Zarruk's Family History

We took a short rest and ate some food, then continued on our journey to Stilbjabyr. We asked Tharra about the town as we travelled. She told us the town ews mostly made up of humans and dwarves and had a population of about 1200. Stilbjabyr was governed by an order of knights called the Court of Eleven who are in charge of keeping order in the town. Tharra told us she would not be setting foot in the Wrong Elf in and mentioned something about a bad experience or something, but did not elaborate further. I was concerned that it may have been a racial issue against elves, but she said it was more of a personal matter. Curious, I decided to cast elven guise and see for myself what sort of reaction these people would have to a group with three elves and a half elf coming into town. Zarruk of course thought I was trying to stir the pot; to be fair maybe he was right, but if we were about to enter a place where an elf was unwelcome I doubt they would be pleased to see a fey'ri either.
When we made it back to the road I mentioned something about keeping an eye out for the Blood Drop Crew, and Tharra asked if we had encountered them. We told her briefly what had transpired, and she said that we should check the coin purse that Rolf gave back to Dru. When we looked, it was filled with rocks instead of gold. I already had a bone to pick with the bandit, and that sealed his fate. Extortion is one thing, but switching the coin after a deal had been made rubbed me the wrong way. I've made a lot of deals and while the terms may be stretched or bent, to lie and break the terms in such a backhanded way is heinous and unforgivable. Rolf would die for that.
One the journey Zarruk finally opened up a little about his family, something he had never spoken of before. His whole people were enslaved by a race called illithid or mindflayers. They were able to fight back against their oppressors but fell to in fighting and split into two factions. Zarruk thought his whole family had been killed and had run away into exile, so finding out that an uncle was still alive was quite a shock. Whatever these things were, they had to be pretty powerful to enslave an entire race of people as strong as our gith comrade, which is unsettling to think about.
We eventually found our way to Stilbjabyr and entered the city gates. The first thing we saw as we entered was a massive stone dragon standing in the street. Inspecting it, it did not appear to be a statue as there were no chisel marks and no base or pedestal for it to stand on. Rather it appeared to be an actual petrified dragon. A box had been placed in front of it where passers by were placing coins. We asked Tharra about it and she told us that there was a local legend that a wizard had enchanted the dragon and locked it in stone, but that if any of his descendants passed before it without placing a coin in the box then the spell would be broken and it would come back to life. Everyone seemed to take the story seriously, so we all dropped a copper piece in the box as we passed so as not to draw attention to ourselves.
We found the Wrong Elf Inn, and Mirielle and Dru waited outside with Tharra while the rest of us went in to find Zarruk's uncle. The innkeeper was a dwarf woman named Tharkar, and she told us that he had gone out but would be returning soon. Zarruk asked her what she could tell him about his uncle. She said he had been researching something called the "spawning stone", trying to find whatever books he could on the subject. I tried to play it off as if Zarruk's uncle was a historian chronicling various species and their legends, although I'm not sure Zarruk picked up on the hint. Innkeepers are terrible at keeping secrets, and if there are any Blue Flame cultists in Stilbjabyr I didn't want to give this woman any information about ourselves or Zarruk's uncle.
Dru decided to rejoin us in the in, and shortly after that Zarruk's uncle returned and found us. His name was Branlid Zerth. He greeted us warmly and joined us in a corner booth. Po and I posted up on either side to ensure that the conversation they had would remain as private as possible. Branlid told us that the illithid had in fact killed everyone after Zarruk had fled. He had shown up afterwards and buried Zarruk's parents. One of the illithid was named Rezic; he seemed to be their leader. Branlid said when he arrived he saw a blue fire and seven figures around it all dressed in black. One was Rezic. Another was Darneska. The group was after the spawning stone. This stone was the home of the slaad race and a place where they congregate during their mating season. It was massive, and created huge tidal waves when their eggs hatched. The slaad guard the stone, but if it were ever removed and brought to another plane it could potentially release unfathomable chaos. Darneska and the illithid's purpose seemed to be removing the stone for just that purpose.
Branlid also mentioned a place north of Stilbjabyr called Wired's Folly, a weathered stone archway constructed by an excentric individual named Mesun Wired. No one knows why he built it. I was curious why he mentioned it as it was not connected with anything he had mentioned up to that point. Was it important or just disjointed rambling?
As they spoke we noticed a group of men that looked like soldiers watching us. Branlid thought they may have been part of the city guard, and mentioned because of the dragon legend the town is very wary of new comers. The city leaders take the legend very seriously and have guards stationed to keep watch in case the spell over the dragon is ever broken by a descendant of the wizard passing by without offering a coin.
We decided to get rooms at the inn and rest for the night. We all gathered in Zarruk's room first; I was concerned about him, and he definitely seemed shaken, but resolved to go to Limbo and stop the illithid from taking the spawning stone. We all agreed to go with him, partly due to loyalty as a group, partly because of the illithid's connection to the Blue Flame Cult. If this was part of Bane and Merkyl's plan, we would need to do what we could to stop it.
Before going to sleep, I apologized to Dru for striking him after we had gone through the portal. He seemed to understand, and we reached something of an agreement that he would be more cautious and I would try to be more trusting. I wish I could have told him why I don't trust anyone, even my friends, anymore. Maybe if he knew what Beocca did, what Silvanus had allowed to happen, or how Maethok had twisted everything about our deal, he would understand. I want to spare him that kind of pain; the firbolg deserves to keep his innocence, but facing demons and evil gods I don't know how much longer he can afford to hold onto it.