Brelich Shadowdark Session 14

So RJ was missing this session and so we all thought that the normal sexual shenanigans would be missing. Unfortunately, they were not. To deal with him missing, Markus went where, literally, no man has been before and then, to deal with his return the last session, went where one man has gone before…at least it has only been one in ALL of the campaigns that I have ever run. Oh, there were a few other things too…parsley harvesting, hunter homicide, some naked hot-tubbing with kobolds, and a blast from the past NPC summoned by one of the players. Oh, this session was a few weeks ago so the details below the break are a bit sparse and sketchy.

As mentioned above, RJ was missing so we removed Markus for the evening’s activities in perhaps the most Markus of ways. There will, obviously, be spoilers for Nightmare Over Ragged Hollow from The Merry Mushmen along with our mangling of this very fine adventure. My GM comments, as always, are in italics.

91st of Summer

• The party is still attempting to “escape” Arvid’s tomb. Markus tries to recover the rope which the black ooze is crawling up. He then tries to throw the rope back in, but it is too late.
  • The ooze–which we have taken to calling Yasha Tar in a blatant Star Trek reference)–engulfs Markus.
    • Almost immediately, the ooze/Markus combination starts making, um, bucking motions and, well, various moaning noises. The rest of the group just turns around and leaves.
• The more productive members of the party head to the stairs where the kobold tracks lead down into the mountain.
  • They enter an oddly constructed room with angular designs on the walls and small glowing crystals. Mining sounds come from a tunnel leading deeper in.
  • Proceeding, their light gives away their approach to some kobolds. They can hear creatures scurrying about and a couple of shouts in a language they do not understand.
  • A lone kobold steps out and says something in that same language. The party responds that they just want to talk. To parley.
    • The kobold says, “Parsley?”
    • No, parley.
    • Rather excited, the kobold insists, “Parsley!” Other kobolds come into the cavern and they all start chanting “Parsley! Parsley!”
    • A leader comes and he speaks Common. A discussion is had. The party and the kobolds agree to not be enemies, that the nearby tomb is a very bad place and no one should go there, and that the kobolds would really really like some parsley.
      • Dieter recalls that there was a garden outside of Olias’ hut. The stew the trapper had tried to knock them out with was very, very good so there had to be some herbs.
      • The party tells the kobolds that they will go and get some parsely, but that they won’t be back until tomorrow night.
      • Guurr, the kobold leader, agrees that this is acceptable.
      • The party camps in the kobold caverns. (I think.)

1st of Fall

• During the night, Marlena had a horrible nightmare that her sister, who is trapped in Ragged Hollow’s Temple, was killed in an incredibly painful and graphic manner.
• The party avoids Arvid’s Tomb as there are still odd noises emanating from within. They make their way to Olias’ hut.
  • On the way, a gang of kids…Black Goat of Doom kids to be exact…begin to follow the party. They keep eyeing Dieter with their third eyes.
  • The group arrives at the hut. Olias is not around, but Wunderbar, the pig, is in her pen.
  • The garden does, indeed, have quite a bit of parsley, garlic, and some other tasty stew ingredients. Dieter keeps watch, although he gets distracted by the kids who are getting a little playful with him, as Liesl and Marlena do some harvesting.
  • Wunderbar pays no mind to all of this activity until she suddenly snorts a couple of times, looking past the harvesters. Olias has returned.
    • Liesl and Marlena try to make a run for it, but Olias is able to all but catch Marlena. A quick fight ensues and the homicidal trapper is defeated.
    • While everyone thinks that’s a good thing, it does leave the question of who will take care of Wunderbar. The group decides that they’ll definitely take her back to Ragged Hollow with them, but it’ll be at least a couple of days before they can do that. Can she stay here and survive on her own that long?
      • (It was right around now that Rachel did it. She said the forbidden name. A name similar to Beetlejuice, but instead of summoning by saying it three times, it only takes one. Rachel said Nefton…or at least mentioned something about pigs and wives You can learn more about Nefton in this campaign recap from years ago. Rachel is going to deny that she brought up Nefton, but I’m sticking with this as it is how I remember it going.)
      • A somewhat awkward individuals arrives and introduces himself as Nefton and immediately shares his most embarrassing moment despite being encouraged by past friends to not do so, “I thought it was a wife, but it was a pig.” He offers to watch Wunderbar for the group and promises to engage in no unwanted, uncouth, or any other activities involving intimate relations between a pig and a man.
  • The group heads back to Mount Mourn.
    • The kids follow along with the party.
    • Along the way, the kids suddenly freeze and look up. A female ogre is up on one of the mountain slopes. The party and herd quickly hustle away. She says something about Nefton…it is his wife. What?!? What?!? What!!!
  • The kobolds welcome them with open arms…metaphorically.
    • The kobolds have been digging for liquid gold…some sort of oil. They use it for cooking. A wonderful dish is prepared using this oil, supplies the kobolds already had, and the harvest brought by the party. It is delicious…a parsley pesto paired with mushroom bread.
    • After dinner, the party is shown more of the caverns. One has a series of steaming pools. The kobolds strip down naked and enter the pools to relax. The party is invited to do so as well and accepts. The pools are quite soothing.
      • Except one pool. That pool has a swarm of flesh-eating fish and is to be avoided at all costs. Plus, watch out for the tripwire just in front of the pool.
      • Guurr, with him the party is sharing a pool, scoops up some mud and draws a symbol on the forehead of each party member. They are now members of the tribe. The mark glows in the scintillating light emanating from the pool and the party can see that each kobold has the same mark.
      • Guurr also gives the group a pair of gifts. One is an articulated grappling hook fashioned to look like a dragon claw. The other is gold ring fashioned to look like a series of drips of water connected end to end.
  • Refreshed, with full bellies, and gifts in hand (including the tribal tattoos that only the cool kids have), the party bids their new friends farewell and heads to Olias’ hut.
    • Nefton is still there. To the surprise of the party, Markus is as well. Markus is passed out and spooning Wunderbar. Nefton shares that the three of them may have had a little too much fishwine last night. Additionally, Markus may have thought it was a wife, but it was a Wunderbar.
    • Shaking their heads, the trio heads into Olias’ hut with the intentions of looking into the trapper’s “taxidermy” room.
    • They are able to recover pretty much all of the items of value on the various bodies within without any real incident or ghosts trying to kill them.
    • The party heads back outside and is ready to head back to Ragged Hollow.
      • First, they’ll need to wake up Markus who is clinging tightly to Wunderbar with a stupid grin on his face.

And I believe that is where we ended the session.

None of the players involved, including myself, felt that Markus was ever portrayed out of character.

When the party asked to parley with the kobolds, the response of parsley just blurted out of my mouth. I think it turned into a much more fun encounter than just fighting the kobolds. The players agreed.