Session 10: The Holiday Special

General Summary

The Night Before Christmas

The session began with you all getting ready for bed. Some nightly activities were pursued including occultic crafting from Namina, while Hysteria studied DAN's plant log, and Agave did some short-range scouting to find nighttime plants for DAN to study later. Meanwhile, Kaswink finished dissecting her monkey and looked for some creepy crawlies under the tree she destroyed earlier. While all this was going on at camp, Frode and DAN left for a short walk while having some further discussion on Ilmater and their purposes in life as well as the contents of the contract and what certain words mean. Frode began to gain an understanding on why Croak may have been upset. While out for their walk, DAN did find a peculiar Flower with a neon green stem that shined in the night. Everything was going swimmingly and plans to begin crafting their base the following day were likely considered. Everyone eventually tucked in, nightly rituals were concluded, and DAN took the first watch.

Strange Dreams, Stranger Mornings

The night brought about the usual slurry of dreams, however, something unusual did occur not too long after most of you went to bed. The two of you that remained awake (DAN and Hysteria) soon found themselves falling asleep as the ringing of bells filled their minds. Where the bells may have lacked in melody they more than made up for in terms of pure resonance and blissful droning. It was all quite relaxing and ended on a perfect trio of notes forming a chord that continued to resonate throughout the night. The dreams proceeded quite pleasantly for some time. However, as the night neared its end they took an unexpected turn for the worse. The dreams began to twist and shudder like an older television trying to find reception. It contradicted itself as its perfect harmony diluted and became a clashing moment that lasted far longer than you would think reasonable. One of those dreams that you would think lasted days, but the days are all spent hearing this horrible, elongated and dissonant nightmare. Thankfully, the dreams were not endless, and they soon began to end. If anyone was hyperventilating, or perhaps their heart was racing, they suddenly felt much calmer as though a hundred mantras were chanted into their very being. And the solidness of the sound surrounded you to the point that you felt as though you might just drown. And your next thoughts were of survival, as the freezing chill was suddenly far more …noticeable and uncomfortable as the swirling water around you found its current, and the surface that you might breach was instead a solid sheet of ice that you must break through.

Break the Ice

You all worked together to break through the ice and found yourselves at the bank of the creek you fell asleep next to. Your camp was perfectly alright, though covered in snow like the surrounding area. You were cold, freezing, drenched and the biting cold air only made matters worse as your lungs struggled to breathe. Agave quickly dried you all and lit a bonfire to help get everyone warm. While warming yourselves it was quickly evident that your bodies had changed from their usual meat forms to a more toy-like state.

Frode was a toy-soldier with a spear.
DAN was a trio of elf ornaments stacked on top of each other with the bottom two hidden beneath a Santa Coat.
Kaswink was a mechanical cymbal monkey.
Namina was a rag doll.
Hysteria was a Jack-in-the-box.
Agave was an adorable stuffed elephant.

While admiring your current condition and taking stalk of the situation at large, a wind-up bullfrog hopped into view, frantic and demanding attention. This bullfrog was quickly realized to be Croak who promptly explained that a decidedly dastardly spirit had invaded Tympi's Forest and had yet to leave as it usually does. He explained it is known as The Spirit of Christmas and that it forces emotions of euphoria, hope, generosity and the like upon people. He stated it should be stopped at all costs, that it was last seen heading north on its usual route, and that it normally would have passed through this forest without a problem.

You all prepared for your journey to the north with thoughts of how cold it'll be and the best way to go about warding off further increments of exhaustion. While doing so, Kaswink noticed the sparkly bark on the nearby trees. Doing the usual Kaswink thing and tasting it, she discovered that it was incredibly sweet and tasted of peppermint. A more committed bite led to the further discovery that the bark itself was made of dark chocolate, sprinkled with powdered peppermint and full of peppermint chunks. It would seem that the trees now have Peppermint Bark. After having a taste herself and informing the group, Namina proceeded to overturn any and all plant life to hopefully find more delicious treats. After many unpleasant attempts, she eventually discovered some mushrooms that looked like delicious truffles. Taking a bite, they were revealed to instead be delicious truffles...of the chocolate variety. These were promptly shared with the rest of the group. Hysteria, hoping to find their own discovery in this bizarre holiday themed world, began looking around for other treats as well. They found a candy cane hanging from a tree and grabbed it. It proved to be stickier than expected and Hysteria was stuck and quickly being pulled up into the tree. The rest of you acted quickly to save them, and with the combined efforts of everyone involved you even brought down the monkey for further clobbering and study by Kaswink. With enough antics out of the way you all set out on your journey to save Tympi's Forest from The Spirit of Christmas.

Apple Tree Grove

Your first hour of trudging through the unfamiliar and snowy landscape was mostly uneventful. The exhaustion began to catch up to you, however, and a short break was desired by all. Not only was there more exhaustion, but the intrusive Christmas Spirit continued to force its generosity and hope upon you. Conveniently enough, the area that you found yourselves in after this first hour was also a grove of apple trees. Keen observers of these trees noticed that, while they all shared the same trunks, branches and leaves, they each had different fruit including types of grapes, dates, apricots, cherries and even pineapples growing from the boughs of some of them. Scattered amongst these single-fruit plants were further oddities still as DAN found several Trees that had every type of fruit from the trees surrounding them. What's more, as they cut through the wood to study it further they found that the tree was made entirely of fruitcake. Additionally, this fruitcake was made up of the dried forms of the fruits found on the tree. Everyone was feeling the exhaustion brought about by this chilly weather, though some of you were feeling it worse than others and Namina decided to help with that by roasting some fruit from the nearby trees. DAN located some mistletoe on the many apple trees around you, and Frode began brewing a tea which helped warm the very joints and help make the future marching a bit easier. Some light conversation was had amongst you, and Kaswink voiced an interest to Hysteria regarding keeping her monkey asleep long enough to be able to begin preparations on some form of domestication. Hysteria had a theory on how to go about making a sleeping poison, though it would require the flower that DAN had found the night before.

The Hart of Winter

The euphoria, generosity, hope and so forth continued to grow stronger as you all grew closer to The Spirit of Christmas. More travel was had, and this time around a good hour and a half passed before any fatigue began to be felt. You were all either getting used to the cold or maybe it was some kinda Christmas miracle... Either way, you continued on your journey to eventually hear a rustling in the nearby trees. DAN was the most perceptive in this moment and was able to spot the 7 points of light dashing through the forest around you. After it was pointed out to the rest of the group, Namina saw that the auras on each light were slightly different and all revolved around some winter solstice ideal like generosity, new friendships, goals and the like. She began pursuring this collection of lights into the woods as Hysteria fired a "warning shot" at the creature hoping to prevent further movement. Their shot was very nearly not true enough and whizzed past Namina's head and narrowly missed the nearby creature as well. That being said, it did afford Namina the chance to catch up with it and discover that it was a spectral-looking deer with horns that came up to 7 sharp points. Each horn was affixed with a candle that was burning bright and warming up this frigid winter night. Namina began to commune with the creature while the rest of you caught up. Some of you attempted to pet the creature only to find that it was "mostly not there" and Kaswink proceeded to pantomime her future petting. Frode and DAN provided the creature some nurrishment from some previously collected plants, and Agave used some magic to cause the grass to grow up and over the snow. The respect for the spirit was well received, and Namina was able to gather more information about your quary. After her meditation ended, the spirit bowed its head to the lot of you as 6 of its candles went out, vanished, and reappeared in your hands. Each of you were given the opportunity to think your own candlelight thoughts. As these thoughts were provided to the candles they were then relit and reappeared on each point of its antlers.

Hot Cocoa Break

The journey continued on for another hour and the icy chill of the world began to set in further. Along with this winter chill, more and more intense feelings of euphoria, generosity and the like still continued to build within each of you. Your path north eventually led you to another peculiar sight. At the center of a clearing was a small, circular, dining table which came up to Frode's hip and had no chairs around it. Several of these tables came into view in this area as the central one was approached and it became apparent that they all had a singular mug on top of them. A nearby bar also had a pitcher on top of it, and steam was rising from all of the canisters. Eager to have something warm to drink, Agave was the first to drink and discover the delightful cocoa and peppermint aroma that wafted to his nose as he lifted the mug up to his mouth. He drank most of the beverage in one go and was shocked to discover a tiny dragon with peppermint-like scales was evidently taking a bath in his beverage. It smacked his nose in defiance at the thought of being drank and cowered at the bottom of the mug. Namina, also seeing these dragons in her attempt to have more sweet chocolate things, also braved her mug and was the first to be breathed on by the creatures. She nearly fell asleep but managed to prevent herself from falling over. Her attention was soon turned toward the pitcher on the nearby bar. Kaswink, meanwhile, was still nauseous from the morning's bout with sugary treats and decided to instead spend her time refilling mugs, protecting dragons and investigating the bar for further clues. All she found was several rows of pitchers all filled with various types of hot cocoa. DAN coaxed the dragon in his mug out with some kind words and cooing. They were able to give the delightful creature enough scritches that they could confidently lift it out of the mug and continue petting it as it roamed about their coat. New pet acquired! With the hot cocoa break reaching its end, you all decided it would be best to remain focussed and not get caught up in such holiday jubilations. The journey continued.

The Contented Town of Euphoria

As you all continued walking along your merry way, you felt the euphoria again building along with other mentioned feelings, and you soon came upon a humanoid-looking figure in the distance tending to a Reindeer. As you drew closer to it, naturally along your northern path, the reindeer took flight into the winter sky. Namina waved at the figure, and they waved back. This spirit was wearing a white gown which was draped over their large frame though there didn't seem to be much underneath, and their head was replaced with a gently glowing candle. Their aura was notably a vibrant combination of pink and yellow. The flying reindeer was ignored for the time being, though more were seen flying over the nearby town as the party entered and began walking through. Several of The Content in this town offered their assistance including one individual with a festive holiday sweater and a pair of fuzzy antlers. Namina, determined to get through the town and accomplish this task, continued marching past them all. The town was especially cozy. Despite the time of day, it appeared to be nighttime here which only amplified the cozy nature of the soft candlelight glowing from within each home. Streetlamps provided the briefest of illumination to the falling snow, and the citizens were all dressed for the season. You did hear, in passing, that "At the center is Euphoria, you will find bliss there..." and variations of such from the spirits. Namina was in noticable pain due to the nearly blinding auras of these spirits the closer to the center of town you all came. In the distance, the supposed center could be seen at the shore of a frozen lake. The soft glow of some spirit was visible even to those of you that didn't have special aura-seeing powers.

We ended the session around there, progressing through the town, and we'll be picking up next time in the midst of this strange place. Will the Spiritual Travelers be able to defeat The Spirit of Christmas before it's too late? What could possibly be keeping it trapped on the shore of this lake?

In-game Date:
Nurend 05, 308

Report Date

27 Dec 2021

Primary Location

Tympi's Forest

Related Characters