Session 9-B: The Beasts from Below

Key Plot Developments
Tremble, Pix, and Bogtooth, watching the demons bear down on the myconids, rush into the fray. Sarith casts a spell of darkness over himself and the myconids as the goblins fight off the demons.

Bogtooth, relying on his patron's power, fires off multiple Eldritch Blasts and picks off the more pitiful, ugly wretches. He notices that his powers have grown since his last battle. As his agonizing blasts banish the creatures back to the Abyss, he also remarks that his words have taken on their own power; his inspirational speeches are bolstering his clan's defenses.

Pix uses her newly recovered dragon-headed staff. She triggers it with a word of power; it sprays a cone of poison and bites its foes when magically animated.

Tremble, summoning his courage and drawing on his rage from the assault on the myconids (and perhaps being yelled at by Sarith), discovers a new way of angling his bow and nocking his arrows. He sacrifices accuracy for power. As the huge ape-demon rains down blows upon him, pulverizing him to near-unconsciosuness, Tremble's family joins him. Together, though pushed to their limits, they banish the barlgura.

Sarith dismisses the magical darkness and introduces the myconids to the goblins. The mushroom-men express an idiosyncratic view of life and death; while Stool, they confirm, has fallen, they will bear back the corpse to the Neverlight Grove and let it serve as fertilizer for a new sprout. Tremble is crestfallen and pleads for Stool to be revived as he was. Sarith, surprisingly, advocates for Tremble and suggests that all of them be allowed into the Neverlight Grove to plead their case to the myconid sovereigns. The myconids, grateful that the demons were defeated, conditionally agree.

To save time, they will travel through the "fungal paths"; Sarith explains that the myconids can use the mushrooms of the Underdark to functionally teleport. However, to preserve the sanctity and safety of their travel method, the myconids request that the "softers" ingest mushrooms to knock them out until they arrive. The goblins, eager to help bring Stool back, agree.

As Pix loses consciousness, she glances at Sarith, who is nervously scratching at the red welts on his face. She thinks she sees something move behind his eyes.

The goblins dream. Tremble, thinking of Jimjar, is greeted with a vision of a drow with a plumed hat. The drow offers an unseen creature a new name and identity.

Memorable Quotations
Tremble (firing an arrow): Bang.

An unknown Drow: Would you like a new name? I think I've got one for you...