A Frog By Any Other Name

Part 1
The morning comes and Blomf and Blitz, evading the party’s questions, make their way back to the catacombs for their scheduled elite fight. The orc-ish lady, Tatiana, who schedules the fights pits Blomf alone against Leapwell Kor, a hulking red toad-like creature (Slaad) whilst putting Blitz back in the standard fights. After Blitz’s fight (once again using stealthy magic to gain the upper hand), they wait until noon for Blomf’s elite fight.

Meanwhile Damien asks Alice to follow Blitz and Blomf and she discovers their destination is the Slimy Toad but she loses them once they enter. After waiting a while she returns to the inn to relay what she saw to the others. They decide to head over to the Slimy Toad to find out what Blitz and Blomf are up to. Thanks to Cassia’s deceptive persuasion of the barkeep they manage to gain entrance to the catacombs.

After finding Blitz and Blomf, the duo eventually come clean about their fighting activities. Damien tries to sign up for a fight specifically against Blitz but is turned away by the orc-is lady who doesn’t think of him as cut out for the fights strength-wise. Blitz, aggravated by Damien’s childish conduct, punches him.

Damien, Malik and Cassia decide to head out and discuss their plans outside the tavern. Alice stays behind to watch Blomf’s fight.

Blomf faces off against Kor in a brutal and unfair championship fight before having a chunk bitten out of his neck and left bloodied and unconscious. After Blitz confronts Tatiana about the unfairness of the fight (to no avail), he and Alice drag Blomf to outside the Slimy Toad where the rest of the party help to carry him back to the inn to recover.

While Blomf rests, Cassia, Damien and Malik decide to go to the library to re-check out the book Malik had borrowed and they learn another break in has occurred. They find claw marks at the area that was ransacked. Damien does some reading about arcane archers who cast spells to enhance their arrows as well as an adventurous tale called “Jinjin and the newts.” Damien purchases a couple of these books.

Part 2
Blomf comes to consciousness and Blitz reveals how he helped Blomf during the fight with magic and how even so Blomf stood no chance and shouldn’t face the frog-creature again. His pride and sense of honour hurt after the fight, as well as being angry at Blitz for his unwanted help, Blomf heads out on his own, leaving Alice and Blitz behind at the inn. Blomf wanders through the city thinking about his father and his past and he ends up in a grass field where he sits for a while before lying back and falling asleep whilst looking at the sky.

As Damien, Malik and Cassia leave the library, Cassia comments on Damien’s book of fairy tales and shares her ‘Heroes of the Realm’ cards with him. They share a nice moment where they geek over the cards for a bit.

Damien inquires as to Malik’s past and homeland and Malik reveals he is from the Eastern continent of Grynhaven and he reveals how the magic of Grynhaven is dead and depleted and he is worried how this will happen to Everidge soon.

Damien decides to go back to the Shivering Ent and read while Cassia and Malik head to the college in the East of the city in search of more magic books and knowledge.

At the college Malik and Cassia find a library where they find some more arcane texts (specifically on illusion magic). They spot a human man changing words with a woman in a black robe who then head into a room and they decide to follow them but they lose them in the crowd of students.

As evening comes around, Malik heads back to the library of the Commons where he intends to spend the night while Cassia goes to the inn to pick up Damien.

At the inn Blitz gathers the party (with the exception of the absent Blomf and Malik) to explain what had happened to Blomf and how Tatiana appeared to have a vendetta against Blomf (due to the reputation of his father) and to discuss how they can help Blomf, who intends to face the giant frog being again. Blitz suggests they kill the frog beast and Tatiana to prevent Blomf from getting killed in the next fight. They debate the right course of action but ultimately decide to wait for Blomf’s return and come to a decision in the morning.

As night falls, Damien and Cassia make their way to the library to provide Malik with some back up investigating the break ins. The librarian lets them in and they settle in for the night. They encounter a strange one eyed bi-pedal creature (Nothic) that climbs over the balcony in the nighttime. It speaks under common telepathically and intrudes into the trio’s minds. They engage the creature in combat, hindered greatly by a magical darkness that it summons. Thanks in large part to Cassia and her casting of witchbolt, they manage to kill the creature. On its body they find a tattered leather bound spell book. They recognise the creature as a being that once was human and have heard rumours of beings cursed by Vecna, the Whispered One, that search for magical knowledge.