4 Assembling a party P.2

The group continues to move forward and finally reach grassland. "Dead goblins over there, worth checking for supplies maybe," Shadowheart speaks up and he smiles. A fellow looter. They will get along very well. He walks up to the goblins and loots all of their bodies and comes across camp supplies. That will definitely be useful for when he finally sees his camp.

Satoru moves forward with his six eyes focusing on a sigil to his left. It looks unstable. He approaches the sigil on the stone. Magic glitters and swirls from erratically, as if malfunctioning. It looks slightly dangerous. He reaches his hand forward and the sigil zaps his hand through the infinity which surprises him. He looks at his hand now has steam coming off of it when a hand reaches from out of the portal.

"A hand? anyone?"

"Ummm what? Who are you?" Satoru leans forward examining the portal. The person in there is definitely human his six eyes aren't wrong about that.

"Just your average traveler stuck between realms. Pull me out and we'll get properly introduced."

Satoru shrugs but first covers his hand in jujutsu and uses it to soothe the sigil's magic. A dice appears in front of his face and it rolls. He looks down and sees his +4 to arcana added onto the roll. The dice continues to roll and lands on 7 which was needed for success but the 4 is added on to change it to 11.

"Whatever you're doing, it's working wonders! Now a quick little pull should do the trick."

Satoru grabs the man's hand and pulls him out easily. Thank you for his maxed-out strength and cursed energy boosting his body even more. The man lands before him and slowly stands up. Shadowheart and Astarion slowly inch forward shocked with the situation they have seen.

"Ooft, hello. I'm gale of water deep. Apologies, I'm usually better at this." Gale apologizes and takes Satoru's hand shaking it.

"Like at introductions. This is a memorable one so you're doing a good job." Satoru gives him a thumbs up.

"No at magic." Gale chuckles. "Say, but I know you, don't I? In a manner of speaking. You were on the nautiloid as well."

"Does that really matter aren't you going to explain how u got in the stone? I mean I really want to know don't you guys?" Satoru turns to Shadowheart and Astarion who nod in response.

"I don't know what transpired exactly, but the ship broke into pieces and I suddenly found myself in freefall." Gale moves his hands conveying the picture to the group. "As I was plummeting to certain death. I spied a glimmer quite near where I estimated my body to impact with less-than-savory propulsion. Recognizing this glimmer to be magical in nature. I reached out to it with a weaving of words and found myself on the other side as it were. How about you? How did you survive the fall?"

Satoru blinks slowly for a second trying to understand how someone is willingly speaking like that. It takes him a second to comprehend Gale's words still blinking behind his blindfold. "Fought a bunch of mind flayers and then took control of the ship but crashed landed as you can see."

"That vast, burning wreckage behind you verifies your story." Gale moves his head to look at the wreckage behind the three of them. "Still swashbuckling heroics aside, I have unfortunate suspicion your survival is still very much in jeopardy. Back on the ship, you too were on the receiving end of a rather unwelcome insertion in the ocular region were you not?"

"Yeah, I guess I couldn't have phrased it better myself." Satoru sighs. This guy will definitely not be in his party. The way he talks is too annoying.

"No use sugarcoating it is there?" Gale smiles. "The insertee we speak of, this parasite are you aware that after a period of excruciating gestation, it will turn us into mind flayers? It's a process known as ceremorphosis, and let me assure you it is to be avoided. You don't happen to be a cleric, by any chance, do you? A doctor? Surgeon? Uncannily adroit with a knitting needle?"

"You seem to know enough about our condition to realize it is beyond most cleric's skills." Shadowheart chimes in.

"Most no doubt. But I find myself hoping to be in the presence of the few. You don't happen to be one of them?" Gale responds.

"Shadowheart is a cleric and my sorcery lets me be able to heal all injuries but only for myself. I've tried purging this parasite with my technique but it seems to not want to leave my body so we are out of luck." Satoru shrugs. This parasite is deadly but from what he has assessed something seems to be protecting him from its deadly effects.

"A sorcerer that can heal all his own injuries with his magic you will have to inform me more about that later," Gale says not hiding back his excitement to learn new magic. "But as we've established, few enough can. It's not exactly a common affliction. We're most certainly going to need a healer, and soon too. How about we lend each other a helping hand once more and look for a healer together?"

"Yeah okay but not in the party sorry. You can goo---" As Satoru thinks, his system wheel pops up in front of him and the camp icon is glowing. "You can go to my camp and we will reconvene with you there."

"I will see you there. A parasite shared is a parasite halved. Or something to that effect." Gale says sprouting nonsense. Satoru shakes his head thankful he sent him to the camp talking to this dude would make him wish he could be sealed in the prison real just to escape his nonsense. "Oh! But before you think you're about to embark on a journey with most ill-mannered a man: thank you for pulling me out of that stone. It was an act of foresighted kindness I assure you, for I have a feeling ample opportunities will present themselves for me to return the favor."

Satoru nods and Gale makes his leave jogging away from the group. Satoru turns to the other two and sighs. "Well, he talked a lot for sure."

"I agree. It was dragging along for quite some time." Shadowheart agrees taking a deep breath.

"It was rather annoying. I thought by the time he finished we would have turned into mind flayers." Astarion jokes and Satoru turns his head in surprise.

"Yes, someone else who can make jokes. Astarion you have been bumped to my right-hand man." Satoru runs up and pats him on the shoulder excitedly.

"You can stop touching me now." Astarion grabs his hand and moves it off of him.

"Yep sorry we're not that close yet, but it's looking like we will get there." Satoru backs off and continues to move forward up the grasslands and sees a certain gith trapped in a cage. Wow, how the mighty have fallen. He continues walking and intercepts the conversation between the two Tieflings.

"Zorru was right. Yellow as a toad, and twice as ugly." The male Tiefling says.

"The thing's dangerous. Leave it for the goblins to kill." The female Tiefling warns.

Satoru's skull pounds in response to the prisoner's white-hot stare. Her lips don't move, yet he can hear her voice.

Get rid of them

Hmmmm fine

The Tieflings turn to Satoru who now has their full attention. "Quickly move this thing is too dangerous for you. Me and my party will handle it from here." As he says this a dice roll appears in front of his face and it begins to roll. With the added bonus of this +4 deception and now a new bonus from Shadowheart called guidance he gets a 4-8 dice roll bonus. he needs a 10 and he gets a 2 man is his luck horrible but with the bonus, he is able to reach 10 and the deception works.

"You're right we'll let you handle it." The male Tiefling nods his head and moves away with the female Tiefling. They walk away with Satoru's attention turning back to Lae'zel.

"Enough gawking - get me down" Lae'zel orders.

"How about you say 'please'." Satoru retorts and with this statement, his approval rating with both Shadowheart and Astarion increases.

"Never."

Satoru rolls his eyes behind his blindfold but goes to grab a pebble and throws it at the rope holding the cage up. It falls and Lae'zel lands on the ground and walks up to all of them. "The tadpole hasn't yet scrambled all your senses. Auspicious. But the longer we wait, the more it consumes. My people possess the cure for this infection. I must find a creche: you will join me."

"When someone helps you it is common courtesy to say thank you. Say thank you or I will trap you here and leave you to fend for yourself." Satoru warns.

Lae'zel narrows her eyes at the sorcerer but decides to listen. She's seen his power first hand and it would be best for her to have him on her side. "Thank you." She holds back her barf with this statement.

"You're welcome now what is a creche?" Satoru questions. he still knows little to nothing about this world and any information is good information for him right now.

"It is many things. A hatchery, a training grounds, a shelter." Lae'zel answers. "Githyanki protocol is clear: when infected with the ghaik tadpole, we must report to a ghustil for purification."

"Alright then come with us but go to my camp I can't deal with how you act honestly." Satoru declares gaining even more approval ratings from Shadowheart. All this shows Satoru is that those two will definitely have problems with each other sooner rather than later.

"Very well," Lae'zel grumbles. "But heed my words. The horned ones mentioned a camp. One there - this Zorru - has seen Githyanki. A creche must be near. I must interrogate this Zorru. Our very lives depend on it. I'll be at your camp. Do not keep me waiting."

She jogs away leaving the three in the middle of the grasslands. Satoru turns to his part members realizing they don't really talk at all unless he talks to them first. It's weird but maybe it's because they don't really know him. He turns to Shadowheart and gains her attention.

"I've heard you can't get blood from a stone, but apparently you can get a wizard from one. Gale seems interesting." Shadowheart starts the conversation.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask what's up with the little artifact you have?" Satoru interrogates. He hasn't gotten a good look at it but if he did his six eyes would be able to explain the artifact for him.

"There's nothing up with it. Nothing that you're entitled to hear anyway. Just forget you ever saw it." Shadowheart demands killing any conversation they were to ever have about that artifact.

"Ok never mind. What about all that we've been through so far? How are you feeling?" Satoru questions."

"We haven't gone all that far yet - what are you referring to exactly?" She tilts her head to the side and Satoru takes note of her cute head tilt. This might be a recurring thing.

"Hmmm how about the little parasites in our heads, you must feel something about them right?" Satoru shrugs.

"Must I? Thinking about it won't help. We know what to do, so let's do it." Her expression turns serious. "We have to find a way to rid ourselves of these things. I'm not too hopeful that a gith creche will actually prove our salvation, but it's worth keeping in mind."

"Ok yeah, will do. How about what will you do, if we manage to remove these tadpoles?" Satoru continues with his questioning.

"I suppose we'd go our separate ways - not a slight on your company, of course." She answers.

"There is no reason for us not to stay together when we get there as well." Satoru lets out surprising himself.

"Is this another one of your attempts to flirt with me?" Shadowheart raises her eyebrow.

"No. Maybe, but seriously who says our adventure has to end once we reach Baldur's gate." He continues.

"Maybe you're right. We will see." Shadowheart gives a small almost unnoticeable smile but Satoru sees it even with the blindfold around his eyes.

"Where would you go in Baldur's gate if you don't mind me asking?" Satoru doesn't know why but he feels drawn to know asking her questions. It feels weird wanting to get to know someone this much.

"There's someone waiting for me there. Someone I have to reach, as soon as possible." She reveals to him.

"This seems very personal and we aren't there yet so I won't pry, especially if you don't want to talk about it." Satoru puts his hands up and backs away from the conversation.

"Thank you. And you're right, it's... a delicate matter. Not something for light conversation." She tells him.

"Gotcha moving on." Satoru gives a tight smile and moves on to Astarion who smiles at him.

"I am enjoying the latest addition to our little group - Lae'zel is delightful." Astarion smiles swaying his body dramatically. "Well in a very 'look at me twice and I'll dismember you' kind of way, of course"

"Tell me about yourself Astarion." Satoru smiles at the obvious vampire. The sharp teeth pale skin and blood-red eyes tell him more than he needs to know. He didn't even need help from his six eyes to deduce that one.

"Oh, what's to tell? I'm a magistrate back in the city - it's all rather tedious." Astarion shrugs ending the conversation short. Satoru nods and moves on. He walks to the right where he sees what he assumes to be ruins. He continues to walk forward and sees a gnome with a mask who quickly turns around noticing his group's presence.

"You! Not another step you hear me." The gnome yells immediately. "Boss! Got company up here." A few seconds later another gnome who Satoru takes as the boss shows up,

"What's this then- trying to creep around us and loot the crypt? Not happening." The gnome eyes them up and down. "Or is it the ship you're after? Don't matter either way - it's ours, all of it"

"If I'm being honest the only thing you'll ever own when I'm around is your life and if you want to keep that you should leave." Satoru threatens slowly letting his cursed energy build up. The raiders in front of them can't sense the cursed energy but all they feel is a rising of killing intent. A dice roll appears before him with a success roll of 10 but his roll is boosted with a + 4 to his roll thanks to intimidation. The dice rolls a 20 giving a critical success.

"Well, uh, in that case..." The gnome takes a step back in fear. "C'mon, you lot, no point in getting killed. Second worm gets the cheese an'all.."

"Uh, second mouse gets the cheese, no?" His subordinate speaks up.

"Nobody's getting any damn cheese now move it." The gnome yells and his party runs away.

Satoru chuckles to himself watching them scurry away. "You did well. I thought we had a fight on our hands." Shadowheart commends him as they continue to walk down the destroyed stairs to the courtyard outside of the ruins. Her approval rating goes up as well.

"Thank you." Satoru gives her a thumbs up and moves forward looting the boxes near them and gaining more and more camp supplies. He moves towards the door and sees a shovel which he grabs who knows it might be useful. He looks forward to the door with a huge smile. He can see a lot of magical energy surrounding this door. Who knows what will be in here but he can't wait.