Awakening on board a nautiloid with a massive headache and crippling amnesia were hardly pleasant. Having to fight through an army of intellect devourers, mind flayers, and infernal demons even less so. Still, all things considered, the amnesiac dragonborn considered that things were going well even if the only thing floating through their mind was a name they hardly recognized. Laltor.
They had awoken upon the beach outside the crashed nautiloid and quickly found Shadowheart unconscious, after saving her they'd begun wandering where they'd happened upon the wayward Githyanki being harassed by tieflings.
Only after saving he had the thought occurred there could have been other wayward survivors thus they'd made their way back to the ship. Their explorations had been interrupted by shouting.
A deep thunderous voice had shouted "Tabula" While a quieter voice had been calling out "Momonga" Other phrases and words echoed through the ship but the acoustics of its design had made it a bit difficult to pinpoint the source.
As they approached a corner they heard cries of pain, peering around it the Dragonborn was faced with a strange sight, a man donned in a purple robe clutching his head in pain. A tall figure in a midnight black robe stood next to an all too familiar mindflayer.
The black-cloaked figure turned to face the purple-robed man, revealing a strange smiling mask with sapphire eyes. The figure was tall, nearly matching the height of the floating mind flayer behind him. Despite not hearing any words the subtle movements of the mindflayer gave the strangest impression they were having a conversation.
The mind flayer suddenly gripped its head causing the tall figure to glance in its direction, its eye flashed a deep red before it wrapped its tendrils around the figure's neck and sank its fangs into the back of its head.
For a moment his mind was overtaken with visions of profuse blood, as the slickly brain matter was sucked from the skulls. The scent of spilled cranial juices filling the air…
The twisted fantasy was interrupted by a grunt. The black cloak figure had somehow escaped the tendrils and was now fully facing the mind flayer, who seemingly had several broken teeth. Blinking at the bizarre sight the Dragonborn was further surprised when the figure spoke in the same booming voice they'd heard earlier
"Hmm, this is the thanks I receive? I had hoped we could establish friendly connections…Sadly it seems not. [Electro Sphere]" The figure intoned with raised open palm. A rather large ball of lightning formed in his palm slamming into the seemingly confused mindflayer. The smell of burnt fish filled the air as the mind flayer collapsed.
Despite its obvious pain, it was still twitching in a way that felt too familiar, instead of dragging it out the large figure snapped his finger and cast a rather strange iteration of magic missile, the blades of ethereal force practically minced the creature.
With the mind flayer dead the purple robed man pointed his staff threateningly at the darkly clad figure. Considering for a moment he raised his fist in a motion for them to move. They emerged into the room, weapons drawn, surprising the two robed figures.
"Ah, well they say the more the merrier," the purple-clad figure snorted. The dragonborn opened his mouth to respond when there was an all too familiar reverberation through his skull. Images and knowledge flowing like a river through his mind.
A strong hand grasping from the purple void, the strange magic and battles within the ship. Finally the meeting with the mindflayer. The figure…Momonga rushing forward ignoring Gale's crys of warning, freeing the mind flayer from the rubble with strength that seemed out of place in a magic caster's hands.
The mind flayer's domination as it was locked into a conversation with Momonga Gale couldn't hear.
The sensation shattered like glass, giving a glance to the three other tadpole victims they turned to fully face the dark-clad figure.
"I don't suppose you'd be open to discussion?" Momonga seemed to grimace through his mask
"Well you have to understand from our perspective you were being rather chummy with that mind flayer" Gale chuckled darkly, still wincing slightly in pain from the mind flayer's mental domination and the mental connection to the rest of the group.
"He freed it and allowed it to dominate you, I don't see any reason we should waste breath" Lae'zel growled as she glared fiercely.
"You mentioned a name as you freed it, tabula, another mind flayer perhaps?" The dark urge questioned, ignoring the twinge of desire to see the figures' blood.
"Fascinating you weren't there for that yet you know? And you all gripped your heads…Telepathy? But it didn't seem like a spell, perhaps something similar to what the brain eater was doing. But that shouldn't be a power they develop until they reach the nematode stage…." Momonga stroked his chin as he seemingly ignored the question in favor of his curiosity.
"I'd answer the question if you know what's good for you" Shadowheart snarked as she gripped her fail, seemingly ready to mutter a prayer to her goddess.
"Tabula…He…He was a dear friend, he had a deep love of the occult and lore of the world. He was quite intelligent. I let my excitement get the better of me when I saw the brain eater."
"Brain eater…A fitting description" Gale grimaced slightly at the rather on-the-nose name
"Friends with a ghaik?! They're soulless monsters, you've been tricked fool" Lae'zel growled
Suddenly for but a moment it was as if all light drained from the room, while nothing had changed Momonga suddenly seemed to loom over the entire group, like a great beast about to snap close to its jaws. And just as quickly the feeling vanished
"I've never found the presence or lack of soul to be a hindrance, I'd ask you to avoid such…remarks in the future," Momonga stated, an icy layer to his voice that had the dragon born gripping his fist tighter.
"Ahem, moving on I think you should calm yourselves. If I understand the situation correctly you've all been on the unfortunate side of brain eater reproduction, and that means I might be able to help."
"You expect us to trust you? Just like that join hands in friendship" Shadowheart sassed. While the Dragonborn appreciated the sentiment he wished she'd held her tongue getting the tadpoles out of their heads was their priority and Momongas familiarity with them likely meant he was their best resource at the moment.
"I don't see how you have much choice, It's been what several hours? A day? How long before your bodies betray you and you're fully consumed by the Brain eater Nematode?" Momonga pointed out their rather perilous situation with an air of finality.
Considering for a moment the dragon born lowered their fist, nodding Shadowheart followed suit. Gale seemed to contemplate something before lowering his staff in turn.
"We will find no cure with this creature; we waste time and breath. Only the creche and my people can see us freed" Lae'zel growled but also lowered her weapon.
"Now then tell me everything,"
"Hmm they inserted already hatched nematodes, and how long did you say it's been since the insertion?"
"It's hard to measure, we were a bit impaired. As the ship came down it was night and we awoke on the beach by mid-morning. Add the time we were on the ship and I'd say at least a day." Shadowheart answered as Laltor searched his memories. All he could grasp was pain, the wriggling feeling as the creature burrowed behind his eye.
"Fascinating, skipping the embryonic stage I'd expect you all to be showing signs already. Any stiffness of limbs? Painful headaches, the feeling that your body isn't yours to control?" Momonga questioned as he leaned closer to examine Shadowhearts eye.
"I've noticed some things, intrusive thoughts about…Unpleasant things, headaches and I seem to be missing memories." Laltor explained
"Hmm, Intrusive thoughts and headaches aren't uncommon but if the nemotoad had reached the stage of affecting memories I'd expect your motor functions to be heavily impaired" Momonga explained the grinning mask leaning in close to better examine the dragon born.
"I've had a few headaches, but no memory loss or…intrusive thoughts." Shadowheart pointed out, the rest of their group responding in kind.
"Perhaps you're afflicted by a separate ailment as well as the tadpole? Brain eater maturation isn't an exact science but I wouldn't expect such major differences in symptoms in a single member… If time wasn't an issue I'd really love to examine the maturation process. Still, I suppose there's no reason to delay. I can think of two paths forward to treat your affliction." Momonga nodded to himself as he reached into the sleeve of his robe to reveal a white vial. The glass was strangely mesmerizing to look at, clearly made of crystal rather than glass and embossed in golden reliquary.
"This potion should purge nearly any status ailment, disease, or parasite. The nematode should still count as such and be rejected after ingestion. It isn't until the brain is mostly destroyed that it's considered independent" Momonga explained as he placed the bottle upon a chunk of rubble.
His phrasing was strange but the idea the journey could end so soon excited Laltor, perhaps with this he might even regain his wayward memories.
"So I just drink this?" Laltor questioned as he took the glass vial into his hand and held it to the light.
"Yes it likely won't be pleasant but outside of this I can think of only one other means of removing a brain eater nematode and it's…Even less pleasant" Momonga finished with a tone of finality.
Steeling himself the Dragonborn gripped the glass prying the ornate top off he glanced back at his companions. Lae'zel scowled, Shadowheart looked nervous and Gale seemed fascinated by the mysterious liquid within the bottle, probably pondering what alchemical solution sat within that could seemingly free one of mind flayer parasites.
Taking a deep breath the dragon born tilted the bottle to his lips.
Momonga was prepared for many things, vomit, pain, and general discomfort. Possibly some internal damage as the parasite was summarily rejected, he'd have to waste a health potion to fix it. He was not prepared for the lizardman to suddenly projectile vomit blood, nor for his eyes to start leaking blood as his body convulsed in abject agony.
In Yggdrasil, the potion would cure you with little fanfare, at most dealing some damage based on how large/how much damage the parasite had already done. It seemed in this real world the process of purging the body of abnormalities was a bit more…Excessive than one would expect.
The others in a strange twist had also fallen to the ground gripping their heads in pain and letting out cries of pain as the tadpole seemingly communicated its suffering across their minds.
The lizardman leaned its head back and let out a final guttural scream as it collapsed into unconsciousness. The other members of the group were slowly releasing their heads, the pain seemingly silenced.
"Well…I didn't expect such a violent reaction, still, hopefully, that means it did work." Momonga mumbled as he ignored the blood that would have once turned his stomach. Now only feeling a morbid curiosity as he flipped the lizardman to face the sky, causing it to cough up more blood. At least that confirmed it was still alive.
Sighing at the waste, Momonga dumped the red potion onto the suffering lizardman just as his companions seemed to have regained their senses enough to pull their blades.
The lizardman leapt to his feet stumbling back until he pressed against the wall before seemingly regaining his senses.
"You didn't warn me how…horrid that would be" He growled exposing his sharp teeth
"To be completely honest I've never seen such a violent reaction myself. Still, how do you feel?" Momonga prodded as he continued looking him over.
There was a moment of silence as the lizardman closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate. Again his compatriots gripped their heads, but seemingly not in pain this time.
"IT'S STILL THERE!" he shouted seemingly enraged by his pointless suffering.
"Fascinating, there must be something very unique about your Nematode for it to cause such a violent reaction and still remain lodged in your brain…" Momonga stroked his chin curiously as he ignored the lizardman's rage. He had already been convinced there was something strange about the parasites considering they hadn't already begun to turn but resisting the potion showed whatever was afoot was far more than a simple different subspecies of brain eaters.
"SO WHAT NOW?" The lizardman growled, pointedly ignoring the slightly smug look his green companion was giving him. Looking at her Momonga couldn't quite place her species. The green skin implied some form of gobliniod. But her size didn't fit either category, perhaps a hobgoblin? But her distinctive facial features were rather strange.
"Ahem, well that depends as I noted I know of only one other surefire way to remove brain eater spawn…Do any of you happen to have a wand of true resurrection?" Momonga prodded, he doubted the answer would be yes but he was honestly curious about the commonality of resurrection in these strange lands.
"Do you mean a rod of true resurrection? No, they're too valuable to just be lying about. How would that even…Wait you don't mean?" Gale questioned as his eyes seemed to widen in realization
"The surest way to remove the spawn is death, complete destruction of the brain followed by resurrection. The resurrection magic should restore you and leave the tadpole deceased." Momonga explained as he pondered whether sharing one of his wands would be worthwhile.
"This creature doesn't lie, before purification, the old way of dealing with a gith infected that was too valuable to die was to destroy the brain and revive them," Lae'zel explained coldly.
"Considering your potion you'll have to consider me…reluctant to test death's mercy." The lizardman snarked with a glare.
"Fair enough, honestly I'm rather relieved. This gives me a chance to observe this phenomenon more closely." Momonga grinned internally, technically he could think of a few other methods that might have freed them most notably [Wish upon a star] or possibly a race-changing item but he didn't see any need to offer such.
If Gale was on death's door he might intervene then just to assuage the goddess's wrath but he held no obligation to the strange lizardman and his compatriots. He'd only offered them the potion as he wanted to see its effects and ensure if he tried to use one on Gale he'd survive.
Saying that his interest in the strange brain eater nematodes was entirely genuine. What force stopped the potion from working? Could it possibly defy the logic of true resurrection? Would even [Wish upon a star] fail? Perhaps they were backed by a world item even? There was only one way to find out after all and that was to observe.
"Well…Thanks for the attempt, I guess? We best be heading…Off. Away from…Here" Shadowheart replied seemingly trying to urge her party members to move on.
"True enough we won't find any answers here, best we all get a move on" Momonga nodded as he pulled the lizardman to his feet. Pointedly ignoring the rude dismissal.
"We?" the lizardman mumbled in confusion
"But of course, I won't be able to solve this mystery if you all vanish into the night. I'll be keeping a close eye on you all" Momonga nodded to himself as the party gathered itself.
Gale seemed to conclude the mind flayer debacle had severed their fledgling companionship stuck close to the other tadpole victims which Momonga felt was a bit rude.
"Right…I don't suppose I could convince you to leave us be?" The lizardman questioned in a resigned voice seemingly already accepting the coming answer.
"Not at the moment! I used a rather rare potion for your sake after all." Momonga pointed out with a nod as they began to meander out of the ship.
The lizardman seemed ready to protest before resigning himself to their fate.
Observing the group as they moved along the coast was a curious thing, despite having just met Gale he integrated with the other three with an ease that would suggest they'd been working together for some time.
The lizardman was clearly the leader amongst them charging head first into combat against a few more intellect devourers, his name was Laltor. The green woman, apparently named Lae'zel would rush in to assist while the cleric Shadowheart held back to guard Gale who functioned as a DPS with his spells. Seeing [Magic missile] again made Momonga ponder if he could perhaps use dark wisdom to steal the magic of this land. While [Magic missile] seemed generally inferior to his [Magic arrow] that could simply be a matter of level.
Shaking away the errant thought he pondered if perhaps the easy teamwork and integration was an effect born of the tadpole, the conversations between the four as brief as they were suggested they'd only just met and their only true connection was the brain eater nematodes within them.
He felt them glare in his direction more than once as he didn't move to assist them against the intellect devourers but he felt there was no need. The creatures were not particularly strong and the four worked together so well they'd barely sustained an injury. His assistance wouldn't add anything.
Apparently, the group was hoping to find other survivors by scouring the coast before focusing on hunting down the cure they needed. A risky plan considering the time limit but one he could see the logic behind. The fledgling group had already gotten a warrior, monk, cleric, and mage by gathering other victims, who knew what other skilled people they'd find by hunting the coast?
As if the universe could hear his thoughts, Momonga could detect an undead presence ahead. Preparing himself in case a real threat revealed itself, a pale man with white hair and red-tinged eyes emerged from the bushes bringing back memories of a creation of one of his dear friends. Considering the appearance and undead presence it was likely a vampire.
Momonga wondered if the creature had an item to make it immune to the normal status penalties a vampire would have in sunlight or if it was simply doing its best to ignore them. It would be hard to measure without seeing it fight.
Before he could decide what to do with his knowledge of the figures' undead nature it called out.
"I've cornered one of those brain things! Quickly can you kill it? Like you killed the others?" The vampire called out.
The group glanced amongst themselves for a moment seemingly reaching a silent decision the Lizardman approached.
"I'll handle it, stand aside" Laltor grinned confidently as he passed the vampiric creature, Momonga could see the confusion flicker across his face as the vampire latched onto his back and pulled a dagger against his throat as they rolled to the ground.
"No sudden movements, we wouldn't want anything to happen to that pretty neck of yours after all" The figure mocked as the lizardman held the blade back and struggled against the grip.
"And you lot stand back! No need for this to get…messy"
"I need him alive, drop the knife if you know what's good for you," Shadowheart glared.
"If you succeed do you think you'll survive my wrath?" Lae'zel growled in annoyance as she drew her blade.
"I have to agree with our fair ladies here, let's not do anything…unwise" Gale added as he pointed his staff at the errant vampire.
"My death won't bring your little friend back! Now stop interrupting!" The vampire growled as he focused his gaze
Momonga considered for a moment simply dominating the undead, he didn't seem particularly strong and he doubted it could resist his Dominate undead skill. Still, he was rather curious to see where this went thus for the moment he resisted the urge.
"I saw you on board the ship didn't I? What did you and those tentacled freaks do to me?!" He growled.
"You got it all wrong, they captured me as well!" The lizardman returned his glare
"Don't lie to me! I saw…" The vampire froze in a familiar expression of pain as the entire group seemed frozen for a moment confirming to Momonga that the vampire was also infected.
This brought up so many more questions to him, as an undead the vampire should have been completely immune to infection of this type according to his knowledge of Yggdrasil. Parasites, diseases, and status ailments of the like simply couldn't infect the undead. A brain eater could theoretically attempt an insertion into an undead but the negative energy and undead nature would simply result in the nematode's death and quick ejection.
Now the question was…Was this another property of the special nematodes or perhaps a result of being in a different world? Were undead immunities not as absolute in this realm? Did undead simply not have the immunities he expected? He knew his own immunities were seemingly intact due to his time in the upper planes so was he simply an exception rather than the rule?
His musings were stopped as the vampire rose to his feet helping the lizardman rise as well. The conflict seemingly defused as he was pondering the situation.
"Astarion, at your service, I hope you don't mind me joining this little soiree, since we're all stuck with these bloody parasites we might as well hunt for the cure together right?" Astarion grinned charismatically. With little hesitation, the group seemed to agree.
Momonga couldn't help but feel a bit miffed, he only unintentionally nearly killed them and they gave him the cold shoulder, but when a vampire actively threatens murder they're willing to let him join just like that?
They spent a good bit wandering the coast before deciding to break and set up a camp. They picked a spot along a small lake, with many rocky outcroppings and fallen logs useful for seating. Watching them stretch fabric across rocky outcroppings and nailing them into the ground drew Momongas eyes.
He had never been camping, the concept was little more than a romanticized dream of ages long past for his old world and in Yggdrasil there was little reason. As an undead he needed no rest and spells to create temporary dwellings weren't difficult to access.
Part of him was tempted to offer them aid in establishing their tents simply to experience it for himself but he concluded the current tension in the camp would make it… ill-advised.
As he gazed around the campsite he considered if he should set up his own dwelling to not stand out. For a moment he contemplated using the tenth-tier spell [create fortress] but it felt a little unnecessary. Nothing beyond Mystra herself had impressed him since arriving in this realm, the extra defensive strength of the spell didn't seem warranted at the moment.
Reaching a hand into his sleeve he searched for a certain item in his inventory, he hadn't thought of it in some time. His hand was sealed around a tiny square object as his eye scanned the area.
The area behind Lae'zels tent was a rocky ridge, considering for a moment he nodded to himself with a silent cast of fly he floated onto the ridge, ignoring the glances he could feel from the ragtag group. Settling on a semi-flat chunk of stone he threw out the Green Secret House.
Instantly a small cottage formed, nodding to himself he glanced back to the others and saw some measure of surprise on their face at the sudden appearance of the building. Ignoring them for the moment he stepped inside and found the interior far more spacious than one would expect. The outside didn't seem like it could fit more than one or two rooms but the inside was quite large boasting several rooms and alcoves, fully stocked with furnishings and amenities of all kinds.
Nodding to himself he stepped back outside his eyes drawn to the slowly setting sun over the small water bank, spotting a stump Momonga sat down, he could hear the others gathering supplies and whispering amongst themselves. Much like his eyesight, his hearing had improved with his undead nature.
The sun cast a golden glow over the lake, Momonga wondered what blue planet would make of this strange world. The untouched beauty seemed to stretch out endlessly, what changes would he have made to the sixth floor after seeing such beauty firsthand?
Reaching into his inventory he pulled out a book he hadn't had a chance to read since arriving in these lands, a book that felt all the more relevant after the events in the upper planes. PKing for Dummies, a book written by Punnito Moe.
Flipping to a random page Momonga began to read under the golden light of the setting sun.
The Lae'zel felt particularly annoyed about their current situation. The campgrounds were fine, though the changing of the light with the passing of time was still…Strange to say the least.
The fact they'd allowed the black-cloaked figure to accompany them had felt like a mistake from the start. She was tempted to prompt her compatriots to leave in the night if the action didn't reek of cowardice.
Still, they were stuck with a ghaik ally that had poisoned one of them. Worse, none of the others seemed particularly interested in confronting the strange companion that had decided to make them its pet project.
Gale was focused on cooking some roasted boar into a stew that smelt… Delicious as much as it galled the Githyanki to admit. The strange dragon born had taken an early rest and asked to be woken when the food was done, hardly shocking considering his rather unfortunate experiences.
The cleric continued to glare in her direction whenever she thought Lae'zel wasn't looking, in all honesty, it was the one person in their little group she could understand. The others pretended they weren't on a time limit, according to the strange figure they should all be well on their way to ceremorphisis yet they had stopped to rest and eat.
"I'm just saying Mr. Waterdeep, if you're such an excellent wizard why can't you magic a house for us? Or at least a bed so we don't have to sleep on the sodding ground!" The pale ones whining pulled her attention towards the fire.
"And As I was telling you that was…very strange magic. Making a shelter isn't the hardest magic, there's a rather famous high-level spell that allows you to create a gateway to an interdimensional mansion, but just creating a house like that…I can only think of a few ways to accomplish such, the closest thing I know of is old elvish magic. It was said that in ancient times the elves of Evermeet could create structures with magic. Though the exact nature of their magic was a closely guarded secret." Gale explained with a sigh as he stirred the pot over the open flames, his eyes seemingly being drawn towards the mysterious structure that seemed to loom over camp despite its rather quaint appearance.
"A bed would be nice but it feels like it rather undermines the point of camping don't you agree?" Shadowheart responded with fake cheer dripping from her words.
"THE POINT? We could be sleeping in a cozy cottage but were stuck out here on the ground because our wizard didn't have the sense to learn some useful magic" Astarions whining continued.
"You could always ask if there's room, I'm sure he'd be willing to share his cozy shack with you," Shadowheart prodded.
"Eh…Camping isn't THAT bad"
"You weren't even there for the worst of it, what's got you so spooked? I didn't realize you could get paler." Gale questioned with a smirk.
"I…I can't really say something about him just…The way he looks at us is a bit too similar to…someone else." Astarion gave a non-answer
"He's wearing a mask you can't even see his eyes!" A tired dragonborn muttered tiredly from his bed.
Glancing about at the bickering mass Lae'zel made up her mind, she turned and walked towards the water reflecting the sun. Towards a dark figure, she'd seen emerge from the cabin and seat itself upon the remains of a fallen tree.
She approached loudly to announce her presence, as she drew closer she noted a strange book he'd pulled from somewhere that he'd been reading from. The sapphire eyes of his mask turned to greet her with their unnerving grin.
"Hmm, greetings Lae'zel correct? Was there something you wanted?" Momonga greeted her, but not for the first time she cursed the mask concealing his features. Reading the emotions of the varied creatures of this land was hard enough without them hiding their faces.
"The food will be done soon, the others are too distracted so I figured I'd inform you…" Lae'zel trailed off.
"You mean they are too afraid to approach me, I'm surprised you overcame it so easily." Momonga chuckled
"I AM NOT FRIGHTENED!" Lae'zel growled baring her teeth as her hand reached for her blade, if he wished to test her mettle she'd show him she was not to be trifled with.
"Hmmm…" The grinning mask turned to face her more fully with its piercing stare.
"I WAS NOT… Why are you even here, you have no tadpole, surely you'd be better suited to finding whatever you desire on your own." Shelving the fast-approaching fight for the moment she questioned him
A deafening silence filled the air as the glaring mask turned from her to face the glow of the setting sun.
"What are you?"
As Lae'zel considered returning to the others and writing this interaction off as a waste of her time the deep voice of Momonga interrupted her.
"What nonsense are you spewing, if you're truly friends of the Ghaik you must know of my kind" Lae'zel spat as she glared at the enigmatic figure that continued staring across the water.
"Ghaik? Ah, brain eaters. I can think of several species similar to you, but none that have a special connection to brain eaters."
"FOOL! Do you know nothing of the Githyanki?! The great war we fought to free ourselves of the Ghaik yoke!"
"I'm… far from home."
Lae'zel considered leaving the fool in his ignorance but glancing towards the magical house behind them she had to acknowledge he was powerful, very possibly useful to their cause, and despite how strange it seemed, someone knowing a Ghaik but not the Githyanki…
His ignorance didn't sound feigned. Her eyes wandered towards the sky and she pondered if perhaps he was as far from home as she was in these strange lands. Either way, his lack of respect and knowledge for her people needed to be corrected.
"I am a Githyanki, we were once slaves to the Ghaik, but rose up against them we shattered our chains and spread across the astral realm honing our psionic abilities and warrior spirit in service to our queen VLakith. The great immortal queen, she leads our people and decides who may ascend by her side."
"I see so your people are usually in the astral plane, what brings you to these lands?"
"My people can live eternally in the timelessness of the astral plane but the lack of time there…impedes our growth, so we create creches where our young could grow, train and prove themselves worthy."
"Hmmm, so you're not native to this astral plane, it's simply where you settled? Fascinating. Is your creche nearby?" Momonga questioned as he seemed to consider the information that she'd shared.
"No, I hail from creche K'liir, while hunting for greater prey I found myself ambushed by the ghaik."
"And what were you hunting?"
"I've answered enough of your questions! Now answer mine." Lae'zel growled in annoyance, the people of these realms' obsession with questions was already an irritant and the creature before here seemed more curious than most.
"Hmm, I don't remember making such an agreement…But you have satisfied some of my curiosity so I suppose it's fair I return the favor." Momonga trailed off as he seemed to consider the idea.
Lae'zel felt a bit surprised he'd honestly agreed, she'd expected him to refuse and continue to be a mysterious nuisance. She hadn't truly been interested in satisfying his curiosity as much as she wanted to impress upon him the greatness of the Githyanki.
"What is it you hope to find following us, you have no worm, we have no great wealth to offer, and you've already shown you're more than strong enough to handle yourself. So what drives you?" Lae'zel decided to target the most pressing question in her mind.
She'd felt his power in that moment on board the ship, the others might not have recognized it for what it was but she'd known it. The feeling of facing a monster that could tear you limb from limb with the merest of thoughts. Like the ancient beholders, she'd fought to protect her creche so long ago.
Why would something that strong follow them? What reason could it have?
"...I did not lie when I said you were all very interesting, I do not know Githyanki culture but have you never felt curious about something, desired to know the answers even if they served no purpose to you?"
"No, knowledge is another weapon, to be learned and wielded in battle, idle curiosity is a waste of time and energy." Lae'zel squinted at the creature in confusion, was it truly implying it followed them simply due to idle curiosity?
"Hmm, that is a… Interesting way to look at it…A dear friend of mine wrote something similar in this very book you know? Sadly I don't think I have an answer that will satisfy you, your brain eater nematodes are nothing like I've ever seen before. I wish to understand them, if it makes you feel any better you can assume I seek the knowledge for some nefarious purpose…But it's a foolish assumption"
Lae'zel stared for a moment even more baffled by the strange figures' enigmatic goals, she felt he hadn't lied but hadn't told the whole truth either.
"That house, could you make it for others in the camp? If I must listen to the pale one whine all night I may have to remove his head." Lae'zel growled as she just barely made out the whiney pale one's voice in the distance.
"HAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA…I expected to be asked such for your own use…hmmm" Momonga laughed uproariously for a moment before it suddenly ended, as if some switch had been flipped he simply stopped. It seemed incredibly unnatural.
"It was no joke"
"Nor did I think it was, as for your question? I suppose I could, but I don't see the need, it's not as if he needs sleep anyway." Momonga answered. Despite the end of the laughter, Lae'zel had the sense he was still in a good mood.
For a moment she considered asking him to clarify what he meant by the pale one not needing to sleep before shaking it off as unimportant.
"...What are you reading?" Lae'zel asked as her eyes were drawn to Momonga turning a page
"It's called PK'ing for dummies, it…A combat manual, made for beginners just starting to learn how to fight others on their level. It covers the preparations one needs to make before facing a foe in battle, the necessity of accounting for and manipulating your enemy's expectations and mentality. I've memorized most of its contents but it was written by a dear friend" Momonga's voice held a note of melancholy that surprised Lae'zel.
"Hm, a book can hardly prepare one for true combat"
"HA, that's one of the first notes in this book, that preparation can only carry you so far and you must be ready to think on your feet. Always assume your enemy has hidden strength and never assume you're truly ready"
"The author sounds like a wise warrior," Lae'zel admitted
"Yes…He certainly was. I miss him dearly" Momonga answered just as the sun fully finished sinking below the horizon, and the smell of boiled meat reached her nose.
"Hmmm, it seems dinner is ready you should go eat and rest for the night. I'll be turning in myself. Rest well Lae'zel of Crèche K'liir." With those words, the figure stood and walked back to his cottage.
Laezel considered for a moment knocking on the door and inviting him to eat with the rest but concluded it was none of her business if the strange creature wished to starve to death.
After a hearty meal she laid down and gazed at the night sky, the conversation had answered much and nothing at the same time. Turning in her bed roll to face towards the rocky outcropping that the cottage stood upon it would be a lie to say she slept easily that night.
So funny bit there with the not needing sleep thing, technically both Ainz and Lae'zel are showing their ignorance. Ainz is assuming Astarion doesn't need sleep/rest as vampires, even lesser vampires in Overlord (the closest equivalent to vampire spawn) don't require food, rest, or anything else a living person does. Aping the 3.5e lore of vampires.
The thing is in 5e vampires need sleep, especially vampire spawn. Saying that Ainz isn't incorrect in his assumption Astarion doesn't really sleep, because Astarion is an elf, and elves in dnd don't sleep they do something called trancing. Which is basically a meditation-style thing that only takes four hours to fully "rest".
So Lae'zel doesn't know elves well enough to understand they don't sleep and Ainz doesn't understand vampires in this world well enough to know they do need sleep. Just a fun bit of misunderstanding on both sides for our fellow fish out of water. Honestly, I might need to find a way for Ainz to feed Lae'zel some wrong information that she can spout out around the others and receive strange looks for…
Also, ainz doesn't recognize the Dragonborn, while there was a similar species in Yggdrasil it's implied they had wings, so Ainz just assumes the Durge is a lizardman.
Sorry it took so long to get the next chapter up was struggling because we jump around quite a bit here. I legit rewrote some of these scenes several times and eventually went back to see how recruitment scenes happened in canon and realized i was making things a bit more complicated then they need to be. BG3 early companions join with little fan fare/coercion.