Session 15-C: Out of the Frying Pan

Notable Plot Developments
Glyn, still maddened by Annarei's Gresyl wine, is teleported away from his conversation with Miss Anna and Tremble just as the succubus attempted to charm his friend at his request. Reeling, he appears in a new cave in a puff of black and red smoke. He hears the noise of celebration from further within a cavern. Assuming that it's Anna, he confidently rushes ahead.

Instead, the cavern opens into a large, roped-off area illuminated by fire beetles. He seems two tattoo-covered hobgoblins (Scarff and Gronkles). They're bouncers; they collect tickets for what they call Fire Fest. Glyn insists that he's a VIP and strides again, working his way through hordes of firenewt warriors and kobolds. He deduces that he's a part of a celebration. Hobgoblins are roasting food over firepits, nilbogs are performing acrobatics, and firenewts experiment with recreational substances. Glyn follows the sound of music deeper into the festival; he speaks with kobolds, who are impressed with his madness-induced confidence and assertiveness.

The heat is almost unbearable and the smell of sulphur stings the senses. A rumble beneath the ground gives way to geysers of lava. The kobold sorcerers cheer from beside it, as the firenewts dive in, swimming to the other side. Glyn sees some ride the geyser, rising up in a shower of liquid flames. One kobold winks at him and approaches the lava confidently.

Glyn decides that he'd like to do the same. Strengthened by his ring of fire resistance, he runs through the lava flow, impressing a kobold sorcerer named Burning Eyes. She describes the medicinal benefits of eating raw salamander eggs. Beyond the lava flow, firenewt warlocks frolic and tend to a clutch of fire snakes. Several obsidian eggs shake in a massive bonfire, as if more fire snakes are about to hatch.

Glyn, happy to impress the partygoers and eager to boost his confidence after he failed to confidence his family to stay with him in Anna's grove, calls out to Tempus for support. He creates a loyal worg as his faithful steed and names it Long-Ears. Long-Ears, excited to impress his new master, jumps into the lava flow and instantly dies. Glyn moves on.

Glyn seeks the source of the music, discovering a massive stone stage, a nilbog band, and cheering crowds. He sees a laughing kobold bartender named Kalama. She performs bar tricks and gives Glyn drinks. He asks for the entrance to the VIP area; she obliges and shows him.

Finally, Glyn finds a lava geyser to the special lounge. The heat is oppressive. A massive fire lizard asks Glyn about his intentions; he only wishes to have a good time and see his family again, which she appreciates. The lizard, Shakasshta, is called to this area by the annual fires. They strengthen her and she has chosen to raise her young in their midst. She has no desire to attack anyone and wants the festival to continue in peace. She's impressed by Glyn's paladin magic and offers that someone might be looking for him; another magic-using VIP has stayed overnight in pursuit of a goblin. She suggests that Glyn might be the goblin he's looking for.

Glyn, following Shakasshta's advice, finds the party's cuddle corner. The torches there are gone and the fire beetles mill about lazily. The passageway expands into a medium-sized room full of sleeping revelers, cuddled together on sleeping sacks. Glyn sees several firenewts, nilbogs, kobolds, and hobgoblins. He immediately notices a frizzy-hair, wild-looking derro: Y!

Y, speaking with all of the subtlety of a tornado (miraculously, not awakening the others in the Cuddle Corner), is delighted to find a magic-using goblin. He immediately offers Glyn membership into the Society of Brilliance, his secret society. Glyn, maddened, accepts. Y casts remove curse on Glyn, snapping him out of his madness; he immediately regrets what he just agreed to as his natural insecurities return. Y says how happy he is to have found Glyn, because the Society of Brilliance has lost track of their previous goblin member. Who? Glyn asks. Y's answer shocks the young goblin: it was Glyn's uncle Rotgut!

New NPCs

 * 1) Scarff and Gronkles, hobgoblin bouncers
 * 2) Burning Eyes, kobold sorcerer and partier
 * 3) Long-Ears, Glyn's unfortunate worg mount
 * 4) Kalama, kobold bartender
 * 5) Shakasshta, fire lizard founder of Fire Fest