Session 40: Treating the Afflicted and Paying Quince a Visit
General Summary
Never Quite Free
The session started off with discussions on how to treat the Myotlings you had rescued from The Prison Beneath Thera Relovut. There were many options to go over and everyone had their own little contribution to the project of bringing them out of this strange stupor inflicted by The Unblinking Sein. Kaswink brought up that the chicken she was marinating was in the slime of a Giant Heart Slug and Courageous Black Moss. Perhaps feeding them this as lunch would help bring them out of it along with some incense and tea made by Namina. Hysteria kept watch around the camp, and DAN started out on watch with them, but they ended up building an incredibly helpful healing hut instead. Frode began cooking with Kaswink's help and he also set up a table to serve everything on. Lunch was eventually served. It took some ... physical manipulation of their faces to get them to actually eat or drink anything, but the Myotlings began to calm down as they breathed in the calming incense, tea, and chilled in the healing hut. They still weren't speaking or moving, but they started blinking and they seemed to be calming down significantly. Namina decided to take the opportunity to remove some curses, and gently took each of their hands before using her clerical magic. Each time the spell was cast, the myotling it was used on would sigh in relief before lying back asleep.Attentions were next turned towards the Uginot ec Mlet. Discussion was had about whether or not they were being tracked somehow, and there was an overall sense of uncertainty as to how to treat them. Namina looked over their aura. In the inert, machinery waiting for instructions kinda position they were in they seemed to have barely any aura at all. It was almost just stuck to their bodies, no emanating very far at all, incredibly faint but the same muddy dark red that the others had. Kaswink and Namina looked them over a bit more closely and discovered that you would be unable to revert the two humans to "normal". However, the seeds could be changed somehow to do something different. They had none of the usual organs, instead having large seeds in their place, and a seed was also taking up a part of their brain. A plan was formulated to take them back to a Mothlight Tree to get the rest of the refugees/prisoners to safety and deal with these two weirdos then. It was also mentioned that perhaps the light of these Mothlight Trees is important as Ilven seemed bent on getting rid of them. With that in mind, it was remembered that Tympi's Lantern seems to be connected to this same light somehow. Further investigating would be needed.
Treating the Afflicted
You returned to a Mothlight tree using another Teleport, or combination of Teleports, and proceeded to help get the new prisoners/refugees into this safe haven. Kaswink checked them for parasites, and Namina along with Hysteria ate some bugs. Namina and Hysteria, while eating these bugs, stayed outside with the afflicted tourists while the rest of you went into the Mothlights. Tympi was resting still, her lantern was suspended in the air above her, and Anvi was still keeping watch as always. He was fine with using the lantern to cure these people, but insisted on coming with you to be the one to use it. As he grabbed the lantern, it immediately transported you all back outside. Outside, he did some neat fae magic stuff to have the lantern float in the air as he blasted some light onto the two afflicted tourists. Strange smells like dehydrating plants could be experienced, and it was suggested that he stop doing that and try it at a "lower setting". He apologized, not being used to doing such things, and tried again.The second attempt didn't smell, and after about 10 minutes some signs of treatment began to be seen. One of the afflicted blinked, and discussions began as to whether or not having the lantern on for so long was a good idea. These discussions went on for some time, with many different ideas and viewpoints about these two creatures and what would be best to do with them. The biggest concern was whether or not the light is hurting Tympi, and whether or not they can survive a journey to Simol's Village for answers about such things. As the arguments continued, the other afflicted began to blink as well, and one of them was even able to hold Frode's spear and "defend" himself, though with very bad timing. More arguments continued, Anvi continued shining the light as he wasn't really told to stop considering the discussion was on whether or not he should...and then something even more strange happened. The first of them to blink began to speak.
"How long has it been since the sun went out?" Everyone seemed a bit surprised to here this person speak, though Namina asked a question that he seemed interested in actually answering. "Do you remember your name?" The creature replied, speaking slowly and deliberately, thinking about each word. "I...have not been given one." Namina apologized, asking if he would like a name. "When will I wake up?" She then asked if he is in pain. "No, it is dark and cold here. Everything is dead. When did the sun go out?" DAN asked what he means by sun. They listed a few possible things the sun could be including vision, warmth, food... "All of the above. The rocks are sharp and dig into my feet. The sun's mouth is a gaping chasm devoid of heat. The world is dead. How long has it been since I fell here?" Frode then spoke up, he explained to this creature that he was asleep for a long time, but that he's awake now, and that's a good thing! "I...Don't have a lot of words." Frode began offering him soup and other foods. The creature seemed confused by the concept of soup, and when Frode procured some food the creature seemed almost surprised. "There has been no food for so long, all the eggs have burned up. I am the only one left." Namina asked why he wants to chop down trees. "I don't, I wouldn't, there are no trees left to cut. I wouldn't cut them if there were. I would eat their leaves."
Namina brought up that she was getting deja vu from the dream you all had about being a caterpillar and plants and stuff. The dream was discussed, though DAN was curious how it was related...Namina couldn't really explain it, just that it was familiar. Namina declared she would protect the afflicted the same way she protected the caterpillar. Kaswink suggested that he is further along in the dream than you lot were, that he's gotten to the point where there's nothing left. The other one started talking at this point, it was a lot of the same references to some dead world somewhere, somewhen. They enjoyed some of Frode's cooking, and after awhile they said another weird thing. "Have you swam through the blood?" Kaswink wanted elaboration. "It is red." She then suddenly remembered the entrance to the Spirit World. The churning vortex of blood that you all took to get here. She wanted to know if that's how these people got here. Their answer was ... confusing. "It was an accident. I am sorry."
Meanwhile, Namina traveled within the Mothlight Village, took some flower pedals and pollen from the meadow, and was able to procure a mirror with some obsidian at the top. Though, by the time she got back outside, the afflicted tourists had been reverted back to their normal mental states and seemed real keen on getting back to the Gate Camp to see Quince and find their family. It was decided that "risking it for the biscuit" would be a fine option, and since Namina had seen the Camp before through her tattoo, it would be a good idea to have her try it. The effect from the Teleportation Needle was rather unusual. Unlike a normal teleport, it seemed to stitch together a new location around you, changing the world to be where you wanted to go. Thanks to sheer luck, you were able to arrive at the Gate Camp without an issue. Agave wandered off with the afflicted, and the rest of you put a plan into motion that would result in capturing Quince and interrogating him.
Paying Quince a Visit
The camp around you was busy, people were coming in from the material plane through a large gate that had two massive towers build on either side of it. Quince was signing in newcomers, and Hysteria moved into position. They fired an arrow into Quince's leg, the Death Blossom Poison that they made worked wonderfully and Quince collapsed. Namina was next up to announce herself as a healer, and she started to drag Quince away. Meanwhile, Kaswink was off scaring people causing a ruckus while DAN secured a medical tent for the interrogation to take place in. It was noted that you all were basically celebrities, but especially DAN who was kinda a celebrity performer before their rise to fame as a member of this expedition. Namina's attempt to drag Quince into the medical tent was interrupted by some random itchy tourist wanting medical attention, but Hysteria managed to get rid of him. Frode joined Namina and Kaswink in the medical tent, and DAN began distracting any tourists with their juggling routine.From inside the tent, the Interrogation Team could hear applause. The first question was from Namina, innocently asking what he's been up to. He answered just as innocently, saying that he was wondering what you all were up to and was worried that you all were dead. Namina explained that there was some uncertainty regarding Quince's motivations, and whether or not he needed to know. He was glad to see you were all okay, asking if you were here for your money. Frode stepped forward, saying that he isn't here for the money...until Quince elaborated that it is 5,000GP each. Namina refused, and asked again what he is up to. He seemed genuinely confused by the existence of plant people, thinking that you all were talking about some sort of Druid or the Vine Beasts... when it was explained that it is something different, he was even more shocked. In fact, he tried to turn the conversation back around, explaining that it's your fault for not communicating this information when it would've been able to prevent future disasters. Namina accused him of giving the dangerous spirits an army, and mentioned the Carnival that came in. He was confused about what the problem was, explaining that they paid the fee and they were all legal and followed the rules.
He explained again that all of the threats you had discovered were settled with future reports, and that this new threat was never reported... plus the anchor seemed like an "Okay, go!" From the lot of you. It was explained that the anchor didn't come from you, but he, again, had no way to know that. Kaswink challenged his motivations, that handing out invites to anyone with money was irresponsible. Though, it was mentioned that anyone could've brought this up, anyone could've seen what Quince's motives are and discussed it. He did explain that he has screening processes, contracts and guarantees that those that enter will not harm the Spirit World. Though this didn't seem to mean much to the interrogation team either. Kaswink brought up the circus again, explaining that they had one of Namina's people as a prop. He seemed to be unaware of this, which caused even more of an outrage. Kaswink explained that the ecology of the Spirit World is incredibly complicated, and that anything might harm it, so people could be subconsciously harming it. She also suggested that further entry into this world be stopped...and right on cue, a deafening explosion erupted throughout the camp.
From the Well Crawls Madness
The explosion was both deafening and damaging. Tinitus-like ringing filled your ears, DAN and anyone else that was outside was thrown against the nearest wall, and even those that were inside secluded areas found themselves shaken by the force. An investigation shortly began, and many things happened at once. Kaswink looked around for any 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, had a clear shot, 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 The King considering the stone and crown fragment. Meanwhile, Hysteria and Frode were pursuing another suspect. Frode was the first to spot her: A woman with tawny blond hair, rags for clothes, and covered in sores that looked identical to those that would be caused by the Plague that Voldaren was currently dealing with. Hysteria helped him chase after her, and as he tried to take a shot at the suspect he found that where the arrow would have gone something strange happened. Instead of the arrow flying through the air, Hysteria found themselves standing directly where it would've been, and the woman had changed. Her face and outfit were familiar to Hysteria, she seemed to be wearing prison rags, had elven ears, and Hysteria took the opportunity to stab at her with their dagger. Simultaneously, Frode saw the plagued-woman splitting off from the prisoner and running in another direction, he chose to not pursue. As Hysteria stabbed this woman, they saw that, instead of blood, she instead had insect legs erupt from each wound. They continued stabbing, over and over, until she was almost completely covered in these legs bursting from her wounds and gripping at her flesh. They suddenly all constricted, tearing the flesh free and revealing a stone statue of a coiled up centipede. Its head was lifted from the top coil, and resting under its "chin" was a book which Hysteria took.Meanwhile, DAN and Namina were back at the Gate investigating the source of the explosion. They were able to discover that it definitely originated from this Gate as the debris was scattered away from it. They discovered that the ground and everything else in the area had turned black, and, when investigating the plantlife, they found that it was covered in a strange black residue similar to The Well of Darkness. They also discovered spots. Black dots. One on the underside of the top of the arch, and one on the base of the arch that made up the Gate. The Gate was inert, and these dots were pure black to the point that absolutely no light or gloss was escaping...like it was painted onto a photograph or something. These dots were also expanding, and as Namina looked at them she discovered that they were spewing forth an aura. This aura was blinding to her as she inspected it for arcanic connections. The aura "looked like sound", it looked like it chitters, like a hundred legs tapping rapidly on hard stone, and it looked painful. Whoever did this was powerful and possibly not even here when they did it, but they seem to have shut the gate down for some reason. As it continued to expand, DAN readied their warpicks, and it was agreed that it should be stopped before it explodes a second time or something. Namina tried to stop the madness by crashing it with a wave of water, and as the water passed through the gate there seemed to almost be something physical between the two pure-black dots that split the wave as this water touched it. Namina told DAN to try and grab it. As they grabbed it they experienced an incredible headache. The dots continued to grow pushing their hand apart, and they could feel something physical, but it felt like a hundred different high-pitched screams all inside their head at once. They felt and heard a chittering noise, in fact, they heard the noise with their hand. DAN persisted, continuing to hold whatever this was and began to strike at it with their warpicks. Thankfully these weapons were magical and weren't instantly destroyed, but they also didn't seem to do much and were being damaged during the onslaught. Namina launched a guiding bolt at the...thing, and saw discovered that this thing seems to be consuming magic. DAN, now NAD, fell unconscious. The chittering continued in their mind, but they were unable to remember why. The events of the explosion seemed to be fading from memory and they could only retain the deafening blast, inspecting the gate, and anything up to the point that he grabbed hold of whatever this cylinder was. They also got a new memory: Something crawling out of the pit that was slowly forming.
Prelude to a Tea Party
Action was needed. NAD was sleeping on the ground and dreaming of spirals and weird dream things, Frode continued clearing people from the area, and preparations were made for a Tea Party. Namina set up her new fancy tea set having recently acquired the Teapot of the Third Bell and the Tea Cups of the First Bell, she was eager to use them. She set up the copy of In Polite Company, and the table was set up to receive a special guest. Calming incense and some mild, mind-clearing, refreshing, not-to-heavy teas were brewed, and the guest began to appear. As NAD dreamed, they saw that portions of these dreams were "Cut out". Not missing time, but missing chunks of space that had the shape of the same spirit that began to appear in the real world. Those awake saw a shadow begin to crawl into view, a centipede, just a tiny little guy that continued to grow larger and larger as it crawled constantly coiling and uncoiling. NAD, again, saw this as a centipede-shaped section of space missing in his mind crawling in the exact same way as it did out in reality.
In-game date:
Nurend 41, 308
Nurend 41, 308
Report Date
08 Aug 2022
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Secondary Location
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