Winedark, Blood and Therapy: On the Trail of the Ulam
General Summary
Wherein the Therapists battle sentient and nefarious beverages, encounter some very good bois, and dive into the trash
A New Mission
After a tenday of rest to recover from their harrowing encounter with the Herald of Rot, Six Bottle, ever vigilant, summoned our Harboreyes to The Snake & Cough, a modest tavern in The Bends to discuss what to do about this whole "Ulam" thing. Six, consulting with Sea Sibyl Loshi Saltbloom, can share some troubling information about the Ulam. Apparently, he is dedicated to summoning forth a lich known as The Saltworm, which would be very bad indeed. He is doing this by siphoning fear from the populace, unleashing horrific aberrations in order to create conditions in which terror and apprehension runs rampant, and using that fear to fuel the Saltworm's phylactery--the artifact taht will give the lich its power in this plane. It appears that the Ulam is "riding the coattails" of Vo'ku'a instead of working directly with The DreadSquid, so that's a small mercy. Regardless, a lich would lay waste to the Isles, so Six needs our heroes to seek out and stop the Ulam by any means necessary (likely violence). To do this, they should seek out a person that has been doing a little digging into liches and the Ulam--namely, Gorev Kevin-Kevin (of the Kevin-Kevin family). He is an archeologist currently engaged in an excavation in Naglade, just a quick day's walk north from Awa Harbor. The Harboreyes should find Gorev, see what he knows, and use their discretion as to how to act on that information. With this, Six left the tavern, but not before telling the tavernkeeper, Norm, to put another round for our adventurers on his tab. Nice! This required Norm to tap a new keg, which, unfortunately, revealed a Booze Ooze. Oh no! Not the beer! This ooze was quickly destroyed, covering the Therapists in stale beer. Norm, surprisingly nonplussed, tapped another (safe) keg and offered our heroes a beer for the road.Ruffin' It
Thirst quenched, it was time to head to Naglade. Our crew traveled without incident until Gnorbitt noticed the remains of a shattered stain glass window with tracks heading off toward the woods. A brief investigative sojourn revealed more remains in the middle of a stone cairn. Before the Therapists could determine what to do in this moment, they were approached by a dog-centaur clan known as the Ruff. The Therapists had inadvertently trod upon the sacred burial grounds of the Ruff and their affront, intended or not, needs redress. They demanded to escort our heroes to their village so that their Elders could determine what form that redress would take. As it was on the way to Naglade anyway, the Therapists said sure, why not. Let's avoid a fight and hang out with these rad dog-centaurs. After a nice conversation about names and ancestry with the Elders, they asked our adventurers to head to another important place to the Ruff--the tar pits--and eliminate Ettins that have been plaguing that place. Apparently, the laws of the Ruff prohibit the spilling of blood in the areas that provide resources to the clan. No mention is made of "outsiders" doing that, however. A convenient loophole! They traveled there and destroyed the Ettins handily, earning the friendship of the Ruff and the promise of a tasty feast to come.The Trashhole
The Therapists saw and felt the negative energy emanating from the Naglade before ever setting foot near the site. It was clear that something was off here. Luckily, it ain't the Therapists' first rodeo, and Gnorbitt snuck in to get a better look. What he saw was some sort of distorted garbage dump, radiating a malevolent magic. Par for the course for these heroes, really. The unfortunate Hobgoblin guards patrolling the entry to this dump were quickly dispatched, thanks to some fire from Artag and a couple blasting blowholes from Rainbow. Speaking of Rainbow, his trash-curiosity got the best of him and the group was rewarded with a Trash Ooze for their efforts. This was destroyed and the group secured Rainbow's promise to keep his hands to himself as they readied themselves for whatever might be next.And That's Where We Left It
We'll discover what other secrets this trash dump has for our heroes as the chronicles of Blood and Therapy conclude.Various & Sundry Details
- Our heroes decided to spend their amassed wealth and managed to find some pretty good magic items during their tenday off. Nice!
- Dennis is now an Uncle Knight. This is very important.
Rewards Granted
- The Tvelkblade
- Hammer of the Rook
- Deathloop Watch
- Dead Ringer
Character(s) interacted with
- Six Bottle
- Smoketail, a Ruffboi
- Barkbattle, Yelpsmirk, and Underbite, Ruffboi Elders
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