Session 18 (02/18/2022)

## Day Fifteen, Afternoon

Swage pulling himself free of the Froghemoth’s innards looks down at himself in disgust. Worried that the creature's stomach acid may damage his armor he asks Hadwin to use some of his magic to quickly clean it off.

“Thanks for -” Swage starts to say but stops when he sees Hadwin pulling something on over his head.

“What are you trying to fit in over there?” Swage asks

“Chain shirt, I bought it in town,” Hadwin says struggling to pull on the armor

“You’ve got to break it in,” Dove says laughing

Hadwin finally manages to pull the shirt over his head and get his arms through the holes, the armor hangs from him lopsided and he struggles to adjust it.

“Can you be quiet in that thing? Because I certainly can’t be quiet in the getup.” Swage says pointing to his armor.

“Yes…” Hadwin says with a hint of uncertainty in his voice

Dove looks over at the Grung that had followed them into the God’s Graveyard. She sees the small creature trying to look in and around the giant toad but having difficulty moving the large parts out of the way. She approaches cautiously and begins to help the Grung move some things out of the way. The other Grung from the small village begins to help as well.

Swage, remembering how powerful and sticky the toad’s tongue was decides to try and harvest it. With Dove’s help, he gets most of the tongue out with much trouble and begins to see how far he’s able to whip it out. He accidentally snags Hadwin’s chain shirt and pulls it straight while trying to pull the tongue free. He turns to Kaz who agrees to allow him to test it, on purpose this time, the tongue is very difficult to use in its unmodified state and although it sticks to Kaz, Swage has almost no control over it. He coils it up and places it in his pack for later.

While this had been going on the Grung had continued to dig around inside the Froghemoth. They pull out a cloak, a necklace, a longsword covered in seaweed, and a pair of boots. Lastly, they pull out what appears to be the partially dissolved body of another Grung. One of the Grung begins to carry it back to the huts, and Kaz offers to help but the Grung walks past him ignoring him.

The group watches most of the Grung leave the area, and Swage returns to the giant skull. He tries to ask permission of the remaining Grung if he can remove a few of the teeth, but it doesn’t appear to understand. He hesitantly removes the tooth that says “strength” and the Grung watches in what appears to be amazement but doesn’t seem to be upset. He then removes the “sky” and “valor” teeth as well and wraps them up with the tongue and stores them in his pack.

Before leaving the graveyard, Hadwin and Swage stop to investigate the glowing gem embedded in the hilt of the sword. Hadwin tries to identify the spell attached to the gem and finds that it’s enchanted with an Arcane Seal spell. Hadwin explains the spell to Swage, and the two decide it's best to leave it alone.

## Day Fifteen, Evening

The party makes their way back to the Grung village and they arrive to find a large bonfire with a majority of the Grung sitting around it. The party joins them and a lone Grung approaches the fire carrying what appears to be the dead Grung from earlier. All the Grungs around the fire begin to croak in low sorrowful tones and places the body into the fire.

After a while, what appear to be Grung children bring out large leaves filled with different kinds of bugs, and some filled with water. Hadwin takes one look at the bugs and turns green, moving away from the fire and digging in his pack for a ration to eat instead. Dove, Kaz, and Swage accept the water and insects offered to them and begin to eat.

At one point the eldest looking Grung approaches Kaz with the bundle of things they pulled from the Froghemoth. He places it in front of Kaz and then puffs out his throat and lets out a low croak and pounds a fist to his chest. Kaz repeats the gesture and the elder Grung seems pleased.

As the night wears on the party notices that more and more of the Grung begin to disappear. No one in the party sees them leaving, they just notice that there are fewer and fewer around the small village. The party also feels an odd sensation after eating and drinking the offered food, however, everyone but Dove brushes it off. Dove finds herself in a drugged state, almost like she had too much to drink.

At some point after a short rest, the party notices that all the Grung have disappeared. Kaz looks around the village but can’t tell if they left recently or anything at all for that matter.

Dove begins to sort through her pack for an item to leave near the bonfire for the deceased Grung. She pulls out a fork and places it on the ground near the bonfire.

Seeing this, Hadwin says, “They obviously don’t use forks for anything.”

The party makes their way back to Estafador’s carriage.

“What took you guys so long? I thought you were going to find out what was going on and-. “ Estafador says before being interrupted.

“He got eaten,” Hadwin says pointing at Swage.

“They’ve also been eating bugs and drinking water out of leaves.” He continues

“What are you stark raving mad about?” Estafador asks

“Me? She’s stark raving mad.” Hadwin says pointing at Dove.

“Hi!” Dove says to Estafador

“Are you okay deary?” Estafador asks

“Hi!” Dove says again

“Well, anyway, I’m not sure what you call did but the road is dried up now.” Estafador says, “I was thinking about leaving you, but I thought that would be uncouth.”

Inside the carriage now Dove tries to recite the poem that Estafador had taught her. She makes it past the first two lines and then loses track of it. She climbs into her bed and begins to snore.

“Remind me not to teach her anything else new for a while,” Estafador says.

“She’s just a little worm drunk, don’t worry.” Swage says

Hadwin volunteers to take the first watch and the party sets off, back on the road to Midward.

## Day Sixteen, Morning

In the morning Kaz takes over driving the carriage.

Hadwin gathers the items the received from the Grung and begins to identify them.

* Mudwalkers (Boots)
* Cloak of the Toads Essence
* Bronntanas Blade
* Amulet of the Frog

While Hadwin finishes up identifying the items, Swage pulls out Zertis’ arm and tries to figure out the collapsible property. His mind keeps wondering however and he doesn’t make any progress with it.

In her bunk, Dove pulls out some paper and ink and begins to write a letter to send home to her family.

## Day Sixteen, Afternoon

Swage takes the second driving shift of the day and makes it a good distance before coming to an area with three paths. One of the paths is clear, but very narrow and would be hard to fit the carriage down. The other two large paths are blocked by fallen logs.

Swage brings the carriage to a stop and the party exits the carriage to get a better look at the area. They decide to move one of the fallen logs and make their way down the large of the two paths. Kaz and Hadwin both go to move the log, with Kaz pulling the log out of Hadwin’s hands-on accident. They hear a noise from inside the log.

Dove leans forward and peers into the log and sees a small person trying to hide their face behind some sticks and leaves.

She sits down cross-legged under the log and says, “Hi friend!”

“Who are you?” the person asks

“We’re travelers who are you?” Dove says

“Are…are they gone?” the man stammers

“Ummm…we’re here, but no one else is here. It’s safe to come out if you’d like.” Dove replies

“Are you sure?” the man says incredulously

“Yes. And if something goes wrong, we’ll protect you. We’re very strong and very friendly.” Dove says reassuringly

“Except for the wizard,” she says nodding towards Hadwin, “Don’t look him in the eye.”

“What’s a wizard?” He asks carefully climbing out of the log.

“He’s the one over there. The one who’s clean.” Dove says pointing

“How long have you been here?” He asks brushing himself off

“Just a few minutes, we just stopped. Have you been here all day?” Dove answers

“One whole day and night. It’s really scary here.” He answers

Dove offers the person some rations, and he eats them quickly.

“Thank you, it has been so long since someone has been nice. May Lathander be with you!” he says

“And also, with you.” Dove replies

Dove introduces herself and the rest of the group.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Francis,” he says

“We should probably go back the way you guys came or move along very quickly. There are these giant bugs I was hiding from. They attacked the convoy I was with and carried off the carriage, I was the only one outside the carriage that survived. I’m not sure about the ones inside.” Francis says

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Dove says

“It was pretty bad,” Francis says

Francis begins heading back the way the carriage came.

“I’m not one to be pushy, but I really don’t want to see those things again. They’re pretty nasty.” Francis says

“What kind of bugs were they?” Hadwin asks

“Well in the plains we have bees, right? These look like meaner bees, but the size of a person.” Francis says

“Well, we’re certainly not gonna leave you here,” Dove says

Once back in Estafador’s carriage, Francis explains that the carriage had two passengers. He was part of a separate group of five that was hired to walk with the carriage.

“As guards?” Kaz asks

“Not guards per se, but just there to make sure nothing bad happens.” Francis replies

“Sounds a lot like guards to me,” Kaz says

Kaz begins to mean mug Francis, thinking that he may have been a guard that ran and hid and let the people he was supposed to protect get taken.

The group offers Francis a ride to Midward and Francis asks to be let off before they reach the town since he’s not allowed there.

As the group continues on the road, Kaz notices bruises on the neck and ankles of their new passenger.

“How’d you get those bruises?” Kaz so motioning to his neck and ankles

“All I can tell you is that it's part of why I can’t go to Midward. I’d rather not have a conversation about such things.” Francis says

“Were you a slave or a prisoner?” Kaz presses

“Again, these are trivial matters at this point. The individuals that…” Francis trails of stopping himself from saying anything else.

“We have ways of making you tell the truth.” Swage says, attempting to intimidate Francis begins to trace holy symbols in the air.

“That’s a very pretty spell. I can do that one as well.” Francis says and beings to cast Guidance on himself

“Do you know which direction they took your friends and the carriage?” Swage asks.

“Friends is another one of those strong words that I don’t use that often. But I don’t know which direction they took them. I didn’t see and when I came to, I was in the log.” Francis says

“We’ve all woken up in a log before. Relatable!” Dove says

“Did the people in the carriage maybe deserve to get taken?” Kaz asks

“So, the people in the carriage…” Francis starts

“Would they have stopped to help you as we did?” Kaz presses

“I don’t…I don’t know. I didn’t meet them. I was just told that we were going to be marching alongside the carriage. My boss, if you call him that, was very adamant that we didn’t need to know.” Francis answers

Dove tries to cheer up Francis by reading him something from her Demonomicon. She decides to read the poem about Pazuzu. This doesn’t seem to do much than to scare him more than he already is.

“I’m actually quite tired, do you have somewhere I could try and sleep?” Francis asks

“You can sleep in one of our bunks,” Dove says

Once in the bunk, the group can hear Francis muttering a prayer.

## Day Sixteen, Evening

Turning to Swage Kaz asks, “Do you think you’d be able to make me a war hammer? I want to see how I like fighting with something smaller so I can use a shield.”

Swage nods and says a quick prayer to Gond. Not long after a war hammer appears on the floor of the carriage. The head of the war hammer is in the form of a snarling fox, and the handle appears to be like the fox’s tail. Using the giant language Swage etches the words to Fox Warden on the war hammer as well.

Dove begins her shift driving the carriage, and not far down the road she starts to hear a loud buzzing sound. Remembering Francis' story, she gets a little concerned and tries to peer through the darkness to find the source of the sound. Unable to see anything she decides to might be a good idea to have an extra set of eyes join her.

She pokes her head into the carriage and her eyes grow big at the sight of Kaz’s new hammer.

“Awesome! That’s so cool!” Dove says

Remembering what she needed in the first place she says, “Kaz can you come up here real quick? And bring your new hammer.”

Kaz takes a seat next to Dove, and the two of them keep an eye out for the creatures. As they move forward, they are still unable to see anything, but the buzzing is getting louder.

“Looks like you might get to try your new hammer tonight,” Dove says

“I hope so!” Kaz says standing up and trying to get a better look at the area in front of them.

As the carriage draws closer to the sound, Dove can make out the shadowy forms of some creatures hovering in the air.

“We’ve got bugs!” Dove says over her shoulder into the carriage.

Dove brings the carriage to a stop and avoids drawing the attention of the giant insects, who seem occupied with something in their nest. The party beings to prepare for a fight.

Hadwin climbs on top of the carriage to get a better view of the battlefield and holds his position.

Swage moves closer to the insects and summons his spiritual weapon, an anvil, right next to the bugs. The anvil raises into the air and drops right on top of one of the creatures.

Dove pulls out her Demonomicon and summons Waffles to her side.

“What’s your real name?” Dove asks Waffles

Waffles tilts her head a bit and says, “Ah! You’re just learning. That’s cute honey, that’s so cute.”

Dove looks at her with a confused look on her face, not able to understand what she’s saying.

Waffles realizes that Dove can’t fully understand her, so she points a finger at her chest and says, “Sylvie.”

Dove repeats the gesture and says, “Dove.”

Dove gives Sylvie the signal to wait, and they both take a position and get ready to fight.

Kaz relaxes for a minute as he allows the walls he puts up to hold back his rage to fall. The muscles all over his body grow noticeably, he draws his new hammer and stalks toward the bugs. He readies an attack waiting for one to draw closer to him.

Hadwin holds his hand out palm up and a small ball of flame appears in his palm. He points it at the insect in front of Kaz and its flies towards its target and hits home.

The insect, enraged at being hit, flies past Kaz towards Hadwin. Kaz lashes out with his war hammer as it flies by. His hammer collides with the bug as it continues its path to Hadwin, reaching him quickly. It stabs at Hadwin with its stinger and talons and connects both times.

Swage moves to the edge of the nest and wills his spiritual weapon to attack again. The anvil slams into the insect again. He then says a quick prayer to Gond and summons his Spirit Guardians which take the form of tiny clockwork red dragons with tiny clockwork Swages on their backs. The largest insect avoids most of the attack, but the two smaller ones take the brunt of the damage.

Dove moves closer to Kaz and Swage and sees the shadow of the largest bug. She aims and misses her first shot, but her second shot hits. She readies a third shot, but that one misses as well. Sylvie then moves closer as well and throws three small balls of fire at the giant insect, two of which connect damaging the monster.

One of the smaller insects approaches Swage and attempts to sting him, but he knocks it away with his shield. The creature attacks again with its talons and slips past Swage’s defenses and tears into the Firbolg’s skin.

Another smaller insect approaches Swage and hits him with its stinger and talons. He feels the creature's poison try to take hold, but he’s able to shake it off.

The small clockwork Swage’s and their dragons swarm one of the smaller and the largest insects. This time they both resist most of the damage, but some get through their defense and do some damage.

Kaz grabs his necklace and blows into one of the whistles. Seconds lady the water on either side of the path begins to bubble and two giant bears covered in moss and mud and dripping with swamp water shamble onto land. The first bear, Tooth, takes a position next to Hadwin. The second bear, Nail, takes position near Swage.

Another insect approaches Kaz and sinks its stinger deep into his shoulder. He feels white-hot fire throughout his body as the monster’s poison takes hold. It then slashes at him with two razor-sharp talons, but even through his blurred vision, Kaz dodges the attack.

The insect nearest to Hadwin stabs at him with its stinger but misses. It swings back around, this time slashing at him with its talons, and cuts through his new chain shirt like butter.

The largest of the insects is swarmed by Swage’s Spirit Guardian and is unable to defend itself against any of the damage.

Swage attempts to Inflict Wounds on the wasp closest to him, but the bug avoids the attack. Using his Firbolg magic he turns himself invisible but holds his ground.

Dove takes a shot at the wasp in front of Kaz and hits it. She takes another shot at the largest wasp and hits it as well. Sylvie misses all through shots of flame at the giant wasp.

The two smaller wasps are swarmed by Swages Spirit Guardians. One avoids most of the damage, while another takes the brunt of the attack.

The two smaller wasps, sensing that Swage is still in front of them, pierce through his armor with their stingers and slip their talons into the gaps in the armor. The Firbolg falls to the ground unconscious as his clockwork Spirit Guardians fall around him. His Spiritual Weapon stays hovering overhead, however.

Kaz finds himself still under the effect of the wasp’s poison and misses all three of his attacks.

Tooth bites at the wasp above his head and tears off a leg, but the creature stays airborne. With one massive claw, the bear swipes at the wasps bringing it to the ground and trapping it underneath. The bear presses all its weight down on the bug crushing it and spraying the ground around with bug guts. Tooth then turns his attention to the other living wasps and moves in that direction.

Nail attacks the wasp directly in front of it and bites down on the wasp. It tries to swipe it out of the air with its claws but misses.

The wasps closest to Kaz jabs at him with its stinger, but he knocks it away with his shield. It’s able to tear into him with its talons though and leaves two long slashes down his chest.

Hadwin takes a minute to try and get a Second Wind and recovers from some of the damage he had taken. He hops off the top of the carriage and moves closer to the other wasps. He points a finger at the wasp hovering over Swage’s body and the distant haunting sound of a bell tolling can be heard. The wasp's body seizes up and drops to the ground dead.

The wasps nearest to Nail turns their attention to the bear. It connects with both its stinger and its talons, but the bear shrugs off the poison.

Dove aims at the largest insect and misses wide striking Nail in the side. She aims again, taking a bit of extra time this time, but misses again. Sylvie hurls a small ball of fire at the wasp nearest to Swage and hits it, searing the bug's carapace, the other two that she throws miss their target.

One of the smaller wasps moves in to get within striking range of Sylvie. The stinger plunges into Sylvie, she resists any damage caused by the monster’s venom, however, the piercing stinger still damages her.

Seeing his friend being struck down by the wasps, Kaz is torn with continuing his fight or saving his friend, but only for a second. He disengages from his combat with the wasp to run to Swage's side and administer a healing potion to him.

Both Tooth and Nail approach the giant wasp growls coming from deep inside their throats as they circle the creature. Tooth bites and claws at the monster but misses both times, Nail has a bit more look and rips a chunk out of the wasp’s belly and claws the wound open more.

The small wasp approaches Kaz from behind and sinks its stinger into his shoulder. He knocks it away just as its razor-sharp talons swing towards his neck, avoiding the blow.

Hadwin points a finger at the wasp that had just attacked Sylvie, and another bell can be heard tolling. The wasp seems to be stunned for a moment but continues flying.

The giant wasp sinks its stinger into Nail’s neck and the mighty bear falls to the ground dead, disappearing back to its original plane. Tooth is hit with both of the wasp’s talons, leaving large angry gashes down both of its sides.

Swage pushes himself up off the ground and drinks another healing potion. He says a quick prayer and all the small clockwork pieces of his Spirit Guardian begin to reassemble themselves. Both the small and giant wasps are swarmed by miniature dragons and Swages, however, the big one avoids most of the attack.

Dove looses an arrow right at the eye of the giant wasp, hitting it dead center. The bug’s entire body seizes up and it falls to the ground dead and twitching slightly. Sylvie hits the last remaining wasp with two of her three fireballs charring its already dark carapace.

Kaz, finally able to shake off the effects of the poison, begins to spin his new hammer by the thong that hangs off the end of the handle. He hits the last wasp with all his strength, instantly disintegrating the monster in midair in a spray of gore.

After the fight Dove approaches Swage, Hadwin, and Kaz and heals their wounds as best she can. Kaz harvests some of the stingers from the wasps, and Dove takes a few wings. Hadwin asks someone to harvest the head of one of the smaller wasps.

Kaz climbs inside the nest and finds a carriage, some dead horses, and a few dead bodies. The carriage appears to be intact for the most part. He grasps the door and rips it off its hinges throwing it aside.

Inside the carriage, he finds two female passengers, both of whom are unconscious. He gently picks each one up and hands them over the side of the nest to Swage. Swage inspects the bodies and can tell that they are still alive. He says a prayer to Gond and casts Healing Word, some of the wounds begin to heal, but they stay unconscious.

Kaz continues to dig around inside the carriage and nest and finds a chest with some potions, a very nice pearl, a great ax, a short spear, a couple of scrolls, and a very nice patchwork robe.

“Francis! Found your buddies!” Swage calls back towards the carriage

Francis steps out of the carriage and begins to approach the group. Hadwin quickly spins around thrusting the wasps head out toward Francis.

“Booga! Booga! Booga!” Hadwin shouts

“YAH!” Francis yells jumping back

Kaz, who had just finished climbing out of the wasp’s nest sees this and begins to laugh.

Francis, more hesitantly this time, approaches the two unconscious women.

“OH!” Francis says slightly startled when he gets a look at them

“I take it you know these two?” Swage asks

“I…I don’t do not really know them. I just know of the carriage; I can see parts of it over there. They must have been the original occupants.” Francis says. “Are they dead?” He asks

“They’re stable, but look at them, they’re covered in stinger marks and holes.” Swage answers

“Have you checked to see if they're poisoned or have some kind of condition?” Francis asks

“Aren't you a cleric too?” Swage asks

“Yes um...” Francis says

“You haven’t really done much, and this is kind of your fault. So, if you could help a little bit... I just died a second ago.” Swage says

“How is this my fault?” Francis asks

“You hid! And all these holes in these bodies…kind of your fault.” Swage says

Francis approaches the two women and begins to look them over.

“I’m not…I’m not really all that comfortable…because they’re female…I don’t I don’t…” Francis stammers, “Can somebody just check to make sure they don’t have holes in other areas before I finish…” he trails off

Dove approaches gently moving Francis aside “Alright. Alright. I got this. Don’t worry Francis I gotcha. Go ahead and avert your eyes.”

Dove doesn’t find any other wounds on them, and Francis concludes that the wasp’s venom has paralyzed them. He says a prayer and casts Lesser Restoration on them, almost immediately they begin to improve. They both begin to stir, and one of them begins to sit up, a very pale-skinned Firbolg. Francis is hiding behind Swage and Kaz, peeking out from behind Kaz’s leg.

“Oh! My head feels horrible.” The Firbolg says

“Hi!” Dove says amicably

The woman looks around ignoring Dove’s greeting, “Where is the convoy?”

Dove nudge Francis forwards a bit, “I think he might be all that’s left of your convoy.”

The Firbolg woman begins to stand and the second woman, a human, starts to sit up and then stand as well.

She dusts herself off, “Well they weren’t worth the money. How about you? Are you all capable individuals?”

“Obviously,” Dove says

“You want to go back into the carriage?” Swage asks

“We just fished your ass out of a hole,” Hadwin adds

“Fair point. I guess beggars can’t be choosey about the help they get. Alright, I’ll make you the same deal that we made them. Five hundred gold to transport us to our destination in Midward.” The human woman says

Kaz steps to the side leaving Francis unprotected and says, “He said he’s not allowed in Midward. Why would he sign on to escort you there?”

“I have no clue why he’s not allowed in Midward. I hired them as a group not individually, that’s a question better left to him and his employer.” She says

“Do you know anything about the bruises he’s got on his ankles and neck?” Kaz asks

“No. Not do I care.” She replies

A quiet voice speaks up from behind the human woman, “I’m sorry, but can I trouble you all for some water?”

Dove mystified by the strange-looking Firbolg silently hands her a waterskin.

“It’s quite alright, I get stared at all the time.” The Firbolg says

“Okay!” Dove says happily

“Do you have any mode of transportation, or do you want to fish our carriage out?” the human woman says

“It’s pretty unsalvageable, how do you plan on getting to Midward if we don’t have transportation?” Swage asks

“If I have to ride on your backs I will,” she says.

“I don’t like that idea. We haven’t gotten your names yet either.” Swage says

Looking irritated for not having her question answered the human woman says, “I’m Cassandra, and my companion's name is Eogham.”