"The Cam Came Back!" is the fourth episode of High Rollers.
- Previous episode: "That's So Raven!"
- Next Episode: "Super Saiyan Buckland!"
Following after Calvin, Trellimar and Elora arrive at the centre of town, near Finny's tavern, and witness Cam hurling abuse at a young militiaman named Bill. Elora puts herself between her travelling companion and his target, asking what's gotten into him. One of the bystanders informs her Cam had been causing a ruckus in the tavern and insulting Bill's mother, which reduced the young militiaman to tears. Almost simultaneously, Trellimar and Elora realise something's off; the former detects a faint trace of magic, while the latter notices Cam's body language is drastically different from what she remembers.
Elora attempts to block Cam when he goes to move towards Bill, but her travelling companion darts past her and splashes her with water from the fountain for good measure. She then watches as Bill gets thrown in the fountain and helps him out. Believing Cam's under some kind of spell, she tries to get him to snap out of it, asserting that "this isn't him". Trellimar opts for a more direct approach and goes to punch Cam, but he dodges out of the way. He then attempts to grab Cam and throw him in the fountain as well, but as he does so, he notices his hands are phasing through Cam's form slightly.
Realising they're dealing with an illusion, Elora asks Trellimar if he knows a way to undo the magic. The drow responds by firing an Eldritch Blast, hitting Cam square in the chest; immediately, the disguise wears off, revealing a half-elven woman who promptly falls unconscious. After tying her up, Trellimar and Elora have the guards take her to the marshall's office. Shortly after they leave, the real Cam arrives, prompting Elora to splash him with her wet hair, before asking him where he'd been. As it turns out, he had taken a fancy to the reeve's wife and attempted to woo her, but instead gotten stuck in a long and dull conversation about his faith. He shares none of this with Elora, who fills him in on the events that had transpired in his absence.
Meanwhile, the guards arrive at the marshall's office with their captive and inform Jiǔtóu of what happened, adding that her teammates requested her presence. Annoyed at having been interrupted while meditating, she only raises an eyebrow in response, watching as the militiamen grow increasingly nervous. Vixanis decides to pester them a little as they lock up the half-elven woman, causing the guards to quickly leave afterwards. Getting up, Jiǔtóu looks out the window and, as the sun is setting, sees the blood moon come into view; she sighs, before heading out to town.
The other three are engaged in conversation as Finny emerges from his tavern and, upon seeing Cam, demands to be reimbursed for the damages. Trellimar explains that a half elf had been impersonating his companion using some kind of illusion magic. After learning that the culprit was locked up, Finny calms down and Cam offers to buy everyone a drink. Finny serves up some brandy as thanks for subduing the culprit, but neither Elora nor Trellimar are really interested in drinking.
While Elora goes to rest inside one of the nearby booths, Cam asks Finny what the date is. The tavern owner replies that it's the last moon of spring, causing the adventurer to gift him a coin, for good luck. At this point, Jiǔtóu arrives and walks over to Finny, ignoring Cam's excited hollering. She asks the tavern owner if he has any rice wine; after checking in the back, he returns with some, which is quite expensive as he bought it from a tiefling trader in Talis'val, where the beverage is a delicacy. Jiǔtóu gives him two gold coins, but Finny reluctantly informs her it'll cost her five. She tells him the rice wine is actually not that rare, but still agrees to give him two more coins, which the tavern owner deems satisfactory.
Jiǔtóu then requests permission to use Finny's kitchen, which he grants her. Meanwhile, Cam scoots over to Trellimar and asks him whether elves can be woken from their trance, obviously referring to Elora. Trellimar tries to dissuade him from whatever he's planning, but Cam ignores it and goes over to the elf. He begins prodding her forehead, softly at first, but then more insistently, eventually leading her to swat his hand away.
Cam subsequently walks into the kitchen to check in on Jiǔtóu, who pointedly ignores him and continues preparing the meal. Next to her, a space has been cleared for a small framed painting, as well as some rice wine and a stick of incense. Recognizing it as something significant, Cam opts not to interrupt her and quietly slides a golden coin towards her. As he leaves, Jiǔtóu tells him to stay in the tavern and that she'll be ready soon.
Cam wanders back outside, to Trellimar, who pretends to be resting as well, in the hopes that it will dissuade the adventurer from bothering him. Finny then engages the former in some conversation, talking about the woman who had been impersonating him. Upon hearing that she'd cursed Avandra, his patron deity, Cam does a brief apologetic prayer, before offering Finny his healing services. The tavern owner declines, following which he asks the cleric whether he intends to stay at the tavern overnight. Cam claims he intended to sleep outside, but then shoots Finny a woeful look. The halfling sighs and agrees to let him sleep in one of the booths if he wants, since Trellimar and Elora already took the last spare room. To get back at Trellimar, Cam starts to prod him, but is quickly tossed aside by the annoyed drow.
Shortly thereafter, Jiǔtóu emerges from the kitchen with five dishes of food, the first of which she gives to Finny, who is fixing some of the broken furniture in his tavern. She then goes over to Elora, Trellimar and Cam, passing them their respective dishes before sitting down in a seperate booth. The last joins her and is given some rice wine, leading him to jokingly ask whether it's poisoned. Jiǔtóu glares at him in response, so Cam quickly drinks the wine, following which he asks her why she prepared all this. He mistakenly assumes she's also celebrating the Golden Light festival and is a follower of Avandra, but she corrects him, saying it's a tiefling tradition centered around the first blood moon of the year.
As the evening passes into night, more people gather in the tavern, though they mostly keep away from the party and gossip about who or what could be behind the killings. Two more hours go by, at which point Elora wakes up from her trance. She joins the other two at their table, with the elf harshly prodding Cam in the forehead for his previous antics. The cleric wishes her a happy Golden Light and gifts her and Trellimar a lucky coin.
With the villagers going back home and Finny about to lock up his tavern for the night, the group decides on what to do. Jiǔtóu and Elora share what they learned from their investigations with Cam, who agrees to forego sleep and protect the village from another attack. As they're formulating a plan, Trellimar gets up and announces he's going to explore the ruiner manod, where treasure had reportedly been buried. The others voice their concerns, but Trellimar heads out anyways; Cam, Jiǔtóu and Elora position themselves so they can keep watch over both of Tallfield's exits and prevent bewitched villagers from taking off.
After convincing two men standing guard that he's not been possessed, Trellimar leaves the village and travels towards the manor. In the quiet of the night, the voices in the back of the drow's mind grow slightly stronger and they urge him to find what he's been tasked to find. Eventually, Trellimar arrives at the ruins and begins investigating the area. A few hours pass, but he can't seem to find anything out of the ordinary, leading him to conclude the tales of a hidden vault might've just been stories.
Back in Tallfield, Jiǔtóu and Cam are growing tired, as it's nearing 1 AM and they haven't rested yet. Suddenly, Cam hears the voice of his childhood friend Mirela calling to him. Looking around, he spots her, but recognizes she's being invoked through some kind of magic. He alerts Jiǔtóu and Elora, before running after the image of Mirela, who leads them towards the north gate and then vanishes into thin air. They briefly entertain the idea of leaving Tallfield and going out there to find whoever was conjuring the magic, but decide to return to the center of the village.
An hour later, they spot a young townsman jogging towards the south gate, with the guardsmen letting him pass unimpeded as if they hadn't seen him. The trio follows after him, but the militiamen come to again and, believing the three have been bewitched, attempt to prevent the group from leaving. Cam ducks out the way of the first guard, but Elora is seized by the other one; she quickly transforms into a dire wolf to break free, following which the group runs out of the village. Far away, Trellimar faintly hears the shouts coming from Tallfield and decides to head back, having not found anything.
Jiǔtóu, Cam and Elora gain on the fleeing townsman, but just as they're about catch up, he disappears into a nearby wheat field. Using her superior smell as a wolf, Elora tracks him down and pounces on him, preventing him from escaping. As the two battle for dominance, Jiǔtóu and Cam arrive, with the latter barely spotting something moving within the wheat. He warns the others to ready their weapons and then takes out a dagger, using it to pin the townsman to the ground. At this, Jiǔtóu looks out over the wheat field and realises that the scarecrow that used to be stood in the middle is gone.
Using her tail and guandao in tandem, Jiǔtóu slices down the wheat around them to improve visibility; for a moment, the group catches sight of a gangly figure, a scarecrow with metal claws, before it vanishes back into the wheat. The three keep watch when the monster suddenly launches itself at them from the side, having snuck around. Despite Elora and Jiǔtóu providing cover, the creature still manages to strike at the young man, tearing into his abdomen. It then attempts to go for Jiǔtóu, but she deflects the attack.
Having come to his senses, the townsman realises the danger he's in, grabs Cam's dagger and rolls out from under Elora's wolf form to defend himself. Elora bites into the scarecrow, but senses her attack isn't very effective since the creature is being kept animate by magic. Cam invokes Duplicity, causing a copy of him to shimmer into existence; both Cams subsequently dart into the wheat in opposite directions.
Deciding that they need magic, Jiǔtóu goes for the next best thing, using a torch and her remaining rice wine in combination to breathe fire at the scarecrow. The creature gets singed and leaps away, clearly afraid of the flames; the attack also alerts Trellimar, who had been trying to get back to his companions, to the group's position. In retaliation, the scarecrow opens its stitched mouth and tries to induce an unnatural fear in Jiǔtóu, but she resists. The monster slashes at her, with the tiefling once more deflecting the strikes, before it is pounced upon by Elora. Both Cam and Jiǔtóu follow up with attacks, but as before, hurting the scarecrow's physical form doesn't seem to affect it much.
At this point, Trellimar arrives and, seeing the scuffle, decides to set his crossbow bolts alight using oil and the burning wheat, before quickly firing them at the creature. Unfortunately, the bolts miss their target. While Cam watches the fight from inside the wheat, a second scarecrow slashes at him from behind. As he turns around to face it, the creature opens its mouth and terror takes hold of Cam.
Elora changes back into her elven form, allowing her to cast Shillelagh on her staff and then use it to strike the glowing core of the scarecrow. The attack proves effective, clearly disrupting whatever magic is keeping the creature animate. Meanwhile, Cam runs away from his attacker and joins his companions, following which he lights a torch and strikes at the scarecrow, setting it on fire. Jiǔtóu joins in, swinging her guandao through the flames before slashing at the creature. The attack exposes the gemstone embedded in the scarecrow's chest, which she then strikes at with her foot, causing the monster to lurch. Trellimar finishes it off by unleashing an Eldritch Blast that destroys the magic imbued in the gem.
The townsman begins to thank them, but Cam warns him the fight isn't over yet. At this, the second scarecrow bursts forth from the wheat, with the cleric leaping away in a panic, narrowly dodging the creature's claws. Alerted to this new adversary, Elora hits it in the chest with her enchanted staff, cracking the force around the gem. Cam grabs the townsman and runs into the wheat, telling his teammates to "deal with it" as the scarecrow strikes at the cleric's duplicate. Jiǔtóu obliges and skewers the monster with her guandao, before shoving it into the fire. The two become locked in a struggle and even though the scarecrow manages to get a hit in, Jiǔtóu manages to keep it trapped, thoughts of the festival strengthening her resolve. Both Trellimar and Elora strike it with their respective magic attacks, weakening the creature.
Meanwhile, Cam and the young man have run away a sufficient distance. The former takes back his dagger, before putting his hand on the latter's face and casting Healing Word. As the townsman expresses his gratitude for the heal, Cam has his duplicate spook him for fun. Back with the others, Jiǔtóu smashes the scarecrow into the ground, the magic only barely keeping it together. Trellimar then unleashes a powerful Eldritch Blast, disintegrating the creature, leaving only the gemstone, which Elora picks up.
Cam and the young man return, at which point Jiǔtóu slumps to the ground from exhaustion. With the adrenaline wearing down, both Trellimar and Cam feel the tiredness set in as well, so the group decides to return to town. While Elora quickly heals Jiǔtóu, Cam engages the townsman in some conversation, learning that his name is Barris. The young man thanks them for their help and wonders if the scarecrows' death means the town is saved, but Cam doesn't think so.
As they're walking back, Elora examines the gemstones, but she's not very familiar with how they function beyond the fact that they were used to channel magic of some sort. Meanwhile, Cam asks Trellimar whether he found anything at the ruins, to which the drow begrudgingly admits that he didn't. The group then gets into a discussion about where to stay for the night, with Cam being particularly enticed by the prospect of sleeping at Barris' mother's, to the consternation of his companions.
The group reaches the town gates, where they find Calvin, the marshall, and his men just about to head out. The guardsmen from before recognize the travelers and claim they were bewitched. Cam pushes Barris forward and has him explain what happened, with Elora showing the gemstones as proof. From this, Calvin assumes that Tallfield is safe once more, but Elora has her doubts. Nonetheless, he is thankful for their efforts, following which the group decides to go to sleep. Cam immediately has Barris lead him to his house, where they are greeted by Barris' mother. The cleric briefly attempts to charm her with his escapades, but loses interest upon hearing there's no wine.
Meanwhile, Jiǔtóu, Elora and Trellimar head back to the tavern, but since she's not tired, Elora decides to go to the marshall's office instead. Before she leaves, Jiǔtóu thanks the elf for healing her, using Elora's given name for the first time, and hands her a red envelope. The remaining two subsequently arrive at the Alabaster Cask, with a drowsy Finny opening up and leading them to an attic room with one small bed and some bedrolls. After Finny leaves to go back to sleep, Jiǔtóu wordlessly hands Trellimar a red envelope as well.
Around the same time, Elora arrives at the marshall's office and asks Calvin whether she can speak with the woman that had been impersonating Cam earlier that day. He concedes and leads her to the half-elf, who was being teased by Vixanis. Elora starts to question her, and though the woman is initially unforthcoming, she eventually reveals she wants to damage Cam's reputation, because she believes he doesn't care about anyone else. At this point, Cam arrives at the marshall's office, having ditched Barris' mother, and strolls in. Upon seeing the half-elven woman, he realises she's Amelia, the older sister of his childhood friend Mirela. He greets her and asks her how Mirela's doing, earning him a look of disgust from Amelia. She point-blank tells him to get out and upon being questioned by Cam, accuses him of being the reason Mirela is dead. In response, Cam storms out.
