These jerks poisoned their arrows; thankfully Hal has an Aura of Protection on, so that helps.
38, but Quinn is shielded by Zorn's Arcane Ward, and then the resultant 28 halved by Uncanny Dodge. 11HP left. Yikes.
VS Immolates the one who hit Quinn hardest. Quinn pulls an Insect Cloud and Hides. Stultus goes into a Rage, and gets hacking, yelling about bugging out.
They run into the cloud; LK makes it out unscathed. Zorn drops Evard's Black Tentacles on the cloud.
Quinn gags - she's the only one who can see the tentacles unobstructed.
Zorn didn't think this through - it's ALL creatures. One grabs LK, and Zorn, embarrassed, yells that it was Randall who summoned the tentacles. Quinn, who clearly saw it was not, opts to say nothing because if anything this is all her fault anyway.
LK doesn't know what's going on. Hal believes it's still Darian trying it on. Everyone is kind of terrified by the magic axes hurtling through the air, in the dark of the cloud.
Hal starts by cursing Darian's name before getting swept up by a Tentacle. Zorn has, at this point, done more damage to us than the enemy has.
Hal glaives an assassin, and calls out "Bluetooth!" as she does so. It is not a cloud of blood and insects.
VS is disgusted, but also a little turned on? She decides not to mix business with pleasure, and ironically is the only one to successfully make her save. This lack of tentacle entanglement disappoints her a little - Zorn says he can always cast it later. VS, annoyed, says it was you who cast it! LK is mad. No, Zorn says, it's a common spell.
An assassin is on fire?
Quinn makes her save - she hits one in the face with a bola. His face shatters like wood as he collapses. Stultus throws down with the Segmentar. The flaming assassin fails both checks, and remains on faire while being swept up by a tentacle. Bad day for him.
One Disengages and runs for it; the burning assassin starts glowing...and explodes? The tentacled party takes a bunch of damage and Hal is near death.
As he runs for it we see a black flower symbol on his back. Yikes.
Zorn throws invisible magical barriers around the fleeing assassin. He runs headlong into it and rebounds, confused.
LK corners him. The effects dispel; Hal lays hands on a blushing Quinn, thinking to himself, huh, man-boob? An agog Quinn cures Hal for...4 points.
We go to interrogate the automaton. Randall expires, apologising that he had to do it, he had to kill them both, they threatened his family...sorry.
Quinn is sad for a second...and then loots his body. Only a dagger. She drags his body to the force cage and throws it against the wall.
The automaton pulls out a Black Lotus card, carefully lays it on the ground, and deactivates.
Quinn picks it up with Mage Hand. It's got a Black Lotus on it: REDUNDANT, yells an annoyed Zorn. He knows something about them from sneaking around Zorn's library. They're a criminal organisation across millennia, led by 5 leaders in robes with Black Lotuses on them.
An interrogation under Zone of Truth occurs - Quinn admits she used to work with Randall: he saved my life once by putting me on a horse. There used to be others. VS, LK, and Stultus remember him, from the bubbles.
Isn't there a kingdom to save? We trot off to the palace, where we're told that there's some kind of insurrection going on, from the economics people. The instructions are to keep a guy with a 13 on his head and his friends out of the palace. Hal laughs and says he'll keep an eye out. We scurry away.
VS is pretty insistent on seducing the King? We have to disguise Zorn somehow. Hal stashes us in the Portable Hole and waltzes past the guard at a different gate.
Hal starts heading towards the throne room. Darian presents to the King Hans, claiming he's been conspiring with the enemy to increase his own holdings. Hal ducks out of the throne room, dumping us out of the Hole, to the astonishment of an alarmed handmaid. Zorn tries to Banish her, but not luck.
Hal tries to convince her that we're good: she's just going to let this slide, not being paid enough.
Hal storms in with LK, with the ledgers. Darian continues to claim that Hans is the guilty party. VS and LK Vanna White the ledgers; the King isn't even looking at the book, just VS' boobs. Yeah, she says, they're good.
Darian pronounces us corrupt, and that he must regretfully steal - I mean - take up the mantle of the King. Insurrection!
The King is wigging out. This is it. He always knew this day would come.
Hal uses his oath of vengeance to sway the rest of the paladins, who start chanting his name. Darian sidles out from this rapidly turning crowd, or at least tries to - Quinn sprints forward, kicking the door shut, leaning somewhat insouciantly against it.
The paladins throw him in the Pit of Truth. It's a big pit, with walls lined with the teachings of Lathander. The sun is overhead. It's kind of cruel, actually.
When we return, Hal bows to the King. King says he should bow to us, instead, to which Quinn remarks that that may...take a while.
He tries anyway, but is very fat. VS helps him up, "supporting" him.
Hal declares that Quinn actually took care of the Storm Lords. The King asks her name - after a pregnant pause, Quinn hesitantly offers "...Bob?"
Hal says oh, I didn't know your first name was Bob. Bob Quinn!
The King offers himself as a first stop for any help to Quinn. Even if he's in bed. He's naked under the furs, you know. It's not weird unless you make it weird.
Zorn asks about the Black Lotus, but he doesn't know. There's no intelligence unit here, because it apparently "isn't their style". Looking around, Quinn can believe it.
They kept trying Zone of Truth, but people would just...walk out of the Zone.
Quinn is dumbstruck by this. I could have just walked out the whole time? "...how was I supposed to know?!"
VS asks what kind of women the King is into. His wife, Debra, died some time ago, she was a very well put together woman. Wink wink. Nudge nudge.
Zorn and VS try to convince the King to start the pitfighting thing as a national pastime, but no dice.
LK tries to persuade the King to avoid the King of Vik; the King thinks King Lord Brom is a bit of a dick, anyhow.
...but he doesn't want people to suffer. He's prepared to meet the King a month from now to negotiate terms. LK appreciates his beneficence.
VS offers a command performance of the pyrophone, in private. Startled King doesn't know what a pyrophone is. VS will show him...in private. Hal is Messaged by VS to stop thirdwheeling, and grinning awkwardly, he leaves.
The King is astonished by her skills, and that she was an orphan. Racism, she responds. It's lonely. He knows loneliness, he says. He's madly in love with her...after a Charisma check.
Quinn goes and gets her wand of Inviz back from Hans. You did me a solid; he gives her a little sack of 10k gold. Share it with the group, he says. "...all of it?" she asks. A good man, he says, would share at least 90%.
Quinn reflects that that doubly lets her off the hook. If anything, she should therefore keep 90%...? But LK is watching. Quinn opens the bag and loudly exclaims, wow, there's 9 thousand gold in here! and winks at Hans.
LK notes that this is an awfully specific number...
The King offers VS a place here always - VS gives him a trinket of her affection, while bursting into tears. Any time you want, you can return, I know I'm old and you're young and I might not be around much longer, but any time you want.