The story begins—as always—with Celeste in the library, whose search for more films about the prehistoric group she’s been studying proves fruitless. However, upon returning to her table she discovers two reels, one a bit smaller than the other.
She puts that one in her projector first. The film centers on the Centaur fighter Indomitus as he departs from the party and makes his way to a graveyard, where he visits the resting place of his entire army.
He comes to stop in front of a tombstone bearing the name “Brodin.” The wind picks up around him, carrying the sound of unearthly, hollow laughter with it. Within moments, tombstones begin exploding out of the earth around him. Indomitus readies himself for an attack, suddenly realizing the damage to the gravesite is much worse and ore longstanding than he’d thought.
The tombstone behind Brodin splits in two as an otherworldly creature claws its way out of the earth and laughs again. Indomitus tries to ask who (or what) it is, but the creature disappears and begins hurling tombstones at him.
The fighter searches for a source of the specter, but is instead faced with electrical energy that feels more like fire as the creature attacks again. The attack hits not Indomitus, but the bucket at his side—which begins pulsing with that same electric-like spark. He tries to reason with the creature, but it responds with a cry so loud and piercing the fighter nearly drops his shield and the bucket just trying to cover his ears.
The film ends, prompting Celeste to put in the next reel. It flickers to life, picking up in the forest clearing with the other party members and the icy nymph. Puud Een tries breaking the tension with a compliment about trees, to no avail. Sae glances at Aranwe, only to find a haggard and confused Indomitus in his place. Sensing his vulnerability, she steps in front of him and tries to open non-hostile dialogue with the nymph. The nymph is thoroughly unimpressed and accuses the party of trying to take her “treasures”, although Puud Een counters they just want to commune with it.
While Indomitus gathers himself, Citizen Doctor Merhermbler approaches the nymph and asks her name. At the nymph’s silence, she declares she will call them Rebecca. The nymph attacks her in response. Merhermbler then claims her “one true god” has decided they should kiss, and attempts to do so without the nymph’s consent. The roots of the nearby trees punctures the paladin and the nymph retorts that her god is false.
Puud Een notices the bucket in Indomitus’ hand and silently suggests putting it over the nymph’s head, but the centaur instead catches the creature’s eye and holds their gaze on him.
Sae takes a step back and tries talking to the nymph again, trying to make sense of the unnatural winter surrounding them, but the nymph angrily insists everything is perfect. Puud Een takes the bucket and gently places it over the nymph’s head, which breaks eye contact with Indomitus, and the creature lashes out at her.
Indomitus offers encouragement to Sae, who then prays to Rian for some insight into what to do. The realization comes to her: the nymph keeps referring to “treasures”—as in more than one. Sae is also shown a semi-ethereal strand extending from a dark, nebulous corner of the tree, embedded in the back of the nymph and seemingly controlling her like a puppet. She relays this to Indomitus, who demands whoever is hiding in the darkness to come forth.
Merhermbler takes the opportunity to run up the nymph, try to hug her, and cast Lay on Hands to break the cord connected to her. The cord snaps, and the paladin is dropped to the ground. The nymph staggers backwards and disappears into the tree, while a very large panther—angry at one of its “treasures” escaping—emerges from the darkness.
Indomitus tries to defend Sae, but the panther believes it indicates Sae is a higher priority target. It attacks her, and the cleric feels the area where it hits fading out of existence.
The panther lands in front of Puud Een. Sae heals her before moving towards the trapped moonstone, while the wizard attempts to connect with the nymph inside the tree and ask them for help. Merhermbler hits the panther with her halberd, which starts to melt at the point of contact.
Indomitus stands under the cage and holds the panther’s gaze, telling the others to get the stone. Puud Een casts magic missile at the cage, but can’t knock it down. Merhermbler refuses to leave “Rebecca”, and causes more damage to both the panther and her halberd. Sae climbs onto the centaur’s back and manages to knock the stone from the cage.
The fighter commands the rest to leave, saying he’ll join them when they’re at least 50 paces away. They do so except for Merhermbler, with Puud Een grabbing the bucket on the way. The paladin manages to overcome the panther, and it melts into the shadows.
Merhermbler moves from tree to tree, trying to call the nymph to her until falling tree branches knock her unconscious. The others pick her up and exit the forest. On the way, Ainok asks Indomitus how he teleported to the group, and the centaur responds it “must have been the bucket.” It’s the first time the others reluctantly agree the bucket must, indeed, be magical.
Indomitus tells them they must return to the graveyard he had been visiting to capture the unfettered magic. After a night back in Tharingar, wherein Citizen Merhermbler purchases a new halberd, they head out.
Arriving at the graveyard, Indomitus explains who lies there and why he visits it regularly. He explains how, during the fight at the volcano, he’d lost sight of what it means to trust one’s friends, and apologizes for his actions there. He also tells them of the unnatural forces at work in the graveyard that led him to believe unfettered magic may be found.
The group follows the fighter to Brodin’s grave, where he tells them of the creature he’d fought—and where the bucket gained its magic.
A creepy laugh permeates the air, and the party almost immediately find themselves separated and trapped in their own version of hell. For Indomitus, a half-skeletal Brodin appears and accuses the fighter of letting him die, blaming him for his spectral state.
Sae sees the waves of her homeland, with a version of Rian that’s decidedly less benevolent than she remembers. He tells her how disappointed he is in her, ending with “Who would ever be (proud of you)?”
Puud Eeen stands witness to her hometown burning. She counts her fingers, and tries to determine if she’s dreaming or not. Houses continue to collapse around her, but she doesn’t awaken. She finds her own home to be the source of the blaze. Holding the volcano heart firmly, she understands she’s dreaming—but still feels the heat. Eventually she comes to understanding the group is facing the very embodiment of unfettered magic, with a consciousness and will of its own.
Citizen Merhembler wanders an endless desert, and realizes she’s missing her armor, weapon, and symbol of her deity.
The visions begin to take their toll. Brodin entreats Indomitus to join his former army in death, and the centaur takes damage as the specter attacks. Blindsided by “Rian’s” accusations, Sae starts to panic and tries to escape, but is dragged beneath the waves; despite being able to breathe underwater, she starts to drown. As Merhermbler frantically digs for her holy symbol, she begins to get pulled under the sand and is suffocating. Puud Een tries to cage some of the fire, still clutching the stone—not realizing her hand is, in reality, starting to get burned by it.
Indomitus realizes “Brodin” is not real, and is a trick of the unfiltered magic. He uses the bucket to scoop the image of Brodin into it, watching it get sucked into the bucket’s void. He sees his friends standing around, staring at nothing but in distress—and a wraith, sitting on one of the tombstones and looking back at him. He attempts to capture it with the bucket, but it escapes, so he turns his attention to waking the others.
Still in panic mode, Sae shuts her eyes against everything happening and calls out for help. In a moment of clarity, the real Rian tells her, “You don’t need help—you’re strong enough.” He tells her to breathe, so she does, and is snapped out of the vision.
Merhermbler is also panicking, because she’s lost her symbol. She closes her eyes and thinks back to the time her god approached her and said, “Follow me, child.” She assumes if her god has a plan, either this is it…or she’ll be spared. The sand continues to suffocate her.
Puud Een sets the cage in front of her and sits down, considering the dream. She knows this dream is what her people consider “the end”: the earth will crumble, fire will claim the village, and the oceans will split the land. Comparing this to her vision in the bucket, she now understands: a disaster is inevitable, but how bad it will be depends on their success in the temple.
The fire scorches Puud Een again, and her body falls to the ground, dead. She finds herself at the black gates of death, a dark starry vortex beyond.
Several things happen at once. Indomitus puts the bucket over Citizen Merhermbler’s head, snapping her out of the illusion. The wraith sees Puud Een’s body and declares “mine”, making a beeline for it. Sae asks the fighter to keep it occupied as she prays to resurrect her friend.
The answer comes back to her—it’s possible. But it requires three sacrifices: money, offerings to several gods…and her link to Rian.
Merhermbler reaches for her holy symbol, relieved it’s there. She falls to the ground in tears, having thought her god abandoned her.
Indomitus tries to defend the party, but the magic wraith is too fast and still goes after the rakshasa.
With a heavy heart, Sae sacrifices her link to Rian. The symbol from her armor flows from it through her body and into Puud Een. The wizard’s eyes open and she almost immediately sees the magic specter bearing down on her. She casts a spell, trapping it in a cage, and Indomitus successfully draws it into the bucket.
The film ends, bringing a stunned Celeste back to herself. She realizes deities exist as long as they have followers…but she’d never heard of Rian before. And that means there were no clerics after Sae that existed to tell Rian’s story by the time history started being recorded.
However, gods don’t die, even if they fade into obscurity. With this knowledge, Celeste makes her way into a room at the library that houses a shrine to any deity the visitor chooses to see.
