🍄85. the devil's mushroom

session 85 • july 22 2023 • 2,180 words

🌑 NIGHT 27 • 📅 MARPENOTH 17

How To Fight

Hugh and Buppido take watch. Buppido, bless his poor little fucking soul, tries again to strike up a conversation, though this time he has more luck than with Will.

Buppido compliments Hugh's combative abilities, noting that he never had a chance to learn how to fight. When Hugh questions this, Buppido reveals to him that the derro are relegated second-class citizens in Gracklestugh, and that there was no way they would be allowed to fight back--or given fair trial in any circumstance. In the event of conflict, the only thing Buppido would be able to do is run.

Hugh wonders what would happen if running wasn't an option. Buppido says that then he would get beat up and have to survive that. Hugh is frustrated about this, and tries to convince Buppido that he has to fight back in certain circumstances. Buppido is skeptical; they converse about Hugh's life before the Underdark, that he's from near Mithral Hall, that he was a miner/goat farmer and where he learned to fight, etc.

Eventually, Buppido relents and asks for some pointers about fighting--Hugh offers to teach him. Buppido assumes that this means Hugh is going to beat him up, and braces himself, but Hugh is confused and tells Bupp that there are ways to teach without hurting him.

An Awful Home

Sorennar, listening to this conversation and mashing herbs in the background bc he no longer has to sleep, wonders aloud why Buppido wants to go back to Gracklestugh if it's such an awful place to him. Buppido is surprised by the question and says that "it's home".

Sorennar notes that he would rather die than return to Menzoberranzan, but Buppido insists that "it's all I know. I can't just leave my people." Soren is verbally dismissive of this, but is visibly affected by Buppido's words.

Buppido wonders if the party will go to Gracklestugh. Despite having promised Will that they make their best effort go and free his enslaved villagers, Soren reveals that he has no intention of pursing this, noting that "we'll only go if we need supplies, and it'll have to be quick."

Hugh invites Buppido to come to the surface, where "we have an inn! :)" Buppido is surprised and repeats some of the common Underdark myths about the surface (they have a ball of fire in the sky that will explode you, etc etc) Soren jokes about how the surfacers have similar fear-mongering myths about the drow (they drink blood and burn in the sun etc) but the joke falls flat when Buppido reveals that the duergar and derro believe the exact same myths about the drow LMFAOO.

Hugh patiently explains the sun, the clouds (it's like a fluffy blanket for the sun!), the rain, etc and is incorrect about most of the science behind stuff. Soren listens in but does not correct him on the mistakes, enjoying Hugh's expansive imagination.

Eventually, Buppido gets confused about the concept of a sunset, and Soren shows him the image of a sunset with minor illusion. Buppido is amazed and thoughtful, noting before he goes to bed that he would very much like to learn more about the surface. Soren promises to teach him about orgies next time.

Get In The Bag

Eventually, as Hugh's watch comes to an end, Soren approaches and apologizes to Hugh for the great Disguise-Self-Ilvara-Clownshow-Incident. Hugh, WHO STILL THINKS IT WAS ACTUALLY ILVARA (since he was dragging Droop to safety when Soren turned back into himself), is like "oh yeah where did she go :("

Soren tries for a good long time to explain Disguise Self to Hugh; Hugh is confused why tf Soren would do all that. Soren admits that it was to try and "get free stuff" from Jakoth. Hugh chides Soren for not "trying to become Jakoth's friend" first, pointing out that he got a free piggyback ride from Jakoth's demons after befriending him. Soren good-humoredly agrees that he would try "making friends" first next time.

Eventually, the conversation turns to what they should do if Ilvara ACTUALLY shows up. Hugh points out that we could probably do something with the Bag of Holding--incorrectly assuming that stabbing the Bag of Holding would make it explode forcefully.

SOREN, despite having 16 Intelligence and having magically IDENTIFIED the Bag of Holding himself,,,, somehow does not recall that this is COMPLETELY incorrect. This is made more believable by the fact that Annie, who has access to google and has played/DM'd over a hundred sessions of D&D, also does not realize that this is incorrect LMFAO. They make plans about exploding the bag to buy themselves time from Ilvara.

Eventually, Hugh points out that maybe he could also shove everyone into the Bag of Holding and then run away from Ilvara if it comes down to it. Because Soren knows that there is no oxygen in the pocket-dimension within the Bag of Holding, he is reluctant to agree to this plan, but notes that it might be a better bet than the torture and sure death that Ilvara would bring.

Hugh ends his watch by trying to shove Sildar feet-first into the Bag of Holding to see if it would fit. Sildar wakes up almost instantly by the sensation of a dwarf grabbing his ankles to shove into an interplanar extra-dimensional space.

He tells Hugh to please never ever do that to him again, putting people into pocket dimensions is very dangerous, mrrmrmrrr we get it Sildar you're the responsible dad friend. Hugh is like OK! and goes to bed.

What We Deserve

Sildar asks a very-amused Soren how long he was going to stand there and let Hugh shove him into an interplanar bag. Soren says "oh, I would have stopped him when you were knee-deep" :3

Soren remains mildly distant from Sildar, and explains Hugh's plan of shoving everyone into the Bag of Holding to escape from Ilvara. Sildar tries to deflect by saying that they could just give Ilvara Nezznar; Soren agrees, but bitterly notes that he seems to have also caught Ilvara's attention--and regardless, a drow priestess would not let them go after how they'd humilated her so much by escaping Velkynvelve.

Sildar and Soren have a small squabble about who should go into the bag--Sildar says that he can take more hits than Soren, and therefore he should be the one to protect the group by staying outside the bag; whereas Soren insists that Sildar get in the bag. Eventually, Sildar doubles down and points out that the other prisoners also deserve a chance at life--especially the children--and should be the ones to get into the bag.

Soren, coldly, asks Sildar "I watched you die in front of me. Do you know how that feels?", referring to when Ilvara killed Sildar in front of the party. When Sildar is taken aback by this and does not respond, Soren continues: "I felt your life drain out of you. I felt the ring go cold. Do you have any idea how that feels? I pray that you never will. I cannot go through that again. You will get into the bag, Sildar."

Sildar again tries to point out the children. Soren snaps "why are they more important than us?" Poor Sildar is just quiet omg he is so shook. Soren presses on with "If we get out alive, we'll get to live out our lives with each other. After everything I've been through, don't I deserve that? Don't we deserve that?"

Sildar agrees that Soren does, but notes that he cannot in good faith sacrifice children and innocent people for his own survival. Soren bitterly notes that "you'll get used to it", but Sildar denies that either of them would.

Soren changes gears on the manipulation, and recalls that Sildar had once promised Soren, "if you are ever in need, call my name and I will come" during their first night of acquaintanceship, pointing out that "if you're dead, you can't keep me alive." When SIldar is unable to retort, Soren demands that Sildar promise to prioritize keeping himself alive.

Weakly, Sildar promises.

Satisfied after Sildar seals the promise in the quintessential Sorldar way, by kissing each other on the forehead, Soren jokes that "gods, when we get out, I want to eat so much pie". The topic shifts to lighter matters, and the two talk about how they're going to get a farm and grow fruits and make pie for the party.

They hold hands until Sildar falls asleep.

Songs Of Old

As Sildar drifts off, the elves (Nezznar, Jakoth and Sarith) finish their trance. Soren--still worried about how rude he had been to Nezznar under the guise of Ilvara, approaches Nezznar cautiously to try and make amends.

When Nezznar doesn't seem angry, however, Soren sits close by and exchanges idle pleasantries with Nezznar (how'd you sleep, etc). Eventually, still holding onto the lute that Jakoth had lent him, Soren offers to play Nezznar a song--sarcastically noting "like old times".

Nezznar requests something quiet, and Soren plays a gentle, melancholy tune for Nezznar which he seems to enjoy.

Abruptly, as Soren finishes playing, Nezznar gets up and walks over to Jakoth. Soren is unable to hear their conversation, but Jakoth looks disgusted and clearly says some mean slurs to Nezznar. Soren prepares to intervene, thinking that Nezznar was going to surely start biting, but instead Nezznar presses on in a seemingly polite manner.

Jakoth and Nezznar exchange words for a long time, and eventually Nezznar returns. When Soren inquires about the strange exchange, Nezznar says that he was trading for information with Jakoth--Nezznar wanted to know about events in Menzoberranzan, and in return, he taught Jakoth some magical secrets.

Soren jokes that Nezznar found a better student already. With absolute seriousness, Nezznar says that he much prefers teaching Sorennar, and that Jakoth was "shit". LMFAOOO. They kinda just sit there awkwardly for the rest of the night.

Master's Gift

Eventually, as the morning comes around, Soren reluctantly goes to return the lute to Jakoth.

Jakoth, on the other hand, notes that the lute is already spoken for--Nezznar had, in fact, traded for the lute instead of Menzoberranyr secrets.

This is really sweet and all omg but Nezznar bbygirl you suck shit at lying.

Soren is confused and wonders if Jakoth threw in the lute to be nice--Jakoth explains that he literally has no information on Menzoberranzan and that Nezznar had traded for nothing but the lute.

Taking this in stride for the moment, Soren inquires about Nezznar's magic lessons. Jakoth notes that he once had Nezznar as a teacher in Sorcere when they were both younger, and muses about Nezznar's current fate.

Jakoth bids farewell to the party, again teasing Will's inability to haggle, and we part ways with the mysterious trader.

🌑 DAY 28 • 📅 MARPENOTH 18

Timmask

We forage while traveling and get a decent amount of food! Notably, Nezznar has joined the foraging efforts. We can fix him

Eventually, we stumble upon a patch of strange, large mushrooms that the Underdarklings of the party immediately recognize as Timmask, also known as the Devil’s Mushroom due to its dangerous spores, which can cause mass-hysteria, hallucination and confusion.

That said, when harvested carefully, it can be an excellent food source and can be used in alchemy. Soren weighs their options and decides not to risk it. NEZZNAR, HOWEVER, is like LET ME AT IT.

Surprised, Sorennar—who doesn’t want to tell Nezznar no—retreats a safe distance away with the party while Nezznar tries to carefully harvest. Despite best efforts, this man has never had to harvest a mushroom in his life and accidentally a chain reaction of spore explosions from all the Timmask around.

FROM A SAFE DISTANCE, WE WATCH AS A DISORIENTED AND HALLUCINATING NEZZNAR RUNS INTO A WALL THREE TIMES AND THEN ZONE OUT FOR 12 SECONDS

As Nezznar‘s behavior grows more erratic, Soren rushes in, despite Sildar and Will’s attempts to stop him. As he reaches Nezznar, however, Nezznar slaps him hard across the face in his confusion. I’m not even kidding he literally rolled the “attack nearest person” result on the confusion table as SOON as Soren got in range. The dice gods hate sorne too! :)

Soren is instantly cowed by the slap and freezes in place. (Slaps roof of drow, this bad boy can fit so much PTSD in him). Sildar and Will catch up and drags Soren back to safety, as the spores dissipate and Nezznar returns to his senses. I love you guys thank you for take care of my boy.

Seemingly disturbed by his actions, Nezznar stammers about not having meant to hit Soren. Soren tried to brush it off but is clearly fitting so much PTSD in him right now.

The party continues through the winding caverns, noticing denser and denser spiderwebs, which greatly bothers the drow, the children, Ront and also Annie because she is a sane person. Eventually, we hear the telltale chittering of spiders echo through the tunnel.