Rory looked over to Zavakri as she called to hold for a moment. The feeling of magic spreading over her briefly was enough for the elf to realize the sorceress was bolstering the three of them. With a quick look back over the water, Aurora was no longer able to see Jub or Brutrumukk. She dropped her bow onto the ground and drew a short sword. Blade in hand, the elf dove into the water swimming towards the bubbles and faint silhouette as fast as she could. Going under the water near the silhouette the mirky water revealed even less.
She manages to go down a few more feet before slowing down readying herself for the potential of an attack looking carefully for the hostile creatures as well as Jub and Brutrumukk.
Rory dives into the water and uses the dash bonus action to go down 15 feet. She takes the dodge action while also trying to look for where Brutrumukk is under the water. If she finds Brutrumukk she will use the rest of her movement to close the distance and still use the dodge action.
Aurora swims closer and closer until she sees more red than green around her. She soon sees Brutrumukk and the two merrow five feet in front of her. Brutrumukk is unconscious, and a chunk of his throat is missing. She watches as the other merrow takes its opportunity to dig his claws into the bugbear and bite into him. They don't seem to notice Aurora just yet...
Merrow 1's turn...
Jub and Brutrumukk being on the skiff ensured that the merrow couldn't multiattack. They could only throw a harpoon (their only distance weapon), try to pull the target closer, and be done before. Their multiattacks are supposed to be for two different weapons, so harpoon + harpoon was a no go for them. But now that the goblinoid heroes are in the water, the merrow can now go all out on their attacks.
Merrow 1 Multiattacks
Claws to hit Brutrumukk: .....You gotta be kidding me. Another Natural 20. Claws Advantage due to Unconsciousness: ....Hahaha. No.
Brutrumukk just failed 2 Death Saves from the claws.
Bite to hit Brutrumukk: 16 Bite Advantage due to Unconsciousness: 23
This was it! Tsak's time to shine! This was her chance to prove to the rest that she could be a valuable asset to the party, a true member, a real adventurer! More importantly, Tsak would prove to that big dumb bugbear, Brutru-whatever, that she was someone to take seriouly! That's right girl, you got this! This time, you'll be the gods damn hero! As she flew near, she drew her dagger in one hand and readied herself to cast Magic Missile. Screaming a war cry, Tsak would shout "LEEEEEEEEROY JEEEEENKINS!" She would fly on over to the members on land and land roughly, standing and dusting her knees before looking out at the water. "Fly off for five minutes to cool off and you guys wander off... where is the big guy and Aurora?"
Jub was clearly not expecting Brutrumukk to suddenly push him back towards the surface, and the goblin let out a small gasp that resulted in several large air bubbles escaping his mouth as rose up. He watched himself grow further and further away as the merrows suddenly set upon the bugbear. While a part of him wanted nothing more than to swim down and help his friend, a mixture of self-preservation, the fear that there was nothing much he could do in this situation overtook and the realisation he would soon run out of air overtook him and he quickly flailed his way upwards. When he broke the surface of the water, he spluttered breathlessly out the words "Brutrumukk... being attacked... someone do... something!" before trying to get himself back towards the land.
Aurora watched in silent horror as the beings tore into Brutrumukk. The feeling of being unable to have at least intervened and helped him escape left the elf feeling helpless. Sure she had felt like leaving the bugbear at the cabin due to his drunken antics, she didn't want him to die either as Brutrumukk had not necessarily earned that fate in her eyes. Aurora briefly looked at the short-sword contemplating using it to at least free Brutrumukk's body and haul it back to the surface for a proper burial. She glanced and saw the bugbear's fallen gear laying in the bed of the murky waters. Aurora dove to grab the bag and started back to the surface. She would at least give these to Jub so he had something of Brutrumukk's to remember. Then the elf, with help from the others maybe, would finish these beings and bury their companion.
With the bag in hand Aurora swims back to the surface. Once at the surface, the elf swam towards Jub attempting to drag him towards the raft. "I'm sorry Jub... I'm so sorry..." She says as she continues to the shore.
Rory uses part of her movement to grab Brutrumukk's bag, then goes to the surface. She will use the dash bonus action to move towards the raft and grabbing Jub on the way of she can.
Once Jub reaches the shore, he scrambles on all fours towards the rest of the party - sans Brutrumukk, of course - are waiting. He's breathing very heavily, both due to physical exertion and the fact he's still in a panic over what just happened. He doesn't seem to register what Aurora is saying to him, or even seem to notice that she's near him. He just crawls over to the group, sits himself down and pulls his knees up to his chest. It's clear that his panic is slowly turning into shock as his mind is trying to process what he just witnessed.
Tsak, both confused on what the hell was going on, and terrified as to the where-abouts of the large obnoxious Bugbear man, would take to the sky and fly over the water, trying to spot where he may be, and if she may be able to help.
Yeah, no, she doesn't see shit, or she does see him, but not the ambush of the Merrow, depending on how vicious Guardian wants to be Perception Check= 2
Nobody could have anticipated what had happened but from where Gabriel stood he couldn't help but fall to his knees, shirt halfway off as he stared helplessly into the murky water with horror in his eyes "It's..It's all my fault.." he said, staring at his shaking hands as if the bugbears blood was on them.
"No..No..No..." Gabe put his head in his hands, he wanted to escape but his legs felt weighed to the docks. Gabriel hadn't known Brutrumukk that long but he came to view the bugbear with a small amount of respect despite his differences he was quite the character. Now however Gabriel was spiraling, feeling the weight of his actions.
"It's...It's all my bloody fault..." he didn't know how to face the rest of the group, so he averted his gaze and stared into the water.
Confident and strong, The Gluttonous Bugbear could not ignore the sweet song. O' Sister's spirits did he imbibe, The euphoria, no one but he can describe! Wandering, wandering, until he falls into the drink! The predator becomes the prey in a blink! In his last moments, he was empowered To save his friend, the coward Before he gets devoured!
The final blows come painfully, but it wouldn't last long. Brutrumukk would find that the din of an endless battle grows louder and louder. But all he sees is darkness in front of him. All he can tell is that he is on a path, heading towards Acheron.
He also hears his gods laughing and calling Brutrumukk,
"There he is! Brutrumukk!" "One of the finest bugbears indeed!" "Welcome, welcome!"
The gods continue to talk, "Ugh, he's infected with wild, fey magic," "Eh! It's nothing a little endless battle can't fix! No worries!" "Yeah, there's always worse influences than that,"
"Oh yeah! Like that pathetic excuse of a goblin he was traveling with, whatchamacallit?" "Hardly a goblin! I believe it called itself Jub! And it wanted to become a wizard!"
The gods laugh raucously at the idea of Jub becoming a wizard. They continued berating Jub,
"It couldn't even handle it's tribe trying to toughen it up," "It even ate garbage!"
The gods laugh even harder. At this point, another sound would catch his attention from behind him.
It is the sound of the calliope! The very same calliope from the Witchlight Carnival!
Upon hearing the music, memories come to him. They are the joyful memories he had with his tribe as a child, and the joyful memories he has with his friends; Jub and whoever else he considered his friend in the party. In these memories, there was no violence, no bloodshed. It was just him and his friends enjoying everything life had to offer and bringing smiles to everyone around him.
Brutrumukk notices iridescent light emanate around him. Tiny little motes of white light appear to float around him like fireflies before darting towards the music. When he turns to look towards the sound and follow the fireflies, he sees that there is a doorway, the other side shrouded in light. Brutrumukk instinctively knows what this means...
He can go back! He can live again!
All he has to do...is walk through that doorway and into the blinding light.
As the party reconvenes on the shore, and take stock of the situation, the only thing that seems to respond to them are the croaking of frogs, the buzz of insects, and the occasional sound of birds answer them. Life seems to go on as normal in Hither, callous of the death of Brutrumukk. The bitter voices from the large tree continue to laugh, this time at Brutrumukk's demise, but they laugh among themselves. The party has some time to process and mourn...
Nothing seems to happen for a good long while, giving everyone time to voice their thoughts if they choose to do so. Zavakri herself remains silent, bowing her head and closing her eyes, giving a moment of silence.
However, after a good while, something catches Zavakri's attention.
She gives a short gasp and whips her head back up towards the lake in surprise. Her eyes once again change from the normal brown irises, to that of the golden clock face irises. She informs the party surprised and wary, "Blast! A Wild Magic Surge?! What now?!"
The rest of the party doesn't see anything, but they feel something in the air. A vibrant energy, like electricity, coursing through the air. Jub would recognize this phenomenon. It's the same sensation that occurred when Brutrumukk first drank the hag's hooch. That feeling in the air starts to grow frenetic, oppressive, and possibly even dangerous, until a different sound echoes through the air...
The familiar, joyful music of the Calliope. The very same Calliope from the Witchlight Carnival!
1:40 to 2:45
Tsak easily remembers something important. Ernest the monkey is the one who operates the Calliope while Marigold the goblin collects buttons. Ernest is an enigmatic one. Somehow his mind was switched with his pet monkey's during a prank gone wrong. She doesn't really know what happened. All she knows is that the prank involved the organ grinder, his pet monkey, a leprechaun, and a great quantity of brambleberry wine.
But, she has heard in passing that good things happened to people who give Ernest a button, even though he has nothing to give in return but a smile on his face. The common link between them is that they all heard the sound of the Calliope when good things happened.
Brutrumukk was the only person in the party to have given Ernest a button.
Zavakri seems to stare into the air wide-eyed, as though she can see something that nobody else in the party can. Her clock-faced irises dart to and fro and everywhere as the Calliope music echoes throughout the air. She couldn't help but speak in awe and shock, her hands raised to cover her mouth,
"Th-That's impossible! Inconceivable! The music is guiding the Wild Magic! Shaping it!"
Her eyes lower towards the lake, and should anyone follow her gaze, they would see something start to rise from the depths of the lake. It's an orb of fiery orange light. As the party stares at it, they instinctually come to realize that it's Brutrumukk. There may not be a bugbear body, but that orb is what made Brutrumukk...well, him!
The orb then zooms over to the party and rests in the center of the party. The orb starts to change colors. The change starts to slow, but the changes in colors start to speed up as the Calliope music grows louder! When the music meets a crescendo, the orb gives off a bright white light, forcing everyone in the party to cover their eyes.
When the light fades and the music starts to drift off and quiet itself, the party can look back and see that there's somebody lying there in the grass in place of the glowing orb.
An adult forest gnome lies there, seemingly asleep before their eyes flutter open. The gnome has no belongings on them. Essentially, they are as nude as...well, anyone would be on the day they're born.
When Brutrumukk opens his eyes, he sees his party members around him and he hears the animal sounds around him. It's weird! He can somewhat understand the animals around him better than before.
When he stands up, he finds that he is standing around the same height as, if not an inch or two taller than, Jub and Tsak. Now Aurora, Gabriel, and Zavakri are towering over him!
@rush99999 You can now post! Brutrumukk is now reborn as a Forest Gnome, so make sure that all of his Bugbear features are replaced with the Forest Gnome features.
When Brutrumukk awoke, he awoke with an angry roar. He sprung to his feet and pointed accusingly at the ground. "Fuck you, Hruggek! An' fuck you Grankhul!" Brutrumukk bellowed furiously. "Fuck you, Skiggaret! Fuck you, Khurgorbaeyag! Fuck you, Nilbog! Fuck you, Nomog-Geaya! Fuck you, Bargrivyek! AN' FUCK YOU, MAGLUBIYET! Just you wait! Just you fuckin' wait! Jub'll be the bestest booyagh in the entire fuckin' multiverse! An' when 'e is, I'll come see you again an' laugh in yer faces! DO YOU FUCKIN' 'EAR ME DOWN THERE? I WILL FUCKIN' LAUGH IN YER FUCKIN' FACES!" Brutrumukk then unleashed a wordless yell of anger upon the sky before looking around for Jub.
Only to find that all of his companions were now taller than him.
"What in the..." Brutrumukk said in confusion. "When did you lot get so tall?"
Jub had been replaying the scene of Brutrumukk's demise over and over again in his head when the wild magic starting playing up, and his body instinctively tensed as he sensed that familiar electrical feeling in the atmosphere. In his shocked and grief-addled mind, he was fully prepared for something to happen that would decimate him and his remaining companions. After all, Brutrumukk had been the strongest of them, and he had been taken out so easily.
However, instead of some terrible catastrophe, some strange music started playing as something came out of the lake where Brutrumukk's body had previously been. It didn't look like him, but something in Jub could tell it was what remained of his departed friend. His essence, spirit, soul... whatever you wanted to call it, Jub had never been particularly spiritual, but he got the idea. It placed itself out on the grass and all Jub could do was kind of stare it. Through the numbness and confusion in his mind, Jub could feel the smallest spark of hope. Then, the area was overtaken by a bright light, causing the goblin to wince. He wasn't sure what was going to happen when he opened his eyes again, but he had this nagging suspicion that it was going to be something weird. The Feywild seemed incapable of being normal for more than two seconds, after all.
Sure enough, when the light cleared and Jub opened his eyes again, there was a naked forest gnome lying where Brutrumukk's whatever had been. Jub stood up as he had a creeping suspicion of what had just happened, but he wasn't about to do anything until said suspicion was confirmed.
Then the gnome woke up and started cursing at the goblin gods and Jub knew he was right: this was Brutrumukk, reborn but still the same guy he had been a few minutes ago. Jub let out a small sigh of relief, followed by a louder sigh of frustration as he removed his wizard cloak. "This place really is going to be the death of me," he muttered under his breath before he approached the transformed barbarian. He handed him his cloak. "You might want to put this on for now. Don't want you catching some kind of, I don't know, weird fairy cold or something."
Brutrumukk gave a confused look at Jub's offer of his wizard cloak, only for the feeling of a breeze on places that should have been clothed to clear up that confusion a moment later. It wasn't his companions that got so big, it was he that had become so small. So small that his old clothes no longer fit. Even so, Brutrumukk waved off the offer. "No need to worry 'bout that." Brutrumukk said dismissively. "Me fur'll keep... me... warm?" Brutrumukk trailed off as he noticed the arm he was waving away the offer with looked different. While it was still very hairy, the arm was no longer covered in fur. "What 'appened to me arm?" Brutrumukk asked before looking down at the rest of himself to find that his whole body was now similarly hirsute yet furless. "What 'appened to the rest o' me?!" Brutrumukk asked with slowly mounting dread, before gasping as he realized how different his voice sounded. "Me voice! Me voice! What's 'appened to me?!" Brutrumukk exclaimed in fear as he stumbled back over to the lake, beheld his reflection in the water, and screamed in abject horror.
Without looking the grief-stricken half-elf slid his hands down his face upon hearing a familiar voice, simply staring confusedly at the water looking at his own bewildered expression with a somewhat contorted frown.
"What the...What the fuck?!" Gabriel blurted out, without even remotely hiding the utter and complete misunderstanding he had of the situation.
To put it plainly he didn't know what the fuck had happened.
Tsak soared over the water, still not fulling understanding what had happened and where the big brute was. Sighing, the fairy flew back to the rest and shrugged. She and this big plan of throwing things back in that large bastard's face... and he was gone. Something in that water had gotten him. It looked like the handsome duelist and the goblin had taken it the hardest, and she wanted badly to go to them, but she knew it wasn't right, she was an outsider. Hells, not one fucking day with this group and she already got lost. 'I'm not cut out for this...' she had told herself in her head, now terrified as it finally settled what happened. 'What the fuck is in that water that could kill the brute?? what could have SURVIVED?!' In the end, Tsak didn't know what to do, and so she resorted to her default of hiding herself away and just watching, which made her feel even more like trash.
Tsak had felt the tingle in the air and froze, knowing that feeling all too well, being a fey. She looked around franticly, watching for lighting bolts, swarms of butterfly's or flying elephants falling from the sky. But what caught her attention the most, what froze her to her core and brought goose bumps to her flesh. One of the most mesmerizing song's she could remember, had listen to it damn near every day her entire life! It was the Calliope... She could hear the song of the Calliope an confusion, grief, and homesickness. But then there was something else that dawned on her, a new feeling that creeped up, hope. "That cheeky monkey..." she whispered as she followed the strange clock lady's eyes out to the water.
As the orb risen and flew over them, Tsak had grinned from ear to ear. [color=#9A42AD]"That cheeky monkey!"[color] she said louder, stepping away from the orb as is slowly fell. All her years in the circus, traveling from realm to realm across the multiverse. She never saw anything so beautiful as the ever-changing orb of light slowly descend. She watched as the colors started to speed from their pace of transformation and once the blinding light erupted and faded, she watched in shock awe, as the large brute she had expected to see... had be replaced by a gnome... a fucking gnome.
Her eyes grew wide and cheeks hot red as she watched the now naked gnome stand up and shout the crux at what she had assumed were goblinoid gods. Realizing she might have been staring at the wrong area, she would turn away, looking out at the trees as she processed it all. Bruk died, Ernest the Monkey saved him by turning him into a gnome? A fucking gnome?? It was almost too much to handle and she couldn't help but think this was one of the circus's odd stories they told as entertainment, "A fucking gnome?!". She would shout, oddly finding amusement in it all. She heard, more then saw, the panic and anger in the bug... gnome's voice, as she covered her mouth. She would turn slowly, watch as the gnome walked to the water and scream, before the fairy finally loses her shit and laugh. "That fucking monkey!".
The lack of response from Jub did not quite reach Aurora as much as Gabe's collapse onto the ground saying it was his fault. The elf was not sure how it could have been his fault, yes he cast a spell though Rory didn't think anything of it. The matter in which the bugbear's last breath escaping while still under the water, that was something Aurora was not sure she could live with. She was mere feet away from being able to help Brutrumukk, either by attacking his attackers or trying swim back to shore with him in tow.
Dragging herself up from the wet ground, Rory made her way over to Gabriel. "Gabe... it's not your fault. Whatever it is you think you did I don't think it would have changed what happened. Those things looked a lot tougher down there than what I could see from up here." She wasn't sure if she should give the half-elf the details of the creatures assault on an unconscious Brutrumukk so she kept those details to herself. Including how she could have maybe swam back up with the bugbear.
The surge of energy through the air, and Zavakri's declaration, drew Aurora's attention away from the others. When the music started to play and the orb appeared, Aurora was dumbstruck not having any clue as to what was going on. Only after the forest gnome appeared and the swearing started did it start to make the slightest bit of sense. Somehow Brutrumukk was alive again, though not in his bugbear form.
"What in the nine hells is happening?! How?" She asked aloud while standing up from Gabe. The bag Rory had retrieved from the water slipped from her hands hitting the ground with a wet thud as her grip loosened.
Jub wasn't entirely surprised when Brutrumukk started screaming. While waking up as a gnome wouldn't have bothered him personally - in fact, it probably would have solved a lot of problems - he could imagine this was not the optimal situation for the barbarian. He placed a hand on Brutrumukk's shoulder, something he definitely couldn't have done about an hour ago when the latter was over twice his height. "Alright, I think everyone needs to take a moment and calm the fuck down," he said, addressing the whole group before turning back to the gnome. "Brut, It's not that bad." He paused, realising that was probably not the most helpful thing he could say right now. "There are far worse things you could have come back as... like a toad. Or a mushroom. Or a ant. Or a..." He paused again, before shaking his head. "Just take my word for it: this is not the worst outcome by far."
"Alright, I think everyone needs to take a moment and calm the fuck down," Jub called out to the group while placing a hand on Brutrumukk's shoulder.
"That's easy fer you to say!" The bugbear gnome exclaimed as he pulled his gaze away from his reflection and turned it towards Jub. "I've been turned into a fuckin' gnome!"
"Brut, It's not that bad." Jub began before pausing as he rightly realized that was the wrong thing to say.
"Not that bad? Not that bad?" Brutrumukk said. "I'm so fuckin' small! An' I feel so weak! An' I can't remember 'ow to sneak! Me swingin' arm won't swing as 'ard as it should! 'Ow the fuck do you think that this could be good?"
"There are far worse things you could have come back as... like a toad. Or a mushroom. Or a ant. Or a..." Jub said, pausing a moment to shake his head before continuing. "Just take my word for it: this is not the worst outcome by far."
"That don't mean I gotta like it!" Brutrumukk shot back. "An' I don't like it! I fuckin' 'ate it! This is awful! I'd do anything to be a bugbear again!" As those last words left his mouth, a look of realization crossed Brutrumukk's face. Slowly, he turned his head to look back across the lake. Back towards Bavlorna's cottage. "I'd do anything to be a bugbear again." Brutrumukk said with a determined tone of voice before looking over at "The 'ag. She wanted things done for 'er before she'd make a deal. What were they?".
Brutrumukk's comments about being 'small' and 'weak' elicited an irritable ear twitch from Jub, but he decided to let that go for now. His friend's near-death experience and forceful transformation was probably not the right time to be picking an argument over politeness. Instead, he took a deep breath and interjected. "Or, maybe, instead of selling our soul to the first archfey we meet, we can consider less... hazardous options," he said. He turned toward the laughing Tsak. "You," he said. "You seem to have some idea about what just happened given your... frankly inappropriate reaction. How do we undo it?"
Tsak wipes her eyes, not really understanding what had come over to her. She would look the gnome, realize he was still nude, turn back away blushing and place her hands on her hips. "Well... that's the thing... I don't know entirely as to what had happened. All I can say is that, for what I do know, wild and powerful magic runs rampant here, especially in some places of the Fey. That music though... I know that song anywhere, and have heard it all my life! It belongs to the Calliope of the circus. Our friend, the gnome, from what I heard, gave the monkey his button. Rumor has it, giving your token to Ernest will earn you a great boon. Evidently, that boon can cover bringing our friend from the dead and reborn him into a gnome..." Tsak smirks, pointedly not looking at the naked gnome, "I'm nowhere near a master wizard, but I believe it's permanent. Cheer up Bruk, you've just been knocked into a couple of pegs. Umm... can you please put his cloak on... please".
1x Thank
