190: Apothecary Dictionary

## Summary

The group attempt to nurse a reluctant Will back to health. They decide an audience with the Aeonian Anglerfish is what they need and so decide it's time to head down river towards Beartoggle. Before leaving Norton, Will inadvertently gets the other Strahd crown stuck on his head. On the way down river, Hilula and Dew secretly discuss Raphina, but Will spies on them. The party arrive at Morrow's Inlet.

## Synopsis

The party have been searching for Will and find him motionless, slumped over on a wall. Batthwack tries healing him, but Will doesn't wake up. Dew finds a pulse and he shakes Will by the shoulders, bringing him round. Will is blathering about his ankle and how it disappeared. It looks and feels normal now. Raphina insists that Will eat something because she's worried that he's not well. She trips him up to make him think he's fainted again. Will sits on the ground and eats some trail rations. He doesn't look well.

The rest of the party question Will about what happened. Dew recognises the wound on Will's ankle as a scorpion sting and Will reveals that the Warping Scorpion stung him while they were in the forest. Raphina examines the wound thinking it might be slightly infected, but otherwise doesn't see anything unusual. Raphina puts salt on the wound as a disinfectant. Dew is concerned about Will's emotional state as he knows that restlessness is a symptom of complications following a scorpion sting. They decide they should go and see the Rainbow Trout.

Raphina and Dew head back to the Trout Temple and meet Dim at the door. They explain the situation. Dim says the Rainbow Trout isn't in the Temple at the moment and that he would be there if he were needed. In other words, they either don't need the Trout's help or he cannot help. Dew suggests that the only option remaining is to go and see the Aeonian Anglerfish.

Meanwhile, Will is telling Batthwack and Mo that everyone is overreacting. Mo wants to know where they are heading. He thinks Batthwack should decide because he has a crown and therefore must be the king. Will is offended by this of course and gets out the other crown to show that it's not special. He mockingly puts it askew on his head and says *"Am I the king now??!"* Batthwack tries to knock the crown off Will's head, but it won't move. Will pulls on the crown and can't move it. He begins to frantically try and get it off, but cannot. He casts *Master of Disguise* to make him look like himself but without a crown and it vanishes. Will convinces Batthwack that he was able to use magic to get the crown off, rather than just make it invisible. Mo touches the crown and reveals to Batthwack that it's still there. Batthwack wants Will to make his own crown invisible and he initially resists, but Batthwack can't take no for an answer and does manage to persuade Will to do it. They agree to make Batthwack's crown invisible when they arrive at the next town.

Raphina and Dew arrive back and explain what they learnt at the Trout Temple and they discuss how best to find The Aeonian Anglerfish. Mo tells the others about Will's invisible crown and Dew touches it. He drops the disguise to show everyone. Dew says *"You have some trouble with the truth, don't you Will?"* but Will can't understand why everyone cares so much. Raphina says that Will's condition could be contagious. Batthwack asks Will if he feels any different and he says he doesn't. Will asks Batthwack if *he* feels any different and Batthwack lies, saying he doesn't. Will goes off on a rant about how he doesn't trust anybody.

Before they leave, the party learn that the other passengers from the Airship Goodberry took a delivery boat/barge down river towards Beartoggle. The party sets off from Norton on their lizard mounts. Will with Raphina, Dew with Hilula, Batthwack with Captain Clockface, and Mo on his own. They trek down river for four days, making camp on the riverbank each night. Every time they stop and set up camp, they still cannot sleep.

By the third night of their travels, Dew comes to the realisation that Raphina's money has grown to such a weight that he cannot carry it any more. Raphina keeps two platinum pieces, putting the rest in the shallows near the riverbank. She marks the spot by putting a toothpick into a nearby tree.

Will's leg is healing. He is also spying on Hilula as he still doesn't trust her. He notices that she is somewhat keeping an eye on Raphina. On the fourth night of their travelling Will notices Hilula and Dew slip away from the group together and he follows them, listening in to their conversation. Dew asks Hilula about her plan as they approach Beartoggle. Haloula says they're still weeks away, but as they get closer they may meet some of her compatriots. Dew says that he still hasn't witnessed any behaviour to match what she described before. Hilula suggests magic could be at work in some way. Dew insists that the party's reputation is that they are heroes. Hilula reminds Dew that Raphina's murderous acts were witnessed by many and were out in broad daylight. Dew wonders if it was the result of manipulation by someone else as something similar had happened to Lank. Hilula reassures him that in Beartoggle they will find the truth and act accordingly. Dew offers to help bring Raphina in when the time comes. Will is able to stay hidden when they sneak back to the rest of the group.

The following morning, as they travel they notice the terrain has changed. The deep forests are thinning out and the landscape is more rocky and less verdant. There are rocky bluffs and crags poking out of the woods and there are small canyons and gullies. As they approach a blind corner created by a cliff they can smell a foul, sulphurous rotten egg odour. Round the corner they see the river turns and cuts over into an inlet. At the back of the inlet is a very large town, the largest the party has collectively visited so far. They have arrived at Morrow's Inlet.

## Trivia

* The episode title quotes Raphina. Dew is wondering who should come with him to visit the Rainbow Trout, and he suggests that Raphina could because she knows all the medical details of Will's condition. She replies *"I do. I have all the fancy names. Let's go. I have my apothecary dictionary in my pocket."*