🍄34. the lady of rot
session 34 • 07/19/2022 • 2,164 words
🌞 DAY 9 • 📅 ELEINT 30
📌 Reidoth's Cottage, Thundertree
Beef
Hugh begins to split the loot money between the party. Sildar FINALLY agrees to take some without resisting this time (even though he is going to sugar daddy for Soren with it 👀).
Hugh splits his money with Droop, who immediately wants to buy an instrument. When reminded that he needs to ask Soren to teach him, Droop sadly notes that Soren is "mean" right now. Hugh suggests they ask him to teach Droop how to play an instrument when he's back to normal.
They muse over Soren's strange behavior and come to the conclusion that throwing Soren into a tree would make him feel better, as it makes Droop happy when he is thrown.
Will, who has not stopped being alarmed since meeting the group, tells them that "nO do not throw Soren into a tree he just needs to rest". Droop says Will is being stinky for stifling them and runs into the bedroom to inform Soren that he is going to get thrown into a tree.
Soren does not like this news. He tries to politely dissuade Droop, who is insistent. Sildar steps in to try and gently shoo Droop away as well; Soren messages Hugh with a thinly veiled threat towards Droop, asking Hugh to fetch "his goblin". Hugh does so.
Soren seems a little remorseful and casts Prestidigitation on Droop to make him smell like beef, because "Droop likes beef".
Droop comes out of the room and is very confused about the beef smell, to the point of licking himself. Will casts Druidcraft on Droop to make him smell like flowers; he now smells like beef and flowers, and his little braincell is dying.
Dinner Time
Will cooks dinner for everyone, and brings Soren's bowl to the bedroom. Sildar tries to loophole to feed Soren, by stating that Soren eating would help the party since they need him at his best; this actually seems to placate Soren, who begrudgingly lets himself get fed. :(
Gundren takes his bowl to eat outside, and Hugh follows him outside to watch him. Gundren seems annoyed that the group is trying to babysit him because "if he dies, the world ends", but Hugh offers him some ball bearings to throw to vent his frustration and goes back inside.
Everyone in the living room -- Will, Vyerith, Hugh and Droop -- hear Gundren screaming insults and swears as he throws the ball bearings in the woods outside LMAO. Vyerith glares daggers at Hugh.
Will tries to feed Vyerith, who pleads to be untied. Will reluctantly does so to let her eat. Will mentions that he's not good at trusting, which Vyerith sneers at. Vyerith barely touches her food, and admits to Will that she likes raw meat -- complaining about the whole onion that Hugh had her eat the other day.
Will gives her some meat.
Will talks to Reidoth about splitting watches, but Reidoth states that he's going to stay up all night since there's a doppelganger in his house. Will tries to persuade him otherwise, but Reidoth drops his full name "Willow" on Will and Will goes quiet LMAO
The Password
Soren, after eating, recalls that back when they had run into Art for the first time, had developed a password system to avoid future imposter issues. He asks Sildar for the password, but Sildar forgot LMAO.
Soren teases Sildar about it briefly before reminding him that it's "jinglebells".
Sildar checks in with Soren's mental. Soren reluctantly admits that the situation with Gundren and Vyerith hits too close to home: that Vyerith was an assassin who got romantically invovled with her target, Gundren, in order to get close to him. It bothers Soren a lot, because it's reminding him of how he had wronged Sildar.
Sildar reminds Soren that the difference is that the love and care for each other is mutual in their relationship. Soren agrees.
Before leaving to get his own dinner, Sildar pleads with Soren to not disappear again, noting that they still have to discuss what happened when Soren disappeared earlier that day. Soren uncomfortably agrees.
Eventually, the group cleans up and settles down to sleep. Sildar sits against a wall in Soren's room, for fear of something attacking him while he's weak and useless.
Watch Order:
Will
Hugh
Sildar
🌙 NIGHT 9 • 📅 ELEINT 30
Good Night
The Mushroom Lady
Hugh dreams of the same recurring nightmare again, where he is staring down a dwarf in a large, mushroom-filled cavern; though this time, the "dwarf" seems to be closer to him, still quiet and unmoving.
This time, he sees a misshapen humanoid figure, seemingly a woman, with coils of fungus, rot and mold hanging off of her. She seems to be very, very slowly walking towards Hugh.
The "dwarf" begins to sing an eerie lullaby:
Fear not for your future for now you must sleep
In our Cradle your body shall steep.
Your flesh a fine banquet of delicate food
Your gift to the Lady shall nourish the brood.
What births from your leavings and grows in her nave
Shall feed from your ruins and fat from your grave
Hugh gets woken up by Will and is like
Hugh grabs Will's cheeks and tells Will that he's going to get eaten by the mushroom lady. Will is, understandably, confused. He pats Hugh and tries to reassure him.
Hugh finds that his headache is less intense than usual. He paints a beautiful picture of what he saw:
shows it to Will, and rushes to show Sildar, who can't see shit because it's dark.
Seeing that Hugh is on the verge of a panic attack, Sildar tries to calm down Hugh by saying there's no use panicking over something that they can't change or investigate right now; and promises him that they would go to Candlekeep to investigate his ailment (and Soren's patron) as soon as they're done with their business here.
Hugh offers Sildar beef and ball bearings and is gently declined
The Star Cave
Soren dreams of being in a familiar cave full of bioluminescent fungi. The arrangement of mushrooms on the ceiling look like stars.
He feels happy, relaxed, and more at peace than he has been for a very, very long time.
Eventually, however, he wakes up from his trance, in a much better mood, albeit still exhausted. (His exhaustion level has been lowered to 3.) Soren reflects on the events of the past day, a little horrified at some of the things he said and did, before getting up--just as Sildar is woken by Hugh for his watch.
Soren immediately hugs Sildar and apologizes about the day before. Sildar is taken aback. Soren thanks the group for all they did for him when he was vulnerable, and for being patient with him while he wasn't "quite himself". Soren also gives Droop and Hugh a big hug, before stopping at Will.
He gently wakes Will up, and asks if Will wants a hug, Will says "no u" and asks if Soren wants one LMAO. Soren says he badly needs one; Will gives him a one-armed hug. Awkwardly, they both break off the hug and Will goes back to sleep.
Sildar checks in with Soren; Soren admits that he can remember what he said and did, and though it makes no sense to him now, it made sense in the moment. Soren also admits that he's terrified that this has happened twice, and he fears hurting Sildar and the party when he's going through an episode of madness. He asks Sildar to slap him next time, half-jokingly.
Sildar admits that he wouldn't know what to do if there was a next time, and tells Soren to get more rest. Soren notices that Reidoth is T-Posing over Vyerith to establish dominance, and is told that Reidoth hasn't slept all night.
Soren, who had strongarmed Reidoth out of the bedroom the day before, takes the comforters and pillows out of the room and persuades Reidoth to take a break, promising to watch over Vyerith. Reidoth reluctantly goes into the room, sees that the bed has no comforters and pillows left, sighs and tries to get some rest.
Sildar urges Soren to get his new "benefactor relationship" looked at by Garaele, Soren jokes that Garaele will get tired of their demon shit and just smite them. Soren admits that he's a little worried about Graz'zt's "free lunch", but notes that he feels different from Nezznar.
Sildar expresses concern. Soren lies that his condition with Graz'zt was that he would not hurt "the party" (when he had said "friends"), noting that if Graz'zt was fiendish of nature, he would respect the exact wording -- and Soren is part of the "party", technically. This seems to satisfy Sildar.
Eventually, Sildar drifts back to sleep. Soren sits by his side and mashes plants for an hour.
🌙 DAY 10 • 📅 HARVESTIDE
Goob Morning!
Soren eventually tunes his lute and plays a short, soothing melody for his sleeping companions to help them rest better. After this, he gathers some ingredience from his shopping trip, and sets to work making a breakfast scramble for the rest of the group.
Will wakes first, and Soren greets him cheerfully. Will washes up for the morning; and as he sees Sildar wake up, Soren prestigitates himself clean and makes himself smell nice lmao extra bitch.
When Soren apologizes for his actions the day before again, Sildar tells him to stop feeling bad; Soren says he'll stop feeling bad when he forgets about the ordeal, and that he still hasn't forgotten about trying to kill Sildar when they first met.
Droop comes over merrily reminding Soren that he has an appointment to be thrown into a tree still. Soren gaslight, girlboss, gatekeeps Droop into believing that he dreamed the whole thing LMAO. Droop apologizes for dreaming of such a thing.
Soren tries to use Droop's goblin dice game to explain why it's a bad thing to be thrown into a tree even if he has inspiring leader; that it takes resources away from Droop that could have been used for life-and-death situations. Droop says he can come back from the dead because he's strong LMAOO.
I don't think we reach a conclusion yet again.
Like a Mirror
Soren approaches Vyerith, asking what she prefers to eat as he remembers how much she hated the onion soup. Vyerith likens herself to the drow, stating that she prefers "meat, the bloodier the better"; Soren retches a little but offers her venison jerky.
Vyerith brusquely implies that the meat is poisoned. Soren marvels at how it's like "staring into a mirror" as it reminds him of when he was an edgy little shit who didn't trust the party. Vyerith demands to have her hands untied so she can eat, and Soren agrees on one condition: that she apologize to Gundren.
Gundren, who is getting himself a bowl of food, freezes.
When Vyerith balks and protests that Gundren doesn't even want an apology, Soren coldly tells her that he doesn't care if Gundren wants one, and that apologizing when you've done something bad is "the first step to trying to be human".
Vyerith sneers at this and apologizes for "not being able to kill Gundren". Soren slaps her and shoves all the jerky into her mouth before leaving her to struggle. Will hurries over to help Vyerith not choke lmao, and convinces her to eat while being fed.
Soren stops by Gundren and admits that sometimes some "monsters" are too far gone to feel empathy, but that there may be hope for Vyerith. Gundren thanks him and the group for trying to get through to Vyerith.
Decay
As the group prepares to leave, Reidoth catches sight of Hugh's drawing and reacts in seeming alarm. He informs the group that the woman in Hugh's drawing is a powerful entity with a dangerous cult following of evil druids, rangers and paladins.
We learn that she is known as the Lady of Rot and Decay, as well as the Demon Queen of Fungi. Hugh informs Reidoth that she's going to eat him (Hugh). Reidoth is mildly concern.
Summerstrider
Will asks for a moment alone with Reidoth to say his farewells. Reidoth hugs Will, much to his surprise, as Reidoth is typically not a touchy-feely person.
Reidoth recounts the years since Will came to be his apprentice as Springwarden of the Emerald Enclave. Reidoth promotes Will to become a Summerstrider, the second and next rank in the faction, and gives Will a new badge with sunrays in the background behind the elk symbolic of the Emerald Enclave.
Will is touched and exchanges tearful farewells with Reidoth before departing on his adventure.
As the party makes their way towards the Rothe, they suddenly notice a building along the path exiting Thundertree, which was not there before.
The building is labelled "Pax's Magic Shop".
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