Session 4: Getting to Know the Wildlife
General Summary
After the guide was upset (and nearly left) in the previous session owing to your involvement in her nephew Malec's death, you find yourselves paddling up the murky Soshenstar river. To stave off the stifling heat, at Rubi's suggestion, John Notagnome steered the canoe over to the bank to pick up some massive leaves to use as sunshades. Azaka accepted one, with a quietly grateful, forced smile. Meanwhile, Burg-Quott (the Bouyant) is happily hanging onto a canoe paddled by a flustered Undril Silvertusk. The young half-orc requests help actually paddling the canoe, but is only met by haughty chortling.
As the party head upstream against the sluggish current, Chomsky and Rahlg'n are happily fishing, trailing their lines as they paddle. Rahlg'n gets a bite, which seems rather a bit more vicious than your average fish. He pulls it out of the water to discover it's a piranha-like Quipper, a swarm of which immediately surged towards the boats. Burg-Quott (the Frightened) frantically climbed into the boat, nearly capsizing it in the process. Only Undril's quick maneuvering prevented them being spilled into the now frothing water. Once aboard, he proceeded to thin their numbers with Eldritch blasts. Chomsky pulled Quippers out with his mage hand, and even Douglass got some, this potentially deadly encounter proving delicious indeed.
Further up the river as the party rounded a bend (presumably as somewhere a much-beloved orchestral theme swelled) they come face to face with a trio of Brontosauruses (Brontosauri?) grazing on treetops and immersing themselves in the cool, murky waters. The party gaze up in awe as the Bronto's let out a low bellowing (to which some members respond in kind).
Later, the wind picks up, the rain begins to lash the party, making progress impossible. They seek shelter in a small, blind cave under a waterfall along a tributary. There are old footprints of mixed races leading into the cave, and graffiti along the back wall. Entering the cave, Douglass shakes off the water and soaks everyone. The cave now smells of wet dog. The party then set up the rain catchers outside, lashed to the immovable rod to stop them blowing away.
The party cook and eat their Quippers over a previously used fire pit, and Burg-Quott (the Pungent) fashions a gruesome quipper skull necklace as a fragrant warning to others of its species. Both John and Rahlg'n offers Azaka some as she stares out at the rain. She accepts gratefully.
Looking around the cave, they examine the graffiti. It's mostly a mix of common, goblin, and draconic, much of it responding to other graffiti, or saying "x was here." Chomsky changes a goblin scratching of "Grabstab woz 'ere" to "Grabstab iz a doo-doo hed." Rubi also notices a glint on the ground, and gets John to gather the party. Paranoid about magic, the party don't touch it, but Azaka walks up, and scrapes the dirt away with her boot to reveal a holy symbol of Torm with Order of the Gauntlet markings. Undril pockets it and intends to hand it to Captain Breakbone at Camp Vengeance.
The next day, the rain catchers are full, and the storm has subsided. Broken branches lie everywhere, but the water is calm once more. As the party get a few miles upstream, they come to a massive, 450m wide, thundering waterfall. As the party get out of their canoes and trek towards the falls, they hear a grumbling, growling sound from the trees above. Azaka tells the party to stop as she and Douglass notice them. Scenting the fish on Burg-Quott (the Delicious), the Zorbo's pounce. Their skin seems to mimic whatever they touch, and spells seem to bounce off them. Despite suffering some ruptures in Burg-Quott (the Damaged)'s shell and damaging Rahlg'n's shield, they are fought off quickly. Douglass tries to hold one in place with his immovable rod, but only succeeds in making its skin hard and metallic before sledgehammering it into fine Zorbo paste.
Heading up the switchback path, you notice Azaka avoiding looking down. Her dark skin visibly pales when she looks over the edge. Once up the top and walking along the river bank, you notice a canoe tied to the shore. Finding a small cache of antitoxin, and an old cutaway path. Following the path, you find a tripwire. Attached to it, a halfling's corpse, riddled with Grung arrows. Azaka cuts him down and states that he was killed for trespassing on sacred ground, his corpse hung up as a warning. The party decide not to go any further that way, and head back to the boats.
Further upstream, Azaka spots a M'renga fruit tree. According to your guide, one fruit is enough for a day's food and drink, and makes you feel rested and more resilient. The fruit's thick skin is red and green, with the soft flesh inside tasting eerily similar to a mix of dragonfruit, strawberry and banana. It could almost be as if those fruits were all blended into one somehow. Azaka says the fruits keep if dried, though they won't confer their hydrating properties.
When camping that night, closer to dawn, Chomsky was sitting watch. He spent his time whittling a little frog out of wood, perched atop the gnome's "Human harness" (patent pending?) in tripod mode. Rubi wakes up to her Alarm spell blaring in her mind. Something was in the perimeter! Looking around, Chomsky and Rubi couldn't see anything from the tent's observation window. Figuring everyone else was asleep, Rubi crawls out the tent-flap first and is nose-to-mask with a tiny creature. They both jump backwards, and the little creature runs into a rock, phasing into it with the sound of faintly jingling bells.
The two gnomes step out, trying to coax it out of the rock with soft music, instead scaring it into a nearby tree. The two place an apple on the rock, and back away. The creature comes out hesitantly with a soft tinkling sound, picks up the apple which is almost bigger than its whole body, and tries in vain to drag it into the tree. Chomsky puts his freshly-whittled frog onto the rock. The creature picks it up and marvels at it. Taking it back to the tree, the creature points as if instructing them to wait, runs off, and returns to place a small, beautiful shell on the rock before disappearing again.
Although they didn't see her come in, the party find Azaka cooking up a fresh kill. When asked, she simply stated that she was an early riser. She seemed to be in much better spirits, humming while cutting off slices of cooked meat. John Notagnome approached her (offering an apple) and asked about the creature from last night. She called it a Chwinga, a tiny nature spirit. Apparently they could be curious, mischievous, and they would often steal things, leaving something else in its place. Azaka also said to treasure anything they were given, as seeing a Chwinga was a rare experience and they were known to give blessings on travellers.
Paddling up the river again, John Notagnome and Burg-Quott (the Competitive), tried to out-fish each other. Burg-Quott (the Lazy) cast an Unseen Servant and told it to fish, not realising he hadn't instructed it to bait the hook. Chomsky cheekily tickled a fish with his mage hand, handing it over to Burg-Quott (the Hungry) who ate it whole and raw. This disgusted Undril, who decided against continuing a conversation about why he was so chipper lately.
Making camp that night, the party set up their watch as usual. In the night, 3 large monkey-like creatures watched the camp, hanging on their tails. Perturbed, Douglass keeps an eye on them, and Rahlg'n comes out for the second watch. He pours himself some tea from the pot over the crackling fire. He places the rest of the tea on the ground, and one of the creatures approaches and drinks the tea. Looking up, Douglass notices the other two have gone, flanking to the sides. Before he can shout an alarm, the Su-Monster in front of Rahlg'n shrieks, and the 3 creatures (and a 4th hidden until now) attacked. One flanking to the side attempted a psychic crush on Douglass's mind but was rebuffed. Rubi and Chomsky bailed out of their tents - without their human disguise - and stuck a Su-Monster with crossbow bolts until it fled, trailing blood and shrieking.
A creature from behind attacked Burg-Quott (the Slumbering) but couldn't crack his tough shell, and couldn't crush him mentally, and as it paced, Burg-Quott (the Explosive) eldritch-blasted it in the feet, knocking it to the ground. Meanwhile, one of the flanking Su-Monsters slashed open Undril's tent and attacked her. Dispatching the one in front of him with a choke slam into the fire pit, Rahlg'n ran to Undril's aid. Pinned down and desperately reaching for her mace, Rahlg'n spitted the Su-Monster. The distraction allowed Undril to escape its clutches via direct application of mace to face.
Summoning his father's stern, commanding voice, Chomsky bellowed "WHAT TIME DO YOU CALL THIS? IT IS TIME FOR YOUNG CHILDREN TO -GO- -TO- -BED!-" Through his shouts he casts Sleep on the remaining Su-Monsters. The gnomes then go back to bed and let the party handle the rest, and they are only seen out of disguise by those who already knew their gnomey secret.
Rahlg'n used the opportunity to shish-kebab the sleeping Su-Monster in Undril's tent, as Douglass set up an immovable rod for Burg-Quott (the Gleeful). Climbing the rod like a pro-wrestler in a ring, to cheers and commentary only Burg-Quott (the Stone Cold) could hear, he batista-bombs the sleeping Su-Monster, retreating into his shell mid-plummet. The force of a 450 pound tortle splattered the creature's remains all over Azaka's and Douglass's tents. Douglass tries to frantically mould earth to prevent it, but only succeeds in having his tent covered with entrails AND dirt. Resolving to deal with it in the morning, the party goes back to sleep...
Only to wake up to Azaka raging at them. John Notagnome was on watch, and didn't see her get up until they heard her yelling. Rousing Rahlg'n, she demanded to know what happened and gesturing to the smouldering Su-Monster corpses still on the fire (smelling like burned hair and rancid, charred meat) and interrogated him about the ruination of her tent. Rahlg'n sent her over to the tortle, who woke with a start and blasted a hole in Douglass's tent. His canine head peered through the charred, bloody, mud-encrusted hole to stare in disgust at Burg-Quott (the Unappologetic), who casually mentions that he doesn't go by Burg-Quott (the Renamed) anymore. He seems to have undergone another personality shift. The morning greets you proper with the sound of birds, the smell of burning corpses and hair, and an angry Chultan guide yelling at a stubborn tortle who refuses to wash her tent...
Ahh yes, another beautiful day in Chult...
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