So much happened in our last game session that I turned it into two chapters.
This chapter is part 1.
Let Me Tell You it was Bloody
The smell of sewage permeates the room as it flows out from the crude bathroom. Jofina plugs her nose to keep from gagging. Kairos takes several steps back and rubs his nose with the back of his hand to try and get rid of the stench.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go get that thing!" yells Kled urging his mount to run.
"NO!" yells everyone else in the party and Torryn slams the door shut. Then she and Ivy push the furniture and blankets back in front of the door.
"We should continue searching for Floon," Reaner speaks up.
"I agree!" Jofina says and heads through the other door and down a narrow hallway, leading up a flight of steps to an audience hall.
Halfway down the long chamber, two tabaxi hold a well-dressed human man with wavy red-blond hair up against the wall between the threadbare curtains. A muscular half-orc punches and tortures the bruised and bloodied man for information. And a third tabaxi, who should be guarding the door, instead stands watching the interrogation of the noble.
At the end of the hall, a creature with large white eyes, rubbery purple skin, and four tentacles circling its terrifying mouth sits on a raised platform. In its lap sits what looks like a brain with feet, and the tentacle creature is stroking the brain like a cat.
In the hallway, Jofina whispers to Kled, "Shall we charge?"
But all Kled heard was Charge! He kicks Skaarl into action yelling, "Let's get to killing them interloping intruders!"
The rest of his companions, hot on his heels, all make it into the room, but the element of surprise was lost with Kled's exclamation.
Quick as a bunny, Kairos is the first to attack and throws a mote of fire at the tabaxi Torryn was sneaking up on. The room fills with the stench of burnt fur and skin and the charred tabaxi looks around the room for an escape. When he doesn't see any, he turns and stabs Torryn in the thigh with his short sword.
The other two tabaxi drop the human man to the ground and one of them shoots his crossbow at the giant lizard charging in. But the crossbow bolt just glances off of Skaarls scales.
The half-orc disengages himself from the Jofina, Kled, and Skarl, who are trying to pin him in. He fires an arcane burst at Kled while running toward the raised platform. The additional arcane damage reopens Kled's partially healed wound and almost drops the fighter from his mount. The harengon holds on by sheer will.
The nightmarish figure in black robes rises from his stone chair, sets down his 'pet', and glides down the stairs. He throws the half-orc a scathing glance as he passes and then glides out a set of double doors in the center of the west wall, closing them behind him.
Renaer runs at the tabaxi between him and Floon yelling, "Don't worry Floon! I'm here to save you!" The tabaxi however, pulls out his scimitar and slices into the charging human, who is now bleeding heavily.
From the back of the room, next to Kairos, Ivy shoots an arrow from her short bow at the tabaxi who attacked Torryn. Unfortunately, the arrow goes wide as the tabaxi dodges a feint from Torryn. However, it does give the rogue the opening she needs to deftly slip her sword through his ribs and right into the heart, easily dispatching her foe.
Jofina, knowing she needs Kled alive to keep fighting the enemies, touches Kled letting her healing magic flow into him. Still injured, the harengon then takes a deep swig from his flask of mushroom juice to rejuvenate himself to keep on fighting. With Kled back on his feet, the paladin can now focus on protecting the innocents.
Kled urges Skaarl on, yelling at the retreating interrogator, "Where the hell do you think you're going?"
Shock and surprise cross the half-orc's face as the mounted harengon charges after him, heedless of the opportunity attacks from the two tabaxi they run past, and stabs him in the belly. The half-orc looks down at the gaping wound left by Kled's halberd, barely keeping his feet from the force of the attack.
The brain jumps down from the raised platform and runs at Kled attacking him with its claws. It then stares over at Torryn, sensing her above-average intelligence. The tiefling feels a weird and creepy pressure inside her head. She resists the attack, shaking her head to clear the sensation from her brain.
Renaer calls out heroically, " Floon! I'll be right there! Hold on, my friend!" Despite his injury, the bedraggled noble dispatches the enemy between him and his friend with two quick thrusts from his rapier and dagger and rushes forward to stand protectively over Floon.
Kairos tosses an orb of fire at the intellect devourer, but it lands just short of its target. The black and white harengon says with frustration, "That's the second time that spells missed."
The last tabaxi looks around the room at his fallen companions and the foes surrounding him, searching for a way to escape. He sees the double doors but knows he won't reach them without a fight. He tosses his crossbow aside and boldly faces Kled and Skaarl. The tabaxi grasps the hilts of his scimitars, drawing them from their sheaths. The first gets stuck in its sheath which causes his swing to be off-balance, completely missing Kled and Skaarl. The tabaxi's attempt to look cool is an epic fail!
The half-orc continues his running fight with Kled and Skaarl. He fires another arcane bolt, that fizzles when it hits the lizard's protective scales. But the attack does give him the chance to run up the stairs onto the platform, out of reach of the fighter's halberd.
Ivy aims high over everyone's heads at the half-orc on the raised platform. She lets her arrow fly, thinking her arrow will be the last thing he sees. He falls but manages to stay conscious by sheer willpower and drags himself behind the stone chair. The druid then chants a healing spell from across the room at Renaer, and the color returns to his face.
Torryn and Jofina work together to stop the intellect devourer's rampage. The tiefling rogue stabs at the intellect devourer, but it dodges her attack. So she cunningly disengages from it and retreats back next to Ivy and Kairos. The eladrin steps over to confront the intellect devourer. With a squelch, the paladin's sword lops off part of a lobe.
Kled, intent on killing the half-orc cowardly hiding behind the chair, rides Skaarl up the stairs. The intellect devourer and the tabaxi each attack the harengon as he rides away. The harengon is scratched by claws and takes a scimitar slice to the leg as he doggedly pursues his fleeing foe.
In a last-ditch attempt to save his life the half-orc growls, "You'll make an enemy of the Xanathar guild!"
"There won't be much left of the Xanathar guild when I'm through with them," Kled says and lops the guy's head off. The fighter points his halberd back at the remaining tabaxi shouting, "Don't think I forgot about you!"
The intellect devourer turns its attention to the eladrin still standing next to it. The fey elf easily blocks the creature's claw attack with her shield. But then she lets out a scream as she feels her brain being squeezed by an invisible force. Kairos, worried about his friend, moves up next to Jofina while throwing a mote of fire at her attacker. Her screamed pains must have unnerved him more than he thought because his spell misses again.
The tabaxi takes this opportunity to flee through the double doors, leaving them open behind him. Kled chases after the tabaxi yelling, "Now you get back here! Where the hell you think you're going?"
The three women take on the intellect devourer together, hoping their combined attacks will finish the creature off. From the corner of the room, the Ivy expertly shoots another arrow from her short bow. It lands with a squelch, bloodying the intellect devourer. Torryn then slips in, stabbing the creature with her short sword, and then darts back to safety by Ivy. Jofina raises her long sword and brings it down with all her might, splitting the creature in half, legs and brains falling to either side.
Renear, no longer needing to protect Floon, drops down next to his badly injured friend. He holds Floon's hand saying, "Ah thank the gods he's alive, Can one of you heal him?"
Jofina crouches down by Floon and touches his chest. Healing light leaves her hand and travels across his body closing some of his wounds.
Floon's eyelids flutter open and he looks up at the glowing fey-elf and says, "Good heavens. I didn't think I was going to make it."
In the next room, Skaarl snaps at the tabaxi when the mounted pair catches up to the runaway. To his left, Kled sees a magic portal closing on the wall of the room.
Kairos runs in after his new friend, having no luck with his spells, the sorcerer raises his crossbow and shoots a bolt at the tabaxi. It goes wide, completely missing its target.
The tabaxi takes a step back, sets down his weapons, and puts his hands behind his head saying, "Alright, Alright, I surrender."
Ivy rushes into the room next and stops next to a table-height stone pillar in the middle of the floor. There's an indentation of a perfect circle with ten spokes carved into it the top of the pillar. Curious, the half-elf starts to take a closer look when Kled yells to her, "Well make yourself useful and tie him up."
She ties up the tabaxi and searches him, finding a dagger in each of his boots. Then she returns to the pillar to take a closer look at it. On closer inspection, the druid can tell that the symbol is the same one she's been tracking throughout the sewers. And in the middle of the circle is a smaller circular indentation that looks like a lidless eye.
The half-elf turns from the pillar right into Kled who was standing over her shoulder watching. She jumps and says, "Give me a little personal space," waving him back.
"I was just watchin' and drinkin' my medicine," he takes another swig from his flask, "Oh and I saw a portal on that there wall." He points at the southern wall.
Ivy looks between the wall and the pillar and is struck by an intriguing idea. "This pillar must open a portal. But it needs a device to activate it, like an eyeball scepter."
On the other side of the room, Torryn notices a short hallway that seems to go nowhere. She thinks to herself, That's suspicious. She calls out to no one in particular, "I'll be right back."
At the end of the hallway, the tiefling rogue feels around the walls and floors for a secret passage. Not finding anything out of the ordinary she thinks to herself, If there is one, they did a damn good job of hiding it.
After searching the side chambers off of the audience hall, Jofina comes into the portal room saying, "I looked all around for a faster way out of here than following the sewers back, but couldn't find anything."
"We'll make it out, now that you've found me. I have no worries of that," says Floon optimistically.
As the group leaves, Kled turns to the captured tabaxi and threatens, "Cross me again and you will die!"
Volo sits drinking alone in the Yawning portal, anxiously awaiting news of Floon's fate. He sees the group, still covered in sewage and dried blood, come in the front door and runs over to embrace his friends.
"Floon, my friend! You did it! I can't believe you did it. Thank you so much!" says Volo excitedly, adding, "Come join me at my table, and regale me with the story of Floon's rescue. Food and drinks are on me!"
"Unless you want to go get cleaned up," adds Volo, just now noticing the dried blood and sewage covering everyone.
Kled puts an arm around Volo, eager to tell the tale. "Well let me tell you it was bloody."
Volo waves down the barmaid Bonnie saying, "Bring a round for everyone. And whatever they'd like to eat. Put it on my tab."
After everyone has ordered Volo exclaims, "Now, let's hear the daring tale of Floon's rescue!"
Kled tells the tale with the others jumping in to share their part of the story and to clear up some of Kled's exaggerations.
Clapping his hands, Volo exclaims, "That sounds both exhilarating and terrifying! Thank you for saving my dear friend."
He settles back down and continues, "As for your reward. I don't carry that sum around Waterdeep with me. I must stop by my banker in the morning first." Volo scribbles something down on a piece of paper and slides it over to Kairos saying, "Meet me at this address tomorrow morning at ten and you shall have your reward. All 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Yes, all 5 of you."
Floon, Renaer, and Volo all get up. The three of them thank the group again, shaking everyone's hand. Which was quite a sight to be seen. Then the three noblemen wave and make their way out the door.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but the night's still young, and I'm not done drinking," states Torryn.
"Bet you can't keep up with me," taunts Kled.
"Let's celebrate our success!" Jofina agrees.
"To Success!" cheers Kairos.
"To Success!" the others all cheer together.
The heroes spend hours drinking more rounds than any of them care to count and retelling their epic tale of Floon's rescue to everyone who asks to hear it.
Torryn, to Kled, "Who is Gran Gran, anyway? And what's all this stuff about Kairos and Waterdeep?"
"Well, it's quite the tale. I was riding Skaarl along the Noxian plains, and then everything in front of us blurred like a desert mirage. Next thing I know I'm riding through a forest towards a small village. I rode right in, planning to claim the land for Noxus. But it was the strangest village I've ever seen, full of all these little rabbit persons, like Kairos."
"Harengon," states Kairos.
"Welp, I told them harengon to bring me to the leader of their village. And they took me to see the oldest harengon I've ever seen. Her fluffy fur is pure white, from the tips of her ears to her toes. She even has tufts of white fur growin' out of her ears!"
"That's Gran Gran," Kairos chimes in with a nostalgic smile.
Kled continues, "Welp, Gran Gran knew I was lost from my home the minute she saw me. She told me if I wanted to get back to Noxis I needed to see her great grandson Kairos in Waterdeep. Gran Gran also told me of a vision she's been having about a dark ominous cloud hovering over the city. She said until it's gone I must help and protect Kairos. So I jumped on Skaarl and made my way here."
Jofina speaks up, "Ivy and I met Gran Gran too! Several months after I left the feywild, we stopped in the harengon village to visit my friend Rhyme. He sent us to Waterdeep with a broken clockwork dragonfly that Rhyme said only his brother Kairos could fix."
"Did you leave the feywild just to visit Rhyme?" the black and white harengon asks.
"That's part of it. When he left the fewwild I promised Rhyme I would visit if I was ever in the mortal plane. My interest in your plane was further peaked by an elf named Falynn from Evereska who came to train with my order of paladins. She described so many wonders I knew I had to come to the mortal plane and experience it all for myself! I was given leave to go since there is a sister order of paladins in Evereska. And then Falynn was allowed to stay in the feywild."
"Like an exchange program," says Torryn.
"Something like that. It isn't done often because there aren't many willing to live hundreds of years on a different plane. Usually, training lasts a few years and then you return home," says Jofina.
"Hundreds of years!" exclaims Kled, "How long do you fey-elves live!?"
"We live somewhere into our seven-hundreds. I'm only a hundred and three and only recently matured into adulthood," Jofina answers with a smile.
Kled turns to Ivy and asks, "How did you and Jofina meet?"
"I was in my forest, gathering herbs when I came across some 'evil poaching bitches'! There were too many of them to fight, so I was attempting to scare them off. This one," she points at the eladrin, "appears out of nowhere all pink and flowers and scares the shit out of the poachers, sending them packing. It was a sight to behold!"
"Shelter the Light," Jofina slurs drunkenly, "Despite its lack of magic, your forest is a place of goodness and beauty. I must stand against the wickedness that would swallow it." She tries to stand while reciting the oath of her paladin order, but stumbles and falls into the table before clumsily landing back in her chair.
Ivy laughs at her friend's antics and continues her story, "She may be a fierce paladin fighter, but she was helpless in the woods. I can't believe she actually grew up in the feywild woods." The half-elf laughs teasingly.
"Your woods are all wrong, despite their beauty. At home magic is everywhere, I used it to help guide me. Even the animals are awakened. Do you know how startling it is to get down on a bunny's level, laying on the ground, to speak with it, only to have the creature bolt in fear"
"Yeah, I laughed for weeks about that," says Ivy, bringing laughter from everyone at the table.
"You know Torryn, in all the time I've known you, you've never told us how you and Kairos met. Care to share?" Ivy asks the secretive tiefling.
"No," states the tiefling.
Everyone continues to look expectantly at Torryn.
She sighs and says, "I guess none of you are going to let me off the hook?"
"Nope," says the half-elf sweetly.
"I'm going to need another ale," the rogue stalls. Jofina pushes a full mug to the tiefling.
Torryn picks up the mug, takes a swig, and says, "Kairos and I met in his watchmaker shop. Kairos smoothed over a misunderstanding between me and one of his customers. And in return, I paid him to make a custom stopwatch for a job I had. And that's the story." She picks up the mug and finishes the ale in one big swig.
Torryn looks nine-sheets to the wind after finishing off that last mug of ale, but still manages to slur, "Just one more round."
"Let's go!" shouts Kled enthusiastically.
Kairos shrugs and Ivy rolls her eyes because this is the third 'just one more round'.
They all look over at Jofina, whose eyes have glazed over. The fey-elf is giving them the thousand-yard stare from across the table. Then they watch as she tips forward and slowly slides under the table.
"So is that a no?" asks Torryn, laughing and hiccuping at the same time.
"Of course that's a no!" exclaims Ivy giving Torryn a dirty look, "Help me get her out from under the table and home."
Torryn stands up wobbling, she holds the table for stability asking, "Are you sure you want my help?"
"I can't move her on my own. Jofina's easily a foot taller than me," exclaims Ivy, exasperated.
Kairos taps Ivy on the arm, "We can help." The harengon gestures at himself and Kled, who despite drinking as much as the tiefling and eladrin, is doing just fine.
The four of them manage to drag the fey-elf out from under the table. Ivy and Torryn put Jofina's arms over them on each side, and Kled pushes from behind. After making sure they are good to get home, Kairos waves goodnight and heads home to his shop. He thinks to himself, I enjoyed the adventure! But I miss my shop and bed. The other four stumble their way back to the boarding house, stopping several times for either the tiefling or the eladrin to vomit.
The next morning they meet up at The Cinnamon Scarf for breakfast before meeting with Volo. Kled was up and out before the girls. He wanted to take Skaarl for a run before stabling her. He comes around the corner, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. And then he sees the eladrin, back in spring except the flowers on her head are limp and dull.
"What in hell are you doin' with your looks now?" he asks perplexed.
"Shhh, not so loud," whispers the fey-elf, holding her head.
"I got somethin' that'll help with that," says Kled pulling out his flask and offering it to Jofina.
She takes the flask, opens it, and sniffs. It smells earthy, like the woods. Always curious to try a new food or beverage, the eladrin takes a swig. The thick 'juice' tastes like it smells; earthy, and pungent, with a dank undertone. She tries to hand the flask back, but there are three harengons, each with a hand outreached. Somehow one of the Kled's takes the bottle from her hand.
"You like my mushroom juice?" asks Kled, adding, "I make it myself." He takes a swig before putting the flask away.
Jofina wanders over to the restaurant's wall to watch the ripple pattern moving across it, reaching out to see if it feels like it looks.
"Yup, she likes it," Kled says with a chuckle.
"What kind of mushrooms do you have in there?" questions Ivy.
Kled shrugs, "What!? Mushrooms are healthy! Once you get used to the madness and paranoia."
The druid gives Kled a dirty look and sighs, steering her friend inside to their table.
The waitress from yesterday comes to take their order. She looks at Kled, "Hey little guy. I see you found them. Right where I said they would be, I bet. But I haven't seen any of you since. I was concerned, especially for you Jofina. You're in here pretty much every morning."
Kled cuts the chatty waitress off, "Let me tell you it was bloody. We went on this rescue mission in the sewers under this here city!"
She excitedly asks them to tell the tale. Kled and Jofina readily oblige the request. Ivy throws in some witty side comments and mutters about Kled running off without them. Torryn doesn't say anything. And Kairos pipes up with comments about how he can't hit anything and he may as well be using his fists.
Finally, they finish the tale of Floon's rescue and the waitress takes their orders.
"Eggs, potatoes, and spiked coffee," Torryn grunts.
Ivy orders, "Tea and fruit."
"Same for me," says Kairos.
Jofina, trying to focus on the menu, asks, "What did I have last time?"
"Why does that matter?" asks Ivy.
"Because I'm working my way down the menu so I can sample everything," replies the eladrin.
"Ummm, the breakfast burrito," guesses Ivy.
Oblivious to her friend's uncertainty, Jofina says cheerfully, "Great! Then next is the Farmer's Bowl - red and white quinoa, sweet potato, roasted veggies, and chicken sausage."
"Got all I need here," says Kled patting his flask, "Plus I already ate with Skaarl."
I rolled a 1 on my con save when we were drinking at the Yawning Portal! LOL At least it made for a fun drunken scene. Plus the celebration created an opportunity to share some of our pregame character connections (and honestly chats between games) we've created about our characters, their backstories and shared backstories, and how they all ended up together.
Once I learned that Kled drinks mushroom juice regularly, I knew Jofina was going to drink it at some point. She loves trying mortal foods, but I did not expect it when the dm said, 'ok now roll con'. I was not having much success with my con saves this game. So yay! Hallucinating!
The next chapter is a continuation of the game session. It was a heavier roleplay session, so a lot transpired because we weren't bogged down with mechanics.