C2 E76

Something or someone has turned the newly “rescued” boy into a spooky communication device. Can we trust this information or, more importantly, can we afford to ignore it?

## **Story**

### Long Story

The party has just left the town of Fungarum, with Thaldin Emberbrew in tow. He asks what's going to happen to his mother. She did some bad things, and is in jail now. They're taking him to a safe place, to find a cure for him. At this point, the party seems to forget that they've left town, and now believe that they are back in Fungarum. Okay, that's fine.

T'Chuck returns to Faelia's lab, in search of anything useful, but all he's able to find are some children's gummy vitamins. He takes them, cause why not. Also, Thaldin is asking to see his mother, and the cast again forgets that the two Emberbrew's were just talking to each other last episode. Sporelin tells them that they've just fed her a bunch of mushrooms (the not-people kind), and she's going to be sleeping for a while. So, the talking to her thing is a no-go.

Thaldin's upset, and wants his mother, so, what are they to do? R'Oarc suggests using *Polymorph* on herself to pretend to be Faelia, in order to fool Thaldin. But, that's not how *Polymorph* works. Instead, it's Selene who casts a spell on herself, this one is *Alter Self*. Now in the form of Faelia, Selene speaks to Thaldin as his mother. She basically reassures him that everything will be okay. He's going to stay with a nice lady named Miss Ratma, who will help with his potions. Thaldin reluctantly agrees to go, so Selene shakes him off her leg, and darts away, dropping the illusion.

Alright, well. For the second time, the party leaves Fungarum. It's getting late, so they stop to rest. In order to get Thaldin to sleep, Screech squeezes a pressure point on the boy, to knock him out. And then it's night-night time. T'Chuck takes the first watch, but there's nothing noteworthy that happens. Next up is R'Oarc, who hears Thaldin wheezing. She finds a note left by Screech indicating where the pressure point is, but instead, R'Oarc decides to try some medicinal healing of her own. She thinks about how steam can help weigh down particles in the air, allowing easier breathing. And maybe she also combines the idea that certain plants, such as mint, can open up the airways in the throat. Putting these things together, R'Oarc decides to cover Thaldin's mouth with wet moss... Yup.

R'Oarc is supposed to wake Selene up next, but forgets, and wakes Screech instead. Mostly out of habit, Screech pressure points R'Oarc to sleep, and then gets to work on his watch. He immediately finds Thaldin choking on moss, and clears that up. The rest of his watch passes uneventfully. Next, he attempts to wake up Selene, but accidentally pressure points her instead. He gives up, and wakes T'Chuck, for his second watch of the night. Again, nothing of note happens.

And it's finally the next day. Thaldin looks works, so T'Chuck picks him up and carries him the rest of the way to Mineford. Home again, home again. Something something something.

As they enter town, the party is surprised to see a new building has been erected, with a horseshoe-shaped sign out front. This must be the new residence of Grimshaw Shadowhoof. Surrounding the building are a series of pens, with various animals inside, such as draft horses and donkeys. And there's one pen that's fully enclosed, so they can't see what's inside.

Most of the group is more concerned with Thaldin's well being than this enclosed pen, but Selene is not, apparently. She goes to peer inside the pen. What she sees is nothing. At first, anyway. Then she sees some spider webs, and then, looking up, a spider! A giant spider, hanging from the ceiling, and wearing a saddle. That's strange. She returns to tell the others.

Meanwhile, T'Chuck and Screech have taken Thaldin back to The Goblin Pit Too, with R'Oarc going off to fetch Seraphina Nightshade, the towns new alchemist. Her hut is covered in moss, which R'Oarc steals some of, to give to Thaldin later. Then, she knocks on the door, and greets Seraphina. The alchemist affirms that R'Oarc's moss idea was a good one, and probably saved Thaldin's life. She also gives R'Oarc a vial to bring back to Thaldin, and the two return to the Goblin Pit.

Meanwhile, Meanwhile, Ratma Ritmo has been looking the boy over. He doesn't look good. This isn't something she's too familiar with, so they'll probably need to go to a bigger city to get Thaldin the help he needs. She recommends the nearby Drow city.

Suddenly, Thaldin begins coughing violently. R'Oarc attempts to feed him the potion, but he's fighting really hard. Then, he goes limp. There's a moment of calm. And then all of the candles in the room begin to burn brightly. The flames shoot up high. Thaldin jolts upright. He grabs Selene's wrist. Looks her dead in the eyes. And he says, in a strange, gravely voice, "I have a grave warning. Your family is in peril."

Thaldin then falls unconscious.

### Short

The party returns to Mineford. Grimshaw Shadowhoof has set up shop, including some animal enclosures. One of these enclosures has a giant spider wearing a saddle. Anyway, the real issue is that Thaldin is getting worse. They try to get him help, but he's coughing violently. Suddenly, he stops, and sits up. He tells Selene that her family is in grave danger, before falling unconscious.

## **Trivia**

* Selene no longer knows the spell *Sleep*.
* The Emberbrew's have a special song that Faelia always sings to Thaldin. That song is "Happy Birthday".

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

### **Cast and Player Characters**

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

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Thaldin Emberbrew
* Sporelin
* Seraphina Nightshade
* Ratma Ritmo

### **Locations**

* The Underground
	+ Fungarum
	+ Mineford
		- The Goblin Pit Too

### **Quest Board**

* [Active] - Find a cure for Thaldin Emberbrew
	+ [NEW][On-Hold] - Go to the nearby Drow city
* [On-Hold] - Investigate the mysterious goings-on to the east
* [Complete] - ~~Restore Mineford to it's true potential~~
	+ [Abandoned?] - ~~Reforge the Path to Morendarith~~
	+ [Abandoned?] - ~~Bring a load of ale to the newly opened Goblin city of Thornhaven~~
* [On-hold] - Investigate "Bill, the Necromancer", in the far off city by the coast
* [On-hold] - Take the disembodied lips to the oceanfront, for a burial at sea

### **Quotes**

* **"So, you're slightly less uncool. I guess another way you could say that, is that you got a little cooler!"** ~ *Jennifer Cheek*

* **"'Around the corner' is where *fudge* is made, not ice cream!"** ~ *Screech Echo, unfortunately*

* **"You know what, I was just thinking. If you can say an attack is going to be non-lethal, you should be able to say that normal things are lethal."** ~ *Mike Bachmann*

* **"We got *Revivify*, don't we?"** ~ *Mike Bachmann*
**(sighs) "I'm not gonna waste 300 gold on that shit..."** ~ *Tim Lanning*

* **"It's not that I trust her. She's just been around, and seen some shit."** ~ *Jennifer Cheek, on Ratma Ritmo*

## **Rolls**

* **T'Chuck** rolls *Medicine* to see if there's anything useful for Thaldin in Faelia's lab - 25
	+ There's, like, some children's vitamins, but nothing super useful.

* **Selene** rolls *Deception* (with Advantage, and T'Chuck's *Guidance*) to lie to Thaldin about being his mother - 21
	+ He believes her.

* **T'Chuck** rolls *Nature* or *Survival* check to find a good place to camp - 15
	+ He finds a pretty good spot.

* **Screech** rolls *Medicine* to see if there's a pressure point on Thaldin he can squeeze to knock him unconscious - 17
	+ He's able to knock him out.

* Everyone rolls *Perception* during their watch in the night
	+ **T'Chuck** - 24
		- His watch passes uneventfully.
	+ **R'Oarc** - 10 + 5
		- She hears Thaldin coughing lightly.
	+ **Screech** - 21
		- He finds Thaldin suffocating on moss.
	+ **Screech** (again) - 19
		- The rest of his watch passes uneventfully.
	+ **T'Chuck** (again) - 22
		- The only thing he hears is Thaldin's coughing and wheezing.

* **R'Oarc** rolls *Medicine* to write something in the note about Thaldin's coughing - 4
	+ She writes a suggestion to rub menthol on his chest.

* **Screech** rolls *Medicine* to pressure point Thaldin again - 15
	+ He's knocked out again.

* **Screech** rolls *Arcana* to see what would happen if they *Revivify* someone who died from a disease - 16
	+ He's pretty sure that it wouldn't make the disease go away.

* **Selene** rolls *Perception* to see if she can see what's inside the enclosed pen - 16
	+ She sees cobwebs, and a huge spider on the ceiling, wearing a saddle. And little boots.