Ep 99: "Nightmare"

Aruna 7, 1200

Morning

Everyone had a horrible nightmare early in the morning and they all involved the number 8 in some way:
Saxi dreamt she was trapped in a giant spider web and about to be eaten by a giant spider.
Seldanna felt confined and couldn’t move at all. Suddenly, she was stabbed in the side. The person who stabbed her morphed from Earl, to Jastra, to Seldanna herself.
Pip was filling egg tubes and the eighth one exploded in blood.
Cyl was in a world full of eirshale and free of all other life. There was no color or pigment and people were in groups of eight .
Owen woke in a blackened field with 8 bodies in front of him. Each one bore the face of someone he was in charge of and then a wave of spiders covered them all.
Kali was walking along an empty field and a verdant field on the other side. She was chained between the two by Fim.
Everyone heard a scream just before waking. To Cyl, it was noticeably Dub’s voice.
Saxi went to Pinból’s to look for Oisin and try not to be alone. Kali woke and saw Primeheart in a nightmare as well and then went into the city. Owen got up to get himself a drink of whiskey and then went for a walk. Seldanna tried to calm herself down and collect herself. Pip crossed off the most recent recipe he had written for his new business. Cyl instinctively looked for Dub in the room, but he hadn’t stayed over. She used her animal messenger to send a message to Dub.
Everyone outside noticed that the city was waking and stirring at an oddly early hour. It was enough people that it was concerning. Owen started heading to Pinból’s to ask him if he had any ideas. Kali opened her church to offer comfort to anyone who needed it. Pip went to Barrel Run. Seldanna went outside to get some fresh air and go for a walk. Cyl worked on the puzzle of Dub’s art.

Pinból’s Tower

Saxi, Owen, and Pip met up near the tower and discussed their nightmares. As they walked into the house, Saxi was somehow separated from them. The clock struck 3 but it wasn’t 3 o’clock. Owen and Pip noticed she was missing right away. They stuck together and looked for Saxi.
Saxi continued toward the door for Oisin and Pinból’s room. She knocked 8 times and a spectral hand appeared through the door. She used her abjure enemy to stop it and it began screaming. Then she went to open the door.
Owen and Pip heard the scream and opened the door to the bedroom to find Saxi in some sort of mirror room. They searched for anyone, but the house was empty. They decided to go to the Beer Forge to look for other people. Saxi left a note in case anyone came to the tower.

Cinderhaven

Seldanna was walking through town and occasionally heard people muttering under their breath. She heard one say “Your Majesty” as she walked passed. They didn’t look at her or react. Another one said “the queen” and still no reaction. Another person said “your highness” and another “My lady.” All the voices held disdain and none of the people reacted to her otherwise. She ran for the temple district and heard more voices from the windows saying other things. They called her horrible things and then she wound up at Kali’s temple.

Kali’s Temple

Seldanna walked in shaking. The people in the temple seemed to disappear and Kali didn’t see anyone. As Seldanna came in, the temple appeared to be empty. The room appeared empty to both of them.
To Kali it looked like the temple was suddenly destroyed again and falling apart. The voice in her head told her “this represents your god.” The temple appeared old, decrepit, and forgotten. Kali broke down and one of the women, who had been there earlier, touched her shoulder. Suddenly, she saw the people in the temple and Seldanna.
Seldanna felt like it may have been abandoned and then wiped tears from her eyes and saw Kali being comforted by someone. Kali and Seldanna talked about what they had just seen. Seldanna used Sending to contact Owen and asked if he had nightmares as well. They agreed to meet at Kali’s temple.

Cyl’s Workshop

Cyl took a break from the puzzle and went into the workshop to look at the boulder. She heard screaming from the direction of the boulder. She was sure it was from within it and that it was Dub screaming. She got out her tools to break the the boulder open and as she broke it open, liquid that looked like blood poured out it. Gallons of crimson fluid covered the floor.
She examined the liquid and it was definitely blood. She went to put her tools away, to go look for Dub outside, and slipped in the blood. As she hit her head and closed her eyes, she opened them to find that the boulder was still intact and the blood was gone. She headed to Dub’s parents’ house in the Pearl District.

Dub’s House

The door was cracked open when Cyl got there. Dub’s father opened the door and showed her up to his room very quickly. Dub’s mom was there and Dub was sleeping fitfully on the bed. They could not wake him.
His parents had bad dreams as well. Cyl left her hat with Dub and went to look for the others.

Pinból’s Tower

She went to Pinból’s tower first. There appeared to be no doors or windows when she got there. She kicked the door, where she remembered there being one, but it was a solid wall.

Kali’s Temple

Everyone else met up and talked at Kali’s temple. They discussed their different nightmares and realized that all the dreams involved an 8 in some way. They also came to the realization that roughly an eighth of the city’s population was affected by the nightmares.
Seldanna decided to try communing with her god. A book and quill appeared in front of her and she wrote her questions:

She wrote “Are we all still in a dream state?” Eight words and she felt a stab as she wrote each one. The answer was “No”.
“Is this Donovan doing it to us?” The answer was “No”.
“Is there a way for us to stop this affecting us?” The book shook as though it would fly apart. The book exploded into a puff of smoke and it formed the word “Yes”

Seldanna filled in the others on what she had learned. Cyl finally arrived at Kali’s temple and had a moment of feeling like she should go back to her house for something. Cyl rushed in and told everyone about Dub. They all agreed to go check on him.

Dub’s house

Cyl lead the way, but it seemed to take too long. Thinking she got turned about, Pip took over. The group made their way to the Pearl District with no problems the second time. The door was sitting wide open and snow was collecting inside the doorway. The air inside smelled stale and old as the group walked in.
They went upstairs to Dub’s room, finding that all the doors and windows were open. Dub’s room had the window open and a few lit lanterns. It was cold and dark. Saxi, Pip, and Seldanna could see the gray images in the room. Dub was in a fitful sleep and two long decayed and dead corpses were sitting in chairs.
Saxi used her Divine Sense and suddenly felt like it was hard to breath. Her hand slipped into the wall as she reached out to balance herself. The two corpses started moving quickly toward the group.
They reached out for the group, grabbing Cyl and Seldanna. The two corpses grunted at the same time and it almost sounded arcane. They tried to cast a spell to leave and Owen used Counterspell to stop them. The two corpses ended up decaying away to reveal armor and they joined together to form a large suit of gray armor with a huge greatsword. It had a huge hole in the middle of the torso, like a large gaping maw.
The creature laughed like a strange grunting and it started to heal. Cyl hit it and got the final blow. It split open and spewed treasure. The creature disappeared.
Dub’s parents were passed out in the corner and woke up after the creature died. They didn’t know what had happened. Dub was still asleep and could not be woken.
The first day, of what would later be called “The Week of Nightmares”, had begun.

Full Episode

Broadcast Date

January 8, 2019

Party

Saxi , Seldanna , Owen , Cyl , Kali , Pip

NPCs

• Whatever
• xxxxx, Dub's Father
• xxxxx, Dub's Mother

Locations

• Pinból's Tower
• Cyl's Workshop
• Cinderhaven
• Kali's Temple
• Whatever's (Dub's) House in the Pearl District