Ch17 - Refinement
Ch17 - Exploration
Once everyone goes to bed I talk to the strange ox once again, this time instead of telling me about the different types of ooze, he tells me only about one.
Jubilex, the unseen one, is the god of ooze. He does not have a convoluted or complex plan, he just wants all to be ooze. Violently hostile to all that is not ooze, so therefore the ooze worship him. The strange ox is a follower, but it seems like he's not too sure about the master plan. Nevertheless he told me about how Jubilex is the father of slime, and he remains unchallenged on that position. Though there is a rumour going around that though he is beatable, no one wants to go near him, because of his smell.
He even taught me a spell in the end, [conjure ink guardian] apparently it's a friendly ooze that scholars summon for an endless supply of ink and to guard libraries. He said he learnt it whilst pretending to be a wizard's tressym in Waterdeep, though he doesn't know which wizard.
In the middle of the night, I suddenly see my whole party sprinting fast in a direction. Without thinking I join, "what's going on?" I ask to Lae'zel, "The dragonborn has went off his leash again, tsk" I look ahead and see Durge barreling towards Alfira's room. Immediately I cast [Hold Person] and then [Sleep] on him, I cancel the [Hold Person] letting him slump to the floor. I can only guess that whatever is causing him this is purely biological, I just acted as a suppressant when I removed the other conditions.
I pick him up and carry him over to his tent, only me, Lae'zel and Karlach could do this and Karlach is still fast asleep. I made sure to tie him tight to a post in his tent, I also double checked that the pole was dug deep enough that he wouldn't just rip it out. Finally, I went around everyone and checked that they were okay, apart from Karlach but she couldn't seem happier to me. So I head back to my spot and continue as I were.
****
Morning comes and Dammon greets me, the ox is in his forge after all. "You alright Dammon?" I greet ,"Good thank you, you?".
Greeting each other like we weren't living in the apocalypse is nice, but what was even nicer is getting the chance to watch him forge. Both yesterday and today I've watched him make great works worthy of half a treasury, not only this but he also knows how to mould infernal metal, which I have unfortunately missed.
Another few hours pass by, talking to the ox and learning from Damnon. Dammon obviously doesn't know how to speak ooze or speak to animals, so I can only imagine what he thinks we're talking about. I've learned how to make shields now, I even helped in the tempering due to my resistances and strength.
The afternoon came and I felt like I was wasting time standing still, so I went to visit everyone else, specifically Alfira.
"Yes, better now at least. Since you pulled that thing out of my head, I haven't had any nightmares." Alfira had an unfortunate mix of mental conditions that was all too common across the tieflings right now. The worst I saw was Rolan, he was the only one who I didn't ask consent from, because I knew what he would do.
"Well that's good, is it alright if I ask you for some advice? Because I bought a lute from Mattis yesterday and despite what I learnt from you, I just can't seem to get it right." I pulled out a sandal beige lute from my bag with a burned engraving at the bottom stating 'Nomad'.
"Yeh of course, let's find a separate room, we don't want to bother anyone here with practice." She stood up and guided me to her room, her door still open. Pulling out her own lute, she rested it on her lap and sat on her bed.
"If you don't mind, just go through some chords and I'll try and see the issue." I sat in a wooden chair opposite her and cycled through the chords.
"Ah I get it now! You're doing it exactly as I do it!" She smiled and pointed as she came to the realisation.
"What do you mean?" I didn't see the issue really, she's a good lute player.
"I got my timings and everything through practice. Everything I did is tailored to the size of my fingers, arms and even the way I think. You are a completely different person!" I was truly taking the information to heart, but I was curious so….. [Change Shape].
Turning into Alfira, I decided to go through the chords once again. "Is that better?" I used mimicry to use my normal voice, otherwise it'd be a bit too weird.
"Ah- uh - yeah I guess. But I don't think you'll want to be me every time you play right?" She looked a mix of shocked and confused, judging by her face I think I gave it to her as permanent de-buffs.
"True, I just wanted to test your theory out. Thank you, do you have any tips on trying to get my own style?"
Recovering for a moment she spoke, "Create something new, it can be a jumbled mess or not, just something that only you know and have mastered."
"Thank you Alfira, just remember, if you have any friends or family that you think need help, I'm more than happy to supply that help." I smile at her and go back to the barn. Stuck on the choice of what to create, I come to a realisation, I'm the only one in the world that knows modern songs.
I start finding the notes for '7 Nation Army' by The White Stripes.