Campaign 2, Episode 11: Bad Breath

Episode 11: Bad Breath (2x11) is the eleventh episode of the first arc of the the second Venture Maidens campaign.

Synopsis
The magical house has been found

By a giant that can't make a sound

Will our heroes abandon their lair

Or can they escape this nightmare?

Rumble and Shake
Our heroes stand in the living room of the chicken hut. Next to them, on the couch, lays an unconcious and injured Rook. As the only member that is bonded with the house, she is the only one with the power to move the house, which is unfortunate as the house has been surrounded by a swarm of flying snake-like creatures that are tapping at the windows and trying to tear their way in.

Through gaps between the creature’s bodies, they catch a glimpse of a monstrously large humanoid made of silvery mist. The ground shakes and rumbles as it sprints towards the house.

Lu reasons that if they open the door to deal with this threat, the snake creatures will get in. Toni’s training tells her to hunker in their defensable position, but she also wonders why the creatures have stopped here instead of continuing to run from the misty creature that is chasing them. She expresses to the others that she thinks the snake creatures are trying to get in for a reason.

Aoife guesses that the snake creatures are trying to signal for their help, drawing on the fact that these same creatures came to Toni before and she wound up helping an Alicorn.

Lu peaks through the curtain, eyeing the mist creature’s bulging throat, like a ball has been shoved down there, and the dripping black sludge that drips from its mouth. She asks if Aoife has ever seen anything like it. Aoife gets a strange sense of deja vu as she looks at the creature. Suddenly it occurs to her that she has had a dream like this before.

Find Its Name
''She found herself standing in an underground cavern. The walls were made of icy shimmering crystals, and multicolored lights danced just beyond her view, playing off of the walls. She stepped forward and cast Faerie Fire, matching the shades of light with her own. She rounded the corner to see a pool, where the motes of light came from. By the pool were two marble benches. One was empty, while the other was occupied by a humanoid creature with a dragon’s head where a human head should have been. The figure wore a fluffy, threadbare, pink bathrobe that Aoife had seen her grandmother wear. The man looked up and nodded pleasantly at Aoife before he motioned for her to sit upon the other bench.''

''Aoife took a moment to study the pool, wanting to touch it, but holding herself back. The figure watched her as he sipped a cup of coffee. Finally he spoke, asking Aoife what she dreams about. Aoife stood, befuddled by the question. Finally she answered that normally she dreamt of bright colors, but it seemed like recently her dreams were changing. The figure nodded, offering up his own dreams. He dreamt that one day his children would know peace, but he feared the that day was a long way off. He admitted that they struggled, and strived, coming to him only when they shut their eyes, but some had stopped sleeping entirely. Aoife agreed that it was a terrible thing not to sleep. The figure looked down to see that the mug of coffee was gone, and a wooden figure had taken its spot. He implored for Aoife to be kind to his children, because they needed help. Aoife moved toward him, sitting near his knee to get a look at the wooden figure he held. He shook the dust from it and held up a little wooden songbird. He asked if Aoife know what kind of songbird it was. She shook her head no and he told her to find its name and to remember it, because it was very important.''

Aoife’s focus snaps back to the present, and she stands face to face with one of the snake-like creatures that is trying its best to get into the house. She realizes that these creatures looked just like the figure from her dream. She takes off for her room, diving into her sewing kit, pulling out a little carved bird she had gotten from Chess so many years ago. She rushes back into the kitchen and implores the help of Bishop as she sets the bird on the counter. Lu and Toni are puzzled by this and Aoife explains that she had a dream and she doesn’t think that the snake creatures mean them any harm, and are trying to help them. She immediately throws open the door to the chicken hut. They all feel the rush of the night air as it washes into the warmth of the house. The night is alive with the creatures and soon they pour into the house. Toni and Lu push themselves out of the way. Toni, having recently experienced the power that dreams can have, trusts Aoife, but Lu has her hesitations.

Quickly, every surface is covered with these creatures, and a hushed stillness takes the place of their scrabbling claws against the wood of the house. In the quiet, they can hear the gurgled sounds of choking coming from outside. They realize the ground no longer shakes and turn to see one massive, dripping block eye staring through the door into the hut. Aoife reaches out to one of the snake-like creatures, beckoning for it to perch on her, and it pulls away in surprise before laying its head on her hand. She scritches one of the fins on the side of its head and it lets out a purring hiss before crawling onto her shoulder and curling around her neck like a cat.

Gadgets and Gizmos Aplenty
Aoife moves to head outside, but is stopped short by Toni, who wants to know what the satyr’s plan is. The snake-like creature turns its head to the half orc and chirps. Aoife reasons that they should talk to the fey outside, and Toni says they should all go together. Lu pulls out a pair of glasses from her side pouch and puts them on, activating the gadget to cast Detect Magic, wanting to figure out what is happening with the black ichor pouring from the fey’s mouth and eyes. The ichor is not magical, but the palm sized object lodged in its throat is radiating a golden aura of an artifact level item. She tells the others that they need to get the object out of it. The creature stands and they feel the house shudder before everything begins to shake violently from side to side. They hear the crash of electricity come from outside and something in the room above them shatters.

Aoife runs outside and calls out to the sky, hoping whatever she does helps the creature. She rushes forward, placing a hand on its nearly incorporeal form, and casts Lesser Restoration. The creature looks down at her, and she can see her magic take hold, easing the black ichor that had been flowing from its pained blue eyes. It tries to speak and points at its throat as the black ichor washes over the blue once more. Aoife yells to it in Sylvan to bend down so that they can help it before pointing back at Toni. The clover charm in Toni’s pocket warms as she is granted a Bardic Inspiration.

Woah Black Ichor, Bam-A-Lam
As the corruption repossesses its host, the creature stands suddenly and begins stomping its feet in anger and confusion. One of its hooved feet comes down on Aoife, catching her off guard with the following crack of thunder. A bolt of lightning leaps out from the creature, striking the house. Lu and Toni, inside the hut, feel the bolt strike and watch some of the serpent creatures pulse and shiver. They can smell burning flesh, but the creatures continue to cling to every available surface, absorbing the shock with their bodies.

Toni rushes outside and scrambles up the side of the hut. Standing on the roof, she can see the giant creature stomping on Aoife. She shouts to it, warning of her attempt to dislodge the obstruction, before pulling her shield and leaping from the roof. She hooks her arm around its neck and swings around its back, bringing her shield down with a surge of action onto the lodged object, hearing the familiar sound of metal on metal. She sees the giant spit up a deluge of black ichor as it doubles over from the strike.

Lu cusses under her breathe as she rushes out the door after her friends. She scrambles onto the roof after Toni, followed by a swarm of the serpent-like creatures that mirror her movement, placing themselves like lightning rods around her. Lu activates her glasses once more to hone in on the aura of the object and launches herself onto the creature. She can feel a handle on the object through the creature’s throat.

Aoife, sensing the threatening intentions of the creature, casts Bane as a burst of light forms into hundreds of tiny fairy forms that shout and heckle at the creature to distract it. She ducks out of the way of the creature and passes on a Bardic Inspiration to Lu.

Lu and Toni feel their hair begin to stand on end and the tingle of static crackles over their bodies as the creature begins to grow very hot. Toni can’t find a way to disengage and catches a burstof lightning in the chest, but Lu manages to tuck into herself, absorbing some of the effect.

Toni, still shaking from the shock and trying to miss Lu, can’t get an angle to hit the creature. Lu pulls rope from her belt and reaches into the nearly incorporeal throat, tying it around the handle. She drops down and shouts for everyone to pull on the rope. Aoife, watching Lu drop the rope, rushes to it and begins yanking on it, but the object does not budge against her attempt. She half-heartedly passes Toni a Bardic Inspiration.

The creature stomps down towards Aoife, but the satyr launches herself out of the way, getting caught in the thunderous shockwave but avoiding the weight of the hoof. A bolt crackles from its chest, catching Toni once again. The legionaire shouts for the serpent creatures to help them pull the object free as she hops down onto the ground. A swarm of eyes look at her, not seeming to understand her meaning, but coming to investigate none-the-less, landing on the rope regardless. She grabs the rope and pulls with Aoife’s help, digging into the dirt and straining to nearly pull the object free. The creature screeches in pain and wretches up more black ichor.

Tug-O-War
Lu grabs the rope and rappels down the side of the creature, pulling at the object, and she can feel it coming up the creature’s throat towards its mouth. Aoife extends a hand and casts Cure Wounds on Toni, stitching some of her wounds closed. The giant stomps down on Lu, catching the rogue offguard. The thunderwave shoots out from the impact, but the serpent creatures drop from the rope and begin to twitch and fry as they absorb the blast.

Toni clenches her teeth and gives the rope another yank but still can’t pull it free. Lu tries to help, but slips on some of the sludge, barely remaining standing. Aoife, watching the serpent creatures sacrifice themselves, screams out and wraps the rope around herself. She drops her head and leans into the rope until they hear a sickening pop sound and she tumbles into the ichor.

The moment the object is freed, they can see the black sludge on them and the creature dissipates into a silvery mist that rejoins the creature’s body. It stands tall and proud against the moonlight, a crest of silver mist forming a crown. It lets out a sound, a distant echoing note, that they understand to be singing. It crouches down to their level and blinks its large blue eyes. It looks at them each in turn and nods. Aoife pulls a felt moon from her bag and offers it up to the creature as a good luck charm. It reaches out a finger and takes the charm, allowing it to sink into its misty cloudlike body. It stands and turns from them, parting the mist and looks at the moon before fading away.

Whistler
The snake-like beasts pour out of the house now that the large fey is gone. Toni tells Aoife that she was right, causing the satyr to smile widely. Lu reactivates the filter on her glasses and tracks down the object. She walks over and finds herself unimpressed with the little brass bell she finds. She delicately picks it up, holding the clapper so as not to let it ring, and brings it back to the group. They notice a pattern that had been carved into the bell. Aoife instantly recognizes the birds from her dream. Lu furrows her brow in exhaustion and passes the bell off to Aoife. Toni, having grown up in close connection with the natural world, recognizes the carved birds to be Whistlers.

Aoife assumes he might be nearby and they all rush back into the house. Lu is angry that the man wouldn’t even try and kill the majestic fey they had witnessed and had instead made it suffer needlessly. Aoife looks at the bell in disgust, remembering the time that Whistler had threatened her with it. They realize that they forgot about Rook and rush to check on her. Rook has fallen onto the floor, and is trying to crawl towards the door with a knife in her hand. They can see that she is delirious with fever and ease her back onto the couch. She questions them about what attacked the house and Lu explains the situation and Rook focuses on the bell that Aoife brandishes. As she looks upon it, fear moves across her face and she grips Aoife’s wrist painfully, saying that they need to leave.

She calls for Gordon to go, and they can hear Gordon ask after their destination. They all suggest their own families, yearning for something familiar and safe, but Rook agrees that they should head somewhere close and instructs for them to head to Chasiana. The house lurches and takes off into the night as Rook once again falls unconscious.

This is where our episode comes to and end. Until next time, Venture Away!

Player Characters

 * Aoife
 * Fittonia 'Toni' Silvertail
 * Lu

Non-Player Characters

 * Gordon
 * Rook

Mentioned

 * Whistler

Locations

 * The Chicken Hut

Inventory
Aoife gains Whistler's Bell

Quotes
“Bishop! Maybe you can help!” -Aoife

“Yup! We’re all gonna die.” -Lu

“What the fuck is she doing?” -Toni

“These. Fucking. Kids.” -Lu

“That son-of-a-motherfucker.” -Toni

Trivia
Lu, having gained a new archtype for her class, invented a set of glasses to aid her in her adventures. The glasses have rose twists on the sides that act as buttons to activate different features. Each feature activates differently and she used Detect Magic this episode, which causes the lenses to become covered by an opalescent sheen.