The Answer Is Conversion

The Answer Is Conversion — Ch 1.1

A century after a grief-mad necromancer nearly unmade the world, the wreckage has healed into cities, churches, and a fragile, humming peace — and a dying gnome inventor has a job no one else will touch. Six answer her ad: a rock star who casts his spells through a guitar, a rabbit who carries a fallen samurai’s blade, a rogue of the infamous Jenkins line, a cigar-chewing monk, a deeply devout owl, and a gold-skinned bard chasing his second act. Their target: a forbidden island that tore free of the earth and floated into the clouds — and everything between here and there wants them turned back. When the monsters come clicking through the dark, the party’s answer won’t be a sword. The answer is conversion.

Chapter / Episode	1.1 — The Answer Is Conversion
Arc	Above the Clouds
GM	Steve
Date / Duration	2024-05-30 · ~2h17m (gameplay from 00:30:51)
Party	Xeros (Dave), Nortle (Steve, NPC), TBD (Chris), Gypsy Jenkins (Haley), Foulclaw (Jesse), Basil (Brin)
Debut	The “Echoes” party — first outing, ~100 years after ch0.4
Ends on	the party arriving just below the gates of the floating isle, ascent still to come

Synopsis

A hundred years after the necromancer Zen tore the world apart in The Forgotten Hour, the continent of Kouréas has scarred over into industry, religion, and celebrity — and one of the last living eyewitnesses to the cataclysm wants answers. Lashara, the age-bowed gnome inventor who founded her own southern city rather than bow to the dominant faith, hires an unlikely band of local talent to do what her failed envoys could not: reach the isolationist floating isle the mainland calls Levitorum — the chunk of coastline that ripped loose at The Veil-Tear and rose a thousand feet into the sky. The debut of the “Echoes” party is assembled:

• Nortle, a Tortle Monk who hit his pinnacle when he beat his own sister, the Harengon Fighter Basil, in a race in high school — I bet he could throw a ball over those mountains!
• TBD, a guitar-wielding Goliath Wizard and frontman of Killasaurus who knows that rock will never die.
• Basil, the magical katana-wielding Harengon Fighter, who could avoid many a brawl if she could just control her anger… and her mouth.
• Foulclaw, the saintly Owlin Sorcerer, on sabbatical from the School of ITYS to spread the good word of Father ITYS — or maybe his religious roaming becomes a true rumspringa.
• Xeros, the perfect specimen of a Tiefling Bard, kicked out of the boy band that carried his namesake, Year Xeros; his mindless self-indulgence, dark skin, and golden tattoos are the makings of true emo inspiration.

Lashara lays out three tasks: infiltrate the isle, find her missing agent Manni Dugal, and bring back samples of the Veil-Tear’s magic — sweetening the deal by writing the party into her will. With the magical hubs on the fritz and no teleport home, she equips them with a refined Levitating sled (salvaged Aarakocra tech) and sends them south on foot.

The first trial is a tavern in Loch, where the locals offer a free night’s stay to anyone who can beat their higher/lower dice game. What should have been a five-minute wager becomes an eighty-minute farce: Xeros casts Distort Value to cheat and instead saws a screech out of his violin’s G-string, TBD botches a Minor Illusion on the dice cup, and Foulclaw — a lifelong hermit of the School of ITYS — alienates the whole room with his piety. Only the late arrival of Gypsy Jenkins, a Fey-blooded shifter rogue of the notorious Jenkins line, salvages it: she fakes a spilled drink and wins the final bet outright. Pushing on through the mountain pass of The Mantle (the old Choldreth Range), the party finds a derelict cabin clawed to pieces, its dirt pocked with spider-tracks. Xeros disguises the wreck as a cozy palace with an illusion so everyone will sleep easy; the nosy Basil pries open a trunk and finds three Zenzu Fruit — prune-like “helper dice” from the far-off land of Zen. Then the chittering starts: four Choldreth — spider-people, born devoted to the goddess Lolth — come skittering out of the dark.

Rather than fight, the party’s devout owl finds another way. Buffed by Xeros’s Bardic Inspiration and Heroism, Foulclaw throws open the window and plays a charismatic hymn on Xeros’s violin — “the language of spiders” — while Xeros hums descant from the fireplace and Basil keeps time on a tambourine. The song stirs “hideous holy feelings” in the Choldreth, and they skitter off converted, one raising its little dagger in solidarity: the answer, it turns out, is conversion. Dawn brings its own comeuppance — Xeros wanders out to relieve himself and walks straight into the rock-show illusion TBD had left on the porch; startled by the booming announcement of TBD’s next tour date, Xeros wets his pants and curses the “stupid giant man.” Passing through Pearl, where the same magical interference has cut the town off, the party is buttonholed by a frazzled Hippie Wizard who presses experimental Orbs of Aether into their hands — flashback tokens that let them retcon a little preparation when they need it most. They push on through Pearl and the The Barren Drift and come to rest at the very foot of the floating isle, the long climb still ahead of them.

🎵 Song Recap (rhyming — drop into an AI song generator)

Scheme: AABB verses + chorus. Suggested vibe: emo folk-punk pilgrimage anthem — Xeros’s “alchemical romance” solo era.

(Verse 1) A hundred years gone since the world came apart, A gnome with a job and a hole in her heart; She’ll write us her will if we climb to the sky — To an isle in the clouds where the fallen ones fly.

(Chorus) Higher or lower, we’re gambling it all, Down through the Mantle where the spider-folk crawl! Don’t draw a sword when the chittering comes — The answer is conversion, so beat on the drums!

(Verse 2) In the tavern at Loch we were losing our shirts, Till Gypsy walked in and she buried the hurt; A cabin of ruin dressed up like a hall, Three fruit in a trunk and a knock on the wall.

(Verse 3) The owl at the window, the bow and the string, He plays them a hymn and he makes the dark sing; They hiss and they falter, they hate what they are, One raises a dagger and skitters afar.

(Chorus)

(Outro) The answer is conversion — now wet is the dawn, A wizard, an orb, and the party moves on; Below the great gates where the angels reside… We haven’t yet started the climb to El Cinede.

📋 Point-by-point breakdown (player catch-up — everything that happened)

1. 00:30:51 · 📖 Lore — Steve narrates the world: Kouréas, a century after The Forgotten Hour; a rift called The Veil-Tear opened in the southwest and lofted a chunk of coastline into the sky, with Aasimar seen flying toward it.
2. 00:33:29 · 📖 Lore — Lashara introduced: gnome eyewitness-survivor of the cataclysm, who traded faith for science, moved south, and reluctantly gave her name to the city her Lashïng acolytes founded.
3. 00:35:17 · 🧭 Setup — Age-bowed and failing, Lashara canvasses The Sweep with newspaper ads seeking anyone bold enough to go explore the world.
4. 00:36:44 · 🎭 RP — Nortle rounds up the party to answer the ad: half-sister Basil, ex-boss TBD, and old classmate Xeros of the boy band Year Xeros.
5. 00:38:40 · 📖 Lore — Lashara’s briefing: three tasks — reach & infiltrate the floating isle Levitorum, find the missing Manni Dugal, and collect Veil-Tear samples — with the party written into her will as payment.
6. 00:46:28 · 🎒 Gear — With the magical hubs down, she equips them with a refined Aarakocra Levitating sled so they can haul gear on foot.
7. 00:50:00 · 🧭 Travel — The party reaches Loch; the tavern recognizes Xeros and TBD and welcomes them in.
8. 00:51:09 · 🎲 Mechanic — House offer: win a higher/lower dice game and the night’s stay is free (lose, and you might lose something).
9. 00:56:08 · 🎲 Mechanic — Xeros casts Distort Value to cheat, disguising it as tuning his violin; the “G-string” bit screeches and fails.
10. 01:05:39 · 🎲 Mechanic — The party weighs Mage Hand and Minor Illusion to rig the dice cup; TBD’s illusion backfires and the cup just crumples.
11. 01:11:20 · 🎭 RP — Gypsy Jenkins arrives, and the whole game rides on her last bet.
12. 01:14:09 · 🎲 Mechanic — She fakes a spilled drink as a distraction and calls the final roll correctly — free night won.
13. 01:17:41 · 🎭 RP — Gypsy introduces herself: Fey-blooded shifter rogue (wolfish), of the infamous Jenkins line that helped fell Zen.
14. 01:22:06 · 🧭 Travel — Crossing the pass of The Mantle (the old Choldreth Range), they find a derelict cabin, its floor pocked with spider-tracks.
15. 01:29:37 · 🎲 Mechanic — Xeros casts Minor Illusion to dress the wrecked interior up as a pristine palace so everyone sleeps comfortably.
16. 01:35:09 · 📖 Lore — Nosy Basil opens the trunk and finds three Zenzu Fruit — “helper dice” from the far-off land of Zen (a new table mechanic).
17. 01:44:36 · ⚔️ Combat — Four Choldreth (“children,” minions of Lolth) come clicking up to the cabin.
18. 01:47:04 · 🎭 RP — TBD secretly plants an illusion-trap “alarm” scroll on the front porch (a smoke-and-fireworks rock entrance announcing his next show).
19. 01:49:20 · 🎲 Mechanic — Xeros buffs Foulclaw with Bardic Inspiration and Heroism (fear immunity + temp HP) ahead of his gambit.
20. 01:57:20 · 🎭 RP — Instead of fighting, Foulclaw throws open the window and plays a charismatic hymn on Xeros’s violin — “the language of spiders” — with Xeros humming and Basil on tambourine.
21. 02:05:22 · 📖 Lore — The performance converts the Choldreth; repulsed by their own murderous nature, they skitter off, one raising its dagger in solidarity — “one pebble starts an avalanche.”
22. 02:08:31 · 🎭 RP — At dawn Xeros steps out to pee and TBD’s porch illusion fires (announcing TBD’s next show); startled, Xeros wets himself and curses the “stupid giant man.”
23. 02:11:18 · 🎭 RP — In Pearl (cut off by the same magical interference), a frazzled Hippie Wizard presses Orbs of Aether on the party — flashback tokens, one each.
24. 02:16:16 · 🧭 Travel — They push through Pearl and The Barren Drift, ending just below the gates of the floating isle. Next time: the climb.

Player Characters

Character	Player	Race	Class	Note
Xeros	Dave	Tiefling	Bard	The perfect specimen of a Tiefling Bard — kicked out of the boy band that carried his namesake, Year Xeros. His mindless self-indulgence, dark skin, and golden tattoos are the makings of true emo inspiration
Nortle	Steve (NPC)	Tortle	Monk	A Tortle Monk who hit his pinnacle when he beat his own sister, the Harengon Fighter Basil, in a race in high school — I bet he could throw a ball over those mountains!
TBD	Chris	Goliath	Wizard	A guitar-wielding Goliath Wizard and frontman of Killasaurus who knows that rock will never die (legal name Trivarius Bjornegar Dik)
Gypsy Jenkins	Haley	Shifter	Rogue	Fey-blooded, wolfish rogue of the infamous Jenkins line; arrives late in Loch and wins the free room on the final bet
Foulclaw	Jesse	Owlin	Sorcerer	The saintly Owlin Sorcerer, on sabbatical from the School of ITYS to spread the good word of Father ITYS — or maybe his religious roaming becomes a true rumspringa. Converts the Choldreth this session — the episode’s climax
Basil	Brin	Harengon	Fighter	The magical katana-wielding Harengon Fighter, who could avoid many a brawl if she could just control her anger… and her mouth (she/her)

NPCs

NPC	Role	Note
Lashara	Gnome inventor & patron	Eyewitness-survivor of the Forgotten Hour; hires the party, writes them into her will, equips the levitating sled; cast as “Satan” in the Church’s scripture
Manni Dugal	Missing Lashïng agent	Gnome Lashara sent to the isle who went silent (referred to as “they”); finding them is task two
Hippie Wizard	Frazzled mage of Pearl	Magically over-juiced; presses Orbs of Aether (flashback tokens) onto the party

Factions

Faction	Note
The Lashïngs	Lashara’s order of acolyte-scientists who followed her south; now progressive and mixed-membership; Manni is one
The Church of ITYS	Dominant faith of Kouréas (new-wave vs orthodox); Foulclaw is a devout convert; its scripture paints Lashara as a Satan figure
Year Xeros	Xeros’s former hit boy band (the X is silent); its collapse pushed him toward a grim solo career

👹 Monsters

Monster	Threat / Role	Note
Choldreth	Cabin ambush — converted, not killed	Four spider-people of the Mantle; intelligent but not sapient, born devoted to Lolth, don’t speak Common. They approach the cabin by night and are turned to the Church of ITYS by Foulclaw’s hymn instead of being fought — the episode’s namesake beat

🎙️ Notable Moments

00:40:06 — Lashara offers to write the party into her will instead of paying gold, and the crew appraises her "generosity."

TBD: She’s got a city named after her. She can’t spare a few gold coins? Xeros: It just means she’s going to have to die really quickly after we do this job. Basil: …And I very humbly want to make those books.

00:56:08 — Told to make a sleight-of-hand check to slip a spell past the gamblers, Xeros reveals the one spell he brought for exactly this.

Xeros: So, hilariously, one of the only spells I have is called Distort Value. Basil: He casts it on himself every morning.

01:12:37 — With the whole game riding on the just-arrived Gypsy, Xeros insists on loudly "praying" over her gambling — so Steve finds a solution.

Xeros: Pray while I kick her ass. Gypsy Jenkins: Could you pray a little quieter, please? GM (Steve): Here — I’ll just mute his microphone. Foulclaw: There’s been a button for that the whole time?

01:17:41 — Gypsy finally introduces herself, and her family résumé rattles the devout owl.

Gypsy Jenkins: My name is Gypsy Jenkins. I’m a descendant of the Jenkins line — the original killer of Zen, the Great Satan. Foulclaw: …What? But — continue. Gypsy Jenkins: You can believe what you want over there, little bird.

01:20:02 — Gypsy explains her freshly sharpened shifter eyesight; Xeros gives it a more scriptural gloss.

Gypsy Jenkins: I can see in 20/20 now — I got laid, so I can see now. Xeros: Yes. She read the good book, and now she can see.

01:36:17 — Basil ransacks the cabin trunk hoping for gems and pulls out three strange little fruit instead.

Basil: I’m looking for a little snack, but these don’t look normal. Check these for me. GM (Steve): …Zenzu fruit. TBD: From the far-off land of Zen.

01:40:33 — Steve finishes explaining how the new helper-dice can even cheat death, then names them very, very carefully.

GM (Steve): If you’ve got three of them and you’re about to die, you discard all of them and they save you… Like senzu beans — but they’re zenzu fruit, because I am legally distinct. Xeros: Yes — do you want to get sued?

01:57:20 — Four Choldreth are closing on the cabin. Instead of drawing steel, Foulclaw — buffed with Heroism — reaches for the violin. (the episode's namesake climax, part 1)

Foulclaw: They may not speak Common… but I know the language of spiders. Xeros taught me a few songs, and I’m going to pluck the strings like you’d pluck a web — a very charismatic hymn. Xeros: If you need someone to harmonize, I’ll just hum in the background… while I’m sitting in the fire.

02:02:49 — As the hymn works on them, Steve narrates exactly how the Choldreth are taking it.

GM (Steve): They don’t just attack — they’re coming closer. They look confused, and a little angry… and maybe slightly aroused.

02:05:42 — The hymn breaks the spiders' devotion to Lolth, and the episode earns its title. (namesake climax, part 2)

GM (Steve): It stirs all sorts of horrible holy feelings inside of them… they’re repulsed. They hate themselves now — they skitter off, and one of them raises a dagger up in solidarity, clatters its mandibles, and follows. Xeros: It takes one pebble in the pond… TBD: Isn’t the catchphrase, “I told you so”? GM (Steve): …And as they chitter away — I told you so.

02:08:38 — At dawn Xeros steps outside to pee — and walks straight into the rock-show illusion TBD had planted on the porch.

GM (as TBD’s illusion): TO HELL WITH THE DEVILS! …See you at my next show, in the town of Tork! Lasers! Xeros: I straight-up pee. I have. And I am super pissed off right now. GM (Steve): …while urine leaks down his leg. Xeros: Stupid giant man.

🗺️ Locations

Place	Mentioned / Traveled	Note
Kouréas	Traveled	The continent, devastated a century ago by Zen; criss-crossed by malfunctioning magical hubs
ITYS (the city)	Mentioned	The party’s northern home city (districts New Old, the Commons, ITYS proper); seat of the Church
Lashara	Mentioned	The industrial southern city Lashara founded and reluctantly lent her name; site of her labs and the briefing
The Sweep	Mentioned	Northern region near the home cities where Lashara ran her recruitment ads
Loch	Traveled	Tavern town; free room won at the higher/lower dice game
The Mantle	Traveled	Mountain pass (old Choldreth Range); home of the Choldreth; site of the cabin
Pearl	Traveled	Town beyond the pass, cut off by the magical interference; home of the Hippie Wizard
The Barren Drift	Traveled	Southern-tip wasteland beneath the floating isle; the party crosses it to reach the gates
Levitorum	Approached	The isolationist floating isle severed at the Veil-Tear; the party’s destination — reached only to its foot this session
School of ITYS	Mentioned	The Church’s monastery-university where Foulclaw studied and the “animal people” class met

🎒 Items

Item	Used / Introduced	Note
Levitating sled	Introduced	Refined Aarakocra tech (Tenser’s-disc analog); hauls the party’s gear so they need no mounts
Zenzu Fruit	Introduced	Three found in the cabin trunk; crack for a die value, then spend for rerolls, bonuses, extra attacks, or a death save
Orb of Aether	Introduced	Pressed on the party in Pearl; grants each a Flashback Token to retcon prior preparation (roll to confirm)
TBD’s illusion-trap scroll	Used	TBD’s pre-written “alarm” illusion (smoke, fireworks, an announcement of his next show); planted on the cabin porch, it fires at dawn and startles Xeros into wetting himself
Xeros’s violin	Used	Xeros’s own instrument; Foulclaw plays it to pluck the spider-converting hymn

⛩️ Pantheon & Lore

Entry	Mentioned / Seen	Note
ITYS	Invoked	”I Told You So” — the dominant faith Foulclaw preaches; the Choldreth are claimed for the new wave (payoff: “as they chitter away… I told you so”)
Lolth	Mentioned	Spider goddess of the Underdark; the Choldreth are born with innate devotion to her, which is what makes converting them hard
Gog	Invoked	Deity Xeros prays to at the gambling table (“dear Gog…”)
Zen	Mentioned	The grief-mad necromancer whose defeat was the Forgotten Hour; namesake of the far land the Zenzu Fruit hail from; Gypsy’s line helped kill him
The Forgotten Hour	Mentioned	The century-old cataclysm; its details lost to bad record-keeping and myth-making; Lashara survived it
The Veil-Tear	Mentioned	The rift that severed and lofted the floating isle; Lashara wants samples of its planar-flavored magic
Aasimar	Mentioned	Angelic, many-eyed celestials seen flying toward the isle after the cataclysm; presumed to populate it
Aarakocra	Mentioned	Birdfolk who washed ashore a century ago bearing the magical tech behind the levitating sled
The Spires	Mentioned	The teleport/communication hub network, currently on the fritz — why Manni went silent and Pearl is cut off

Cliffhanger

Through the Mantle, past the converted spiders, through Pearl and the Barren Drift — the party comes to rest at the very foot of the isle the mainland calls Levitorum, a thousand feet of empty air between them and the gates. The climb hasn’t even started. How strong is your faith?

Transcript

Full cleaned transcript: 240530-ch1.1-the-answer-is-conversion-transcript.

Related

Echoes of ITYS · prev: 240307-ch0.4-revenge-in-121-years · next: 240626-ch1.2-are-you-not-entertained · Lashara · El Cinede · Choldreth · The Church of ITYS · Zenzu Fruit · The Mantle · Foulclaw