🐷37. the missing pig

session 37 • 8/09/2022 • 1,399 words

🌞 DAY 10 • 📅 HARVESTIDE

📌 Honeypuddle Village

⏰ Livestock Pen [3], 8:30AM

The Meaning of Flowers

Soren considers Sildar's gift of flowers for a long time, admitting that he used to not understand why surfacers gave each other plants that didn't have medicinal value; but after being given the bouquet by Sildar, he acknowledges that it's "very human to feel something so strongly that you can only convey it with something equally vibrant and beautiful".

He thanks Sildar for the "lovely" flowers. Sildar: ;--;

Cameron My Beloved

The party makes their way to the livestock pen. They notice a famer arguing with one of the faire bouncers, before storming off.

There is a fever dream of an interaction wherein Droop notices the boar and goats in the pen, and demands to know whether he will also grow horns, inadvertantly outing Will for "growing wings". Will manages to hush Droop by telling him that maybe Pax can help him grow horns when we meet her again in Phandalin.

Eventually, after Hugh regales the party with various goat facts and tries to speak to the goats,

the party makes their way to the upset farmer (Farmer Butterweed), who explains that his prize hog, Cameron (a 800lb pig) had been stolen from one of the holding pens nearby. After the group agrees to help him find the pig, Hugh manages to make him cry by telling him to find a replacement goat named Cameron.

Sildar inquires whether a competitor might have stolen the hog. Butterweed states that his pig would have won the competition hands down, so he wouldn't be too surprised. He promises the group half his winnings if they help recover the pig.

The group investigates the holding pens, and notice two medium-humanoid tracks leading into the woods nearby.

⏰ Pottery Barn [8], 9:00AM

The party heads towards the woods, passing by what looks like a pottery shop as they go. A svirfneblin (deep) gnome works cheerfully as patrons clamor over her intricate works.

The party (sans Soren, who hangs back nervously) purchases various vases and pots from her, complimenting her work and making her very happy.

Will questions if she's seen anyone suspicious, namely, dragging a pig away from the livestock pens; she says she hasn't seen a pig, but saw two scary-looking "tallfolk" arguing nearby -- she was worried that they would start smashing her pots.

Hugh, seeing similarities between the deep gnome and the "dwarf" in his dreams, asks her if she knows a "giant fungus lady". The potter mistunderstands and tries to direct us to Arabella, the herbalist. Sildar hovers around to step in if Hugh starts revealing too much, but Hugh eases off shortly after realizing she doesn't know what he's talking about.

Sildar checks in with Soren, who is bing chilling on the rothe and looking uncomfortable. Soren brushes off his concern and buys a nice pot to put Sildar's flowers in.

Droop climbs into Hugh's large pot.

⏰ Halfling Jenga, 9:30AM

As we continue further into the woods, we notice a group of four halfling children stacked on top of each other, trying to reach for a kite stuck in the tree. Sildar and Will both make a mad dash to catch them when they start wobbling, but unfortunately neither make it in time before the children fall to the ground.

Three of them pick themselves up, but one of them (Noah) is knocked unconscious with a terrible head wound. Will picks him up and heals him with Cure Wounds. Unfortunately, this teaches the children that there are no consequences for their actions. They clamor for the kite just as Droop throws Hugh at the tree -- Hugh takes some damage because Droop doesn't know his own new strength, but manages to grab the kite and return it to the kids.

Droop pouts because he thinks the kite is theirs now but Hugh gives it back to the kids.

Sildar activates concerned dad mode and chides the children for their dangerous activites, but the children don't really understand and instead crowd around Will when Sildar mentions that he healed them, asking Will to do magic for them. Will gives them each a Druidcraft-grown flower, exciting them.

The children say that Sildar's scolding reminds them of their dad.

Sildar rolls a 16 on intimidation which is effective, until Hugh tries to educate the children, but ends up teaching them that it is OK to climb up tall places as long as they have something soft under them... like 5 balloons. The children, ecstatic, run away with this information.

Hugh calls after them to give them ball bearings. Sildar, exasperated, scolds Hugh for his irresponsibility.

📌 Threepenny Woods

⏰ Skulk Clearing, 10:00AM

The group ventures into the woods but loses the trail on the pig, only to hear a little girl screaming. They rush towards the sound, to see a little halfling girl sprinting towards them, yelling that she's being chased. Droop displays fear at whatever is chasing her, but the rest of the group cannot see anything--even when Hugh steps foward and gets slashed by invisible claws.

Hugh and Sildar take the frontline, but quickly get shredded from a series of attacks from the invisible foes. Will attacks from afar and Soren tries to support the group from the Rothe, but the fight is rough and Hugh almost succumbs to his wounds.

Droop, who has been cowering in the vase this whole time, however, upon seeing Hugh's injuries, seems to go into a "mini-rage" similar to Hugh's, using his spear to eviscerate one of the monsters before getting knocked tae fuck out.

Soren heals Droop with Healing Word, praying to his "patron" and blasting one of the monsters with a flame-imbued projectile.

Aftermath

Will chides Droop for running in like that; Droop says that he couldn't stand seeing Hugh hurt. Will has a conversation with Droop about being more careful in the future.

Soren checks in with Sildar, who took heavy damage (due to not having his armor), and Hugh, who says he thought he was going to "grow mushrooms".

The halfling child is in tears, so Will scoops her up and tries to calm her down. She introduces herself as Vanessa, which the party recognizes as Josie's friend who went missing earlier this morning.

Vanessa, though she gets badly distracted throughout her explanation by Droop and various things, explains that she and Josie were sent off to play in the morning because their families were setting up stalls at the faire. They wandered into the woods, where Josie stumbled into some poison ivy and sent Vanessa to go get help--which aligns with Josie's account earlier that day.

Droop explains that Josie had recruited him for the Storm the Castle event, and that he was going to "kill the bullies", which Vanessa enthusiastically agrees with. Will has an aneurysm trying to explain why killing is not good to the two children. It is unclear if they understand.

Vanessa asks to be friends with Droop and Will; Droop inadvertantly reveals that Will can fly somewhere along the conversation, leading Will to lie and say that he is just really good at jumping -- he proceeds to roll really well and jump really high, impressing Vanessa lmao. Will lets Droop and Vanessa pull from the Bag of Tricks, producing a lion and brown bear respectively, which the kids promptly start riding.

⏰ Adventurer Camp, 11:00AM

The group, with the help of their animal friends, pick up on the pig's trail again, following it deeper into the woods. Along the way, Will steps into a sling trap and gets yeeted 8 feet into the air hanging upside down.

He wiggles a bit to try and cut himself free to no avail; he is so embarassed omg cute babbie ;-; it's ok everyone gets caught in hunting traps now and again.

Though initially concerned, the party quickly realizes Will is unharmed and is amused by his wiggling. Babbie we love u

Soren frees Will with another eldritch blast, and Hugh catches him before he hits the ground -- he is unharmed, but his ego is not. <3

Will inquires about Soren's fire blast, and Soren uncomfortably admits that it's something that his patron gave him the ability to use. Sildar expresses concern over Soren using more of his "demon lord patron"s powers, but Soren seems convinced that it's harmless.

Eventually, the group finds a camp of rugged-looking travelers sitting around a roaring fire. On the campfire is a spit-roasted pig.

The group take a moment to pray that it's not Cameron.