Grumbling, we cut off the bug's head, about the size of the wood-stove in our house, and took it to Elminster's tower. The path was even more overgrown than the last time we were in the area. New signs had been placed. Our favorites read "Trespassers will meet quick and sudden deaths." and "Rumors of spiked pits are almost completely false." Glowing warning glyphs faded in and out near the signs. Elminster's tower is a boring looking, three-story structure near a pond.
I approached the door and knocked. No one answered, so I put my ear to the door, but removed it quickly when I remembered certain anti-eavesdropping spells existed. After a while, someone shouted through the door, "Elminster isn't seeing anyone, go away!" I tried explaining the situation through the door, and was rewarded with the sound of locks unlatching.
A short man stood there, frowning. He handed us a pile of paper and instructed us to fill out the forms, then slammed the door. We stood there, dumfounded, then sat down under a convenient oak tree. It took over an hour to fill them out, in triplicate. After writing all of the requested information, such as our birthplaces, parent's names, ages, occupations, etc., there was a tiny box at the end for our question. It even had a warning not to exceed the boundary. We puzzled over the best way to word our dilemma and finally wrote, "What is the best way for us to turn back the insect invasion of Shadowdale?"
After another long wait, the little man returned to take our forms. We stood there for HOURS. It became dark and chilly, so we set up camp right in Elminster's backyard. Morning dawned, and still we waited. The sun was straight overhead when we heard the door opening. The little man cleared his throat and announced, "Elminster has decided to answer your question. He likes puns. Here you go!"
We warily grabbed the piece of paper he offered us, and watched him slam the door, again. The locks were loud when he relatched them. Lyra rolled her eyes, then read the paper aloud.
Beetle Solution · 5 pts. Animal fat · 1 pt. Dried fire toad skin · 1 pt. Retch plant globe · Mix in bowl, cause beetles to ingest the mixture. · Smoke pipe and wait.
Even Lyra and Mical, who are familiar with herbs, had no idea what retch globes were. None of us were aware of the nature of fire toads either. Lagasse and I went to Exotic Merchandise, an odd little shop in town, to see if we could purchase the ingredients there. The proprietor said that we could find the globes in the swamp to the north, but he didn't have any on hand. They are apparently red with purple warts, and quite large. He knew nothing of fire toads.
Meanwhile, Mical and Lyra went to the temple to find if the healers there knew anything useful. They had to 'donate' 50 gold, then got to talk to Father Grimm, who was a fat, happy man. He informed them that retch is normally found in the Sword Coast, but that some grows here, in the swamp to the north. The temple sends a band of soldiers once a year to fetch some. The globes are used for when children or animals eat poisonous plants, to make them vomit. He drew a map and sold them two healing potions.
We met at Storm's where the boy Boebil joyfully romped with the puppies while Crush watched protectively. Storm still wasn't back, so we arranged with Lular to baby-sit for a small sum of silver. We were confident, figuring that it couldn't be too difficult to harvest some plants and kill some toads.
