The Danger Gang Try To Build Bridges With The Residents Of Mount Salerno
The Danger Gang wakes from a night of restfulness and notice that there captive, Frystubinyiy, the hag, is on the road to recovery. So far everything she's said has panned out, so they decide to cut her some slack. They can't just let her go, what with her being Neutral Evil, though, so Martialis stone shapes a huge rock around one of her feet. So long, sucker. The Gang heads back down into the depths.
They raid a closet or two, finding robot parts and some tiaras, which Karl greedily snatches up. They then head over to the bedroom where they previously heard the giggling. Inside they find three sleeping teenage girls. Marty gets a read on their alignment, and he gets one of them as True Neutral. They do seem a bit pale, though. They wake them up gently. The girls are named Flora, Ambra, and Vana, and they've all been charmed. They haven't seen "the mistress" in days. They were all brought from their hometowns in the surrounding area within the last few months and have been loving life with their fantastic mistress who is so pretty and smart and wonderful, though it seems they have taken a liking to Marty, with his boyish good looks, as well. They tell him that sometimes the princess will leave through a space under Ambra's bed. They check it out, and there's a little door that leads to a big room with a casket in it. They look around, but can't find any other egress. Looks like they've got to get past the Psychopomp.
But first they decide to chat with the girls a little more. They finally learn that the princess is named Elfreda. They also notice that the girls have bite marks on their necks. So, that settles the type of undead she is. The gang heads back to the entrance to the Sea of Mercury. Marty addresses the Psychopomp in draconic and explains that they're there to seek audience with the Princess. The dragon sounds very excited to hear someone speaking in his native tongue. He invites them into the room to talk. They show him the plans for the songbird that they got from Hapheastus's forge. He swims off to spread the word, and a few minutes later a raft piloted by a robotic dwarf with diamond eyes rows across the ocean. He hands us a note explaining that we can discuss this next summer, then rows off. They chat with the Psychopomp for a while. He was dropped off there by his parents shortly after he was born, and has since been hiding out. He plans to leave in about 20 years when he should be able to polymorph self and hide amongst society. He also said he saw a being made of gas pass by yesterday. This guy seems like a straight shooter. They tell him they'll be back.
They camp out in the garden to get some rest. During the rest period, the cat irises in and drains some blood out of him with a ghostly hand. Then he irises out like a damn chicken. They go back to bed. When they wake up, Marty Charms Flora then gets the girls to try to intercede with the Psychopomp. He doesn't go for it. They then draft a note explaining that they're here to negotiate for the release of her prisoner. She replies with a note of her own saying "No Way!" with flowers and dude sticking it's tongue out.
That's it. Enough is enough. They go get some rest, this time back in the coffin room. The cat man irises in again, this time casting confusion on the lot of us. Only Lleryn remains unaffected. Fortunately, in moment of lucidity, Marty is able to whip up some giant beetles. They interrupt his Phantasmal Killer and beat him up enough that he's forced to iris out again. They almost got him, this time, but I suppose the opposite was also true. They go back to bed.
