Session 52 – In Different Worlds

Written by KoshcheiBessmertnyi

General Summary

In his grotto jail, Miletus rests as best he can, and comes to know with his fellow prisoners. As his old companion Enkidu doesn’t speak much, he comes to learn about the others. Blossia Nailo, the human, is a relatively recent arrival from the Old World. Her husband was taken by press-gangs and sent to fight in the Wars of Great Discord, from which he never returned. To find meaning in a meaningless world, she traveled across the Sea of Ash, and came to Gethen. She immediately set herself to the task of learning the language of the native peoples, who were, as she thought, untroubled by Old World conflicts. She then walked to the frontier, despite being warned not to do so, and was promptly captured by the Dire Wolves, who traded her to the Ingoeth for some reason. She has been here ever since, but despite the bleakness of the situation, seems happy to be in this ethnographic wonderland, learning about new people.
Minocquanee, who speaks a smattering of elvish, explains that he is the son of the Earth Goblin chieftain (though he says his people don’t like that name, and use it only out of convenience). His world for ‘the folk’ – geth – seems quite close to the word Glitterstem uses. Minocquanee definitely has the bearing of one born to command. He relates that he was taken prisoner at a mining site, and is being held for ransom, though he suspects he won’t make it out alive. Two prisoners who were held in the grotto earlier, were taken out, and the word is, they were sacrificed to the Ingoeth’s dark gods.
Eraf Eglandath is Lhingril’s underling, who fell afoul of his old boss. He says he recommended a much more aggressive strategy against the surface dwellers, but was overruled. Miletus tries to ingratiate himself to Eglandath, and says that the two branches of elves need to make common cause with one another, and to defeat the humans on the field to stop their expansion. Eglandath wonders whether defeat on the battlefield is effective, as the humans have a high population, and will certainly send more people to Gethen/Aman if they meet with military setbacks. He wonders if there is another, more permanent, solution. In response to Miletus’ claim of kinship, he wonders how much the two elven peoples still have with one another after a disastrous war and 3000 years of separation. There is still language, which for elves changes slowly, and the fact that each elven nation has its own ring, but that’s about all. Lhingril certainly does not have it, Eglandath says in response to Miletus’ queries – he is far from being the ruler of the Ingoeth. He is just an envoy to the outside world, and serves the rulers and priests who are the true leaders (though Eglandath allows that since the arrival of the newcomers, Lhingril’s power has grown.
Of the rest, Miletus learns that Meriadar was imprisoned soon after he helped the Company sneak into Xibalba (though he is still grateful for the aid the Company provided his people, and says he holds no grudges). Whooshdooplink is some sort of priest of his people in Xibalba. He is apparently here because he practiced cannibalism. No one seems to like him. As for Kek, he possesses telepathic powers, and can speak directly into the minds of his interlocutors despite the language barrier. He was caught wandering in the tunnels underneath the city, where he should not have been, before being brought here.
Despite the darkness and danger all around, Miletus begins to recover from his dizziness. The enneads pass, and the prisoners, who have established a rotation, keep themselves alive by taking turns going back to the elevator once a day to fetch the unappetizing fungal gruel their captors send down.

* * *

After his return from the Underdark, Theobald spends the rest of the day resting in Toothymaw. On the morrow, he intends to make a foray into Claymore, to see if he can track down the horse-pelican’s gift before Predicant Lorenz can lay his hands on it. Glitterstem warns him that this is a bad idea – the Gift should be left to Balint, who is the only one who knows where it is, and who seems to be the only one with an idea about its true uses and potential. Glitterstem is also skeptical about looking for Adrie and trying to use the Gift to bring her back – he doesn’t know her well, and he remembers clearly that she suggested trying to kill Humbaba, which he is unequivocally against. Theobald agrees with Glitterstem’s reasoning, for the most part, but wants to go to Claymore to ensure the safety of the Gift, and also to see what’s happening in town, and to see how the Company’s friends – Balint, Kasmyr, and Lainel Coronnim – are being treated while the Harpers hold them hostage. He agrees to do so unobtrusively, so as not to make any waves.
The following day, Theobald sets out. He means to check in with Talon’s Gate first, before continuing to Claymore along the northern bank of the Neverwinter River. After he gets to the river, he discovers that the Salamander, which had been moored near the village, is missing. He swims across the river, and begins to investigate, when he is suddenly set upon by the walking fungal creature that matches the description of the one that attacked Miletus earlier. The creature surprises him, envelops him with the tubers of which it is made, and begins to choke him out. Afraid of burning himself by trying to drop a fireball on top of the creature, Theobald tries to break its chokehold, but can’t seem to shake it. He yells for help, hoping that the villagers come to save him. Eventually, just as he feels himself starting to weaken due to lack of air, he is able to break the hold and escape. Villagers have rushed to see what the commotion is about, but as they look around, they see only clumps of vines and tubers – the creature seems to have vanished.
The villagers bring Theobald to Talon’s Gate. Here he learns that the creature that just surprised him has recently attacked several goblin children, killing one of them. He also learns that the Brotherhood has taken the Salamander over an ennead ago. There is a siege of Claymore that has just begun, and all available forces have been pulled to surround the town. Chof, the Owlbear’s chief, as well as Ing, the shaman, are apparently off on campaign also, and the village looks a bit empty.
Theobald spends the night in the village to recuperate, but, as there is no one available to cure him more substantively, he returns to Toothymaw the following day, hoping to get Glitterstem to minister to him. However, the goblins tell him that the gnome is busy outside the village. Theobald spends the night, but the following day, heads back in the direction of Claymore. He swims across the river to get to the north bank, and approaches the town. Along the way, he sees the burnt remains of the Salamander sticking partway out of the water. As he approaches Claymore, he can detect the unmistakable sings of burning, and there are burn marks on the walls themselves. Orcs stand on the docks looking out over the river.
Theobald crosses invisibly, and circles around the town to the furrier’s gate. The gate is destroyed, though it’s not clear whether it is burnt anew, or simply hasn’t been fixed since he blew it up a month ago. Unseen, he enters the town. Half the wooden structures have been torched, but the stone structures are still largely intact. The glass dome of the Waukeen Temple of Pelor has been cracked, but the arsenal is intact, and guarded by alert orcs holding halberds. The sides of the buildings are covered with new growth vines and tubers. Drunken orcs and goblins sleep off nights of drunken, victorious reverie right in the streets.
Theobald proceeds to the apothecary’s shop. The shop is more or less intact, but it has certainly been looted. Most of the valuable medicines have been removed, jars have been smashed, and debris is left lying of the floor. The sorcerer briefly searches the store area, the fireplace, and the cellar. But he is not sure where Balint has placed the Gift, and worried that his invisibility spell will fail, he leaves Claymore, and continues eastward, toward Neverwinter. Aside from the coast, he doesn’t see a place for himself inland, where the orcs have triumphed.
Along the way to the colony’s capital, he sees more burnt-out farmsteads along the northern bank. When he comes to the ferry landing, he introduces himself, and asks the guards what has been happening. The guards are suspicious of him initially, thinking he might be a spy. But they do reveal that Claymore has fallen, and refugees have streamed to Neverwinter, seeking to escape the orcs’ predations. Apparently, due to the Harpers’ stupidity, the orcs were able to dig their way into town while distracting Claymore’s rulers with an apparent assault by the Salamander, and then they were able to kill the guards at the gate, destroy it, and allow the main force to enter the town. When Theobald reveals that he was surreptitiously working for Bester, the guards say that the Director has not been seen or heard from since the Harpers took the town. Neverwinter is now run by his underlings, but a new Director General has not yet been selected. One guard accompanies Theobald into the city, and leads him to the Company headquarters.

Report Date

08 Sep 2018