"Super Saiyan Buckland!" is the fifth episode of High Rollers.
- Previous episode: "The Cam Came Back!"
- Next Episode: "The Battle for Tallfield!"
Elora watches as Cam storms out of the marshall's office and, after an awkward moment of silence, decides to run after him. She catches up to him near the center of town, but Cam makes it clear he isn't interested in discussing what just happened with Amelia. He walks into Finny's tavern and pours himself a whisky, following which he heads upstairs to find somewhere to sleep. Eventually, he ends up in the attic room where Jiǔtóu and Trellimar are fast asleep. Cam goes to bed as well, but it's not a peaceful rest; he's tormented by unclear memories of a bloody dagger, Mirela's shirt stained red and the writ of performance he took to earn money for the Bucklands. Elora comes into the room sometime after and watches Cam for a short while, before going into a trance herself.
They wake up early the following morning to the sound of a cockerel. Although Cam still feels tired, he puts on a cheery face and loudly wakes everyone else up, much to Jiǔtóu's displeasure, before heading downstairs. He is greeted by Finny, who cheerfully asks whether he was the one that drank some whisky without paying for it. Cam convincingly shifts the blame to Trellimar, gets his breakfast and sits down in a nearby booth. Elora, who'd seen through Cam's chipper act, heads downstairs as well and goes to join her travelling companion, who is determined to focus on his food.
Back upstairs, Trellimar thanks Jiǔtóu for the envelope she gave him the night before, saying that he feels there's an understanding between them because of their more solitary natures. He then goes downstairs and receives the same warm welcome from Finny, who tries to broach the topic of the drink he now thinks Trellimar took. Ultimately, the halfling doesn't quite muster up the courage and departs to fetch food, while Trellimar sits down with Cam and Elora. Jiǔtóu joins them shortly thereafter, but sits at the table next to their table - Cam tries to mess with her, to which she responds by glaring daggers at him.
When Cam asks what they should do, Elora seizes on the opportunity, saying they should speak with Amelia. Cam tries to dismiss the idea as boring, but when Elora proves undeterred, he hastily excuses himself, claiming he will meet them at the marshall's office in an hour. Jiǔtóu expresses her wish to investigate the cemetery, as she is far more interested in solving the Nanny Bones mystery. Elora agrees to go with Jiǔtóu, even though she wants to know what Cam is hiding, while Trellimar leaves to speak with Amelia at the marshall's office. Within moments, the drow senses Cam is tailing him and calls out to him. Since he's been caught, the cleric decides to reveal himself and go with Trellimar, even though he stresses that there's really nothing to be gained by interrogating Amelia.
The pair subsequently arrive at the marshall's office, finding a tired Calvin resting in a chair outside. Since he's grown familiar with them, he allows Trellimar to go inside and interrogate Amelia; Cam decides to stay with Calvin. As he enters the office, Trellimar is greeted by Vixanis, who is a little disappointed when he says he came for Amelia. The half-elven woman is wary of the new arrival, asking if the two dark elves intend to gang up on her.
Trellimar assures her he only wants to ask some question about Cam. In turn, she reveals he killed her sister Mirela and stole the writ of performance meant for them. When Trellimar expresses his doubts, Amelia explains there were only two people present when her sister died: Cam and Keran Blackhearth, a friend of the Bucklands that had supported and provided for them many times. She points out that Cam's dagger had Mirela's blood on it, but because nobody had witnessed the crime, he was allowed to leave on the condition that he never came back.
Amelia is convinced that Cam murdered Mirela because she was going to marry Keran and warns Trellimar not to trust the cleric. The drow assures he doesn't trust anyone at this point and heads outside, where Cam feigns being in deep conversation with Calvin, even though he'd actually been eavesdropping during the interrogation. The two decide to go to the cemetery as well and catch up with their companions. En route, Trellimar catches Cam up on what he missed the day before, such as the group's discovery of the mutilated bodies at the Kingswoods' farm and their encounter with the will-o'-wisp.
After walking for roughly two hours, Jiǔtóu and Elora arrive at the graveyard, which lies at the base of a hill with a windmill at the top. Embedded in the dilapidated building is a large slate grey crystal formation, which the women recognize as a fall shard, a remnant of Pelor's Light. Elora recalls that those usually have a dampening effect on magic, though there have been cases where they actually enhanced magic as well. The pair have a look around the cemetery and locate two disturbed graves from which most of the bones appear to have been removed. However, they can't seem to find anything else, besides a few tracks that don't appear to go anywhere. Jiǔtóu and Elora eventually settle on heading up the hill to check out the windmill.
Upon reaching the top, Elora spots a stake with the remnants of a chain attached it just off the side of the windmill. The pair examine it and find dog tracks similar to those that were in the cemetery. Elora decides to sneak up to the door and listen for anything inside. She hears a deep voice rumble from within, muttering about how "Nanny will be back soon", and the heavy breathing of one or more animals. Elora subsequently slips away from the door and informs Jiǔtóu.
Around the same time, Cam and Trellimar reach the cemetery, with the former having talked the latter's ears off with tales of Korak and his sword made out of fall shard. Cam then spots Jiǔtóu at the top of the hill, but before they head up, Trellimar brings up Amelia. The cleric claims she'd always had a problem with him because he and Mirela were so close. Although he doesn't know the circumstances of her death, he is adamant that he didn't kill her. At the mention of the writ of performance, Cam pulls out a fancy scroll, claiming it was given to him and that it'll earn the Bucklands a lot of money.
Leaving it at that, the two men climb the hill and are immediately motioned to be quiet by Elora. She and Jiǔtóu move away from the windmill and subsequently tell their companions of the creatures inside the windmill. Jiǔtóu suggests the other three hide themselves while she goes to knock on the door, but Cam believes they should at least check for other entrances, to which the tiefling begrudgingly agrees.
The cleric sneaks around and finds a ladder propped up against the side of the windmill. Climbing it, he comes up to a window on the second floor, peers inside and sees a body strung up by its arms, with a lot of the muscles and bones having been removed. Then he spots the large and deformed man feeding meat to a two-headed dog on the ground floor, causing Cam to immediately pull back out and slide down the ladder to inform the rest of the group. After doing so and throwing up in the bushes, he tests his Light spell, which does nothing thanks to the fall shard. Elora tries casting magic with Shillelagh as well, to no avail.
They decide that, if they're going to fight the creatures inside the windmill, they need to lead them away from the fall shard. Jiǔtóu volunteers to lure the monsters out, while Elora tests the range of the shard, continuing to try and cast Shillelagh as she backs away from the windmill. The spell finally activates when she is almost at the base of the hill again. At the same time, Jiǔtóu goes over to the stake to remove the chain from it, but the noise alerts Smiles, the two-headed dog, to their presence and he comes bursting out of the windmill.
Trellimar reacts first, pulling out his crossbow and firing at Smiles, but the bolt doesn't manage to penetrate the creature's tough hide. He subsequently moves backwards, before casting Hex; the spell works, but it takes far more effort than usual due to the nearby fall shard. Jiǔtóu, who hasn't been spotted yet, channels her ki to increase her defensiveness, following which she runs at Smiles and attempts to collar one of the heads. The creature proves stronger than she expected, however, and easily pulls itself free. Elora tries to help out by entangling their adversaries in vines and ivy, but both adversaries are undeterred. She subsequently transforms into a dire wolf and positions herself beside Cam.
With Smiles moving around Jiǔtóu to make way for its master, the tiefling has another go at collaring the creature, but is foiled once more. In retaliation, both of Smiles' heads bite at her, but she nimbly dodges out of the way. Meanwhile, Cam decides to provoke the giant man by first throwing a rock at him and then insulting "Nanny Bones". The cleric then climbs onto Elora, but barely manages to stay on when he's struck hard by the man's club. Trellimar backs away some more and fires an Eldritch blast - the magic weakens as it enters the fall shard's area of influence, but still manages to strike Smiles. Jiǔtóu then runs into the windmill to grab some of the human meat, with which she tries to coax the dog to her, but Smiles is not convinced. It tries to attack her again, but the tiefling evades both heads easily.
Outside, Elora decides to flee with Cam on her back, but they're chased by the giant man. Once they're far away enough, the cleric hops off, casts Guidance on himself and creates a duplicate of himself. The two Cams then position themselves on opposite sides of Elora, lying in wait for their pursuer. Back at the windmill, Jiǔtóu demands Trellimar create some kind of distraction, leading the drow to disguise himself as an old woman in the hope that it'll approximate Nanny Bones' real appearance. He beckons Smiles, attracting the attention of one of the heads, while Jiǔtóu attempts to calm down the other with the meat. She finally succeeds and puts the collar around the creature's head, but can't quite manage to slam the stake through the wooden floorboards.
Having told Elora to back away, Cam has his duplicate taunt the approaching giant, while he himself attempts to use the Charm Person spell. Elora leaps onto the monster from behind and bites into his arm, but she is batted away quite easily. In his blind rage, the giant is unaffected by Cam's magic, and the cleric decides to retreat, hoping his opponent will go for the duplicate.
Still disguised, Trellimar approaches the dog, but the fall shard causes the magic to drain quicker than usual. Now that the "nanny" is closer, Smiles grows suspicious and starts growling, so Trellimar decides to attack pre-emptively, pulling out his crossbow and firing a bolt into the creature's neck, which causes it to turn on them. Irritated that her plan to tame Smiles has been ruined, Jiǔtóu drops the chain and attempts to strike with her guandao, but she misses. The creature retaliates, biting into her leg; to prevent the poisonous drool from seeping into the wound, Jiǔtóu quickly brushes it away.
Meanwhile, Elora goes for another bite attack and manages to drag the giant down to the ground. Cam casts Shield of Faith on himself and stabs their prone adversary with Duracell, but receives another devastating blow once the giant gets back up. Suddenly, there's an explosion of light and Cam's hair glows golden, with the cleric somehow surviving the attack that should've knocked him unconscious. Briefly distracted, Elora then delivers the final blow, biting into the giant's neck and tearing off his head. She transforms back into her normal form and is incredulous at what just happened with Cam; after the duplicate has been dismissed, the pair travel up the hill once again.
Back at the windmill, Trellimar gets out his short sword and stabs Smiles, with the Hex from earlier steadily whittling away at the creature's health. Jiǔtóu follows up with another attack with her guandao and a flurry of punches and kicks. In panicked fear and desperation, Smiles bites at both of his opponents, missing Jiǔtóu, but hitting Trellimar, who quickly cleans his wound before the poison can seep in. The drow attempts to stab the dog again, but doesn't manage to land the hit, leaving Jiǔtóu to deliver Smiles a quick death by thrusting her guandao into its heart.
With the fight over, Jiǔtóu demands Trellimar, who is still disguised as an old lady, identify himself. The drow awkwardly claims to be a "mysterious helper" who's going to run out, revert into Trellimar and walk back in. He does so and receives one of Jiǔtóu's death glares; at the same time, Elora and Cam arrive. They briefly discuss Cam's weird ability, before investigating the windmill. Among the things they find are the giant's satchel, which contains a green potion and a small metal canister with an unknown liquid inside, and a collection of stolen treasures and trinkets, amounting to about 200 gold.
While they're rooting around, Trellimar notices the rope holding up the body might be of a magical nature and goes up to the second floor to cut it down. However, it proves to be rather resistant, so he simply unties the rope, causing the corpse to drop down to the ground floor. Now that they're able to take a better look, Jiǔtóu and Elora recognize the body as that of an older woman who they've seen walking around Tallfield - despite the fact that the corpse looks like it's been decaying for some time.
Elora looks around some more and spots a strange amulet pinned to the wall. It consists of a green stone, on which an eye has been painted with blood, and rope made from human sinew. Suspicious, Cam throws a dagger at the amulet, easily shattering it. He then says they should probably burn the place, to prevent any remnants of Nanny Bones' work from doing more damage. As Cam's about to torch the windmill, Trellimar feels the voices in his head grow stronger and is lead to a black egg hidden under some loose floorboards. He secretly takes it.
Once they're outside, Cam goes up to the fall shard and examines it, even licking it, which earns him a strange look from Elora. The group decides to head back to Tallfield since it's possible Nanny Bones was watching them through the amulet. An hour and a half later, the town comes into view and they see it being attacked by swarms of ravens. Sounds of fighting can be heard from within, leading the four to gear up for another battle; Elora casts Cure Wounds on Cam, while Trellimar gives Jiǔtóu his healing potion, since he feels bad for having upset her earlier. She sourly thanks him, with Cam mockingly mimicking her tone.
Trellimar disguises himself as the old woman they found, in the hope that the wild animals will leave him alone. Cam uses his daggers to climb the palisade wall and see what's going on inside the town. Many villagers have retreated into their homes to hide from the packs of wolves roaming Tallfield - in the center of town, Calvin and his militiamen have gathered and are trying to repel the wild animals. Looking around, Cam notices that the marshall's office, where Amelia and Vixanis were being kept, is strangely untouched by all the fighting going on. He then spots Barris right beside the gates and shouts at him to let them in, with the young man nervously complying.
Once they're inside, the group explains to Barris that they need to get to the marshall's office unseen. The young man volunteers to create a distraction and runs off before they can dissuade him from it. Cam quickly casts Guidance on Barris, who manages to attract the attention of a pack of wolves and then climb up to a roof where he's safe. Seeing their window of opportunity, the group runs towards the marshall's office and they see that the door is open.
Since he's still disguised as the old woman, Trellimar is chosen to go in first. Inside, he sees a panicked Vixanis backed into a corner of her cell, holding a wooden shiv to defend herself, and two Amelias. One of them amusedly comments on the sudden appearance of this old woman, leading Trellimar to ask if they recognize him. They both respond "yes", claiming they spoke earlier in the day, which leads Trellimar to conclude that they've seen through his disguise. One of the Amelias asks her duplicate if she still wants to go through with their deal, to which the duplicate responds by stipulating that she needs to leave the others alone.
The other three are eavesdropping on this conversation when suddenly, Jiǔtóu kicks Cam in the back of his knees, pulls one of his arms behind his back and then marches him into the office. At this, one of the Amelias decides to put an end to the charade and shifts her form into that of an old woman with green skin, white hair and one slightly bulging eye. She accuses the group of interfering with her plans to have Tallfield tear itself apart, but offers to leave them alone if she can have either Cam, Amelia or Vixanis, with the last of these quickly asserting that she's not going anywhere.
Elora joins the confrontation, prompting the witch to comment that she would do as well. When pressed for her motivations by Jiǔtóu, the old woman reveals she wishes for a daughter and needs female blood, but adds that Cam has something even more special. Elora moves to free Vixanis from her cell, but the witch warns her to stay where she is, as she doesn't want things to turn violent. Cam then claims he will offer himself, but Jiǔtóu interrupts, pointing out that she's the one with the bargaining chip. While the old woman attempts to placate the tiefling with a trinket of power, Trellimar hears the voices in his head grow louder, telling him to destroy the witch.
When Cam and Amelia start to bicker again, Jiǔtóu tells them to shut up, before saying to the witch that she will hand over Cam. In the same breath, she whispers to him that he needs to trust her on this. Unfortunately, the old woman notices this and prepares to cast magic. Jiǔtóu reacts instantly, shoving Cam forward into the witch, who doesn't see it coming, causing her spell to be disrupted.
