OttD session 19: Adoven misses having thumbs

General Summary

The party begins in the shack that they fought inside during session 18: welcome to the jungle. Pestle realizes they are being watched by a satyr in a tree outside, and goes outside to greet him. Vun Roade (and later, Tornac) follow and make conversation. The satyr introduces himself as Kaiser and asks many questions about who the party and what they are doing. Kaiser also informs the group that they are in The Beastlands, and people on this plane have a tendency to be turned into beasts. He attempts to sell them collars to wear so that, if turned, they can easily be identified as sapient creatures. The party refuses, but does learn a few more things from him. Firstly, they learn that Mama Bear had been in The Beastlands also just recently. They also learn about a nearby town, Azunis, that was founded by Tritons. Concerned that their friends have not yet left the shack, Pestle goes back inside to check on Adoven Woodsoul and Zerrof. Both are missing, with no tangible trail left behind. Kaiser suggests that they likely turned into displacer beasts and teleported away. He also warns them to get this curse lifted within three days, or else the condition would become a "Nothlit" and be unable to easily revert to their prior form. The party attempts to locate their friends, but they seem to be teleporting about the place at random, and it is impossible to get them. Instead, the party decides to proceed eastward to Azunis in search of assistance. The party had only barely began traveling when Adoven Woodsoul manages to regain control of his body and teleports back to the party. He is indeed a displacer beast, but retains the ability to talk. He is quite fond of this situation, until he realizes that the lack of thumbs makes it difficult to cast most spells. As they are discussing this, Thulmir regains consciousness and is let out of Tornac's flask (cue "Friend Like Me" from Aladdin). After some more conversation, a montage of travel shenanigans ensues, including an encounter with a talking eagle (who also tells the party to get collars, which they refuse a second time), Tornac throwing Adoven Woodsoul into a tree as a "trust exercise", Adoven Woodsoul getting distracted by female Displacer Beasts in the jungle, and Tornac shooting holes in a tree just to mess with Pestle. The party also encounters a red lion wearing a blue collar who says he is a Nothlit from Azunis. The lion fills them in a little bit more about the plane, and offers assistance in finding Zerrof. He also repeats what the other locals said about the collars and offers the group some spares he has in a pouch tied to his leg. The lion then stalks off to find food and sends the party on their way. After several more hours of travel, the party arrives at a large river. Tornac stops to go swimming, and then they proceed north along the river bank until the reach a tiny village by the name of Azunis. When they arrive, they meet an attractive red-skinned Triton woman in skimpy tribal clothing playing. The party first goes to buy a few drinks, and the barkeeper informs them that the woman is the town cleric and can relieve Adoven Woodsoul of his curse. They ask for help, and she provides it using a holy symbol of Balinor. Afterwards, Adoven Woodsoul thanks her by providing some advice on how to play her lute, and plays a song of his own. This advice naturally leads into conversation, and the triton woman asks them about whether or not Mama Bear found Sconce. They reply that she had not, and in further conversation learn that Penguin had been to The Beastlands around five years ago. The party then goes drinking, and the triton woman joins in. Tornac crits his con roll and proceeds to out-drink everyone in the bar. Pestle also takes the opportunity to name his snake-headed staff "Jim" (short for "Jimothy"). After the revelry settles down some, Pestle decides to ask Dave for "the name of the location that Sconce is". Pestle critically succeeds at this roll, and sees a vision of Sconce standing in the center of an arena with a large black dragon. Their stance appears confrontational, but has not escalated to actual combat. The stands are packed full of what appear to be adventurers, soldiers, mercenaries, and other sorts that are well-versed in combat. Pestle learns that this arena is literally just called The Arena, and it is in a town just called The Town, in a plane called Vigrid.