Adventure #11 - Friend of Effluvia

General Summary

Adventure #11 - Friend of Effluvia 4/26/24
Players: Peter: Alaster Aly: Schmibblefritz Tim: Laerwynn
Synopsis: While at the bar in the Elderflower awaiting a summons from Pappy, Alaster, Schmibblefritz, and Laerwynn discuss current events with their own professions. Alaster has been busy performing puppet shows each day (mostly to a crowd of goblins), Laerwynn reveals that he has been establishing a leatherworking shop, and Schmibblefritz tells of her successes playing music in the Elderflower for the townpeople, as well as offering musical services for birthday parties. Schmibs, as she insists on being called, will also make almost any balloon animal at birthday parties, but will not under any circumstances make a giraffe; the only child in town Albie mistook a giraffe balloon animal as a horse once, and Schmibs has been emotionally scarred from the experience ever since. The party then discusses the possibility of a great collaboration, where Alaster writes and produces a musical about a young heroine (performed by Schmibs) defeating an evil giraffe (a puppet Laerwynn could make, possibly even using real giraffe leather in its construction).
Abruptly, the tavern door swings open, and a woman with an air of nobility enters in wearing incredibly fine clothing and toting a suitcase. At the sight and smell of the tavern, she crinkles her face in disgust, covers her nose with a delicate handkerchief, and walks up to the party, asking if she is in Aberystwyth. After confirming her whereabouts, she rudely interjects that Aberystwyth is in desperate need of class and culture, and asks Pappy to open a window to freshen the stale air of the tavern. As Pappy bounces around the tavern to open windows, she begins to scrutinize the clothing of each party member, making backhanded remarks about their designs being "rustic", "amateur", and "fine for a stable boy". The party inquires about her and why she came to town, and she introduces herself as Madam Beatrice Thornsby, master seamstress and tailor from the Farynthorn capital city, who seeks to bring her expertise in culture and refinery to a place that needs it the most, which she feels Aberystwyth is in desperate need of. She remarks that she has been looking for a model to show off and advertise her work around the town, but only for one worthy enough to display her masterpieces. Then, she demands that the three strip off their clothes, put on clothes that she has crafted, and present them in a brief fashion show catwalk on the tavern stage. The party agrees, and after taking their measurements and distributing the attire, the party dresses and begins to strut their new clothes. Alaster sets an incredibly high bar, performing masterfully and flaunting suggestively to Madam Thornsby, who seems to respond very positively. Schmibs and Laerwynn take the stage, but stumble awkwardly across the stage, with Schmibs almost losing her boot. Madam Thornsby ends the show, proclaiming that Alaster is the clear winner, and rewards her champion with a Versatile Vest, a frill-collared vest that perpetually stays dry and spotless even in the worst conditions, can magically store and summon up to six small items under 1 pound, and has a dedicated adventurer's pocket that magically replenishes trail rations, a waterskin, candles, and tinderwigs every three days. Alaster proudly dons his trophy, kisses the hand of Madam Thornsby, and says he looks forward to working with her. Jealous of the prize, Schmibs inquires where she can get such a vest, and Madam Thornsby remarks that she is more than welcome to purchase one for 1,000 gold pieces. Claiming that she has much work to do, she briskly walks out and slams the door behind her.
After Pappy returns from his work of opening the windows and finding that Madam Thornsby is already gone, he shrugs and then begins to tell the party of the next job. Pappy explains that the water and sewer pipe system is working beautifully in town, but there's one problem; all the sewer pipes lead to a huge open pit on the outskirts of town, and it's beginning to stink something horrible, especially if the wind is blowing into town from that direction. Pappy has heard of creatures that actually eat and thrive on such filth, and heard from a friend of his that such a creature lives in the swamp just a half day's travel away. At the mention of this, an orc ranger enters the taverns and joins the party at the table, who Pappy introduces as Gorgon, an experienced ranger who knows the surrounding forests intimately. Gorgon apologizes for being late; he was stopped by a snooty woman wouldn't stop criticizing his attire. After exchanging pleasantries with the party (and appreciating being among Laerwynn, a fellow ranger), Gorgon elaborates on the creature of filth called an Otyugh, and how they are actually intelligent creatures and could possibly be persuaded to come to Aberystwyth. The party devises a plan: fill a wagon full of the town's sewage as an offering to the Otyugh, and hopefully it will be enough to persuade the creature the follow. With the plan agreed on, the party splits to gather a horse, a wagon, and gear for their adventure, and travel together to the sewage pit. As the party approaches the pit, the awful smell triggers powerful waves of nausea among the party, with some succumbing to regurgitation. The party wraps handkerchiefs around their faces to fend off the odor, and the load the wagon to the brim with piles of the town's sewage. Once satisfied, the party covers the wagon with a canvas, and begins their journey to the swamp.
Time passes, and Gorgon safely guides the party to the swamp, which becomes challenging to traverse, and begin to pick their way through the safest path to avoid their wagon becoming stuck. Out of nowhere, a large mud elemental rises out of the waters, at first speaking in it's native tongue, and then in common tongue, warning the party that they have tread upon and disturbed its territory. According to its elemental traditions, the party can not pass through its territory unless they defeat it in a challenge of strength. Being Halflings, Schmibs and Alaster unanimously vote that Laerwynn should be their champion, and Laerwynn reluctantly accepts. The mud elemental commands Laerwynn to dictate the challenge, as is customary to tradition, and after much deliberation, Laerywynn decides to have the challenge be a foot race. After the Laerwynn specifies the starting line and finish line, the mud elemental agrees to the terms, and the race begins. Laerwynn and the elemental race neck and neck, until the elemental falls face first into the swamp water and disappears. Laerwynn books it to the finish line, and just before he crosses it, the mud elemental bursts out of the water just a hair behind him, and Laerwynn wins by a close margin. The mud elemental praises Laerwynn for his efforts, and rewards him with a matched pair of Sending Stones, a magical item that can effectively act as walkie-talkies, sending verbal messages from one stone to the recipient holding the other stone, and vis versa. The mud elemental grants the permission to pass, and it sinks back into the swamp.
The party continues with their quest, and eventually the potent smell of sewer gas reaches their noses, signaling their arrival to the Otyugh den. The party masks up, locates a cave-like rock formation, and Alaster notices movement from within the mouth of the cave. Hoping an Otyugh lies within the cave, Alaster calls out to the creature, beckoning it to come out and enjoy a gift of filth and effluvia. Cautiously, the Otyugh steps out from its den and approaches the party, sniffing the air and curious about their gift. The party lifts the canvas to reveal the sewage to it, and Alaster explains that if the creature were follow them, there would be a lot more of this waiting for it. The Otyugh appears to be reacting positively to the gift, but the meeting is suddenly interrupted by a surprise attack from a large, translucent, serpentine monster bursting from the swamp water, and sinks its massive teeth deeply into the thigh of the Otyugh. The party takes to arms, and begins to fire off arrows, bolts, and blows from a battleaxe. The hide of the serpentine creature proves tougher than most, as most projectiles and blows glance off upon contact, and even the Otyugh struggles to break away from the mouth of the creature. Inspired to try something new, Alaster and Gorgon each grab a shovel, fill it with sewage from the wagon, and use the town's filth to their advantage; Alaster throws a heap into the Otyugh's mouth to revitalize him (like spinach does for Popeye) and Gorgon dumps a pile into the eyes of the attacking creature and blinds it. Schmibs takes the opportunity to fire a crippling shot upon the creature, cutting a massive laceration across its abdomen and revealing its organs. With the party's hope renewed, they focus their attacks upon the laceration, and the creature reels in pain. In response, the creature attempts to pull the Otyugh into the waters, but the Otyugh breaks from its toothy grapple. The creature then retreats into the water, and Alaster keenly notices that it's not fleeing but swimming to attack from a different angle. As predicted, the serpentine creature bursts out of the water and fires its tongue 20ft away to not only grapple the Otyugh, but also Schmibs as she mistakenly stumbles into the fray. With battleaxe in hand, Laerwynn lands a critically lethal blow upon the creature by chopping off its tongue from the base of its maw, and causing it hemorrhage wildly as it squeals in pain. In moments, the creature flops its head on land, twitches a few times, and then finally succumbs to its wounds. The party wastes no time in releasing Schmibs and the Otyugh from the limp tongue, and make their way home, with Alaster periodically shoveling sewage into the mouth of the Otyugh as it follows them back to Aberystwyth. Back in town, the party leads the Otyugh to the sewage pit, where it leaps in gleefully like a pig to mud, and begins feasting upon an all-you-can-eat buffet of muck.

Report Date

26 Apr 2024

Primary Location

Aberystwyth