The Final Final — Ch 3.8

It’s exam day at the School of ITYS, and the party has one morning to master their feats, cheat a church-history final, and — because they can’t help it — steal back a pair of pants. But every con they run is a distraction from the one they haven’t clocked: something is bleeding through the runes beneath the temple, and the professor who’s been quietly rewriting history is about to sit his own final exam. Who passes when the answer key is written in blood?

Chapter / Episode3.8 — The Final Final
ArcTrinity (New Old)
GMJesse
Date / Duration2025-10-23 · ~2h59m (gameplay from 00:03:09)
PartyXeros (Dave), Nortle (Steve), TBD (Chris), Basil (Brin)
Also[[foulclaw
Ends on[[mutatio

Synopsis

Picking up in Mutatio’s ransacked office the morning after their Sky Rush victory, the party pockets the last of the loot — a lone black Span Quill with no twin, three emeralds and three rubies on a nat-20, and the recovered Book of Chronomancy — and heads out into finals day at the School of ITYS. Every morning now begins with a swig from The Chalice they won at Sky Rush, which widens the “success” band on their elective feats for the day. So the crew fans out to graduate: Basil locks in her balance-and-healing feat by tripping her own brother; Nortle masters his grapple by clobbering the young acolyte Amla mid-prayer with a stump and a scripture quote (“Bring the lamentations of their children!”); and TBD, handed his upgraded axe-guitar Bophades by a cheerfully high Grunsch, attempts Spell Sniper — nat-1s into a Wild Surge, shrinks to the size of his own mini, and accidentally punches a freshman clean through three walls before finally nailing it blindfolded.

Meanwhile Xeros keeps scrying on Morty (last seen fleeing the party’s peer-pressure campaign), finds the nerd happily tutoring a smitten tiefling in the New Old Library, and tips the campus guards for pure mischief. Then the sneering School of Sorcery instructor drags Xeros back to the Hall of Hidden Things for a retry, and the episode’s set-piece unfolds: Xeros fights his personified Xeros’s Sins — Deceit (Basil, as his disappointed parents), Pride (TBD), and an unkillable Lust (Nortle) — with The Chalice dumbing them down. He shrinks Lust with Enlarge/Reduce, Distort Values Pride into “Insecurity,” and finally Shatters Lust to reveal a golden orb that turns out to be a Deck of Oracles. Reborn “vice-free,” Xeros flicks a card at the professor with the line that names the episode.

The whole crew reconvenes for the church-history final, a multiple-choice test they promptly cheat six ways — Basil slips the second Span Quill to a Suggestion-addled Morty and copies his answers, Grunsch bowls bags of Purple Filth across the floor for advantage, and Xeros crawls the room Tom-and-Jerry style to reclaim his own pants off a classmate. But as the answers get circled, Basil’s true sight catches a hallway that shouldn’t be there: a corridor of magical darkness, its guards slaughtered, stairs descending into the temple. The party runs toward it and finds the Defectio Luniae ritual already live — three standing door-portals ringing a giant rune circle, Foulclaw at its center beside Mutatio. Mutatio hands Foulclaw a moon-touched blade; Foulclaw cuts his own throat; the blood spreads through the runes. Then Mutatio pulls back his hood — a bald head branded with one of Old Man Jenkins’ Runes — and the truth lands: the history-rewriting alchemist is the “dead” founder himself. “You can’t kill what’s already dead.” A Hallow spell seals the portal, and the party is locked out with the exam still un-passed.

Player Characters

CharacterPlayerRaceClassNote
XerosDaveTieflingBardConquers his personified Sins in the Hall, wins a [[deck-of-oracles
NortleSteveTortleMonkMasters his grapple by stumping [[amla
TBDChrisGoliathWizardNat-1s Spell Sniper into oblivion (shrinks to mini-size, kills a freshman), then names Mutatio’s true identity
BasilBrinHarengonFighterMasters her balance/heal feat; her true sight finds the ritual — the reason the party ever goes downstairs
[[foulclawFoulclaw]]Jesse (PC)OwlinSorcerer

NPCs

NPCRoleNote
[[mutatioMutatio]]Alchemist-professor, history-forger
[[old-man-jenkinsOld Man Jenkins]]Founder of the Forgotten Hour, presumed dead
[[mortyMorty]]Overachiever student
[[grunschGrunsch]]High half-orc classmate
[[amlaAmla]]Young ITYS acolyte
[[nicoNico]]Instructor / observer

Factions

FactionNote
[[the-church-of-itysChurch of ITYS]]
[[the-seven-shardsThe Seven Shards]]
[[house-of-oldHouse of Old]]
[[killasaurusKillasaurus]]

👹 Monsters

CreatureEncounterNote
[[xeros-s-sinsXeros’s Sins]] — Lust, Pride, DeceitHall of Hidden Things
Cockroaches (×2)The exam-prep desk”Triple your size” to an inch-tall TBD; a gag encounter, never actually fought
[[mutatioMutatio]] / [[old-man-jenkinsOld Man Jenkins]]

🎙️ Notable Moments

00:02:44 — The stream opens not on D&D but on a mayonnaise debate — until the crew pitches a sponsor.

Basil: But it’s the moistest sandwich you’ve ever had. Nortle: It can be mayonnaise — Viagra mayonnaise. Xeros: Viagra Man Mayonnaise. GM: We’re getting into partnerships now — those two things probably go together.

00:34:57 — To master his grapple, Nortle clobbers the praying acolyte Amla with a stump — and justifies it with scripture.

GM: His book of scripture lands open — something about the opposite cheek, how vengeance shall be his… Nortle: Bring the lamentations of their children! It is a sweet savor to my nostrils! Xeros: (scooping the scattered gold) Xeros magically shows up and grabs it all. TBD: Probably the best way to justify a Religion check I’ve ever seen — well done.

00:57:41TBD's Spell Sniper attempts keep coming up nat-1, and the Wild Surge just keeps shrinking him.

TBD: Two nat-1s in a row. Xeros: Dude, how tall are you — you’re microscopic now. TBD: I’m the size of my mini. Nortle: You’re going to end up the Ant-Man of our group.

01:00:44TBD's misfired bolt flings an innocent freshman across the room; Basil keeps "healing" him with her feet.

GM: You punch him through the wall — through like fifty walls, cartoon-style. Xeros: If you roll more than fourteen, he’s just straight dead. Basil: No — I’m going to stomp on him this time. TBD: How do they look upon murder at this school? / GM: He signed the waiver.

01:12:48 — Shrunk to an inch tall and stranded on the desk, TBD meets the campus apex predators.

TBD: Someone! Please pick me up! Xeros: Two cockroaches run up and — roll initiative! Basil: You can’t kill cockroaches, they’re immortal. GM: They’re like triple your size, too.

01:43:42 — In the Hall of Hidden Things, Xeros meets Pride (voiced by TBD) and disarms it the only way a con artist can.

TBD (Pride): No one’s ever going to match up to our potential, baby — we’re better off alone. Xeros: I’m going to Distort Value him — make him feel like less than he really is. GM: You reveal him as insecurity. Pride has been transformed into Insecurity. Xeros: Hi, Insecurity. How’s it going?

01:55:36 — The last sin standing is Lust (voiced by Nortle), and it will not die — every hit just peels a layer.

GM: My gosh, Lust is the most powerful — it’s a slow burn. Xeros: (casting Shatter) I’m just going to Marilyn Monroe this thing. Nortle: All you did was break my chastity belt. There’s nothing wrong with that. Xeros: You were wearing a chastity belt? How? Nortle: It’s all about the suspense, baby.

02:03:46 — Victorious over his vices, a "reformed" Xeros immediately flicks an Oracle card at the professor who doubted him.

GM (Professor): That goes to show how petty you are and how little you learned from this experience. Xeros: I got rid of all my vices — and I’m going to shove this up your ass. GM: Can that be our t-shirt, that all our viewers buy the merch? TBD: …Name of the episode.

02:26:56 — Mid-final, instead of cheating for answers, Xeros crawls the loud floor to reclaim his own pants off a classmate.

GM: Normally the weight of your body would creak every board, but… Xeros: I’m two-fingering it the whole way, like the cat in Tom and Jerry. GM: That’s exactly it. Is this Indiana Jones — but swapping pants for ladies’ underwear? Xeros: When he stands up, he’s going to learn his lesson: never wear my pants.

02:56:20 — Locked out by a wall of force, the party watches Foulclaw's throat get cut — then the hooded ritualist turns around.

TBD: Mutatio — your brother Terry would be ashamed. GM (Mutatio): Terry is dead. You can’t kill what’s already dead. (he removes his hood) GM: On the back of his bald head is one of the runes etched into the body of Jenkins. TBD: …It’s Old Man Jenkins?!

🗺️ Locations

LocationMentioned / TraveledNote
[[new-old-trinity-cityNew Old]]Traveled
[[school-of-itysSchool of ITYS]]Traveled
[[school-of-sorcerySchool of Sorcery]]Traveled
[[school-of-combatSchool of Combat]]Traveled
[[hall-of-hidden-thingsHall of Hidden Things]]Traveled
[[new-old-libraryNew Old Library]]Mentioned
[[portal-beneath-the-templePortal beneath the temple]]Traveled

🎒 Items

ItemUsed / IntroducedNote
[[aether-glass-chaliceThe Aether Glass Chalice]]Used
[[deck-of-oraclesDeck of Oracles]]Introduced
[[bophadesBophades]]Introduced
[[span-quillsSpan Quills]]Used
[[book-of-chronomancyBook of Chronomancy]]Recovered
[[purple-filthPurple Filth]]Used
[[moon-touched-rapierMoon-touched rapier]]Used
[[distort-valueDistort Value]]Used
[[boots-of-leapingBoots of Leaping]]Used
[[the-good-book-of-itysThe Good Book of ITYS]]Used

⛩️ Pantheon & Religion

PowerMentioned / SeenNote
[[father-itysFather ITYS]]Seen (doctrine)
[[seluneSelûne]]Mentioned

Cliffhanger

The hood comes off and the alchemist who’s been rewriting the Forgotten Hour is the “dead” founder himself — Old Man Jenkins, his skull branded with his own runes, Foulclaw’s blood already crawling through the circle to wake the three-door Stargate. A Hallow spell seals the chamber; the party pounds on a wall they cannot break. “You can’t kill what’s already dead.” The exam is the least of their problems.

Echoes of ITYS · 251009-ch3.7-defecto-lunia · 251204-ch3.10-honorary-diploma · Mutatio · Old Man Jenkins · Foulclaw · Defectio Luniae · Portal beneath the temple · Deck of Oracles · The Forgotten Hour · Hall of Hidden Things