Ep. 19 Into the Gloaming Chapter 2

## Listen

Ep. 19 Into the Gloaming Chapter 2

—Marie Curie

Beric and Dex have a hard conversation about lycanthropy, the party fights a horrible mouth and eyes creature, and Farlan "welcomes" them to a gathering of druids.

## Synopsis

### A Talk About Lycanthropy

In the aftermath of the shadow bear fight, Beric, Dex, and Therudak take some time to catch their breathe and talk about Dex's new lycanthropic condition, knowing that there are creatures watching them but not having anything to do about it. Dex starts out by making the case that he can choose when to be a bear and when not to, and will never bite anything. (He does.) In the event that the change is forced upon him and he doesn't have control... well, they'll just hope that doesn't happen. He ends with asking Beric not to kill him.

Beric doesn't shrug off the last part as easily as Dex; sure when he's in control it's fine. He's talking about when Dex *won't* be in control. They agree to find a cure, Dex a little grudgingly, but they'll do it after their more important problem has been solved.

Therudak looks around for tracks but can't spot any. With no other options, they start heading further into the woods. As they set off Dex turns into a bear and does a little dance just to show them how much control he has, which just makes Beric sigh.

The further into the woods they go the less sunlight breaks through the thick canopy. At this point there's no sunlight, just darkness, and Beric uses one of the wands to cast Light on Dex's cane.

Beric points out a bird that swooping back and forth around them, like it's following them. He can't quite tell if there's anything magical about it, but it would make sense in a forest full of druids. Beric tries waving at it after Dex suggest he gets its attention, and the bird flies off. After about 15-20 more minutes of walking, Beric realizes they're now the in Gloaming, a manifest zone for the Plane of Night, much like in the Faded Forest.

As they walk they explain their history to Therudak, about the prophecy, Curse-Bringer, Draconos. Dex throws in some lies about their amazing conquests, which amuses Beric.

### Mud Puddle of Teeth

They stop in their tracks as they hear gibberish in the distance. Dex's hands moves towards his weapon and Beric summons Curse-Bringer. They continue cautiously, the gibbering growing louder. A patch of mud with a radius of about ten feet is seen about thirty feet ahead of them. It seems strange for there to be such a huge puddle where there's clearly been no rain, so Beric tries sensing if there's anything magical about it and finds that it is indeed magical, but he's not sure how. After some consideration they start moving around it, but when they get nearer they can tell its trying to mess with their heads.

The mud puddle rises off the ground and shows its true self, with circles of sharp teeth and eyes all over. Out of one of the mouths comes a glob of something and it hits the ground in front of the party. Dex and Therudak manage to avoid it, but Beric becomes temporarily blinded. Dex turns to Beric and asks tentatively if this thing could turn into a werebear, and after getting confirmation that it can't warns him that he's about to turn into a bear.

The gibbering mouther stands up on its tentacles and walks down the road towards them, this huge blob of eyes and teeth. It oozes over to Beric and gives him a bite, who can't see but just feels mouths on him. Beric gives a sound of disgust and hacks at whatever is in front of him, managing to hit it and slicing off a couple mouths and half a dozen eyes.

Theruak raises his greatsword, ready to unleash on this creature when all of a sudden his eyes pop open and he looks scared and bolts, having been affected by the creature. He runs southwest into the woods about thirty feet before shaking whatever that was off.

Right as the monster is giving Beric another bite, the half-elf gets his vision back and sees all these mouths bearing down on him. He's knocked to the ground as it jumps on top of him. Beric puts his Hexblade's Curse on him and climbs to his feet with one intention: *"kill it, kill it kill it kill it."* He cuts off a few of the mouths biting at him and they fall to the ground.

Realizing how silly it is to bolt during a fight, Dak stops and shakes his head, questioning why he would run in the first place, and turns right around to join the fight again. After taking a hit from Dak's greatsword, the gibbering mouther dies when Dex rips into it with his new bear claws.

Dex, still a bear, looks at Beric and lifts one eyebrow at him. He changes into his hybrid form, thinking his way he has the choice to use his ribbonweave *or* claws, and points out to Beric that he didn't bite it. Beric doesn't say anything but creates a bonfire under the corpse, kicking stay pieces into the fire, completely over this fight and ready to move on.

### The Druids

After the bonfire has consumed the creature, Dex notices something through his newly found excellent sense of smell. It's a familiar scent, and Dex groans when he realizes it's Farlan, the dwarf brewer from Mistmarsh. As quietly as he can, he tells Beric and Therudak in Elvish and Orcish what he smells. Beric points out that they came to talk to the druids, and Dex grudgingly calls out to him. He hears a grunt in response as a grizzly bear walks into the clearing, head hanging and stomping like a pouty child. He shrinks back into his dwarf self. They explain that they're still looking for Jacob, but Farlan tells them the druids have it handled and they're in a place they shouldn't be. The Faded Forest is where Jacob was taken and this is a manifest zone just like that, so Beric insists that they need to be here looking for him.

Between their arguing, both Farlan and Beric call Dex Lyle and Therudak stops them, confused. Dex tells him it's just a nickname and continues bickering. They hear a voice coming from the trees in a strange language they don't understand, and it and Farlan have a brief back and forth, during which Dex explains his Lyle persona to Therudak in Orcish to prove a point.

Finally Farlan throws his hands up and a female shifter lands on the road. She's wearing green robes with leaf accessories and tells them that if they've been dealing with the shadows for as long as they claim to be and are allies of Farlan, they should come with the druids. She explains that it's a very secret place and they'll need to be temporarily blinded through magic. They agree and are the shifter places her hands over their eyes and a rope is given to each of them, leading them along the way. They take much longer than necessary, clearly trying to make sure their guests don't remember the way.

As they walk Beric asks Dak about his time serving in the war. Therudak was at the border between Thrane and Aundair, but he was a cook, not a fighter. His camp was attacked and his friends died in battle. The only reason he got out was because his captain made him leave. Beric is sympathetic, chiming in that the war ended before he even got to the academy so he couldn't fight, either.

They come to a stop and their blindness is removed. Standing before them is easily a thousand druids, all looking at the newcomers. In the center of this massive crowd is an impossibly large pine tree reaching up through the Towering Wood. Farlan looks at them and welcomes them to Greenheart, and the most important gathering of druids Eberron has ever seen.

End of episode.

## Locations

* The Eldeen Reaches
	+ Towering Wood
	+ The Gloaming
	+ Greenheart

## Spells

* **Beric**
	+ Create Bonfire
	+ Detect Magic
	+ Light

## Quotes

"It talks back, I'm not… well, I think it talks back. It's actually something I worry about that perhaps it doesn't talk back."
"I am real."
"Well, yes, you would say that. Wait, I don't have you out right now, you can't talk to me."
"Shhh…"
*—Beric and Curse-Bringer*

"I very immediately place my Hexblade's Curse upon it, while this Hexblade curses loudly. See what I did there?"
*—Philip*

[While Farlan is introduced] "Hashtag Bruid."
"Booooo."
*—Philip and Eric*