Session 71: A Long Winding Hallway of Suffering

General Summary

Concluding the Carnival

The session began with you all cleaning up any remaining threats at the carnival. The spirit of Contentment was dealt with quickly, and the other carnies were also quickly disposed of. Poodle Murphy was ignored and continued to sing, but everyone else was brutally murdered by you all. The animals went wild as One-Eyed Murphy died, and, as they ran from the carnival, attentions were slowly turned towards Steve. ALT was able to tame a camel, and they began to ride off into the sunset as the world around you shook and slowly faded. Poodle Murphy sang as she vanished as well. Most of you surrounded DAN with intent to discuss how this place still existed despite all the visible Contentment being rooted out and destroyed. The only remaining piece of the puzzle was Steve, and his appearance was getting a little shaky. It was starting to look more and more like an approximation of Steve as opposed to the more accurate form that had existed until this moment. The lower pieces of DAN and Steve were having a hushed conversation with each other as Dave, the head at the time, spoke to the rest of you. DAN's Conversation

Steve offered to take DAN with him again. DAN refused, and Steve suggested that he instead go with the group. Before DAN could answer, the confrontation with the rest of the party began.

The concensus seemed to be that DAN did not want to part with Steve just yet, that they needed more time. They were defending Steve, standing between the rest of you and him, and they even used his "multiform technique" to defend their brother. Bobcat presented the argument that he had friends travel with him, and Lost is another example of this being the case, but these people seemed to be a bit more "themselves" than Steve. DAN suggested that Steve is already disappearing, and that it could just be waited out. Bobcat argued that it would be better for Steve to be given a quick death, and DAN agreed to do the deed in private. The rest of you don't know what happened behind the stage, but DAN returned alone. DAN's Truth

A Message from Ilven

DAN's coat rustled in the wind, brushed aside momentarily by a soft breeze that the rest of you didn't seem to feel. The carnival faded, and you all found yourselves in familiar yet new hallways. The walls were the same slimy, nasty sandstone, but there were red cords festooned along them as well as the ground and roof. These cords were the color of blood, and the way they were arranged so intricately caused them to look like streaks of blood leading deeper into halls unseen. Some of these cords ran through the links of a large chain, and mushrooms dotted the environment as well. A sickly, yellow-green light illuminated the area dimly and with an air of putridness. After spending a moment to take it all in, you considered the possibility of resting. Your thoughts were interrupted, however, by the familiar voice of Ilven. “Sh-sh-shhh, quiet, I’m talking to them right now. Yeesh! Hello? Can you hear me? Am I getting through?” You all confirmed that she was being received, and the bizarre conversation continued...

“Listen, Tympi’s condition is worsening, and we took that as reason enough to take a look outside. Your home, and the tree beneath it, is on the verge of being consumed. If there’s anything you wanted us to save, let me know!”

This shocking message was met with some hesitation, but answers started flowing shortly afterwards. You informed her of Namina, the animals, the food, alcohol, any plants that can be saved, as well as a strange ball of Light that Agave was tending to. You explained that the Light is incredibly dangerous, but that it can be carried while within its plant. DAN also mentioned their Teacup Peppermint Dragon. Ilven thanked you for the list and continued. “You’ve been in there for a day, day and a half? I hope everything is going well? Have you reunited with her or each other yet?” You informed her that you had yet to find Tympi, but that you had found most of your allies. The only one remaining is Frode, and that you are on your way there now. Bobcat brought up that it is "far more treacherous and confusing here than we had thought." Ilven became a little condescending, classic Ilven, and claimed that she told you it would be frustrating and confusing. She next brought up the Page of Swords. “Oh, uhh her…Page? Whatever, they wanted to know what it’s like in there. They seem to be concerned with not knowing about Tympi’s current condition…” Some laughter later and Bobcat claimed that they should just come in here and join you. ALT confirmed that they can give an incredibly accurate description...if they make it out alive. Ilven expressed some remorse for not being able to do more than send messages, and you ended up requesting that she help you all rest. She agreed, and provided you protection so long as you are sleeping, and she explained that the area you're in is incredibly dark. Because of this, she provided a small amount of light to each of you to help keep the place illuminated. Bobcat brought up that they should consider evacuating and relocating the other cities. Ilven confirmed that such efforts are in progress and thanked him for the concern. She ended the 'call' with wishes of luck and a request to say "Hi" to Frode when you find him.

Painful Footsteps

You chose to rest for a short period of time. During this rest, you saw the dim sickly light briefly turn off. While it was off, you discovered that those of you that can normally see in the dark were not able to. Instead, you each had the same 10 foot range of vision around you. The light turned back on a short time later, and you began your journey through these long winding hallways. Every step you took was agony. Long, drawn out and needle like pain that was quickly explained to be your own blood slowly leaking from your feet. The blood would form into cords as you moved and join the rest of the decorations in this hallway. You rounded a corner, and you were able to see a pair of sinister-looking fellows up ahead. As soon as you laid eyes on them, the putrid light suddenly turned off and left you in darkness. A detailed look of these people was yet to be seen, and now you could only see 10 feet in front of you as the ominous sound of gas hissing through a narrow opening could be heard up ahead. ALT, desparte for some light or perhaps hoping to explode the place, lit a bonfire 60 ft down the hallway. The light it created illuminated the two figures, and you all were able to see them moving towards you and away from the small light source. The hissing was revealed to indeed be the sound of gas as a thick, green, fog-like substance was now covering the ground. The gas didn't explode, however, and you all were able to engage with these two mysterious fellows.

“Their species or gender is hard to determine, but they are wearing horrific looking masks with bulging eyes, pointed noses and grinning mouths. Grey hairs can be seen poking out from behind these masks at the top of their heads. They’re wearing red lab coats with white lapels and collars, and they’re holding long, narrow wand guns with tubes attached to two canisters on their backs. From the tip of the wand pours a green fog.”

Combat against them was over fairly quickly, but some of you did suffer damage from the noxious gas that they released along with their surprisingly powerful attacks. Like all things, their health was eventually reduced to zero and they stopped moving. The sickening light turned back on, and the hallways were again revealed. You continued moving down these hallways, and the hallways continued to sap your health with each step. Rounding another corner, you found yourselves seeing another group of zombies, perhaps created by the very plague spreaders you had just defeated. More green fog covered the ground, and the light turned off again. Bobcat's sphere of fire was, unfortunately, losing radiance as time went on, and it was realized that this was true for all light sources as well. The zombies were defeated, and you once again found yourselves facing the far more deadly enemy of movement. Hoping to preserve their actual health pool and provide some tankiness, Bobcat transformed into a fire elemental. This provided an immense amount of light as well. Though, much like any other light source, it too waned as time passed. The hallways continued in this pattern of suffering, zombies, and so forth, and you all eventually stopped to rest after encountering some weird treasure chests. There were four total. ALT hit one, it was really light, weightless even, and the one that Hysteria interacted with was incredibly heavy and solid. No further interactions were made besides a debate on what to do with them. You chose to just ignore the chests.

Before spending an hour to rest, talk and eat something, Hysteria did a little exploring and discovered a pair of guards in the distance. They were standing watching and blocking a hallway. When anyone tried to interact with them, they simply shouted back to "Stay away!" and that "Your tricks won't work on us!" They refused to believe that you guys weren't zombies, but they were fine with you taking a break as long as you were away from their post. The rest concluded without issue, but the ending was greeted with the arrival of the two guards from the end of the hall. They interrogated you, claimed you were lying zombies, and they were able to get close enough to attack. However, you all seemed to have your own suspicions, and yet more combat against zombies began. The guards themselves had armor similar to Frode's own from before he went on that strange, clerical journey. They were wearing red as well, much like the plague spreaders from earlier in the hallway. The sound of combat caused more zombies to slowly appear, but you handled them all with relative ease. They managed to get some attacks in, and moving through the hallways continued to slowly kill you until you reached a fork in the road. Two entrances to a complex collection of hallways to the north were examined. It was suggested that Bobcat move up north as a fire elemental as he has significantly more health that can more easily be replenished. The hallways were far less straightforward in this direction, but Bobcat was able to reach the end easily enough. Along the way, he noticed that the chains did not go in this direction, and that some of the blood-like cords made the shape of a familiar eye.

The northernmost room within these halls had a crown. Bobcat, in his fire elemental form, inspected the area for anything sinister or for any clues, but he was only really able to pick up on the strange patterns in the sandstone brick floor near the crown. What the pattern meant excaped him though. The crown itself was something a king or other nobility might wear, very classic king crown with gold and various gems set into its points. Bobcat ended up trying to pick the crown up, and it melted incredibly quickly. The gold flowed into the grooves in the floor. The strange pattern revealing itself to be some intricate track that slowly brought the gold to the edges of the room. It was on its way to intersect with some of the red cords that surrounded the room, and Bobcat watched it happen while choosing to not interact further. This proved to be likely the correct course of action, and the gold finally met with the red cord as the two swirled together to form a new crown: One made of spiraling red cord and gold. The gems were still scattered on the floor, not rejoining the gold, but the crown made empty slots within itself as if to suggest the lack of gems was part of its style somehow. Bobcat brought the crown back to the rest of you, and ALT identified it. It was revealed to be a Crown of Suffering. Strangely enough, wearing it seemed to make someone care more about other people than themselves...a strange sense of selflessness and martyrdom.

Finally Frode

The remainder of the hallway was ahead of you. One last turn and you'd be finally outta this place, but there were still more tricks to be dealt with. The next corner revealed several groups of mushrooms slowly moving towards the center of the area. They wriggled and shifted across the ground, and various experiments confirmed they were doing so intentionally as they moved around objects or whatever. An effort to prevent whatever they were doing began with earnest. Bobcat lit them on fire, ALT kicked them away from the center, and the rest of you quickly destroyed them one at a time. Your efforts were successful as a mushroom person made of mushrooms but also shaped like a mushroom began to form. You knew, perhaps intrinsically, that this creature's name was Blight, and it died as soon as it came into being as all of its mushrooms were gone. Beyond this mushroom area were more mushrooms. A wall of them could be seen blocking further progress, and a 10ft tall woman could be seen sitting at the base of them and wearing pale, beige-green robes. She wore a familiar porcelain mask adorned with gold mushrooms and with a noticeable crack right down the middle. A whole at the forehead made it seem like her mask cracked after colliding with a sharp object...perhaps a pickaxe. You recognized this mask as a cleaner -though damaged- version of Božena's. As you noticed her and approached, she raised a hand and requested you keep quiet. It was then that you noticed she had several roots, flowers and other ingredients gathered around her. She was grinding them up with a mortar and pestle and adding them to a weird, muddy tea.

You saw a child. Sick, coughing, covered in sores that would be familiar to any that had visited Voldtaren recently. He had the plague. She had finished her concoction and was working to feed it to the child, but you began to attack her. She raised a hand in defiance to your threats. “Not now, children, I am busy. Any delays could ruin it. Simply watch…you might learn something.” ALT requested that you hear her out, but Hysteria released their arrow regardless. It pierced through young Božena's hand, but she didn't seem to mind a whole lot as she continued pouring the liquid down the child's throat. Bobcat made a move to strike the substance from her hand, hoping to avoid harming the child but still preventing her from doing her sinister business. Hysteria, during this, noticed that none of the ingredients were poisonous, and ALT was able to stun Bobcat before he potentially hurt the kid in the process. The child's cough stopped, the sores faded, and he was miraculously better. The uncurable plague that had been destroying Voldtaren was treatable, and Hysteria was able to witness part of the process. Frode would likely want to know about this. Božena's mask smiled as she stood. The child got up as well and ran through the wall of mushrooms without issue. She had words for all of you before you moved. "When I attacked you, that has not happened yet. Thank you for letting me save this child. His plague, from what I understand, will repeat." You all followed through not wishing to be cut off from whatever was allowing passage, and Bobcat was able to hear some ...apologetic words and expressions from this woman. She had an air of superiority about her despite her apology, and, in a roundabout way, it almost seemed like she wasn't taking fault for anything. In her mind, and in her excuse, she had yet to do anything, but she knew that she would someday. "That was the end. This is the beginning."

On the other side of the wall was a city. Voldtaren, the capital of the nation of the same name. Its ports had been closed for months, years even as the plague had been wreaking havoc on its citizens. Today the streets were strangely empty, but everything looked pristine and lovely, straight out of a picture book. A family could be seen in the distance, but their descriptions had yet to be given. The smell of fish and potatoes drifted on the air and surrounded you, and the last of your allies was somewhere up ahead. How will Frode react to seeing you? What will he be doing? Will you have to kill his children? What's up with that Necromancer lady curing the plague? Who knows? Maybe the answer to one of those questions lies within what you've experienced, what you know of Skorumpovaný -the Smrtohnya of Corruption- and what this Necromancer said to you. "I am a priest of decay, but only so that I can stop it. The cycle is wrong. I am here to fix it. I am here to repair things."

May 08, 2023 Monday D&D