Of a Patron, a King and a Lost Child

Hysteria's Patron , first known by Hysteria as a shadowy figure with mysterious information about warlocks making pacts with the fae. He would command Jesters, assassins with the singular purpose of preventing pacts with fae and keeping elven culture alive. These Jesters have existed in elven literature, folk tails, campfire stories and more as part urban legend and part reality. The true nature of these Jesters and whether or not they truly exist is a matter of debate amongst some elves, but most believe them to just be an urban legend or perhaps that they were once real long ago. He was first seen by the Spiritual Travelers in The Maze as an elderly king missing his crown. Pieces of this crown have been found, and some pieces may also be inside the Chittering Spirit. Through information pieced together from Simol, the Chittering Spirit, and Aotrom, he was eventually understood to be a Lost Child found by an orb of light. Whoever this guy is, he's missing and needs to be rescued.

Current Event

On Daulok 32, 308 the Spiritual Travelers assembled the Stone Crown and watched as the Throne found at the center of a mysterious Elven city within the Spirit World moved to the side and revealed another Well of Darkness. Everyone heard or saw something of interest to them. Hysteria was able to see their Patron chained to the wall and looking in their direction. The Oni's laughter filled their mind as they were taunted by this twice-dead adversary. ALT, on the other hand, was witness to more very painful knowledge.

“Of the many worlds that have existed, there was one that was both distant and where you currently stand. It once was a prosperous world…" Their mind was filled with visions of strange architecture, signs made of glowing tubes, unusual -though necessary- burial rites, and a familiar-looking city with the added feature of massive pillars of light shining up into the sky from its largest buildings. A radiant city in the style, shape, design that matches the radiant city found within the book that detailed the history of the city of rot, Me'kiah'brem'or. They knew, however, that this was not that same city. This was not built by the L’huine at all, no, it seemed more akin to the blueprints of their city. Perhaps the “God” that spoke to The Psychic about how to design their city was from this place? It was unclear, the information too turbulent, too much to process so quickly. They saw glimpses of red cord, blue cord, purple, green, brown, gold…all sorts of colors all wrapping around bones. They saw bones that are bare, and, as they rested naked in the ground, something crawled out of them. The bones wrapped in cord remained motionless…and the ones that were left bare found themselves crawling back to the surface. They saw this…

And, at last, they heard something of a chittering narration. “A time will come when you need me again, but I feel myself growing weak. Call upon me. You will know when it is time.”

Plot points/Scenes

Nurend 03, 308 - The Maze

While first entering the Spirit World, the Spiritual Travelers passed through The Maze. Here they would find The Chained Man and a Mysterious King. The Chained Man looked to have been recently tortured with fresh puncture wounds in his head, and the chains were the only thing keeping him up as though he were so exhausted he could no longer support his own body weight. Similar scenes as this have been seen by the party when they rescued real-Croak, and by Hysteria when they saw a vision of their Patron (as an old man) being tortured by The Oni. Rattling chains, dripping liquid and other imagery have also been frequently witnessed by various party members in different ways. Frode suspects this man may have been Ilmater, others suspect he may have been imprisoned by the Mysterious King in the next room...though, considering the unusual nature of The Maze, some have also suggested that the Mysterious King and this Chained Man are the same person. The Mysterious King was an elderly man sitting on a throne made of stone in a room of pure darkness. Only two lights were available and they perfectly illuminated this king, his throne and a crown in the middle of the room. The crown was also made of what appeared to be stone, though the different shades of grey moved and shifted around while the ends and points flicked off the main crown like flames. Putting the crown on caused Kaswink to have a vision of the same throne but in a different setting and with a giant centipede curling around it. Frode asked this man if he was a king, to which he replied, "not of this place". Hysteria stayed behind to have a conversation with this king and confirmed that he is, indeed, their Patron. During this time, they were told that "There is no way back."

Nurend 15, 308 - The Well of Darkness

The Spiritual Travelers discovered The Well of Darkness. It was a perfectly circular stone well with carvings of a massive centipede coiling around the interior. Reaching into the darkness caused Kaswink's skin to be heavily damaged, and she lost her red string. Agave was able to condense the darkness using a beam of moonlight. It's unclear if this was because the darkness just does this when moonlight is around or if it was reverting to its original shape, but the darkness became an Unusual Fragment. This fragment was looked over by the group, and a general theory that it belonged to the crown that they found in The Maze was discussed. This also raised the question: "Did whatever took Tympi also take this king guy?" Shortly after this, they also encountered Ilven and The Statue at Thera Relovut. This statue would later be lost as a massive chasm opened up in Thera Relovut during the fight against Ilven. However, the diagram of the various layers of the Spirit World, the apprehension to Knowledge, and the prophecy all seem relevant to some degree.

Nurend 30, 308 - Goddess Knowledge

Sometime before Nurend 30, 308, Namina visited a temple to her deity, Hükatak, and received some knowledge. The first half or so of what she received seems to have something to do with Vsevolodrik. Though, it appears to be a warning against freeing him, but this could also be purely because this deity is more concerned with preserving or repairing a Cycle, rather than the possibility of having to completely restore a nonexistent one. The poem also mentions followers of Vsevolodrik, at least "those devoted to His will", though that they have also lost their way to some degree suggests they may be being decieved some how. Knowledge from Namina's God

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 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.

Nurend 41, 308 - Gate Explosion and the Chittering Spirit

After the Gate at the Gate Camp exploded, Kaswink looked for possible suspects. She spotted an elderly and out-of-place man with a long straggly beard, rags for clothes and a generally unkempt appearance fleeing with everyone else. As she tried to follow him she noticed that he kept vanishing before reappearing somewhere else in another direction. Her pursuit did not cease, though, and she was soon able to catch up to him after roaring at the crowd of people that was preventing movement. As she caught up to him, he stoppped and turned towards her with a look of pure sadness upon his face. She approached him, grabbed his arm and saw that it turned to stone dust. She backed away as he raised his other arm up revealing Another Unusual Fragment which Kaswink took. As she did, the old man took a step back and the air moved like an invisible curtain as he vanished. Thankfully, her mark was still upon him, and she knew that he was somewhere to the northwest. It's possible that he was Vsevolodrik considering the stone and crown fragment. Additionally, the Spiritual Travelers had a tea party on this day with hopes of speaking with the Chittering Spirit. They were able to learn the nature of this spirit and its origin. "I am a Spirit born from nothing but a desire of a single person. Though this person wanted to be forgotten, and to die, His desire to do so was carried with Immense Pain. His world had died, and it is the first I carried. The memories of His people are what form my body. So, while I seek the memories of others to preserve them, I am also a hope to be forgotten. I have a paradoxical existence, you could say, but my intentions, however outside of my control, are pure." Along with this, they also learned of The Usurper, and that defeating this Usurper is apparently necessary to restart the Cycle. "The Usurper is one known as Anguish, and his Black Banner has torn open holes into the material plane. He has armies, jesters, and power at his disposal. He has taken control of what should belong only to the ancient darkness of my creator. He was once a jester until he rose to power." The fact that the Usurper is a Jester, that he has apparently taken power that should only belong to this spirit's "creator", that this power is apparently "ancient darkness", and several other clues all pointed towards Hysteria's Patron being the creator of this Spirit and every other layer of the Spirit World.

Daulok 02, 308 - Contact

Hysteria asked Namina to reach out to their Patron on this day while everyone was having some time off. She was able to do so having encountered him in The Maze, and the response she received was rather unusual. Hysteria's request was to see if any orders could be provided so that they know what to do... "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.""

Daulok 07, 308

Croak, Chained and Tortured

The Spiritual Travelers discovered an ancient, hidden structure beneath The Daytime Village of Aotri. Particularly, it was beneath the statue of Aotrom, and the unusual shaft and room that they found was far older than the statue itself. Within this room, they found something unexpected: Croak, whom had died a few days prior, was chained up in a similar fashion as a certain Chained Man. He was so exhausted he could barely support himself and it was evident that he had recently been tortured. He was malnourished as well as dehydrated, and he nearly died as Kaswink removed the chains that were keeping him held up. While discussing what had happened to him, Croak explained that he had been tricked into a rather unpleasant deal by The Oni. He had been promised the ability to exist during the day and the night, but instead The Oni imprisoned him, tortured him, and had a fake Croak walk the surface enjoying everything Croak desired. Worse still, Croak was able to feel all the pain and suffering that the fake Croak felt, and he was still tortured on occasion by The Oni as well.

The Wooden Hand

On this same day, Agave also heard Vsevolodrik's name for the first time, and of how he came to create the Wooden Hand. According to Aotrom, the hand was made by a child. "There wasn't much to see here, just light, but a child came and began to cast shadows. She loved Him, and She kept Him safe. They built this world together, but something happened to Him and now She is alone. She cries out for Him, She screams His name and weeps. Her tears stain Her rays of light with darkness, and She cries for Vsevolodrik. I saw this hand being made by Him. He poured His sorrows, His despair, His Depression all into this one hand. It is a part of Him. I do not know what happened to it after that, but those that use it often meet a bitter end. His depression will be with you, always, but you can learn to use it to your advantage."

A Shadow of A Jester

Also on this same day, the group encountered a strange shadow person with fragments of porcelain stuck in their face. Hysteria recognized the strange effect this person had on people and the porcelain to be a certain Jester: Despair. The creature didn't seem elven, however, as it seemed to be made up entirely of shadows. When Frode inspected it, it didn't seem to have a heartbeat despite still being able to move, breathe and spit on people. While near this shadow, it also caused an unusual tightness in the chest, cold feelings, and a desire to just give up and die. Some Eadarlings actually died from this effect alone. It was eventually defeated and the mask fragments were eaten by Hysteria.

Daulok 22, 308

Vision of a Cliff

The Spiritual Travelers had a strange vision after reaching a light at the end of a tunnel. In this vision they were Tympi and her sister, Ilven. They approached the edge of a cliff where a massive orb that was half darkness half light and swirling with light and dark was hovering in a sea of beige-pink clouds could be seen. Tympi asked this orb why She weeps, and she received a response within each pulse of light that was emitted from it. "Because he is gone. He has been taken. I miss him so much." Tympi asked what took this person away from Her. The information was delivered not with words, but with thoughts that were implanted again with each pulse of light. A hulking figure, strong, tall, not thick like a bugbear but lithe and with a face covered with a mask. Three horns protruded from this mask's forehead. Tympi tried to get more information by asking the name of whoever was taken. The orb answered, "Vsevolodrik. He had nothing. Now he is everything. Why are you here?" Tympi offered to bring this lost person back home if this orb is His home. Ar'en'el confirmed that this is the case. "This is the only home He has ever known. If you can shine my light on Him, then I can bring Him home." Tympi asked how she could shine this light. It was met with a small orb of light, slowly lowered towards her, and she accepted this gift before leaving the Cliff. The orb provided the two of them with instructions, "Find him. Illuminate the World. Leave no darkness unchecked." Apparently Tympi was also looking for this person, but she had never written of this experience in anything the Spiritual Travelers had read, not even her journal.

The Light

The Spiritual Travelers went down a long dark tunnel to find some light, but it wasn't there! Well, not until they managed to get it out of its weird plant shell. This light hesitently confirmed itself to be at least part of Ar'en'el, and eagerly confirmed that it does know Vsevolodrik. It is currently unknown why this orb was in this cave tunnel, but it seems to be an important piece in the puzzle. Agave took it back to the Home Base and planted it in the underground farm with hopes of keeping it away from Ohrsecte, The Beetle King. Additionally, Hysteria had a weird vision thanks to the Whydigo. This vision showed their Patron, chained to a wall much like the Chained Man though with more facial hair and older looking. In this vision, Hysteria saw their Patron being tortured by a figure that matched Croak's description of The Oni. Kaswink made this connection and even suggested that the "Patron" that had been giving Hysteria orders could've been a body double much like Croak was. Perhaps this "Usurper" is no more than a piece of The Oni?

Fatigue

"You'll never catch up. My King is almost back to his throne." The Spiritual Travelers encountered a Jester outside their camp. This Jester revealed during interrogations that their goal was not to kill but rather to slow the group down. Apparently their 'king' is about to take his throne, and Hysteria apparently can't be trusted around the coronation due to some of their actions since arriving in the Spirit World. Hysteria seemed frustrated by this, calling the Jester a liar, and wanting the supposed "Patron" to tell them what they did wrong. The Jester said that Hysteria should visit and speak to them, though also refused to disclose the location of where they could do such a thing. It seems that The Usurper is about to be crowned king though, and Jesters are being sent to slow these travelers down. Presumably, this is taking place is the strange village far to the northwest where Namina saw the Usurper sitting on a throne made of stone, and at the end of the Harandil Circus's path. After the encounter with this Jester, Hysteria has suddenly gained a great deal of drive to go Northwest to disrupt whatever this is, but they were talked away from leaving alone or even splitting the group...at least for the time being.

Daulok 23, 308 - The Spiraling Dark

The Spiritual Travelers defeated The Oni, and watched as a cloud of darkness consumed all light in the world starting from the Northwest. The darkness stopped just before it reached them, however, and a familiar chittering noise filled their minds. Headaches were mild, no damaging effects so far, but The Chittering Spirit soon appeared before them at the edge of the darkness. “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 31, 308

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.

Structure

Exposition

Information about Vsevolodrik's past can be found on his own article in the Personal History section. Most importantly, Vsevolodrik was taken by The Oni and is currently being Usurped by some Jester named Anguish. Other Jesters that are loyal to this False Patron are referring to him as "The King" and claim that he will "soon have his throne". It was not clear if they see this Usurper as the true Patron -as in they have been tricked- or if they simply want to follow this person fully aware that he is not the original Patron. They could easily be convinced that he's the original with plans to get his throne back, after all. Currently, Vsevolodrik is somewhere damp with water dripping and coliding with the floor in an almost cave-like ambience. Visions of him often match either The Chained Man or The King that was missing his crown in The Maze. Croak was similarly chained up when he was discovered beneath The Daytime Village of Aotri. He was contacted by Namina once with the simple request from Hysteria to learn what they're supposed to be doing right now. The only words that were received in response were "Free me." Stopping the Usurper seems essential to fixing The Cycle as explained by the Chittering Spirit. Finding and freeing Vsevolodrik also seems essential to making the Spirit World itself happy as it has been requested by Ar'en'el, half of Ulunor.

Related Characters

Related Organizations

Harandil Circus

Related Locations

Related Session Reports

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