#kimmysdiary

My first night in camp was... oddly nostalgic. In my dreams, a figure bearing Rai’gy’s face approached me. I can tell it was not truly him. He would never wear the armor of an iblith. That dream visitor attempts to fool me, and I’m determined to learn the truth.

The second day was a fever dream. Gromph struggled to get going at first. Likely the result of delaying his natural end through an amulet. Later, he willingly took lute lessons from a tiefling. Perhaps the parasite is affecting him more than I anticipated...

Not that he seemed to enjoy it, though. “I am only doing this for the proficiency”, he explained. His face was one of discomfort. 

While Gromph amused himself in the Emerald Grove, I did some lucrative networking for Bregan D’aerthe. I invested in a group of criminal tiefling children and graciously ignored their blatant attempts to steal from me. Gromph claims I am going soft. I politely disagree.

To demonstrate this, I later initiated the massacre of a small group of particularly rude ibliths. Gromph participated enthusiastically.

After that, we visited a hag. Gromph was delighted. She offered him a hag’s eye in exchange for removing the parasite. An arrangement he considered a win-win. He accepted it with the words “I have two eyes anyway.”

In my opinion, he is becoming far too accustomed to eye transplants. Well, the hag failed to remove the parasite. It is Netherese. Now even I am mildly concerned.

After freeing a svirfneblin behind Gromph’s back (which I did not do out of softness) we took a long rest. Turns out, my vampire iblith believes I failed to notice his fangs and red eyes upon first meeting him. The fool even attempted to feed on me.

Fortunately for him, I found myself curious enough to grant him this one-time opportunity. After all, I had used him repeatedly the day before to trigger traps in advance. It is only reasonable to keep one’s tools motivated.

Tomorrow, our journey continues. Maybe I will be lucky and I will finally be able to consume the mind flayer parasite specimen I secured along the way... With kind regards, Kimmuriel Oblodra

Bonus

We have also developed a habit of making music during combat. Possibly a side effect of the delayed ceremorphosis. I am, surprisingly, quite adept with the lute, and ever since that tiefling gave Gromph lessons, his flute playing has become... acceptable.

After surviving an ambush, we discovered some rather incriminating documents, which Gromph immediately intended to use to blackmail Kagha. Unfortunately, the Shadow Druids she was working with revealed themselves in the process and a fight broke out. As the druids have sullied the good name of rats, Gromph took the matter very seriously.

We killed all the druids inside the building. The long rest afterward was well deserved.

The next morning, Gromph left me alone for five minutes. And in that time, of course, I was kidnapped by a devil.

At first, he approached me in a threatening manner, disguised as an iblith, speaking in cryptic rhymes. And what do you think he wanted from me? My precious illithid tadpole. The audacity.

He truly believed I would agree to a deal that required me to give up my tadpole? What an obvious scam. The man also could not stop monologuing. I endured the endless infodumping and declined all offers professionally. And little did the fool know that when I asked him to give me time to think, I meant I’d need all eternity. ;)

Finally reunited with Gromph, we continued travelling and killed some gnolls. Gromph also recruited a red tiefling into our ranks. He deemed her useful. His iblith seemed pleased as well. For the first time, Gromph earned her approval.

Afterward, we eliminated a few more ibliths, relieved them of their belongings, and made our way to the goblin camp. There, we experienced a rather questionable vision. One that quite literally brought Gromph to his knees. (Seeing Gromph weak and helpless is a most satisfying sight.)

A voice spoke to us. It reminded me a lot of the psionic intrusions I usually perform on others. Fortunately, his iblith possessed an artifact that protected us. 

(And yes: my hair remained impeccable.)

Slowly but surely, the day neared its end. However, Gromph then confronted me with wide, almost pleading eyes and asked: “Wait… you’re not evil anymore? 🥺” His tone shifted quickly afterward: “Don’t tell me you’re going neutral.” I assured him that we could continue to scheme wicked plans together and immediately presented him with an evil plan for the following day... A double manipulation of the finest kind. Will we succeed? Before that, however, rest was required.

That evening brought yet another surprise: Gromph could no longer walk. Poor Grumpy-Gromph. (He hates that nickname, so I will continue using it.) Even after a long rest, he remained unable to move. Fortunately for him, I was able to fix the… malfunction by simply shoving him.

The night, however, brought drama of a different sort: An iblith from the grove, Wyll, appeared. He and Karlach quickly descended into a heated confrontation. For once, I attempted to mediate, but their stubbornness soon became intolerable. Gromph intervened. A sudden shift in allegiance, a brief alliance with Wyll and one problem was resolved. After the fight, Gromph and I promptly eliminated him as well. Both problems were resolved. Karlach and Wyll are no more.

The evening that followed was… unexpectedly soft. It seems my iblith has taken a liking to me. Gromph does not share this fortune. He claimed not to care. Before retiring, however, he admitted...

Gromph: “It would be nice if she liked me, though.” Me: “I like you.” Gromph: “I like you too.” I promptly fell asleep. But as we all know… Gromph cannot sleep anymore. He’s simply too old. Heh. With kind regards, Kimmuriel Oblodra

Bonus