I woke up on a mind flayer’s nautiloid and managed to safely crash land onto a beach. There were a pair of adventurers and an intellect devourer named “Us” who helped, but when I awoke on the beach, only 1 adventurer, Shadowheart, and countless dead fisherman could be seen. I woke Shadowheart to question her about our location, but she was equally clueless. We go our separate ways. She is capable, as am I.
After witnessing a pair of intellect devourers murdering 3 tieflings, I continued up the path to find another pair of these abominations. They don’t react to me in any meaningful way, so I do not believe any living one I have yet seen is Us, but there are many, many dead creatures strewn about the beach. I fear Us did not survive the crash as Shadowheart and I did.
I ran across a sigil on a stone, glittering with magic. Curiosity got the better of me, and I touched the rune. Surprisingly a hand reached out and it seems a wizard had gotten himself stuck within some portal. Gale, a wizard of Waterdeep, appeared with some mechanical persuasion. He explained he was also on the nautiloid and had a nightmare tadpole inserted into his eye. I wished him luck and went on my way. Shortly down the road I encountered some treasure hunters, laying claim to the nautiloid wreckage. I wanted to hear nothing of their in-fighting over loot and threatened to reap their souls if they didn’t leave. It seems there are even more inside some old temple nearby. I snuck inside but they are too aggressive to parlay and too numerous to indiscriminately slaughter. I stole the loot they had accumulated so far (including a cape which damages attackers) and continued exploring the area.
I soon found the fate of Lae’zel as she dangled high above the ground in a cage, spitting angry insults at someone. I destroyed the cage from where I stood, and she immediately was struck down by a pair of tieflings; her apparent captors. That sudden violence was unexpected, though I should have anticipated violence after the things I overheard her saying. After the tieflings left, I looted Lae’zel’s scroll of resurrection and brought her back. No good deed goes unpunished, so she berated me with her consistent bad attitude, and I sent her on her way. I don’t have the patience to suffer the company of a bossy, angry space goblin. Find the creche yourself, kid.
Continued exploration brought me to another nautiloid survivor; Astarion, a duplicitous elf with trust issues. It seems he also has a tadpole in his head and a chip on his shoulder that I didn’t want to travel with him. Gale just seeming to be an inept wizard seems to be the only nautiloid survivor who isn’t snarky and rude by default. These unlikeable jerks have reinforced my decision to travel by myself.
It’s a good stopping point, so I will rest and call it a day. More to come tomorrow.
ZDBlog 