Week 18: Comfortably Numb

Week 18: Comfortably Numb

Callux 6/20 - 6/28

*AS 978 - 986*

When we left off...

**"Team Good Guys"**traveled back to Phandalin, where you had a very timely conversation about needing a better name to market yourselves as adventurers.  That brought up a number of other concerns, particularly from Ulfar who is worried that someone from his old life might come looking for him if he gets too high profile.

Mirna Dendar cooked you all a huge supper, and you were able to take stock of the options for dealing with Wyvern Tor. A courier from the Wardensport-based "Zephyr Falchion" courier-service had given Sir Quintus the Warden's helmet, **Ironendest**, and he wanted to go throw it into the volcano.  The equation of "hat" vs. "literally any humanoid life" came out solidly on the side of trying the simple, sacrificial option.  Sister Garaele had a book for Nars (and a friendly smile for Quintus), while Linene got a bit clingly with Ulfar, and Nilsa showed a little vulnerability to her big brother, Nars.  Lady problems, am I right?  Selgaard was well rid of it when he decided to go to **Cragmaw Rest** to seek out Nezznar, and Ulfar quickly attached himself to the expedition to get away from Linene.

At the Rest, Selgaard struggled to find the words for a subtle conversation about the Falken he helped Nars send Nezznar from Bastion.  Ulfar excused himself to play darts with some Rotterburg "Stabbing Abroad" soldiers (who had interesting tattoos), while Selgaard got a lot less subtle in a private conversation.  But unfortunately, the bottom line was that the Black Spider (and the "Bloodhammer" at the top of his '**Tropic**organization) isn't all that interested in helping a big nation like Blackaxe deal with the fall-out from aggressive expansion.  If anything, they want big nations to understand the negative consequences of their unchecked growth.

At Wyvern Tor, Sir Quintus brought Ted and Todd (hired help that flunked out of the Coinpikes) to speak to Lana the Geologist before throwing the Ironendest helm into the lava.  He saw a noxious image of Gruumsh in the fumes, but the Tor did seem to stabilize.  Despite the worries about what this sacrifice to a dark God might entail, Quintus was certain that Mural was with him and that **everything is going to be alright**.  He brought his two hirlings safely back to town, despite Todd being a total tool.

In Phandalin, Clyde read to Nars, while Nars and his sister worked some of the dragon bone you had collected into new weapons.  Everyone got a new dagger, and Selgaard has a beautiful glaive, but Nars realized it would take a master craftsman to unlock the power of dragonbone used in crafting.  In addition to the dragon gear you made, Ulfar requested some of the hide for a pair of boots and Selgaard's armor is still rusted.  All of that had to wait for a town with a more robust trade community, though, because you need an armor-smith and a cobbler to make much progress.

With your business in Phandalin more or less sorted, Clyde led the group down the Triboar trail, taking the long way around toward the Fey Barrow Reidoth had identified.  At the copse of trees where you've camped before, the **Mist**poured in thick and fast before you could get your armor on.  A pair of undead horrors -- vampires, maybe? Nobody's religion check was very good -- attacked the camp from the south.  You fended them off well enough, but a third figure appeared from the north: much larger and much more familiar (and not entirely unlike Bela Lugosi) finally got within striking distance of you.  Nars charged at him and landed a critical blow, but a voice drifted through the Mist and called him back before the battle could really escalate beyond a slap-fight.

Nobody investigated the bodies of the fallen monsters in too much depth, and by dawn they had turned to ash.  You carried on with your journey toward the Fey Barrow, and arrived a day or two later.  The location was generally known, but none of you had been there in person, so you spread out to search the area.  Then you remembered that you wanted a magic mushroom to help prevent memory loss from entering the Feywild, but nobody knew what this mushroom looked like or where to find it.... Ulfar's [Best] Dog was able to find you 3 fungi that smelled like "elf snacks," and you used Selgaard, Nars, and Clyde to test their effects.  Clyde did get a bad trip from the **Black Toadstool** he ate, and you found a few more doses before going to sleep.

**Around Town**

The 1 year anniversary of **The Tipping of the Scales**is 2 days away (7/1).  This is the day that the Starstruck Fortress fell, and it heralds the beginning of the **National Hero Day** (7/2) celebrations in the Kingdom of Blackaxe -- a major holiday for the region.

Posted in the town square: "Are you tired of drinking ditchwater while you're out chopping wood? Visit The Dragon Hoard's Inn of Holzdorf for a flagon of mead and a tasty pie."

The Inner Sea has a new club, and we are talking about the kind with wood... if you catch my drift (...wood). The large desert island west of Cuthbertinople and Vaultaria is under construction, as the soon-to-be home to Connor's Silver Saucier, a Brothel and Racetrack. A review of maps revealed that island to not actually be claimed by any nation, and (mostly) monster free! When asked if Conner was worried about Sir Cuthbert objecting to such activity right on his front porch, he replied "we could switch to his backdoor, if he would prefer".