Session 77: Seeking the sun Report

General Summary

The group spent some time completing their long preparations for combat with an unknown foe, a "Thing that should not be". Shortly before leaving Roisin was invited to a dance by a distant relation, and accepted (provided she survived the mission). Awaking one morning they discovered an old man waiting for them downstairs in their temporary quarters. This old man explained this was another form of "The Guardian". After some conversation about the nature of this "retirement community", which it turned out was actually an alternative for persons who would otherwise have attempted to use dark arts to prolong their lives; they did not know the truth of their situation, but were here to have the opportunity to conclude important things, and release unimportant things. The Guardian also informed Roisin that her cousins, Krastin and Kastrin, were on their last day, their unfinished business, to present their ideas to family and friends, being completed. Roisin walked down to their house to bid them goodbye, without explaining the reason, but Krastin guessed just before Roisin left, and as Roisin walked away from their home, she looked back and saw the two old halflings, smiling sadly, quietly fade away.

Boris was loaned a "care package" of potions and scrolls to use at need, and return after completing the mission. When Roisin returned everyone prepared for a short magical journey, to deal with what The Guardian described as well-meaning ooze creatures that were trying to dissolve the entire world and transform everything into ooze like themselves. The Guardian gave Roisin a small scroll, and told her to, when the mission was done, eat the scroll; it would taste like honey, but turn sour in her stomach, and she would need to vomit, doing so would open a portal for them to return. Once everyone was prepared, The Guardian clapped its hands, and they were instantaneously standing in a verdant valley with a number of small towns in the distance "downslope" and a small ruin a few miles "upslope". A small river flowed through the valley toward the towns, and the mountains to either side were heavily forested, while lighter forests filled the valley proper.

The group chose to approach, following advice from The Guardian to talk to these well-meaning, good willed, creatures as a means to gain advantageous tactical position before surprising them and destroying these aberrant creatures completely. The group reached the ruins and walked in the open to meet their "leader" (as much as there could be a leader among hive-mind creatures). Before getting too close, Boris and Roy used magics to grant everyone a gift of luck, protect Boris and Jeeves from restraint, grant alacrity to Boris, provide Roy with a ward to prevent death, and grant fortune's favor to Boris; Jeeves read a scroll granting complete immunity from acids for one hour; Roy used alchemy to provide himself broad-based resistance to harm. Boris also prepared to quaff a potion, when needed, to protect himself from most forms of harm. Jeeves consumed an herb to magically apply poison to his weapons. As the group reached the ruins, a couple of translucent blue human-shaped oozes approached and asked if they wished to meet "the Droth" about help. They were then led well into the ruins, and through a gap in a ruined wall, to where they found themselves gathered around a huge puddle-like ooze with a greenish mass lifing above the center with tentacles of ooze adjacent to a collapsed tower. There were more of the human-shaped oozes gathered in the area as well; all of the oozes had glowing red gems in their center. The puddle spoke with a very clear and calm voice, directly to the party's minds, and asked about how the ooze might help them. This Droth asked if they might be able to speak with Hobgoblins, Orcs, Goblins, and others in the area to explain the "Shoth" wanted only to help, as these creatures had been forced to kill a few in self defense, and found such killing to be abhorrent. Feeling a bit sad about the necessity, the Roses spread around the Droth and prepared to attack without warning. As Roisin looked to Boris to signal the attack, the Droth suddenly changed aspect, and said "Oh, I see now that you mean to destroy us all. Unfortunate."