Ep 1303: Squirming, tantrums, and scrying ...

Wow, it has been awhile hasn't it? Work weirdness, summer holiday vacations, and/or schedule conflicts have kept off of our game so to speak. In fact, today we were still one short, the gentleman who plays Magnus was unable to attend.

When we left this crew last -- in real time, a month ago, in game time we're mid-swing deep in combat -- we were fighting a crew of Gronk and a two headed gargantuan frog. Most of the Gronk were dead, there's 3 left, and the two headed frog is very unpleased with us. Magnus is next to the gargantuan frog, Tsedek is about 20' away, Itanis about 80' away, Leoven is in the air on Magnus' mount Storm, and Elle is in the frog's mouth.

So first up is Tsedek and he wades back into the fray, dashed up next to Magnus and whips the snot out of the gargantuan frog. Leoven proceeds to just unleash on the frog with his arrows from on high, does over 80hp of damage in 2 long bow shots.

Itanis casts his impervious sphere spell on Elle. Now, she's in the dark in a frog's mouth and oblivious to what's going on outside. However at the tingle of magic she makes the decision to accept it since the frog has shown no magical tendencies. So suddenly the acid and items floating around stay away from her.

The cranky gargantuan frog then decides to ensnare Tsedek in one of his tentacle arms and try to bite him. Now, it was able to grapple Tsedek easily even as he squirmed like a kid that didn't want to be picked up, but alas Tsedek unsuccessful in avoiding being grappled. The frog's bites at Tsedek proved to be too difficult though, he really is a slippery Tiefling. The sphere encapsulating Elle starts moving but she's all turned about so she has no idea if she's being spit out or swallowed.

Not knowing if she was being spit out or swallowed, and knowing she can't cast/do spells through the sphere, Elle does a quick run through of her options and proceeds to dimension door her way out of the frog mouth and onto the back of Storm the Gryphon. Itanis quickly drops the protection of the sphere at Elle's bellow and she lands securely on Storm behind Leoven, much to his surprise.

Next up was Magnus' turn and he proceeds to smash down on the frog for a fair chunk of damage ... killing it dead. As Tsedek was getting out of the tentacle the bush clinging to the side of the mountain suddenly shook itself loose and addressed us. We kinda gaped for a moment but the bush turned out to be an Oleander Dragon.

The dragon addressed us, informing us that we were a bit quick on the draw with this group, and that if we'd move out of the way it would show us. Naturally, we didn't really trust it, but Magnus was super insightful this day and decided the creature was telling the truth. So we moved out of the way to let this dragon show us what it meant.

It then blew a pollen like substance over the dead froggoid and gronk ... and they all were restored to life. Not undead, actual life. They then proceed to march down the path and right into the lake of ooze that encapsulates the town we just left. Turns out the Oleander Dragon was just moving these creatures to an environment more suited for them. The dragon takes it's leave.

Well that was certainly interesting.

So we load back up into Tsedek's lobster mechanical creature but just sit there for what seems to be an inordinate amount of time. And then Tsedek essentially throws a temper tantrum and slams his hands down on the steering wheel and storms back out of the lobster. Itanis and Elle just kinda look at each other and nominate Leoven to go talk to Tsedek.

At this point I'm switching to Tsedek's perspective.

Tsedek was disappointed in himself and pissed off (from Elle's perspective maybe that was a temper tantrum). He was mad that he wasted what he thought might have been his one chance to reunite with his brother. He'd been searching for him for years, with no sign, but finally with the mystical power obtained by the tarot cards, he thought he might have a way. What if he just chose to never refuse to go with his brother in the first place, when his brother tried to convince him to leave Hell? He felt that he could change that, but that was years ago. What happens in this world when Tsedek is not here for the last several years? Tsedek's uncertainty at that question caused him him to delay. There may have been a time where he would have made that choice instantly, but he's grown to appreciate this party. More than that, he likes his new friends. But when you are in the maw of a giant beast, you act on instinct. Tsedek's instinct was, as it has been many times in his life, to save himself. He did little more than wish that he'd never been grabbed by the creature in the first place. Poof, it happened. In an instant he realized the true consequences of his decision, and new he had blown it. But there wasn't time for that, because the giant beast was still set on eating his friends. He sprung back into action, yet it wasn't even 12 seconds before he was caught by the beast again. The battle was over shortly after, and a mysterious Oleander dragon appeared before the party, calling them hasty. The dragon then proceeds to essentially erase the entire encounter. The party got back into their vehicle to continue on. Tsedek's stomach sunk. What did he do? How could he have wasted his one chance in such a meaningless circumstance? Was this really it? Was he going to spend the rest of his life separated from his brother, paying for his selfish and unthoughtful decision--refusing to go with him? Tsedek slammed his fist on the dash of the vehicle, and got out of the vehicle, pacing back and forth cursing himself as he walked. Leoven obligatorily stepped out to see what was wrong, and impatiently inquired. Tsedek pauses for a moment, deciding how to respond to the impatience of the question. Does he retreat inward or does he open up. You never know what a family squabble will make you do. That was it. Tsedek was finally starting to feel like he had a bit of a family. He would tell his brother, if only he were here. So he told his friend, despite his impatience. Tsedek shared that many years ago he lived within the city Dis in Hell with his brother. His brother had recently started changing in his attitude and viewpoints, becoming increasingly idealistic and strange. He had made some strange friends, and he grew frustrated with their home. Eventually he came to Tsedek to say he was leaving, and to convince Tsedek to come with. This was Tsedek's home. It wasn't great, it had its problems, but it was familiar. Tsedek knew how to get around here. Upon reflection, Tsedek acknowledged that he was simply afraid of change, and confused about what his brother had gotten in to. They argued. His brother left. Sitting in quiet for several minutes, Tsedek began to regret his decision even then, and left to find his brother. By the time he did, it was too late. He saw the tip of his tail pass into a portal as it closed behind him. Tsedek spent the next several month trying to figure out how to get out of here, and eventually made a deal with a devil (he was in Hell after all). Finally he had a portal to the material plane, and he stepped through and found himself... in deep crap--literally. He wasn't sure where he was, but he was definitely in a sewer. But he was here and could start hunting his brother. He never found him, nor even a sign of him, and now many years have passed. He's done many jobs and killed many monsters. Tsedek continued to explain how he chose to save himself with his "wish", and the full weight of that choice was weighing on him, especially since everything they just did was essentially erased. Suddenly he had a thought. It hadn't occurred to him until now, because of his unfamiliarity with high level magic, but he still had the power to cast some 5th level spells. He'd never put much thought into high level magic. Being an Arcane Trickster he's always dabbled in magic, but only simple things (mechanically speaking it caps out at 4th level). Tsedek just realized that he could attempt to divine his brothers location using Scry. Tsedek informed the party that he needed some time to do something, and he began casting scry, speaking in a chant the words of activation, which he seemed to know, though he never truly studied the spell. Finally after minutes, he revealed the target of he scry. Elle disembarked the lobster at this point as she'd never willingly stay in a mechanical contraption if she didn't have to. "Show me my brother, Malek." As he concentrated, he began to see a small portal open growing slowly, ringed in fire. He'd never cast scry before. This must be right. It must be working.

And that's where it ended today folks! Hopefully we resume next week, but it's full summer so schedules are still a little squirrelly.