Tough As Dirt #33

Tough as Dirt entered Crooked Post and set out in search of Bogul to retrieve the Blade of Ir'Palin, a sword Ricco knew he could use in the coming battles

Varsmack was approached by a supposed priest of the Raven Queen, but refused to buy into the narrative that the town was a holy site of hers

Gideon checked in with a man named Paulie outside of Effi's Pages to ascertain Bogul's whereabouts while the rest of the group tracked down the same info from Charity Love in the Mythril Dream, the local inn.

Learning Bogul was in town hall, the group headed over and gained an audience with Bogul as a woman named Jasmine left the establishment as they entered.

Bogul and his girlfriend Effi welcomed the group, but told them it was not a good time. A vampire lord named Kreene, who had taken over the nearby town of Venture Ridge, was on his way.

• Kreene entered before more could be explained and demanded to talk to Bogul about the dream tether, as he'd recently lost his wife, Lexxia, to a group he knew was part of the dream tether, and he wanted to know where they'd taken her.

  • Kreene said if he didn't get her location, he'd begin work on Crooked Post's transition to his vampiric domain

Tough as Dirt explained they were also part of the dream tether and said they'd sleep on it that night and let Kreene know in the morning about Lexxia's location.

Bogul was pulling a double cross, however, and had just sent Jasmine off with the Blade of Ir'Palin to stealthily destroy the vampiric command structure of Venture Ridge while their lord, Kreene, was in Crooked Post.

• Bogul said Ricco could have the sword if they helped Jasmine with the task, and promised them horses and whatever tools they needed to take on a town of vampires.

While this was happening, Gideon followed Effi to her shop, unknowingly bringing the sword of Middalah Devir into the building, which immediately flew from his back and began spinning in the middle of the room, pointing down below the floor.

• Effi's demeanor changed as she remembered what was below and how she felt about that entity for so much of her life before Bogul won her heart.

  • This revelation of Effi triggered a breach of a contract Bogul had made with Wizzler about making Effi forget about that being, and Wizzler came to collect his due: Effi's life.

In an effort to save Effi's life, Gideon slammed the Divinaxiom into his chest, and before Wizzler could stop him, drained the divine energy from Wizzler completely, killing the creation god of contracts.