Our episode began with the young woman named Captain Vessinger that we saw at the end of episode 3 laying on the bench in a ship's cabin reading a letter. The camera cut to show the words "your father" and again to show Albert's signature. She stood up and stepped outside of the cabin onto the busy deck of the ship. Our camera pulled back and we saw the ship, the ISS Dauntless, moored above a city somewhere in the Caspian Desert. We saw Molakai approach her and tell her that he had a proposition. We then returned to Albert and Zaiir as they returned to the ship. While they waited for Constance and Gamsiz to make their way back, the port authority arrived to inspect the ship. Zaiir left surreptitiously through the window of Albert's office, and called Constance to warn her. As Constance and Gamsiz had just arrived at the skyport, they met up with Zaiir near the bottom of the tavern. The port authority told Albert that they were looking for a small woman matching Constance's description and an armored fire genasi. While Albert kept the port authority busy, Constance decided the best way to find out how the interdiction field worked would be to steal a ship and fly it directly into the field. Not being one to listen to doubters, that's precisely what she did. She stole a small personal craft from the docks, alerting the garrison to her presence as she tore part of the dock from the tower, and made a mad run for the edge of town. The fleet of ships stationed in Dun-Simmic mobilized to stop her, The ISS Beauty In Victory using its core to cast a summoning ritual and send flying monsters after her ship. She managed to outrun them, though, and made it to the field without being intercepted. As the skiff passed through the field there was a faint moment of peace, the engine shutting off, before Constance hit it. When she did, there was a massive discharge of energy as her black lightning skittered across the surface of the field, and the smoking form of the skiff smashed into the dunes outside the city. There was a brief moment, and then the imperial fleet opened fire on the small craft and shot it to oblivion. Albert tried to call Constance over the sending stones, and she responded, having teleported at the last instant to Gamsiz' hideout. The remainder of her power drained by the field, she went to sleep and told Albert they could talk in the morning. Before heading to bed, Albert called Lord Austenwald's Revenge and told them to prepare to mobilize in the morning. Then he set about a summoning ritual on the deck and called forth a giant, infernal bat. We then turned to the dream Constance was having. While she frequently has control of her dreams, this time she found herself in an endless pitch black expanse. She found herself, after a period of impatience, facing herself. The two conversed for a short while, Constance interrogating her own motives and asserting that she lacked freedom even in her own dreams. The discussion continued as Constance's limitations were pointed out to her, and she was told that she was too weak and needed to become more powerful. Then she woke up as her lightning ravaged the walls of the hideout. The heroes woke to find the interdiction field had been deactivated in the night, and that the security at the manor had been doubled. Recognizing that it was unlikely they'd achieve anything in the city, they decided to leave. At this point, Zaiir reminded Albert, and informed Constance, that they had a vision out in the desert of what may have been a pre-cataclysm artifact. Albert attempted to shut down the conversation based on the danger he believed such an artifact could pose to Hersagul, given the destruction wrought by the peoples that developed them. Zaiir shot back that they knew very little for certain about the artifacts, and that what they did know is that Marans were dying every day under imperial rule, and it was about time something be done. Albert dismissed Zaiir and walked away. Constance reassured them that the crew would find the lotus, and asked to see the vision. Zaiir obliged, and we saw a vision of a massive silver and gold lotus blooming out in the desert. What followed was a lengthy argument between Constance and Albert about whether to attempt to retrieve the artifact before the empire or someone else got to it. The two found themselves at an impasse, and they decided to part ways: Albert to return to Sanctuary, and Constance to seek the Ruh-Mara out in the desert. [More to be written for this episode]
