C2 E55

Ratma knows what we need to do to sort out J'Michael and fortunately that also overlaps with helping her get rid of a pesky problem. Hopefully Ratma isn’t lying… you never know with her. One time she had me fight off some giant slugs just because they blocked “the good part of the basement I use for doing my stretches”.

## **Story**

### Long Story

It's the next morning. Having slept the night away in The Goblin Pit (on sheets that haven't been used in years), the party awakens and heads down into the tavern for breakfast. They also take the time to recap what's going on. Ratma Ritmo re-iterates the group's current predicament: J'Michael's mind is weakened, and needs to be made right. Ratma herself is unable to help him, but she knows who can: The Abbott, who lives out in a place called "The Cloisters". She also asked them to help out with the Drider problem. This Drider is preventing business from thriving, since people view this area as too dangerous to travel to. Ratma wants the party to kill the Drider and bring its head back to her. She ALSO says that the locals who used to live here in Mineford have all gone away. If the party can find them, and tell them to return, that would be cool. She tells them of a nearby mushroom farm, which might have some people living in it. There should also be some hunters around who can help them out.

Ratma hands them a crudely hand-drawn map. It shows them several locations of note, including Mineford in the center. There's also The Bonelands (which Ratma strongly recommends NOT going to), The Cloisters (where the Abbott lives, about a day and a half from Mineford), Svirfneblin (where the Deep Gnomes live), and Morendarith (where the Duergar live, two days away). Okay, this map is cool and all, but this isn't today times. It doesn't have GPS. They can't see where the are, where they should take the next left turn in 500 feet. That's not what's happening here, Ratma! Understand? She does. She knows that they are bound to get lost and confused in the tunnels. Fortunately, she has an idea about that, too.

Ratma hands them a crudely hand-cut crystal. It's vaguely purple-ish, and once they look into its depths, a strange sight befalls them. The mushrooms growing on the walls, floors, and ceiling of these tunnels around them, begin to GLOW! Well, not all of them. Only some of the mushrooms are glowing with purple dots. ALL of the mushrooms are pointing in various directions, but when looking through the crystal, the glowing mushrooms are all pointing in the same direction. Ratma tells them to follow the direction the glowing mushrooms are pointing, and they will be led straight to The Cloisters. That's pretty handy! They also wonder if, in a very video game style, there might be other crystals, that reveal mushrooms pointing in other directions. Worth keeping in mind, perhaps.

Alright, so they know how to get to The Cloisters. Should be pretty straight-forward then, right? Well, R'Oarc is pretty fixated on going to the Bonelands. Ratma insists that this is a bad idea, so R'Oarc, in secret, makes a rough copy of Ratma's map, which will take her to the Bonelands. Ratma stresses that they should really head to The Cloisters, and along the way, they're sure to encounter the Drider. They still will need to kill it. They decide to take J'Michael with them, and T'Chuck decides (somehow) to take a table from the tavern with them. Not sure where he's keeping that thing. They leave some stuff behind, and aren't very clear on what, so I'm going to use this as an opportunity to clean up the Inventory section. My discretion. Fight me.

And with that, the party heads out, following the crystal mushrooms. After about an hour and a half of travel, they notice two things. 1. the mushrooms are getting bigger, and 2. They can hear a scritchy-scratchy sound coming from up ahead. They ignore this for a moment to talk about the mushrooms. What happens if they pluck one of the glowing crystal mushrooms away, and turn it in a different direction? Will it change direction to face The Cloisters again? They collective decide that it probably will, despite that not making sense. R'Oarc, meanwhile, is dedicated to causing mischief. She sneakily takes a handful of mushrooms from the wall to save for later. They also decide that they didn't leave Gertie behind, so she's there, too. Anyway, the scritchy-scratchy sound gets louder, and becomes a loud rumbley sound.

And then the sound becomes a monster! Specifically a Bulette, which bursts out of the wall! There's an awesome fight (during which Beholder-doodle appears), and ultimately, Selene deals the killing blow. They heal themselves, and continue on. About four hours pass before they take a short rest. And that's the end.

### Short

Ratma Ritmo gives the party a map, and crystal, both of which will help them navigate the dangerous tunnels to get to the Cloisters, where the Abbott lives. The group heads out, and encounters a Bulette, which they are able to defeat. They travel for a few hours, before taking a short rest.

## **Trivia**

* Day 16 of the campaign.
* R'Oarc has been putting an Amertrine crystal under T'Chuck's pillow every night, to help him sleep. However, it appears to have been having the opposite effect, as he's been having nightmares.
* The spelling of JiMichael's name is discussed. I had been spelling it as "JiMichael", as a nod to how Michael spells his last name. However, the website for this episode spells it as "J'Michael", so from this point forward, that is going to be the spelling of the name.
* In addition to leaving "some stuff" behind in Mineford, the cast mentions that they took "some random stuff" from Mineford before they left. I can't really do anything with that, inventory-wise.
	+ R'Oarc specifically mentions taking some penny candies from the general store. That, I can do with, something, inventory-wise-speaking.

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master*
* Tim Lanning - T'Chuck
* Jennifer Cheek - Selene von Esper
* Nika Howard - R'Oarc
* Mike Bachmann - Screech Echo / Beholder-doodle (Milton Graves)

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Ratma Ritmo
* J'Michael
* Gertie

### **Locations**

* Drunkeros
	+ Whispering Peaks
		- The tunnels below the mountain
		- Mineford
			* The Goblin Pit (Mineford)

### **Inventory**

*NOTE: In this episode, they mention leaving some stuff behind in Mineford. I'm going to use this as an opportunity to clean up the Inventory section. If I think an item is obsolete, or irrelevant now, I'm going to say they left it behind. I could be wrong. This Wiki isn't the be-all-end-all of canonicity.*

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [On-Hold] - Restore Mineford to it's true potential
	+ [On-Hold] - Find and kill the Drider in the tunnels
* [Active] - Restore J'Michael to his true potential
	+ [Active] - Find The Abbott in The Cloister
		- [Active] - Convince The Abbott to cure JiMichael, somehow

### **Quotes**

* **"How do we even measure a day down here?"** ~ *Screech Echo*
\***"How about love?"** ~ *Tim Lanning*

* **"What if we... flood the Boneyard?"** ~ *Screech Echo*

* **"He might have Tremor-sense!"** ~ *Tim Lanning, in fear and awe*
**"Not Tremor-sense..."** ~ *Mike Bachmann, sarcastically*

## **Rolls**

* They all roll *Survival* to see if they can follow the mushrooms
	+ **T'Chuck** - 22
		- He fully understands how it works, and where to go
	+ **Selene** - 9
		- She does not understand, but pretends she does
	+ **R'Oarc** - 14
		- She also does not understand, but she's supportive of her father

* **Screech** rolls *something* to see if they can take a mushroom away, and have it still use its crystal powers - 9 + 9?
	+ He agrees that the mushroom changes directions, even though that's not how it works, and then they all agree that that's not how it works. I don't know what's happening here...

* They all roll *Perception* while following the mushrooms
	+ **T'Chuck** - Nat 20 + 8
	+ **Screech** - 15
	+ **Selene** - Nat 20
	+ **R'Oarc** - 13
		- They hear a rumble, and T'Chuck and Selene know that a creature has just entered the tunnel nearby

* **Screech** rolls *Stealth* (for some reason) to see if someone is watching over them from the shadows - 21
	+ Yes, there is a Beholder-doodle following at a safe distance

* **Screech** rolls *Stealth* to hide, without being noticed hiding - 21
	+ Success - No one sees him, and no one sees not seeing him

*Combat Begins vs Bulette*

* Initiative
	+ **Beholder-doodle** - 22
	+ **Screech** - 20
	+ **Selene** - 17
	+ **T'Chuck** - 11
	+ Bulette
	+ **R'Oarc** - 7

*Round One (Things get a little confusing from a Wiki editing perspective. Some of the cast readies actions, and as soon as the Bulette enters the room, the actions go off. I'm just going to write what they do once the Bulette enters the room, and quite honestly, there's nothing you can do to stop me lol)*

* **Beholder-doodle**
	+ (Readied) Melee Attack vs Bulette - 16, 21
		- Miss, Hit - 6 + 11 damage

* **Screech**
	+ (Readied) Makes a melee attack, and deliberately misses

* **Selene**
	+ (Readied) Casts *Maximillian's Earthen Grasp*, requiring it to make a *Strength Saving Throw* - 10
		- Fail - 10 Bludgeoning damage, and it is restrained

* **T'Chuck**
	+ (Readied) Casts *Toll the Dead*, requiring it to make a *Wisdom Saving Throw* - 17
		- Success - Doesn't hurt it

* **Bulette**
	+ Enters the area, and gets hit by all of the above attacks

* **R'Oarc**
	+ (Not readied) Melee Attack (Rapier) vs Bulette {x2} - 21, 7
		- Miss, Hit - 5 damage

*Round Two*

* **Beholder-doodle**
	+ Melee Attack vs Bulette - 23, 22
		- Hit, Hit - 10 + 17 + 8 damage

* **Screech**
	+ Melee Attack vs Bulette - 25
		- Hit - 8 + 19 damage, I think

* **Selene**
	+ Uses *Maximillian's Earthen Grasp* to crush the Bulette, requiring another *Strength Saving Throw* - 14
		- Fail - 5 Bludgeoning damage

* **T'Chuck**
	+ Casts *Toll the Dead* again, requiring it to make another *Wisdom Saving Throw* - 8
		- Fail - 13 Force damage

* **Bulette**
	+ Breaks out of the Earthen Grasp
	+ Burrows into the ground

* **T'Chuck** (out of turn) rolls either *Survival* or *Nature* to see if he knows anything about Bulettes - 7
	+ He knows they can jump, and they can burrow

* **Bulette** (same turn as before?)
	+ Jumps out of the wall behind Beholder-doodle, requiring him to make a *Dexterity Saving Throw* to jump out of the way - Nat 1
		- Fail - 14 Bludgeoning + 14 Slashing damage, and is knocked prone

* **R'Oarc**
	+ Casts *Aura of Vitality*, and uses a Bonus Action to give it to Beholder-doodle, healing him for - 4 HP

*Round Three*

* **Beholder-doodle**
	+ Uses the Disengage action to pull away from the Bulette

* **Screech**
	+ Melee Attack vs Bulette {x2} - 10, 10
		- Miss, Miss
	+ Moves away without Disengaging, prompting an opportunity attack from the Bulette - 16
		- Hit - 29 damage

* **Selene**
	+ Casts *Firebolt* on the Bulette - 24
		- Hit - 15 damage - *Kills It*

*Combat Ends*

* **R'Oarc** heals Screech and Beholder-doodle
	+ Screech - 21 + a bunch more HP to get up to full health
	+ Beholder-doodle - 22

* Everyone rolls *Perception* while taking a short rest
	+ **T'Chuck** - 20
	+ **R'Oarc** - 19
	+ **Screech** - 23
	+ **Selene** - 15
		- Nothing happens