Episode 15: Armaster, Part 8

The fire department arrives and begins to put out the fire. Radovan advises the party to disperse before the police arrive and see his involvement. He heads to the Slice of Life to check on the group in the cafe, and Athene.

The party returns to the Ticklish Spider and rests, as they are injured and out of spells. When they wake - “we're not dead!” says Kika – they decide to seek backup from other Ring teams. The Brazen Bulldogs agree to help, and to bring along any others they can convince. The Night Stalkers seem less convinced, but say they will consider it.

Kika suspects Kurt teleported to Bolgr's mansion, and scouts the building with Ridley.

Meanwhile, Fan returns to the Slice of Life for Radovan. She floats the idea of one or more of Radovan's colleagues joining them, but Milla requests that both stay due to her lack of practice with her gun.

Fan and Radovan join Kika and Ridley. They meet three teams at the mansion: the Bulldogs, the Night Stalkers, and the Tihaka Three (the victim of Ridley's pantsing avoids eye contact with the halfling). They split up into three teams to enter the mansion and investigate.

The party enters via the front door, managing to convince the guards to let them in. The butler seems confused. They make their way upstairs to Bolgr Nordberg's bedroom, and find his body, a Goldways dagger in his back.

Exiting onto the balcony, they find Kurt already engaged in combat with the other groups, and attack once again. With their significant backup, they are able to wear him down faster than their initial encounter. Kika pulls him down onto the balcony with a rope tied to an arrow, and as his final act, he blows up the stone beneath them, attempting to take the party down with him. They manage to get away with just injuries, but Kurt is no more.

Radovan remains at the mansion to take care of cleanup and the police investigation. Kika loots Kurt's mansion, obtaining a warhammer for Fan and spellbooks for Ridley, along with several thousand gold pieces worth of jewels and a notebook for Milla. Fan and Ridley make their way to the Slice of Life, where they relieve the guards of their watch on Athene. They take her to the police station to be taken into custody. Ridley, Milla and Fan go out for dinner at Ridley's request. Kika tracks the others to a restaurant, and they celebrate their victory along with the Bulldogs, Night Stalkers, and Tihaka Three.

One more threat remains to be dealt with: the sphere used to dispose of the victims. The party brings Radovan as a witness to the forest clearing, and waits... and waits... and waits.

After two days, the sphere finally appears.