Session 43: "When am I?" thought the Caterpillar
General Summary
Simol's Request
The session began with most of you still in Simol's hut, and she seemed to have a favor to ask NAD. “Wait…you! Yes, you… I need you for just a moment. This can be done one on one or with the group. Just a conversation, I Swear, please, I have a favor to ask…” “Good, good, thank you for at least listening. There is a place that you are familiar with. It is…a confusing place, it lies both inside and outside this layer that we reside on. It runs through everything, and was one of the first He built. Do you know what I speak of, young one?” NAD was stumped for a moment, but eventually recalled some information provided by the Chittering Spirit and Spalsis along with other people that they've interacted with that she is likely speaking of The Spiraling Gate. She confirmed this and continued with her request... "Do you know what lies within? Do you know what leaks from it every moment? I want to stop all that. I want it to be…contained within only itself. Would you help me with this?" NAD was curious what she could possibly gain from this, to which she replied that she would be able to rest, and it would quiet her heart to know it is not corrupting nature. This did interest NAD a bit, the idea of stopping corruption from this place. “Good, yes, you know what must be done. And I will make this worth your while. I will give information on the one you seek, and I will guarantee you can get him to safety.” NAD was curious, but was also concerned about this "guarantee". “I can tell you exactly where to go, and I can provide spells to protect you and your friends. The information will come as you solve the problems of the Coiled Layer. Each bit of Stability you remove will come with knowledge to get you closer to the one you seek. Defeating them or banishing them somehow will also provide extended protection from my magic. This is to guarantee that I get what I want and you also eventually get what you want. The Deal is most important to Hags.” NAD wanted to know what would happen if they refused. She explained that they could just leave and enter with the help of "the Hermit", but that doing so would make them unable to have protection with the help of her magic. She repeated her offer to be able to get them in at any point with rituals, and that their protection would be guaranteed.NAD discussed this offer with the group. They were interested in this deal due to the Spiraling Gate likely being somewhere you would need to go to. Frode confirmed, but had some concerns, particularly with whether or not a Hag could be trusted at all, and if this could just be a curse. NAD confirmed, saying that they only trust hags if they can "punch them in the face to know they exist." The plan was recapped a bit, and NAD agreed to help as best they could... but if they are unable to then Simol will have to find someone else. She felt this was perfectly reasonable.
Kaswink's Knowledge
While walking through town, Kaswink began to explain that she has something she needs to divulge, but it needs to be done far away from these hags. She said that she'll need help staying alive as she says it, and that tying her to a tree might be a good idea. Seems she has some rather painful knowledge to disclose...what is knowledge, anyways? Agave obliged, tying up Kaswink and, with the help of Namina, kept Kaswink alive and not insane as she unloaded some Cursed Knowledge. "I don't know how much I'm going to be able to get through before I pass out, but...she just mocked me in there. She is...part of The Oni." There was some pain on Kaswink's face as she said this, but she continued.The Oni is the thing guarding your brother, DAN. Meaning that she knows where your brother is. She knows where my curse comes from, but she won't tell us until we're ready...until it wants something from us."Discussion was had...and NAD admitted to being a bit frustrated by this, and confused as to what this Oni could possibly want. Kaswink was unsure, but suggested it could be anything. Agave also had a question, apologizing in advance should it be painful to answer, he wanted to know what these Oni are and why they would be chasing Kaswink. "It's that curse I talked about. They are the monster my grandfather slayed. The curse that was put on us... our souls are basically eaten by it. It's a monster that feeds on suffering, and it wants nothing but pain. It took your hand, Agave, and you just handed the other half of it- they cut it off of you and you just handed them their kill."
Agave understood, and stated plainly that "If they just want suffering, then doing this Hag's mission would be a bad idea." NAD agreed, pointing out that something sounds off about removing Stability to increase Stability. Kaswink needed clarification on Stability, and upon hearing it had a theory: "It makes sense, you're trying to bring Stability to a place that doesn't have Stability. You're aligning the instability more with our world...I think it has something to do with what the Chittering Spirit spoke of. It said that Its general covets power that is too great for them. I think that they're trying to take over the realm- their realm, and they want to do that by closing it off from here. It may not be bad to remove a few of them, maybe get some information, but I don't feel like destroying it would do anything besides trap things inside of it." Kaswink seemed finished with her reveals, but Agave had another question: "If the Oni is after you, and she's the Oni, then why not just kill her?" "It's like cutting off a hand. She's just a hand. It may be a hindrance, or a small inconvenience for somebody coveting that much power. I don't know if it'll do any good. She has a hold on me. I don't know if she could control me, or bring out the Oni spirit inside me..." Agave suggested "pretending to deal with the Stability" and lying to Simol about it to trick her which NAD agreed with, and Kaswink agreed though starting out small and just seeing what can be learned from one of them being removed....perhaps even getting her on your side for a time so that she doesn't pay too much attention to you. She suggested that the Oni, or perhaps just Simol, prefers to make people feel safe before taking things from them. She also explained that attacking Simol could lead to the hags intervening which would be bad either because they would be yet another threat and piece of the Oni, or they could be not involved at all and would still intervene to protect their leader...which would involve attacking innocent people.
"We would need to just attack the Oni at the source. If we kill the Oni then we get one step closer to your brother, and I'm finally free." NAD seemed excited by this both because they would get their brother back, and because it would mean Kaswink wouldn't be at risk of attacking the group. Though, Kaswink explained she would likely not be adventuring very much if at all as her powers all come from The Oni. The group attempted to cheer her up, and each of you had a bit of motivation to provide her regarding her usefulness without this evil spirit. The next part of the plan was to head back to base and prepare for trouble with Ilven. You then headed back to your Home Base.
Another Strange Dream
It was around 1-2PM by the time you arrived back at your base. It was realized that most if not all of the preparations for Ilven were already done, so the next several hours before bed were spent doing some prep work for The Rotting Gate. Agave spent some time looking for rot preparation ingredients and looking over Self Preservation to see what can be collected for when it's time for that. He also attached a Wooden Hand to his arm. This wooden hand has merged with his arm perfectly, there doesn't seem to be a difference between the wooden hand and Agave, and it has proven to be incredibly articulate as it helped with his work the rest of the day. He also doesn't seem to need to sleep anymore. The day went on until it was late enough to sleep.“You dream tonight…at least if you’re sleeping. Otherwise you just feel like, well, something is off. Things move strangely, wind blows backwards…if that is even noticeable, birds fly upside down, and blood starts to fall from the sky. A few bloody raindrops fall on your hand if you’re still awake or perhaps meditating, it’s jarring to be sure, but the experience is swiftly replaced with another unsettling revelation: All of your friends appear to be awake and standing around you. They’re discussing plans as they were before bed, they’re eating, they’re performing necessary rituals to keep themselves from being consumed by some entity…and then they’re gone again, the area around you void of anything besides some trees, pristine.” “The rest of you are also dreaming, as mentioned, and these dreams seem…mundane for the most part. You are in your camp, just talking, enjoying each other’s company and planning the next phase in your mission. There are arguments, time passes, there are votes, more time passes, and you, along with the others that might have been awake during this time, experience the following in this unusual environment: “A shadow passes by you, or perhaps it was someone moving very quickly, and you watch as the shadows of each plant or animal you can see begins to dissolve into the air around it. The animals vanish, not dying but just moving backwards or dissolving as well. Then the trees, and at some point all that remains is light…”
Some of you chose to go into this vortex (DAN, Namina and Hysteria) while the rest of you (Agave, Frode and Kaswink) chose to stay put. Take the Vortex: “The hunger is painful, the isolation is dreadful, the loneliness carries you away from the Doom as the rest of your home is pulled up and into the sky…but you don’t die. You continue living, and you are suddenly soaking wet, sticky, a familiar sensation as blood covers and blinds you.” Stay and Die: “A spot of darkness in your vision, a new blindspot and then another, and another, your brain needs air or blood or both and right now it is slowly dying and taking your vision with it. Your perspective is stretched, pulled like taffy higher and higher. The gravel and other rocky terrain you had grown up in, scrounging for the smallest bit of greens, they ride up with you into this doom. The world ends. Everything goes quiet, before everything is deafening, loud, unending screams that come from the world itself.” Eventually all of this stopped, the dream ended, everything was still again...until you woke up and began to recognize the slowly familiar-again setting of your bedrooms in your cabin.
The Whendigo
After waking up you were able to look around and realized very quickly that the world had changed since you last saw it. The trees were all cut down and everything was covered in a strange, though familiar, black film that looked almost like oil. The only clue about what might've happened here was an old, emaciated gentleman sitting near your campfire and whittling. He seemed friendly and would nod at you anytime of you walked past. The old man forgot to introduce himself, or maybe nobody asked him his name, but it was found later on in the Game Data Files and revealed to be Horace, The Old Fool. Agave spent a moment speaking to the nearby plant life and learned that whatever happened in this place did not occur within the last 24 hours, and that the only person to be here within that time was the old man currently sitting in your camp. Kaswink went downstairs to investigate the underground farm, and found that, much like the above world, all the plants that were still standing were low to the ground. The mothlight tree sapling was also cut down, and everything was covered in the strange oily film.Eventually, everyone convened outside the cabin and near the old man. He began to speak... “Oh my, you’re awake. You gave me quite a scare. I hope there’s something I can do to help you, been taking care of you the past few days… it was a wild time. Found you lot passed out over yonder, dragged you back to camp, I did. I tell you, threw my back out something fierce. Surprised i Had the energy to take care of ye’s, I tell ye, it was a wild time, bending over with that back ache, and tending to 6 different people, dressing your wounds and fevers. You’re lucky I was here, though, maybe it’s time you repay the favor? What do you say? Could you fix my back or maybe do some chores while I recover? It won’t take long, I promise, and I’ll tell you all about my youth. The cure I normally use, and this is just what I normally use, course I reckon anything would do, ye’see, this cure is a wild time trying to harvest, it’s a wiley one, it can slip right out of your hands and out of sight sometimes, just vanish! I tell ye. Well, help me recover and help out around camp and I’ll be glad to call it square…” Many questions were had about this, and the old man would sort of answer them, but would also carry on for far longer than was really necessary. As he spoke, and as the conversation continued, you began to notice that you were aging.
Theories began to get spun about what this could be, but the most obvious and solid claim from all of you was that you were not when you were supposed to be, definitely sometime in the future...perhaps a good ways after Ilven "won". Eventually it was assumed that this old man might be involved, might be a "Whendigo" as he described to be a beast that lurks in the woods, but that he might also just be a helpless victim. He was ignored for the time being by most of you besides NAD. Kaswink, during these conversations, began to hear the bell she purchased to find Croak ring. When she rang the bell back, it was louder towards the west before cutting off completely and refusing to ring again. Choosing to ignore the man for the time being, Kaswink went west to find Croak...
Immediately after stepping over the perimeter of your property, Kaswink heard Croak before she saw him, which is unusual considering there was nothing to obstruct her vision with the lack of trees. Most of you followed, save NAD who stayed behind to observe the old man as they didn't trust him. When Croak appeared he was exhausted, out of breath, and wounded. They were also transformed into a hybrid form similar to Kaswink's own. Three horns and Oni-like features were present, and this, presumably, led to Kaswink having some distrust, though she also seemed to know something that the rest of you didn't. She accused Croak of lying to her, citing his ability to transform and claiming he should've helped her back then rather than writing it off. He claimed that he knew as much as she did, and that he figured the hags would be able to help her. He seemed to convince Kaswink that he is innocent in all this, a victim like she is. As he was explaining that nobody in this time can be trusted, that they had been gone, missing for some time, he was literally atomized and his particles floated on the wind back towards your camp. Namina was able to see the magic that caused him disperse in this way and what caused his walking stick and clothes to age and rot incredibly quickly. NAD was able to see the old man glance at Croak as this happened, and attentions were directed back towards the old man.
Returning to the Present
After the Whendigo was revealed, some light combat was had which featured Time Magic, brutal melee attacks, and Hysteria feeling like they would die incredibly soon. The Whendigo definitely had some mastery over time, and was able to quickly dispatch the giant insects conjured forth by both Agave and Kaswink by aging them to death. Whenever it dealt damage it would age the person it hit, and it would regain their lost years as health. It also seemed to sacrafice its own health to cast its spells. It was eventually defeated, however, and died with this remark:"She has a lot of Unanswered Questions. The Uncertainty that you feel during these trails will continue to hurt her. If you continue to have Uncertainty during these trials she will die."As it died, it left behind its skin and hooves which can be made into Whendigo Leather Armor (defenses against time magic) and Whendigo Hoof Adhesive (can be used to slow or even stop the passage of time).
Fittingly, when you returned to your realm you had ended up about a month in the future: Daulok 01, 308. Daulok is often considered to mean something like "death of the end", which is fitting because the "end" that Ilven apparently is bringing about will hopefully be stopped. Additionally, in this month advancement, a disturbing sound could be heard: someone was cutting down trees, logging even, near your camp.
In-game Date:
Nurend 42-Daulok 02, 308
Discovered Spirits:
Whendigo
Nurend 42-Daulok 02, 308
Report Date
29 Aug 2022
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Related Plots
Whendigo
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