Session 48: Ice Cream, Pizza and Suffering
General Summary
Discussions
The session began with a discussion of some recent events. Kaswink just wanted to forget about the encounter with Ilven and The Unblinking Sein for now since it felt like a lot. Agave was curious if the things he was seeing were all premonitions, if they were really there, or if they were just illusions to get to him. Kaswink assured him that it was just a creature of feare, using him, and Hysteria agreed. Kaswink was the second to open up about what she saw, saying that she saw her grandfather. Hysteria apparently saw their "coworkers", which is not a good thing. Plans began to get formed. Kaswink and Hysteria agreed that things should get moving soon, expecially regarding Logren's corpse stinkin up the place. Agave had some concerns that what was happening to Ilven might be happening elsewhere. Namina was concerned about Tympi because of the black stuff that came out of her eyes along with the fact that she's currently in a coma. She was worried that Tympi might be in a similar state as what Ilven was just rescued from. Kaswink, however, felt that Tympi already experienced that, just for a longer period of time and was getting over it with all the rest. As you were all bringing Logren's corpse and Ilven's unconscious body back to the Mothlights, Kaswink brought up that it is imperitive to explain to all the Mothlings and Myotlings and anyone else that the Hags cannot be trusted, especially Simol, The Hag Empress.As you arrived with the unconscious body of what is basically god-royalty, many myotlings and mothlings alike surrounded you with excitement and concern. Some of the myotlings offered to help take care of Ilven, though Kaswink rejected this help to instead just get Ilven next to Tympi. To Tympi's House you went, though there were still some concerns that Ilven or even possibly Tympi could be not themselves, still possessed by this spirit. Namina hypothesized that they should be alright, separated from the spirit, and getting better. DAN compared the situation to their brother, particularly the part about not being themselves. Kaswink concluded the discussion by suggesting the Mothlights may have even purged the rude spirit considering it was afraid of this light, hurt by it and wanted to cut them down. At Tympi's house, Anvi was still sitting next to Tympi and keeping watch over her. Tympi's condition had worsened a bit since she was last seen, not too bad, just some bags under the eyes and other signs of stress. Kaswink announced your presence and the presence of Ilven's unconscious body. Anvi was speechless, confused, flabbergasted even. He left at the slightest suggestion to find another bed for Ilven to rest in, maybe wanting some air to think about all that just happened. It's not everyday an unconscious celebrity who's kinda your aunt-god-queen gets carried into your mom-god-queen's home. Anvi eventually returned with a bed, and Ilven was removed from Kaswink's inventory. Anvi stumbled over some words, finally able to muster up a question, "What happened?" Kaswink tried to explain that "There was something inside of her, something that made her really messed up and messed up everyone around her." Namina confirmed this, "It was darker than darkness that messed with her, it trapped her in a similar way that tympi was trapped. just more mentallly than physically in a jar, but our friend here (hysteria) managed to get her out, so we're good! Well, it was a team effort, but Hysteria literally got her out. Kaswink also brought up that everything that went wrong was Simol's fault. "She orchestrated it all." As Anvi was trying to process this, leaning back and squinting his eyes shut to find some logic in everything that was happening at once, Kaswink landed another bombshell: "Oh, I may have killed Croak. I kept seeing a fake Croak everywhere, but then I attacked one and it left a body. It fell in the big pit. I couldn't catch it cause my hands were full." Namina and Agave were shocked along with Anvi. Agave thought it would be good to go and look for that, but Kaswink explained that there are Myotlings already looking for it in Thera Relovut. Anvi was struggling. A close friend of Tympi was apparently controlling everything and causing all the bad stuff, another friend was just killed, and Tympi's sister was apparently possessed by a rude spirit. Lots to take in. Kaswink offered to look after Tympi for him while he rests, and he accepted unlike the last time you were all in town. He seemed very stressed as he left to find a place to nap for the first time in years.
A crowd of mothlings and myotlings were on their way to Tympi's House. Kaswink, surprisingly, offered to deal with the crowds while looking after Tympi and suggested the rest of the group go and get some rest as well. It was at this time that Agave suggested a few people, including himself, keep an eye on Simol. He had worries that what was happening in the forest could be happening in other places throughout this Spirit World. It would be better to keep an eye on such things, make sure that plans can still be interrupted and all that.
"Perhaps I could go out and keep an eye out to see if there are signs of Simol's influence anywhere else. It's like poison leaching into a stream. You have to figure out where all the streams flow to, like creeks or rivers. It might be further spread than we initially think."Kaswink agreed, pointing out that The Oni could easily have cursed more people if her and Croak are any indication. Namina put forth that it might actually be for the best that Croak is dead, though Kaswink was uncertain. "I don't think so. If Croak was really cursed, like me, then he could've had a chance for life once I killed the Oni. I know my life was pretty much forfeit, but he was weak. He could've stayed out for a little while, and waited it out. I do really regret killing him, I was just afraid." Kaswink then sent for some shopkeeps as she wanted to modify her weapon again with a new chain she "pulled out of a prison in her mind".
Agave was going to head out to find Simol's influence (from a distance!) and began to recruit help with this task. He started with hoping to get some meals packed thank to Frode, and tried to gauge interest in anyone else coming with to spy. Namina suggested AND going to help with this as they are particularly good at observation. AND eventually agreed. Hysteria was given a task to distract themselves from cutting up their gloves into neat fingerless gloves: see about making this Euphoria Jar more potent to help Tympi cause she's lookin rough! Hysteria was able to deduce with their sense alone that this stuff was as concentrated as it could possibly be since it came straight from the source: The Spirit of Christmas. They were then given a slightly different task to maybe make it less potent. While investigating the jar they also rediscovered some other traits, such as that the contents become more solid with vibrations and seem to change shape/shift around the jar including making little spikes. Perhaps a particularly violent vibration would do something? They also then started to make a Euphoria Poison that might just be like heroin or something, who knows? Namina approached Hysteria with an update on a request that they made previously. Apparently she had prepared some special long distance communication spell to Hysteria's specification and was ready to send their message. Hysteria seemed upset at first, internally debating, but they eventually conceded that it is "now or never" before providing their rather short message. They specified that it needs to be sent to "my Patron", and clarified for Namina that she had met this Patron once before. The King from the maze was referenced. "Just ask them what I need to do, what they want me to do." Namina sent the message, "Hysteria awaits orders. What do you need them to do?" and Hysteria apologized in advance. Though Namina seemed to want nothing of this apology. The two of them hung out around town, including getting some ice cream.
"Several moments pass before you receive an answer. 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.""Mid ice cream enjoyment, Namina heard this message and relayed the information in a very summarized, nonchalant way: "They're drowing, and they're chained, and they need to be freed." She then shrugged and continued eating. Hysteria was shocked, dropped their ice cream which caused Namina's reflexes to kick in and grab Hysteria's ice cream, but this caused her ice cream to fall and force Hysteria to catch hers. It was something that happened. Seriousness resumed and Hysteria thanked Namina for the help along with some clarifying questions. Namina did explain that they may not be underwater, just in a cave with something dripping somewhere...
Kaswink was also spending some time doing some investigating! She had this weird chain, and a weird new power that she wanted to take advantage of, and this chain was a great thing to use this ability on! She apparently can now sometimes see visions of dark histories that surround objects or places or whatever. She initially just recalled some dark history that she had actually learned from a journal in the prison itself way back during your first "visit". This information came from the Mysterious Journal. She also received a series of strange visions. As she was holding these chains, studying them, talking with the folks from Pondside Paraphernalia, working out what she was going to make with this weapon, she had visions that kind of came and went as the chains were making their rattling noise. Each small vision tied together to make a bigger picture.
"These visions started with "not quite elves". They were a little bit shorter than Hysteria with rounded ears that had just the slightest of points, and their facical features were just starting to get the sharper, elven aesthetic. Throughout these visions these people would slowly change, never quite reaching full modern-day elf, not really coming close, but slowly getting there. There were visions of these people crafting The Prison, installing these chains, people being chained up, tortured with spikey crowns and other torture equipment that caused them to bleed thin strips of blood from their arms. You can hear people crying out in agony when you can't see anything. There were moments that you could hear something binding your own eyes, piercing them. Time goes on and there are moments that the prison is empty save for a few prisoners that were left behind. A great deal of time passes with these people left alone to slowly, very slowly die in this prison. More time passed, actual elves showing up, using the chains for their own enemies without realizing the history or the magic involved. You see them going mad as the visions fade."Kaswink made a decision to make the chain better, but to also still be careful with it. She shouted out to Hysteria, likely while they were enjoying ice cream, and explained what she just saw in the visions. Hysteria grunted and walked in with an ice cream cone. They were confused about the "ancestors" that Kaswink was talking about, but it was cleared up. She also had a hypothesis about the thin strips of blood being somehow tied to Ilmater, perhaps influencing cultures to develop a god like Ilmater somehow.
Lost Tourists
The rest of the session featured the events of five Lost human Tourists and a Pizza Rabbit by the name of "Pete Zap'man". The tourists consisted of a negligent noble, Sir Reginald, his two guards, the father son duo Kevin and Raulf, a solitary Scout by the name of Scout and a mysterious medic named Dr. L. These tourists were traveling from the recently destroyed Gate Camp to one of the Camp Directors, Elmgrove. Elmgrove's camp was the destination of many tourists, even before the Gate Camp explosion, but Sir Reginald had compelled his entourage to take a slight detour. This detour added some extra time to their journey and led the group of tourists a bit deeper into the forest than was really safe. The first thing they encountered was a rabbit driving a yellow van powered by a set of pedals which the being used to move the car at surprising speeds. The vehicle had a logo on its side that advertised a Pizzeria by the name of Here 'n' Gone Pizza. This rabbit apparently had a rather important mission to deliver a pizza to someone in this Spirit World, and they had to get their fast or risk having the customer pay twice as much for their order. With the group completed, they traveled back down their original path to hopefully reach Elmgrove's Camp. However, their path was not entirely safe as they encountered a large group of corrupted squirrels along the way. These squirrels spiraled in and out of existence, with limbs, heads and bodies vanishing only to reappear some time later. The encounter was rough, with some of Reginald's entourage nearly dying.After the squirrels were vanquished, the group continued down the path. The welcoming party was likely either already over or waiting for them, and they had to get a move on or risk missing out on free, delicious food. The Spirit World had other plans for these outsiders though, and the next thing they knew they were listening to a terrifying shriek from some beast high up in the air. Whatever made the noise was unseen by most of the group as they were either stunned or not perceptive enough, but Scout was able to see the tail end of the beast as it was flying in the same direction they were headed. They pressed on despite the danger and eventually did find the glorious, hopeful sight of Elmgrove's Camp. While the initial silhouettes of the place in the distance filled the travelers with hopes of being able to rest after this long frightful journey, they soon came within range to see it with more detail. Tents were shredded and collapsed, a guard tower was completely destroyed, and puddles of blood were scattered throughout the camp. Pete's foot-powered contraption was headed straight for the door of a remarkably still in tact wooden building, and the bizarre pizza rabbit seemed quite eager to finally deliver their pizza. The vehicle repeatedly crashed into the door after the rest of the tourists bailed to avoid critical injury. Pete eventually stopped their shenanigans and the door opened outward towards the them. Everyone else was making their way to the building and could see a bloody hand reaching out as a voice hissed, "Come on, inside, quickly, quickly, inside! Hurry! Get in here!" Pete seemed unphased, bringing up their delivery again and the source of the voice made itself more known. A head, similarly covered in dripping blood, then the rest of his body. He held the door open, most of himself completely drenched and dripping with the thick red liquid. He was motionless, and the reason for this was immediately discovered as half of the tourists also became frozen in place. A horrible shriek filled the air, and the tourists that were still able to move quickly went to work getting their friends inside. Dr. L was one of the stunned humans, and he had fallen prone as he was dragged into the building. His eyes were pointed up, towards the sky, and he was able to see the beast that was causing so much trouble. A massive vulture-shaped creature that was mostly covered in blue-green scales. It had feathers, but only around its neck, the edges of its wings and at its tail. Pieces of it were spiraling in and out of existence, similar to the squirrels, constantly vanishing into a spiral that moved around its body. It continued shrieking, flapping its wings which each reached to a different edge of the camp, and as it did so something horrific happened to the doorman. His body, starting with his extremeties, was slowly spiraling away into nothingness. It didn't look as beneficial as it was for the squirrels or this bird, no, it instead caused fountains of blood to burst from him. Agonizing screams filled the air until he was completely gone, but the screams continued in the mouth of the beast, and his body had been put back together, rearranged, completely wrong. The beast itself was also shrieking, its noises mostly drowning out the sounds escaping the helpful doorman's mangled mouth. Dr. L saw all of this, and he too began to spiral and vanish, losing an arm before finally watching the door close on the monster above. Things were quiet for a moment and wounds were restored with the help of Pete's Pizza which miraculously sealed the horrible gaping wounds caused by removed extremeties or flesh. Dr. L's arm wasn't restored, but the wound was closed to prevent further blood loss or exhaustion. Kevin was also harmed as a section of his ribs were taken away, thankfully the pizza took care of that for the most part...though the missing ribs were still gone.
The shrieking was quieter, but it suddenly became deafening once more when massive talons broke through the roof. Scout and Pete lept into action to shoot and cut at the bird foot, but it only enraged the beast as it flapped its wings again and removed the entire roof before throwing it somewhere else in the camp. Its shrieks continued to take up those that were stunned, continued trying to stun those that were still mobile, and soon everyone but Pete and Scout were stuck inside its mouth. They were all rearranged, strange, and in a great deal of pain. Pete managed to cut up the eye, damaging it greatly, but was knocked from the creature's head after being glared at by its still functioning eyeball. As Pete fell, he too was brought into this creature's mouth. It must've felt that Scout, who was still launching attacks from multiple ranged weapons, wasn't worth the trouble as it began to fly away without him.
Scout was left alone, the only survivor of Elmgrove's Camp.The bird-like creature flew, continuing to spiral in and out of reality, and within its mouth there were many upset tourists. Each one had a different method of inflicting pain on this creature, and they did so with aplomb. The first to fall from its mouth was Kevin. Raulf was quick to reach for him, and Kevin was quick to reach for his son. Raulf, however, was not strong enough to hold on to the bird's mouth. They both fell through the air a great distance until they landed, not with a thud on the ground but with a horrible piercing, squelching sound as their bodies were pierced by massive spikes. They felt pain, but they were somehow not losing blood. Instead what flowed from them were memories, memories of their childhood, their whole life, memories that would never be remembered by anyone ever again. The loss of memories was narrated very quickly, but the length of time it took to actually lose them all was rather long. Days passed before half their lives' memories were gone, more days until all they had was the present moment which was still consumed with pain. They remain on these spikes, with the only knowledge available to them being a moment of agony. The spikes themselves were attached to a massive spire somewhere in the forest, and they were incredibly high up in the air. The two of them were able to see the forest, a desert, grasslands and mountains beyond that. They could still see each other, but only to provide more pain and confusion as they slowly forgot about each other. Pete died attacking the bird from the inside, jets of acid melted them into their death-form which, for whatever reason, was a pizza box. Reginald fell from the creature after a series of attacks and landed on another spire in the badlands. He could see the forest and mountains on either side of him, and he was losing memories much like Kevin and Raulf. His memories, being greater in number, took a bit longer to completely be drained, but they were drained just the same. Dr. L spent their time keeping themself alive and well until they were dropped from the birds mouth onto yet another spire. They too lost their memories, slowly over time until they were just a moment of pain. From these spires, each tourists was able to see the other spires in the distance, but they were not able to see the other tourists.
In-game Date:
Daulok 02-03, 308
Daulok 02-03, 308
Report Date
17 Oct 2022
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