Session 2: Foraging in the Furrows

Key Plot Developments
The six goblins, Jimjar, Topsy, Turvy, Shuushar, Sarith Kzekarit, and Stool escape from the demon-sieged drow outpust of Velkynvelve, journeying to the west. They have no map and barely any equipment. They check in with each other:


 * Glyn and Tremble want to keep the party safe. They repeat their ancestral goblin motto: "The clan's blood is my blood."
 * Pix is heartbroken over Eldeth's sacrifice. She resolves to write a song for her. She also noted Pyrite's unnecessary risks during the prison break, which included putting Tremble (her little brother) in harm's way.
 * Pyrite wants to give a dagger, fashioned out of debris found in the jail, to Tremble. However, she's mostly concerned with collecting her old spellbook, which was abandoned in Velkynvelve (under Mistress Ilvara's control).
 * Bogtooth found a small spider in Velkynvelve. He intends to befriend it and commune with his patron, a fey spirit, for more power.
 * Trix, a cleric of Pelor, is missing a holy symbol. He wants to both get a symbol of the sun--perhaps a hard thing to do in the Underdark--and interrogate his purpose in these caverns.

Glyn perceptively notes that Sarith, who has no weapons, has concealed a chain-mail shirt under his cloak. Sarith scoffs at an attempt to confront him, suggesting that everyone needs each other to forage and survive.

Shuushar explains his philosophy of nonviolence to the group, describing his kuo-toan hometown of Sloobludop. He is different from his warlike countrymen; he has spent decades of his long life in meditation and prayer.

Jimjar appreciates Shuushar's religious zeal, but suggests that, sometimes, risks are worth taking. He needles Sarith for his seriousness and suggests that the group needs to gather provisions.

The group spends hours foraging for various mushrooms, and discovers a cornucopia of options. As Jimjar displays his knowing of the flora, Stool emphasizes to those who have consumed his rapport spores that he's anxious to return back to his home. Sarith agrees that Stool should be taken home, and suggests that he knows how to get back.

Soon, the group is attacked by drow. Unlike Ilvara's warriors, this squadron has been infected by some strange spores; vines burst from their flesh as they accost the party. Glyn is shoved into the fight, where he is grappled and infected by spores. As the drow are dispatched, they explode into more spores. The remaining party inoculates themselves against the plague's spread.

That night, Glyn suffers nightmares of a being that calls itself the Lady of Rot. When he awakes, he panics. Pyrite shoots fire magic down his throat to burn out the spores and demands that Trix heal him. The group argues about keeping each other safe.

Topsy and Turvy explain that they are treasure hunters. Now that they're free of the drow, they're searching for the Lost Tomb of Khaem (to the west). They suggest that the party is free to follow them, but they're not going to the Neverlight Grove (to the north, says Sarith). The pair departs.

Sarith, leading the group north, takes them to a series of new tunnels. There, they are attacked by hyena-esque monstrous humanoids: gnolls. Sarith seems to panic, but attempts to downplay it as part of a strategy (Shuushar concurs that the meeting was meant to be). The party slays this pack of gnolls, stealing their equipment.

New NPCs

 * 1) The Lady of Rot

Memorable Quotations
Pyrite (in response to the party's consternation about shoving fire down Glyn's throat): I burned it out, didn't I?

Stool (in response to being called Mr. Stool by Tremble): Oh! I'm just Stool. Mr. Stool's my father! He's a really fun-guy.

Trix (trying to recall what the tribe's old shaman told them about the western Underdark): West is...it's into the wild or some shit. I wasn't listening.

Shuushar (paraphrasing ancient wisdom): We only lose that which we try to maintain.