

“They can’t save you. They will die. Then you are alone. Gonna die alone, you fat, worthless girl.”

“You can’t run, you can’t fight, pick up a weapon and you’d just make it easier for me. You’d just fall on it.”

“You, alone. Always alone. Can’t hold onto anyone long enough. They’ll abandon you. Leave you to your fate.”

The creepy lady swirls around the crowd of melee combatants. Winter’s eyes glaze over. Summer swipes and basically does nothing. Neither does the fuzzy spider guy. And, as the lady passes through Kevin, he falls and doesn’t get up.

“KEVIN!!!!!”

“Always alone. Can’t protect them. Gonna eat them up. Steal their souls. You’re gonna die last, you fat, worthless girl.”

Winter stabs again, then coughs up some blood. This is bad. This is so, so bad.

Jenny screams, “NOO!!!” behind Mona, then fires off a... less good shot?

As Summer tries stabbing it again, Mona does the only thing she can think to do. Spare the Dying. She might not have any way to hurt the creepy lady, but she can at least keep Kevin from dying. She doesn’t know what she’d do without her best friend. Gentle silvery light flows from Mona and into the fallen hu-cow bull. He breathes.

Then the creepy lady moves again. Kevin’s fallen body coughs up blood as she passes through him. Mona feels gross and cold as the lady moves, but it doesn’t hurt. Jenny screams in pain, then the lady moves through Winter. Her subby drow fails, smokey purple stuff coming out of his mouth. What the?

“WINTER!!!!!”

The creepy lady cackles and starts pulling the purple stuff towards her. When the smoke almost reaches her grasp, the smoke moves up and away from her? An operatic soprano voice tsks, “That is not for you missy...”

Mona looks up. And up. And up. The naked lilac lady from the reception is there. And Mona is staring right where her crotch would be, if it wasn’t covered up by her long, silvery hair. The naked lady is teasing the smoke, “Now, young man, you sit on your goddess’s shoulder and let me handle this. No pouting.”

She doesn’t even look at the creepy lady as a sword bigger than three Monas stacked on top of each other slices down. The creepy lady disappears, bisected. The big lady shouts, “Yo, lazy bones! Get your cute patootie over here and put your son’s soul back in his body. And, you,” she points to Kevin, “stop sleeping on the job!”

Kevin gasps, suddenly breathing again. “Eilistraee?”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out! Oh, I should introduce myself to your other boss. Mona, I’m Eilistraee, drow goddess of freedom, the surface, moonlight, art, music, beauty, lust, and a dozen other things. Also...”

The wedding reception band lady swoops down, grabbing the purple smoke and shoves it back into Winter. A little magic later, and the drow is breathing again. Mona swoops in to give him a hug around his neck.

“...I’m the patron goddess of that little rapscallion’s family.”

Mona doesn’t care about that right now. She’s too busy hugging the one she might have lost. “Winter... are you okay?”

He wheezes, “It’d be nice to... breathe?”

Mona backs away, embarrassed, crying, “Oh. Sorry.”

“Little dude’s going to be okay,” the band lady (Alex, was it?) states. She turns to the big naked lady, “My fault, ma’am. I should have seen it go underground.”

“Eh, you should have seen some of the stupid things your wife did when she was the Mistress on the show. These little dummies at least tried to work together. I made sure that one won’t rise again, but the ones your wife dropped will be getting up soon. You might want to go tell her.”

As the band lady rushes away, yelling cuss words the whole way, the naked goddess turns to Mona and her still dazed harem, “You lot want some celebratory ‘I didn’t die’ cookies?”

Oh, gawd, yes I do! Mona nods.

A feast of dessert appears out of nowhere, complete with tables and benches. The giant lady bellows, “Ladies, it was such a shame that most of you didn’t get invited to the party upstairs, so let me throw you a small one down here. You’re safe now. Enjoy!”

The residents return, in twos and threes, warily approaching. Arabella’s daughters, all named Mildred, help encourage them. Arabella should have given them different names. Mona grabs a cookie, but she needs to talk with Tyalangan before she jumps into the festivities proper. I don’t want to feel that useless ever again.

Suddenly, Mona finds herself sitting in front of a mahogany desk in a forest in a cave? Glowy mosses and fungi provide a cool light. This Eilistraee is sitting on a big office chair, feet propped up on the desk, smiling. “Sorry, Mona, but Tyalangan is going to be busy with a different conversation. You want to talk about what just happened?”

“Where are we?”

“Physically, you are eating a cookie in the Hollow Garden,” the goddess replies, a lilt in her voice, “Spiritually, you are in my divine realm: Svartalheim. It’s cozy enough. So, ready to talk?”

Mona is distracted by a pair of long, lovely lilac legs, but manages a little snark, “No offense, but I don’t see what you could do about it?”

Eilistraee rolls her eyes, which would be slightly annoying if Mona saw it, as she quips, “Oh, yes, I totally don’t have the Queen’s ear, what with half of her wives actively in my church’s hierarchy. It’s also not like her sword is a divine relic I made specifically for her.”

As the goddess shifts slightly, Mona is drawn to the curvature of her breast as her hair almost reveals a nipple. It takes a moment for her to refocus. When she does, she blurts the whole thing out. How she could only throw a tantrum when Banshee was judging her harem. How she was relegated to entertainment. How she couldn’t do anything to help her harem friends. How she was weak and worthless.

“I’m not going to say that none of those feelings are valid,” the goddess begins when Mona petered out, “but, have you asked yourself ‘why?’ Why does Tyalangan want you to be powerless right now?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to her about,” Mona replies with a huff.

“Well, I’m here. I know plenty about what Tyalangan thinks. Why do you think she hasn’t given you a way to defend yourself?”

Mona’s eyes wander along the goddess’s body. She stammers, “I don’t know.”

“It’s a multi-faceted thing,” the goddess admits, leaning forward, “so, pay attention to my voice instead of my body. You are worse than my sweet cinnamon roll of a champion in that regard. The show reason is that she is dabbling with a Damsel in Distress kink theme. That doesn’t work if you can get out of the shenanigans you tend to get yourself into when you are thinking like a horny little gremlin. That’s why you were tied up for the first challenge. That’s why...”

“She set me up with the sexy vine monster? Or the Noah exhibit?” Mona predicts, bewildered.

“Pretty much. There were similar traps for your other dates, you just never found them. The non-show reason is twofold. One, she wants you to understand what it feels like to be powerless against an overwhelming force. Because, once the game is done with you, you WILL be an overwhelming force. If you forget what you are feeling right now...”

Mona blurts out, “I’ll become like the fallen cuties in Magical Cuties Go Go? The girls that embraced the dark ways of Lord Tentacle and fight against everything and everyone they once stood for?”

The goddess smiles, shaking her head, “If that analogy works for you... sure. The other big reason is that you need to grow up a bit still. She’s afraid that, if you were given the power too early, that you would abuse it to sake your... appetites.”

Mona scoffs, “I wouldn’t abuse my power!”

Mona feels something weird pass through her, then the goddess asks, “Well, let’s see. A power Tyalangan was given in her game was the ability to wield the veto. If you were presented with the opportunity to redo Tegan’s last transformation vote, what would you do?”

Mona finds herself answering on her own. She knows, deep in her bones, that it’s true. “I would have done what Tyalangan did, but giving her the extra tails immediately. And some bigger base boobs... Wait... I would’ve... Something weird is going on...”

“A little magic to get you to admit the truth. Don’t worry about it. Still, point taken?”

“Fine. I’m a horny little gremlin and I’d give into my urges. So, I need to actually learn how to be responsible before she’ll trust me with the magic stuff I’ll need to save my world?”

“And you are well on your way. I bet the lesson from today with get you there sooner. So, be good to my sweet cinnamon roll of a champion’s son, and my servant bull, and the others. And remember that, should you need me, I am only a song away...”

The cave fades. Mona finds herself on a picnic bench, surrounded by her harem friends, with the most amazing cookie in her mouth. She savors what seems to be like 5 different kinds of chocolate at once. It’s so good. A tear drips down Mona’s cheek. The others look equally out of it. I think that we are done for today...

Harper

“Naked purple goddess said that those ghosts are going to come back soon.”

Harper pinches the bridge of her nose. Alex’s news is both appreciated and unwelcome. The others gather around, keeping watch. I thought the danger was over...

“So, you could just play Whack-a-Mole a bunch, Harp...” Alex teases.

“That’s a poor plan, loves. Unless we have something to prevent them from returning from being put to ground, we need a different tactic.”

“Plus,” Harper adds, agreeing with her oread-wife, “that’s tempting fate. If I give them enough chances, they’ll get lucky sooner or later. Neutralizing them without dropping them is the way to go. Okay, give me a few seconds to think.”

Okay, what do we have to keep them contained? Scarlet doesn’t have anything for this; at best, she is a backup melee fighter, but I can see that, if she fails one of those saves, it will go very, very badly very, very quickly. Skye can cast up to Level 3 cleric spells with Lesser Spellsong, but Magic Circle takes casting time that the brides won’t give us. Banishment could work; Alex might have it prepared. She can’t get all of them at once, and I wouldn’t want to play keep away for 10 rounds of combat to get a second shot. Mass Polymorph should work; Daphne probably has it prepared. Hmm...

The beginnings of a plan forms. Daphne will like it.

Harper: -12 SP (Spellcasting +1 Use)

Party: -2 Potions of Long Rest

Skye Copse-Wood

Skye shouts at the top of her lungs, “I don’t like this plan, my lady love.”

While the rest of them are contained in the Magic Circle (set to repel the undead), Queen Tyalangan is in a defensive dance stance, well ahead of the protective barrier, alert. She scans where she must be thinking the corpse brides will come from as she answers, “The circle is not big enough to hold all of us effectively in a fight, my sweet little drow. And I think my odds of surviving the onslaught long enough for the plan to work is much better than Scarlet’s. No offense, love.”

“None taken, love,” Scarlet shouts back.

“Plus, any of you four can resurrect me, if the worst comes to pass. I can’t do the same without tapping into our season’s budget.”

“Oh, you can’t be wasting the budget like that, dudette,” Alex teases, quietly enough that Lady Tyalangan probably didn’t hear her.

And then the teasing is done, as the swarm of them burst from the ground. Skye watches her lady love perform the bladesong dance, shifting her body into the small spaces between the poor souls. It is an exquisite sight to behold: a dance to delay death this time. The Circle protects them from the effects of the whispers, but Skye can still see the mouths move. She prays that her lady love will find the resilience to resist. The drow beams as her wife dodges, weaves, and only gets grazed a few times from the hoard of ghosts striking her.

As Skye and Scarlet ready in case this doesn’t work, Daphne begins chanting in Aquan. Again, Skye murmurs a little prayer of blessing. Her harem-sister finishes her whalesong-like spell formula and all of the brides solidifies, shrinking down to little beak-like rocky structures, laying awkwardly on the ground beside Lady Tyalangan. What is Daphne thinking?

Alex was already casting before Skye could question it. The valkyrie lets her banishment rip, and the rock beak things are gone. Her lady love lets her held Banishment spell fizzle. The five collectively hold their breaths as the minute needed for Banishment to be a more permanent fix is secured. The sigh of relief echoes in the space.

Lady Tyalangan removes the ear plugs as she says, “Good pick there, Daph.”

The mermaid gives a shark-toothed grin, “Thanks, Beloved! I thought you would enjoy it!”

Her lady love explains, “Barnacles. Sessile. Incapable of hurting themselves. Dumb as a brick. It’s a really good incapacitating Mass Polymorph pick. Even if they somehow get past the Banishment, they’re stuck that way for an hour.”

“Also, not enough meat for the effort to eat them!” Daphne declares.

Their lady love ignores the quip as she sighs, “Daph, we should go check on the others. Ready?”