Session 74: Finally Free
General Summary
Defeating The Whatdigo
With the Whatdigo gone, attention was turned towards the gigantic Tympi, the dark tears, and their injuries. The black tears that Tympi had been crying then crashed through the roof of the glass cube. The pressure broke a small hole through, and the oily substance began to rain down on the group as they considered their options. ALT felt it would be wise to break through the floor and reach Tympi, and it began the necessary preparations to do so. Hysteria and Frode had lost limbs in the encounter and were taking it easy while Bobcat was also recovering from recently becoming a wooden doll. Tympi's body was both lying on the glass that the travelers now stood on and lying far below as a much larger version of herself. The smaller body was still unconscious but was eventually woken up after ALT and Bobcat vanished into the pooling oil. She instructed Hysteria and Frode to help her reach herself, and they obliged.
Agave Returns
Bobcat, being the strongest amongst you, helped Tympi move forward towards the exit which had been blocked by a pile of gold. Dried-up corpses, prison bars and other such dungeon-aesthetics were also visible, but what drew your attention the most was a small murid resting on a pile of gold down a short hallway. He had been calling out to you, wanting to know where he was, what was going on and all the usual questions. Bobcat approached with some trepidation, and the two murids that had been inhabiting the same body were able to interact with each other for the first time since the Oni. Their excitement was dragged down slightly as Agave explained what had happened to him, and Tympi became interested in his journey with the spirit he had found. She asked Agave to focus on the spirit, to use his knew staff to build on the connection he had made, and she used this connection to help you all get back to your bodies.Downtime in the Mothlights
You woke up in the Mothlights, specifically in Tympi's House. The feeling was eerily similar to the previous fake Mothlights you had found yourselves in before the encounter with the Whatdigo, but this time was a bit different. Footsteps were heard as Ilven quickly moved from the other room towards your location. She had tears streaming down her face and a look of happiness that had not been seen on her once since your first encounter. She had smiled before, sure, but it was often just smugness, sarcasm or some other ingenuine grin that didn't match the joy visible when she said, “THANK YOU! She’s AWAKE! YOU’RE INCREDIBLE! I’ll get right to protecting you against all that horrible darkness in a moment. First, you’ve got to come see her!” You followed her the short distance to Tympi's room, and the deific moth lady truly was awake in her bed with a look that was somewhere between exhausted and relieved. She was pushing an excited Anvi and Page of Swords off of her as she tried to clean the dark tears from her face. Bobcat was curious about the progress of the impending darkness and what has been done about it. Ilven explained that those that were reachable had been brought into the Mothlights to protect them, that camps and homes were being made for them, but that there was some concern over what would happen if the darkness grew to cover everything. It is entirely possible that leaving would become impossible if that were to occur. Things were awkward for a bit, but Tympi and Ilven quickly explained that they would be able to perform the ritual to protect you once she had some time to recover. With that in mind, you did a lil downtime in the Mothlights.Immediately after ALT left to do their ALT thing, Kaswink walked through the door limping and using her glaive as a cane. She seemed to be recovering, though she was still quite injured. Her horns were gone, and you all showed some requisite concern over her current condition. She described her death and how she was unsure how much time had passed since she died until she woke up, and she seemed to think she had find someone named "Vsevolodrik", which was met with some quiet confusion. She apparently tied a string around this person, and aimed to use it as a compass to find him. She gifted this "compass" to the group. Tears, hugs and rejoicing were had over Kaswink's return and her strange descriptions of the afterlife. Agave revealed a little bit more about his own journey, and confusion was shared by all as they wondered what DAN had chosen and what had happened to them. There were discussions over what to do about DAN, and Kaswink agreed to take them to be taken care of and buried. Frode spent some time during this trying to speak with his god and gain some divine favor. Unfortunately, there was no response. Hysteria spent some time changing subclasses and is now a Scout. They also bought/traded some items. Bobcat and Agave were able to speak to each other again and swap between each other. Agave also spent some time reading and researching what he can find out about the poetic description of a spooky being he received in a dream.
Kaswink also explained some strange runes on her glaive. They are apparently written in Giant and she hopes to use "The Oni's words against him." If The Oni speaks/knows giant is uncertain, but it is a good line of reasoning to follow considering the size of him and other L’huine along with his choice of title being "The Oni". Her conversation with Frode also revealed that she is escaping "Fate" as a concept and instead sticking to "just actions". Frode also suggested that rewards aren't necessarily the goal when it comes to this journey after Kaswink brought up the gods smiling on him the most. He claimed that getting out of the Spirit World would be the best in terms of goals and "rewards". Kaswink revealed again that she would not be trying to leave as she feels this is now her home. Hysteria's quest to find magic items also led them to encountering The Citizens of Greed on one of the days of Downtime. They appeared in town and almost immediately drew a crowd, but Hysteria and ALT pushed to the front with hopes of buying some more elusive goods. Amongst the things traded, ALT provided the location of where it crashlanded in Tympi's Forest. The way to get there, the location and the fact it was turned to metal were all forgotten by ALT after the paper they wrote it on was burned. ALT also traded away and forgot a memory of a dragon destroying a bunch of something called "warforged" as well as most of a city on a floating island. Brutal!
Tympi's Protection and Bizarre Revelations
After the four days of requested rest, Tympi and Ilven were at last ready to provide you with the promised protection against the Spiraling Dark. You'd finally be able to brave its madness and reach whatever lies at the center. They requested that you join hands and stand in a circle. They began whispering in a strange, hurried, overlapping yet simultaneous manner that didn't really seem possible, and an orb of light slowly began to grow and increase in luminosity at the center of the circle you had formed. Their whispers were barely audible at first, but as the orb grew in size and brightness the whispers became louder. It also became clear that these whispers weren't coming from Ilven or Tympi but from the light. It grew in brightness to such a point that it was nearly unbearable even through closed, squinting eyes. The whispers almost felt as though they were shouting at you yet still unintelligible. Through all this, however, a single word broke through the madness. "Breathe." The light at this point wasn't just covering you, but, as you breathed, it seemed to be filling your bodies. The whispers continued, and then another single word broke through. "Listen." The chanting continued for a time, and then several words could be heard breaking through it. "When you find Him, he will beg for death, but you cannot let him die. Far underground, far to the North(west), trapped beneath his own throne, imprisoned by one of his followers. Bring him to me when you find him. Do not let him perish." The light did not seem to actually go out in the usual way. Instead, it seemed to dim from the center, and it was the outermost edges that remained last. These outermost parts of the light joined with your bodies as you breathed, and then it was gone.Frode spoke first after all of this. He asked if The Chained Man that you all met at the beginning is the one that was being referred to, and ALT and Tympi both voiced their confusion. Frode tried to explain that there was a weird old man chained up in a maze. Tympi seemed to both understand what Frode was saying, but there also seemed to be something missing and causing her more confusion. "Chained...maze... We haven't really talked much besides some weird questions back on the road after Dorchar. How did you get here?" Frode recapped in the way only Frode can, and Kaswink leaned in from the window to fill in some blanks. She particularly reminded you all of the blood room and the blood vortex that took you into the Spirit World. Tympi thanked you for the explanation and seemed concerned about it all. Frode tried to reassure her that it was okay because you left the chained man there even though you tried to help him and tried to cure him. She claimed it wouldn't have mattered, that it wouldn't be possible to help him, and that the entire thing was most likely a creation of your minds. She also revealed that she "remembered the blood from when she came through, but other people don't remember the blood. Basil didn't remember the blood." Frode was shocked and demanded to know who actually belongs here. Kaswink explained that the only thing that "belongs" in that sense is the big orb of light, Ar'en'el. Frode then posited that everyone must be fighting over things they don't really own. Tympi countered this, "Well, when you've been here for thousands of years and when you're the one that built the things, then you're probably the one that owns them. The forest was here, but I made my trees, my village and the people that live here. Simol was here before me, though... it might be better if she tells you, though I'm not sure if she can."
Kaswink brought up that Simol is actually the Oni, which Tympi acknowledged, but clarified that she has "part of the Oni inside her, similar to how Kaswink used to be." "She used to be something else, something more like...like them *she pointed towards Hysteria*, but bigger. She fought with the Spirals for a long time, but then, well, I'm not sure what exactly happened, but one day she looked like that. I don't really question it, not up to me to question. You know how it is, but she always had it under control, even when the change was made. I'm not sure if I still trust her. Haven't spoken to her since I woke up." ALT was curious if this old woman was one of the old ladies that was seen in the Howdigo, and it was confirmed that she does have a sort of "Hagsthetic", and that her personality can be abrasive unless you're intoxicated. She then continued trying to remember thousands of years of history, and Kaswink asked if the weird spiral bug had always been here. Tympi confirmed this, and the discussion shifted towards the "Layers" and the "Gates". "From what I can understand the actual layers have been here the longest. There are stories and myths of a child creating them, but I don't know if those are true or if they've always been here and that's a creation story? But the 'Gates', the things that lead to these layers were built by those big elf guys (she was referring to the L’huine.) They built those so that they could get to the layers they liked easier, and they made anchors inside and all over the place that create imbalance. They cause the different layers to bleed into each other, and it's kind of a mess."
Kaswink, in a moment of heroism, then decided that the Queens (as The Gates Special Edition Chess Set would call them) need to be defeated in each Gate, and the Gates need to be closed. Thankfully, you've already shut off the entrance to one of the layers by doing this very thing. When this was brought up, Tympi asked about the sinkhole that you were talking about the last time you were with her. She was curious if you found your way into the Rotting Gate, if there were any changes and if anything was learned. Kaswink revealed she was briefly a zombie because of it, that Božena was defeated and that the realm started collapsing in on itself.
Bonus Track: Agave's Death
You (Agave) see something in front of you...something preoccupying. It seems to be a lot of …chains? Chains overlapping over what should be a clear image. Something within you intrinsically knows that it should be clear, that it should be something you want, or something related to your goal, but, well, it’s just a bunch of chains. Unless? Huh, it kinda looks like there’s a shape within these chains, like their random overlapping is creating some unexpected uhh mosaic or something. The shape seems familiar too, but it’s distorted and trying to be something different. You recognize leaves, and their shape is something like an agave plant, the way they overlap and wrap around looks right too…but there are limbs reaching out from behind it too. So many arms. A few pairs of legs extend out towards the bottom as well, and a vague representation of at least an eye can be seen towards the top. You moved around, side to side & back and forth, tilting your head. All trying to see if you could better make out what was before you. Looking over it from different angles, you can sometimes more clearly see the definite outline of some sort of Agave-based Spirit is formed by these chains, but sometimes it becomes less clear as you tilt your head or move around. It seems like there's a particular spot where it is clearest, and it almost looks inviting or perhaps compelling. Perhaps it could be approached or even passed through from this angle? What that would mean or result in is unknown, however. You got into whatever angle you could best see the outline of the spirit and said in druidic, "Hello, spirit, my name is Agave. I think we share some special bond. Do you need help?" You then repeated in common, "Hello. Do you need my help?""Wouldst that you could hear the weeping of my children and myself. That my roots could be unwithered and strong. That I could grace the land with vegetation once more. My captor has perished, but still I remain in chains. Free me, Agave, but first you must free yourself. Walk forward, into my chains, and find your own shackles laid bare." You walked towards the chains and tried to grab onto some of them to see if you could pull them at all. The chains have a surprising amount of give. You can manipulate them, try to move them out of the way, but they don’t let you move past them. Despite this, you find that you have entered a new place in this ...metaphysical zone, and looking back, you see that there is no longer the strange dark world you were in before, instead there are just more chains making up the floor, the ceiling, the walls etc. The shape of the plant and the limbs and stuff is all stretched out over this room, it’s like you’re inside it, how weird. You pondered, "Was the reply in druidic, common, or ???" You tried to inspect the chains closer. "What are they made of? Are there runes inscribed on them? Do they seem to be coming from a specific area or are they just all around the walls/floors? And lastly is there some kind of lock or area where they seem to be converging?" The reply was understood, that's what matters most, though you could tell it was some other language. It seemed to be translated into some base, primal sounds that Agave just intrinsically understood...as if the speaker were utilizing a spell like Tongues or similar magics. Inspecting the chain closer, you see that they appear to be made of simple Iron, there aren't any runes but they are damaged, scratched, very old and clearly through a lot. It's rather trippy looking at the scratches as they start to resemble the same anthropomorphized agave spirit the longer you look at them, as if even the smallest collection of shapes just starts to form it if it is inspected long enough. It feels disorienting at times...
They just cover everything, and their origin isn't especially clear, but where several ends of the chain meet you do find a lock. This lock is beyond several layers of chains, just barely visible and not reachable by you in your current size or form. You tried to turn into a small lizard and scurry over to the lock for closer inspection, "Is it as old as the chains?" "I wish Bobcat was here," you thought to yourself, "I bet he has more experience dealing with locks." The attempt to wildshape works, kinda. You seem to be shrinking, but then growing, and the beast features are shuffling around. The magic is having a hard time, essentially. It feels like it is finally working, however, as you shrink down but way smaller than expected. When the shape is finished, you find yourself in the body of a tiny insect inside the very lock you were trying to reach. Strangely enough, there are only three walls and each is covered in spirals and leaking a strange smoke. The lock can be picked from the inside in this diminutive insect form. It’s a bit of a minigame/puzzle. While in this…soul state, you can cast spells despite being wildshaped and have access to any druid spell you would be able to know. One wall has a Red Triangle
One wall has a Blue Circle
One wall has a Green Diamond
You felt this imbuing of magical potential and wanted to give it a bit of a test run. You faced the red wall and started flapping your wings. You tried to cast thunderwave to see what would happen with the spell itself. You were pretty familiar with how large the shockwave was supposed to be, but were uncertain if it would scale down with your tiny size. While you considered creating a Bonfire, you didn't want to burn yourself "alive" if it went awry. A -seemingly miniaturized- thunderwave echoes around the lock and strikes this red door. Though, nothing else happens
Somewhat relieved, you scurried towards the corner of the room that is opposite the red wall. You started moving your wings again, but this time they were pressed together and focused on the friction between them rather than on simply moving the air. You then spoke the druidic words for a pile of sticks and created a Bonfire against the red wall. You then walked up to the bonfire and subsequently cast Control Flames while moving your wings like before. You tried to push the fire into the wall and see if anything happened. The fire is manipulated into this wall, this symbol, and you watch as, for a very brief moment, this red triangle dimly illuminates, but it almost immediately becomes inert again as the fire is contained within just that part of the room. You reflected for a moment of that spell Bobcat was always thinking about and used Flaming Sphere instead. The flaming sphere comes into existence, perhaps from the pre-existing flames. You placed it on the red door again. As the flames are moved, the door begins to dimly light, but fades as the sphere fully takes form in front of the red door. You notice that the light is most intense as the flames pass over the other walls in this lock, perhaps the flame is interacting with them somehow.
You reflected upon what had happened and thought to yourself, "Perhaps instead of the glyph representing an element I need to imbue it with, it needs to be destroyed by an opposing force." You controlled the same flaming sphere again and moved it over to the green diamond. This causes the Red Triangle to glow brightly! Part of the puzzle seems to be solved. But what of the other sides? "Aha!" you thought to yourself, "Now to deal with the blue circle. What defeats water? Aaah I know..." And without spending much time thinking about what you had just learned, you cast Destroy Water and targeted the blue glyph. You see the tiniest of flickers from the green diamond, could just be a trick of the light from the flaming sphere, but perhaps another element will do the trick? The red side was activated from fire touching the green side, maybe the green and blue sides are connected to something... you're on the right track for blue being water, but what could green be? You reflected again and thought, "Right! Whoever trapped me here must think that plants somehow destroy . . . " And then it clicked. "It's not about defeating/destroying." For you, plants don't destroy water, they absorb water. Too much water will drown a plant. Here you were thinking that water destroys fire, but a big enough fire can easily defeat water. You then approached the blue circle again and cast Plant Growth.
You cast this spell, but the effects of it take a moment to be realized. The metal lock, the metal chains...there's not much plant life here. Nothing obvious anyways, the only sign of a "plant" was the shape that the chains were making which vaguely resembled your agave plant in a sort of spirit or anthropomorphized way. Despite the barren, manufactured realm you find yourself in, the spell eventually causes a delayed effect as the chains themselves begin to have leaves start to sprout from them as if they were vines. They grow and grow until they start to overlap and unfold to reveal the large, stiff leaves of a blue agave. This is visible from within the lock as the spell has a rather large area, but the lock itself doesn't change aside from the green diamond now glowing brightly. Seeing these leaves manifest drew you away from your task at hand. You went to examine them. "Do they look healthy? Is there any sign of blight?" You looked for a few moments before snapping back to "reality" and stepped away from the plant. "I will free you." You moved to the red triangle and produced the element that would absorb fire's power. You then used a spell you had yet to use before: Tidal Wave. As the wall of water lashed against the glyph/wall, an image flickered in you mind: the sound of heavy rain, the screams of unknown voices, the smell of mud. But it was so extremely brief that you couldn't make anything out. Moreover, since your actual memory of this event was gone, you thought that this vision is that of the Blue Agave or of whatever trapped him here.
The tidal wave delivers the desired effect. The last of the symbols finally illuminates and the lock unclicks. You find yourself falling as the bottom of the lock comes free, but your unexpected insect wildshape form is able to easily fly and maintain some altitude. You can see that the Plant Growth's magic has created a massive plant where these chains once were and it is changing shape as you begin to fall yet again. The wings of your wildshape gone, the extra legs, and while you seem to have reverted back to your original form, your size has not changed. A tiny Agave falling into the now stretched-out hands of a blue agave spirit. Her dress, made of leaves and water, flows in the wind. Swirling through it and up towards you. It washes over you, fear and worry of drowning strike at the deep recesses of your mind. A voice echoes throughout the liquid as you hold your breath: "Breathe." And, simultaneously, a far more logical or perhaps just fear based command crashes into your senses like a hundred tidal waves. "Escape."
You intuitively cast Speak with Plants before you realized that you already could somehow. You then spoke to this perspectively "massive" spirit, "Come with me. You are trapped here." You reached out and began trying to channel Teleport, only to realize that you don't have your magical helm. You tried to reach the Agave with hopes of casting Freedom of Movement. You move, listening to the voices telling you to escape. Hurried movements, held breath, and panic move you forward and towards the edge of this swirling water. You're able to reach the hand, and, as you do so, you can see a copy of yourself behind you. Stronger, bulkier, and from a different time...or perhaps it isn't you at all. Its eyes are wild, its fur unkempt, and it is dimly glowing. The spell goes off, however, and the plant spirit begins rising into the air leaving the ground and its remaining chains behind. The water still encases you and whatever this other being is, and again you hear a voice echoing around the liquid with you. "Listen." Though, as before, an angrier, panicked, fearful voice crashes through the water as well. "Flee."
Uncertain of where to run, you chose to move closer towards the spirit and around the other version of yourself as you faced it. Not directly at the other you as to avoid scaring him away, but close enough to be joined still. You had this natural urge to run when water (or air travel) is involved, but it was at first stifled by the spirit saying "breathe". Then when this other version of yourself arrived, this dread started to sink back in. You thought of running out of the bubble, sorta towards this other you, but the calmness washed over you again. You were very torn: you wanted to flee as something somewhere inside was telling you that you are trapped and need to escape; but IF this is actually the spirit of your Blue Agave, you MUST stay and help it at any cost. So with the chance that it can be the real spirit, you turned back towards it and calmly said, "You should now be free from whatever trapped us in here and you do not escape? Why?"
You hear a response, "I have forgotten much. My home. My tenders. My life. My purpose. Trapped for so long, torn from myself and left chained. The lock has been removed, though I remember naught but my tormentor and that I'll never quite be free. His skin peeled from his body His robes tattered and stained with age His face a reflection of the deepest parts of all minds and His laughter akin to a thousand hyenas in a sand storm You've done much for me already, But I need more from you still. Wake up. Guide me from this place. Guide me home." You thought, "Wake up? Am I?" then, you started repeating. "His skin peeled from his body. His robes tattered and stained with age. His face a reflection of the deepest parts of all minds and His laughter akin to a thousand hyenas and sand storms. Now wake up!" over and over again to keep it in your mind.
It doesn't work the first few times. The words string together until they're meaningless, almost amusing, but eventually each repetition starts to get interrupted. It loops, and you start again with the first line. "His skin peeled from his body..." You try to continue, but your own flesh burns. It peels like an onion. Stripped sloppily and thin into the liquid around you. The injuries are painful, but the soothing liquid is realized to be ...medicinal to some degree. It soothes the pain, the stinging, and the next line escapes your lips. "His robes tattered and stained with age..." Your vision blurs as your own robes begin to fade and wither. Blindness claims you after what feels like an eternity, but you know it to be less than a second before the next line begins. Still, there's a moment of recollection before it does...a particular painting from a Gallery. Again, the desert scene is apparent, a spire is much closer, only one visible, and the overlapping pieces are reminiscent of some insect chitin with serrated spikes sticking out in all directions. A rat-like humanoid wearing desert-colored vestments can also be seen, he looks a lot like Agave, although the eyes are glazed over completely, foggy, and a look of utter confusion is on his face. The robe that he is wearing looks to be full of moth holes, barely held together, though the remaining pieces of fabric look to have a pattern resembling a very intricate map. Would that you could see this map, now etched into your very robes, but your blindness remains as does the next line. "His face a reflection of the deepest parts of all minds..."
A visage flashes in your mind, causing a painful headache and agonized screams to escape your lips. The stanza is interrupted a bit longer this time, the pain is unbearable, and the face familiar. At first it is just a porcelain mask. No real discernible features, just a white face with black eyeholes, a bit of a nose and a slightly parted mouth. The base features become more detailed, spirals start to form around the perimeter, especially the temples and the center of the forehead above the nose. Horns start to grow from the forehead, three of them, long, black and red. The eyes glow, as if some energy existed somewhere behind it in this dark void that is your emptying mind...
Report Date
05 Jun 2023
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