Howdigo

The Howdigo is a spirit which can be found throughout The Gates, particularly in the Badlands in The Labyrinth. The Unanswered Question of “How did I get here? How am I here?” and the concept of “I am not how I am.” While the Whydigo eats the causal meaning of the dungeon, the Howdigo is responsible for removing the journey itself. It raises the question of “How did we get here?” According to The Field Guide, it has the appearance of detached, spiraling eyes, lines that vaguely resemble a nose and a toothy, grimacing mouth, and “appendages” that manifest from the body outward, constantly growing, detaching, and reforming from the base again. The Spiritual Travelers have not seen a Howdigo yet, but they are currently residing inside one massive Howdigo that resides within and around Tympi's Mind.

This Howdigo is the size of a very large “dungeon”, with tendrils that are tangling around each other and completely encasing each adventurers past and potential future. Each smaller tendril is a hallway which will be navigated to reach various rooms and eventual mouths. The mouths each contain an adventurer experiencing an ideal moment. How they got here is unknown, and the timeline leading up to it is slowly being digested. Within their perfect world are spirits of contentment, feasting on thoughts that might say “how’d i even get here?” Or “this isn’t real, is it?” These questions are often dismissed or answered, unbeknownst to the travelers, by spirits of Contentment which tend to answer, "It Matters Not."

Setup

During the day on Daulok 24th, the Spiritual Travelers visited Ilven to gather information about this Spiraling Darkness that threatens to cover the Spirit World. She didn't have much insight beyond speculation, but she did have a concern that her sister would be consumed by it if the Mothlight Trees continued to be covered in the darkness. She worried that it might drag her out into the darkness, piece by piece, and that her unresolved issues could wander the land beyond. She also revealed that her sister was dealing with yet another beast...

“There is something I must tell you as well, travelers. There were times when I slept that I felt your presence…times that I felt my sister’s mind was in peril, but you were always there to pull her out of it. I am awake now, I cannot tell what she is experiencing, but I feel her journey back to us is not yet over. With the Spiraling Dark outside worsening, consuming Mothlight Trees, her condition will likely only worsen, and the parts of her consciousness that are still yet recovered may wander the land beyond. I don’t know entirely what that means, but if there is any guidance I can offer it is this: When I at last awoke, she was struggling with something particularly jarring… a beast made of tendrils that surrounded her entire journey up to this point. All the battles won or lost, the conversations she’s had, the memories she has relived…even ones that have not been experienced yet are all wrapped within this beast, and she is now, um, content within its maw. It devours her even now, swallowing who she was and who she could’ve been. "I could help you reach her, but you may find yourselves battling your contentment along the way. Unraveling the complicated tendrils and freeing yourself from its maws to arrive at Tympi’s own peril… It will be dangerous, frustrating, and probably confusing, but you would be doing everyone here a service by finally freeing her. You would certainly helping yourselves along the way if you plan on going into that darkness. If I were more focused with her awake, I could shield you, at least partially, from corruption. Will you do this?” After explaining this, she revealed that she could protect these travelers against the darkness. She claimed she had experience with such darkness, and she felt as though she might know how to keep them from being corrupted while inside. However, she was distracted, worried about her sister, and she would need help freeing her before she can perform the ritual. Tympi also being safe would be a bonus...perhaps she can provide even more protection or information. The travelers agreed to enter Tympi's mind and performed some light downtime activity until it was time to sleep.

Design

The Howdigo, as has so far been observed, seems to be made up of different rooms or "mouths" that contain idyllic scenarios from each person's potential timeline. Connecting these mouths are a collection of innumerable hall-like tendrils which wrap around these potential timelines and obscure them from the victims. Clearing a room appears to involve the defeat of the victim's Contentment along with other frustrating tasks. Navigating the halls can prove dangerous as seen in the first set of halls which involve ALT.

Room-like Mouths

Bobcat/Agave

The connected and shuffled memories that Bobcat and Agave share thanks to the Chittering Spirit have created a room that features wishes imagined by both of them. The scenarios of these two took place in Ulktorov's Desert. It began with Bobcat being reunited with his companions before performing a heist and traveling through the desert. The journey through the desert after the heist followed a dangerous journey from Agave's past, the events of which were largely forgotten as payment to the Chittering Spirit. This journey ended in the Red Peaks with figures from Agave's past fighting Bobcat's Gang in the rain with hopes of preventing them from contacting Agave. The gang triumphed against these foes, however, and they were able to break Agave free of his alcohol and hazy memory induced stupor. After his vision cleared and he was again able to see where he was, Agave faded from existence with a heavy sigh. As he vanished, the peaks also faded until the gang found themselves in a hallway. Strangely enough, Bobcat gets to carry some of his contentment with him in the form of his old companions. It is yet unclear what this means.

ALT

ALT's "room" was, at first, just a factory assembly line complete with a shoot dispensing bits and parts and workers assembling those parts into components on a conveyor belt. From the outside, this first assembly line room initially appeared to be the lab where ALT was ultimately found, but upon entering it, it changed into the rather disappointing factory floor. Much like ALT, you didn't exactly end up where you thought you would, and where you did end up was rather disappointing. A shadow can be seen crawling up the shoot, and pursuing it resulted in ascending multiple floors and seeing the workers vanish or distort into strange beings. At the top of the last shoot was a large lab. Tables, tools, paperwork, and massive pipes were all visible along with a large circular slab of stone decorated with arcane symbols. Lightning arced off the wall, steam escaped vents and pipes, and piles of scrap metal and damaged components littered the floor. A bearded gnome was seen busy at work on more mechanical limbs, and ALT was found standing next to him playing the part of an assistant. A Prototype Desolation Projector threatened to destroy everyone, shadow adventurers attacked when the arcane circle was accidentally triggered, and several haywire mechanical limbs were found buried in trash piles. Even after all the contentment was defeated and disasters were averted, ALT was again slowly starting to slip back into the hazy state that it started out in the longer it stayed with Acerdata and talked. They realized what needed to be done and defeated their only chance at satisfaction while claiming that they'll "find him later".

Hysteria

Hysteria's room was a bakery which they owned. It was a rather lovely establishment with fine elven treats like breads, meat pies and the like all available to order and enjoy. Seating and tables were also available for anyone that desired it as well. Shortly after arriving and ordering some food, these baked goods began to attack Bobcat's Gang and ALT. As more commotion was caused, spirits of contentment appeared as well. After the spirits and baked goods were defeated, a massive meat pie with several eyes that each shot a different type of laser formed and began to attack the party as well. This led to the death of Ghost and the eventual appearance of a new ally, the Jester "Lost". In addition to the bakery, one could find Hysteria's bedroom in this same location. It had their weapons and other adventuring memorabilia which they retrieved when they finally recovered from the influence of contentment. When the meat pie was finally defeated by Hysteria, they saw a vision of a shadowy figure standing in a dark void. This shadow reminded them that they cannot be happy before pushing them back into the destroyed bakery with their allies both old and new.

DAN

DAN's 'room' was a traveling carnival; the same one that they had spent much of their life traveling with. While they were here and trapped within the digestive contentment of the Howdigo, they were spending time with Steve. They walked around the carnival advertising different events including their own performance which would take place on the main stage at some point. The Spiritual Travelers dealt with some weird drama between DAN's coworkers and attacked the spirits of Contentment before turning their attention towards Dr. Bliss and the other carnies. These carnies tried their best to stop the group, and they very nearly killed several of the Travelers before ultimately watching Dr. Bliss fall in battle. Another spirit of Contentment appeared at this time as ALT predicted, and how the rest of the carnies will react is still a mystery. However, one major change to the carnival is that the mysterious calliope has stopped playing after Dr. Bliss died. An air of ominousness instead fills the void that it left behind. After coming back to their senses, DAN was able to talk with Steve. They were offered the chance to just leave with him and travel to "the center of it all", but DAN refused as they wanted to be with their friends through that journey. Steve stated that he will travel with DAN if DAN wouldn't come to him.

Frode

Frode's room was the city of Voldtaren. Though it was cleaner, less plague-ridden...in fact, there was no sign of the plague anywhere. The usual amenities that could be found in a city were here, and the Spiritual Travelers stopped at an inn to rest for the night before confronting Frode. Frode himself was quite elderly and had a family that had aged as well. His kids were all grown up, healthy, and his wife was by his side. He also had a spirit of Contentment latched onto him which he didn't seem to know was there. He didn't entirely recognize or not recognize the Spiritual Travelers. Whether or not this confusion was because of the Howdigo or his current status as an old man was unclear. After the first spirit of Contentment was defeated, the town completely changed.

It all changed in a flash. In one moment everything was peaceful, serene, idyllic, and, in the next, it was Hell. Slime, mucus and other such nastiness covered the streets and buildings. The trees which were once sporting the beautiful, though unseasonal, colors of autumn were all suddenly dead and rotting as well. Mushrooms grew everywhere, the stench of decay was palpable, and the streets were suddenly filled with the victims of the plague. Chief among them was the Guard Captain, Grimweld. The Spiritual Travelers witnessed Frode's family rot and suffer from the plague at an accelerated rate, and then they cleaned up all these nasty zombies filling the town. Two of Frode's family members were consumed by zombies during the battle. DAN would also die at the hands of a zombie, and their soul has yet to return to their body for some reason despite resurrecting magics being used.

Tympi

Tympi's room started out as The Hidden Village of Mothlights. Everything seemed to be in order at first glance, but it quickly became clear that there was no one to be found in town. Dust covered anything that dust could cover, the meadow was completely dead, and yet the only corpse that was discovered was Kaswink's. It had become mummified slightly by time and likely thanks to the oils used to preserve her until it was time to revive her. There didn't seem to be much of a struggle in town, but there was evidence that people left quickly enough to leave stuff behind. A large bloodstain was also visible in Tympi's bed. When the Spiritual Travelers tried to leave this place through the usual conveyance, they instead arrived in a massive cube made of glass. The floor was clear and revealed a lower cube which Tympi was curled up in and weeping. Her tears were black and seemed to drip slowly upward towards the ceiling/floor that the travelers stood on. These tears moved up and around the clear walls and gathered in a massive bubble positioned above the roof that the travelers were standing beneath. Spirits of contentment were floating around Tympi, and as they were defeated, previously vanquished Unanswered Questions would appear somewhere in the room to attack the party. When the last spirit was defeated, the Whatdigo appeared and began its own onslaught. After it was defeated, it had a cryptic message for the group: “You have no idea what she is capable of… Be wary her true power, and do not let her meet the one of Shadow.”

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.

Hall-like Tendrils

ALT

ALT's hall-like tendrils were the first to be seen by Bobcat and his gang. The walls, floor and ceiling of this place looked as though they were perhaps made of some sort of sandstone. Oozing from either random larger holes or even entire, more porous, walls, was a variety of different viscous fluids. Garbage was littered all over the floor. Some of it looked to be just generic trash while other piles were more devoted to gears or scrap metal. It was dark here, and the fluids all seemed to be similar shades of grey, but Bobcat tried tasting some of it. The strange, viscous fluid that he tested had qualities similar to dirty, used oil or even unrefined oil, perhaps straight from the ground. These fluids were later revealed to be some unidentifiable ooze, blood, and oil when Bobcat transformed into a fire elemental and illuminated them. Upon waking up in this place, Bobcat's Gang felt a strange sense of uneasy fear wash over them. It was unclear what was causing this, but horrific screams would sometimes also echo through the halls to assault them psychically. The effects of this scream seemed to increase the levels of fear within them to the point that they felt mental anguish until the fear was alleviated. Several motionless and limp mechanical arms were also discovered in these halls. These arms were rather large, each one longer than Bobcat, perhaps even longer than Turquoise. Turquoise was the first to approach one, and was shocked to see it suddenly awaken and try to push him away. The limbs also each had a different weapon: a flamethrower, a lightning cannon or a gatling gun. Within the area with the mechanical limbs there was also a hallway covered in vines that grew over and completely obscured whatever was beyond. These vines were also constantly changing to take on a manufactured appearance similar to the forest around ALT when it was first discovered.

More hallways existed beyond these limbs along with several more threats. At the end of one hallway was a large, fancy chest which was full of scrap metal. Opening this chest to find this scrap metal also caused a horrific monstrosity to appear and attack the nearest person. The being looked emaciated with grey skin and four arms that each ended in spikes. It tried to dig these spikes into the nearest person and embrace them, but it proved far too slow. Six more chests existed in another hallway leading to another large, fancy chest. This other fancy chest was open to find a bunch of broken gears and another of the same monstrosity. The smaller chests all seem to each have a different, singular skull. In the opposite direction from the creepy, spiky monster was a large empty room which Jade wandered into with hopes of discovering more about this place. She found herself alone for a moment, and another monster attacked her from the shadows. A long, stretching appendage reached out for her and stabbed into her. She was able to see that this new threat was another pale individual, though rather than being quite starved, this one had a distended stomach and bloated flesh around its face. The path out of these halls ended up being beyond the strange and avoided vines. It was discovered that the interior of these vines was made up of blueprints, and that these blueprints are each capable of growing even more of the vines if damaged. Bobcat ended up burning through the vines as a fire elemental, and it was noted that even the ashes of these blueprints grew more vines, though the fire was so intense at that point that it mattered little how many vines grew.

Hysteria

Hysteria's hallways featured more slimy sandstone walls, but the floors were now covered in an inch or two of cold water. Floating in this water were corpses which seemed to be submerged and floating as if the water were far deeper than it actually was. The path was far more straightforward than ALT's, with few passages leading away from the intended direction. Because of this, it took far less time to reach the end. Fae-themed elven warlocks were hidden within the walls. They would peel themselves free while screaming in agony and bleeding from several stab wounds. This blood was often transformed into arcane energy and launched as a projectile. When they were injured with attacks that would pierce their flesh and cause them to bleed, they would automatically counterattack with more arcane projectiles. At the end of the long hallway was a pile of snow blocking further progress. Beneath this snow were two pairs of legs with skin-tight, black leather armor. A strange black ichor leaked from the legs like oil or ink and was dispersed into the shallow cold water. These legs were later revealed to belong to a pair of jesters who appeared to be controlled as if puppets on strings. When they were defeated, they didn't leak any blood or entrails, instead releasing a collection of coiled up strings.

DAN

DAN's hallways have yet to be explored beyond first glance. So far the walls are the same slimy sandstone, but the only discernible feature is a collection of taxidermied wolves. They are arranged so that one wolf is facing three other wolves on an opposite wall. A wolf pelt is also lying on the floor nearby. These wolves came to life and either watched the Spiritual Travelers or attacked them without warning throughout their journey in these halls. Sometimes the singular wolf head would be much larger than the other three, and, at one point, the three wolf heads were larger than the single one. Two sections of these halls were split off from the rest and had a strange empty carnival within them. The tents, signage and everything else was in pristine condition, and it didn't look to be in disrepair or abandoned, it was just void of any guests. Despite this, the sounds of a happy crowd of guests could be heard enjoying carnival games and events, carnival employees could be heard calling out attractions or performing, and a calliope could be heard playing. Stability attacked the group while they were inside these carnivals, and some tents held strange Convoluted Manifestations. At the end of these halls was another tent. The inside was completely empty and much larger than it appeared on the outside. At the center was a calliope which appeared to be playing itself. ALT tried playing along but ultimately ended up destroying the calliope by holding the keys down as they tried to play. During this process, they also used one of their strange devices to discover someone sitting where they were sitting at the instrument. An elven woman was playing, then eventually weeping into her hands, and she seemed to get more distorted the more the calliope broke. The inside of the instrument had several items which were damaged but saved by ALT to be given to DAN at a later time.

Frode

Frode's halls were made of the typical slimy sandstone, but they had the added decor of red cords, chains and mushrooms. The red cords were arranged in such a way that they mimicked a trail of blood. Some of them ran through the rings of a massive chain, and the mushrooms grew in various sizes and colors all the way through the winding halls. Every step that the Spiritual Travelers took caused agony as thin strings of blood were draw from the tiny pours of their feet. This blood formed into new cords which joined with the rest. Zombies of varying difficulty were scattered throughout these halls. Some of the zombies believed themselves to be what they were in the previous life while also thinking that the living were the real zombies. Guards demanded that the Travelers stop and to not try any funny zombie business. Their hunger eventually overcame their senses, however, and they eventually tried to attack the Travelers like any other zombie would. Towards the end of the halls was a side section which Bobcat explored on his own as a fire elemental. He found a crown at the end of it which transformed into a Crown of Suffering as its gold melted before spiraling with the red cords in the room. A crown made of gold and blood-like cords, when it is worn it causes strange feelings of martyrdom and selflessness even before being attuned to. At the end of the halls was a massive group of mushrooms trying to form together to make a being simply known as "Blight". They failed in their mission as the Spiritual Travelers defeated all the smaller mushrooms, and their attention was turned towards a new figure. She was wearing a beige-green robe, a white mask with gold filigree that resembled mushrooms, and she was tall, easily 10 feet. Her mask was split down the middle and reforged, and she was working on a poultice of some kind. The group tried to stop her, prevent her from completing it or feeding it to the then-noticed Hysteria-sized child. ALT and Hysteria noticed that this person was trying to help the child who was clearly sick with whatever was afflicting Frode's home. Despite this, Bobcat tried to attack her and nearly wounded the child in the process. ALT stopped him, however, and it was then seen that the concoction treated the incurable plague. The child stood up, no longer coughing or covered in sores, and walked through a wall of mushrooms blocking the Traveler's progress. They followed behind him, and arrived in Voldtaren.

Tympi

Tympi's halls featured much of the same sandstone, though it was hard to see much of anything as the air was full of a thick, black mist. Eyes, mouths, noses, tongues all appeared within this mist and seemed to belong to the familiar Unblinking Sein which had taken Tympi all those years ago. It created fear within the travelers as they quickly moved through, and their hurried movements were even more eratic thanks to the shaking, crumbling nature of these most recent hallways. Entire chunks of hall would suddenly fall into the abyss that surrounded them, and shadows would crawl out from the nothingness below. At the end of the hallway was a trio of Tympi's friends. They had pressing questions which were largely....Unanswered. After the last of these questions was asked and enough time passed, the group of adventurers was transported to the Mothlights. They woke up as if they had just completed the dungeon, but something was terribly wrong.

Agave/Exit

After Tympi was reunited with her body and was able to find Bobcat, she explained that they needed to exit through the first person to begin the journey. She pressed an orb of light into Bobcat's forehead, and the way forward was revealed. One last slimy hallway, but this one was full of gold, prison bars, and dried-up corpses. Agave was found resting on a pile of gold with a staff made of tangled roots. He explained that he had made a connection with the spirit he had been searching for, and Tympi used this connection to help everyone find their ways back to their bodies.

Maps

Howdigo

Related Report (Primary Locations)

Related Report (Secondary Locations)

Session 64: The New Dimension of Fun

Related Plots

Unanswered Questions

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Howdigo

Setup

Design

Room-like Mouths

Bobcat/Agave

ALT

Hysteria

DAN

Frode

Tympi

Hall-like Tendrils

ALT

Hysteria

DAN

Frode

Tympi

Agave/Exit

Maps

Howdigo

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