Post by BB on Dec 11, 2019 20:40:26 GMT
The whole group is standing there in the pouring rain at night, the water having long soaked into them, slime and mud staining the lower half of their clothes. Taz is walking two manacled half-orc ladies up to the high priest and the other followers of Umberlee. The manacled women have not stopped muttering and twitching since they were picked up and dragged back from the Frog Bog.
As Taz hands them over to the High Priest Donovan, the captives are respectfully taken away and the group turns to walk away, but BB hesitates and watches. She focuses on the symbol of Umberlee stamped and woven into the clothing of the followers in front of her, then she also turns to follow her group as they walk away from the pier.
I knew I wouldnât particularly enjoy whatever mission the high priest would set as debt for helping Wil. What I didnât expect was a literal life for a life in the name of Umberlee.
To set the context for this I guess Iâll actually mention what the mission involved. Donovan sent me a letter to meet him at the old pier at Port Ffirst on the next moonless night. I assumed I would meet the others there.
At the pier I certainly do meet Taz, Wil and Bones, though no sign of Bogg. They also brought along Faye who was looking very well dressed and Sheryl who I have not met before (also very well dressed). Sheâs a very nice halfling lady with a lyre and a lovely singing voice, something which I appreciated in the not so uplifting circumstance we had ended up in.
So at the pier we are met by High Priest Donovan and two other hooded figures who take us by boat to another safe location. The two hooded figures eventually reveal themselves (through pure annoyance at us enjoying each others company) as paladin Gara and cleric Kiera.
Once at this safe location Donovan goes though the truth of what happened with the merchants, the Falks from Baldurâs Gate, that had the jade demon stone and were visiting the Frog Bog. Turns out they werenât merchants at all and had been using the templeâs help to complete an evil ritual to make an avatar for Azathoth. Though Donovan was obviously very angry at being fooled, his main concern was what happened to his acolytes after they had escorted these merchants into the Frog Bog and the site of the ritual.
The three acolytes had developed a rapid and aggressive fever that wouldnât go away, and after about 10 days they went deranged and starting rambling on and on in Abyssal. They then killed priests of Umberlee and tried to run away! They caught one before they fled, but the other two got free, and are probably in the Frog Bog.
I was okay with retrieving these two acolytes (two paladin sisters), absolutely fine with it, my main issue is what would happen to them when they got brought back. Donovan said that because they killed a priest of Umberlee, they would have to be killed themselves, as is the will of Umberlee. Like what?! He even acknowledges that they did while overtaken by madness, but it still has to be done. How can you apply such black and white rules to a world that is the biggest mix of grey.
I was also extremely concerned about what would happen to Tobin and Lapis. If they have this same fever will they also meet the same fate?? I canât even comprehend what to do if that happened!
After a few more words with Donovan we set off towards the Frog Bog, aiming to get there before midnight and before the ritual was supposed to start (according to another diary left behind by the Falks). We had to take the quick route through that only took an hour, past the warning signs, to accomplish that.
As we approached the ritual site the torrential rain and rolling fog made it difficult to see, and the thick mud caused Faye to take quite the tumble. Add the moonless night to the equation and we were really struggling to make sense of the place we encountered. Faye said there were two hooded figures stabbing a blackened corpse at a table, chanting something about Azathoth. So we surrounded the area (in a very professional circle formation might I add) and then pounced before it was too late!
When we literally tripped on the hidden slime tentacle it all got a bit chaotic. Between us we eventually took down the slime, but not before it got some strong slimey whacks in. The two acolytes were there as predicted, they were the hooded ones standing around the table, so Taz restrained them pretty quickly before they hurt anyone else or themselves.
The table they were at had a piece missing, the jade stone piece I currently had strapped to my side. Luckily I think this meant they couldn't complete the ritual, but I certainly held onto it a bit tighter.
After I thought we were done, we found another piece to this mystery, a random man in a well who everyone was very suspicious of. Faye said they smelt sulphur on him, so Bones threw a fireball in the well. I was too busy trying to stop one of the paladins dragging themselves to the well to intervene, but I guess everyone was right to be suspicious because then a big red slime emerged from the well.
This one was different from the other, it could do mind speak and mind control magic and it definitely seemed smarter. It also said âI have arrivedâ, which was odd because it had already been waiting around a while in the bottom of the well.
Also Wil nearly died again! If he keeps putting himself in too much danger like this I will not hesitate to turn into a giant owl and just carry him away at this point. Luckily this time we had Sheryl and her lovely healing words around to help, and magic daggers, those were pretty cool too.
So anyway, we finally got rid of this slime as well and some sort of peace finally settled around the ritual clearing we were in. I had managed to calm down the conscious paladin by charming them with the snake amulet I have, but I wasnât getting much out of them. It seemed the Abyssal sickness they were afflicted with had run its course for too long, I donât think they would ever recover easily from this. At the time my concerns for Tobinâs and Lapisâ recovery were deepened.
Taz then hoisted up the unconscious paladin sister onto his shoulders and between all of us we managed to escort the second one back to Donovan and the others at the pier. As we handed the sisters over in the torrential rain I couldnât help but hesitate as the others turned to leave. I know none of us particularly liked that this was the way we were paying back the debt, and I know that we couldnât go back on the deal we had made. I know these sisters had chosen to worship Umberlee, they knew the judgements she passed.
It still felt so wrong, and yet I felt so powerless to change anything. And as the symbol of Umberlee kept floating in front of me on the clothing and armor of her followers on the pier I decided then and there.
I really hate Umberlee.
Much Love,
BB
P.S. When I got back to New Hillborrow I was so relieved to find that Tobin and Lapis had managed to break free of the fever that had taken hold of them. Though still very shaken from the whole experience, weâre expecting that theyâll be able to make a full recovery. At least something happy came out of this whole ordeal.
P.P.S. Iâve kept hold of the jade stone piece and will be mounting it on the wall of the flower shack. It deactivated the moment we took down the red slime in the well, so whatever summoning ritual was happening we managed to stop. Thank bloominâ goodness.
As Taz hands them over to the High Priest Donovan, the captives are respectfully taken away and the group turns to walk away, but BB hesitates and watches. She focuses on the symbol of Umberlee stamped and woven into the clothing of the followers in front of her, then she also turns to follow her group as they walk away from the pier.
--
I knew I wouldnât particularly enjoy whatever mission the high priest would set as debt for helping Wil. What I didnât expect was a literal life for a life in the name of Umberlee.
To set the context for this I guess Iâll actually mention what the mission involved. Donovan sent me a letter to meet him at the old pier at Port Ffirst on the next moonless night. I assumed I would meet the others there.
At the pier I certainly do meet Taz, Wil and Bones, though no sign of Bogg. They also brought along Faye who was looking very well dressed and Sheryl who I have not met before (also very well dressed). Sheâs a very nice halfling lady with a lyre and a lovely singing voice, something which I appreciated in the not so uplifting circumstance we had ended up in.
So at the pier we are met by High Priest Donovan and two other hooded figures who take us by boat to another safe location. The two hooded figures eventually reveal themselves (through pure annoyance at us enjoying each others company) as paladin Gara and cleric Kiera.
Once at this safe location Donovan goes though the truth of what happened with the merchants, the Falks from Baldurâs Gate, that had the jade demon stone and were visiting the Frog Bog. Turns out they werenât merchants at all and had been using the templeâs help to complete an evil ritual to make an avatar for Azathoth. Though Donovan was obviously very angry at being fooled, his main concern was what happened to his acolytes after they had escorted these merchants into the Frog Bog and the site of the ritual.
The three acolytes had developed a rapid and aggressive fever that wouldnât go away, and after about 10 days they went deranged and starting rambling on and on in Abyssal. They then killed priests of Umberlee and tried to run away! They caught one before they fled, but the other two got free, and are probably in the Frog Bog.
I was okay with retrieving these two acolytes (two paladin sisters), absolutely fine with it, my main issue is what would happen to them when they got brought back. Donovan said that because they killed a priest of Umberlee, they would have to be killed themselves, as is the will of Umberlee. Like what?! He even acknowledges that they did while overtaken by madness, but it still has to be done. How can you apply such black and white rules to a world that is the biggest mix of grey.
I was also extremely concerned about what would happen to Tobin and Lapis. If they have this same fever will they also meet the same fate?? I canât even comprehend what to do if that happened!
After a few more words with Donovan we set off towards the Frog Bog, aiming to get there before midnight and before the ritual was supposed to start (according to another diary left behind by the Falks). We had to take the quick route through that only took an hour, past the warning signs, to accomplish that.
As we approached the ritual site the torrential rain and rolling fog made it difficult to see, and the thick mud caused Faye to take quite the tumble. Add the moonless night to the equation and we were really struggling to make sense of the place we encountered. Faye said there were two hooded figures stabbing a blackened corpse at a table, chanting something about Azathoth. So we surrounded the area (in a very professional circle formation might I add) and then pounced before it was too late!
When we literally tripped on the hidden slime tentacle it all got a bit chaotic. Between us we eventually took down the slime, but not before it got some strong slimey whacks in. The two acolytes were there as predicted, they were the hooded ones standing around the table, so Taz restrained them pretty quickly before they hurt anyone else or themselves.
The table they were at had a piece missing, the jade stone piece I currently had strapped to my side. Luckily I think this meant they couldn't complete the ritual, but I certainly held onto it a bit tighter.
After I thought we were done, we found another piece to this mystery, a random man in a well who everyone was very suspicious of. Faye said they smelt sulphur on him, so Bones threw a fireball in the well. I was too busy trying to stop one of the paladins dragging themselves to the well to intervene, but I guess everyone was right to be suspicious because then a big red slime emerged from the well.
This one was different from the other, it could do mind speak and mind control magic and it definitely seemed smarter. It also said âI have arrivedâ, which was odd because it had already been waiting around a while in the bottom of the well.
Also Wil nearly died again! If he keeps putting himself in too much danger like this I will not hesitate to turn into a giant owl and just carry him away at this point. Luckily this time we had Sheryl and her lovely healing words around to help, and magic daggers, those were pretty cool too.
So anyway, we finally got rid of this slime as well and some sort of peace finally settled around the ritual clearing we were in. I had managed to calm down the conscious paladin by charming them with the snake amulet I have, but I wasnât getting much out of them. It seemed the Abyssal sickness they were afflicted with had run its course for too long, I donât think they would ever recover easily from this. At the time my concerns for Tobinâs and Lapisâ recovery were deepened.
Taz then hoisted up the unconscious paladin sister onto his shoulders and between all of us we managed to escort the second one back to Donovan and the others at the pier. As we handed the sisters over in the torrential rain I couldnât help but hesitate as the others turned to leave. I know none of us particularly liked that this was the way we were paying back the debt, and I know that we couldnât go back on the deal we had made. I know these sisters had chosen to worship Umberlee, they knew the judgements she passed.
It still felt so wrong, and yet I felt so powerless to change anything. And as the symbol of Umberlee kept floating in front of me on the clothing and armor of her followers on the pier I decided then and there.
I really hate Umberlee.
Much Love,
BB
P.S. When I got back to New Hillborrow I was so relieved to find that Tobin and Lapis had managed to break free of the fever that had taken hold of them. Though still very shaken from the whole experience, weâre expecting that theyâll be able to make a full recovery. At least something happy came out of this whole ordeal.
P.P.S. Iâve kept hold of the jade stone piece and will be mounting it on the wall of the flower shack. It deactivated the moment we took down the red slime in the well, so whatever summoning ritual was happening we managed to stop. Thank bloominâ goodness.
