Behold the wonders of the Trashlands. History-making festivals! Beasts of sky and soil! And of course, the world famous Thirsty Falls, one of the most beautiful, mysterious, and deadly natural wonders Cordelia has to offer. Enjoy nature's majesty while keeping children and loved ones far away. Enemies though, are welcome to explore the canyon's rim, as well as its floor.
Summary[]
The party leaves Riddle Guy early in the morning to head back towards Ruleshaven. They talk among themselves about the last few days, with Albee and Cordelia catching up on their complicated relationships with Bellow and Ivan. Stirfry pries about the same with Bellow and asks Ivan about how to better control his urges, only to decide he’s not ready for that sort of commitment.
Their path is blocked by a mass of vultures. Cordelia and Bellow speak with them to learn that they found a dead dire coyote, which suddenly reanimates and addresses the party. It introduces itself as SERVANT, a demon that raves about the nature of reality, time and flesh in between stiffly conversing with the party members. He attacks them, but after a brief struggle Cordelia places Cheddar’s coins over its eyes. The corpse stops moving and is absorbed by the earth, only for a nearby cow skull to shout about the weakness of flesh in SERVANT’s voice. Frederick de Bonesby turns back to try and run it over, only to find the demon has vanished.
They reach Thirsty Falls, a bridge leading over Cordelia’s only “dry waterfall.” Skeletons, buildings and other debris fall eternally from a spot hundreds of feet above a canyon only to be teleported back to the same spot when they would hit the bottom. As the only way across, they start to advance when one of the falling cow skeletons comes to life. SERVANT possesses the body to shout at the party that they must remain in The Trashlands and not return to their school. It smashes its body repeatedly on the bridge until Cordelia repeats her trick with her demonic coins, briefly banishing it. The damage is still done as the bridge begins to collapse.
After many close calls and near falls, the party works together to rush across the bridge. Frederick abandons The Shish Kebab Express to ride with Stirfry and Albee crosses with Bellow on Fanta. Cordelia has to throw Ivan to avoid breaking the bridge with their combined weight, but he runs over the edge while blindly hiding in his hoodie. Ivan falls, only to be teleported back up again. The party combines their efforts to catch him and drag him back in before they all fall into the falls.
As they celebrate their victory, The Witch Hunter and Joshy sit in The Teenage Woods. Joshy is placed in a pentagram and blows the ruined remains of a cockroach into it, presumably the former body of Cheddar. Cheddar possesses Joshy, recognizing the witch hunter who tells him to call her Virginia. The demonic patron reads Joshy’s mind and mutters “Oh no.”
Link[]
https://rudetalesofmagic.simplecast.com/episodes/thirsty-falls-part-1-lJ5Bg0tT