Session 37: Drimures

General Summary

Drimures

Session began with y'all wakin up in the morning to discuss what direction to go. You could've gone to Thera Relovut to investigate the situation there, save some refugees and get the Grime from a Stone Cellar that Namina needs for her Talisman, or you could've gone to Drimures to investigate the situation there, maybe solve a murder mystery and get the Ash from a Burned Building. It was eventually decided that you would go to Drimures first as it was closer to a tree, it could be handled quickly, and then it would be a mad dash for the prison to save whoever could be saved while scraping a grimey bit o' stone.

You saw a building. It was just barely visible through the trees, but it looked to be in good shape, almost idyllic as small tufts of grass and flowers lined its frame. As you came closer, you were able to see more of this building. The windows, the height, it seemed to be one story and through the windows on this side you could see some stacked boxes, shelves which seemed to be lined with screws and other construction materials, and more! Coming around, you could see that there were even more buildings. Some had labels on them which seemed to suggest what each building might be, and several of their doors were open and inviting. A river cut this town in half with a bridge leading over to the northern side. Several additional buildings seemed to be the homes of whoever lives here, and beyond that you could see another small section of forest before large hills broke up the scenery even more to reveal small portions of what looked to be a farm complete with a far more ancient, dilapidated farmhouse and barn. The labels on the buildings on the southern side all seemed to be…strange. You couldn’t tell if it was another language, or if the letters were all just rearranged for some reason, but something wasn’t right about them. Thankfully, Namina was able to rearrange the letters during her last visit and provided some level of translation. The Inn was labeled "Inndescribable Torment", there was a general store, pet store, forge, etc, and even a sheriff's office. The church had a sign in the window that said "Professional Exorcisms" as well.

Aside from the building names and the strangely idyllic scenery, there was something else off about this town. The people all seemed...strange. It was hard to put a finger on at first, just little things that were a little bit too much for a normal person like long limbs, the size of an ear, the beast-like eyes or really long fingernails. Little things, each person having some unusual attribute.

Agave shared some more information about this place the last time he was here with Namina. Apparently there was a murder in this town. A young girl, a teen, named Luraa Plamer was brutally murdered through several different means: beaten to death, cut up with claws, missing flesh, and so on were all possible causes. Her body was found in the Old Barn. Additionally, there were many suspects: Drifters, the crazy old farmer, and even something that is called "The beast". The first stop was the strangely on-the-nose named inn, Inndescribable Torment.

Who Done It?

Kaswink chose to stay outside. Within the inn, there was no tavern, no bar, just a counter with an innkeep and someone leaning over its side talking to her. The innkeep was described as the following: "A grizzled old woman with a wrinkled, sun damaged face that is reminiscent of a well-used catcher’s mitt. Her dress is simplistic, very reminiscent of a “prairie style dress”. Her hair is braided back and away from her face, and her ears are unusually hairy, large, and slightly pointed despite the rest of her appearance suggesting she is humanoid." She was rather rough when first greeting the Travelers, though her attitude quickly changed throughout their conversation until she was, likely, her usual self. Rather cheery, optimistic, and she blamed the murders on The Drifters. The one thing that really seemed to sour her mood was their existence. Frode was the first to greet her, announcing the arrival of the Spiritual Travelers and claiming that they would be the ones to solve the mystery. His attitude seeemd to be one of the leading causes of this woman's change in attitude. She encouraged investigating the Drifters.

She also offered up the prices of the inn rooms: 5SP for a normal room, or a solid piece of gold for the "Deluxe Experience Package". Strangely enough this place seemed to take gold pieces. The woman leaning on the otherside of the counter was a rather rough-looking woman with an expression that suggests she might not even know how to be happy. She introduced herself as "Ol' Merge" and advertised her business as the Tavern... apparently they have drinks there. Agave was eager to learn of such a service. Ol' Merge was incredibly doubtful of Frode and the Spiritual Travelers abilities to solve it in one day. She explained that it only ever happens at night, and that the murders are quite spread out...apparently Luraa Plamer was the most recent, and the one that happened before that was 6 months earlier. She claimed that Luraa Plamer was "the only person in town to ever make her smile." The victim before Luraa was another teen named Chince.... the names in this town are almost human names. Ol' Merge claims that it isn't the drifters, she thinks that it is somebody in town, someone close that you wouldn't suspect. Some discussion was had, and it was eventually decided to investigate The Old Barn.

The Old Barn

As you were traveling to the farm to investigate the old man and the old barn, you passed by a few citizens of this small town. One had a mostly normal body with eyes that were like a beast like a wolf. There was a young man, likely in his teens, with hair combed back and oil. He just seemed like a kid with a summer job, though his fingernails were unusually long. They all seemed a little suspicious. It was also noted, as you traveled, that all the signs were definitely scrambled up for some reason. The locals were ignored in favor of getting to the body in the barn as soon as possible, or at least finding out if it is still there.

At the farm, you all saw an incredibly old, especially compared to the rest of the town, and dilapidated farm home. The windows were broken and boarded up and the door was damaged and repaired multiple times. The paint was peeling off the exterior walls though it was once a simple off-white color. The wood underneath this paint was showing. Scratch marks could be seen on all the wood as if something had tried desperately to get inside. There was also a barn which was similarly old like the house, but the paint that had almost completely peeled from its walls was once red. It had been nearly completely stained brown from age and weathering, most of it had peeled away, and scratches covered the areas around entrances. The barn did have some harvested fruits and grains from the farm, though they were all stored relatively close to the entrance, and any equipment deeper in the barn seemed to have gone unused for some unknown number of years.

Kaswink decided to investigate the claw marks to see if they were all from the same animal. Namina started lighting incense for a ritual to speak with Luraa Plamer's corpse. The corpse of Luraa Plamer was indeed in the barn, right at the center. She appeaered to once be a teenage girl, brown hair, human, missing skin and beaten to death. There were also scratch marks, and signs that she was bound at some point… multiple potential signs of death. Agave looked at the plants nearby and discovered that everything was strangely...normal. They all appeared to be less like the Spirit World plants that you all had slowly been getting used to and more like what would be found on the material plane. The claw marks appeared to all be from a wolf, though they were more spread out as if slightly humanoid. As Kaswink was investigating and discovering this information, the lot of you heard the sound of howling...not like a wolf though, more like a hound dog somewhere in the distance. Meanwhile, DAN wandered off back into town.

Inspecting the body and these clawmarks, Kaswink noted that they all seemed to look as though they were trying to get inside. She also found some ash and gunk underneath the fingernails of Luraa which were also a discolored yellow as if being exposed to smoke for some period of time. Agave used his magical powers to commune with the plant life nearby. A dandelion sprung to life and began answering his questions. Apparently nobody has inspected or looked at the body in some time. Arjan would enter the barn to drop off fruit, but tried really hard to not look at the body, and nobody else was nearby in the past day. Apparently it had rained in the past day as he brought his cows in, and sometimes his "old hound" hangs out in the barn as well though. Frode watched the group suspiciously, but broke his concentration as Agave asked if he wanted to find Arjan to question him. However, he had some apprehension about questioning a suspect without the presence of a dungeon. He eventually broke though as Kaswink suggested that the killer would be more nervous near a recent victim. He decided to head to the farmhouse.

Meanwhile, DAN was back in town. They went east to find an isolated spot to change from DAN to AND so that they could be better suited to investigations...though Anthony's eyes were helpful, their lack of conversing abilities proved detrimental in future investigation attempts. Their eyes were able to pick up that the other buildings in town were all a lot newer than this farm. DAN also discover that there is apparently no Tavern in this town. What's up with that, Ol' Merge?

Namina's ritual completed and she began to speak with the corpse of Luraa Plamer. Namina: "Hi, my name's Namina, I'm going to find who hurt you and make them pay. Could you help me with that, please?" Luraa: "I will do what I can." Namina: "Um, let's see, what did you do the day that you died? who did you visit, who did you talk to?" Luraa: "It was a day like any other. Helped my mom with chores, hung out with Blice, and at one point I was stopped by... something. It went dark." Namina: "Okay, umm, hmm, let's see. Do you know who or what killed you?" Luraa: "I'm not sure, i just remember the smell of smoke and growling." Namina: "What would you want us to do with the person who killed you? Would you want them imprisoned or killed for justice?" Luraa "I would want their actions brought to light and for them to never be able to do this again." Namina: "Mhm, okay." *namina turned to the group, looking for input on what to ask* Frode suggested asking if anyone hates her. She replied "i don't know anyone in town that would hate me. I brought joy to everyone I met, though I did get into an argument with my boyfriend the day I died." Frode began to suspect that the boyfriend was responsible, though there were some doubts in the group was it couldn't be that easy.

The Farmhouse

Agave pointed out after this that the lot of you should be finding out why this village is even here. It seemed to not really be a part of the Spirit World, like the whole area was from another place like the material plane. Kaswink suggested that it was just spirits or something else pretending to be human. Agave agreed it could be this. Kaswink suggested talking to the 'normal girl' to see what she thinks of everything, and Namina thought it would be best to talk to the boyfriend. Agave brought up the farmer again as people suspected that he might be guilty...plus the name seems really familiar. Kaswink pointed out that the innkeep had weird ears, that other people in town have strange features, and that it could be one spirit pretending or perhaps just thinking that it is this whole town...that everyone in this town belongs to the same spirit.

As others began to investigate the farmhouse, Kaswink climbed up to the rafters of the barn. Despite the apparent age of this building, the rafters held her very well. Agave also looked around before heading to the farmhouse, and he discovered a small moonshine distillery outside the barn under a small awning. Agave was the first to knock on the door, and there was no answer. He did one of his signature moves and turned into a scorpion to crawl through a second story window. As he was doing this, Frode continued trying to get inside. He violently struck the door with his spear and announced himself as City Guard in the service of Tympi. The force that he struck the door with seemed to cause something to fall and break near the door, something made of glass. Worried that someone might be hurt inside, Frode began to try breaking the door down. Upstairs, Agave managed to get in and saw a bedroom that seemed to belong to two children. Everything was covered in dust and spiderwebs, there were signs that some things broke at some point and were put together rather poorly. There were pictures of children on the end tables and a painting of a family hanging on the wall between the two beds. The family looked to be quite large, likely around 10 or 11 people in total. Frode broke the door down, and on the otherside he saw several broken mason jars on the ground. It looked like they fell from a shelf above the door. He also saw furniture ideal for a large family, paintings of a family, pictures of a farmer standing with a hound, and the whole area was dusty and unkempt. The only room that looked used at all was a kitchen with several large pots, fruit, knives that were recently used. He explained to the party that the area is empty and safe before heading to the kitchen.

Agave, upstairs, found more rooms just as dusty and unkempt. There was nobody upstairs, but he did find one room that was different from the rest. It appeared to be a master bedroom, clean and less dusty as if someone was actually using it. The floor of this room was covered in empty mason jars that surrounded the bed. There was a wedding ring on one of the endtables, wedding pictures, family paintings, and a painting of the farmer and his wife sharing a cute moment. Investigating the broken jars downstairs, Agave discovered that they were clean and definitely empty. In the kitchen, Frode discovered some fresh fruit bits, recently cut up, suggesting someone definitely lives here. He showed this off to Agave, and suggested that they might be coming back and it might be worthwhile to just stakeout the place and wait. As people hid, and waited, and continued waiting, Namina repaired the broken jars with with more magical powers. Kaswink eventually showed up to see what was going on, and a new plan to head into the fruit orchard and find the farmer began.

Crazy Ol' Arjan

The farm stretched out for a good ways with fields to hold the cattle before becoming an orchard. As you were leaving the farmhouse you again heard the sound of a hound howling and barking somewhere out in the distance. Kaswink was able to find some tracks of a human and a dog, and you all began to follow these tracks out into the orchard. DAN began heading back to the farm to find their friends, and Namina began leaving her friends (along with a cardboard cutout of Hysteria) to go find the boyfriend of the late Luraa Plamer. She decided to pose as a cleric to distance herself from the investigation, more just a concerned person. As she was looking she heard talk of the Church in town, and that it is apparently a Church of Ilmater. Apparently there was also talk that the church might've been involved in the murder as yet another suspect. Namina found the general store and the boyfriend along with it. The shopkeep was described as "A young man, probably in his late teens, his hair is short, combed back and oiled. He’s clean shaven and is a mostly normal looking human. If you saw him in real life you’d think he was just a kid with a summer job…though it IS late autumn. The only thing that is supremely unusual about him or unkempt at all would be his fingernails. They’re almost grotesque long, sharp, yellow, black, and his hands seem to be way older than the rest of his flawless skin." Kaswink and the rest of the team continued following the tracks.

He introduced himself as "Clamford" and welcomed Namina to town. She greeted him as well, provided her cover story and brought up the murder. The young man explained that he was having a hard time with it, but the church seemed to help him get through things. Namina noted that his aura was a deep, murky red. Namina pressed about the church and how it helped. Apparently the church can help relieve suffering with a prayer tha sets you "right straight" as if taking it upon themselves. Namina's cover quickly shifted to be a cleric of Ilmater and presented a red string to the young Clamford. She offered some spiritual relief if he could provide more information about what happened to Luraa the day she died. Apparently the argument they were having was something incredibly silly about which house to live in...though he remembered her as a "beautiful ray of sunshine", and that he would want vengeance on whoever took her from him. Namina provided some kind, comforting words along with an embrace with a complimentary deathward to the young man before departing the store of generalness. The tracks Kaswink was following eventually led deeper into the orchard almost to the edge of Tympi's Forest. The sound of a gun firing could be heard followed by the barking of a dog. The source of these noises was soon revealed to be an old man with a gun raised up into the air pointing into the woods, and an old hound running towards him with a small bird in its mouth. DAN caught up to the team in the woods, and Namina began heading back to meet with them as well.

Upon spotting some of you in the orchard/woods, Arjan seemed full of anxiety. Agave was first to speak up, revealing his location and drawing attention away from Kaswink, he explained that he is a traveler and fond of the farmer's moonshines. Arjan demanded to know if "the moon saw you", and whether or not you were working with the "rest of them". Agave was confused, but explained that it is daytime and that the moon had yet to see them. Arjan seemed impatient, wanted to know why you all were there. Agave explained again that he is a traveler from nearby, and that he had never heard of this town before...apparently Arjan hadn't heard of it either, not until it popped up. He had "always been here", but it's the town that's new. Apparently "they made it to torture" him, and that the "they" in question is the Moon. "There's something sinister here at night..." Apparently Arjan had yet to move the body because he didn't want to touch it or go near it. He didn't want to be blamed, and he sees/hears the monster that he calls "the beast" every night. The beast torments him, tries to destroy his house. He fears that if he sees it or if it sees him he might die, but he hears it all the time. The bottles were there as a defense against any intruders.

Arjan brought up the beast again, claiming that it murdered Luraa just to torment him. That it doesn't care about the girl or the town, just him, that it exists to torment him. Kaswink tried to get a feel for if Arjarn knew where he is, she tried to explain that he's in the Spirit World and that he's dead...but he replied that that doesn't matter, that Kaswink is in the Spirit World as well and she's alive. It was also confirmed that he is aware of The Citizens of Greed and trades with them often to distribute his moonshine. Kaswink tried to press again if any person would be doing this to hurt him, starting this town to torment him, who could cause it...Arjan claimed that it was the Moon that did it, the moon makes everything, makes the people and the beast. Apparently whatever brought him here, whatever made this, won't let him remember what happened before he woke up in the Spirit World. Kaswink began to have suspicions, or at least began to voice them, that Arjan might have "something he can't control". Though he insisted that he is in complete control of himself, that it isn't him. The two groups decided to meet up and share their information.

The Church

Namina/Hysteria and Frode/Kaswink/Agave/DAN all met up back in town. You all discussed everything you learned, and the next step in the investigation began to be put together. When Namina revealed that she is pretending to be a Priest of Ilmater, Frode seemed upset about this, saying that she shouldn't do such things. It was decided that the next step in all this is to head to the church and investigate there. Though, Namina also began to get a little nervous when the "Moon Magic" was mentioned, and that Arjan was worried that the Moon could see him or you all. She insisted that her "Priestess of Ilmater" cover story is essential to keep up if that is the case.

Inside the church, it was mostly empty save some pews, a podium at the front and some prayer books. There was also one of the drifters sitting and praying. The prayer books were all open to the same page. The prayer they were open to was similar to something that would be found in Frode's own prayer book, but the ending was very different. Rather than ending in a sane way, it ended with "Suffer" repeated over and over again for a page and a half. Prayer

Incredibly
We would know the fear
And the suffering
And the Anguish Without question
We would know the terror
And the pain
And the agony In their place
We would take their fear
And their suffering
And their Anguish Without any doubts
We would take their place
In these times of Torment
And free them of their suffering And he will suffer, suffer
Suffer suffer suffer
Suffer suffer suffer
Suffer suffer suffer
Suffer suffer suffer
Suffer suffer suffer

Frode took note of this rather heretical book before turning his attention to the person sitting in the pews. He questioned if she was a priest of Ilmater, though she denied this and expained that she is just a drifter. DAN was confused about what being a drifter means, and questioned this person for some time about it. She seemed mostly confused and apologetic, worried that these random travelers had something against her, but DAN explained that they are just curious why the town would have something against them... The drifter suggested that it is because you lot have money and the difters don't. Attentions soon turned ot the rest of the church. Namina found the backroom, an office for priests to study and prepare for sermons. Here there was another prayer book open to the same concerning prayer, and several more prayer books on a shelf with book marks to the same page as well.

The drifter was questioned some more, and Agave tried to learn of where she and the other drifter was from. She rambled, quite well, for a long time without actually giving any information like town names or directions. It was almost like a very fake story. Agave and Namina eventually ended up giving this drifter some money and she left, incredibly thankful, to return to her friend beneath the bridge. They would be able to sleep indoors, likely saving them from a vengeful town and the freezing nights of the late autumn. Namina also noted that the aura of the drifter was a murky red, big surprise. She also became interested in what Frode's aura might be, though we were unable to really get a straight answer about that. Just that Frode was feeling as though he was surrounded by Heresy. He was feeling suspicious about the whole situation. In regards to the poem, Frode definitely knew that something wasn't right with the situation, he claimed the poem should end with something about relief...and he stated that he wanted to leave the church as this place doesn't seem real.

Discussion were had about how to "stop the suffering" and whether or not you should stay til nighttime to see what happens. The town seemed to just blame each other and likely wouldn't be any help, and there were some thoughts to find the Tavern at some point. Partly to get some drinks, and partly to just sus out Ol' Merge's vibe. Agave suggested bringing up the Moon with some of the people, perhaps starting with the Innkeep. Frode, however, chose to stay at the church and ponder.

The Obelisk

Inside the inn, Agave began the conversation by asking about the tavern. The innkeep was strangely both aware of its existence and also not sure where it was and had never been there. He tried to get information about the nighttime and the Moon, but she deflected claiming that the farmer was crazy. Agave also brought up Dorchar and asked the innkeep if the city changes like it does there. She seemed aware of the location, and how it works, but also confused about how this town could work like that since her customers need to be able to sleep. The subject of "stars" also confused her, she seemed uncertain of what stars even are. The subject of "The Beast" also brought up some deflecting, though she at least said that "There is no beast, this is a perfectly safe town." She called the farmer crazy again, and Agave could tell that she seems to be unsure of her words. He turned to DAN and mouthed some instruction to "distract her."

DAN's performance captivated this innkeep, it was almost as if she had never seen juggling before in her life. She was amazed, baffled, and absolutely losing her mind over this whole ordeal. As Agave was exploring the backroom as a scorpion, she even started trying to juggle herself. DAN tried teaching her how to juggle while Agave was investigating, and she was slowly getting okay at it. Agave managed to find the backroom, but there was...not much there. It looked like it could be a bedroom, but the only piece of a furniture was an endtable placed next to where a bed should've been. The rest of the room was strangely empty. The endtable was investigated, and Agave was able to find a scrap of paper with several overlapping drawings of an obelisk, with a bunch of runes scribbled all over it. He committed a couple of them to memory to be written down later. In this same endtable he also found a book on Dendrology, the study of trees. He also managed to find a loose floorboard which was hiding a tiny shoebox sized space that was filled with loose chunks of jade.

The next phase in the plan was to wait until nighttime. First, Kaswink went out and found her, right outside the church, playing with flowers on a small island in the middle of the stream. Kaswink approached her, offered some condolences and asked if she knows who thinks did the murderizing. She claimed it was the boyfriend, and when provided with Kaswink's rebuttal that he isn't likely a suspect she suggested looking into the old man. Apparently she suspects him because he is always "yelling about the moon" and "beasts", it's kinda unsettling. Some of you, Namina, Hysteria and DAN, tucked into bed at the inn waiting for nighttime spookies. Kaswink and Agave went to the farm to watch Arjan and the town respectively. Frode was still at the church.

Those that were at the inn in their Deluxe Experience Package Suites did get a deluxe experience. It was quite the cozy room! Though, as night fell the ominous blue light of the massive moon in the sky provided some creepy atmosphere. It was also joined with howling, barking, and the sound of something scratching at a window. At the farm, Kaswink was able to watch Arjan lock his door, block it with a chair, and set up a great deal of other rather insane defenses. He stared longingly at a photo of his wife before appearing to fall asleep. Agave, on the outside, was able to watch the town from a vantage point on the roof of the barn. From Agave's perspective he was able to hear the scratching at the barn and the farmhouse, though there was nothing there to make the scratching noise. He was also able to see the soft jade light appear at the center of the Small Grove on the southern side of town. You all were able to see something rather unusual about this town as well. As the sun was fully set, the clouds seem to vanish. There were no celestial bodies like stars either, just black celophane covering the sky. The only other feature was a massive blue moon at the very center of the sky that covered the whole town in pale blue moonlight.

Agave began to head down to ground to head towards the suspected location of the obelisk. Simultaneously, Kaswink heard the clawing at the door and went upstairs to see the old man. He seemed to be lying in bed, and as she went to inspect his face she saw his eyes wide open and bloodshot. He shifted his gaze to look at her, and said "I told you it was the beast!" She opened the window, tearing through his defenses, and Arjan was terrified. Kaswink went downstairs from this window, on the other side of the house was the door being covered in even more scratched but nothing was there, just the darkness of night. She chopped into the nothingness, and her glaive was able to cut of the tips of something's claws. These claws quickly dissipated into smoke and ash before drifting on the air. Meanwhile, DAN began building an umbrella to protect themselves from the moonlight, and Namina just went outside along with Hysteria to go see what's going on. On the way out, she saw the innkeep was still at her station. Eyes bloodshot, standing motionless and staring forward until Namina engaged her in conversation. The innkeep seemed to not mind the moon at all, saying that it was a lovely night. When Namina asked about the state of the moon and if it was always full, the innkeep seemed confused by this, unaware that there were other phases. Frode, still in the church, saw the moonlight. The first time that the moon was really visible in the Spirit World. He refused to go outside towards his friends or to see the moon, instead choosing to continue inspecting the church. He found much the same information as what Namina did, and also that all the iconography and depictions of Ilmater were ...off somehow, strange approximations based on a third party almost.

Kaswink went back up the side of the building to grab Arjan. He REALLY didn't want to leave, terrified that the Moon would see him. Kaswink pulled him outside anyways, and he was immediately pulled up into the sky. The only thing that Kaswink really noticed about what took him was the smell of smoke. Namina, outside, was able to see the soft jade light within the Small Grove. She chose to go find her friends before going into anything though. Agave and Kaswink went into town, and on the way they ran into Namina and Hysteria before going towards the Obelisk. Agave showed the runes that he found in the backroom, and in the light of the moon the group could see that it was actually able to be read. The two words appeared to be "Spare" and "Fate". There was a great deal of discussion about what the people in this town are. The innkeep staying at their post perpetually was brought up, and it was mentioned that it seems to be the only thing she can do. The next stop was determined, after much debating, to be the obelisk.

DAN was heading outside now as well having finished their umbrella. They were able to see their friends returning from the northern part of town and heading towards a Small Grove with an ominous green glow. They shouted towards their friends as they moved towards them, and was able to learn what had been discovered so far. Frode was able to hear this shouting from inside the church, but continued looking around for more info. At the obelisk, it was observed that there were four sides that met at the top with four triangles. The triangles each had a word, and the rectangular sides had several more, all written in runes and glowing. The runes were made of jade while the obelisk itself was made of stone.

Torment - This side of the obelisk had runes that vanished as soon as they were read. It said "Torment will always be one step behind.
Be careful what you wish for.

Summon "To spare someone else
And ease suffering they feel"

Weaken This town will disappear, removed
All the people are dead, and his fate is decided.

Strengthen A full moon, a blackened heart
Torn asunder by a thousand lonely nights

The descriptions and runes all seemed to be rather intentionally ambiguous in terms of possible interpretations. Strengthen could strengthen the monster, or it could strengthen the town or even the Spiritual Travelers. Weaken could weaken the monster, or the town, or the party...and so on. Though, Summon seems to be the only one that doesn't have an advertised downside. Weaken mentions the entire town being dead, and Strengthen mentions being torn asunder by a thousand lonely nights... But that might all be a mislead as well, who knows? Be careful what you wish for. Torment is always one step behind.

D&D July 18, 2022