DM: Genthrock
Date: 05 March 2022
Quest Objective: Requested by Samus to retrieve clothing left behind at a farmstead house to the north of Ruined Oak (was not an armored woman warrior that fought aberrations that could roll up into a ball and fire beams).
Party: Nunde was leader and trailblazer.
Sapphire was scout.
Vivi was cartographer.
Xavier was chronicler.
Bar’Sah was a new adventurer, which seemed to be case from her awkwardness. She had a clockwork owl.
Day 1:
Day was snowy.
By evening, we arrived at a farmstead. Fence around house. Area that still looked well maintained with fresh hay and fabric that prevented weathering. No people were visible as field was empty. Bloodstains were old, indicating past conflict. Ground was soaked with blood though. It seemed blood was forcefully shoved into ground at one point, almost as if something got pulled into ground… Nunde mentioned something about slivers pulling monsters underground. Slivers were at times called eaters of worlds. Nunde warned about them morphing into other slivers if other slivers were around and to watch out for slivers burrowing under you and pulling you down.
On an unrelated note, Vivi disappeared for a minute, leaving behind his clothes and then appeared after a golden cat appeared on Vivi’s head. I decided to try talking to it tomorrow after preparing a spell.
We went into the house, which reminded others of mansions in Waterdeep. We saw a figure inside. Opening the door, an elderly gentleman greeted us. He said he served Reginald. Samus was said to be a stable boy that cared for animals. Odd that he said boy, for Samus (pronounced Shay-mus) was an older person. The butler gentleman said his name was Seph (reminded me of a talking horse I heard of once..).
A mustached man with a blustering voice named Reginald III greeted us, who was the master of Seph. It seems Samus left his belongings when he left. It was unclear why he didn’t take them since Reginald had been gone hunting recently.
We took off our shoes due to his request and entered the house. Reginald allowed us to retrieve Samus’s belongings in the southern room. Nunde went to get it. Seph played the piano elegantly. I requested tea, and Seph went to get it. He brought out the tea with cheese. I thanked him and compimented the tea.
Reginald asked if we knew why Samus was quitting. We said we did not know. He asked if he could study Vivi for a book, but Vivi declined like a bozo. He was concerned that Samus had not sent a message or reason for leaving. It was an awkward moment for us. In return for taking Samus’s suitcase, he wanted us to take care of monsters plaguing the area that were likely slivers and constricters. Ate monsters and transformed them into something worse.
Reginald gave us cards of famous adventurers and made a game based on them (Tiers 3 and 4 characters for game similar to Magic the Gathering) such as Chemist, Naal, Eight, Bardy, Joule, Katla and Nog. The drawings were mediocre, but I appreciated the sentiments. Got basic information about adventurers from listening to others in town. It didn’t seem like a huge abuse of information.
There was a symbol of a staff with a snake around it. Reginald knew of the famous figure Volo as well. We agreed to try to drive out the slivers. Bar’sah asked if Reginald could help, not realising that clients usually don’t help with the quests they themselves issue. I spoke this in Elvish, which noone else understood.
During the night, I tried to talk to owl, but it was asleep despite being nocturnal. I asked the golden cat how and why it came out of Vivi. It replied, “Curious. Interesting.” It had no name and seemed to have been with Vivi for a while. Cat disappeared at one point before I could splash it. It stepped on Sapphire as it left. I told her about that and reassured her that it was not in a weird way. She asked what would be a weird way. Realising I had said something awkward, I entered my trance for the night. Seph cleaned my cloak and other clothes.
Day 2:
The next day, Reginald had left for other business. We went downstairs for food. Vivi found a staircase going underground. We went into a dungeon with torture devices like an iron maiden. We wondered if Reginald had a sadist fetish. Sapphire then saw human skeletons in a jail cell and was concerned.
Found a note written in Common but coded. There was also a symbol seen before of a snake wrapped around a staff. Nunde suggested it belonged to a cult.
The code:
CkvfknyboSxcdokn oxdob dro oxdbkxmo drkd sc k pog wsvoc dy dro xybdr okcd yp dro msbmvon vymkdsyx, sdc vymkdon xybdr yp dro rsvvc. Drobo sc k lkmu oxdbkmo, go rkfo cod ez k cwkvv mkwz yx dro ohdobsyb gsdr lbydrobc kxn nopoxmoc pyb kxi exgovmywon qeocdc. Zvokco lo mkbopev ezyx oxdobsxq kc go gkxd dy uooz kc wkxi dbkzc cod ez kc zyccslvo dy wksxdksx drsc kbok. Go kbo vyyusxq pyb ydrob gkic yed kxn gkic dy oxdob noozob sxdy drsc mbizd wkxi nyybc kbo vymuon led rkfo exmyfobon k pog comdsyxc drec pkb, yvn byywc go rkfo dbkxcpybwon sxdy vynqsxq, kx kbok Wb Myvoc pyvvygobc rkfo mvkswon kxn k cdbkxqo bsdekv byyw go rkfo rsqrob bkxusxq wowlobc gybusxq yx coosxq grkd mkx lo kmmoccon robo.
Ezyx kbbsfsxq dy dro vymkdsyx dy dro besxc drobo kbo dgy uxygx oxdbkxmoc. Yxo k lsd wybo sx dro yzox, drboo lbsnqoc drkd vokn sxdy grkd vyyuc vsuo gkc yxmo dro wksx oxdbkxmo, nyxd oxdob drobo go rkfo xyd mvokbon drkd iod kc dro psbcd byyw sc myfobon sx golc kxn k wyxcdob czsnob rkc usvvon k pog wowlobc kvbokni. Go gsvv eco drsc kc k dbkz dy kxi exgovmywon qeocdc
Xog ybnobc, rokn dy dro xogvi kmaesbon mbizd go rkfo bomoxdvi nscmyfobon xybdr yp dro zbofsyec pkvvox dbslo lvyyn oio. Sp wowolobc rkfo kxi xog bombesdc wkuo cebo dy crkbo dro wycd eznkdon mszrob gsdr drow cy go nyxd vyyco kxi xog lbydrobc yb cscdobc cy droi nyxd zobscr.
Wowlobc
The Code
We decided to head north as mentioned in Reginald’s letter to look for slivers to chase out in return for the food and beds. We witnessed slivers consuming plants, engorging in size and then reverting back to their original sizes. Disturbing sight. Nunde got closer. They noticed him but did not seem to mind him, growing buffer as we discussed what to do. Bar’Sah wanted to flee, but the rest of us felt we should deal with them, so we fought.
We managed to kill a few slivers, while the others ran away by burrowing. One sliver tried to swallow Sapphire, almost fusing with her flesh and trying to wrest control of her body but she managed to get away from it. There was a tunnel made by slivers, but it had collapsed. The golden cat teleported away while we fought. It’s an annoying beast, but it disappearing was probably for the best. We found some money and a potion on the bodies.
We returned to the house of Reginald, where Reginald and Seph were still gone. There was a pouch of gold and gems and a note from Reginald saying that the gold was in thanks for taking the quest. He trusted us and warned not to break his trust. I wrote a note thanking Reginald and Seph for the sack of gold and said that the sliver head left behind by Nunde was proof that the slivers were driven out. Probably. I burned the rest of the bodies with Bar’Sah.
We returned to town by nighttime, and Samus gave us gold in return for it. Bar’Sah asked why Samus had left the house and job as stable boy for Reginald without taking his possessions. Samus, who had a lisp, said that the previous adventurers had intimidated him, so he had not taken his belongings out of fear of them. He thanked us and went about his way, now without his job as stable hand.