Ladrengielle – blogpost 12

The library is not in Skullport: one is located in Wyllowwood. Tas says we have to go through a mirror or arc at the end of town – those are portals that’ll bring us to Wyllowwood. Francissy is satisfied with her answer after we decide to explore Skullport for a bit. During our walk along the bridges of middle Skullport, Borac forces a door of a shop called Twinbeards’ Traps. It is a workshop, and I recognize the name on the door as the name of the dwarf we met in Xanathars’ lair a while back.

Next, we enter Sargoths’ Bounty: they sell stuff there from the Sargoth-level. We don’t know what or where it is, but the shopkeeper tells us that there’s a big river there. He also tells us that things have been stolen from his shop, among other things: a magic skull… It sounds like the Duergarr skull Borac has, but I keep my mouth shut. We buy a couple of potions of water-breathing and some spades just in case we need them.

We still need to find the lantern shop to tell Delvins’ guardian that the little boy has passed away, but first, we go and get Pethar again from his room at the inn. Pethar knows where the shop is and leads us to it. We all feel really awkward and sad when we tell the man that Delvin is dead. We move back to the inn to drink and rest: we take the rest of the day off.

Inside the inn, I have a seat at the bar. I distance myself from the rest to reflect upon my past actions since I formed a pact with the Mezzoloth. After closing my eyes and shutting out the noises from the bar, I feel a presence inside of me. I am not alone in my head… I sense I share all my thoughts with the fiend. I hear some coins on the bar, and I feel attracted to them. I also notice that I am more drawn to violence as I reflect on the fight between Borac and his opponents this morning. I feel like I’m sharing my mind… It scares the shit out of me…

At the end of the day, we go back to Falrax and have a nice long rest. In the morning, we head back to Tas to get the potions Borac ordered. Afterward, Borac reminds us we also have to go back to the foundry in lower-Skullport to get the shield he had made for him. Outside the foundry, we find a way outside of Skullport and decide to follow the road.

We encounter some Hobgoblins that want to attack us, but we yell something like: ‘We killed T’rissa’, and they rejoice! They really hated her, so they are grateful to us. T’rissa oppressed them and their kin. The Bugbears kindly escort us to their city, but we need some identity papers. Again, they help us happily and bring us to their leader: Azrok. In the room, big Worgs stand on both sides of Azrok, a big Bugbear. A piece of me feels at home here, and I look the chief on the throne directly in the eyes. He is happy that we’ve killed T’rissa too. To help us explore the dungeon, he gives us a map of this level. However, we have to do something in return: Azrok is searching for a dagger with red rubies in the handle. We take a short rest and want to continue our way through the dungeon. The Bugbears bring us to the river from where we can continue our journey. Along the way, they tell us, we’ll encounter an Otyugh-lair (a beast that protects the Hobgoblins). Indeed, we see the Otyugh, but also another Zombie-Beholder, some Bugbears, and bloody Goblins with knives. We decide not to attack.

We end up at the other side and see the statues covered in spiderwebs we saw a few days earlier. I then spot a tunnel and go through it, walking towards the hooded Skeleton on its boat. At that same spot, we find a door. We try to guess the password but eventually conclude we need a dwarf or a knock spell for this door to open. Bullocks. I decide I want to go to the other shore. Everyone just swims, but I pay the Skeleton with blood. He refuses my payment, he gestures he wants one gold piece. I give it to him and he brings me to the other side. It was a two-minute float, and a bit uncalled for, but I still wanted it. I walk to the statues with spiderwebs – they need to be burnt: Pethar sets them alight with one fireball. Nice. Let it burn.