PART XIII (Summary)

Master Healer Tasi arrives with two assistants, a Dwarf named Sania and an Elf named Meyra. Tasi first checks to make sure no one is being pressured into remaining awake. Assured they are not, she asks who will be joined first. Both Callie and Pixyl decline, saying they want to witness a joining first to help feel more comfortable about the process. Lena then volunteers to be the first.

With Callie and Pixyl watching closely, Lena lays on her bed, her right ear facing upwards. Tasi opens Lena’s Symbiote case while Sania scrys the worm to confirm it is one for the Bladedancer class. Callie comments that it isn’t jumping, and Tasi explains that a bed of Lunarmint leaves in the case helps sedate the worm so it remains docile. With a sprinkle of Goreroot powder and a splash of water, Tasi places the worm on Lena’s cheek. The wet Goreroot causes the slug to emerge from its shell, and Callie notes that it is brown in color with a red spot, like Lena’s class colors. Tasi confirms that worms are the color of their respective classes, telling Callie that scrying is the only way to determine those colors short of cracking the shell, which would kill the Symbiote. As the joining takes place, Lena remarks that “It is squishy!” before she spasms for a few seconds and then slips into unconsciousness. Tasi assures everyone this is perfectly normal, and Meyra wraps a cloth bandage around Lena’s eyes and ears so that she can rest.

Tazrok volunteers to go next. Before Tasi can start, Tazrok indicates he’s trying to think about trees. Callie realizes he means meditation, and takes a minute to talk Tazrok through some breathing exercises and guided meditation before he indicates he’s ready. Tasi, worried the Ogre might thrash around, warns everyone to stay back. Like with Lena, Tasi and Meyra dust the Symbiote. It enters, and he calls out “Hi, Sluggo”, appearing to pass out. He does not thrash or move in any way, and Tasi, perplexed, asks Sania to perform a scry to ensure the Symbiote is in place, which she does. As with Lena, Meyra concludes the procedure by wrapping a cloth around Tazrok’s head and ears.

Tasi chooses Xin to go next, which requires a funnel-like medical apparatus to keep the protective muscles of Xin’s ear from closing on the Symbiote. Xin explains that the muscular membrane is remnant of her lizard biology, and serves to keep sand and other items out of her ear canals. Tasi mentions it can also serve as a defense against sonic-based attacks and charms. As the Symbiote is confirmed by scry to be for a Shaman, Tasi and Meyra go through their preparation process. Sania takes this opportunity to hold down Xin’s tail. To everyone’s surprise, as the joining occurs with Xin, three spikes snap out at the end of her tail as a reflex. Like with Lena, Xin spasms for a few seconds before falling still, the spikes slowly retracting. Sania reveals that one of the spikes is poisoned with a sleep-inducing venom. Like the others, Meyra wraps Xin’s head.

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Vanis states he’s going to go last to provide moral support to Callie and Pixyl.

Pixyl, nervous but resigned, is next. To assure that her wing isn’t injured further by hands holding her down, a blanket is thrown over the Pixie and then held tight from under her bed by Vanis, making for a makeshift straightjacket and spreading the pressure across her entire body. Callie takes position in front of Pixyl, locking their eyes together. With some meditative breathing and a repeated mantra of “You’ve got this,” Callie helps keep Pixyl calm and strong. As the joining begins, Pixyl chants back the reply, “I’ve got this!” as she looks deep into Callie’s eyes, her heart feeling momentarily odd. The Symbiote takes hold and the Pixie spasms like the others. Sania and Meyra are both holding one of Pixy’s wrists, from which instinctively emerges a sword of magenta Ethereal Energy that crackles and hisses as it pierces easily through the wooden headboard of the bed. As Pixyl stills and slips into her trance, the energy blades disappear, Callie commenting that they were similar to lightsabers.

Before beginning the process with Callie, Tasi confirms that the Gnome both wishes to go through with the joining, and that she understands how important her little Symbiote is. Tasi also informs Callie that she must tell someone as soon as she wakes up if the joining was successful. If it is not, then she will immediately be put out with a sleep spell so as to not disturb the worm as it exits, which risks the Symbiote releasing a brain toxin that will cause unhealable damage. As they prepare, Callie thinks about her father, holding his fading memory close. Her thoughts float from him to her mother, and then to her new friends. As the joining begins, Callie can’t help but notice that “It is squishy!” before her world fades to white.