👻6. fuckfest in willow inn

session 6 • 01/27/22 • 3,244 words

『 📜 』 adventure log

🌞 DAY 2 • 📅 ELEINT 23

The Prince of Princes

As the group approaches the inn, Sorennar excitedly begins to take out his noble outfit in preparation for pretending to be the prince.

Sildar suggests, reluctantly, that a Drow prince might not be too well-received in an inn, due to the implications and stereotypes commonly surrounding Drow. This makes Sorennar look like:

Though Sorennar agrees, Hugh immediately calls Sildar a "racist bitch". Sorennar thanks him and tries to defuse the situation by stating that though he was looking forward to "ordering the group around", he agrees with Sildar.

The group tries to nominated a new "prince" for the operation -- and the clothes seem to fit... Colt the best. Sorennar protests, but it seems as though it's the best option.

Sorennar points out that he doesn't fit the look of a bodyguard, and Sildar suggests that Sorennar act like his Lord Alliance - assigned "support", which Sorennar is slightly miffed about. He begins calling Sildar "sir" out of mock respect.

Lera gives Sildar her chain mail armor so that he was not stuck in the ill-fitting mailman outfit whilst representing the Lord's Alliance. Sildar weakly protests but Lera insists. Colt suggests stealing clothes from the inn, which makes Sildar rethink letting him be the prince. Sildar suggests Lera wear the outfit -- a traditionally male elven garb -- which prompts Lera to wonder if Sildar sees her as masculine. Denying this, he calls her "beautiful".

Colt attempts to bargain for more money from Sildar due to there being "extra danger" for being the prince, which Sildar turns down immediately. Sorennar calls Colt out for his greed. Colt wonders again if he can steal from the inn. The conversation quickly turns to include extortion and intimidation vs. gifts for a prince.

Back to the plan: Colt will pretend to be a prince from Cormanthyr, a far-off elven land, looking to strike a deal with the Lord's Alliance. The resulting conversation and practice dialogue from Colt has Sildar asking Lera to be the spokesperson. Soernnar wonders about the solidity of the plan: having three "bodyguards", a foreign prince and a Lord's Alliance member all arriving at the same time.

Sildar suggests that Sorennar pretend to be his bodyguard, while the rest of the party pretend to be Colt's diplomats and bodyguards. He also suggests that they stagger their arrival times by 20 minutes to avoid suspicion. They discuss room placements and decide on getting 3 rooms. Sildar offers to get an extra room if Sorennar does not want to share. Sorennar vehemently vetoes the idea of getting separate rooms from Sildar.

Sorennar wryly suggests that they don't get a room with a shared wall, which this ENTIRE group of OBLIVIOUS BABBIES assume it means that we should be split apart to entice the "monster" of the inn to attack. Lera tries to get Colt to come up with a compelling backstory for himself, but after a fiesta, they decide to just have Colt speak only Elvish.

Sildar and Sorennar disembark so the "prince" and his escorts can take the cart to the inn. Sorennar pretends to trip so Sildar holds his hand. : )

Never Split the Party: The "Prince"

Colt, Lera and Hugh continue on their journey to the inn. Lera and Colt get into the practice of their roles, with Lera talking to Colt in a very formal manner and Colt being very haughty (though he's very concerned about being too mean).

Lera asks about Colt's woodcarving skills. He explains that he once had a woodcutter friend who taught him how to "carve wood". Upon further probing, Lera finds out that this friend is no longer alive. Colt says that his dead friends are still "right here", showing off two trinkets that seem to be made of some wispy, ethereal material: an axe and a lute.

Lera has never seen these gems before despite having some experience with gemstones. Colt hints that they're pieces of his friends' souls, but doesn't elaborate too much on that, and thanks Lera for guarding his coat for him -- as these are very important to him.

As they draw closer to the inn, Lera asks Colt for the friends' names. They're Grob (axe, male, woodcutter) and Virna (lute, female, musician). Colt and Lera have a comical time trying to get used to only speaking Elvish / translating. Hugh feels left out and participates whenever he can in dwarvish.

The inn is poorly maintained. Moss is growing out of the roof, there is general uncleanliness, and the bushes out front are overgrown. The group comments on how horrible the "Lord's Alliance's choice" of inns are. Sildar sneezes, off screen.

Hugh stows the Rothe, putting the male and female together in order for them to "make babies. He parks the cart in the middle of the road. Colt tests the waters with how mean he should be to Lera in their act. The inside mirrors the outside, it's extremely dusty. Immediately, the group notice things amiss (except Colt, who is infatuated with his princely dynamic).

• There is no smell of food, despite it being a tavern.

• There are slits distributed around the floor, under each chair, and all the patrons have at least one foot on a slit.

• As the group enters, every patron snaps their head towards the door, then lowers their head together, as though part of a hive mind.

• The people seem unresponsive to Hugh's yelling in dwarvish.

• THE BARKEEP IS !!!!!!!! HAROLD METT, the man who's gone missing at this inn!!!!!!!

• Harold keeps asking the group, even on unrelated topics, if they were going to stay the night. This happened at least 4 times.

Harold greets them politely, but with an uncanny smile, showing deference to when Lera introduces Colt as the his royal highness, the prince of Cormanthyr. According to plan, Lera asks for three rooms for themselves and for the Lord's Alliance representative. Harold offers these rooms, as well as food and drink, for free due to Colt's status.

The characters dissolve into a discussion in three different languages. During this time, Harold seems to take no notice of only Hugh. When asked about the food, Harold tells Lera that they can only serve preserved meats and bread, due to supply issues from previous ownership, from whom he recently acquired the inn. Colt gets freaked out by Harold's mannerisms.

Harold offers to clean the rooms personally. Lera wonders if the inn has any other staff, to which Harold says that he is the only one. The group, thoroughly unsettled by the happenings within the inn, decide to regroup outside with Sorennar and Sildar before planning their next course of action.

Never Split the Party: The Lord's Alliance

Sildar strikes some small talk with Sorennar, asking about what instruments he can play. Sorennar responds that he can play just about any of the mainland instruments, and believes he could pick up foreign ones fairly easily as well, especially stringed ones. Sorennar mentions wanting to acquire some "exotic" ones, especially ones from Mulan and Kara-Tur.

Sorennar wonders if Sildar was serious about training him in swordsmanship, which he was. They exchange details on their separate crafts: Sildar has been training since he was 14 (30-40 years), whilst Sorennar has been practicing music for almost a century, noting that he didn't have much time over the years to dedicate to his craft. Sildar denies this and compliments Sorennar on his craft. (Sorennar happiness noises)

Sildar brings up the "private" talk that Sorennar had requested previously. Sorennar deflects this and suggests having a friendly sparring session while waiting for the 20 minutes before they can make their way to the inn. Sildar agrees.

The two spar, with Sildar offering valuable pointers and tips towards Sorennar's form, confidence and technique. Sorennar performs badly with the rapier, growing increasingly panicked as the fight draws on. Sildar easily parries most of Sorennar's attacks, while landing controlled "blows" on Sorennar. The fight ends when Sorennar's panic culminates into him using a spell to avoid getting "hit".

Sildar does not notice Sorennar's anxiety (9 insight rip) and helps him up. Sorennar is unimpressed by his own swords skills, but Sildar compliments his use of magic. Sorennar pretends to be wounded and uses Sildar as a crutch on the way to the inn. Sorennar reflects on the fight, noting Sildar's weakness to Wisdom and Dexterity saving throws, that he needs his reaction to Parry, and that he excels in Strength-based ability checks.

The two make their way to the inn. Along the way, Sildar asks if Sorennar would like to join in his physical training routine. Sorennar disagrees initially, then warms to the idea. Sildar offers to change his routine from morning to night due to Sorennar's sunlight sensitivity. Sorennar brings up the "favors" that Sildar promised everyone, and wonders just how much value Sildar is able to procure -- he wants a Sending Scroll to speak with his family.

Sildar is surprised at the simplicity of the request and readily agrees to procure one when he arrives at civilization, much to Sorennar's gratitude.

The two disagree over the next course of action for the party: Sorennar believes that to go to Cragmaw Castle to face King Grol is to throw away their lives. Sildar believes it necessary, as the Forge (the artifact that the he/Gundren and the Black Spider are looking to find) could be catastrophic to the world if in the wrong hands.

Sorennar protests about being told this information, stating that he wants to wash his hands of the situation and questioning how many more unknown dangers lay ahead if the Lord's Alliance wasn't aware of the Black Spider beforehand. Sildar insists that Gundren needs to be rescued to prevent the Black Spider from taking innocent lives.

Frustrated, Sorennar attributes Sildar's determination as "human stubborness". Sildar shrugs this off and expresses his wishes that in the future, Sorennar might be able to find it in himself to risk his life to protect others.

Back Together Again

Just before Sorennar and Sildar rejoin the group, as the inn comes into sight, Sildar addresses the fiesta on the cart wherein he pointed out Drow were unwelcome in most parts, and Hugh called him a racist. Sildar tries to ensure that Sorennar understands that he was being objective, and is actually more than willing to give Drow the benefit of the doubt.

Sorennar questions why Sildar would consider him (Soren) good, to which Sildar cites small things such as playing music, cooking and foraging. Sorennar tries to goad Sildar into talking about the Drow he inevitably must have killed as a seasoned adventurer. Sildar admits to having killed 2 groups -- a total of 9 Drow slavers -- who attacked his party.

Sorennar then tries to draw a comparison with how many Drow Sildar trusts. Sildar answers that he has two trusted friends who are Drow, which greatly surprises Sorennar. Sildar then amends that Sorennar is included as well -- so three -- surprising Sorennar more.

Sildar tries to end the conversation as they draw close to the group by patting Sorennar on the head, which Sorennar takes as a patronizing gesture >:(

Thoroughly frustrated by what he sees as Sildar's naive and blind trust in a race that should not be trusted, Sorennar leans into Sildar and heavily implies that he has only been cooking for the group in order to have access to their food, and eventually poison them if necessary.

Sildar falls silent, and briefly seems confused and frustrated by Sorennar's declaration. Satisfied, Sorennar pats Sildar on the head in a similar fashion.

The two groups meet here, at which point Colt begins SCREAMING about the creepiness of the inn: Harold's presence, the unsettling behavior of everyone in the inn, how much the innkeeper wanted them to stay, that everything was free.

Hugh and Lera notice that Sorennar was limping and leaning on Sildar as they approached. Sorennar implies that Sildar injured him on purpose in their sparring battle, which Sildar denies.

As this conversation goes on, Sorennar notices that in one of the windows of the inn, a shadowy figure is watching them. As Sorennar looks at the figure, it seems to sink into the ground.

This freaks the party out even more, but due to the responsibility of the job they promised Sildar they would do, they decide to head into the inn. As the group enters the inn for the second time, Sildar, Sorennar and Lera notice that though there is no longer a "head snap", all of the patrons' eyes flicker to the group for a moment before they continue their conversations.

While walking to the barkeep, Lera and Sorennar notice that the slits in the ground don't seem natural, instead seeming manmade and carved by a tool into the wood. Lera questions the barkeep about occupancies on the second floor. Harold lets them know that two rooms are currently occupied, and the tenants will only be here a few days.

Harold offers them the following rooms:

And mentions that "the rooms have to be this way", but to let him know if there are any issues.

The party heads up the stairs. Sorennar messages Harold with the message spell: "What kind of alcohol do you carry?" in an attempt to probe his consciousness. Harold's smile immediately drops, unsettlingly, and his gaze snaps unnaturally to Sorennar. Promptly, however, he replies mentally with "Strong Whiskey", and continues smiling.

Shaken by this series of events, Sorennar pushes his way in front of Sildar and takes his hand under the guise of guiding him in the dark upper floor. :' )

The group realizes, upon reaching the second floor, that there are similar slits in the floor. Hugh gets down to the ground and looks through the slits to see Harold. Sorennar messages through the floorboards to see Harold's reaction: "Do you have any ale instead?" -- Harold snaps to several slits but seems unable to pinpoint Sorennar's location, and responds mentally: "No :)"

The party enters one of the rooms after traversing the darkened hallway. The notice the same slits. Terrified by this entire experience, Colt crawls into the bed, under blankets, because "ghosts can't get you under blankets".

Sorennar inspects the room, finding scratch marks on the window, which strikes him as someone desperately trying to escape from the room. This seems to upset Sorennar, who immediately backs out of the room and leaves the door open. They discuss the past events, and Hugh suggests going down to the basement as it's clearly sus as fuck.

As they talk, Sorennar and Lera notice that a humanoid green eye appears at the slits directly under them. Sorennar loudly discusses pretend politics and puts a finger to his lips before informing the rest of the group about this via Message. Everyone freaks out.

As Sorennar continues trying to discuss "politics" while grasping the situation, he notices Harold approaching the room from down the hallway, firmly keeping at least one foot on a slit at all times while carrying a tray of drinks. Sorennar and Lera wordlessly hatch a plan to push Harold off of the slit to see what happens, but Sorennar is a twink who cannot grapple for shit and Harold manages to dodge.

As Sorennar lay on the ground dying, Lera immediately tries to feel Harold's hand for signs of life. It feels like a regular human hand. The group accept the drinks and promptly decide not to drink any of it. Sorennar attempts to test the drinks for poison, but does not find any. Sorennar and Lera both notice that Harold smells mildly of sulfur, which Sorennar recognizes as "trouble" from the Underdark, though not specifically what kind of creature.

While discussing various creatures and monsters, Hugh points out that vampires aren't real.

Into the Light

The group decides to try and lure Harold into the sunlight, as Underdark creatures generally dislike the sunlight. Lera and Hugh go downstairs to pretend to need help carrying crates. By the time they can see Harold, he is already staring at them with the same wide smile. Harold promptly refuses their request for help with the reason that he has a bad leg, but he replies to Hugh this time, and in a bewildering and overly compliant fashion.

Hugh slams the door 6 times in quick succession to elicit a response from the rest of the patrons. There is no response.

Lera attempts to speak to the patrons, but they react fairly normally (with mild annoyance) for people getting disturbed as they're eating. However, Lera notes that they have been working on their food for three hours without much sign of progress. Lera notices as well that some patrons displayed emotions, while others simply stared at her expressionlessly.

Hugh stealthily peers into the window to see if the patrons stop eating once they leave. They do.

Lera and Hugh make their way to the stables and have compelling conversations about the practice of mating Rothe. Hugh begins to eat hay.

Sorennar, Sildar and Colt agree that the group should stay together and head downstairs together. Sorennar leads Sildar down by the hand, as usual, because of the "darkness".

They receive the same uncanny stare as Lera and Colt did. Harold mentions that he would give them more drinks when they came back in, and that they should bring the other cups down.

As Sorennar and Sildar walk to join the rest of the group in the stables, Sorennar pulls Sildar aside and backtracks on his earlier threat, asking if Sildar knew he was only joking. Sildar seems thoughtful and asks to discuss the matter further, but Sorennar tries to deflect the conversation by pointing out that Hugh was eating literal hay.

Sildar is unwilling to let the matter slide, but Sorennar promises they would talk later.

As the group discuss Hugh's hay eating tendencies, Lera suggests that someone keep an eye on the window where Sorennar first saw the figure. Sorennar pretends to smoke pipeweed while leaning on a tree, and does notice the mother of the family of patrons, whom Lera tried to talk to, staring blankly out of the window. After a couple of minutes, she backs away from the window and away from sight.

Sorennar peers into the first floor, and it appeared that all the patrons had disappeared. He relays this all to the group. The group decides to wait till midnight, at which point Harold -- if pretending to be human -- should be "asleep", before investigating the basement.

The group has an interesting conversation with Hugh about his beliefs: if he has not seen it before, it does not exist.

The group talks about their sleeping arrangement. They decide to room in the two rooms next to each other, with Colt, Lera and Hugh together and Sorennar and Sildar in one room.

Team "Prince": Hugh and Colt share the bed, Lera is sleeping in a sleeping bag. They discuss sharing a bed all together. Hugh requests to be in the middle.

Team "Lord's Alliance": Sildar offers to bring a sleeping bag to sleep on the floor. Sorennar balks at the idea of forcing Sildar on the floor, offering to bring a sleeping bag himself. They both agree to end up sharing a bed. 😊

That's where we left off!