19-B: Mother Before the Grove

## Key Plot Developments

Bogteam has slain an invading ooze and saved a guard's life. As the gnomish merchants of the Traders' Grotto look on, Pix uses her bardic magic to heal the hapless soldier. While he is scarred and wounded, he is alive. He introduces himself as Mev Flintknapper.

After the gelatinous cube encounter, svirfneblin inform the heroes that incursions by oozes are becoming more frequent. In every case, it seems as though the oozes are trying to make their way toward the abandoned northwest section of the city. Bogtooth proclaims his desire to protect the gnomes of the city and make sure that they are safe. The little goblin inspires the merchants. He then experiments with bringing out multiple creatures from his bag of tricks simultaneously; as he quickly learns, without specific instructions to the contrary, the animals will eat each other.

The party decides to split up. Pix is interested in seeing what the art and culture of the largest city they've yet visited in the Underdark is like. Bogtooth and Stool Team Six join her. Tremble, eager to learn what he can about Jimjar, asks the town's leaders about him. He's told by Dorbo and Senni that Jimjar was sympathetic to the wererats on the outskirts of the city, which earned him the disapproval of many of his countrymen; he left the town after failing to change public opinion on the subject. Moreover, his name was not JImjar; he was born Jimin Rocktooth. His father was a priest of Callarduran Smoothhands; he never returned from an excursion to the area to the east of the city now called the Rockblight. His mother passed away after his father left. Jimjar returned briefly to meet with her before she died.

Pix and Bogtooth meet Tappy Foamstrap, the proprietor of the Foaming Mug. Tappy shares a number of rumors with the intriguing goblins. They learn the following information:

* Blingdenstone's ghost problem is getting worse, and there are even spirits haunting the catacombs.
* There was a crazy svirfneblin back in the first days of reclamation who disappeared. Some of the scouts claim to have seen him, skulking around the unrecovered areas of the settlement.
* The gnomes call a large unclaimed area in the northeast of the settlement "Rockblight," as earth elementals go mad whenever they go near it.
* People are divided as to what to do about the wererats living in the nearby caverns. Some want them out, while others propose an alliance of mutual defense.
* A svirfneblin caravan returning from Whiteshell Mines encountered a parade of dancing myconids. Through their rapport spores, the myconids told the gnomes about a "wedding celebration," which is strange considering that myconids don't celebrate or have weddings.
* Recently, a drow family of merchants stopped by the city, where they were greeted with suspicion and hostility. They were friendly enough to Tappy, but quickly left after selling some of their spell components. Pix intuits this was the K'Gaust family.

Tappy is a gracious host. He seems to have a friendly rivalry with Kazook, another prominent merchant. He allows Stool Team Six to enjoy some of the good soil around his establishment; "Rocky" can stay in the back.

Tremble visits the Ruby in the Rough, a temple to Segojan Earthcaller. He meets a young priest named Glyphic Shroomlight. Glyphic is familiar with Jimjar's story; as he describes it, Jimjar was an acolyte who turned his back on Segojan after insisting that the wererats should be integrated with the gnomish population.

Tremble asks if Jimjar's mother's grave can be found in the temple. He discovers it and prays to him, promising that he'll get Jimjar back. To his surprise, Jimjar's mother appears in ghostly form. She reveals her name--Reina Rocktooth--and describes that happened to her. She was a wererat. Her late husband knew about her condition and urged her to keep it hidden for her own safety. Jimjar, who did not inherit her curse, wanted her to live her truth openly. He tried to broker agreements between the Diggermattocks and the wererats, but neither side trusted each other enough to solve the problem. Many of her cousins lived in the slums outside of the city, stealing and killing for resources. First, Jimjar left to find solutions outside of the town. Then, reclamation slowed down. Earth elementals were disobeying gnomish orders and fighting back in the eastern part of the city (the Rockblight). Her husband left for the Rockblight, wishing to purify it. He never came back and is presumed dead.

Jimjar returned to see her once before her death, where he revealed his new name and indicated that he had joined a secret organization. He promised that he would get the resources and connections necessary to bring a happy ending to both the gnomes and the wererats. He never returned.

Tremble swears to Reina's ghost that he'll do whatever he can to fix everything. He'll go to the Rockblight and cleanse it of whatever is cursing it. He'll bring the wererats and gnomes together. And he'll bring back Jimjar to his mother's grave.

Tremble returns to the Foaming Mug and joins his siblings upstairs. Bogtooth sleeps on the floor and dreams about Dulcinea, his fey patron, who encourages him to do the right thing for the town. Pix has an odd dream where she appears to be scaling a white mountain of cold, sugary material--a little green dot in an endless plane of ivory.

## New NPCs

1. Mev Flintknapper, gnomish guard
2. Tappy Foamstrap, gnomish innkeeper
3. Glyphic Shroomlight, gnomish acolyte
4. Reina Rocktooth, Jimjar's mother