A Broken Cycle

Namina has revealed that her quest is to repair -or prevent the damage of- "The Life Cycle". She has joined this expedition with this goal in mind. It has been mentioned that it is possible that this same danger to this cycle is responsible for the plague in Voldtaren and the blight in Agave's village.

Current Event

Daulok 32, 308 - While attempting to reach Vsevolodrik deep beneath his Throne after vanquishing Anguish, the Spiritual Travelers happened upon Steve, DAN's brother and the 'one that is Lost'. He was weeping and hunched over a letter, sitting at an out of place bar on the first floor of Vsevolodrik's Prison. He introduced himself after the party discovered most of the room was created from smoke, and he helped them get to his real body at the "Center of It All". The journey was rough, and it was soon revealed that the Steve they first met was just a fragment of himself, and it seemed to be almost working against the group when it was discovered he wanted one of the Spiritual Travelers to take Steve's place. After he was unchained and the copy was killed by ALT, the travelers returned to the tavern in the prison and defeated the Spiral Hag that had been tormenting Steve and DAN throughout their journey. The way forward was revealed, and Steve was at last truly freed.

Plot points/Scenes

The Plague

About four years ago, the first signs of a plague were seen in Voldaren, unbeknownst to them it had arrived on a merchant vessel and began its spread from there. This plague seems to be incurable regardless of any magical intervention, medicine or other employed methods. Frode traveled to the Spirit World several years later with instruction from his King to get some unpleasant documents signed, but he may also be there hoping to find a cure for this dastardly illness.

Namina Leaves Home

Around a month after this plague began, Namina was charged with preventing damage to The Life Cycle by the entity she refers to as "The Trench Mother". She traveled the world looking for evidence and just being a generally nice cleric helping out wherever she could. Her final stop was in Voldaren several years later where she began treating Frode's family and other Voldaren peasantry. When the expedition into the Spirit World was announced she joined up to hopefully be able to prevent whatever is happening.

The Blight

A little less than a year before the events of Spiritual Tourism began, a blight was spotted near Agave's village. The desert plants have begun to die off, and the Sacred Lonely Blue Agave plant is also being affected. This blight could grow to disastrous levels if untreated, and, much like the plague in Voldaren, it appears to be incurable through any means. Agave traveled to the Spirit World with the expedition team with hopes of finding answers of a more spiritual nature. He's found a book on desert plant spirits and has discovered leads involving a particular desert plant spirit that tends to ask for help in dealing with a blight, but has not had the opportunity to follow up on these things yet.

The Swamp

While journeying through Pluarsh ec Relovut on Nurend 16, 308, Agave discovered several sources of Traveler's Shiitake which he harvested. He now has 8 of these mushrooms available, and that's just enough to get the whole group of Spiritual Travelers into The Rotting Gate. In this same swamp, the Spiritual Travelers encountered and defeated a rather nasty plant known as Death Blossoms. This plant exhaled a corrupting breath which was capable of rotting and melting flesh, its wretched nature and bile that it regurgitated all also forced symptoms of various diseases and blights upon the group. Perhaps further study of this plant could lead to a cure for both the Blight and the Plague, or, if not, maybe the Circle really is to blame...can the Circle be corrupted and not Broken? Who knows?

A Zombie's Story

The Spiritual Travelers, after defeating a group of Death Blossoms on Nurend 16, 308, were provided a story told by a Zombie that had supposedly existed for some innumerable amount of years. The story followed an unknown race of people referred to as the L’huine. Some of these L'huine followed the teachings of "The Necromancer" called Božena that the memories of past lives should be remembered, that there's a great deal of knowledge missing, and that death should not be the absolute end/beginning it is. They traveled into the Spirit World where Božena developed a method to find the spirit of rot, Skorumpovaný, and when they finally finished cultivating the mushrooms necessary to do so they all traveled through The Rotting Gate. The followers of Božena became some of the zombies seen in the encounter with the Death Blossoms, and one of these followers, Her’aen, provided the story the Spiritual Travelers heard. Some of what she said suggested that she had a great deal of disdain for Božena for tricking them as the knowledge she now carried weighed her down like a burden too heavy to bear, and the endless life promised did not prevent the pain and suffering that she feels everyday. She ended her story explaining that Božena is still inside the gate, channeling some endless spell to one day break the Circle and end the process of reincarnation. She referred to this as "Being on the edge of greatness" which is concerning, as it suggests that she still wants this to work to some degree, although she also mentioned wanting Božena to be defeated to save her and her people.

Research Nurend 30, 308

The Spiritual Travelers had some time off to recover. After their recovery and personal downtime activities, they went to the Sylvan Library together to do some research on this Rotting Gate. Here they found Self Preservation and an Atlas of Rot which happen to both be great reads for anyone hoping to prep for a land of rot and corruption. Namina also received some guidance from her deity in the form of a poem: A God's Guidance

Consumed by guilt, He must not be freed
Lost, dwelling on sins that He cannot forgive
Half cries out again for Her love is lost
This time curled up in Anguish, in Despair, Fatigued
By the Hope that is drowned, Her tears, like ink and oil
Will stain the rays of sunlight. As She hides, frightened and reckless, while the world around her ends
No more cycles, no ticking from the clock
No more death, or life, or rot
An end to a bitter tale, no longer tainted by Hope
An end to a ceaseless spiral, and to His darkness
Ever-chased by Her light. Uncover His secrets, hidden before Time could see
Fight, or free, those that are devoted to His will,
Remind them of the Hope they once had, of dreams forgotten
It is more than Rot that corrupts, for knowledge is truly rotten
The Usurper will wear His crown, but bear not His guilt
And the missing pieces will be bathed in light To repair the broken Cycle is to know your past Anguish
To protect the Cycle already broken is to lose your Self
Freedom from the Reel, a Death unending with balance tarnished
Find Hope to forgive, to redeem, and end the denied suffering
It is shared by all that know Him, and will be destroyed
Less they are saved from the Lying dark A Wanderer with no Knowledge, but methods to defeat It
Find him, your path revealed but unwalked
As he writes and ponders and forgets his day
Tricked from him, stolen, by the one that demands to be forgot
The light he gives her taken from his own is lost
Will no longer be lost, freed from the Twisted dark Spirits washed, their pieces cast like paper on the wind
Bats that remember them, faces like an old friend
Or the heart that is trapped beneath the surface even now
Will all be lost this time around
As even now she works against it all, misguided and tortured
For her will is not her own, but rather the Coiling dark.

Their last plans before waking up tormented by a Wheredigo were to begin prep for this gate and check in on their Expedition Base.

The Tea Party - Nurend 41, 308

The Spiritual Travelers summoned the Chittering Spirit to participate in a Tea Party. During this ...unusual social situation, they were able to ask many questions that had been plaguing them. Thankfully, all the information they received was retained. The Spirit was able to explain to Namina, and the rest of the group, that the Cycle was less of a Circle and more of a Funnel that sucked in all souls. When a world dies, it is dead forever. The memories of its people gone and never to be seen again, but that this spirit is capable of preserving them so that the civilization can live on forever. Namina requested information about how to restore the Cycle so that it stops dragging the dead into oblivion, and the Spirit was more than happy to provide this information to her. The task was referred to by the Spirit as "Impossible", but Namina wished to try it anyways. "You're already on a path that would get you closer, and your friends will bring you to the next step which will involve dealing with some "confidential information". When you pass the hurdle that is retrieving the One that is Lost, and when you defeat the One that is Caged, and vanquish The Usurper...then you will find yourselves at the Edge of The World ready to jump into your doom. Only then will the cycle be repaired."

Downtime - Daulok 03-06

Contacting Hysteria's Patron

"Several moments pass before you receive an answer. As you're waiting for this response, doing other things in town or whatever, your vision and your imagination -anything you try to visualize in your mind- are fading. Things are getting darker, blurrier, and after awhile you start to hear the very soft dripping of water in a cave, echoing. You can hear the sound of heavy footsteps somewhere around you along with the sound of somebody struggling to breathe as they try to break themselves free from chains. The only words you get in response are from a very struggling, wheezing voice that says simply, "Free me.""

Kaswink's Visions

"These visions started with "not quite elves". They were a little bit shorter than Hysteria with rounded ears that had just the slightest of points, and their facical features were just starting to get the sharper, elven aesthetic. Throughout these visions these people would slowly change, never quite reaching full modern-day elf, not really coming close, but slowly getting there. There were visions of these people crafting The Prison , installing these chains, people being chained up, tortured with spikey crowns and other torture equipment that caused them to bleed thin strips of blood from their arms. You can hear people crying out in agony when you can't see anything. There were moments that you could hear something binding your own eyes, piercing them. Time goes on and there are moments that the prison is empty save for a few prisoners that were left behind. A great deal of time passes with these people left alone to slowly, very slowly die in this prison. More time passed, actual elves showing up, using the chains for their own enemies without realizing the history or the magic involved. You see them going mad as the visions fade."

The Spiritual Travelers have begun planning their next steps: Watching and eventually attacking Simol, The Hag Empress. Her connection to the Oni is highly suspect, and felt like a great place to start on the path to defeating it. Worries that the Oni's influence could be spreading were also a concern, so defeating it as soon as possible seemed appropriate. Agave/AND Keep an Eye Out

Agave and AND have been observing Simol during their downtime while recovering from their battle with Ilven and The Unblinking Sein. Their efforts of obsering her largely involved staying very far away and watching the village while using Agave's maps and traveling abilities to search for any of Simol's or the Oni's influence elsewhere. This plan was a success in that they were able to observe Simol, though, strangely enough, she seems to just spend all day in her hut smoking, drinking, eating strange plants and painting. These paintings were rather hard to get a good look at, but there was one morning that they woke up to find several paintings arranged around their camp that all depicted the two of them watching her. Their mission to find any signs of the Oni's influence outside Simol was a bit more of a conundrum. All they really knew about this Oni's influence was some spirals and the presence of three horns. Similarities were already documented with The Well of Darkness and The Sinkhole, but additional sightings were rather rare. While out looking for the Oni's influence, however, they did spot Simol walking into a Mothlight Tree, those that were still resting in said Mothlights would've seen Simol visit Ilven and Tympi. She mostly just grunted, looked them over once and left. Additional oddities and discomforts that were found include strange Spires that rise out of the ground with overlapping segments. These spires are covered in spikes and are reminiscent of what was seen in The Gallery. Some of the spires were reported as having what appeared to be tourists stuck on their spikes. Lastly, a spider-like being seen briefly walking through the Badlands did have strange shadows reaching out from what would normally be reasonable, and the being was also fighting back a transformation which seemed to involve at least one horn.

Daulok 07, 308

It has been hypothesized by the Spiritual Travelers that the spires Agave and AND found are the next step in the Oni's plan. It has been agreed that they should likely investigate these spires and see what the dealio is, but first they are making sure the tourists are safe from harm. They've set up a system with members of Tympi's Court to help guide these tourists to The Night City of Dorchar and The Daytime Village of Aotri. Plans to fight Simol were also briefly delayed to help these tourists, especially Namina's brother, Nori. Kaswink also had some concerns with fighting the hag empress right away as she felt it might be necessary to learn what she knows before killing her. Though most of the group seems uneasy about dealing with her again.

Daulok 21, 308

The Spiritual Travelers entered The Rotting Gate during the evening of Daulok 21, 308. The Traveler's Shiitake stew was delicious and involved contribution from each person. They watched as mycelium collected and began to grow into more and more of the same Traveler's Shiitake they had been consuming. It eventually formed into an arch with long strands of mycelium hanging from the top to form the bars of a gate. On the other side they could see the world rotting away. They made it through the maze within this gate to the guardian. This Guardian revealed the way out to them after testing their strength, and they poceeded into the ever-stinky realm of rot. They encountered a variety of wacky characters along their way to Me'kiah'brem'or and Božena, The Rotting Heirophant.

Daulok 22, 308 - The Necromancer

After finding Me'kiah'brem'or, the Spiritual Travelers took a nap in a bookstore. They encountered members of the long-lost L’huine species and woke with renewed ambition to stop Božena. An attempt was made to convince her to stop what she's doing, but she was a bit stubborn and refused to stop the ritual that she had already spent some incomprehensible amount of time on. Believing that these adventurers might be the final piece to the puzzle she needs to complete her ritual, she attacked them and is currently engaged in combat with the group of adventurers.

Daulok 23, 308 - The Oni

The Oni was defeated! Kaswink was also defeated, but part of the Chittering Spirit's path for these Spiritual Travelers to reset the Cycle has been accomplished. With the Oni gone all that remains is to defeat The Usurper, free Steve and jump off the edge of the world to their doom! Upon The Oni's defeat, a wall of darkness covered the world originating in the Northwest. The Chittering Spirit also arrived with a warning. “You must leave this place. Return to your base for now…I have slowed its growth to a crawl, but it is still growing. You must rest now, Travelers, and then make your way to the center. My efforts will destroy me, scatter this form to the Spiraling Dark, and so I would leave you with one last bit of very Painful Knowledge. Farewell.” The Spirit then slowly dissolved, its corporeal form fading from existence and being scattered to the swirling, dark winds behind it. Its voice echoed through the minds of these travelers again though as its "very painful knowledge" was received. Everyone but Frode passed out from the pain, and he was tasked with bringing them all back so that Bobcat could teleport them all home. “Those that are trapped: perhaps literally in a dungeon, spiritually in a situation from their past, in a form that is not their own, maybe mentally in other ways…they’re all prisoners. They all give him power to some degree. Think of the clouds that parted when you freed Croak, or when Ilven was saved, or when you defeated the brewer’s Torment. Think of what might lie beyond the clouds and why the Oni might want them covering the sky. There are words I wish to tell you, but they cannot be repeated even by me… you must find my Creator. He knows what the Oni has planned. He knows what is happening to the world right now, and He is trapped beneath His Throne. Take this Knowledge, and another gift with it: The Spiraling Darkness beyond me contains…everything in the Spirit World that has been consumed by it. It is dangerous, Travelers, and you would do well to Know what is out there. This means that I too will be everywhere within, and my Knowledge of Myself could help you in your journey.”

Daulok 26, 308 - Steve

While exploring the Howdigo to find and free Tympi, the Spiritual Travelers freed DAN from their vision of an idyllic future: their Traveling Carnival. While there, DAN was offered to leave, find Steve "at the center of it all" and finally free him. DAN seemed to understand the importance of this, had a desire to do so, but also knew that this couldn't be real. They rejected the offer, insisting that they will find DAN the correct way, and that they will bring their friends to help. Steve insisted that if DAN wouldn't come with him, then he would just come with DAN. What exactly this means is unclear yet, but one of the pieces of the puzzle needed to reset the cycle is apparently moving.

Daulok 31, 308 - Anguish

The Spiritual Travelers took their first few steps into the Spiraling Dark, and, as they did so, Hysteria received a message from a mysterious rival. The last time this voice had been heard was during the encounter with Ilven, and, at that time, it was accompanied by visions of a Black Banner. “At last…I have been waiting for you for so long. Do you serve me? Or …do you serve a chained up old fool? Do you not desire power? Do you not desire to save your people?" Hysteria took a moment to reply, but their answer was eventually in the affirmative. Their plan being to trick the disembodied voice, to find a way to it, and their ruse succeeded. The voice, menacing or not, was shocked to hear that Hysteria would actually agree. Its skepticism led to it providing additional information on the off-chance any trickery was afoot. "Know this, Hysteria: He. Abandoned. Us. I am merely taking up His mantle to provide a service. A service needed by our people, as you understand. Please, join us, become better than you are now, better than you were before…better than when you thought you were serving Him. It’s always been me, Hysteria, I’m just more open about it now…and I have more power, of course." Hysteria had questions about this, particularly if this voice had been abandoned by the Patron as well. The voice confirmed this, and it revealed itself to be none other than a jester named Anguish.

Their journey eventually led them to a Nexus Tower which showed 5 different locations within the Spirit World that it could take them to. One of these locations was a tundra with a Black Banner at the center of the visible area. They decided to pass through this wall, and, as they reached the banner, they heard the sound of Chanting coming from all directions. The source of this chanting is still unknown due to the vision-impairing darkness.

Anguish was at long last confronted by the Spiritual Travelers. The fight was brutal and nearly deadly for at least Agave, but Anguish was eventually defeated. His body, however, was merely fodder for yet another convoluted plan and ritual performed by The Oni. The Oni, Risen by Anguish, continued to fight these travelers until he too was defeated yet again. Him and the Spiraling Dark both were dragged deep into the ground shortly after being vanquished.

Structure

Exposition

The Spiritual Travelers

It was initially hypothesized that the Cycle's biggest danger is whatever lies within the Rotting Gate, and that this same force was responsible for what Plagues Voldaren and what has Blighted Ulktorov's Desert. These concerns were confirmed to some extent by the Chittering Spirit which provided Frode some Cursed Knowledge

"There is a cure in this realm, as well as one in your own. The plague that affects your people is one that relies on their memories of the illness. It will plague them as long as they know that they are plagued and that the plague exists. By purging the memories they could be cured, and defeating the one that resides in the land of Rot may help, and the journey through there may shine some insight about the plague and your family, but the cure will not come to them until they forget..."
"Your king is a catalyst and the true harbinger of your doom. The plague came from him and his dark dealings with this realm. Do not trust him, and do not trust that Božena's deals with him are pure."

about the Plague, as well as Agave memories that involved both the Rot and a journey to the North (a similar direction as The Usurper and Ulunor's Cliff). Reflections on Agave's New Memories

You have a moment of reflection though, not too long after the torpor of the many mornings and nights wears off. Your new head companion became trapped by some spirit, a spirit drenched in greenish-yellow slime that seemed to force feelings of Depression on them. Something involving the wooden hand...and the possibility that whatever has taken your Agave's Spirit might not be in the Rotting Gate...but that dealing with something that causes blight might still be essential, especially for Frode. Something tells you that the origin of this Hand isn't your clan's as it wasn't attached to you when you left. Something tells you that the Voldaren Noble that you saw might have something to do with it...and that he may have gotten lost in this Spirit World far to the north.

Furthermore, it seems that DAN Wildcloak's brother is also involved along with Kaswink as their concerns are both somewhat tied to the Spiraling Gate and The Oni. Hysteria is also connected to all of this in some way as the Usurper is involved with Jesters and whoever this mysterious King is. The Throne and Crown from the Maze which were somehow connected to them play a part as well.

The Circle

The Life Cycle, The Circle, The Cycle/Circle of Life, The Cycle, and whatever other names it might have all refer to the general rule that we were born, we will grow and we will die. Some religions/philosophies will name themselves after this concept with names like "The Circle" which is a popular philosophy throughout Taranel, and many religions borrow from the teachings that in our death we will live again. Death is the end, but it is also the beginning, and with each death there is new life to be had. While it is often applied to religious teachings, The Circle can also be a source of nihilism. With death our memories are lost, and while we are reborn we have no memory of our past lives. Therefore, were we ever really reincarnated to begin with? If we were, would it matter? If we weren't, would it change anything about the process? The nihilistic approach sees death as a bitter end despite it starting a new life over, and, indeed, the prospect of a new life with no recollection of what happened before just creates more nihilistic feelings and existential dread in most that overthink it. That being said, where Nihilism sees the nothingness of it all, a more hopeful sect might see the nothingness and be able to gaze beyond it to think that "So what? We still lived, and the impact we left is still there, and the idea that a spirit will live again regardless of who it might be this time should be celebrated." "Death Cults" often pop up in different places around the world that focus on the end being the beginning more than anything. Death is to be celebrated just as much as birth, and when someone in the community dies it is a major event.

The Broken Circle

While many are content celebrating or wallowing in the existential dread that might be brought upon them by thinking about this Circle, others are not so eager to sit back and die. The Broken Circle is a term that can refer to any number of different ideologies that spring up in opposition to The Circle. Some are necromancers that just want to raise the dead and throw sick raves, others might be a bit more sinister about their employment opportunities and force their new zombie minions to attack unsuspecting Death Cults, and some might be completely inactive and simply preach that there is something fundamentally wrong with what is happening within The Circle. Those that preach of the wrongness of The Circle can be further divided into different sects. There are major religious organizations that could suggest The Circle is broken and needs to be repaired. These groups are categorically more involved in maintenance for The Circle and not a part of The Broken Circle necessarily, though their teachings do not align entirely with The Circle in that they believe it is malfunctioning. This malfunction, to them, is that "Were The Circle to be truly whole and unbroken, would it not maintain our memories and spirits better? Why do we lose so much with each cycle?", or, perhaps the malfunction could be even that there is a difference between the life lost and the life returned suggesting some form of Spiritual Entropy. Lastly, there are sects that would see The Circle as something that needs to be broken. To these groups, the nihilism of "Live, die, forget..." is too much. What is being forgotten? Who were we? True immortality would not be living forever, it would be remembering who you were and who you are as each cycle begins anew. Just how many lives have been lived that are now nothing? The concept that "If we don't remember what happened in our past lives, then what is the point of reincarnating?" To Break the Circle would be to end the process of reincarnation, to end a life from death, and the repurcussions of such an event would be unknowable...if there even are any repurcussions. Within those that would like to see The Circle broken there are those that want to stop all reincarnation, those that simply want to remove the portion of this cycle that prevents us from remembering who we were, and even those that want to just prevent death altogether. What that would mean for the world is still unknown, but Namina hopes to preserve "The Life Cycle" as the Trench Mother has warned her that not doing so will mean the end of all life as we know it.

Components

Goals

Prepare for The Rotting Gate - COMPLETE

Study up on Self Preservation and the Atlas of Rot. - COMPLETE
Make curatives in case of poisons, diseases and other such things. - COMPLETE
Craft preventative measures like gas masks, special clothing, and salves. - COMPLETE
Know your enemy: See what can be learned of Božena.

Enter The Rotting Gate - COMPLETE

Acquire several Traveler's Shiitake. - COMPLETE
Create a Stew with some favorite ingredients! Maybe some communication amongst each other will be necessary to find out what people like. - COMPLETE
Consume the Stew and talk amongst each other, comradery is apparently very important. - COMPLETE
Watch the gate open and walk on through! - COMPLETE

Defeat Božena - COMPLETE

Božena will be present in this realm, though it is unknown what she is capable of. Learning more about her might be necessary. Though the option to either defeat her or speak to her are on the table. - COMPLETE

Božena was willing to talk, but she was not pursuaded to stop. The Spiritual Travelers ended up fighting her.

Steps Provided by the Chittering Spirit

Retrieve the One that is Lost - COMPLETE

This is referring to DAN's lost brother Steve. He has been stuck in The Spiraling Gate for some time and will need to be freed. The use of chains in DAN's vision of his brother when these words were spoke suggests that it may have something to do with the Oni, he also received a hint about his brother being involved with the Oni from Spalsis.

Defeat The Caged One - COMPLETE

This is apparently the Oni that Kaswink has been pursuing. When the words were spoken she was wrapped in chains created by the Spirit's shadows. She also has more information about how to defeat this Oni, but she might have some difficulty revealing it as it is cursed Knowledge.

Defeat The Usurper - COMPLETE

The Usurper appears to have something to do with Hysteria. When the name was mentioned, a greatsword, banner and crown made of shadows were placed upon Hysteria. Namina also had a vision of what is likely this same Usurper when she asked about what the Snow Elves are doing in the Spirit World. The Usurper apparently is a rather young looking elf and does not resemble the King that was found in The Maze. He was seated on a throne somewhere far to the Northwest of the Gate Camp, and the path to get there was also revealed to Namina.

Find the Edge of the World and jump to your dooms.

Related Documents Understanding Skorumpovaný; An Outsider's Look at the Cult of Rot
Self Preservation
Atlas of Rot

Related Characters

Related Organizations

Congregation of The Broken Circle

Related Locations

Related Session Reports

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