Jasper picked himself up from the sand and began exploring. He wasn’t sure where he was, but since he seemed surprisingly uninjured (given his last memory) the next step was a little poking around. He almost immediately came upon the form of Shadowheart laying in the sand. She was holding… something.. tightly and possessively. Probably whatever she had taken and been so evasive about back on the ship. For now he was more concerned with her health. She looked a bit battered – like him – but was breathing. He gently woke her up. She sat up with a start, quickly hid her “treasure”, and then focused on him.
She thanked him for helping her in the ship, and suggested they stick together while looking for a “healer” of some kind who might be able to tell them more about their infection. But she was sure of one thing – they had been impregnated with Illithid larvae. If not treated soon they would turn into Mind Flayers themselves – which would include the deaths of their personalities.
Jasper asked if she had seen their other companion on board ship – the Githyanki Lae’zel – but Shadowheart just scoffed. “We’re better off without her. Trust me on that. The last thing we need is Gith skulking about.” Jasper wasn’t inclined to let any leads go so easily, but kept his opinion to himself.
They explored the wreckage of the ship a bit, but there did not appear too much of use remaining. A few odds and ends. One dying Mind Flayer which weakly attempted control Jasper before they put it out of its misery. But not much that gave them any useful information. There were a number of damaged or crushed pods like that from which they had escaped – indicating that there had been other captives on board. They resolved to search the area for other survivors in earnest.
While exploring the nearby hills, they met an overly friendly elf who asked if they could help dispose of an Intellect Devourer hiding in the brush. Jasper saw no signs of any such thing, and so told the man he looked like he could handle it himself. At which point the elf hurled himself at Jasper with dagger drawn! Jasper just managed to tumble out of the way when they both were overcome with another mind-meld episode. The man introduced himself as Astarion, and claimed he thought they had been in league with the Illithid. He laughed strangely when they explained what the “tadpoles” in their heads would eventually do to them. And somehow thought they could use the “powers” it might give them in the meantime. Jasper had no intention of allowing the parasite in his head any slack in the slightest. Astarion insisted they needed to stick together to look for a cure, and Shadowheart agreed. Jasper was not at all enthused about this new companion, but for now he resolved to merely keep an eye on him.
Further exploration brought them to a swirling portal in the rocky side of a hill. It was noisy and erratic, but Jasper could distinctly hear a voice inside. A voice calling for help! He reached out with his arcane senses and stabilized the portal, and a hand reached out! He grasped it and pulled as hard as he could, and before long a robed man flew out and tumbled to the ground.
After picking himself up and dusting himself off he introduced himself as the wizard “Gale”. And a quick moment of familiar confusion confirmed that he too was a tadpole bearer. He said he had been trying to escape the crashing ship with a teleportation spell, but in the hurry and confusion he had messed up the spell – hence his predicament. He asked Jasper how he had survived the crash. Jasper’s answer – “Just lucky, I guess” – didn’t seem to satisfy him, but he shrugged and accepted it.
They heard shouting from a hill nearby, and hurried to see what was up. As it turns out, the answer was all too literal. A pair of tieflings were looking up and debating what they had caught in a trap – Lae’zel!
Jasper talked them into believing Lae’zel was an advance scout for a Githyanki raiding party, and they would *not* want to be here when her compatriots arrived… Lae’zel was not pleased to have been found in such a position, and she and Shadowheart glared at each other again. But the “stick together so we can figure out together out how to cure ourselves” logic remained sound.
Lae’zel claimed there was a Githyanki creche hidden nearby, which would have the capability to diagnose and cure their condition. Jasper was not at all certainly they were likely to find aid among the Githyanki. Certainly not without price. But it was a lead, and they couldn’t afford to be too choosy.
They eventually came upon the ruins of an old monastery or temple. Bandits could be heard inside arguing over the merits of raiding the crashed Nautiloid ship. When they noticed Jasper and company approaching, he sauntered up as if he hadn’t a care in the world. The bandit chief growled that the “loot” was theirs, and perhaps Jasper should turn out his pockets as well. Jasper just casually wondered what sort of military contingent would have been likely to have been manning a ship of that size. And just who might come looking for it… And how brave the bandits were for being willing to take on Mind Flayers and Githyanki… The bandits looked at their chief in shock, and then chose the better part of valor. Jasper just chuckled to himself. Bigfolk could be so gullible.
Inside they found more bandits ransacking the monastery, but they were able to ambushed and dispense with them in short order.
Inside they found what appeared to be a temple of a long forgotten god. It appeared to be a god of death/afterlife, but looked nothing like Myrkul or any other death god of which they knew.
They found a hidden alcove in the back, but upon opening it the dead monks came to life and attacked from all about the room!
When they had fought off the skeletal assault, they entered the alcove – and found an ancient sarcophagus in a small sepulchre. When Jasper entered, the sarcophagus opened and a frightening figure floated out. But rather than attacking it simply looked at Jasper expectantly and commented, “An interesting way to awaken”. It gave vague non-answers as to its identity, and asked its own question in return, “What is the worth of a single mortal’s life?” Jasper paused. “Infinite of course. Each is unique.” To which the being only replied “Fascinating. We will meet again at the proper time”. And then lazily flew away.
An odd encounter indeed.
Back outside they could hear shouting and the sounds of battle in the distance, so they ran to see what was happening. Coming around a bend in the path between two small hills they could see a small group of adventurers running from a large group of goblins.
As they charged in to help, another man leapt down from a ledge above, referring to himself in the first person as “The Blade of Frontiers” and dispatching a goblin with his rapier, They took advantage of the distraction to attack from the other side.
Jasper decided a little grease would liven things up, slowing the influx of goblins to a more manageable trickle.
And when the initial rush was defeated they all made a run for the gates before more goblins appeared.
Inside a tiefling man was arguing with the leader of the adventurers – apparently angry with him for leading the goblins to the doors of their refuge. Jasper let them vent at each other for a while, and then gently suggested that duking it out was perhaps not the best way of maintaining their defences in the face of the goblin threat…
The adventurer stalked off in a huff, while the tiefling introduced himself as Zevlor – the leader of a group of tiefling refugees being sheltered in the small druid grove community. He said the druids were considering a ritual to force outsiders out of the grove – blaming the tieflings for causing trouble and bringing the goblins down upon them. He also told them the druids had a lot of expertise in healing magic, and might be able to help them with their own problem. So Jasper resolved to speak with the leader of the druids – a woman named Kagha – about both issues.
Before engaging with the residents, Jasper conferred with the local fauna. An irate squirrel had much to say about intrusions on his nut-gathering territory, from which Jasper learned that there had been much arguing and upheaval among the residents of late. A bluebird told him there were multiple factions at odds within the resident druids – with the animals decidedly preferring the old leader – a large elf they all knew as “the bear man” – to the new one they called “snake woman”.
A mob of angry tieflings was at the entrance to the inner druid circle, being held back by shapeshifted druids. Apparently there was a tiefling on trial for some sort of theft? The druids let Jasper through, as apparently Kagha had sent word she wanted to speak with him. But when he found her in the druidic sanctum, she was literally threatening a young tiefling girl with a viper!!
Jasper forcefully objected to the whole situation, reminding Kagha of the Druidic Law – known well to forest gnomes – pertaining to children. She reluctantly backed down, but informed him that it was now *his* responsibility to get the tieflings to leave. Goblin army or no. He was beginning to dislike these druids… He also noted that Kagha was followed by three rat familiars… all of whom refused to respond when he addressed them…
Another druid thanked him for intervening, saying that Kagha had but recently become leader after the previous leader – an elf named Halsin – disappeared investigating the goblin threat. Many of them were not happy with Kagha’s leadership, but none were strong enough to oppose her. He also told them that the Druid circle’s resident healer – a dwarf woman named Nettie – could potentially help them with their own issue.
When they went to see Nettie she initially told them she could help. And she had a dead drow in her chambers which had been infected in a similar manner. But it ultimately turned out that she knew of no cure, and in fact according to everything she knew they should *already* have been transformed. Halsin had actually been trying to find out more about someone or something called “The Absolute” – who had been recruiting the goblin army and whose lieutenants were primarily infected in a similar manner as Jasper and his companions. If they could find Halsin, he might have more information for them. Halsin’s return could also resolve the issue with the tieflings, as it had been he who had granted them sanctuary in the first place – over Kagha’s objections.
Before leaving Jasper decided to poke around a bit in Kagha’s private quarters. Something smelled fishy about her. A little illusion of himself reading in the library, together with the others asking irritating questions of the guards, gave him the distraction he needed to slip in, pick the lock on her personal chest, and snoop. Inside he found a half-torn note from someone named Olodan, arranging a meeting at a location in the swamp. And the signature was accompanied by a sigil Jasper recognized as being used by Shadow Druids… Kagha was definitely not all she seemed…
They had a lot to think about, and on the way out they ran into “The Blade of Frontiers” again – training young tieflings how to fight. He introduced himself as Wyll, and another mind-merge episode confirmed that he too had been one of the Illithid’s experiments. They brought him up to speed, and he agreed that it was time to do some outside investigations. But first, a little shopping. They needed some better gear, and Jasper was in desperate need of a new hat!!
Author’s Notes:
Still settling in on how to best render everyone. Style is tending towards Clyde Caldwell, Larry Elmore, and “Dragonlance” – with Elmore particularly stepping in whenever Jasper starts having fun. Lae’zel is a pain in the butt to render, but long term she’s only going to play a large part when we really need a githyanki in the party. She and Jasper do *not* see eye to eye on much at the moment. Astarion has also been surprisingly difficult, but since Jasper likes him even less than Lae’zel that’s no big loss. Shadowheart is easy. Gale and Wyll are straightforward. And that’ll serve until we pick up Karlach.
Jasper alternates between “midget”, “halfling”, and occasionally “teen dwarf”. Every time I try “gnome” – in any art style – I get a living lawn ornament.
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