Location: Gauntlgrym
after preparations are finished, Eldeth comes to retrieve Party
- she asks Sarith if he has let everyone say goodbye to the myconids; he awkwardly admits that he'd forgotten to let them even say hello
- Sarith leads everyone to see the myconids, who are currently being looked after by another dwarf
- Rumpadump and Junior, who has grown arms, give everyone hugs and declare how much they missed them
after the brief reunion, Eldeth leads Party to designated meeting location
- Party is introduced to half-elf Sylrien Havennor and dwarf Ulgreat Coalbelt, members of the Order of the Gauntlet
- Zaz is pretty sure he heard "Cold Grapes" when Ulgreat shared his name
- Zaz is pretty sure he heard "Cold Grapes" when Ulgreat shared his name
- also having arrived early is tiefling Elias Drako, member of the Harpers
shortly after, wood elf Tamryn Thornbow of the Emerald Enclave arrives
- she and Mylz recognize each other - not personally, but for their respective deeds
- Mylz references Tamryn's accomplishments and quickly realizes that Tamryn, like Mylz, does not like being Known
running late is rock gnome Thora, member of the Lords' Alliance
- she runs to the group, juggling her breakfast and her pack in her arms
- Skjorn is accidentally very racist, making several comments about Thora's size, and has to be told by everyone to stop
- meanwhile, Shoor is discreetly laughing
lastly, the group's Zhentarim guide arrives in the form of avariel elf Aerlian Hawkwind
- Zaz immediately recognizes him and Aerlian calls them old friends from the same village
- Skjorn predictably flirts with him, and he surprisingly flirts back with enthusiasm
King Bruenor Battlehammer II sees off the whole group with a short speech
- as everyone is leaving, Elwyra calls for them to wait, dragging Gaziel along with her
- never mind how they even learned about each other, but apparently they're both coming along now
- never mind how they even learned about each other, but apparently they're both coming along now
Location: The Underdark
Party heads to a specific Underdark entrance, where they see a familiar face waiting for them
- Jimjar - wearing a crop top, short shorts, cowboy boots, and a fanny pack - greets everyone as if no time passed
- some of the new NPCs whisper about their strange new companion and question whether they'll have any more unexpected additions
travel along Aerlian's route is relatively uneventful
- ever since the avariel joined them, Zaz has grown more uncertain and closed-off, setting off alarm bells in Dibrael's mind
- Aerlian's words are friendly enough, but his delivery and actions are off; he's also uncomfortably touchy with Zaz
- Dibrael keeps a very close eye on Aerlian, being quieter and less cheerful himself
continued in RP
about a week in, Party finds a group of duergar running a zoo for monsters - a rare safe place to observe them up close
- Party pays for entry and a tour, and they're introduced to various monsters while learning some trivia about them
- they even get to see the foreign gribble - a creature captured from the Surface, but that the duergar know little about
- that there's a goat.
- the tour guide encourages the Surface-natives to move on while the drow and Jimjar observe the
gribblegoat a bit longer
a second tour guide shows off a drider, a monster with the torso of a drow attached to the body of a giant spider
- the tour guide explains that the monster was once a person who was transformed after angering Lolth; it is no longer sapient
- Jimjar catches up to the majority and calls over the drow
- Party tries to distract and block their view, but they fail
- Sarith is visibly disturbed and brushes off Dibrael and Zaz's attempts to comfort him
- Jorlan and Shoor are both unphased, being only mildly disgusted and bored respectively
- Skjorn asks if that could happen to anyone in their party, and Jorlan reassures him that the transformation is not a random occurrence
the tour hesitantly continues, and Aerlian takes the opportunity to confront Dibrael
- Aerlian thinks he knows why Dibrael's been staring so much, and assures the aasimar that he isn't going to "steal" Zaz from him
- Aerlian casually asks how their sex life is, to which Dibrael answers that they're taking it slow
- Aerlian mutters something privately, claps Dibrael on the shoulder, and moves on to another exhibit
- Dibrael's face flashes darkly for a second before he rushes to stand by Zaz
suddenly, there's the sound of screaming and glass breaking
- someone yells something about "forgetting to poison it today"
- the tour guides run away, leaving Party to fend for themselves as a hoard of escaped zoo monsters round the corner, led by the drider wielding a stolen sword