Session 16
General Summary
After having just shaken off the dust from the arcane explosion produced by Damian destroying Zor's glowing crystal, Gar comes flying into the room. There was a weird twitch in his eye as he began to drool. He uttered the group a warning, "I am starving, but I will offer you this one chance to leave. Take it or be consumed." The party left nothing to chance and exited immediately through the door they had just unlocked. When the door shut, it had disappeared and the party found themselves in a cave. Luckily, the exit was near enough for them to catch the faint glow of the sun rising and a touch of torchlight from an unknown source.
The party quickly made it out of the cave, only to be surrounded on either side by snatchers. There was hope, however, as they noted a large snail that the snatchers seemed to be avoiding and was apparently the source of the torchlight. Built into its shell was a structure of some kind. Seeing no better option, the party lept at the opportunity and made it safely inside.
To their surprise, the structure was filled with goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears and orcs. This place was apparently a tavern by the name of "The Slimy Slug". Upon their entry, all of its patrons froze in their tracks; creatures at the bar stopped drinking, the goblins playing darts halted their game, and even the band paused. They seemed frightened.
One of the musicians in the band set down their instrument and made their way over to the party. She was a hobgoblin that had been playing the viola and was apparently the owner of the tavern. After questioning the party, she agreed to let them stay. They never asked her name.
The goblin bartender and innkeeper, named Fizz, introduced himself and offered his services. The party did not hesitate to ask him all of their burning questions, make sleeping arrangements, and order entire kegs of mead. All of this was on the house because this place was not just any old tavern; it was a ferry whose sole purpose was to liberate slaves from an underground city ruled by the drow and many of the escapees did not have any money. Instead, the tavern operates on donations given by those who did have money and appreciated the service.
The tavern was headed for a city outside of the woods named New Stynruz. It is a city consisting mostly of goblinoids and a few orcs. Living there was free, so long as you did the work to build your own house. It would take 3 to 4 days to arrive there from the location the party hopped on at. During that time, Kit resummoned his familiar, Caboodle, Vaision and Xaverie tried some of the tavern's top-shelf liquors, and Damian played darts with the goblins after showing them how to play.
When they arrived in the city at dusk 3 days later, the party went to bed early so they could get a desirable plot of land to put their hut. They awoke at 5:30AM, ate breakfast, and found a place to build within 3 minutes of the nearest general store. Damian and Kit bought a cart from the general store and went to the clay hole to get clay for the hut while Claudia scoured the city for the wood they would need to support the roof and a door they could use. Vaision used his unseen servant to collect the tall grass clippings they would use for their roof and Xaverie went to find furnature. After several hours, the house was complete except for the fact that their door lacked a lock. Kit, Claudia, and Vaision went to the city center, where the buildings were made of wood instead of clay, to puchase a lock from the local locksmith that Claudia had found. Kit traded the old locks he had been collecting for a discound on the door lock and Vaision paied the remainder. The lock they purchased was pretty beat up and its key was carved out of bone instead of being made from metal. It would do though.
The party purchased a set of woodcarvers' tools and some paint from the general store, installed the lock, and customized the door to make it easier for Tremont to get to with the Anywhere Key. They etched Vaision's family crest into it with the woodcarvers tools and Kit masterfully recreated it on the note he intended to send to Tremont using the Mailbox Key. With the drawing along with a textual decription and instructions for what they wanted him to do, the party removed the furnature from the hut and mailed him the note. They then brought the furnature back inside and waited for Tremont to arrive. An hour passed and he was still not there. It was almost 7PM and it looked like the party would be spending the night there. They hurried over to the general store just before they closed and bought 2 bed rolls.
Vaision and Claudia slept in the bedrolls, Xaverie and Damian slept in the chairs Xaverie had bought, and Kit slept on the floor. In the morning, just before breakfast, they heard the front door open accompanied by a groan; it was Tremont. Kit burst outside and gave him a hug without a second thought. Tremont groaned in pain, saying, "Missed you too. Can you please let go of me?"
Kit released him, now noticing that Tremont's right eye was blackened, his left arm and leg were in casts, and he was using crutches. Apparently, mailing all that gold to Tremont had nearly crushed him to death and caused the floor in the ballroom to collapse to the basement. It would cost 1,500GP to repair. Tremont told them this as he and the party made their way back to Tremont Manor.
Once there, the smell of freshly cooked bacon, eggs, and pancakes filled the air and the party was immensely happy to be home. No longer would they be forced to eat unseaoned hashbrowns for every breakfast, stale bread for lunch, and nasty potluck for dinner. They would also finally have the ability to spend their spoils and prepare for their meeting with Baku tomorrow at noon.
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