Session 69: Through the Halls of Madness
General Summary
Four Wolves
The session began with some awkward introductions to Lost, a new companion in this horrific place and apparently someone that Hysteria once knew in their past. The path forward was also examined as there were four wolf heads mounted to the walls. Three were on one wall and the fourth was on the other side facing them. A wolf pelt was also spread out on the floor beyond them. These wolves seemed like your typical, northern kinda timber wolf and Bobcat began to examine them along with ALT. Bobcat was able to discover that the teeth and eyes were still somewhat wet on these taxidermied wolves, and, as the two of them were leaning towards these decorations, they were able to see that the ones closest to them were suddenly baring their teeth and their eyes started to glow red. ALT tried tying the mouth closed on the one near it, and Bobcat experimented further by leaning forward and away from the one on his side. You all were able to see these wolves slowly start to rot away. Flesh fell from bone until it was nothing but a skull as shadows dripped from them towards the ground. The shadows were pooling up, and the bit of string that ALT used to tie this wolf was easily broken. The two of them stepped back to plan with the rest of you, and, strangely enough, one of the heads returned to normal while the other continued to form into a shadowy Night Hound which seemed to be protecting the other three. You all started to move forward, past the wolves and into the hallways beyond, and the shadows returned to the wolf heads without further conflict. Some concern was expressed over the wolf pelt, but it was also easily passed.Crowded, Empty Carnival
As you moved down these halls, you started to hear something unexpected. It was soft at first, barely audible, but it quickly began to grow in volume the further along you moved. The sound of a calliope was accompanied by other carnival and circus type music. A crowd could be heard applauding or talking, babies cried over some unknown mishap, children laughed, and a carnival barker was advertising different events. Rounding the corner, you saw that there were several circus tents and other carnival scenery. Signs, booths, lights and more were on full display. Everything was pristine, clean, like new even, and yet there were no people. There was no reasonable source for the sounds you were hearing. The place was completely empty. ALT attempted to shine some light on the situation with one of their strange devices, and Lost began sensing nearby magic with ...jester powers. The rainbow that was emitted by ALT's contraption didn't find any folks walking around invisible or specters that might cast a shadow, but Frode's ability to sense magic did detect a great deal of it everywhere. In fact, as he explored and as combat started, he was able to sense an immense amount of chaotic energy coming from one of the tents.As explorations in this uncomfortable place continued, it was noticed that one of the tent entrances was shifting as if a gust of wind had just blown through it. Getting a closer look, you all watched as several sets of flipper-like limbs started to push the entrance canvas aside as a familiar (to some of you) spirit of Stability emerged. Its three different heads were another reminder of the wolf pairings, and, unlike the other Stability spirits, it actually attacked you! Three different spirits of Stability were present in this area, and each of them was able to negate any advantages or disadvantages that might've been available. They also attempted to "Balance" your ability scores by either draining or buffing them towards 10. They were disposed of quickly enough, and Lost pointed out that another threat was nearby in another tent towards the west. Hysteria immediately shot the tent with a flame arrow which lit it on fire. You followed Lost towards it, and, as discussions about how to proceed began, ALT sent in a strange windup toy to sus it out. The toy immediately went quiet as it entered the tent, and ALT followed for further examination. As they tried to enter the tent, however, something else decided to exit the tent and ruin their tent-entering plan.
A bit further south was another hallway. At the end of this hallway was yet another tent which folks seemed apprehensive to approach. ALT, sensing that no one else would, approached the tent to investigate. From within the tent, a cat appeared. It was real big and stared at ALT but didn't attack yet. ALT requested some jerky from the rest of you, and Hysteria eventually obliged. The strange cat sniffed at the jerky and seemed a bit displeased with how dry and salty it smelled, but a tongue eventually wriggled out from the bottom of the outside of its neck. This ...strangely external tongue, wrapped around the jerky and pulled it through an unseen whole in this creature's neck which it seemed to keep guarded with its larger cat head. ALT tried to leave, thinking the cat was satisfied, but this big ol feline had other plans and started to slowly follow ALT back towards the group. You watched as it crouched, like a housecat might when ready to pounce, and it wagged its tail while slowly opening its more visible cat-mouth. You all seemed to understand what was going on here, and Hysteria procured another bit of precious dry meat. The cat gulped it down before starting to curl up, purr and fall asleep. You solved my big, scary mutant cat puzzle! With that, Gila's Tail and ALT rushed ahead of the group towards the north.
Northwardly Chaos
Further north, Gila's Tail happened upon four more wolf heads. Three of them were on one side as before, and the fourth one was also there on the other side but smaller than it was before. Having noticed the pattern, he mentioned that "Something must be going on here." Bobcat, picking up on what Gila's Tail was putting down, suggested that this might have something to do with DAN and that you all would need to perform some heroic acts of juggling. Gila's Tail, ALT and Bobcat each tried to do some juggling. Gila's Tail juggled coins, but it took a few tries before he got the hang of it. ALT was juggling a bunch of miscellaneous somethings, slowly adding one at a time. Bobcat started to juggle his sickle, but the wolf heads had other ideas. First, the lone wolf head emerged and started to investigate Gila's Tail and ALT on the other side of the hall. The three other heads also emerged as shadowy wolves and approached the rest of you that did not cross over. Bobcat hoped to calm one of them down by greeting it, but it bit at his hand. The wolf looking over the two jugglers also bit at ALT and tried to throw them to the ground. Combat against these wolves must pretty straightforward, and as the last of them was being defeated, a new challenger appeared. The same cat? Possibly. Whatever it was it had somehow emerged from a different tent in this labyrinth and was a lot angrier (or playful) than it was before. It tackled both Gila's Tail and ALT and began biting at them with both its larger cat mouth, and a smaller, horrifically human looking face attached to its neck. As its health got lower, it started to flee and take Gila's Tail with it, but it got to the point that it needed to use its Emergency Tactics. You all watched as it stood up on its hind legs and two small, human-looking hands emerged from its front armpits. It punched Gila's Tail a couple of times and suddenly moved incredibly quickly down the hall. Thoughts were bounced around about following it, but you instead chose to rest for an hour.
The Calliope
Another corner was turned around, this time the wolf head that was alone was much, much larger than the three others which had also shrunk in size. They started to rot and form like the others, but you were quick to move through and found yet another tent. WIthout much hesitation, you moved inside to find that there weren't any threats this time, just an incredibly large, empty room with a Calliope at its center. The room's size could be comparable to an airplane hangar despite the circus tent being, well, not nearly that big. The Calliope was definitely the source of the music heard throughout the dungeon as it was playing the same tune, and, upon inspection, it appeared to be playing itself. Keys moved with the sound of the music, but the existence of the happy guests and other instruments was still a mystery. Some of you stood guard as the wolves had finished forming and were slowly approaching, and some of you stood in this room looking over the Calliope. ALT played along with the music for a bit, but soon discovered that it was attempting to throw them off with more intricate melodies, faster speeds, awkward transitions and so forth. You guys also found a bit of paper inside one of the Calliope pipes, but it was a bit out of reach so Hysteria had to stab it. They were successful in this endeavor, but their thrust also stabbed into the Calliope and caused something else to occur as well. ALT, while trying to still play along with the music, saw a ghost-like apparition appear within their space, playing the calliope and just sharing this moment before suddenly vanishing. The paper that Hysteria was able to retrieve was a painting of a carnival, a very familiar carnival where Hysteria and DAN worked together. The painting was also falling apart despite only being pierced in a small spot.Hoping to see that spirit again, ALT used their weird rainbow light show doodad. An image of the ghost didn't reappear, but a shadow was cast on the ground nearby. It was heavily distorted, as if it were a pencil drawing that someone tried to erase very poorly, and you all could see that this shadow had pointed, elf-like ears. She was shifting with the beat of the music, and ALT thought back to the strange feeling they got from their attempt to identify the Calliope. A feeling of Regret, Fear and Confusion. They slammed their hands and arms down on the keys of the calliope with hopes of making it inoperable. Doing so caused wood to begin to splinter off from the exterior. They continued to hold the keys down and tried speaking with the ghost, "Hey, you probably need to let go. This doesn't seem healthy." With that, a leg fell from the piano as it collapsed, but ALT was able to keep their hands and arms glued to the keys. A pipe fell free, steam shot out from the calliope, another leg broke as it shifted yet again. ALT held on, and you all noticed that the woman's shadow was no longer touching the keys. Her face was now in her hands and it was very apparent that she did indeed have elf ears. The other two legs broke free from the piano as well, and everything came fully crashing down towards the ground. The calliope was completely destroyed by this, but the music and the crowds continued. Within all the chaos was a soft, feminine voice singing an incredibly sad song. ALT started to take what they could from the broken Colliope, and they were able to retrieve the following very damaged, broken items:
- A broken locket, bent out of shape but with a recognizable female, elven cameo. Due to its damaged hinge and cover, the interior was exposed revealing a painting of a red-haired, patchy-bearded halfling with closed eyes.
- A broken, splintered heart-shaped box. Hinges were damaged and the contents had spilled out.
- (Heart-shaped Box) Damaged Calliope Key
- (Heart-shaped Box) Damaged large piece of paper (painting)
- (Heart-shaped Box) Damaged large piece of paper (painting)
- (Heart-shaped Box) Damaged letter-sized piece of paper (painting, letters on other side)
- Medicine Capsules (Spilled from secret compartment)
- Broken Tiny Bottles (Spilled from secret compartment)
- Broken Syringe (Spilled from secret compartment)
The music slowly faded until only the sound of this incredibly sad song could be heard. You were each pulled up, bound by this song, it wrapped around you and then there was nothing. Sound started to leak back into your senses. A carnival barker, a crowd, a singer still singing that sad song, children laughing, and several instruments all joining in to form a band. Then, the sound of a Calliope as a Carnival formed in front of you. You saw a singer giving a performance. She was holding a pistol and a microphone, and her song was incredibly sad. Her audience was excited, cheering and so forth despite the tone of the music. You also saw a white-furred murid with only one eye standing in a pasture. And that's where we left off...lots to explore and do in this crazy place.
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