Session 38: Arjan's Torment

General Summary

Thoughts

When last we left off we were discussing what to do about this Obelisk. There were some concerns over whether or not interacting with it at all was a good idea. Summoning the creature seemed to have the least amount of bad verbiage, but there were still those that wanted to strengthen or weakening the creature, but the discussion also started to shift in a couple of other directions. One thought was to bathe the Obelisk in Sunlight, perhaps the opposite celestial body would provide some change, and another option was to just leave without even interacting. These people had their own problems, and constantly interfering with them "seemed to only make it worse". DAN seemed to have some concerns about putting the group at risk to save a single person, and cited the Death Blossoms as one of the more recent dangers that almost killed these three brothers by acting recklessly. A big issue being that this person, and by extension these potential people, are individuals that you all don't even know. Kaswink, however, feels as though saving a single person is still a positive change, and that stopping this creature before it continues to spread and get worse might be important for the betterment of the forest. She was also in favor of Namina's idea to put some sunlight on the obelisk. Agave wanted to do some more research, as it was possible that the town wasn't even real. It could just be a spirit acting out what it is like to be a person or a village. He wanted to summon the spirit to talk to it and see what is going on. Kaswink agreed that the town might not be real, but that the farmer is probably real, and agreed that something is definitely not right in this town as she brought up the page from the prayer books that just said "Suffer" over and over.

Namina felt as though this might be connected to other harmful events. She suggested that by letting this go you could be giving whatever took Steve, or whatever is plaguing Frode and Agave, or anything else more power. Even if it isn't the same thing, it could be at least connected or perhaps give rise to something that would hurt others in the future. DAN still felt as though the risk of death was too great, and that putting the group or the trio of brothers at risk was a very bad idea. Though, Kaswink reminded them that other people are at risk as well. While danger was on the table, Agave mentioned that he has a "safety net" in mind, and Kaswink brought up that Frode should be retrieved before doing anything. Inside the church, Frode had knocked over furniture, destroyed pews and several normally sacred things, and was looking quite distraught as well. The obelisk was mentioned, along with how only one side seemed to have any chance of easing suffering. He had some doubts over the whole town's existence, and brought up the prayer book and how it was filled with suffering. He claimed that it was all an impersonation, perhaps by a demon trying to get out. Frode suggested that Namina look through the church, especially through the books, though Namina explained she had already done so and couldn't even find a leader of the church at all. She also suggested that the church was the spirit's approximation of what Ilmater is, which could be for trickery or just an innocent mistake. There was some discussion over why the gods don't come down and smite this place due to the impersonation of the church, perhaps with fire and brimstone! Though, Kaswink and Namina clarified that gods don't do much from where they are...they usually use people to accomplish deeds, and to that end it might be best to do something rather than waiting for the gods to do anything.

The Obelisk and whether or not the creature should be summoned or left alone was brought up again. And Frode mentioned that everywhere you go, there is "suffering in your wake", suggesting that perhaps you lot are somehow changing the Spirit World for the worse. Namina suggested doing some more experimenting though, and brought up The Spirit of Christmas, particularly how you managed to save it rather than just killing it outright as Kaswink seems to want to do with this obelisk and spirit. Kaswink, however, insisted that it would be better to not leave this place worse than how you found it, especially since Arjan had been taken by the spirit already. She agreed that further experimentation would be agreeable, though, and Agave agreed as well. Nicholas, perhaps NAD, piped up and brought to he group's attention that this spirit is definitely more malicious than what has been fought previously, and that everyone deep down knows that. If it weren't so malicious, then the town wouldn't be in this situation, and that you are messing with something that shouldn't be messed with in the first place. Agave mentioned that, per Arjan's recollection, he was here before the town and is likely a separate entity. That the town was the only thing being attacked before you showed up, and then Arjan was taken. Frode agreed and posited that it seems as though wherever you go you poison the land, that things were fine before you showed up. With regards to leaving the place worse than you found it, Kaswink had a rebuttal: That if you leave, and you left the place worse, the spirit will find a new target...plus, leaving a place worse than you found it is not a very polite approach. Perhaps it is time to do some more research, pray to some gods, and distract an innkeep.

and Prayers

Frode left the group for a moment to meditate and pray, and Namina began setting up a ritual to ask her god for guidance. Meanwhile, Agave and DAN left for the inn to get the scrap of paper that Agave found a few hours ago. Kaswink took Agave's spyglass to look for Arjan in the sky. She looked towards the barn, and up towards the moon, combing the night sky to try and find any sign of him. She noted that the sky is a lot of solid black nothingness, no stars or any other celestial bodies save a massive blue moon right at the center. As she held the spyglass up to her eye, hoping to see a zoomed in bit of moon, or just the solid black sky, or even Arjan...she instead saw the same exact sky just smaller and fitting within a spyglass. The moon was at its center, the same black nothingness around it. No matter where she looked in the sky, it looked like the same sky but shrank down into the spyglass with the moon always perfectly at the center. Though, looking towards the barn, as long as she didn't have any sky in the image, she could still see ground and buildings. She also tried experimenting with some magical Darkness, but the moonlight seemed to penetrate this spell and still hit the ground. The light was blocked by anything solid though, like the trees and buildings. DAN, or perhaps NAD, successfully distracted the innkeep and put on quite the performance for her. She was completely enamored by the performance, especially since it was a new routine. They lit torches, used more weapons, and began speaking with the innkeep. She was duped into moving away from the door to pick up items and throw them into DAN's hands so that Agave could get into the room behind it. In the backroom, Agave found the same oddly empty space with just an end table. He found the scrap of paper and began to depart for the outside world to be able to read it. DAN kept up the distraction. They extinguished the torches and swapped to their crossbows while asking the innkeep about a target to shoot. She held up an apple for them, and DAN was able to expertly shoot straight through it! The bolt pierced the apple, and the inside seemed to just be a black void...no apple chunks hit the wall, the apple didn't even leave her hand. It just sat there motionless with a black dot that slowly began to leak a yellow-brown liquid. The innkeep seemed unfazed by the constantly flowing and wretched looking liquid covering her hand and the floor.

Strangely...Frode's prayers were answered. Possibly for the first time in his life, he received some form of a response after praying to Ilmater. It started as just the rattling of chains, then the sound of fabric being cut joined this cacophony before a voice also appeared. The voice sounded like Arjan, and he was screaming for help amongst the rattling chains and cutting fabric. Frode broke his meditation and prayer, the sound of chains still rattling away but slowly fading. He promptly left the church, filled with determination. Meanwhile, as the half hour was ending, Namina did the ritual thing! Her question was this: "What will happen if we summon this?" and the response she received suggested "Wheel", meaning that it would be a good thing if it was summoned. Out in the Moon's light, Agave was able to read the paper. He found that most of it matched what was on the Obelisk, but a small "sentence" of runes at the bottom of one side was different. It said, "It will not let him die." He brought this back to the group, and a discussion was had over the possible meaning of this paper. The Chained Man was brought up again by Namina, and she suggested summoning this spirit as her god apparently told her it would be a good path. Everyone was in agreement, and Frode was walking out the door, filled with determination.

Fierce Determination!

"Yeah, I have clarity of mind. I saw something, it was like a dream but I was awake. There were chains rattling in the air, and I saw a fabric being cut... I know what we must do. It was a sign. It means that someone is here, suffering greatly, and i think it is not just the villagers. I think this spirit is trapped, and Ilmater has told me that I must do what I do, and that is to alleviate its suffering no matter the cost. We must let this thing out, and if it is truly evil, then we will fight it." Frode went straight to the Obelisk, and the group followed him there. Kaswink moved quickly, hoping to place a Pylon from her Glaive of the Stalker, and Frode eagerly placed his hand on the Obelisk. The Obelisk lit up, the sound of screaming filled the air. It sounded like Arjan, and he was in pain. The scream carried on the wind, and within it you could hear Agave's name screamed by some other being somewhere in the distance. Filling the air around you was the smell of smoke and ash, and black clouds covered the ground. From the smoke a pair of jaws lashed out and bit Frode, he felt the pain briefly on a limb, but it was mostly on his spine and chest. It felt like something was crushing him in a vice, and the ash-filled maw of Torment was revealed to you.

Frode acted quickly to break free of this maw that was grappling him. The pain subsided mostly, and he utilized the favor he earned from Lemostodrensa to grow in size with hopes of better combating this rambunctious spirit. As he grew the spirit began to look more and more like a wolf made of smoke and ash, its form revealed in full. Frode began attacking this spirit while challenging it with his determined words. The courage presented seemed to make Torment more corporeal, and his spears were able to strike it. The spirit then melted into the ground, becoming a pool of smoke before reappearing in another area. Frode pursued. Torment tried to bite at Frode again, its ash-filled maw missing him or perhaps being unable to get through his armor. On the other side of the battlefield, a claw made of smoke struck from the smoke on the ground and the Moon's light to attack Namina. This also missed, and to such a degree that Namina was able to actually use the spirit's failure to her advantage. She tethered herself to it and began to enter her trance and connect with Torment. The result of doing so was a headache of unnatural proportions. A migraine that struck deep into her mind, her bones, but she was connected.

This pain manifested along with her trance as one of Torment's abilities: Pain. She was poisoned as ash and smoke filled her lungs, she felt her self restrained as smoke wrapped around her limbs, and the area around her was replaced with a burning building. It was hot and dangerous with no escape in sight. The flames around her felt real enough to burn her, and the heat did indeed begin to damage her every few seconds.

DAN, seeing the state of the battlefield and how far away Torment was, decided to instead shoot at it with their crossbows. The bolts seemed to just pass through the target as it was just made of smoke...it was unclear if it was damaged. Namina, in her burning mind palace, continued connecting with Torment. She pushed through the pain and, through the tendrils, began to actually feel more of a connection. Despite all the pain, she could still see something at the center and was beginning to break past several barriers. There was a different kind of torment besides just physical pain, and it was represented by an elderly man squatting down in an upright fetal position with around 10-11 corpses burning in the building around him. This man didn't have any details, just a silhouette of yellowish-green aura. She spent a moment to say something to the old man's aura, "I'm going to help you. No matter what it is that you need. If it's to be put to rest, if it's to be saved. I'm here to help." Outside, in reality, those of you that were watching were able to see some unusual energy flow from Namina, through the tendrils of smoke, and connect with the wolf. It became even more corporeal, the smoke being replaced with fur, though smoke still billowed from it and most of its body was still smoke-like. It seemed to also be in a bit of pain. Kaswink used this opportunity to rush forward and strike. As she did so, Namina was able to see that the burning building was falling apart around her. Planks fell over into the area she was in, and she was able to see the exterior for a moment: It appeared to be a red barn.

Agave moved forward and tried to reason with the spirit. Seeing that it was more corporeal and looking rather bad at this particular moment, he stated the truth that you were here to help the town and the farmer. He offered settling this less violently, and even tried negotiating for this peaceful end. The spirit did not seem to like this very much, and it lashed out at Agave almost like a wounded animal defending itself. The cut that Agave experienced from the spirit's claws was described as beyond the most painful wound he'd ever experienced, cutting deeply into not only his flesh, but also his mind.

Vanquishing Torment

Frode moved towards the spirit, his large frame moving with intent to knock it prone before stabbing it repeatedly with a spear. Frode's courage, however, caused it to dissipate as it hit the ground before reappearing somewhere else farther away. The spirit crushed Frode again with its maw from across the battlefield, striking from anywhere the Moon's light touches, and it began to inflict pain on the rest of you as well. It caused DAN to experience the same vision of a burning building and tied him down with smoke tendrils, and it slashed at Kaswink with its claws. Namina, now freed from the tendrils, found herself still standing in the burning barn. She was surrounded by burning corpses with the silhouette of the old man crouched nearby. She explained to the old man that her friends were hurting it because sometimes being put to rest can involve that. She gently approached with calming words before resting a hand on the silhouette's shoulder. Those of you that were outside saw the wolf-like spirit become even more corporeal before lying down. Its glowing, yellow-green eyes lost their glow and became just wolf eyes, and it rested its head on its paws like it was about to fall asleep. Namina, however, felt an immense amount of pain, emotional pain, guilt, burning, and she heard an explosion...something outside the barn exploded as the vision ended. Both her and DAN were back in the reality of the town. Around all of you, you could see that the idyllic village had been replaced with a burned down village. The farm was also burned, no fields, no orchard, just ash and destruction everywhere. The strange light from the Moon was gone, the clouds were back in the sky, and it seemed to be a regular ol' spirit world sky once again.

Kaswink and Agave left to go to the farm and find Arjan. Namina started petting the wolf, giving it lots of good scritches. The wolf seemed relaxed, not much of a threat at this point...besides being a wolf, but it didn't seem to be in any mood to fight. Frode could still smell the ash from the encounter, and was the only one that could. Up at the "farm" they found the devastating scene of burned fields and buildings. An exploded distillery next to the burnt down barn, and Arjan crouching and looking incredibly out of it. He apparently could "remember now", and that "it let him remember". "I'm not good. I'm not feeling good. It was awful. The whole family dead. The first ones caught in the blaze...uncontrollable. It destroyed the whole town eventually. I woke up here, in this perfect place, but everyone was here just to make me mad. They weren't themselves. They looked like them, they were like the way that I wanted to remember them... they were memories of a guilt that I still carry with me. I don't know if I was actually responsible, but I know I felt that way for a long time. I blamed myself for everything that killed them because...well, there will be no more Moonshine, Agave." Kaswink and Agave discussed some theories about what might've happened here. It was generally agreed that the spirit made the town, and that Arjan likely somehow "made" the spirit unintentionally with immense guilt. It was also decided at this time that he would be brought to the Mothlights for safety until he had a way to get to wherever he wants to be...perhaps even with The Citizens of Greed, or to the Gate Camp so that he can go back to Taranel.

Frode left town with the old man as he was worried about the smoke he could still smell. As he left, the wolf got up and followed him. It was unclear if it was following Frode or Arjan. Namina tried to get him to stop, but he just kept moving. Many efforts were made to stop him, but he was eventually stopped by Kaswink thanks to her movement speed and big ol' arms. Agave, while the rest of the group was going after Frode, began to collect bodies and digging holes to have a funeral for the town. Graves were dug with the use of magic, and bodies from each building were separated into different graves near where they were found. He also had plans to bless the ground so that flowers would grow from the ashes. Out with Frode, there was some discussion over what to do with the wolf... but it was eventually agreed that it needed to be put down or else it would continue to torment Arjan. Namina was even on board with this, despite bonding with the wolf a little bit, but after seeing the wolf's aura she agreed. As Kaswink killed the wolf, it turned into smoke and flowed into Frode, though some of its body dissipated in a different manner and turned into moonlight. Frode was eventually talked into returning to town, and Kaswink went the opposite direction to find the Mothlight Tree to get Arjan to safety. A search through the buildings for metal was also had so that any loose belongings could be burried with the charred remains. Frode found lots of metal iconography in the church from different gods, one of them being Ilmater, and Namina snuck a bit of expensive looking jewelery into one of her pockets. You helped get the funeral set up, some words were said, and Agave performed some druid magic to bless the ground of the village of Drimures. "Flowers grow from the ashes along with grass, moss, small vines and weeds. A soft few words are said, and the town is put to rest. As the funeral concludes, the clouds in the sky do something you have never seen happen in the Spirit World before: They part, and a bit of the sky is revealed. Stars, a moon that is beginning to fill, and for the first time ever the clouds are gone. The beige-pink clouds can be seen in the distance, surrounding the area of the sky the village is under, but this part of the Spirit World seems to have been changed...possibly for the better."

Departing Drimures

Discussions were had as to how to proceed with the Prison mission. Teleportation was brought up as Agave can teleport several times per day and Kaswink has a needle that can teleport as well. The last plan mentioned was to travel to the Mothlight Tree in the swamp, maneuver to outside Thera Relovut, and have one group keep watch while someone teleports into the prison. Teleport team will grab the Grime from a Stone Grey Cellar, any refugees and prisoners they can, and then teleport them to safety. Agave should either, if they are with Teleport Team, teleport back to the Keep-watch team to guide them back through the swamp, or just have someone else attune to his item while he stays with the outside team to just guide them back after a signal is made that teleport team made it out alive. There was some concern about Logren, as it is likely that he has heard that Ilven has returned and is either with her or outside Thera Relovut keeping an eye on her from a distance.

July 25, 2022 D&D Monday