Hatchery

## Summary

Jojo returns from taking out the two kobolds that tried to flee and notes that he's been hearing Durian for a while now only to find him running up to them. Cora shushes him while remarking that she is glad to see him. Durian is surprised to see the dead bodies the trio made without him as Dr. Gerark reclaims the unbreakable jar.

The four of them enter the kobold barracks. They find 38 gold pieces, 152 silver pieces and 704 copper pieces and Cora gives it to Dr. Gerark before they continue on. They come upon an ornate room with a painting of Tiamat. They find a gnome woman blindfolded and a buffalo chained up while under guard. Durian rushes in telling them to halt. Cora bangs her head against the wall as they prepare to fight.

The berserker moves in as Durian throws his hand axe. He misses so he approaches the berserker telling him to stop. Cora sighs and throws her dagger at the berserker. Dr. Gerark gets behind the berserker and slashes him with his greatsword. Jojo moves in and attacks but hits Durian with one of his attacks. The second berserker swings in but it misses Jojo.

The first berserker tries to attack Jojo but falls on his face. Durian moves in to attack the one that moved in second. Cora uses the opportunity to move in on the hostages. Dr. Gerark twists the blade embedded in the berserker as Jojo leaps on the first berserker's shoulders and tries to play golf using the second berserker's head. The head doesn't come off but it hits hard and Jojo then gives it a kick. The second berserker is so angry at Durian that he slashes Durian's chest open.

The first berserker tries to throw Jojo off but the cat man hops around. The berserker angrily slashes at Jojo while Durian guides his hammer to attack twice. Cora quickly frees the gnome who's wondering why a giant bird is in front of her. Cora heals Durian a bit to get him to stop talking with the gnome surprised that she can use magic to. Dr. Gerark goes into a frenzied rage and attacks the berserker twice with his greatsword, pulling it out of his gut. Jojo does his golf swing and kick again. The gnome, Ellywick Tanglebloom, frees her buffalo by melting it's chains. It then kicks the second berserker who tries to attack Durian but misses.

The first berserker tries to attack Jojo again but he leaps up to avoid him. Durian endows his hammer with magic, climbs up the buffalo and leaps off to smash the second berserker's head in. Cora throws her dagger at the first berserker and he falls to the ground dead. The doctor begins to calm down as Ellywick mentions that she has no idea how she got there. As Durian prays for healing, Ellywick offers to help heal him further. As introductions are made, Durian also casts virtue on himself. Ellywick notes the horns on Dr. Gerark and he takes offense. Ellywick quickly apologizes and they decide to learn from each other. As they decide which way to go, Benny begins following Cora around.

They follow the south path with Jojo climbing up to find someone in a study of sorts. After talking with the party, it's decided that they'll attack. They head up with Durian getting Frulam Mondath's attention. She's surprised they made it here and calls on some guards, cultists and a couple of drakes. Durian says they only want to talk but Mondath is interested how they'll get out of this one. Durian says Langdedrosa Cyanwrath is his friend after he beat him in one on one combat but Mondath doesn't believe him. Durian talks about how Langdedrosa was captured but they let him go once he repented. Frulam then decides to kill Durian to increase his rank. Everyone quickly gets into the study.

The cultist attacks Cora with his scimitar as Ellywick attempts to charm Frulam. She fails so she heals Durian a bit. Dr. Gerark is upset that violence is the way forward so he hulks out and tries to leap over Jojo. He ends up kicking Jojo in the head accidentally and slices the cultist that attacked Cora. The cultists are empowered as two of them attacks the doctor. The third attacks Durian but the attack bounces off his armor. The dragonclaw strikes Durian hard while the cultist misses Gerark. Cora creates a flashbang using the torches in the room to blind a dragonclaw and 4 cultists. One of the blind cultists tries to hit Cora but misses. Jojo leaps onto the guard and whacks Frulam with his staff. He then kicks both the cultist and the dragon claw closest to him. The cultist is knocked prone as the blind dragonclaw attacks Dr. Gerark. Two cultists move in as Durian uses his healing staff followed by a spiritual axe to the cultist at the far south. The guard in the back throws his spear at Dr. Gerark.

Frulam summons spirit guardians to attack the group. Ellywick and Durian fend of several of them as Frulam summons a spiritual halberd to strike Dr. Gerark. Ellywick summons a large tangle of vines in the back wall and tangles up the guards, Frulam and a dragon claw. She heals Dr. Gerark's wounds a bit as he decapitates the cultist in front of Cora. He then decapitates the dragon claw. The guard nearest Gerark breaks free from the vines and tries to attack Gerark but misses. The nearest guard and cultist to Durian try to attack Durian only for the attacks to plink off his armor. The dragonclaw gets a hit in only for it to hit Durian's nose a bit which Durian takes offense to. The cultist tries to attack Jojo only for him to slip on the wet floor and get the sword he was carrying impaled in his heart.

Cora gives inspiration to Jojo but she misses a dagger throw at a guard. Jojo attacks Frulam with both his staff and his claws knocking him prone. Two cultists move in and slash at Cora and Dr. Gerark. Durian uses his healing staff again before getting a divine favor and decapiating the nearby cultist with a spiritual sword. The cultists try to move in as Frulam fails to escape the vines. Ellywick shimmies across the wall, summons a flame blade and attacks the dragon claw underneath him with it. Dr. Gerark gets jealous and decapitates two cultists. Jojo says it's not too late for them to surrender so Frulam tells them to stand down. Dr. Gerark kills one more guy before Jojo tells the doctor to calm down. Ellywick helps by charming him and telling him to hug Benny.

Frulam says it doesn't matter what happens to him as the party will die anyway. Ellywick takes offense to that as clearly the party knows too much about Tiamat. Dr. Gerark then asks Jojo if he finds his acts of violence intolerable. Jojo still says he has an averson to killing but Dr. Gerark says destruction may be the only path. The party then finds out that Frulam is a woman and that the rest of the cult is somewhere else. Frulam also talks about willing to die for the cult but only half of the remaining guys agree with her. Cora learns that the prisoners are kept until the drakes are hungry so Durian smashes Frulam's knee in asking where the rest of the cult is. She doesn't speak so Ellywick puts her flameblade to one guy's neck. One of the non-believers screams that they're in Elturel. The party lets two of the guards go as Jojo gets a healing potion from one of the dead corpses and 26 silver for Dr. Gerark.

Jojo and Cora look through the barracks and Cora finds 120 gold. Jojo finds a path to the entrance as Ellywick pulls up Benny. The party decides to leave the trio of cultists that didn't repent to the authorities. The party hands them over to Frederick and Curtis and rest up. After a few hours some guards come by along with a few mages. They blow up the entrance to the hatchery after Cora and Jojo go diving for treasure.

## Notable Events

* Aramau joins the party as Ellywick after being rescued.
* The party takes down Frulam Mondath and her men.