A Viscous Cycle

**A Viscous Cycle** is a six-part campaign running in the second quarter of 2022. It is set in Neverwinter and DMed by Shaun Smith.

## Player characters

* Eltreon 'Goldfingers' O'Blodra, played by David Shears
* Giacomo, played by Tom Jancis
* Jarcarth, played by Josh
* Rex, played by Jonny
* Hera, played by Scarlet

## Plot

The plot picks up where The Lonely House of Neverwinter left off. The Bloat is ravaging Neverwinter, and the recently deceased are returning to life in new and unpleasant forms.

Eltreon is on the way to the temple of Kelemvor when he encounters a fresh corpse, who turns out to be Giacomo, newly undead and unaware of his past. The two hit it off, and proceed to the temple, where Eltreon is looking for advice on what to do with Juroc Antoni: having tried to have Juroc resurrected, he has learned that the wizard’s soul is elsewhere. Eltreon and Giacomo speak to Father Rex, cleric of Kelemvor, and his associates Jarcarth and Hera. Once Giacomo’s paperwork is sorted, the group speak to Capo Tyrhea and receive a lead: an information broker called Ryan, who lives at number 2 Feitonian Street. Outside the temple they are accosted by were-rats who want to know the whereabouts of Eltreon's previous companion Murine, but Eltreon hasn't seen them since the events of The Lonely House of Neverwinter.

En route, the party runs into the final stage of the Bloat: exploding, zombielike living beings. Eltreon weaves a hypnotic pattern that mesmerizes these creatures of flesh while the rest of the party puts paid to them, but not before Father Rex is exposed to the Bloat…

Arriving at number 2 Feitonian Street, the party confers on how best to approach the house, since it is swarming with massive beelike creatures, the Abeil. Reaching out with his mind, Eltreon communes with the gestalt consciousness of these creatures, reaching an entity named Tollipanro, who reveals that they are harvesting Bloated eyes to host their young. Making a dramatic arrival, the party accompany Tollipanro to a chasm deep below Feitonian Street.

It becomes clear that the queen bee is withholding information from Tollipanro about the bees’ origins, and they ask for an audience with the queen, who explains that using humanoid eyes to spawn young allows them to reach a new evolutionary stage, the Abeil, represented by Tollipanro, the queen, and others. The party debate what to do about the Abeil - and agree that they should inform the authorities, but want to make sure the Abeil aren't killed on sight. Eltreon agrees to send a note to the Harpers, of which he is a member. They also discover a ledger that belonged to Ryan, which includes a poster for a travelling circus, which seems to feature Giacomo as a ringmaster.

As the group head back to the temple of Kelemvor to cure Rex, Hera looks for ingredients for a poultice to help heal Giacomo's knife wound. Although she is unable to find any herbs she does find a patch of wild flowers, and in picking them accidentally makes contact with her patron - the mysterious Grave Mother. Upon arrival at the temple Rex remains outside while Hera, Giacomo and Jarcarth look to find Capo Tyrhea, who then casts a remove curse spell on Rex. The party agree to go and purchase another scroll of remove curse, in case someone else contracts the Bloat, and head to Neverwinter's Protector's Enclave to do so.

They buy their scroll from Ross' Scrolls, and follow up a lead from Ryan's ledger and investigate Dr Tostin Hoot, an owlin dentist ("dentomancer"). Their investigations are interrupted by a series of chimeric creatures, seemingly made up of the circus creatures from the earlier poster, which they defeat. Giacomo recognises that he was close to them at the circus, and the party hold a tearful funeral. Heading for the Carnival Talentnius, they encounter more creatures, including a de-trunked elephant, and chase a shadowy figure into a hall of mirrors, which contains a magic mirror which traps Giacomo and Jarcarth.

The party eventually manage to free them, alongside those trapped inside (The Dismal Dozen), as well as the shadowy figure - an ex-circus worker called Ned Duse. He reveals that he and other conspirators killed Giacomo - now revealed to be called Alain Martiner - due to his relationship with the circus owner's daughter, Bue. He also reveals that they sold the animals to one Trustam Antoni. Putting the pieces together, the party realise that Trustam Antoni is Juroc Antoni revived - and the Abeil reveal that he is hiding out at the local sanatorium.

Heading there, the party encounter the circus owner (who is called Giacomo, and whose coat Giacomo has been wearing and has a name tag sewn in), who dies in Giacomo's arms, as well as Juroc Antoni, who has melded himself into the body of a clown-costumed ettin, flanked by two turned Abeil. He tries to intimidate the party, but they attack - and manage to defeat him after a hard-won battle.

Searching through the sanatorium, they find Bue - who has not escaped Antoni's experiments, and now has a crocodilian tail and gazelle legs. Giacomo cannot remember her well, but nonetheless proposes to her - which she accepts, and they get married then and there. Rex and Hera agree to search out the Grave Mother and discover more of her past, while Jarcarth joins Eltreon with the Harpers, and they track down Ryan to answer for her crimes.

## Trivia

* DM Shaun Smith peppered the campaign with numerous anagrams, most of which were revealed as mid-break teasers. These included:
	+ "Capo Tyrhea" - apothecary.
	+ "Tollipanro" - pollinator.
	+ "Dr Tostin Hoot" - orthodontist.
	+ "Alain Martiner" - animal trainer.
	+ "Trustam Antoni" - transmutation.
	+ All of the Dismal Dozen.

## Twitch Clip Archive

* Anagram
* Not just...
* You can take it
* The Mirror Crossover
* More poppeting
* Oh Poppet
* Talented cast
* Bullseye?
* Undead Salami Lasagna Rituals...?
* Street Gang
* Roll for psychic damage
* Any guesses?
* Just a slight itch
* Cheesy Cheese, of the Eltreon kind
* Nasal comparison
* The last place you want a eye...
* Flashback
* Artistic Clarification
* A wild pause card appears...
* No comment
* Oh balls
* Standard procedure...
* Eye candy
* Precise classification

## Media

A typical scene from A Viscous Cycle.The title card for A Viscous Cycle.Intro for A Viscous CycleThe title sequence for A Viscous Cycle.