Previously: Chapter 15: The Man Behind the Curtain
The Wrath of the Spider
The party sees Nezznar getting into a fighting stance, and can spot the bugbear in the back of the room taking out a warhorn, to signal reinforcements. The doors behind them being closed and locked, they have no way out, so they immediately try to spread out, with Demetrius taking the first strike throwing a dagger straight at Nezznar. He retaliates by summoning large spider webs from his staff, trapping most of the party.
Even though they see the bugbear preparing to summon help, the party focuses on the true danger: Nezznar. With all their might and magic, they pummel him with attacks, which overcomes him and he falls to the ground as the spider amulet around his neck shatters. He screams in horror at the development, and lies writhing on the ground as the bugbear blows the horn. Willowbark summons a panther from her Bag of Tricks, and it approaches Nezznar in order to finish him off. The panther bites into his neck, and Nezznar goes limp.
The bugbear stares at his master, and over to the party, first with disbelief, but then has a slight smile. The body of Nezznar suddenly begins to convulse violently, as large spider legs come out of him as his lower torso transforms into that of a spider.
“I have been on this plane for over 3000 years, did you really think my path would end with you?!”
Nezznar reveals his true form to the party as that of a drider. Although it is a monstrosity, Granny is not too familiar with this creature, but can tell that he has very thick skin, making it hard to penetrate. As she tries and fails to attack him, he snidely tells her that she is getting too old for this. As Demetrius attempts to strike him, he asks him sarcastically how his mother is doing.
Theren tries to fire his eldritch blast at him, but the Black Spider is too quick for him, and he growls at Theren “pathetic!” and summons his children into the field, as three giant spiders emerge from the ceiling and drop down to assist. Willowbark sees the battle isn’t going the way they hoped and turns into a bear, before attacking and killing the bugbear. Theren takes out his coin, speaks the command word, and darkness erupts from it. He throws the coin into the corner, bathing the area in darkness, providing cover from Nezznars attacks.
Penny casts a repelling spell at Nezznar, which he surprisingly is unable to resist, so he is forced away from her, and climbs on top of the statue to the north of the room, before uttering a foul incantation to his god.
“Forgotten one! Lend me your power to defeat my enemies!”
As he says this, he is covered by a veil of horror, as his visage turns bleak, with large shadowy tentacles emerging from his body, as he takes his form of dread. As this happens, reinforcements arrive, and three more bugbears enter the room from the hallway to the east. Willowbark uses her spell scroll of erupting earth to damage Nezznar, as well as take down a spider. He retaliates with a hellish rebuke, and nearly kills her. He turns to her directly, and screams at her.
“I will kill you and then I will burn down your whole fucking forest. Your family will die for nothing!”
He blasts her again with a powerful spell, causing her to take a vast amount of necrotic damage, and goes unconscious. Kal runs over to her and heals Willowbark. She awakens, alive, but badly hurt. At this point, most of the party hides from Nezznar in the darkness that Theren summoned, but Granny bravely emerges to attack Nezznar, who is on his way to finish them off. She manages to get in a couple of hits, but the Spider looms over her.
“That was foolish. Brave, but foolish.”
He takes his sword, and slices Granny several times in succession. She keels over, as the attack was too much for her to bear. Still alive, but in grave danger.
The Fall of Nezznar
Kal in a desperate attempt channels the wrath of Udall, and sends a lightning bolt to strike her foe. Nezznar laughs at her “weak” attempt of destroying him, and moves closer to the darkness in the corner. She strikes him once more, which proves to be a fatal mistake, as he suddenly erupts in an explosion of necrotic energy. Penny, Theren and Willowbark all keel over and close their eyes, close to death. Granny stops moving, her final breath expended.
Demetrius suddenly comes jumping out of the darkness, and to Nezznars shock and surprise, the blade makes contact with his neck, as Demetrius shouts “For my mother!”. He uses all of his weight and momentum to violently slam the drider down to the ground. Nezznar lies on the ground, convulses for a few seconds, before he stops breathing. His wound sizzles with necrotic energy.
Demetrius stands there in total shock of what he just did, before he starts moving over to his friends. He reaches Penny and Granny, and tries to stabilize them, but realizes that it is too late for the tortle. Kal comes out of the darkness after making sure Willowbark and Theren are okay, and walks over to Granny. She sits down, with her, looking at her wounds, before pulling out the scroll of revivify they found at Cragmaw Castle, saying the short incantation required to activate the scroll, and places her palm on the chest of the tortle. Demetrius and Penny see a violent storm brew within Kal, as lightning emanates from her core, running down her arm, and into Granny. The tortle opens her eyes, as she is brought back to life.
With the rest of the party saved, they decide to look through the room and check the body of Nezznar, which is still sizzling with energy, leaking from his wound. At the table they find various maps and notes about the cave, a few gemstones and golden cups, as well as a pouch filled with various coins. Most interestingly they find a translucent stone that glows from within with blue and green. Theren recognizes it as a Hearthstone, allowing quick travel to a previously set destination.
On Nezznar himself, they retrieve his staff, his sword, which Granny takes, as well as a small rock with a face, decorated with a spider. A sending stone, one of two. He also carries in his inner pocket a letter that speak of the key, written in elvish:
“It is of the utmost importance that you retrieve the key - M”
Granny, having come to again, takes out a few vials and gathers some poison from the spiders, before the group decides that they should take a short rest in the safety of the temple before moving on towards the Forge of Spells itself. As they sit down to take a breather, they can hear approaching footsteps from the hallway to the east, but as the group stops talking, they stop, and after a few seconds they can hear them hurriedly run away. Theren runs after to see if he can spot anyone, but they have disappeared. Worried that they will return, the party takes the rest with an extra eye on the hallway.
Too Late
When the party feels rested enough to continue, they decide to head to the eastern hallway to explore further. There is a locked door to the north, and when they try the keys that they found on Nezznars corpse, it opens. Inside the room is dark, cold, and has the distinct odor of death. Looking in, the room seems to at one point have been used as a living quarters for the one who looked over the shrine, but now being used for a prison cell. At the center of the room, the second Rockseeker brother lies unmoving. They examine his body, and discover it to be badly beaten and tortured, presumably for information he was unable to give.
Willowbark does whatever she can do for him, and druidcrafts some flowers from her seeds, and places them on his chest, along with some nice rocks and sticks she has picked up along the way. She kneels down next to him, performs her ritual and delivers a small prayer, hoping that the spirit can be guided to its final resting place. The rest of the party looks on from a distance, with a sorrowful expression on their face, having failed their mission to save Gundren’s brother. When Willowbark finishes her impromptu burial, they leave the corpse where it lay, and locks the doors behind them, letting the dwarf remain undisturbed until it can get a permanent resting place.
Towards the Forge
Continuing their journey along the eastern hallway, the party arrives at a vast ravine where the recently arrived bugbear reinforcements have been engaged in extensive excavation work. The sight of ladders, ropes, and tools designed for breaking and moving rocks indicates their relentless search for anything of importance. Seeing the potential, the party decides to thoroughly investigate the area, hoping to uncover valuable artifacts or information.
With the potential for discovery, they dedicate a few hours to carefully exploring and excavating the site. After a while, fatigue begins to set in, but just as their energy wanes, Theren stumbles upon the remains of a dwarf buried beneath a pile of rocks. Judging by the dwarf's age and the collapsed cavern, it becomes evident that the unfortunate soul had been trapped there for several centuries.
Most of the dwarf's belongings hold little significance, but Theren's attention is drawn to a pair of gloves worn by the deceased. Noting the markings on the gloves, he deduces that they are likely Gauntlets of Ogre Power. Recognizing their potential value, he carefully removes the gauntlets from the dwarf's lifeless hands, acknowledging the usefulness they might provide. After having found little else of value, the party decides to continue onwards toward the forge itself.
The party makes their way up the other side of the ravine, as they can see what appears to be an old river that has since died out or been cut off, most likely by the ravine as it collapsed. Helping each other climb to the other side, they discover that the waterway leads to the chamber where they fought the flameskull, with the river once feeding the furnace the dwarves used for crafting weapons for use with the magical forge. Continuing onwards, they reach the end of the waterway, and discover a huge underground lake which gives the cave its name, as massive waves slam against the walkway, causing the whole area to be drenched in water, before the water recedes, repeating the pattern.
Seeing as the walkway has been polished smooth by the years of water washing it, they realize the danger of crossing it, and so make sure to use ropes to tie to each other, in order to safely cross without falling into the water. Seeing movement in the depths below, they figure they don’t want to fight whatever resides below, waiting for them. After safely getting the last member across, they continue southwards toward the final area, presumably the Forge itself.
The Forge of Spells
When the party reaches the large cavern they could spot on the other side of the glowing mushroom cave, Granny discovers that the walls appear to be covered by runes, surrounded by glowing gemstones embedded in the rock. Theren figures that the runes are probably in place in order to focus the magic to a certain point, presumably the Forge of Spells. WIllowbark tries to detect magic, but is overwhelmed by the sensation, as magic energy covers the entire chamber, but is stronger near one of the buildings that have been built into the cave. Demetrius walks over to the door of the building and peeks inside.
Within, he can see three cauldrons of flames, blue, green and red, but the green is shining much brighter than the others. Beyond them there is a big platform with an ornate anvil, radiating with purple energy, presumably fed by the cauldrons. Next to the anvil they see an ornate mace lying, covered in dust. They found the Forge of Spells. Behind it, on the wall, there appears to be a crack, wide enough for someone to walk through, with a red glow coming from within. Even Demetrius, who has no arcane or divine abilities, can feel the energy of magic flowing in the room.
As the party enters the room and begins to explore, looking around the various workbenches to see if there are any interesting loot or hints to what Nezznar was looking for. Just as Penny is about to touch one of the weapons, she can hear a voice saying “I wouldn’t do that if I were you”.
From hiding in the ceiling, a creature suddenly appears, floating down. It is green, has a big eye and mouth dominating most of its round body, as well as four eyestalks that come out of it, looking at the party. The being approaches Penny, and speaks weirdly good common, telling her that it really doesn’t want to kill her, or anyone, and so asks them to please not touch anything. It says that the party is free to look around however, as long as they don’t disturb anything.
The party looks perplexed at the being, seemingly so friendly, but looking so abnormal. They ask how long it has been there, with it telling that it must have been a couple of years now, it is unsure, but it was summoned around when the forge first was made. The party realizes that the creature has a bad sense of time, and asks for a name they can call it, but it tells them rather confidently that it has no name. They try to tell it that the cave has faced an attack and a large part of it collapsed, and everyone who worked in the Forge is long dead. It tells them that that cannot be right. It heard a great commotion a while back, and some stuff collapsed, but nobody came to relieve it so it still has a job to do. And it prides itself on doing a good job, as a wraith keeps coming in, trying to approach the forge, but the creature chases it away every time, looking happy with itself.
The party asks about the function of the forge, and the creature gladly tells them that the forge works by channeling energy from different planes of existence. The middle one is still sort of functioning, but it cannot get the other two to work, no matter what it tries. They ask to describe the wraith, and it tells them that it looks like a typical elf, kind of transparent, but definitely an elf. It keeps introducing itself, and the creature has a hard time remembering what he says he is called, but remembers it begins with M. Penny suggests Mormesk, and the creature happily exclaims “Yes, that was it! Mormesk! Interesting fellow”.
The Key
The party looks at the crack in the wall, asking the creature if it is okay for them to check it out. It responds that it wasn’t there when he was summoned, and so isn’t part of his responsibilities, so they are free to do as they please inside. They enter, and can see what appears to be a natural cave, but without any entrances other than the crack in the wall. In front of them, they see the source of the red glow, as two large hooded statues stand next to what is unmistakably the key they have seen illustrated on the various pieces of parchment throughout the cave. It seems to be made of gold and platinum, and is covered in a weird writing that looks like a mix of celestial and abyssal.
As this is happening, Willowbark and Penny are talking to the creature, which seems to be very happy having someone to finally talk to, and asks the party to stay for a long time. They both manage to accidentally convince him that they have been telling the truth the whole time, that the cave collapsed 400 years ago, and that the wizards are all dead. The creature looks disappointed at first, and then exclaims that if what they’re saying is true, then he has no purpose anymore, and suddenly vanishes in an instant. They both blink, confused, and then go to join the others in the chamber. As Penny tries to go through the crack, she can feel a force holding her back, but she manages to get through with a little effort.
The party stares at the key hanging from the wall, Demetrius walks over to it, and tries to pick it up. Nobody tries to stop him, but as he stretches his hand out to reach for it, something within him stops him, and he gets the feeling that he cannot do it, so he retreats. Penny sees this and tries to pick it up as well. Noticing that the chamber tried to keep her out, the party brings a few protests, but Penny doesn’t care. She sees a shiny thing, and by the gods she is going for it.
As she reaches out, her fingers make contact with the key, grabs it, and she pulls it free of the wall. For a moment, nothing happens, but she can suddenly hear a voice from deep within her mind.
“A new hand touches the key…”
Penny gets pulled into a void, filled with nothingness, with her party members disappeared, leaving her alone in the empty space. The voice returns, speaking of her bloodline, that many call tainted, but the voice considers it the purest of all.
Penny looks around to find the source of the voice, but she is all alone. It sounds like it is coming from her own mind, but at the same time circling her, as if the source of the voice is walking in circles around her. It speaks of her childish desire to be independent, and claims to see greatness in her future, her whole path laid in front of her, and that it can lead her to the path to that greatness. Penny is unconvinced at first, but then the voice speaks of Morgan, her lost mentor.
“I know where your beloved Morgan lies. It is not too late. With my help, you will help him. And in turn, you will help me… Do you accept my gift?”
Penny thinks about it for a while, but decides to accept, much to the joy of the voice. It tells her to use its gift, and as the first step is always the hardest, she is past the worst hurdle. It also explains to her that with each part of his “gift” she will become stronger, and come closer to her goal of greatness. The voice grows more distant, before it vanishes completely, and Penny is suddenly back in the chamber, holding the key in her hand. The others have not felt anything happening, and no time has passed for them, but Penny can feel the experience has drained her, causing her to become exhausted.
The party sees that Penny has grown more lethargic, and notices that she can’t move at her usual pace, so they question her about what happened, but she just gives a vague excuse about the experience being a bit much. When asked, she tells Theren that she feels as if the item “accepted” her, but when he asks if he can use the identify spell on the item, she becomes hesitant, as that would require him to touch it. Worried, but with nothing they can do, the party emerges from the chamber, and returns to the Forge.
Exploring the Forge
Now, as the creature has vanished, they are free to look around the room. They find a few weapons that seem to be prepared to be enchanted, but for now they are just mundane. Kal goes to examine the mace that lies next to the forge, but discovers that this too is unfinished. She puts it on the anvil, hoping that something happens, but nothing does. Granny comes across a breastplate on one of the benches that seems to be finished, possibly magical.
Theren, examining the various papers and notes on the workbench, and not understanding any of it, notices in the corner of his eye another tarot card, identical to the one they found in Venomfang’s lair. He picks it up, examines it, and takes note that it is not covered in dust, although it lay underneath a sheet of paper, as if it was just placed there. He looks around where he found it, finding the dust to be undisturbed. Curious, he places it with the other card they found, and a small flash, barely visible appears for a split second. Seems the party is starting a collection.
After putting away the cards, he turns his attention to the forge itself, specifically the cauldrons feeding it. He guesses that the blue cauldron is aligned with the elemental plane of water, the red with the elemental plane of fire, while the middle one exerts positive energy, what can best be described as life. Together they fuel the forge, but as two of them seem to be malfunctioning, there is little to be done. Demetrius walks over and puts one of his daggers in the middle cauldron, and when he takes it out he finds it to be imbued with magic, albeit temporarily.
The group is unsure what to do next, and Willowbark worries about the wrath that the creature spoke about that seems to be interested in the Forge. They decide to wait around as Theren sits down to do the ritual on the magic breastplate they found, and discovers that it is a breastplate called Dragonguard, that was made to be effective against dragons and their attacks. Just as the spell releases however he realizes why they feel the air itself being magical, as a wild magic surge happens, and Theren grows to twice his size, exclaiming in annoyance.
The Wraith
After a short while, Theren shrinks back down to his regular size, and the party is relieved that they didn’t have to fight the creature from before, as that could have been catastrophic. They decide to explore the final building just south of them, figuring that is where Mormesk must reside. Walking there they can feel that the magic grows weaker, which is somehow a relief. They come to a set of double doors leading inside, and Demetrius decides to examine them for traps. Feeling confident that the doors are safe, he opens them, and walks inside. The room is trashed, with books and parchment scattered across the floor, and most of the furniture has been ruined over the years, and it seems like a fireball went off at one point. In the corner, he can spot a chest that seems to be intact.
Walking over to it, he can suddenly feel a rush of cold air overcoming him, and he can hear a menacing disembodied voice coming from the area around the chest.
“Your presence is offensive to me, your life forfeit. My treasures are mine alone, not yours to plunder!”
A wraith, clearly elven when it was alive, suddenly appears in a flash of blue light, ready to pounce on Demetrius, but the rest of the party comes rushing in, trying to calm it down, saying they meant no offense, they were just exploring the abandoned building. It seems to listen to them, and doesn’t attack immediately. It introduces itself as Mormesk, and tells them that he lacks access to the forge, and that he has to “leave”, but he cannot as long as he is hindered in finishing his task.
The party tells him that the creature in the forge has disappeared, as they convinced him that his job was done. This seems to cause the wraith a great relief, and he tells them that the creature didn’t recognize its creator, and tried to attack him. With the creature now gone, the wraith tells the party that he will go and finish his last task, and that the party is free to take whatever treasures remain in his quarters as a reward. Mormesk suddenly begins moving in a straight line towards the forge, so the party runs towards it, not wanting to miss the show.
As the party returns to the forge, they can feel that the magic is even more powerful now, but at the same time more contained. Opening the doors they witness Mormesk placing his hand into each of the cauldrons that were dormant, causing them to flare up as the energy is renewed. He then turns his attention towards the anvil. The party cannot see a hammer, but Mormesk summons a spectral hammer in his hand, picks up the mace that Kal placed on the anvil, and begins hammering it with energy.
With each strike, the cauldrons flare, and the form of Mormesk becomes more and more defined, as if he is returning to his old self, and the party is almost blinded by the energy of the magic being imbued into the mace. After a few minutes, Mormesk has returned to his former self, a magnificent elf with a silver crown, and elegant clothes. He picks up the mace, holds it up in the air, and utters the word “perfect”. As he vanishes in the blink of an eye, the mace drops to the floor. Theren goes to pick it up.
After witnessing the creation of the magic item, they return to the wizard’s chambers, and decide to look in the chest, finding a few useful items, a few diamonds, some gold, and a pipe with patina on it. Seems to be a magical pipe that can help read people.
Looking around the room, Penny finds a book that piques her interest, as she can feel a magic energy emanating from it. Opening it up, she finds it to be a Songbook of Sorcery, allowing her to get some sorcerous powers that can fuel her spells. Searching the rest of the room for other oddities they also find a map hidden between a couple of pages of a book. It seems to be describing a location near some mountains, but it is written in dwarven, meaning they cannot understand it. Based on the layout, it seems to be near the Twilight Peaks in the far north.
Clearing Out the Cave
The party returns to the final area they barely glanced at when they took the final path towards Nezznar, seeing a large cavern with an indoor lake of dark water, impossible to see through. Granny and Penny goes swimming, as Penny has a cap of water breathing, and Granny can hold her breath for long periods, they decide to scour the depths of the lake, in search of lost treasures.
As they use a long time, Theren sits down to identify the various objects they found, and finds that the mace, called Lightbringer, is particularly effective against undead, and can bring light just as the Longsword of Twilight can, so he hands it to Kal, as it is perfect for her. She gladly accepts it.
Granny and Penny eventually emerge from the depths, having found a long lost skeleton that had a few valuables on it, but both of them feels that the wand that it was holding is the most exciting thing, and quickly hands it to Theren to identify. He discerns that it is a Wand of Magic Missiles, quite useful against difficult to hit enemies. He hands it to Willowbark, as she could make good use of it.
Feeling confident they have found what is left to find in the cave, they return to where they heard the footsteps earlier. Willowbark wild shapes into a wolf as they have a great sense of smell, with Granny helping her by finding the tracks of whatever almost encountered them. They follow the path, and Granny sees by the tracks that it is humanoid. It eventually leads them back to the ravine, ands tops at the rope leading back up to the exit.
They decide to head outside to check if Gundren is okay, and as they emerge, they don’t see him at first, but when they make themselves known, he emerges from some bushes and hurriedly runs towards the party, happy to see them again. They ask if he saw anyone emerge from the cave, and he tells them that he saw a drow walk out a while back, and that he moved toward the forests to the west, out of sight. Gundren asks if they found his brother, to which they share the sad news about his demise. Theren gives him back the map of the cave, the last remnant of their quest. Gundren quietly goes over to the grave he dug for his brother when the party was exploring the cave, and sits down, grieving in silence.
After Gundren returns to them, still teary eyed, he asks about what the party found, and they tell him about Nezznar, his minions, the undeads, the forge itself, the wraith, and lastly, the Key. He thanks them for the information, taking note of everything they tell him, and figures he has to find a way to remove the corpse of the Black Spider, as the party could still see it sizzling with necrotic energy just before they left.
Not wanting anyone else to come across the cave and taking it for themselves, they decide to camouflage the entrance, hoping to hide it from other treasure hunters. The party gathers their equipment and places them on the horses, while Gundren goes to say goodbye to his brother, before joining them on the journey back to Phandalin.
Back to the Beginning
During the trek back, Theren experiences more mishaps, as his hair has disappeared during one of the rests, and begins to suspect that the deck of cards that he bought from The Feylocker may have had a curse on it. Casting identify on it confirms his suspicions, and if he takes too long to draw a card, he gets “punished”. He decides to wait until they’re back in Phandalin before he draws any cards, not wanting to risk delaying the return.
When they eventually reach Phandalin at dusk, Sildar can see their approach, and so comes to greet the party. Happy to see Gundren again, he asks how it went, considering his friend seems a bit gloomy. THe party tells him that his brothers didn’t make it, with Sildar expressing his condolences. The party updates him on the status of the forge, and that they managed to clear out the cave. They also talk about the Black Spider, and tell Sildar that they managed to defeat him, but that one of his minions, another drow, managed to escape from the party, and ran away to the west. Sildar tells them he will see what he can do about finding him.
Penny gets closer to the discussion, and shows Sildar the key she picked up in the cave by lifting part of her bag that is hiding it. He calmly walks over to her, lowers the flap to hide it, and tells her that she should be more careful with who she shows it to. He doesn’t know what it is, but he recognizes divine writing when he sees it. She asks if he wants to take it from her, but he tells her that he is a Forgeblade, and has no interest in such things, being a protector, not a conqueror. They ask if he knows who to talk to about it. Sildar thinks for a moment, before mentioning that someone close to the king might know more. He tells them to seek out Bertram Honeypot, as he would probably know something useful about the item.
The party thanks Sildar for the experience, and he bows in return. Gundren chimes in, having come to after the journey, and tells the party that as promised, he will give them a share of the profits when he gets the forge up and running again. They all head back towards the center of Phandalin to check in to the tavern, wanting the rest of the evening to calm down.
Winding Down
The party separates and does their own thing for the rest of the night. Penny runs to the Lionshield Coster just as it is about to close, and buys some ball bearings and some bolts for her crossbow, hoping to get good use of it in the future. Demetrius goes to the tavern and orders some wine, sitting in the corner while writing in his little notebook. Kal asks Toblen if it’s okay for her to work in the kitchen for the night, which he sees no problem with. She doffs her armor, and goes to work. Granny goes for a walk and heads to the outskirts of town, sitting on a tree stump, reflecting on the recent experiences, contemplating the experience of dying, as she is sure that she saw a woman while she was between worlds. Pip flutters around her, trying to cheer her up, but she is lost in thought.
Theren retreats to his room, and carefully takes out the Deck of Certain Things, hoping that drawing a card won’t be too cataclysmic. The card shows a picture of an acorn. As the card burns away, disappearing, a large group of squirrels suddenly manifest in the room, and seem to be terrified of Theren, so he opens the window to allow them to escape. He can feel that the curse has been released, and he will have to pick a card again soon, lest it return.
Willowbark sits in a clearing a bit away from the inn, closing her eyes, trying to focus on her god and tries to reconnect with nature, as she has had little time to do it lately. As she sits there, meditating, she can suddenly hear movement, and as she opens her eyes she sees a large group of squirrels running past her from the town, and into the trees. She laughs, and lies down to sleep.
Penny sits in her room, holding the key in her hands, studying it. She sees her own reflection in the shiny metal which doesn’t seem to stain, terrified of the thought of the rest of the party wanting to take the key away from her. She thinks to herself that they promised they wouldn’t, but a voice deeper within says that she still has to be careful, otherwise they will force it away from her. As Penny goes to sleep she dreams of a pale figure with hollow eyes staring at her the whole night.
End of part one