The heroes buff themselves and are about to head out when they realize they will need some supplies, and Santos also realizes that he can scry for Darious. What Santos sees is Darious in the Abyssal plane still, slowly being eaten by demons but never dying. The heroes decide that they will save Darious as soon as they can, but Eloric will need some more power to teleport the heroes back to Magehelm out of the Abyssal plane. Santos will teleport them in, Eloric will get them out.

But first the heroes have to move into the radiation field of the Essence spout. Many of the heroes are weakened by the effects and the spell casters (especially Santos) have an uneasy feeling that any kind of spells may result in adverse effects and pain. The heroes come upon an abandoned town and decide to sleep in the town in a rope dimension. This seems like a decent idea, and maybe the best for the circumstances, but these odd blobs begin to approach the window. It scares Ash to no end and he runs away in terror. Taran warns the sleeping heroes that these unholy monstrosities are writhing and making the heroes. The heroes stare down the vile creatures, except Santos who looks like he is going to lose his shit until Taran slaps Santos out of it. Downstairs, Ash is fighting off the monsters while the other heroes chat about what to do. We’re sure he’ll be fine. Ash is holding his own though, for now, unable to land a hit on the pirate. Eloric spends most of his time reminder the heroes to NOT use magic in the invisible tree house. The heroes begin using the window to their advantage and attacking the creatures through the window itself. The heroes realize they need to keep their distance as Ax throws down a lantern to the monsters. They don’t like that fire, but Ash is getting messed up downstairs. Jeric begins swinging with his chain and ALMOST loses it, but Ax is close enough to grab the chain just before it leaves Jeric’s hands. The heroes begin to ignite the foul creatures with fire! Meanwhile Ash has been left to cower in front of these nightmares. The other heroes aren’t concerned it seems. Jeric swings with his chain again, but this time the butter on the chain that he loves proves to be his down fall. Santos and Ax jump down, tired of being neutered by the window. Thanks to Jeric cheering on the heroes’ courage, Ax is able to use his rarely needed Morningstar to slay the last one in front of them. Time to save Ash.

The heroes go off running to save Ash, and Ax decides to destroy 3 of them instantly. Taran and Cesa get scared off and Jeric decides to leave the battle too because he is thinking with his dick. The rest of the heroes save Ash, although he is still freaking out. Santos heals Ash and the party decides to move on. The heroes come up to a ridge and they see a small battle against a beholder and three monstrous blue centaur looking things. As the Beholder begins to both enslave and manipulate the centaurs away, Santos detects that the Beholder is evil but the other creatures aren’t and decide to save them. Ax expertly holds the Beholder, but its current slave prepare for battle. Ash and Jeric move in to wail on the held Beholder. The Beholder breaks out though and begins to unleash hell on the heroes.

The Beholder starts with Jeric and attempts to disintegrate him. Jeric takes the brunt of it, but still stands tall, though more than a little worse for wear. The Beholder then charms Ash; Ash and the Beholder are now best friends. The centaur beasts turn around and beat Jeric to death literally and bring Taran to near death. Eloric decides that one good turn deserves another and disintegrates the Beholder. Maybe Jeric could survive it, but this Beholder is no Worgrave, and before you can blink, the Beholder is a pile of ash. Santos rushes in to save Jeric and although one of the centaurs was certainly going to stop Santos from revivifying Jeric, Ax Starfalls him knocking him prone and blinding him. Santos grabs hold of Jeric’s soul before it went to the Light. Jeric is in stable condition, although not reunited with his family. So you know, nice, not thrilling, but nice. Eloric wraps up the rest of the beasts. The centaurs show their appreciation by deafening the heroes and hurting them. These guys are assholes. The monsters start to demand items from the heroes. While Santos initially gives into the demands and gives up his shield, they beasts all become demanding and try Santos’ good will, making Santos a little less giving. He commands one of them to leave while Jeric tries to help Taran, dealing with a demanding centaur of his own.

Ash decides the time for negotiations is over and starts attacking the one arguing with Jeric. Jeric just can’t seem to get a spell off though. The heroes then try, in futility, attempt to harm the monsters. Eloric nonchalantly melts away one of their hind quarters. Santos awakens the sin in the beast to stun the creature and harm it. This essentially saves Taran, who shows his thanks by running away from Santos who only showed up to heal him. Damnit Tom Cruise. Eloric helps out by blinding the one that Taran left with Santos. Ash gets laid out fairly quickly due to the ferocity of these monsters, but Santos is able to bring him back soon enough. Meanwhile next to a revived Ash, Cesa sneaks up and poisons the beast.

Jeric is able to avoid the full damage of the beast and Taran rejoins the fray. Taran capitalizes on the heroes’ hard work and finishes the one in front of Jeric Cesa and Ash. The other heroes rally up to prepare to finish off the last one. Santos tries to heal people. I mean he is really trying. But everyone runs away from his healing. Ash fuels his blood lust and kills the last beast. With that done, Santos heals the heroes and they carry on until they try to sleep again. Good luck ass holes.

The next morning the heroes regain their spells. Eloric asks if Santos would like to travel to hell and retrieve Darious. Santos says he would, at which point Eloric takes a hit of the pipe and proclaims “Let’s do this shit.” The heroes naturally have some reservations about charging into hell again, so Santos communes with Light. The heroes debate and when Santos comes to, it is decided that there is a difference from doing what is heroic and what is smart. The heroes know that Darious made his sacrifice for a reason. The seal only stands as long as Darious sacrifice stands. Saint Darious, First Torch, Martyr and hero of Majeria, may not have understood his sacrifice before he made it, but it was a sacrifice all the world needed. The heroes also realize that the Plane Shift they were planning would not actually get them where they want to go. It will get them to the plane at the exact spot where they are currently standing, not just the place they want to go. And since the heroes have never been to a place in any other plane where they know Magehelm is on the material plane, a Plane Shift doesn’t help much. The heroes decide to head out on foot. Suddenly, the wind, like a sonic boom, hits the heroes and rushing towards them in the distance is Terminus. The heroes prepare for battle.