Day 22
I was way too upset last night. I wrote so angrily I actually broke my quill and ripped through the paper at the end of my last entry, stabbing myself in the leg with it in the process. I threw the quill into the fire and went to bed early. I didn’t notice I had left my leg to bleed all night until this morning.
Before I started to write last night, I spoke with Gale and everyone else at camp. Literally no one but Gale supported Mystra's plan, naturally. Lae'zel had a particularly interesting insight as a follower of Vlaakith. She thinks Mystra is doing this for selfish reasons. The Absolute must be a threat to her dominion. And she has no faith in Gale whatsoever, which is why she is demanding he die while still demanding his faith. Again I say, it's absurd.
Yesterday we ventured into the ruins of a Lathander monastery in order to gain access to the githyanki creche.
A small troop of githyanki were outside with a few Absolutists that they'd captured. One cultist tried to run and got shot in the back. Safe to say we found the creche. The dream guardian spoke to me outside the door leading to the creche, and bid me to stay away from the githyanki. I couldn’t turn back then, after promising Lae'zel and making it all the way there. We had to see this through. Besides, it gave me no good reason to stay away other than it said so? Consider yourself ignored, guardian guy. That door was magically locked anyway. At least now I know for sure that thing, whatever it is, is not omnipotent.
In our attempts to find another entrance to the creche, we found a pack of kobold looters drunk on firewine. There were too many of them, so we stayed in the side room and had someone by the door to close it behind anyone who made their way in. Again, my tried and true battle tactic when you're ambushed and/or outnumbered... It should have been an easy fight since our enemies were drunk.
Gale had other ideas. The kobolds had bellies full of firewine, there's firewine on the ground, and firewine barrels everywhere. It's a very flammable space. What does Gale do? He casts fireball in the entryway of the next room where all the kobolds are. Perhaps a great idea in theory or in other circumstances. And sure, he killed a couple, but the blast burned all of us, knocked him backwards, set the room we were in on fire, and I was hurt so badly I fell unconscious. The fire nearly killed me. Astarion tried to pull me up but couldn't get me out of the fire, and I blacked out again. When Gale pulled me up, I was surrounded by kobold corpses and more were making their way into the room from above, but the fire was out.
We finished them off, and Lae'zel seemed really inspired by that battle for some reason. I guess we adapted well and had good teamwork in the end? Or maybe it was me almost dying. I don't know, I probably would have inspired her if I'd died in that fire. Gale asked for my forgiveness immediately, and of course he got it. Mistakes happen, and I'm sure he won't cast a fireball like that anytime soon. I think he's used to being more... precise as a formerly top-notch wizard than he currently is. Maybe he just didn't see that big old barrel of firewine by the door. Oh well, nobody died and we won the fight, that's all that matters.
Then we ran into a huge gremishka nest. Since there wasn't any fire and Gale didn't cast any spells, that one was quick and easy.
Being in the Lathander monastery's ruins reminded me a lot of my dad. He was sent to Baldur's Gate by his monastic order (of Helm) to help protect the city's growing population of lost and hopeless people. I was one of the lost and hopeless people he found and protected. He adopted me and changed my life. Before that I'd been nothing but a victim. A dolly for my biological parents, an easy target for criminals, devils, and monsters. He taught me how to defend myself and how to heal my mind from the horrors I experienced from infancy until we met. He saved me, in all the ways a person can be saved: physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally. Monks, of any order, will always have my respect. I don't consider myself to be one, and truly I'm not a monk. I just know how to fight like one and how to think like one.
We explored the entire ground level, upper level, and roof of the monastery ruins. While exploring we learned this place stored the Blood of Lathander. Lae'zel, naturally, was completely disinterested and very frustrated with us backtracking and not going straight for the creche once we determined its location.
I told her dramatically, “I bet Shadowheart would be reeeeal interested in this place,” referring to the monastery ruins. To which Lae'zel replied, “Tchk, fine. But do not tarry for too long. We have waited long enough.”
We grabbed what we needed to find the Blood of Lathander below and headed into the creche. According to Lae'zel it seemed relaxed to the point of undisciplined. I suppose that's one perspective. It was istik this and istik that everywhere we went. Their healer had tons of mindflayer parasites. She studies them. The 'purification protocol', known to githyanki as the zaith'isk, is a crazy looking device. It looks insectoid and yet is definitely mechanical at the same time. I had a bad feeling about it. I insisted upon going first, even though Lae'zel was initially quite upset. She ended up being impressed by me over it because I stood my ground against her. I really only went first because this thing seemed dangerous, it was too late to back out of it, and I thought better me get hurt than her, Astarion, or Gale. I thought surely it couldn’t be worse than some of the shit I’ve been through in my life already.
I was right. It wasn’t worse, but it was pretty fucking bad, and definitely dangerous. That thing tormented me. It didn't cure me, but it sure did change me. I feel more in touch with the illithid tadpole than before. Not a good thing. Not at all. In the attempt to remove my infection the zaith'isk exploded. The healer was horrified and outraged. Lae'zel thought the creche must have a traitor in it because the 'treatment' failed. I was done entertaining the githyanki at that point. Crazy ass zealots, the lot of them. I got us out of there before we had to face any more danger. I decided we'll try our luck again with the Underdark.
We made our way back to the myconid colony today. There we met a mindflayer. It was peaceful, said it had broken free of the elder brain. Its name is Omeluum. It told me about the Grand Design, a plan to eliminate all githyanki and enslave all other humanoids. This is the first time I've ever had a conversation with a mindflayer. It's definitely different from my other experiences with its kind. It is offering to help me understand why my tadpole is different. All I have to do is find some rare and dangerous mushrooms that mess with your mind. Yeah.
I gave an antidote to an Ironhand gnome named Thulla. She wants us to go rescue her kin from duergar slavers across the lake. Looks like I'll get to help the gnomes and the myconid if I take out the duergar. I met with Sovereign Spaw as well. It was turning corpses into mushroom zombies. Normal mushroom guy stuff. Another sovereign, called Glut, came with us to kill the duergar.
On the way we ran into the bulette again, and managed to finish it off this time. Glut turned it into a mushroom zombie. That was the most badass thing I've ever seen in my life. Mushroom zombie bulette. I don't think we'll top that on this journey. Glut helped us kill all the duergar on this side of the lake, but immediately asked us afterwards to kill Spaw so it could take over the circle. We pushed it off a cliff.
Tonight in camp I didn't speak to anyone. I didn't hear much chatter around camp either. I think we're all starting to feel the weight of our situation, more than ever. We have so much more to worry about now than just becoming mindflayers.
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