The Medusa's Cascade

The party splits briefly before reuniting to meet Yurik Strauss, where Arguile, revealed as Sylas Nicks, seeks information about his missing mother, Dorna. Yurik offers aid in exchange for the group helping find his son Enich, and after an intense sparring match with Galahad that ends in a double knockout, the party accepts him as capable enough to travel through the Underdark. They spend time in the Old Quarter striking trade deals, reunite Arguile with Dorna in an emotional reveal, and clarify that Yurik’s Enich is not Arguile’s alternate-self-turned-Skin-Flayer. After reviewing grim accounts of the siege of Ors Thurmar, the group sets off—only to become trapped in a looping forest around a strange cabin inhabited by a woman named Mal. Through investigation, teamwork, Bahamut’s guidance, and deciphering a shift-cipher hidden in her books, they realize they are inside the Endless Maze and escape by pushing straight through.As they camp, a series of night watches deepens bonds within the group. The Turk and Yurik discuss family, Arguile and Zechs address guilt and growth, and Galahad and Shanks confront their looming destinies. Glad severs ties with her former divine patron and embraces her ancestral power, while the party later gathers around the fire to share personal stories. More heartfelt conversations follow the next night as Arguile and Yurik open up, Zechs and The Turk trade histories, and Galahad, Glad, and Salix reflect on divine manipulation and the hard choices ahead.Descending into the Underdark, the party regroups with Shanks, scouts for purple worm tunnels, and prepares for the horrors of Ors Thurmar. They negotiate with intelligent fungi, offering enemy corpses in exchange for information, and tensions rise around the fiendish aura of Yurik’s sentient sword. When giant spiders attack in tight quarters, the group prevails but grows increasingly wary of Yurik’s behavior. Using telepathy, scouting, and quick thinking, they navigate Myconid territory, skirt a spore ritual that briefly knocks out The Turk, rest, and continue through glowing bioluminescent caverns toward the dangers still awaiting them.There’s so much happening, and we pick up with arc 28, “Smash and Grab”. How will the rest of this story unfold? Find out next time on the Medusa’s Cascade: Collateral Damage!Theme Music is written and performed by EfflorescenceMixed by Thomas Lapierre IIITitle Card by Pierce Graphics Check out the show at themedusascascade.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Serpent's Strait Ch. 7As we kick off the fight, Bob hurls a psychic lance at the sister and gets the party started. The fight commences, and Sister Flinthorn isn't pulling any punches against the crew. After Valen zooms at her, throwing several kicks and punches, a confused look passes over him as she has used the shield to beef herself up for this encounter. She turns to the rest of the group and casts synaptic static at them, and throws a monkey wrench immediately at any of their plan. Chantico fires off some scorching rays and uses fiery teleport to better reposition herself, Bob uses cloud of daggers, and Thorak attempts to grapple her himself, but gets banished instead, but only briefly, as a blow from Valen breaks her concentration. It's a more brutal fight than they had anticipated, for sure. Chantico sets the roof and Sister ablaze with flame strike, and Ursus lands a decisive blow to Flinthorn. Before the crowd gathers further, Valen slips away to get a feel for the town and to see if stopping her had any effect on the citizens. It didn't, and in fact, the closer Valen moved towards the mines, the more it felt as if something was trying to prevent him from going into them and exploring further. With his stillness of mind, he manages to come back to his senses and regroups with the party.Meanwhile, the party makes their exit after the fiery explosion that took the church with molten bronze and THE book in tow. Back at their lodging for the evening, the group divvies up watches and insists on keeping an eye on the townsfolk who are giving off strange vibes. They are muttering, and all seem to be gathering around the middle of the town, amongst a great bonfire. Valen, having observed this on the rooftop during his watch, informs the next watch, Thorak, of what is going on. Thorak takes his watch to experiment with some bits of monster he's collected and some other varying items to try to make a poison of some kind, a failed first attempt, but it makes for great learning. The final watch is split between Ursus and Chantico: Chantico on the rooftop, where Valen observed the crazed townfolk, and Ursus below, keeping an eye on things internally. Chantico updates Ursus on the happenings in this bizarre mining town, and he tells her to prepare a good mix of spells for the fight ahead. As they get ready for the day, they look back and see the square emptying and heading towards the mines. An eerie, ominous, and chilling dread washes over the party at this information. There's so much happening, and that's where we pick up…Find out what happens next in this episode of the Medusa’s Cascade: Blood & Booze! Theme Music is written and performed by EfflorescenceMixed by Thomas Lapierre IIITitle Card by Pierce GraphicsCheck out the show at themedusascascade.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Family Matters Ch. 17The fight opens in chaos: Shanks fires a concussive shot at the cleric as Galahad and Arguile are stunned, and the barbarian hounds Zechs with smite-infused strikes. The monk shadow-steps to Shanks, stunning him, while Salix restrains the necromancer, only for him to immediately hurl a fireball into the group. Galahad answers with Channel Divinity, dropping the cleric, and Glad heals him with her circlet before attempting to finish her off, but a blight from the necromancer weakens Glad’s blows. The barbarian lands a reckless hit on Galahad, Arguile critically wounds the cleric, and Turk summons a spirit of death to pressure the monk, though its necrotic damage is resisted. Stuns continue to fly as undead thralls join the fray; Turk counters a blight aimed at a stunned Galahad, Glad restrains the necromancer with her wand, accidentally sticking Salix to him, and Shanks trades shots with the monk. Arguile ultimately delivers the killing blow to the cleric.Momentum shifts again as Zechs’ lightning arrow misfires, clipping the stunned Galahad, and Turk’s eldritch blasts are blunted by shields tied to the Elrin light. The monk keeps Galahad locked down with repeated stuns and even drops Turk briefly, while the necromancer’s thralls batter Salix back into their true form and hammer Galahad to the brink. A devastating fireball drops Galahad and Lorainne outright; as Galahad fades, he reaches out to Bahamut, is met by a golden sparrow, and affirms his faith. Empowered by Bahamut’s blessing, rage beyond death, he rises again, eyes glowing azure as seven golden sparrows circle him.With Galahad back in the fight, Shanks outplays the monk, baiting reactions before landing the decisive double shots; Arguile and Zechs finish him moments later, and Zechs clears the remaining skeletons. The barbarian turns her fury on Turk as Salix’s psychic lance is counterspelled and the necromancer’s zombies miss. Then the necromancer locks eyes with Shanks and utters Power Word Kill. The battlefield falls silent as Shanks collapses dead...There's so much happening, and that's where we pick up…Find out what happens next in this episode of the Medusa’s Cascade: Collateral Damage! Theme Music is written and performed by EfflorescenceMixed by Thomas Lapierre IIITitle Card by Pierce Graphics Check out the show at themedusascascade.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Family Matters Ch. 16The party arrives at the cemetery and meets Shepard Miles, Yurik's Crew, and Dorna, with tension so thick it threatens to erupt at any moment. That fuse is struck when Arioch appears as a golden-skinned elf and reveals the truth behind the tragedy binding them all together: Yurik is Arguile’s biological father. Long ago, a bargain to save Arguile’s life replaced Arguile’s heart with his father’s, at the cost of all parties forgetting one another. Fate, or Arioch’s cruel amusement, later reunited Yurik and Dorna, resulting in the birth of Enich, Arguile’s younger brother. All of it, Arioch admits, was done simply because it entertained him.Arioch then presents Yurik and Arguile with a horrific choice: his army needs a general, and there are two candidates for one position, so they must fight for it. Despite pleas and defiance, Yurik attacks first, begging forgiveness as Arguile refuses to strike back and challenges Arioch’s logic. The demon’s answer is merciless: it’s more fun this way. To force compliance, Arioch seizes Dorna and threatens to kill and resurrect her repeatedly until they fight in earnest. After a brutal demonstration of his power, father and son are forced to take the duel seriously. The party can only watch, unable to intervene without certain death, offering what aid they can through spells and support, until Arioch halts all interference. When both Yurik and Arguile offer themselves to spare Dorna, Arioch instead forces Dorna to choose. He then cruelly infects Enich with the same disease that once afflicted Arguile, declaring her son’s life limited either way. In the end, Yurik agrees to go with Arioch, granted only a brief farewell with his family, a devastating moment with no true victory.As Yurik is taken away, Enich escorts Dorna to safety in a nearby crypt, and the focus shifts to the remaining threat: Yurik's Crew preparing to fight. The party braces itself as battle erupts, immediately turning against them when a necromancer raises a dozen skeletons to swell the enemy ranks. Galahad is stunned out of the fight by a monk, Shanks lands a heavy blow on the cleric, only for them to heal and press on, and what once looked like a manageable encounter rapidly becomes a brutal, uphill struggle. With no clear victor in sight, the clash marks only the beginning of an even darker confrontation to come.There's so much happening, and that's where we pick up…Find out what happens next in this episode of the Medusa’s Cascade Theme Music is written and performed by EfflorescenceMixed by Thomas Lapierre IIITitle Card by Pierce Graphics Check out the show at themedusascascade.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Family Matters Ch. 15Still in Ors Themar, the party finishes a short rest and prepares to escape, quickly realizing that leaving the city may be as dangerous as entering it. They navigate tight passages, dispel glyphs, and move with hushed precision, managing to avoid further combat and finally put distance between themselves and the city before making camp for the night. During watches, they process the weight of what they witnessed. Shanks thanks Yurik for the rescue, concerns are raised about Ors Themar’s implications for Nakoroa, and the group reflects on how dire the situation may be.During the watches, deeper conversations unfold. Turk and Glad discuss Glad’s fallout with The Protector, while Arguile admits he initially believed Yurik was the threat his mother, Dorna, was facing. Galahad and Shanks speak candidly about fear, death, how Galahad’s aura functions, and a new potion Shanks has been developing. By morning, Shanks discovers a small copper coin and a raven’s feather, an ominous sign, while Arguile notices the stone’s count has dropped to two. Alarmed, the group breaks camp and heads back toward the city with urgency, stopping one last time at the now-empty field where the cursed cabin once stood. Overnight, the stone drops further, ticking down from 0.5 to 0.1 as they approach.Upon entering the city, a shepherd informs Yurik that Shepard Miles has summoned them to their usual meeting place. Before going, they detour to Yurik and Dorna’s home, only to find it empty as the stone finally reaches zero. As Yurik struggles to understand where Dorna could be, questions arise about his connection to Shepard Miles. Shanks realizes Arioch has been manipulating events behind the scenes all along, and when Galahad asks about Yurik’s sword, Yurik reveals it was given to him by Shepard Miles. Recognizing the urgency, Shanks insists they leave immediately, and as they rush to confront Shepard Miles, the group identifies Yurik’s blade as Tempest’s Edge.There's so much happening, and that's where we pick up…Find out what happens next in this episode of the Medusa’s Cascade: Collateral Damage!Theme Music is written and performed by EfflorescenceMixed by Thomas Lapierre IIITitle Card by Pierce GraphicsCheck out the show at themedusascascade.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.