Session 18: Trashpuppies and Awakened Stage Props
General Summary
Winter's Crest is over school is back in session. We spent quite a bit of time over break talking about trying to get Tilana kicked out of school so she couldn't be an Oriq or whatever, but Night That Eats Stars pointed out that may be the exact catalyst that turns her into a blood god cultist. I hate it that everyone is so smart and says stuff that makes sense. I was super ready to frame her for cheating. I even learned a new spell that could make it look like she snuck notes into the test. But no. It's for nothing.
We were kind of dreading class starting back up, but we schlepped our way to monsters class or whatever its actual name is. I brought my story journal to get started on some new smut while the professor droned on about monster guts, but I wasn't even able to get started. As soon as class began, we were told we were going on a field trip to the trash heap. I was pretty excited to not have to sit through class, but we were all generally pretty confused about why we would take a class trip to the garbage dump. Skoldreg says it's probably to check out an otyugh, a kind of trash puppy, because apparently we have a test coming up this week on those.
Our group got to the trash heap first. It was kind of gross and stinky, and there wasn't really much of anything to see. But then the closer we got to the piles of trash, the more we heard something talking in our heads. Whatever it was, it was telling us it was hungry and begging us to feed it. We decided to leave and go back to the main campus to get some food for the creature. But it wouldn't let us leave. As soon as we said we'd be back with food, this hippo looking thing with sharp teeth and weird tentacles on its back charged out of the debris. And then came another! I honestly thought they were pretty cute. They kind of reminded me of my dog Necrosis, back in the Shadowfell. But they started attacking us, which I guess now also reminds me of Necrosis. Anyway, whatever. One of them grabbed Skoldreg with it's tentacle arm thingy and started shaking him. I tried to make it drop him, but apparently these things do not respond to Shadowfellian dog commands. We had to take that one down. We agreed not to hurt the other one if we could avoid it. Night was able calmly talk to the other one and convince it to be our pet. She told him we'd bring him food and play with him. He was agreeable and we named him Sniffles.
Because we're not allowed to have Otyughs in the dorms, we left him there with a promise to visit again after we take our test later in the week. I figured it would be the beginning of another set of boring weeks while I work to get back into all of my clubs, so I thought I would have tons of spare time to visit Sniffles. But, nope. For the first time since I came here, I passed a thing! We all passed! I told the professor it was the hands on learning for me. It got pretty flirty. I'm working on a new story called Hands on Learning. I think you can guess what it's about.
Anyway, at the bar, after the test, everyone was talking about this festival coming up on campus - the Rose Stage Festival. It is a performing arts festival, where anyone can participate even if you're not any good. Night and I both signed up to act and Skoldreg volunteered to be a stage manager. Cathia and Cillian decided they were too cool to be theatre nerds, but they said they'd come watch the three of us.
The weekend of the festival rolled around, and Night, Skoldreg, and I showed up early to get our roles assigned. Night was going to be playing a paranoid wizard and I would be playing a giant baby, which is funny because I'm like pretty small. Skoldreg was going to be in charge of props, which seems like a pretty big job. Cillian and Cathia showed up to watch and like the rest of the audience, they were given kazoos to play along in the show. Before the main event, a stand up comedian, who just so happens to be the same tiefling that did the magic show at parents weekend does a set. I was pretty busy trying to get into the mindset of a giant baby, so I missed a lot of his set, but what I heard was pretty cheesy.
Finally our show started. The set was pretty badass. There was a giant pirate ship, and an owlbear and a basilisk and all these swirling spiritual weapons. Night and I hopped on the pirate ship to play a pirate wizard and a giant baby pirate. Night and I were getting a ton of laughs and Skoldreg was doing a great job managing the props, until like the props couldn't be managed because they came alive! What the fuck? Why doesn't anything ever just go right at this stupid school?! I somehow got grappled by a two dimensional wooden cutout of a pirate ship. The spiritual weapon props started flying off stage and attacking the audience. The fake water became real water and swept across the stage and into the audience. Then suddenly, the basilisk basilisk prop came to life and started trying to turn Night to stone, but she was able to resist. Night hopped of the ship and threw an absinthe candle it. It caught fire and burned my ass, but at least it dropped its grapple. Skoldreg started getting stoned from the basilisk too, but he was able to shake it off.
Over in the audience, Cillian and Cathia were getting beaten up by the prop weapons. It was like whack a mole. As soon as they'd handle one, another would fly in and bonk someone. Eventually, they were able to stop the onslaught of fake turned real weapons and started focusing their magic onstage to help us out with the basilisk and the owlbear. Cillian got the owlbear down first, and Skoldreg finished off the basilisk. The drama was over, in both senses of the word, I guess.
I was ready to go back to my room and sleep off this shitshow, or go to the bar and drink it away. But apparently the organizers of this shindig plan to finish up with the awards for best performance, even though the props tried to murder us and half the stage burned up with the ship. So now, I'm backstage waiting to see what happens. We'll see.
XOXO,
Dahlia
We were kind of dreading class starting back up, but we schlepped our way to monsters class or whatever its actual name is. I brought my story journal to get started on some new smut while the professor droned on about monster guts, but I wasn't even able to get started. As soon as class began, we were told we were going on a field trip to the trash heap. I was pretty excited to not have to sit through class, but we were all generally pretty confused about why we would take a class trip to the garbage dump. Skoldreg says it's probably to check out an otyugh, a kind of trash puppy, because apparently we have a test coming up this week on those.
Our group got to the trash heap first. It was kind of gross and stinky, and there wasn't really much of anything to see. But then the closer we got to the piles of trash, the more we heard something talking in our heads. Whatever it was, it was telling us it was hungry and begging us to feed it. We decided to leave and go back to the main campus to get some food for the creature. But it wouldn't let us leave. As soon as we said we'd be back with food, this hippo looking thing with sharp teeth and weird tentacles on its back charged out of the debris. And then came another! I honestly thought they were pretty cute. They kind of reminded me of my dog Necrosis, back in the Shadowfell. But they started attacking us, which I guess now also reminds me of Necrosis. Anyway, whatever. One of them grabbed Skoldreg with it's tentacle arm thingy and started shaking him. I tried to make it drop him, but apparently these things do not respond to Shadowfellian dog commands. We had to take that one down. We agreed not to hurt the other one if we could avoid it. Night was able calmly talk to the other one and convince it to be our pet. She told him we'd bring him food and play with him. He was agreeable and we named him Sniffles.
Because we're not allowed to have Otyughs in the dorms, we left him there with a promise to visit again after we take our test later in the week. I figured it would be the beginning of another set of boring weeks while I work to get back into all of my clubs, so I thought I would have tons of spare time to visit Sniffles. But, nope. For the first time since I came here, I passed a thing! We all passed! I told the professor it was the hands on learning for me. It got pretty flirty. I'm working on a new story called Hands on Learning. I think you can guess what it's about.
Anyway, at the bar, after the test, everyone was talking about this festival coming up on campus - the Rose Stage Festival. It is a performing arts festival, where anyone can participate even if you're not any good. Night and I both signed up to act and Skoldreg volunteered to be a stage manager. Cathia and Cillian decided they were too cool to be theatre nerds, but they said they'd come watch the three of us.
The weekend of the festival rolled around, and Night, Skoldreg, and I showed up early to get our roles assigned. Night was going to be playing a paranoid wizard and I would be playing a giant baby, which is funny because I'm like pretty small. Skoldreg was going to be in charge of props, which seems like a pretty big job. Cillian and Cathia showed up to watch and like the rest of the audience, they were given kazoos to play along in the show. Before the main event, a stand up comedian, who just so happens to be the same tiefling that did the magic show at parents weekend does a set. I was pretty busy trying to get into the mindset of a giant baby, so I missed a lot of his set, but what I heard was pretty cheesy.
Finally our show started. The set was pretty badass. There was a giant pirate ship, and an owlbear and a basilisk and all these swirling spiritual weapons. Night and I hopped on the pirate ship to play a pirate wizard and a giant baby pirate. Night and I were getting a ton of laughs and Skoldreg was doing a great job managing the props, until like the props couldn't be managed because they came alive! What the fuck? Why doesn't anything ever just go right at this stupid school?! I somehow got grappled by a two dimensional wooden cutout of a pirate ship. The spiritual weapon props started flying off stage and attacking the audience. The fake water became real water and swept across the stage and into the audience. Then suddenly, the basilisk basilisk prop came to life and started trying to turn Night to stone, but she was able to resist. Night hopped of the ship and threw an absinthe candle it. It caught fire and burned my ass, but at least it dropped its grapple. Skoldreg started getting stoned from the basilisk too, but he was able to shake it off.
Over in the audience, Cillian and Cathia were getting beaten up by the prop weapons. It was like whack a mole. As soon as they'd handle one, another would fly in and bonk someone. Eventually, they were able to stop the onslaught of fake turned real weapons and started focusing their magic onstage to help us out with the basilisk and the owlbear. Cillian got the owlbear down first, and Skoldreg finished off the basilisk. The drama was over, in both senses of the word, I guess.
I was ready to go back to my room and sleep off this shitshow, or go to the bar and drink it away. But apparently the organizers of this shindig plan to finish up with the awards for best performance, even though the props tried to murder us and half the stage burned up with the ship. So now, I'm backstage waiting to see what happens. We'll see.
XOXO,
Dahlia
Character(s) interacted with
Sniffles - an otyugh living in the MiddenHeap
Mission: Pass our Otyugh Test and Compete in the Rose Festival
Location: Strixhaven Campus - Rose Theatre and Midden Heap
In Game Dates: Horizal 27-Misthuar 1, 844
Report Date
03 Feb 2023
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