The Forsaken Bog - Day 12
General Summary
The heroes awaken, captured by the Witch. She poisoned their food. They’re tied against some stands in her lab while she prepares to experiment on them. Razorbeak can be seen nearby, reduced to more Pixie-like scales. Jane is in the corner and appears unwell, having been experimented upon.
Soon the Witch begins a ritual, planning to suck the life force from the heroes. There is a floating crystal with energy beans connecting all present. Thistle however, is still present, not that anyone yet knows this. She attacks, destroying the crystal and disrupting the ritual. Yet the spell goes on in a new form. The heroes, and the witch are sucked into a land of memories.
Thistle is there with them, but human-sized for once. It is an odd sight. Though the others are too taken in by the world to focus much attention on her.
It takes the heroes time to figure out that they cannot change what’s happening here, yet the living shadows do occasionally talk to them. They first witness a little girl, Abigail in her home. It’s being attacked by bandits. They threaten to kill her and her parents if they don’t pay up. The heroes attempt to intervene and time flashes forward. They’re outside while Abby hides behind a bush, crying, watching her home burn to the ground. She’s alone.
She starts to talk, it’s unclear if she’s talking to the heroes or someone else. A figure soon emerges, talking to her: a black cat. He looks remarkably similar to the Baka Nekos encountered in the sky isles. This has not gone well.
Time moves forward, the heroes see her, a little older and far more weary. She’s trying to beg and steal from a town, but chased off at every shop she visits. The cat is still with her, teaching her to survive. She takes what she needs while the businessmen simply curse her out while she flees. It’s enough for now, a bedroll and food. Enough for her while she runs into the woods.
Afterwards, there are glimpses of time. Kids gone missing from town. And then parents gone missing when they went looking. Time flashes by as the town rots and ages. The ghosts of the townspeople express their regrets to the heroes. It all happened so fast. If they knew what their cruelty would cost them.. If only they knew.
At the same time, Abby has befriended a girl in town, she runs from home and soon lives with her in the woods, the sister of Crying Jack. The madmen they’d met in the woods. The Neko convinces her to sacrifice the girl, sacrifice her friend. Soon things are getting worse. A statue in the woods to hold the Neko while he gains power. The woods becomes a swamp.
Abby is forced from her own body, being turned into a familiar while the Neko controls her human form. She lives as a cat, what little of her remains.
Crying Jack meets Abby and is sent off to the woods. She claims not to have seen his sister.
There’s a flash to more recent times. The heroes see a familiar looking pair of parents. They were for the kids in the mountains. The two troublemakers. Mischiefous little demons. Their parents hadn’t been seen. And now they knew why: the witch had gotten them, with plans to take the kids in time. It was the same story that had played out time and time again. She had gotten her orphans that way, more to fuel the demon, in time. While their parents and any lookers became her army in the bog.
At last the heroes meet the collective of ghosts. They plead for help, cry in regret and agony. Pain for their loss. Alistair is able to use his Calm Emotions to sing them into a state of peace. Aided by Lizzy’s cleric abilities.
The moment ends as the witch attacks. It is a hard battle, her tree monsters appear, haggering the heroes and making the battle all that much more intense. It’s all they can do to keep going. Until the ghosts come to help. And then as fast, the battle is over.
The ghosts are on their way home, while the Witch is replaced with little Abbigail, about as old as the day she first met the cat. Crying for the wrongs she’s done and the life she lost. The happiness she never got. She hugs Alistair, afraid to die and pass on. She doesn’t know what comes next.
Lizzy is able to use her abilities, her connection to death and the gods, there is a chance, hope that Abbigail will have a second chance in this life.
With that, the heroes return to the waking world. When they come to, the bog is rapidly overgrown with a pure and clean woodland, the demon’s influence purged from the land. The orphanage is in ruins. As if all the centuries of its existence had finally caught up with it.
Soon the Witch begins a ritual, planning to suck the life force from the heroes. There is a floating crystal with energy beans connecting all present. Thistle however, is still present, not that anyone yet knows this. She attacks, destroying the crystal and disrupting the ritual. Yet the spell goes on in a new form. The heroes, and the witch are sucked into a land of memories.
Thistle is there with them, but human-sized for once. It is an odd sight. Though the others are too taken in by the world to focus much attention on her.
It takes the heroes time to figure out that they cannot change what’s happening here, yet the living shadows do occasionally talk to them. They first witness a little girl, Abigail in her home. It’s being attacked by bandits. They threaten to kill her and her parents if they don’t pay up. The heroes attempt to intervene and time flashes forward. They’re outside while Abby hides behind a bush, crying, watching her home burn to the ground. She’s alone.
She starts to talk, it’s unclear if she’s talking to the heroes or someone else. A figure soon emerges, talking to her: a black cat. He looks remarkably similar to the Baka Nekos encountered in the sky isles. This has not gone well.
Time moves forward, the heroes see her, a little older and far more weary. She’s trying to beg and steal from a town, but chased off at every shop she visits. The cat is still with her, teaching her to survive. She takes what she needs while the businessmen simply curse her out while she flees. It’s enough for now, a bedroll and food. Enough for her while she runs into the woods.
Afterwards, there are glimpses of time. Kids gone missing from town. And then parents gone missing when they went looking. Time flashes by as the town rots and ages. The ghosts of the townspeople express their regrets to the heroes. It all happened so fast. If they knew what their cruelty would cost them.. If only they knew.
At the same time, Abby has befriended a girl in town, she runs from home and soon lives with her in the woods, the sister of Crying Jack. The madmen they’d met in the woods. The Neko convinces her to sacrifice the girl, sacrifice her friend. Soon things are getting worse. A statue in the woods to hold the Neko while he gains power. The woods becomes a swamp.
Abby is forced from her own body, being turned into a familiar while the Neko controls her human form. She lives as a cat, what little of her remains.
Crying Jack meets Abby and is sent off to the woods. She claims not to have seen his sister.
There’s a flash to more recent times. The heroes see a familiar looking pair of parents. They were for the kids in the mountains. The two troublemakers. Mischiefous little demons. Their parents hadn’t been seen. And now they knew why: the witch had gotten them, with plans to take the kids in time. It was the same story that had played out time and time again. She had gotten her orphans that way, more to fuel the demon, in time. While their parents and any lookers became her army in the bog.
At last the heroes meet the collective of ghosts. They plead for help, cry in regret and agony. Pain for their loss. Alistair is able to use his Calm Emotions to sing them into a state of peace. Aided by Lizzy’s cleric abilities.
The moment ends as the witch attacks. It is a hard battle, her tree monsters appear, haggering the heroes and making the battle all that much more intense. It’s all they can do to keep going. Until the ghosts come to help. And then as fast, the battle is over.
The ghosts are on their way home, while the Witch is replaced with little Abbigail, about as old as the day she first met the cat. Crying for the wrongs she’s done and the life she lost. The happiness she never got. She hugs Alistair, afraid to die and pass on. She doesn’t know what comes next.
Lizzy is able to use her abilities, her connection to death and the gods, there is a chance, hope that Abbigail will have a second chance in this life.
With that, the heroes return to the waking world. When they come to, the bog is rapidly overgrown with a pure and clean woodland, the demon’s influence purged from the land. The orphanage is in ruins. As if all the centuries of its existence had finally caught up with it.
Report Date
21 May 2024
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