Session 67
General Summary
- Marvin finished up questioning Eyesore.
- Dwardazik destroyed the rest of Vicra's ragmen.
- Grogery, much to the disappointment of Dwardazik, released Eyesore
- Eyesore, egged on by the handraven flock, ran over to the... corpse?... of a ragman, took from it a vial of something silvery, and used it to poof away, someplace far.
- The handraven flock was startled into flying back east, presumably towards Overlook.
- Along the way, a pack of allosauruses attacked the cart, threatening the oxen and raising tensions within the already tense group, as Dazki is just flabbergasted that something so big could go unnoticed by anyone else.
- The party camped out for the night. Other than a plague of dire locusts appearing and threatening a full night's sleep, nothing too significant happened.
Full Recap
The session opens with a partially split party:- Dazki is trying to get any kind of information that might help locate Overlook.
- Marvin is wrapping up his conversation with Eyesore.
- Dwardazik is eyeing the cart of the late Vicra Lammergeyer suspiciously.
- Grogery and Kesmet had just finished telling the monks about Ukulele and their chapter in Ashport, and they are back to pretending that they can't hear Marvin's supposedly-secret conversation.
Bye, Circus
Marvin: Come on, man. I swear I'll do good -- I promise I'll get you that bow, and I'll make sure that the snake doesn't get destroyed, OK? But you gotta give me the information first, about the ants. Tell me the secret of how to get past the ants. Explain. Eyesore: I mean, I... they still can't hear me, right? Marvin: Of course not. Eyesore: This is how it happens. The ants, they don't see so good, but they smell real good, right? Marvin: Yeah. Eyesore: So if you have a special blend of incense, it's like a bug repellent! Any idiot could have figured that out. Marvin: You're so right! Man, Eyesore, if everyone were as smart as you, the world wouldn't have problems. Eyesore: OK, cool! So, now you're gonna let me go? Marvin: Was that a part of the deal? You'll have to run that by the elf, man. He's the big shot around here. Eyesore: Yeah, but, we're friends though, right? Marvin: Best of friends, Eyesore! Let me just go talk to the elf. I'm sure he'll... he's very sympathetic, OK? Like, the most sympathetic. He'll totally side with you. I don't run the show around here, though. But thank you, thank you my dear friend! He does a little bow.
Dwardazik has moved over to Vicra's cart, with intent to destroy the ragmen. The flock of handravens have also moved over near here. The ragmen are just tending to the horses. The dwarf attacks a ragman with his warhammer. He takes a big solid chunk out of it. Unlike most entities that he's attacked in his day, the ragman breaks more like a thick bunch of fabric. No blood or gore comes out. One of the (undead) horses bites him, leaving him poisoned. He proceeds to dispose of the two ragmen, more carefully to avoid getting bit again. Editor's note: this next part didn't exactly happen in-game; I invented it based on Alex's stated intentions in order to give Dwardazik a reason to be in a later conversation. The dwarf starts to aim his crossbow at a nearby handraven, but then he sees the rest of the party looking over at him, Dazki holding his head in his hands with disappointment, so he decides to leave it alone and rejoin the group.
Grogery, while helping to prepare breakfast, looks through his religious texts to see if there's anything that can help figure out the details of the sparkly black smoke that escaped from the doctor's corpse when he died. Nothing pertains to this -- all he knows is that it's not a Pelor thing, and it looked like it faded into a different plane of existence rather than going in a direction.
Having exhausted all the useful information that he can get from the circus folks, Dazki just sits down to make more progress reading his book as he copies it into a second normal book. Not only does nobody know anything about towns that might be out there, some are actually quite certain that there isn't anything out there. A not-bad Insight check confirms their honesty. During this, Fae bursts out of the cart she was in, surprising Mort who was leaning against the cart in a heavy traveler's cloak, fatigued from the heavy drinking that he had done the night before. Fae embraces him excitedly. Whatever animal was in there has given birth successfully: 38 new babies!
Marvin, joined by Kesmet and Grogery, gets to Dazki near the end of his reading:
Marvin: Hey Dazki, what are we going to do about the gnoll? Dazki: Oh. Well, we have a couple of options. One, when I talked to him, he seemed convinced that the Flesh Artist would come here for him after a time, so we could make sure that the cart doesn't leave and set up an ambush. Or else, we could let him go and follow the cart. Marvin: But he doesn't even know where this Overlook place is, and I'm thoroughly convinced that he's not lying. Dazki: No, but I have a feeling that the zombie things probably drive the cart, not him... Marvin: Zombie things? Dazki: The guys covered in rags. Kesmet: Speaking of those, isn't that Dwardazik over there destroying the zombie things? They look over, right as Dwardazik finishes off the last of the two. Dazki: ...goddamnit, Dwardazik. Really? ...all right. Marvin: I will say this, I get the impression that this "Flesh Artist" dies and comes back from the dead often enough as it is. If we wait and ambush him, the same thing's probably gonna just happen again. Kesmet: I dunno, he'll be better prepared this time. We surprised him last time, and he nearly wiped the floor with us. Marvin: I'm thinking that this Overlook place... the only thing that the gnoll remembers is that they had to use the incense in the cart to get past the ants. He's probably regenerating right now, in this Overlook place. It's probably past a giant ant hill, maybe we could use the incense to get past the nearest ant hill. Dazki: Yeah, that makes sense. In that case, I suppose we have plenty of incense, since we killed the body, and we can probably take some off of the cart. Kesmet: What do we do about the Turmoil snake? Marvin: Wasn't Annu going to send some guys to pick that up? Dazki: We can't do shit about that. Grogery: Annu can't send anybody. He's demoted, remember? Marvin: WHAT?! Was that your guys's fault? Dazki: Actually, that's his own fault. Grogery: Technically, it's Baxton's fault. He was trying to get Annu demoted. This wasn't how he wanted it to happen, though. Dazki: So we could let him go with the cart and try to follow it, or else we can take the incense, keep the cart here for whomever to find and take care of this. Kesmet: Grogery, did Annu give you any hint about what's going to be done about this? Did he tell us to do anything about it? Grogery: He provided information about Vicra, but we haven't told him about the Turmoil in the snake yet. Dwardazik: Let's just tell him today. Kesmet: Yeah, let's give him the rest of the information, tell him that the cart is here or whatever, and then use our own cart to ferry wolfie over there to these locations that Dazki found out could have mole hills. Grogery: You know, I think I figured out how the slug thing happened. What if they stored Turmoil in a slug and then it gave birth? Dazki: I don't want Eyesore with us. I don't trust him not to sabotage things and give us away. Marvin: He is very loud... Kesmet: Isn't it also a bad idea to let him go off with the cart to try to lead us to their secret hideout? He could alert his regenerating boss, like, "hey, I escaped from them, and now I came here". He's gonna realize that we let him go so we could follow him. Grogery: Plus, while I was inspecting Eyesore, there's this... you know how, when you get an infection, the area is really hot? Dazki: No, but I'll take your word on that. Grogery: When you get infected or injured, the area heats up, and he has a sort of thing like that going around his head. Like a band. I think it might be why he can't remember stuff too well. Dazki: Got it, more magic mindfuckery. Wonderful. Grogery: So there's no telling that he can't have a little "visitor upstairs" that would be able to make him lead us into a trap, even if we don't think he's capable of leading us into a trap by himself. Maybe also spying on what he can see, so if we let him try to go to Overlook so we can ambush them, they're probably going to wind up ambushing us. Marvin: So, what should we do, then?There's a lot more discussion about what to do. Dwardazik offers to duel the gnoll to the death, but that gets shot down. Eventually:
Kesmet: I have a really good idea how to fix everything: we let him go, and we tell him that the Flesh Artist asked him to meet him over in Ashport. He'll meet up with his gnoll brethren, they'll take him in (possibly kill him, BUT take him in), and everything's fine! Dwardazik, rolling his eyes: Oh, yes. Send the agent of Turmoil back to Ashport. Grogery: Why would he believe us? Kesmet, mimicking the ragman's voice with a minor illusion: Because the Flesh Artist himself will tell him. Kesmet: Pretty cool, right? I've been practicing it for an hour. Grogery: Hm. Technically, being in the city would be safer than being out here in the wilderness.Two handravens land near Eyesore. One cries out:
Handraven 1: TRAVEL, TRAVEL! The storm is letting up! We must return to the lab! Eyesore, blurting out in frustration: I don't know where, you filthy pigeon! I can't remember! Handraven 2: AS THE CROW FLIES! AS THE CROW FLIES!The rest of the handraven flock takes off towards the road. They go a distance towards the road before landing again, in a group of trees, seemingly awaiting Eyesore and the cart to follow them.
Kesmet: It seems that our decision has been made for us... Dwardazik: Let's do it! Get the cart ready, we'll... hmm. Do we have to release the Turmoil cart? Eyesore thrashes around violently, trying to loosen his bonds. Dazki: Yes, we should release their cart. Let Annu know to follow the pinpoint, and that's where we're gonna be. Dwardazik rushes over to the cart to release it, then returns back to the party. Dwardazik: Let's go!! Make travel arrangements! Find Barry!Dazki starts rapidly packing up camp and preparing the cart for travel, paying no mind to whatever Barry happens to be doing right this second. As the other party members continue debating what to do about Eyesore, Grogery notices that the gnoll starts taking damage as he flails about, despite not suffering any external injuries.
Grogery: Hey guys, I'm going to let him go. I think that not following orders is literally killing him. Kesmet: But let's do it in a way that he'll accept. Come with me and play along. Kesmet walks over to the gnoll, subtly projecting Vicra's voice for the gnoll to hear. Kesmet, as the doctor: Be still and listen to what these idiots have to tell you. Eyesore, calming down: Always ten steps ahead, you are! Plans for contingencies! I know I'm not supposed to be in captivity for long! I know! Kesmet, as the doctor: It's all right. Just listen to what they have to say. Kesmet, as himself: The doctor magic-messaged us a bit earlier and told us that we should all be friends, because we're going to bring Marvin with us, and that we should let you go. Eyesore: My soul may be worthless, but my body and mind can still be useful! Kesmet: Yeah, sure, worthless soul, body and mind, whatever. If we cut you loose, please don't attack us. You kinda go crazy. You're not gonna attack us, right? Because if you do, we're not going to be friends anymore, and we're gonna have to tie you up again, even though the doctor said we shouldn't. Eyesore just sits there, processing the situation. Dwardazik goes over to help Dazki prepare the cart, while keeping an eye on Eyesore to make sure he can jump in if things take a turn. Kesmet: OK, the doctor said we're friends now, right? Even though he called us idiots, we're friends now. Or at the very least, amicable acquaintances. You what that word means, right? Eyesore: Yeah... I'm smart... Kesmet: Of course you are. Kesmet goes to free him. Eyesore scrambles to his feet. Kesmet: OK. Let's get some breakfast, and then we'll be off. Eyesore: ...that's it? Kesmet: Oh, by the way, nobody else knows we're friends yet. So keep cool, and we'll tell Dazki and Dwardazik that we're friends now, so don't freak out, all right? The doctor only spoke to us four (Grogery, Kesmet, Marvin, Eyesore). OK, let's go have breakfast and then deliver Marvin to the doctor. Marvin: Let's just say I'm up all night to get lucky.Eyesore staggers off towards the doctor's carriage, but he doesn't go all the way to it. Instead, he stops at the pile of what was once a ragman, dropping down to one knee and rummaging through the remains. Grogery and Kesmet accompany him to try to see what he's digging for.
Eyesore, breathing heavily: Go away! Your... healing is... too... stupid! Grogery: Huh? Eyesore: Your healing is... stupid! ...trash healer! Grogery: Is that your way of saying that you need healing? Eyesore: My body and my mind... still useful! Grogery: Are you OK? Eyesore pulls out a small cylinder of a quicksilver-like material from the ragman's corpse. Grogery: What is that? Eyesore: ...always ten steps ahead!Eyesore takes the cylinder, crushes it, and tosses the entire vial on the ground. The entire area around him becomes obscured by white powder. Dwardazik, having noticed this, charges at where he last saw Eyesore, swinging his warhammer at... nothing. Eyesore is gone. Kesmet observes that he has teleported, spying some of the same signatures that were also present when the party was teleported into the lair of The Queen of Hearts. We don't know the distance of that teleport, but (GM's words) "it seemed pretty far".
Dwardazik, in a rage: WHERE DID HE GO? Grogery: He might be invisible, or... Kesmet: He teleported. Dwardazik, in angry dwarf mode: This is what happens when you let prisoners walk free! This is the last time (He points a big finger at Grogery.) that we go with YOUR plan on how to deal with prisoners. Grogery: ...the heck? Dwardazik keeps just swinging around in the dust until it's gone. Dazki, having come back at a nondescript point during this: There's not enough time to worry about this right now. Let's see if we can still follow those birds. Grogery: We need to not leave the cart here? It has an important snake inside of it. It's not going to move on its own, its drivers are gone! Dwardazik: There's an easy solution. What's this cart made out of, wood? Dazki: Dwardazik, we can't do that. If there's Turmoil in there, it won't be destroyed. Leave the cart here, tell Annu as we're following the birds. We don't have time to debate this anymore.Dwardazik goes back to lock up the cart's wheels again, while Dazki removes the pinpoint from it and gives it to Grogery. Grogery quickly goes from being shocked / surprised to see it, to a sigh of resignation as he attaches it back onto the bag of holding.
Dazki: It was more useful there, so I figured I wouldn't ask you so that you wouldn't have to break a promise. Grogery: Yeah, it would be more useful, and this gives me plausible deniability if we end up getting court martialed for what we're doing out here. Kesmet: We're civilians, we can't get court martialed! Dwardazik gives Grogery an "are you serious?" kind of look, but decides to drop it. They all agree that it's time to leave, but then they sit around not doing that anyway. Dwardazik: Hmmph. The next thing that I see with more than two hands, I'll... ... Wait, I gotta be careful... The sentence just trails off there. Grogery: I guess this wasn't really the worst way it could have gone with the gnoll. He's not dead, and we didn't have to expend any resources taking care of him. Dwardazik, dripping in sarcasm: Oh, yes, it was so hard for me to swing my warhammer a couple of times. I wouldn't want to get a sore arm! Grogery: He's alive. That's good. Dwardazik, now more salt than dwarf: Great! The enemy's alive! Grogery: He was also not doing terribly well when he left, so... Dwardazik: So now he's going to die slowly? HMMPH. He walks over to the cart, angrily. Dazki, patting Grogery on the shoulder: Don't worry. I think you did the right thing. Grogery: I still would have preferred being able to travel with him and maybe convince him that this is a dangerous path that he's on, and that maybe he would be better off pursuing something more constructive with his life. Kesmet: Grogery. He was way too far gone. Grogery: No such thing.Dazki steals incense from the "evil" cart, puts it on theirs, and gets in the front with Barry.
Dazki: Barry and I are going to leave anyone behind who's still here dicking around, if they're not in the cart in TWO MINUTES.That worked. They're on their way. Dwardazik is riding up front, to get some space between him and certain others. Kesmet is driving the cart instead of Barry this time.
All Right, Already, We're Going!
For some reason, a portion of the food rations seem to have spoiled. Somehow, they got wet.Dwardazik: Hey Grogery? One of those horses nicked me, and it ain't lookin' too healthy. Do somethin' useful and take a look at this. He holds out his arm. Grogery cleans it up using the well-stocked medical kit that was "recovered" from Vicra. Dwardazik: Thanks. ...I appreciate it. It was starting to worry me a bit. Grogery: What seemed to be wrong with it? Dwardazik: Don't know. I was killing those ragmen things, and then the horses ended up biting me. Seemed kinda strange, you wouldn't think a horse's bite would do that. Dazki: Those were zombie horses, remember? Dwardazik: Damn, I forgot about that!A short way down the road, Grogery realizes that they left a cart with a Turmoil-laden snake in it right next to the circus folk. He sends Mort a quick message:
Doctor’s cart armed with dangerous device, don’t touch. City officials coming to remove it, will probably remove you if they catch you with it.The cart makes it over to the tree of handravens, but they just stay there, crying out "VANDALS, VANDALS!". Kesmet attempts to use an illusion to convince the birds that Eyesore is actually there so that they can lead him, but that doesn't work. Eventually, Dwardazik just a few with his crossbow, and they fly off to the east. The party follows in their cart. A couple of hours further down the trail, the party comes across the corpses of some dead ants. Marvin checks out what had happened, from a safe distance: they've eaten something poisonous.
Marvin: Hey guys, we might wanna be careful. If we find any shit that looks tasty, don't eat it. Dazki: Were we really planning on eating any random shit out here? Marvin: Man, just talking with the gnoll... I lost a few brain cells just talking to that guy. Dazki: I suppose that's fair. Grogery: Some of the bugs have looked weirdly tasty out here, but I just assumed that was repressed goblin instincts.Dazki has also identified the vials as simple poison vials that spread disease. He has also identified the mask, but revealed nothing to the rest of the group. Grogery also sent a message to Annu using the cellstone:
We are pursing a hot lead to Vicra's lair. This lair is located in a town called Overlook that appears to be located near some anthills northeast of Ashport - a special mixture of incense is needed to navigate past the ants without causing a stir. We have acquired a large amount of this incense and are intending to investigate and deal with Vicra's base of operations, hopefully ending his threat permanently. We are leaving behind at our camping location last night a cart that belonged to Vicra, which contains a large snake. We have learned that Baxton was able to smuggle Turmoil into the city by implanting samples of it within animals - animals can't be as thoroughly searched. This snake likely contains some Turmoil and needs to be disposed of immediately. However, we are unable to supervise it due to needing to follow the aforementioned lead to Vicra's base.Continuing further, the party hits an ambush. Leaping out from the tall grass on the side of the game path you've been using to move your cart suddenly springs an animal you thought too large to hide in the grass: a large theropod dinosaur, keen on taking a snap out of your cattle's side.
Combat Summary
- The first allosaurus did an incredibly high amount of damage to the buffalo during its surprise round, not quite killing it.
- Before it got another round, Dazki shot it with an arrow, landing the killing blow. With an exasperated sigh, he chided them: "This is what you guys consider 'looking out'? Missing that giant fucking thing?!"
- It called for help before it died, and other pack members joined the fight.
- Marvin used a psychic attack that caused the alpha to run away while the rest of the group focused on the others. The alpha, on its way back, cannibalized one of the other members of its pack.
- Barry spent the entire fight hiding, prone, on top of some boxes in the cart.
Grogery: ...how are we going to feed this thing? Kesmet: We can let it eat its brothers. We can grab some of their meat and store it with us. Here, let's take the crispiest-looking corpse with us. Dwardazik: Yeah, we can just carve up some dino meat. We have three creatures here. Dazki: Or, better idea: we can command it to go away and not have to deal with this, not have to deal with taking raw dinosaur meat with us, and just get on our way! Dwardazik: ...OK, I like what the elf is saying. Grogery: In my heart, I think you're wrong, but in my head, I know you're right... but we'll lose the bridle. Kesmet: We could take it out into the grass, gently hogtie it, ... Grogery: We could tell it to go away, tell it to go to sleep, and then while it's asleep, take the bridle off and run? Dwardazik: <exasperated dwarf noises> Grogery's unconscious mind / the sky voice: You don't have supernatural control over the beast. You can't just tell it to "go to sleep". Dwardazik: All right. If you're all done making suggestions, I have a solution. We're gonna set it in the middle of this field. We're all gonna surround it. On the count of three, we all attack it until it's dead, and then once it's dead, we take the bridle off and move on our way. Good? Grogery: I mean, we don't need to kill it... it's a majestic beast that's not really hurting anyone right now. Dwardazik: Oh, OK, Grogery. Yeah, maybe if we let it go, it'll grab a vial and then teleport away, and then POOF, our problem will be solved! Grogery: Or maybe it's going to be afraid enough that we just killed off its pack, so it's just going to run off on its own! I'm sure you're intimidating enough that you can scare off a dinosaur. Kesmet: Both of you, hold on. First off, let's move the cart past all this bullshit. Dazki: And heal the ox! Kesmet: Yeah, and all that other crap. And then, I will take the dinosaur out into the fucking grass, rip the bridle off, and teleport away. Dwardazik, rolling his eyes: Whatever. He goes back to the cart. Dazki climbs up to a rock outcropping, keeping an eye out for any additional attackers, looking very impatient. Grogery: At least we have learned a valuable lesson today: if we're going to use this on a creature, we have to have a plan for feeding it.Kesmet and Grogery follow the beast out 500 feet away. Grogery removes the bridle as a standard action, disengages as a bonus action, and moves to Kesmet, who has been holding an action to dimension door them both back to the rest of the party.
On the Road Again Again
Dazki insists on being up front this time. Dwardazik gives up his spot happily. They continue on. As you travel this direction, you notice changes in the environment. The grass is becoming shorter and patchier, and the familiar flat rustling plains are slowly giving way to an uneven scrubland. You see speckled, here and there, (though very infrequent where you are currently) patches of thorny bushes, interspersed with wind-carved stone. Grogery goes to the roof of the cart to look for a camping spot. He finds a good clearing, with a fairly decent spot against a ridge so that danger cannot approach from that direction. Dwardazik asks Dazki for his machete to cut grass. As Dazki hands it to him, Dwardazik mumbles under his breath, "Nothin's gonna be jumpin' out of the grass at me this time". The dwarf then proceeds to start cutting the grass around a perimeter. Once he's done:Dwardazik: I'd like to cook dinner tonight! I've got cooking utensils, and I'm going to add a special ingredient!Kesmet offers his magic spice box, which Dwardazik immediately accepts. Marvin gives him a bardic inspiration to help. With all that, Dwardazik is able to cook the toughness out of his secret ingredient, the smoke from the campfire adding a smoky flavor to it as well.
Dazki: Before I partake... what is it? Marvin, facetiously: It's your heart's greatest desire! Dazki: ...no. The party prods Dwardazik a bit more, before he finally spills the beans. Dwardazik: Let's not make it complicated. It's dinosaur meat. Marvin: Oh! Dazki: Oh. OK. That's fine, then. Kesmet: What did you think it was, Dazki? Dwardazik: Yeah, what did you guys think it was? Poison? I cut off some of the meat, 'cause it was a fresh kill. I figured, why waste it, eh? Something better than Pelor's bread. ...not that there's anything wrong with that, this is pretty tasty too... Grogery: The point is to strive for better than just Pelor bread. This is pretty good. Dazki: You were being so cagey, I didn't know what it was! Dwardazik: It was supposed to be a surprise, Dazki! Did you really think, at this time, I'd try to do something nasty to ya? Barry: And now it doesn't even matter that we lost a bunch of rations for no reason! Dwardazik: ...wait a minute... Barry... Dazki: Barry? Marvin: ...Barry... Dwardazik: Barry, do you know what happened to those rations?With no response from Barry, they just move on to finishing their food. Dwardazik brings out ale for everyone.
Watch 1: Barry and Kesmet
Kesmet is distracted talking to Baxton, far too distracted to keep proper watch. Occasionally, he says something out loud, and Barry responds to it, thinking that it's meant for him. This happens a little bit more often than it should.Kesmet: You know what, Barry, let me tell you my novel idea as well. You see, Barry -- let me start at the beginning. It all started with a church burning. Barry: Yeah? But, like, a building? Kesmet: Yeah. You see, I had misread the flier. I thought that it had said that this was going to be a church burning, and there was going to be free food or something. Instead, they had rebuilt a church that had burned down 2-3 years later, and they were celebrating that. Which -- Barry: WAIT WAIT WAIT, why would you burn down a newly built church? Kesmet: No, see, I misunderstood the flier. I questioned that myself, but then thought, eh, maybe it's an old church. But no, they were celebrating that it had been rebuilt. They weren't going to burn it. Barry: And that's... good? Kesmet: Eh, it depends on who you ask.Kesmet keeps on telling him more of the story. Barry keeps interrupting to ask what this has to do with Dennis, and Kesmet keeps responding that Dennis isn't here yet.
Watch 2: Marvin and Barry
Marvin: So, Barry, I gotta ask. Everyone's been beating around the bush about your story. Barry: Nobody's beating around the bush about anything! How about that? Marvin: That would be a new perspective, certainly, that I've not heard yet. So, uh... I hear you like sushi? Barry: Oh no... you've figured it all out, haven't you? Marvin: Yeah! Totally! 100%! I figured it out! Barry: You have to not let the others know, OK? 'cause my standing with them is really important! Marvin: ...of course! Marvin: ...are you sure they don't already know? Barry: I mean, nobody's called me out on it yet! Marvin: What, the fact that you ate all the food? Barry: I didn't eat any food! Marvin: I think we're not on the same page, Barry. Barry: ...so, you didn't find out that I wasted a bunch of rations trying to make a soup? Marvin: Oh, you did eat all the food. Gotcha. Barry: You know, I'm an equal member of the team! Marvin: I have heard such things, yes! So, you got in contact with Turmoil and became... scaly... ish, right? Barry: I am not scaly! I am a human person! He looks down, clearly to double-check that he is still a human person today.Marvin checks him out, skeptical of what's going on. He makes a perception check, which reveals that he smells awful, like a fishmonger. But his investigation check doesn't really reveal anything new: this is clearly just a generic human who smells bad.
Marvin: ...I can't figure you out, man. Barry: Are you sure? Because it would be really, really useful if you could figure me out! Marvin: If I do, I'll let you know. Barry: 'cause I... I can't really remember a lot of things. So, if you've ever heard stories of a guy who can't remember a lot of things, ... maybe that was me? NO! Wait, I probably lost my memory after all that stuff, so... maybe a guy that knows all of his memories? Marvin: Wow, I... yeah, OK... Barry: Do you know... of... a person that knows all their memories? Marvin: Probably, maybe? I don't know. Barry: ...and they have my name too? Marvin: So, you're a victim of identity theft? Barry: I don't know! Marvin: We gotta figure this out! Barry: Maybe I am the identity thief, and that's why I don't know! Marvin: I don't know how the fuck I'm fitting this into the story. Holy shit.
Watch 3: Dwardazik and Dazki
Dwardazik does a thorough check of the perimeter with his lantern for a few minutes. Satisfied, he goes back to the middle of the camp and sits down. Dazki just spends the whole time reading his book, managing to make another check. It's not all clicking together for him, though, so he slumps back down, frustrated.Dwardazik: Huh? Did you say somethin'? Dazki: Oh, nothing. Just trying to figure this damn book out. Dwardazik: Hmmph. Anything that Baxton wrote is probably full of all kinds of trickery. I wouldn't look too far into that kind of stuff. Dazki: Well, he was an intelligent man, in spite of his deception and the misguided path that he was on. Dwardazik: If he was so intelligent, then why is he dead? He looks over with a wicked, cheeky grin. Dazki: Intelligence can't protect you from everything. Dwardazik: Ain't that the truth! Dazki: And he was pretty selfish, and in a lot of ways... short-sighted. Dwardazik: You nailed that one on the head.Something in the grass makes a rustling noise. Dwardazik rushes straight in, without a care for what it is or what danger it might pose to the party. It's a dire locust. He spits on the ground, saying "Hmmph, serves you right.", and walks back to the camp. Being a locust, there are, of course, more. Lots more. The locusts aren't aggressive, but they do jump out of the grass and bump into random things. Dwardazik goes around killing every single one as soon as he can. It's all the rest of the party can do to stay asleep, but they do manage.
Watch 4: Grogery and Dazki
Dazki lets Grogery know about the bugs.Grogery: Huh. I was wondering why I was dreaming about some weird buzzing thing! Dazki: Also, yeah, I agree with the note. I'm sure that you're right. I don't trust his story, but I trust him to have our backs for now. Grogery: Yeah, I guess I'm just interested in... I wanna know what's going on, you know? Dazki: Oh yeah, I know. My whole thing is knowing what's going on! Grogery: Anyway, fair point. I guess, let's both keep watch then!The bugs. Big, juicy, footlong bugs. Maybe someone was talking earlier about how you're not supposed to eat 'em?
Dazki: Yes, that is correct, we're not supposed to eat the insects. Grogery: ...OK.Was that out loud?
Grogery: But what exactly is wrong with them? Dazki: I have no idea. Grogery: Also, I might have a vitamin deficiency or something. These things look like friggin' Subway sandwiches. Dazki: Subway? That must be a local place in your home city, because I've never heard of that. Grogery: It's like a high elf term for a more commoner kind of sandwich that you pick up from a local food stand, rather than actually cooking it. Dazki: Well, as long as you don't actually try to eat 'em, I think we'll be fine. We should probably try to keep them out of our food and water as well. Grogery: Luckily, the create food and water spell will keep us afloat. It's only a concern if we get into a situation where I can't cast it.But I'll bet they have that crunchy exterior and a warm gooey middle, like a big cannoli.
Dazki: Oh, did Annu ever get back to you after you told him about the Turmoil snake? Grogery: No, but it didn't really require a response.
