🖤19. decay.
session 19 • 03/15/2022 • 3,416 words
『 📜 』 adventure log
🌞 DAY 5 • 📅 ELEINT 26
Back to Barthen's
Beaver Pelts
As we prepare to go to the bathhouse, Hugh points out that we need to bury Glasstaff's body somewhere, and that we would only get sweaty and dirty from that -- so we should do it before the bath. Sorennar sad noises.
Sildar suggests burying the body at Tresendar Manor, which seems deserted. The group agrees, and departs to fetch the shovels from the cart we left at Barthen's. At Barthen's, we sell the beaver pelts we obtained from the Redbrand Hideout for 59GP, which we split among the party.
Sorennar begins eyeing the instrument table again, which Sildar notices and unsubtly begins a conversation about instruments that Sorennar wants. Sorennar expresses that he's always wanted a viol, and Sildar immediately goes to buy one for him despite Sorennar's attempts at stopping him.
The Great War
Sildar, after giving a CRYING Sorennar the viol, attempts to pay Lera back for the rations (5GP) she'd given him over the past few days.
Lera flatly refuses, and Sildar threatens "promises" her that one way or another, he was going to find a way to pay Lera back for the money he owed her. Lera takes it as a competition / challenge, and promises Sildar in turn that she would catch him no matter what and return the money.
Sildar returns to Sorennar's side, and Lera enlists Colt secretly to keep an eye on Sildar in case he tries anything funny with the 5GP. Willfully misunderstanding to mean that Lera wants HIM to take the 5GP from Sildar so that she doesn't receive it, Colt sets off on his task.
Marching Band
Sildar, despite Sorennar's BEGGING, nonchalantly continues buying Sorennar instruments, picking up a pan flute and flute for him before running out of money before he's able to buy a lyre.
Eventually, Sorennar demands to know why Sildar is buying him all these things when he doesn't deserve kindness. Sildar refutes that he can decide on his own who is deserving of kindness, and "are you saying I'm wrong?"
They hug, and Lera takes the opportunity to try and slip some gold into Sildar's pocket.
Sildar twirls Sorennar around to glare at Lera, who walks off like nothing happened.
She attempts to ask Barthen's for alcohol strong enough to get Sildar drunk, very much concerning Barthen, who is Sildar's friend. Lera clarifies that she just wants to help Sildar unwind after a stressful day (CORRECT, someone get this man some alcohol oh my god), and Barthen recommends distilled grain alcohol. Unfortunately, this is outside of Lera's price range and she settles for 1SP worth of grog (but paying 2SP).
Winning the War :)
Meanwhile, Sorennar inquires about Lera's and Sildar's strange actions, prompting Sildar to explain their little challenge. SIldar asks Sorennar to help him slip 5GP into Lera's pocket, which Sorennar agrees to help.
Colt walks up to Sildar, eating a whole tomato, and offers Sorennar a bite. Sildar inquires if he can have a bite too, and Colt VERY unsubtly asks for 5GP for it. Sildar glances at Lera, who is trying to pretend that she's engrossed in the bottle of grog.
Taking advantage of her distraction, Sorennar easily slips the gold into her pocket.
Proud of himself, Sorennar returns to Sildar to report the deed done. (Chris: Sildar was vERY proud of Sorennar). Sildar thanks Sorennar for making it easy, and Sorennar responds that "it's what I'm here for."
Sorennar tries to flirt with Sildar by asking for "payment" for the favor; Sildar understands but wants Sorennar to be more transparent, and so the conversation fizzles.
The party finally goes to fetch the shovels. Colt reassures Lera that he's been "keeping a close eye on Sildar's hands" and that she needn't worry, Sildar hadn't done anything LMAOOO.
Burying Worms
We bury worm boi at the foot of Tresendar Manor.
Bath Time
The party gets to the bathhouse, where Sorennar invites Lera to join the boys in the boy's room as it's empty. Droop is vibin' at the idea of taking a bath, and almost drowns himself jumping in -- Sorennar wades in and puts him on a corner.
Droop marvels at how warm the water is, and Sorennar agrees with his wonder, stating that before he came out of the Underdark, he had also not felt warm water before. Droop inquires about Sorennar's face marking, which Sorennar deflects as a tattoo. Droop is also curious about Colt's scars and piercings, though he quickly backtracks upon learning how piercings are done.
Everyone else gets into the bath, except Sildar who has to doff his chainmail for 10 minutes. Sorennar watches him do it with heart eyes.
Sildar and Lera do just be staring at each other naked because they were sus of each other bc of the war.... (Chris: "Sildar was RESPECTFULLY only looking at her hEAD")
Lera teaches Droop how to bathe himself, using Hugh's hair eventually as a guinea pig. Lera also attempts to teach Droop about food nutrition, but it largely falls on deaf goblin ears, especially when Hugh, whose hair is luscious, openly states that he's eating rocks and dirt before.
The topic turns to Sorennar's cooking skills, which flusters Sorennar. Sorennar asks the group to call him Soren instead, "dealing 10d10 emotional damage" by admitting that it was what Rizoyn used to call him. Sildar thanks him for sharing that.
The group start coming up with nicknames that Droop should call each of them, ending up with:
The Great Chef Soren
His Highness Sildar
Sir Sir Coltish
Only Lera
Hugh the GOAT
Seeing the shampoo fiesta on the other end of the bath, Sildar offers to wash Soren's hair for him, flustering Soren. (According to Chris, Sildar was attempting to test the waters regarding how comfortable Soren was with proximity / touch! my beloVED)
Colt: "ONLY wash the fucking hair on his head please we're right here"
Many "head" innuendos ensue
We,,,,,, inevitably,,, roll for ,,, lengths
After several pissing contests between Lera and Sildar over the competition, the party emerges from the bath nice and refreshed :D
Droop passes the fuck out and Sorennar puts him on his shoulders! like this :)
We head towards the Phandalin Miner's Exchange. Along the way, Hugh suggests starting a prison/food program of sorts by hiring Grista, whose business seemed to be struggling, to
Angy Gem Lady :(
We find the Miner's Exchange easily, which is a small building filled with documents and gemstones.
The clerk, an annoyed-looking human woman, greets us tersely by asking what we wanted. Soren attempts to curry favor with her by dropping the fact that they cleared out the Redbrands for the town, though this seems to annoy her more.
She claims that she's upset that the group had rashly confronted the Redbrands without taking into account that the bandits could have hurt the town, though Lera and Soren pick up that she doesn't really care much about the town.
She introduces herself as Halia Thornton, and in the ensuing conversation, seems very interested in the jail situation at the Townsmaster's Hall, and the political going's-on with the change in Townsmasters, especially taking notice when we stated that Sildar, the new Townsmaster, is of the Lord's Alliance.
We attempt to sell the gemstones we obtained from our journeys to her, with her assuring that she can identify or detect magic from them -- though she casts no spells. Soren realizes that she is bullshitting, and subtly calls her out on it, before taking back any gemstones we had not already cast Detect Magic on.
Despite this, she gives us fair prices, and we obtain a fair bit of money for the gemstones we obtained from Cragmaw Hideout / Willow Inn, etc.
We try to Detect Magic on the rest of the gemstones at a corner table, but she aggressively shooes us out of her store. Hugh is determined to never return.
Soren, attempting to repair relations between her and the party -- presuming that we would return in the future for more selling -- and curious about her attitude, lingers behind to try and mend the rift by admitting that the drow make enough enemies as it is, and he doesn't want to make one in her.
Halia states that "this is why I love your kind", alarming Soren, and asks that he come back later -- without the party -- so that he can perform some special job for her.
Eat the Rich
Before returning to Stonehill, the party makes one last stop at the Lionshield Coster before that. Hugh buys just two bags of ball bearings and holy water, despite Linene's best efforts at marketing various goods to him.
He then shows her the golden necklace they had found in the crypt, asking her for the price of it, which was told to be 75gp, though he does not sell to it her, saying he needs to negotiate with the group -- offending her slightly. Lera sells the 8 quivers of crossbolts, for 6 gold total with Soren's bartering help. Colt also sells weapons we found in the Redbrand Hideout, leading Linene to go to the backroom to take inventory.
During her time away, Lera talks about Linene being elected as the new Townsmaster, since she is giving the party fair prices. This joke upsets Sildar and he questions her, to which Lera admits it was just a joke. Sildar retorts that it was a bad joke, and leaves the room.
Lera and Soren follow Sildar outside and after a bit of pressing, Sildar admits that he has a personal distaste for the Lionshield Coster and other mercantile organizations. He reveals that the Lionshield Coster is based in Yartar, his hometown, and that it was a mercantile city that only saw its citizens as sources of profit. Because of this, his parents died to curable diseases when they couldn't afford medicine.
Lera hugs Sildar to comfort him. Soren is at a loss for words, unfamiliar with surfacer greed. Sildar still seems saddened, until Hugh comes out after having purchased a flail and greataxe from Linene. He has Sildar kneel and proclaims him "officially part of the flail bros". This makes Sildar laugh a little.
We split the money into even amounts. Soren informs the rest of the group about his strange encounter with Halia, and the group agrees that though it would be beneficial for Soren to go investigate, they were reluctant to let him go alone (again).
The group makes our way to the Shrine of Luck for dinner with Garaele.
Dinner at Garaele's
Food, Light and Butterflies
Garaele welcomes us in and ushers us into the kitchen to begin dinner preparations. Soren, teasing Sildar, inquires where she had kept him captive -- Hugh answers that she has a dungeon, which Garaele wryly agrees with :))
Lera and Hugh help Soren prepare dinner while Colt offers moral support. Garaele hospitably states that the kitchen is Soren's to use, and Soren channels the bard feature of Horni to ask if they can say the same about the bedroom. Garaele catches on and responds favorably.
Lera: 
Sildar: 
Lera is bothered by this and pulls Soren aside to gently chastise him for "doing this to Sildar", which bewilders Soren. After a bit of back and forth, Soren realizes that Lera believes him to be in a serious relationship with Sildar, and laughs at the idea that Sildar would stoop so low as to enter a relationship with him.
He calls Sildar over, to Lera's alarm, and asks Sildar to confirm that they are not "a thing, can you imagine??" This hurts Sildar a little, who is surprised at how adamantly Soren seemed to deny the possibility -- coming across as finding the idea silly or gross.
Sildar: I didn’t realize you were so opposed to that, I thought you were. This does hurt quite a bit actually
Sorennar: Exactl- wait what?
Lera: see?
Sorennar: What do you mean it hurts?
Sildar: well we aren't in a relationship or anything like that, I didn’t know you were so opposed to it, I thought that maybe there can be something, but you made it clear that there isn’t, and that is your choice
Sorennar: wait wait wait. No…. -He looks at Lera-
Sorennar: no Sildar, that's not what, no I- I meant no offense by it
Sildar: it is your choice as well as mine, but if thats not what you want then theres no conversation, I understand (HE SOUNDS SO SAD OMG)
Sorennar: no I just don't understand, I don't understand fully. We don’t… we don’t have that sort of thing down there, there is no such thing as a relationship, only… don’t you surfacers have elaborate courting rituals and what not, with flowers, and food, and lights, and butterflies
(sorennar pauses and realizes he has, in fact, done ALL of this)
Sildar: you have… given all of that. Though I have not returned these gestures, I apologize if thats what you were looking for
Sorennar: No no no, Sildar. Yes those things but doesn't there need to be mutual… love…and respect, and all sorts of things. We are close, and you are bewilderingly kind and open-minded and dependable and smart and by the gods are you pretty, but I mean. You are so good and so human, and I am only just beginning to learn what these things mean.
But. … look. Making love, I’ll do it all day all night. Love itself? I’m admittedly… unversed in this sort of thing. I love the party. I think. It’s the only thing that makes logical sense because I want to see them happy and safe, and because I would die in an instant to keep their hearts beating.”
I love you in a different way. I think. its the only thing that makes logical sense, because I want to be the one making you happy and safe, and because waking to your heartbeat, makes me want to stay alive, if only to hear it again the next morning, and the one after the next. Does that make logical sense?
Sildar assures Soren that though he has done wrong in his life, he is also trying to fix it, and it was a good first step towards being "good and human". As both parties realize the misunderstanding, they agree to talk about this later in more detail, before thanking Lera for bringing this to light and re-joining the rest of the group.
S I L E N C E, T H O T
Meanwhile, during this conversation, Hugh has pressed himself up against the door to eavesdrop. He is joined by Garaele, and they both shamelessly hear this whole thing. Hugh makes the "sex" gesture with his fingers towards Garele, in order to tease Soren and Sildar.
At this point, Colt comes out of the kitchen, wondering what they're doing, and sees this, immediately assuming that Hugh and Garaele are trying to get it on. Hugh tries to shush him, and Garaele casts Silence on Colt when he starts exclaiming in surprise. Annoyed by this, Colt retreats back to the kitchen.
Soren, Sildar and Lera come back out of the mudroom to see Hugh nonchalantly whistling against the wall. Garaele makes no secret of having heard anything, silently teasing Sildar, while Colt confirms that everyone was eavesdropping by loudly recounting everything that happened, including the Silence spell.
With Sildar looking like 
, we proceed with dinner!
Decay
Soren serves Dinner the fish, wrapped in salted pork that we obtained from the Redbrand hideout.
Garaele ushers us into a study-esque room to eat, and asks us not to mess with the mysterious rune drawings on the table while we eat.
Soren takes note of the mysterious runes, and she confirms that they are used for communication with 'higher ups', leading Soren to be even more curious about her identity. Garaele, however, insists that we deliver on our promise of telling her everything first. Before that, however, Garaele mentions that she has a Detect Good and Evil scroll lying around that she could use to fulfill our request from earlier -- to see if Sorennar and Colt are still possessed.
Lera suggests using the scroll at the Alderleaf house instead, since that was where the "possession" started, but Sorennar, concerned about potentially lapsing into possession again, asks that Garaele use the scroll now and then "scan" the Alderleaf house tomorrow with her own prepared spells, which Garaele agrees with.
Garaele casts the spell, and though nothing seems wrong with Sorennar and Colt, Hugh falls to the ground screaming.
H U N G Y
Garaele lets the group know, shaken, that Hugh is giving off fiendish energies as Hugh rolls around in searing pain on the ground.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, something speaks to Hugh in his mind, angrily saying:
"Who wakes us (wakes us)? We were asleep (asleep)? We were not meant to rise? Not yet (not yet), it's too bright too (warm bright), who touches us get out of us (get out!)
The group is frantic over Hugh's sudden agony, and so when Hugh pleads that the group bring him some dirt, we immediately ruin one of Garaele's plants in doing so.
HE STARTS EATING THE DIRT!!!
Seemingly a little better after this, Hugh asks for paper, and a panicked Soren obliges. The group watches in horror as Hugh begins taking bites out of the paper, his own waterskin, Garaele's floor rug, the gold necklace from the Redbrand Hideout crypt, and ... the chair.. he was sitting on..
As Hugh proceeds with more and more hazardous "foods", Sildar tries to grapple Hugh to stop him:
Hugh seems to snap out of it suddenly at this point, confusedly questioning his actions. The party, still worried, helps him up and questions Garaele if she knows anything about this -- she is just as confused as the party and is also now kinda mad about her rug, chair and plant getting a bite taken out of them..
Storytime
Garaele asks that we tell her everything we know about the situation, as well as about the Black Spider. Soren starts with the story of how he met Hugh -- they had met in the Underdark shortly before getting chased by gnolls.
Hugh saved his life by belly-button blasting to blind them before Soren led Hugh back to the surface out of gratitude for saving his life.
Garaele and Soren discuss the unusualness of gnolls being in the Underdark -- Soren relaying the other encounters (the bulette/gnolls and Oblex) from their journey -- and Garaele confirming that she had been receiving strange reports about Underdark creatures being driven out of their habitats.
Soren expresses concern, briefly, for his hometown Menzoberranzan and his family, before remembering that his family no longer -- and potentially, never -- needed him, looking dejected. Sildar pats him on the back.
Soren takes an hour to recount everything that has happened since they set out on their adventure, omitting any details about torture or about Colt's parents. Garaele considers all this, and admits -- when Soren and Sildar express concern about her knowing this information -- that she is with the Harpers, which the group recognizes as a huge, worldwide organization focused on doing good by gathering information.
Sildar is flabbergasted at this, having not known of her secret identity, and wonders why she never told him. Garaele reminds her that the Harpers are about secrecy. Sildar expresses that he's relieved that she has such a large backing cuz he's a fucking softie and cares about Garaele
Hugh asks if she thinks his brain can be fixed, and Garaele says ‘No!’ Sorennar bats his eyes at Garaele, and when it doesn't seem to budge Garaele, says it usually works on Sildar. Garaele says ‘we’ll see’.
Garaele idly suggests drinking or bathing in holy water.
The party informs Garaele that we would be prioritizing Gundren's rescue over the Conyberry quest, and that we hope she understands. She does, but also asks us to replace the rug and chair. Hugh takes the chair and tries to take the rug, but Garaele stops him.
Last updated