🌱59. watch it grow
session 59 • january 31 2022 • 1,975 words
🌞 DAY 15 • 📅 MARPENOTH 4
Punch Me Punch Me Punch M-
As we reach the entrance of the town, Hugh asks Droop to take off his armor, believing that Droop's nimbleness without the armor would in fact, make him harder to hit. Droop obeys and hounds Will to punch him to see if this is true LMAOOO ; ;
Will tries to pretend to give him a good hit, but fails his performance check and Droop is Horrified at how bad Will is at punching, "tactfully" asking him to take lessons from Hugh.
Droop then asks Soren to punch him, and our dramatic little 8-strength twinkie bard boy rolls high on performance, making Droop feel like he dodged a powerful punch. Droop is ecstatic. Nezznar is Disgusted at the party's coddling of a Goblin :tm: . Hugh offers the studded leather armor to Soren instead, who is grateful for it after his last lackluster performance in the orc commander fight.
Conyberry
We arrive at a dilapidated town that looks like it has been raided, abandoned and thoroughly looted. Soren recalls from his Absolute Lack of Fanboyism that Drizzt Do'Urden, infamous drow ranger/hero, had once journeyed through Conyberry and stolen a mask from Agatha, the local banshee and protector of the town. The town was later ransacked during the Spellplague by bandits and left abandoned.
We explore the melancholic town and nearby lake, calling out for Agatha. At Will's prompting, Soren plays a soft tune on the flute but nothing we do seems to draw her out. Eventually, as we investigate the local graveyard, we see a path leading deep into the woods and decide to follow it.
We walk for a mile deeper into the woods before finding a strange structure of vines and tree branches. Hugh yells for the banshee to come meet them, and after no response, WIll knocks and enters.
(Soren, figuring that Agatha probably detests drow from her experience with Drizzt, hides behind Sildar)
Agatha the Banshee
As we enter the house/shack structure, Agatha materializes in front of us and calls us foolish mortals :(( Will and Hugh try to reason with her, offering the comb in exchange for "three questions". Unfortunately, she is put off by Soren's presence and demands that Will also give up the quiver that Reidoth had given him.
Unwilling to do so, Will offers the trinkets he bought at Honeypuddle instead, and eventually offers to plant Agatha, who seems lonely and desolate, some seeds so that she can "watch them grow" over time. Will is so babbie that Agatha takes pause and agrees to take Will's sundial, seeds and the comb in exchange for a question for each of the party members.
Hugh uses his question to ask about the spellbook, which Agatha explains is currently being held in Iriaebor. This information seems that it would be valuable to the Harpers, so quest complete?!?! 🎉Will and Hugh fight over who gets to ask the next question (both of them saying the other should get to) and annoy Agatha so bad that she gives us an extra question :)
Hugh asks about Myco ("um I have a demon in my brain!") and how to expel it. Agatha explains that it's deeply rooted in there and that though it would be possible to forcibly expel Myco, we would need to find some extremely rare Ingredience™, largely from the Underdark. Myco gets indignant at the idea of being forcibly expelled, and Hugh quickly stops listening to Agatha.
Will asks about his mother--if Agatha has ever heard of her. Agatha acknowledges that she has, but that the celestials are currently in disarray because of the "demons rising up". Nice! We love to hear it. This fact alarms Will, but Agatha is unable to provide much more specific information.
Soren asks Agatha, privately, if any villagers survived the drow raid on Willow's village--and where they are now. Agatha acknowledges that some survived, but answers surprisingly about their whereabouts. 👀 Soren takes this information in stride.
Before we leave, we learn that Agatha has become extremely disillusioned by the cycle of violence and death she has witnessed while being the protector of Conyberry. She blames herself for letting the village get raided and razed to the ground, and wishes to languish in her torment, alone, for the rest of eternity--asking that we never return.
Soren points out that the nature of humanity is that after failing, we can try again. Will plants the seeds for her as promised (lilies of the valley) and points out that eventually, people might settle here again. Agatha is not entirely convinced, but we leave her on a slightly more hopeful note than before.
(WE'RE COMING BACK AND SETTLING HERE YALL I FEEL SO BAD FOR HER)
Fish!
We settle by a nearby lake in order to try and catch some dinner. Hugh does extremely well, catching several large fish (and a magic one that tries to charm him to let it go.... Hugh rolls a 20 lmao we eat the bitch).
Soren, of course, strips down and goes swimming in the lake. Will notices that the brand scar on Soren's back is gone, replaced with a tattoo-looking mark of a six-fingered hand. He points this out, tracing the mark so that Soren can better visualize it. Soren is comfortable with Will touching his back, but eventually firmly notes that he doesn't care what it looks like--he's just glad that the mark that Nezznar branded him with is gone.
Nezznar is thoroughly miffed at this development, but sneers that Soren, useless as he is, can only find respite having traded one master for another. Soren seems unphased, stating that he's satisfied as long as his master isn't Nezznar.
Will, uncomfortable with stripping in front of Nezznar (big mood), refuses to go into the lake, and Sildar playfully pushes him in fully clothed, after which Will pushes Sildar in fully clothed. Soren (8 STR) tries to surprise-dunk Hugh (athletics expertise) and fails so badly that Hugh thinks Soren is trying to wash his hair, which Soren does. I'm so soft for these found family idiots.
We grill and eat the fish. Nezznar does not partake(?)
🌙 NIGHT 15 • 📅 MARPENOTH 4
Late Night with Manbaby
Willow
Will takes first watch. We start the watch with Chris going "Oho Nezznar has things to say to you", which is a good indicator of how well first watch goes. : )
Nezznar, having heard Will's question for Agatha, deduces correctly that Will's mother is a deva that left her aasimar offspring with his father due to celestial duties. Nezznar proceeds to decide that it is Big Bitch Hours tonight, calls Will's father useless, and taunts Will over the raid on his village--calling Will out for running away when his village was being attacked, and being the only survivor.
Will, though pained, expresses that he was a child and would have only died in the crossfire if he had not followed instructions to escape. Nezznar sneers at the idea of running from threats towards one's family, citing that a drow child would have known to stay and fight to the death rather than risk cowardice and dishonor.
Will maintains that the surfacers are not dishonorable or foolish in their softness, and that love and kindness are stronger forces than fear and tyranny; Nezznar stoutly disagrees on all fronts. Eventually, no conclusion is reached once again, and Nezznar calls Will a bore as Will wakes Hugh up for his watch and goes to get some much-deserved rest.
You are braver than any US marine Will sweetie.
Hugh
OH BOY
Hugh takes second watch, and we are once again regaled with Clown Time. Hugh immediately begins continuing Nezznar's "juicy ass drider pants", asking Nezznar if he wants any patterns or holes. Nezznar's self-important ass is Beyond Annoyed by Hugh's seeming ignorance. Eventually, they start talking about the topic of freedom, at which point Hugh claims to have absolute freedom.
Nezznar asks Hugh to go outside to chop down a tree, which Hugh refuses to do because he doesn't want to wake up the rest of the party. Nezznar argues that Hugh's desire to please the party is keeping him from attaining true freedom; Hugh maintains that he is physically free to do as he wishes, including not waking up the party of his own volition.
(Annie is about to lose her mind here for a bit bear with me.)
Of all the things I thought Hugh and Nezznar would get to discussing, the self-determination of oneself and conditions of autonomy under (surfacer) societal conventions.... is not one of them. Are you truly free if you are beholden to societal conventions like not chopping a tree down at 4AM. Are you any freer if your reasoning for not doing so involve love, consideration and kindness for people you care about.
I know that no one intended it to be This Deep Fam when y'all had this conversation but why is this actually excellent commentary on what the drow think is freedom (to be powerful enough that they can do anything) vs the surfacer notion of freedom (to love, protect and care about who they want)
This party is fucking WILDING I love everyone.
Eventually, Hugh starts COUNTING via message, as FAST and LOUDLY AS HE CAN GO, to keep Nezznar awake. Nezznar, thoroughly exasperated and exhausted from being kept up for 3 nights in a row, starts yelling for the rest of the party to wake up, demanding that he be left alone in silence or he would continue to wake up the party.
Soren wakes up with a start, terrified at being woken by Nezznar's yelling. He all but tells Nezznar to chill tf out and checks that Hugh is not hurt.
Hugh gives Soren the juicy drider pants to give Nezznar and tags out for third/fourth watch.
Soren
Nezznar is MALDING from exhaustion. Soren inquires if he got any sleep and when the answer is negative, tells Nezznar to rest. Nezznar is shook'th but does not decline the small act of kindness. After three hours, Soren pokes Nezznar awake with the hilt of his rapier--and, as expected, gets snapped at by Nezznar and his Sharp New Drider Teeth.
Soren notes that Nezznar instinctively does that a lot now (using his drider teeth), and, curious about the transformation (which the drow are taught about from childhood), asks Nezznar if it's really as they say--if he feels an overwhelming shame and sense of disassociation from his identity.
Nezznar gets extremely defensive, snapping at Soren before eventually devolving into a self-depreciative rant about how he is now a monster.
Soren considers this and reasons that it was the Spider Queen's fault that Nezznar ended up the way he is--and that no one deserves to suffer like this, not even Nezznar. Soren admits that if he could turn Nezznar back before his death, so that he could die a drow, he would do so. Seeing Nezznar's devastation, Soren also reminds Nezznar that he is still him--that his habits, mannerisms and self has remained intact, despite his physical form.
Nezznar, in an astounding moment of vulnerability, admits that Soren knows him better than anyone else in the world. He laments that his matron and the gods have cursed him with failure and a monstrous fate, that he never stood a chance in a world not made for him--telling Soren that if he wanted to laugh at him, Nezznar wouldn't blame him.
Soren refuses to, stating that though he wasn't familiar with philosophies of destiny and the gods, he didn't think that there was ever such a thing as an outcome so deeply entrenched in fate that it couldn't be changed--using himself as an example. Though Nezznar remains skeptical, Soren maintains that we can change our own fates, and we can change each others'.
Soren offers to play Nezznar some music to pass the time. Nezznar, surprisingly, asks for a melody that Zaara would have enjoyed. Soren plays a melancholy tune on the flute, and Nezznar rests while listening to it.
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