S1 E10 - Bad Moon Rising

S1 Episode 10: Bad Moon Rising

Intro, News & Jobs

Calling all adventurers, I repeat, Calling all adventurers.

I got two jobs that need to be handled with some element of urgency.

Three children have gone missing in the hinterlands around Duskmere. They vanished while playing near a set of local standing stones. Reports of a trail of ash and feathers have been found near the scene.

Duskemere is offering a substantial reward to any capable party in the area who is able to find them and bring them back. Discretion, speed, and focus are vital for this task.

Otherwise, Fellharrow has requested a larger party assist with an encroaching warband of unknown origin. Farms have been torched all along their path. The village elders have organized a last defence but are understandably concerned regarding their chances of survival. Supplies are scarce, morale is waning, and they are desperate for warriors powerful and plenty.

If you can hear me and are in the area of either of those jobs, give this evenings broadcast a miss and make tracks. Time is of the essence. And I know help rarely comes cheap, so I'll be doubling the reward offered, provided I hear of some positive outcomes.

For everyone else anywhere else, there is little you can do. I'll continue with the show as usual and let you know if I get updates during this session.

Let's go ahead and pick back up with the story.

Story Start

[sounds of nightmare] 

[The Host is startled awake]

Valuin: "Hey, you okay? Bad dream?"

Host: "Yeah. Been a while since I had a nightmare"

Valuin: "Happens to the best of us. But it'll pass, as all things must. To be fair, you've been through a lot. You're handling it all quite well, for a simple farm boy. You've already been through things that would give most experienced adventurers pause, but you never seem to choke when it counts. How are you keeping it together so well?"

Host: "Well, I've always been adaptable. If I were to make an assessment; most of the time I'm not even thinking, it's all just pure instinct. I could cower and deny the truth before my eyes, but it wouldn't stop me from being where I am. Does that make sense?"

Val: "It does. Another surprisingly well adjusted take from you. But it doesn't stop the bad dreams, does it?"

Host: "It would appear not."

I felt a little silly having a nightmare at that age. Then I felt silly for feeling silly. I brushed it off in the moment but Val's comment was dead on. I had been through a lot. Maybe not as much as some, but definitely more than most, and it seemed right to let myself acknowledge it, instead of playing it down out of some misguided sense of forced humility.

Host: "What time is it?"

Val checked her brass pocket watch.

Val: "4:46PM."

Host: "I appreciate your specificity."

Val: "You got a good 6 hours."

Only 6 hours? Any less than 8 never felt enough and 6 hours sleep in three days was certainly not enough, especially when said sleep was plagued by phantoms.

I nestled back down to try and rest at least another hour, but the dark wouldn't take me. Was I still spooked from my nightmare? Surely not. I shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position, but it didn’t help.

The discomfort wasn't in my body, it was in my mind.

I'd had a few moments like this in the past, and many during my time away from home. My instincts were telling me that I was in danger. I always remarked upon the fact it felt like I…I dunno how to explain it…like I noticed before I noticed.

I looked across the fire and saw Val shiver, take a cursory look around, and then lock eyes with me.

She had also sensed something and the look on my face had just confirmed it.

I wondered how this could be happening? I had only just woken up. Would I ever get a chance to breathe again or would it just be one terrible thing after another? I knew things would be difficult but I didn't realise how accurate Val was being when she told me to appreciate the quiet while I had it. I shouldn't have taken it for granted. I should have relished the boredom.

But it was too late for that now.

Time to figure out what was bothering us.

I listened…nothing. That didn't bode well. Not hearing crunching twigs or growling is grand, but not hearing bugs, birds, or even the wind was a different situation entirely.

I surveyed my surroundings. There were two fires filling the area with a powerful orange light. But the treeline was pitch black. Darker than it had been any night before.

I stood up, took my coat off my lap and put it on. The fire had dried it nicely, but I could still smell the blood on it. I raised my arm to reach for my sword but stopped when I caught Val's eyes widening. She subtly shook her head, and I instead ran my fingers through my hair and let my hand drop to my side.

I kept staring at her as she quickly slunk toward me. It was clear she was trying to appear nonchalant but the look on her face made her appear very fucking chalant.

Val: "I was pretty sure something foul is afoot, but you've just confirmed it for me."

Host: "Then why does my blade remain sheathed?"

Val: "Whatever is nearby is definitely watching us, but hasn't attacked yet. If it senses that it's been made, that may cause it to go for us. Let's play it cool and gather information before anything kicks off. We aren't far from dawn, the light will be in our favour."

Val mentioning the light caused me to think. I looked up and could clearly see the moon bright in the sky.

Strange.

Host: "Hold on, I'm going to check something."

I walked over to the back of a wagon and climbed up to stand on the highest part. It allowed me a much clearer view of the area. Taking Val's advice, I attempted to make it look like I was doing something else.

[tense music]

A pit formed in my stomach as I found that it was indeed a good call to verify my suspicions. 

I could see the camp illuminated by the firelight. I could see the road down the way thanks to the moonlight. But I couldn't see anything between them. The space between the camp and the road was obscured by an unnatural, smoke-like darkness. It formed a ring about 30 feet in depth, and completely encircled the camp. Whatever was responsible for this had scared off all the wildlife.

I stepped off the wagon and strolled back to Val.

Host: "Something has created some kind of barrier around us, cutting us off from the greater forest and, presumably, any form of escape. I assume it wasn't you."

Val: "Correct. I don't think I have the well of magic required to pull off a spell of this size and hold it for this long. Did you see anything else?"

Host: "Nope. How did you not notice this form around you?

Val: "Right, well, I admit I have been staring into the fire for about 3 hours. I was recounting the last few days and lost track of time and our surroundings."

I could see by her averted gaze and curt tone that Val was uncomfortable admitting she had dropped the ball and although I was frustrated, I decided to let it go.

Val: "Okay, stay calm. Ensure everyone is inside the camp and keep them there. Don't tell them what's going on yet. We don't want them to panic and cause a scene."

I nodded and followed the instructions. I did a headcount, telling everyone to stay by the firelight so I could keep an eye on them but didn't elaborate. Everyone was accounted for which was a tremendous relief.

I moved back toward Val who was focusing on the dark.

Host: "Can you see anything?"

Val: "No. Unfortunately, there was no evolutionary requirement for elves to develop night vision. Would have been handy about now. How about you?"

Host: "Well, sunlight hurts my eyes and gives me headaches, so I prefer the dark. I can usually see quite well at night but I can't see anyth- oh, I think I can…"

Val: "What? What is it?"

It was hard to make out in the dark. I couldn't tell what it was exactly, but it definitely wasn't a human. It was tall, maybe 9 feet with long legs below a relatively short body. Its gangly arms drooped to its knees. It shifted with an indelicate, lumbering sway that made it almost look like a tree. The only features I could see were burning white eyes piercing the dark.

For a second, I thought maybe it was just a tree, until it took a step forward. I could see by Vals expression that she could observe the silhouette too now. I could barely make out its footfalls, it was so quiet. It stopped moving again, still obscured by dark but I could finally hear something…mumbling?

Monster: "Kill me again."

Host: "What the? Did you hear that?"

Val: "Did it say 'kill me again?"

Monster: "Bring me back. Kill me again."

It was definitely speaking Elarian, but the voice was distorted to an unsettling degree.

Host: "It's telling us to kill it again?"

Val: "We haven’t killed anything that looks like that. Just checking but you buried the nun, yes? That's why you took so long?"

Host: "Yes, of course I did."

It didn’t occur to me at the time, but burying bodies is a practice that prevents the corpse from attracting monsters or worse still, becoming one. The stronger the person was in life, the stronger the monster, and the nun was very strong. I buried her because it was custom and because I thought it was right, but a chill washed over me.

Host: "What if I didn't bury her deep enough? What if I messed up? She was very powerful. The only reason I'm still alive is because she bled out before she could kill me. The monster encyclopaedia says that following the Rules of Last Rites is the best method of prevention but there's always exceptions."

Val thought to herself for a moment and then straightened up.

Val: "Alright, be ready."

She took a step forward.

Val: "Who are you? What do you want?"

The creature didn't move or respond properly to Val's demands.

Monster: "Kill me again."

Val: "It's not responding. I…I don't know if it knows what it's saying."

Host: "What do you mean?"

Val: "Well, there are lots of birds, like parrots, and some monsters that can mimic people, copy their voices. But just because they’ve heard someone talk and can copy it, doesn’t mean they actually know how to speak."

Host: "Right, I see. This things likely a monster that's just picked up a word or two. But if it hasn't attacked, what do we do?"

Val: "We take the option that avoids a fight if we can help it. Especially when it'll break out right by the camp. Can't risk these folks being dragged into it, doubly so given I have no idea what that thing actually is. I've never encountered or read about a beast that looks like that."

Just as Val said that, I saw the clouds catch the first rays of sun. We had about five minutes before it would fully emerge from the horizon. 300 seconds until the light would reveal this creature.

Except, maybe a minute in, the creature began to move. It started shifting backward into the darkness between the trees.

Val: "Look! It's going away. Looks like it's avoiding the sunlight."

Host: "This is creepy. I couldn't get a good look at it. Where is it going?"

The creature disappeared from sight.

Val: "Who cares? It's gone now. We'll be in the Shallowlands early afternoon and at the research station by evening. Don't think we'll be seeing that thing again."

Host: "Well, let's stay on guard while everyone packs up. Just in case."

Val nodded and began waking everyone up. We expedited the packing process that morning, and by the end of the first hour of daylight, we were already well on our way.

We figured we were lucky it was just an average monster hiding in the dark. All in all, from what I'd read in those old monster encyclopaedias, roaming monsters were a pretty common occurrence out there in the wilds. There is a reason Varfell forest is unoccupied.

Val and I sat quietly, waiting for the other shoe to drop, but when it became apparent that it wouldn't, I tried to find something else to occupy my mind and prevent me from falling asleep again.

I pulled out the Cardinal bounty note from Val's pocket and opened it up.

Host: "So, how do you read this stuff? And how come you know how to?"

Val: "It's a cypher. Move every letter in the alphabet forward 2 places. Make double letters singular."

I reviewed the bounty note, and grabbed my journal and pencil from my bag. 

It did, in fact, contain the description of me that Val read aloud. I continued to decipher until I saw Val's description. Dark brown hair and eyes, with sharp features and a green cloak. That was dead on.

My mind began to wander. I remembered when I first saw Val in Greywall. Then I thought to the cat situation. Then to our parting, where I was going one way and she another. I remembered she was heading north.

Host: "When we parted after Greywall, you said you were heading north before going to the capital. Did you accomplish your task up there?"

Val: "Yes, I believe so."

Host: "You believe so? You aren't sure?"

Val: "It's terribly complicated and I'm not a hundred percent sure I understand it all myself. I believe I found what I was supposed to find out there."

Host: "Val that is the most annoyingly cryptic nonsense I've ever heard, but if you don't want to tell me then that is your right, but know that I am gonna sulk about it."

Val: "It's not that I can't describe it, or maybe it is, but it's also about what you'd believe. I think I need time to ruminate on it and what it could all mean. Look, I'll tell you about it another time."

That was a deeply unsatisfying conversation. Val's shyness regarding opening up was beginning to grate on me.

Host: "And I imagine you still don't want to talk about your family either?"

Val stayed quiet. It was time to sulk. Or at least, I fully intended to sulk but I was so dazed from exhaustion that I forgot I was meant to be upset and instead just stared into the passing trees for the following 6 hours.

By mid-day, the scenery changed.

I saw the road we were travelling down open up and the treeline stop. I could see a large wooden frame structure in the middle of our path.

The closer we got, the more I could see. It wasn't just the forest that stopped up ahead, so did the very ground beneath our wheels. We had encountered a sheer cliff the likes of which I'd never seen before. We had reached the Shallowlands.

Break

Update on those jobs from the start. I've gotten word that both have been picked up by capable groups. Hopefully we'll see those issues resolved by next session.

Let's carry on with the story.

Story Continue

I dismounted the carriage, and walked close to the edge. Or at least as close as I could stomach to get. Under my feet, and stretching out to my left and right, the surprisingly uniform cliff face curved inward slightly, disappearing into the horizon. I looked out to the vastness of the Shallowlands ahead of me. I could see the hundreds of miles of mirrorlike water stretch out from the bottom of the cliff off into the distance.

The large wooden frame contraption turned out to be a lift, big enough to lower our entire cargo to the bottom of the cliff. It was quite impressive.

I rigidly shuffled toward the verge and looked down to the water. I went dizzy as a pit formed in my stomach and my legs weakened. I really didn't like heights at the best of times and this was outright excruciating. I quickly stepped back away to more solid ground and took a few deep breaths.

Val: "Not a fan of heights?"

Host: "No. Anyone who claims they are is lying for attention."

[Val chuckles]

Val began coordinating the caravan onto the platform. She cleverly suggested we go down in two trips. Just in case there are any issues. I agreed to get it out of the way and go down with the first group. The structure looked well maintained so I wasn't too worried about it falling apart.

I boarded the lift, Val pulled the lever and the mechanisms began to spin, lowering us to the Shallowlands floor.

It took 10 minutes to reach the bottom.

Once there, we were greeted by a second, even larger platform sat just above the water. I walked onto it and looked below the surface. There were two large tracks, like for a huge minecart, that the platform moved along. This was like the lift, but would instead carry us further south across the Shallowlands. That was lucky, for a while on this journey I honestly thought we were going to have to walk it.

I knelt at the edge of the platform and peered into the still, azure lake. It was only about 2 feet deep. I had read that the Shallowlands technically didn't count as a coastline or the ocean, it was characterised as more of a strange hybrid of lake and salt flat. I could see no fish beneath the surface.

The horizon blended perfectly between clear blue skies and reflective water, making it difficult to determine where the divide actually was.

We offloaded the lift and I pulled a lever to send it back up. 30 minutes later, the entire expedition was resting peacefully on the platform, cows and all. Val pulled another lever, and we were on our way.

Host: "How long are we on this platform for?"

Val: "We're moving at about a league an hour. We'll be there a bit before sundown. Why? You bored already?"

Host: "No, it's just the light."

Without the shade of the passing trees, I moved my hand to shield my eyes from the glare of the midday sun. Maybe I could lay under a carriage or drape my coat over my head for a few hours.

Smithy's Apprentice: "Here, you can borrow this."

The Smithy's Apprentice had appeared beside me, holding something in her outstretched hand. Some kind of steel mask with a strip of tinted glass in place of the eyes. It's design was simple and smooth with precise edges that likely conformed nicely to the curves of the young smithy's face.

Smithy's Apprentice: "It's a forge mask. It protects your face from flames or sparks and your eyes from forgelight."

I took the mask and donned it. It didn’t fit terribly well, but the blazing sunlight immediately eased through the lens, my eyes relaxed and the growing headache quickly abated.

Host: "Ah, amazing! Thank you, this is a huge relief."

The young girl smiled, gave a shallow bow and scurried off behind a carriage back to the smithy.

I sat on the back of the platform, so I could watch cliffs disappear from sight. I still felt a little uneasy after that morning. What a strange creature it was. But it was gone, so I was sure that feeling would pass before long.

I sat there, staring at the water. I couldn't believe someone had bothered to put a contract out on us. It was a surreal feeling to be sure.

The nun would have killed us no matter what I said at the time, I couldn't have talked my way out of that one. And with her gone, whoever took out the contract would send someone else next. After a farm boy.

I absentmindedly rubbed the mark on my wrist.

Perhaps there could be a way to persuade the next assassin to stop this crusade against two nobodies?

A jittery feeling took over my body, as my right leg bounced rhythmically.

How many more would they send? How desperate would they get? Not every fight would end with the assailant dying from wounds I hadn't inflicted.

The questions were morphing in my head, narrowing into a prevailing thought. How long would they keep pushing us? How long before they make a killer out of me?

My train of thought was interrupted by Rafe, the expedition’s leader, calling out to someone. I stood up and saw we had finally arrived at the research station.

Slowly, we came to a stop as the platform connected to a wooden dock. The research station was impressive, to say the least. It was already the size of a large village, with around 12 wooden buildings in total, all with their purpose marked on the front in bright white paint.

I handed the forgemask back to the smithy as I inspected the buildings.

Bunkhouses, laboratories, storage warehouses, blacksmith, a mess hall, and more, all connected by wooden walkways suspended a few feet above the water. I was surprised, I expected maybe one building with a serious damp problem, but I was greeted by an excellently designed and maintained facility accommodating work and leisure.

A tall elven woman approached. She was dressed in a fitted, white, cowlneck collared tunic that had almost too many pockets. It also sported two gold bands sewn onto her sleeves around her biceps. Her face was somewhat ageless, as is common with elves. She could have been anywhere between 25 or 250. She wore her silver hair in a high ponytail, and her warm brown eyes creased at the corners with her wide smile.

Lenna: "Wonderful to see you again, Rafe. Please, feel free to get set up."

She turned to me and Valuin.

Lenna: "I'm Lead Researcher Lenna Joran. I assume all did not go smoothly."

I suddenly became very aware of my bloodstained attire.

Host: "Clients are here safe and sound. That's all that matters."

Val: "Agreed."

Lenna: "Well, please stay for the night. I'm sure you'd benefit from a warm cot and a quiet evening. You can head back out in the morning."

I glanced at Val with the biggest puppy dog eyes I could muster. I wanted to stay in the hopes I could curl up in an actual bed, even if it was just for one night. But I knew I'd have to rely on Val to determine what the socially correct thing to do was.

After a moment of hesitation, Val's shoulders slumped.

Val: "Okay. Thank you. We'll leave after breakfast tomorrow."

Thank goodness. I didn't want to go back immediately, not when we'd make it back to the cliffs well into the night. And that strange creature from that morning might still have been out there. I felt a bit safer, like I could relax properly for at least one night.

Lenna: "Excellent! I'm glad to hear it. Please, let me show you around."

Val smiled and gestured for Lenna to show us the way with an outstretched arm.

We followed as Lenna swung by the bunkhouses, storage rooms, and the mess hall but the bit that really seemed to pique Val's interest was the laboratories. I knew from the get go that Val benefitted from a significantly higher level of education than I. I could have asked what she studied but I figured she'd just avoid the question like usual. On our way to it, I noticed a bell in the centre of the area we arrived on. Above the bell was marked the word "Alarm." Clearly that was to be rung if any issues occurred here. They really had thought of everything.

We approached the building marked with 'Laboratory 1' in white paint on the front.

[SFX door opening]

Lenna opened the doors and we entered an entirely different environment from what we'd seen in other buildings. Shelves of books and equipment that I couldn't fathom the purpose of. Desks lined with papers and specimens of soil, flora and fauna. There were four other people inside, dressed in strikingly similar attire to Lenna, but with arm bands coloured red, blue, green, and black.

Given that they were also working on separate things, I assumed the armbands represented the different fields of study they were in charge of. And Lenna's gold bands made sense as she was lead researcher of the entire station.

Lenna: "We set up shop here about 3 years ago, once funding returned to normal after the war. There had always been talk that the Shallowlands possessed unique traits, but we simply couldn't study them properly from the capital. Once the decision to set up this research station went ahead, we've learned that the Shallowlands are stranger still than we ever could have imagined."

Lenna led us over to the human man with the black arm band, late 50s with corrective lenses and green eyes. He had short thick silver hair and a beard. He was well groomed, another testament to the effectiveness of this little slice of civilisation.

Lenna was careful not to interrupt his focus as she told us about his purpose there.

Lenna: "This is Dr Fontane Hisk, he is our lead pedologist and edaphologist."

I didn't know what either of those were.

Lenna: "He's been studying the soil here." 

Ah okay, soil scientist. Got it.

Lenna: "He's made some astonishing discoveries. So, we know that the average amount of magic in the soil around Elarial is about 20 Aethert."

My blank expression gave me away immediately. I hadn't a damn clue what they were talking about.

Val leant over to me.

Val: "An Aethert is a unit of measurement for magic found in the environment."

I nodded thoughtfully. I hadn't heard of that before, but it made sense.

Lenna: "In the Shallowlands, it's at just over 400 Aethert."

Val's eyebrows raised, and even with my limited knowledge I could tell that number was significant. Too much of anything can be bad for you. Who knows what too much magic absorption could do to a person.

Val: "Well, so long as you're not eating the soil you should be okay. But why is it so much higher?"

Lenna: "We aren't too sure. After studying the cliff face, we've found it to be unnaturally uniform from top to bottom. But we don't really know what that means, or if it's even related. It's having a clear effect on the wildlife though. On average, there are more fish per square meter here than anywhere else in the known world."

A strange feeling overtook me with that fish comment as Lenna looked forlornly into the middle distance.

Lenna: "Everything we discover creates a hundred new questions."

She quickly snapped out of her trance.

Lenna: "Otherwise, we have been studying the effects of what we've learned here. But there's so much to do, hence this very necessary expansion. Now that everyone is here, we can really get stuck in."

Val looked around, searching for something through the windows before turning back to Lenna.

Val: "How have you been feeding yourselves out here? If there is no farmable land, have you just been eating fish?"

Lenna tapped her nose with a smile and led us out the back of that laboratory. There was, what I can only describe as, a fully outfitted garden of surprising size with various plants and vegetables in large planters. There was a Sprite dressed in coveralls with a brown apron fussing over a contraption. 

Lenna: "This is Dr Sifla Glodron. She's our botanist and chief gardener. We've been enjoying a balanced diet of fish and vegetables. We brought the soil here    from elsewhere to be safe, but the magic concentration of the water here, once purified, is still substantial enough to facilitate an expedited growth process."

Dr Glodron looked toward us, waved with a warm smile, and turned back to her contraption without a word. The device was a large brass sphere sat upon four legs. There were glass panels and detailing all over it. I couldn't determine the significance of those design choices but I doubted they were there for style.

Val: "That's amazing. What is that contraption Dr Glodron is handling?"

Lenna gave a smug smile, as though she was personally proud of said contraption.

Lenna: "That is a device of my own design. It absorbs ambient magic and uses it to generate a warm glow that mimics sunlight. It's how we've been getting the plants to grow even while in our winter months."

With a nod to the Sprite, Lenna led us back out the front door toward the mess hall.

Lenna: "Please, make yourselves at home for now. Dinner will be prepared soon."

With that, she gave a shallow bow and disappeared back inside the laboratory, leaving Val and I standing with quite the view of the Shallowlands.

I could hear a hubbub coming from the mess hall as the station migrated there in preparation for a well-deserved feast.

I took off my coat, laid it on the arm of a bench and sat down. Val sat beside me.

The setting sun painted both the blue sky and the water with orange hues. It was perhaps one of the prettiest sunsets I'd ever seen. I took a deep breath and sank into the seat.

Val: "What a beautiful place. I'm very interested to hear about what they discover here."

Host: "Perhaps we can visit again on a day not too far from now."

Val: "That would be lovely."

My head lolled back as sleep nearly took me, but I snapped back up. The dark of night was encroaching…or was it?

I stood up and looked toward the sunset. We still had a good few minutes of light, so why was it getting so dark so quickly?

My throat went dry and a pit formed in my stomach.

Host: "Please, no."

Val stood up and surveyed her surroundings.

My hackles went up. The drowsiness that had nearly claimed me but moments ago was gone; replaced by thumping heart and shaking hands. 

My vision cleared, my focus sharpened, I could feel the wind on my skin begin to slow to a stop as a smothering thick blackness flooded the vicinity.

Monster: "Kill me again."

I slowly turned my head over to the platform we had arrived on. I saw the smoky darkness creeping up from under it, along with something else. Heavily obscured, gangly limbs crawled into sight. No wonder Lenna's fish comment had given me pause, I hadn't seen a fish since we'd landed. And this was the reason. 

That thing had been under the platform our entire journey. 

It scared away the wildlife here, just like it did in the forest.

My heart sank, knowing I had sat on that platform with my legs hanging off the edge, clear within reach of its monstrous grasp. I felt sick at the thought.

Val stared on with equal shock.

Val: "It didn't run away in the forest. It left early to get ahead of us. And we've led it right to the civilians. We have to stop it."

Val turned her torso and with an outstretched arm, shot a bolt of energy from her fingertips toward the alarm bell we'd seen earlier.

 [SFX magic and alarm bell]

As Val was looking away, the creature lurched in the dark. It shot a projectile forth from its twisted form.

It had targeted Val. Time seemed to slow down again as I watched a jagged bone spike move through the air at astonishing speed. I had nothing to block the shot. No shield or item I could use to deflect it.

The projectile sailed toward her. While she slowly turned back to see it, I knew she wouldn't react in time, and I had only one reasonable option.

Outro

We'll leave it there for now. You'll have to be patient and wait to find out what happens next. 

I know what you're thinking. How could I not have known that thing was underneath the platform that whole time? Well, as attuned as one can be to impending danger, it's important to know that you'll never get it right 100% of the time. Eventually, something will slip by you. Something you won't consider will occur.

When it does, stay adaptable, and do the best you can to prevent things from getting worse. It's all you can do. 

Time to sleep and recover from the day.

Rest well, adventurers, and good hunting.