Session 35 – A Voice from the Past

Written by KoshcheiBessmertnyi

General Summary

The party decides to row back to the Salamander. When the sloop gets halfway to the opposite side, Glitterstem hears whirring sounds from the south bank, which the adventurers just left. With the sounds getting closer, Miletus suggests flipping the boat over and taking cover under it: the companions do not want to risk another fight, especially not in the middle of the river. The suggestion seems sound, and soon, the five people, along with one live boar, and another dead one plucked of its wings and stinger float under the boat, hoping that the mucky water will conceal them, and that the current will carry them back to the ship.
Soon, loud buzzing directly overhead suggests that the beasts are hovering directly over the boat, searching. But this sound is interrupted by a raspy voice above, shouting instructions to the beasts, in goblin. Theobald and Glitterstem have no doubt: the voice belongs to the Dire Wolf shaman Nugast. He directs the beasts to search the opposite bank, apparently fooled by the ruse with the rowboat. The sloop continues to float away, and soon, the buzzing and the shouting recede to the point where the companions figure they are out of immediate danger. Peering out from under the boat, they find themselves close to the Salamander, and being hailed by Captain Reekers, as well as Sharru and Rahab. The beasts – apparently four of the larger ones, are patrolling the river near the gourd fields. They fly in the direction of the sloop as it is tipped up, but only a short way.
The away crew makes it back on board the ship. A discussion of the flying pigs with Captain Reekers reveals that he had heard of these creatures, which the Zhentarim in Neverwinter call “bijzweijn”, though he always assumed it was some sort of sailors’ legend. When Theobald asks whether he has a spyglass to get a closer look at the beasts, the Captain sardonically replies that he does, but circumstances forced him to leave it behind in Claymore.
On deck, Theobald begins to roast the dead bijzweijn with fire bolts, and rushes to taste the meat as soon as he figures the outside is cooked through enough. The meat turns out to be unexpectedly tasty – so much so, that Theobald has trouble stopping himself from overeating. Miletus and Glitterstem demur, and urge the group to return to the village to alert the Owlbears to the present danger. Along with Theobald and the orcs, they row to the north shore, and approach Talon’s Gate on foot. Enkidu succumbs to Dafna’s entreaties – he, along with everyone else, is a bit battered – and remains on the ship with his family and the captain.
Once in Talon’s Gate, the party leads the hobgoblin patrol back to the gourd fields. Two large bijzweijn are feasting there, with two others hovering over the river. Miletus tried to bring one down with an arrow, and other archers follow suit, but the creatures take off, and fly back across the river, largely unharmed. Glitterstem sights a white wolf on the opposite bank, though the creature leaves also, leading the bijzweijn away. Inspecting the damage, it becomes obvious that the bijzweijn were on a rampage. They were biting through as many gourds as possible, and have now destroyed half of the remaining crop. The hobgoblins worry about how they will survive through to the winter, but they do place the pitch pots into the field, as the party has been recommending.
Returning to the village, the party has another audience with Chof, who is now awake. In response to Theobald’s criticism as to why they did not attack the beasts, he says that they do not have the people to spare, especially now that the very survival of the village is endangered. His people are aware of the existence of the bijzweijn, but they have not seen any around in recent times, and were completely unaware of the existence of the larger specimens. When the party brings up the question of Nugast, Chof reveals that the Owlbears know that he was expelled by the Dire Wolves from Toothymaw – their main village, shortly after the destruction of their hunting encampment by the Brotherhood. His shaman – a goblin named Ing – is also unaware of any link between Nugast and the bijzweijn, but he does suggest that his Dire Wolf counterpart is insane, and this is just his latest scheme involving abberant monsters. Glitterstem speculates that the origin of the bijzweijn, like that of the rust monsters, is in the Underdark, and suspects the hand of Xibalba to be behind these recent events. The orcs, when the receive Theobald’s translation, think that the goblins got themselves into this mess by practicing agriculture and engaging in silly internecine strife.
The party returns to the Salamander to sleep. The next day, the shipmates take the rest of the bijzweijn carcass, and roast it properly in a firepit on the north shore. The bijzweijn are nowhere to be found. The crew, aside from Miletus and Glitterstem (and the rowers) partake of the roast bijzweijn. While everyone appreciates the meat, Dafna eats too much and becomes ill, and Enkidu helps Agni (with his good arm) to row their mother back to the ship, while the rest of the party takes the leftovers to Talon’s Gate. The villagers are happy to partake, but Chof thinks it won’t be enough to sustain the village through winter even if there are a lot of bijzweijn, and if killing them turns out to be relatively cost-free. A discussion as to why Nugast may be undermining the Owlbears seems to lead to a consensus: he is trying to win back the trust of his tribe by defeating an old rival: the Dire Wolves and the Owlbears are the main contenders for primacy among goblinkind since the previous leaders – the Dragon Turtles – were nearly destroyed in the First Goblin War. Glitterstem offers that he respected the shaman in the past, but now agrees with Ing that he is crazy, and that the best thing for both tribes, and the Brotherhood cause, is to take him down.
When the party departs Talon’s Gate, it is already approaching midnight. Glitterstem spies a signal being flashed from the ship. The group rushes back, and finds Enkidu alone on deck. While everyone slept, he heard crashing around on the deck. Thinking it was the party returned, he thought nothing of it, but then saw Agni missing. When he went up on deck, four large bijzweijn had seized his brother and Captain Reekers in their mouths, and before he could fight them off, took off toward their hive. With no way to restrain Enkidu, a night attack is in order, although everyone knows that Nugast is luring them into a trap. A last-ditch effort to solicit Olwbear help against the hive yields two hobgoblin archers – better than nothing. Along with their two new mates in a canoe, the group crosses the river, and ascends the southern bank.

Report Date

12 Aug 2016