DnD: Neverwinter is Coming

With wounds firmly bandaged with survival tampons, the crew falls asleep. They rise with the sun to the smell of Celkini's bacon pancakes. Dweezil mistakenly points out that they do not have bacon, but Akilah and Xavros don't care because food is food and they are hungry. But whatever Celkini used in her recipe seems to have attracted another swarm of stirges. Eight stirges, to be exact.

"We're gonna need more tampons," Dweezil growls as he takes the first piercing attack from the creatures. Ben leaps at the creature and rips it off of the dwarf's back. Celkini uses her blowgun but misses the stirges heading back to camp. She screams in frustration as two turn and head back toward her. Dweezil swats at another that comes after him, but he's bitten again and collapses. Asher tries to grab at the flying bugs, but he's no Mr. Miyagi. Celkini is able to swat away another stirge.

Xavros is just tired of all these damn bugs. He shouts for Celkini and Asher to get out of the way, then slams his hands together, casting Thunderwave for a mighty three points of damage, but it's overkill enough for these fucking bugs. Neither the monk nor the ranger are able to get out of the way in time and the force of the blast hurls them into the air alongside Dweezil's body. Their dexterity saves them as Akilah leaps in to slaughter the surviving stirge. Celkini revives Dweezil.

They pack up their shit, much of which is all over the place thanks to Xavros' overkill spell. They beat it to the roads, determined to MPK other travellers if they get attacked by bugs again. Dweezil had hoped to make himself all pretty for his grand entrance into Never Winter, but alas, he's half dead. Again.

At long last, they make it to Never Winter. Dweezil knows of the city's history from his books, but it is Xavros who takes the lead, having frequented the place with his crew. The guards eye the bedraggled group, paying particular attention to the forest gnome, who they warn to stay out of trouble. They want to find a M*A*S*H unit, but that's another half day's walk away. Instead, Xavros leads them to the Moonstone Mask Inn which is on a floating island. Dweezil balks. Having spent his life underground, a floating city and large bodies of water are a bit of a problem for him.

Akilah and Asher drag him across the bridge and they all enter the inn. Xavros has warned them of the political concerns plaguing Neverwinter. The Lord and Protector of Neverwinter's mercenary guards populate the inn. Xavros catches the eye of the half elf proprietor. He hums a little ditty (by Color Me Badd) and then proposes an arrangement for rooms at a lower rate if he takes to the stage for the evening. With a wink and potentially inappropriate fondling, the proprietor agrees.

They sit down to a warm, tasty meal. They overhear many conversations. The murmurs seem to speak of similar corruption in Neverwinter as what they experienced.

"Will we have to kill mean guards here like we did in the other place?" asks Celkini, just loud enough to possibly be overheard. They decide this is a good time to casually take their meals to go, though Xavros stays, acting casual, and goes on to perform for the evening.

Upstairs, Dweezil, Akilah, and Celkini discuss their options, while Asher listens quietly. The monk is strongly considering leaving this group, for fear that their immorality will corrupt him. But Dweezil seems to have a change of heart. He explains that political corruption and intimidation is what made him leave his home underground. Now, having seen the same issues above ground, he wants to do something about it. Perhaps, Asher thinks, it is his job to keep these people on the right path, so he encourages this plan. Besides. He's kind of fond of Celkini and wouldn't want to see the naive little gnome hurt. Also, he might have a crush on Akilah.

Celkini presents a flyer that she found downstairs, asking for information on a cult in Thundertree. She's familiar with the area, and knows it's over a day away from Neverwinter. But first priority is rest.