Session 40: Family Matters

Key Plot Developments
Kazook cries as the goblins look on. Pix reaches out to comfort him; he blindly fumbles for the shield. When she pats his back, he turns around with a hopeful look--for a moment, he thought his wife was back, or that everything that happened was a bad dream. There are no words Pix can say to break him free of his despair, but she can keep him from doing something more drastic. They take him back to Gunrik. The priest praises Misu and Tremble's ongoing work and offers Kazook a place to stay.

Glyn and Jimjar share a moment about how different their new bodies look; as Jimjar tries to joke, he bleeds from his tongue and rests. They decide to prioritize going to Vizeran's tower. Bogtooth also brings up Entemoch's Boon out of concern for leaving the town undefended. They find Nomi and ask her about it; while she's never been, her interpretation of Yantha Coaxrock's work indicates the Rockblight is northwest of the town and needs its summoning circle to be cleansed in a comparable fashion to how the Rockblight was purified.

Pix realizes they haven't utilized a key resource: an earth elemental. She reaches out to Billie-Geo "Rocky" Kill-Crusher and casts Comprehend Languages. He clearly communicates with her and can take them to Entemoch's Boon, where they need to complete the summoning circle to allow Entemoch, a prince of elemental earth, to send more elementals to Blingdenstone's defense. Using Billie-Geo and Long Ears, they cut the travel time down significantly and perfectly investigate their surroundings to get where they need to go without skipping a beat. (Trix is disgusted by Long Ears; he notices some of the dog's teeth are human-shaped).

They reach the entrance to a cavern and see the bitten and burned carcass of three basilisks--two normal-sized ones (like Veldyskar) and one faerzress-mutated monster. It looks like it's been disemboweled but was trying to flee a smaller cavern (which is adorned with gnomish statues). Trix guides the group into the smaller cavern. They look around and see nothing, but hear a hiss--and look up. A behir looms over them, clutching onto stalactites. It blasts them with lightning, nearly killing the whole party, jumps to a new stalactite (sending the others careening down into Long Ears), and constricts Glyn. Then, it begins to retreat, intending to slowly devour the goblin. Pix uses a mass healing word to revive Glyn as Trix uses banishment to remove the behir from the equation for a single minute (Pix uses feather fall to keep Glyn from falling to his doom).

The group decides to make the best use of their minute as they clear up the summoning circle. When all seems lost, Bogtooth emerges from his bog-sleep on Pix's back and leaps into action. He summons Sneed, his earth elemental, to clear away debris from the circle and fix its shape. Pix realizes how the circle can be activated--either through summoning magic (which nobody has) or the sacrifice of one of their gems to control earth elementals. Bogtooth sacrifices Sneed to reactive the circle as the Behir returns (and is banished again by Trix, who is nearly out of spells). Sneed's gem is shattered. He sinks into the center of the circle, merging with the shattered gem; their debris merges into emerald cracks in the ground and the circle is restored. Six earth elementals emerge from the circle, awaiting Bogtooth's instructions. Instead of running, the group prepares for the Behir's return.

When the beast re-emerges from the final banishment, the elementals pelt him with rocks as Glyn tries to slash it to death. Once again, it grabs and tries to eat Glyn--a last-minute Dissonant Whispers from Pix prevents the monster from devouring the goblin. The Behir retreats, pursued by some elementals.

Trix investigates the cavern and discovers four basilisk eggs. Pix feels bad for them because their parents, like the goblins' parents, were killed. Bogtooth and Pix consider sending them to Gravenhollow. Trix messages Veldyskar, who suggests putting them into the portal to the elemental plane of earth, where they will not be persecuted for their stone-vision (which is harmless against earth elementals). They put the eggs in the portal; they sink into another plane of existence.

The group returns to Blingdenstone. Jimjar's surgery is finished. He recovers as Tremble and Misu rest. They see Nomi, who agrees to take a group to the now-reconsecrated Entemoch's Boon and help shepherd earth elementals to save the town in Yantha's place.

After a short while, Finn (Vizeran's assistant), asks if everyone is ready to go to Vizeran's tower. Misu gets her shield guardian from Tappy's tavern as Tremble shares a tender moment with Jimjar. Jimjar tells Tremble about his friend and namesake: Jarlaxle, the leader of Bregan D'aerthe, a drow who wears a feather-plumed hat. Tremble promises to find Jarlaxle and returns his ring to him.

Kazook, shellshocked, is recovering under Gunrik's care. He asks Pix for a story. She obliges.

When the group finally leaves Blingdenstone, they march together: Billie-Geo, the shield guardian, Beze, Lemon, Long Ears, Finn, and the party. Finn scouts ahead and reports that the mushrooms ahead have been dissolved by what must have been a parade of oozes. When they cautiously go ahead (all mounted), they look ahead but see nothing. Then, Bogtooth hears the tell-tale drip-drip-drip of oozes above him (like he encountered when many wererats were slaughtered in Blingdenstone). Beze exhausts steam in warning and dashes away (Misu in tow). The whole group looks up and sees a mass of bubbling slime, swirling black and green, with glaring red eyes floating and shifting within: Juiblex, the Demon Lord of Oozes. Juiblex, a writhing mound of tendrils, has attached itself to the ceiling of the cavern. It fires a splash of acid at Bogtooth, who is nearly immediately killed. The group runs away. Tremble fires arrows at it; though it's pierced, it immediately begins piecing itself back together. Then, its eyes all move to face Glyn: it calls out to Lemon.

As its psychic, demonic energies chip away at Lemon's consciousness, Trix yells at the ooze to remember what the goblins have meant to him--and what he's meant to them. With a natural 20 (versus Juiblex's natural 1), Lemon snaps out of a trance and tearfully rejects Juiblex, his creator. Juiblex rains acid down on the party as the heroes run away. When Tremble tries to fire more arrows, Juiblex merely seeps into the cracks of the ceiling. Misu remembers two things about Juiblex: it has no solid form and is tremendously malleable (there are stories of it burrowing into flesh, expanding, and exploding people from inside out), and, the one time it was previously hunted and blasted out of consciousness, it revived itself in a manner so revolting and horrifying that the sole survivor of the incident was driven insane.

After a straight day of running--no rest, while Glyn burns Divine Sense to make sure a piece of Juiblex hasn't infected them--they reach Vizeran De'Vir's home, the Tower of Vengeance.

Memorable Quotations
Jimjar (to Glyn): Come over. I have a very important question for you. Where do we try out for the beauty contest? I am ready for the runway. These arms--they are haute couture in the dungeons of Menzoberranzan.

Glyn: Maybe Misu IS kind of smart!


 * Trix: I just feel really useless right now. Is there a way I can help you with this stuff?
 * Misu: No.

Nomi: Goodbye, all of you! Segojan’s blessings on you! Especially you, Billy-Geo Kill-Crusher! And please do not die. Have fun!

Long Ears: I appreciate the VERY impressive sounds that the large mount makes!

Billie-Geo: I’m drawing a blank here. Whatever is in there is probably worse for me, personally, than Basilisks!

Glyn: What did he say? Something good? He sounded really upbeat.


 * DM: You don’t see any creature here.
 * Glyn: I look for a creature.
 * DM: Okay. For unrelated reasons, go ahead and roll initiative.

Long Ears: OH, NO! SO SOON! NO! WAIT, I LIVE! I LIVE THROUGH THE POWER OF MY MASTER!


 * Trix: Get Glyn out of there, Long Ears! You're an idiot!
 * Long Ears: I WILL DO ANYTHING TO SAVE MY MASTER! WE MUST GET BACK LORD GLYN!

Pix: We’re not dying today, boys!

Bogtooth: SNEED! ….we gotta do what we gotta do! I know we didn’t have a lot of time together, bud, but you’re the best Sneed anyone could ask for, alright? SO LET’S FINISH IT!

Trix: One Sneed means many Sneeds!


 * Trix: Can we fight this thing with these guys?!
 * Bogtooth: Trix, we could have fought this thing with only TWO of these guys!
 * Trix: No! We couldn’t!

Billie-Geo: Like when the tectonic plates shift. like, maybe the circle will get broken and we'll have to do all this again…but you’ll be long dead by then!


 * Lemon: Okay, I’m trying out sleep. it seems fun. Boy, I’m well-rested. Does anyone have a spot of tea?
 * Glyn: Uh..Trix do you have a spot of tea?
 * Lemon: Tut tut! That's okay,. I’m working on my breakfast banter.
 * Trix: I have some smoked fish.
 * Lemon: I always indulge in fish when I’m feeling peckish. Okay, time for my evening constitutional.
 * Trix: Lemon, you’re so good.
 * Lemon: Thanks! [He makes fake telepathic snoring sounds.]

Pix: Their parents are dead….like ours.


 * Jimjar: Tremble, will you ever go to Menzoberranzan?
 * Tremble: Well, I kinda have a friend who’s there. So I wanted to go at some point.
 * Jimjar: If ever you go and I am not…as I should be...there is a man I would like you to seek out. He is a drow. He has an eyepatch--it is hard to miss. He is a very important man to me. He is…my namesake. I keep the Jim for my mother, but the Jar I get from him. His name is Jarlaxle. if you see him before I do, let him know that thanks to you I—I will never surrender the good fight.

Billie-Geo: Hey, it was really cool that we did all that. I’m really happy. I thought it would never happen. Sorry to get to sedimental. Haha, okay. I’ll stop, I’ll stop.


 * Jimjar: I will never bet against you, Tremble.
 * Tremble: Well, if you never bet against me, our card games wouldn’t be very fun, would they?
 * Jimjar: There are so many games we are going to play!

Pix: I’ll tell you a story of someone else who had a hard time saying goodbye. There was an old man who was in love with nature. Nature was fickle. Leaves turned red in the fall and everything always changed. Every time winter came, the man was very, very sad. It was like the man’s wife had died. But then spring came and tiny leaves grew on the trees. And he realized that all winter is a time to wait for things to reappear and be reborn again. What the man was in love with was the cycle of rebirth, the coming and going of creation and destruction. You don’t see the seasons down here in the underwear, but they’re incredible. So, Kazook, when you think of your wife, think about this woman who you’re saying goodbye to: this source of making and creativity. And the next time you think of carving a shield again, she's right there in your hand.


 * Kazook: I miss her so much. I am thinking that maybe you can bring her back to me?
 * Bogtooth: Kazook, if we could bring people back, there are a lot of people we would have already done that for…I’m sorry.


 * Kazook: It is all that I can think of. It is every moment of every day. The business was for her. Without an ‘US,’ I do not know what I am doing…
 * Bogtooth: When you lose someone, Kazook, it’s really easy to get lost. And it seems like there’s nowhere to go. And it takes a long time to figure it out. But all you can do for now, I guess, is do what she would have wanted. And never let go of the moments that you had with her and what she taught you, the things she said to you, and what you both did together.

Kazook: Maybe I see her in my dreams. Maybe I write of her in stories. And maybe when I get to see her again, I get to tell her about all of it. And maybe one day I get to introduce you to her. Thank you, Pix the Creator.


 * Lemon: Dad, am I supposed to go with you? But these are my friends...so maybe they can come with me? I dunno...I dunno what I’m supposed to do, dad…
 * Trix: Lemon! Stay with us! We're your real family!
 * Lemon: I know--I know I'm supposed to go with you...and everything, but I...I don't wanna. Not without them. My name is Glyn-Crazy-Glyn-Eyes-Glyn-Nort-Almond-Glyn-Lemon-Glyn-Bogtooth-Duergar...and if you can't accept my friends, then...then maybe you're not my real dad!