The Voidheart and the Hand

As the Strider begins its voidward journey and extracts its tithe of heart-energy, Mr. Letov of Garrick Textiles is wrung dry and a void portal erupts onto the gala dance floor, spewing barghests and corrupted Ki-Rin. The party fights alongside the Scale, the Protectorate, and others to survive the onslaught, then investigates the still-open portal—discovering a mirror-ballroom filled with hand-creatures and a floating chitinous orb called the Voidheart. After buffing Benny into a sprinting missile, the party follows him in to retrieve the orb, but the pocket dimension collapses around them, forcing a desperate escape with an eldritch Hand of the Void dragged through into real space.

1. The Strider's Harlequin announces the Strider demands a tithe of magical heart energy; Mr. Letov Obratz of Garrick Textiles and his secretary are wrung dry, killed, and a void portal opens spewing barghests and hostile Ki-Rin onto the dance floor.
2. Combat erupts across the ballroom in quadrants; the party fights barghests and a Ki-Rin near the bottom-right while other factions fight their own battles—the Protectorate (Tamara and Yao) berserk using mysterious ampoules, the Scale (Ralph and Lance) rain lightning spears, and Ichel pulps a barghest with a disposable hand cannon.
3. Grayson dominates a Ki-Rin with modified Dominate and walks off; Argyle notices and shouts a warning; Benny is struck by the Ki-Rin's Peaceful Aura and struggles to attack it before breaking free.
4. Anzu's Recall Knowledge reveals barghests are weak to holy, resistant to physical except cold iron, and cursed with Unhealing Wound; Argyle and Benny both get cursed with unhealing (can only heal via magic).
5. The party kills all enemies on the dance floor; Argyle shields Jethro Twill from death, Johnny skins a barghest for magical fur, and Argyle hacks off a Ki-Rin head trophy.
6. Anzu sends Othello through the portal into a mirror-ballroom: elastic walls with hands pressing through, humanoid hand-creatures that echolocate, and a floating two-foot chitinous purple orb (the Voidheart) above a giant stone hand.
7. Anzu's occultism/religion checks reveal the tithe damages the magical weave, causing fractures like this portal; it's wasteful collateral, not intentional, and more portals could open anywhere on the Strider while it moves.
8. The party buffs Benny (Godspeed, Silence, Guidance, Haste) and sends him sprinting 180 ft to grab the Voidheart orb; he seizes it with a critical athletics check but the mirror-space destabilizes, temperature drops, and walls begin tearing.
9. Benny shoves Johnny and Anzu back through the portal to safety; hand-creatures swarm and down both Argyle and Benny; Johnny and Anzu reach back through to drag their unconscious bodies out.
10. Anzu re-enters alone and uses Gravity Well to yank the Voidheart orb toward the portal; the orb, Anzu, and a Hand of the Void are all pulled through into real space as the portal collapses behind them.

Cliffhanger The party has retrieved the Voidheart orb and accidentally dragged a Hand of the Void through the collapsing portal into real space—right in front of Grayson, the Scale, and other powerful onlookers who may want the orb for themselves.

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