Session 6: The Long Fall, Hysteria's Voice, The Candle, Knowledge and Dark Secrets!
General Summary
"And they shall be made to crawl on their bellies to enter the kingdom of darkness"
Session began with the lot of you deciding whether to travel through the hole in the floor and through the attached crawlspace or to head back and find another path. Namina's empath-like connection that she made with Hysteria was suggesting that either option would work to find their path, and there was a lengthy discussion on whether you should find a way out of the maze or continue exploring. It was eventually decided that the crawlspace would be the way to go, and to help Frode along a rope was tied around him to ease the burden (uh-oh) of the paralyzed arm that he was currently dealing with. Down this crawlspace you noticed that the floor and walls were largely made of dirt and soaked with the recently liquified slime that you had recently dealt with, and that the ceiling was that same pink-grey brick that you had been dealing with this whole time. While crawling through this area you also noticed that it was getting darker and darker the further away from the entrance you traveled. Even those of you with darkvision were noticing this as there just wasn't enough light to really supplement such an ability. Namina decided to create some light affixed to her strands of hair and you were suddenly able to see just in time for Kaswink to not fall down a massive pit blocking your path.A plan was formed for Agave to move to the other side and scout ahead, and he was mostly successful with some maneuvering on his and Kaswink's part, but the dirt on the other side was a bit more brittle and collapsed beneath his feet. Luckily enough he was able to grab on and pull himself back up before falling down the lengthy plunge. During this time Kaswink also tested the depths and dropped a stake finding that she couldn't hear it hit the bottom. She also tried dropping a torch and, again, couldn't hear the impact and also couldn't see the light after it fell a good distance. Determining the pit to be bottomless, or at least so deep that it might as well be bottomless, Kaswink began constructing a bridge to the other side. Meanwhile, ever hoping to pry into Hysteria's path, Namina informed the group that she felt a pull on their soul down the pit.
The bridge was reoutfitted to be used as a point of leverage to hold a rope while you all descended into the depths. Down, down, down you went until reaching the bottom of the 150 ft length of rope that Kaswink had handy, another 50 ft of rope was provided, and another 50 ft of chains, and yet you still had yet to reach the bottom. Another discussion was had "should we climb back up? find another way?" But Namina had other plans: "We should fall." Namina, having an injured hand and feeling that it was the right thing to do, released the rope. There was much panic amongst those that held on as they patiently awaited some form of confirmation that Namina had not perished. After a bit of time spent falling, faster and faster, Namina eventually resurfaced at the top of another hole near the same stake and torch that had been dropped earlier. She called out to the party hoping to inform them that it was fine and began dropping her recently acquired marble down the pit over and over again until they all fell as well. Kaswink collected the ropes and chains along with Agave's staff and fell down after the rest of the party.
Hysteria
In the new strange land that they arrived in they found the familiar pinkish-grey walls that they had grown so accustomed to, however, they were distorted, stretched, and while they seemed to reach up taller and taller you could always see the unpleasant way they connected with the ceiling as they wove in and out of the hallway. Almost like the reflection of a funhouse mirror though no mirrors were involved. You all proceeded as usual, Agave again guiding you and recording your progress, and after a great deal of time, longer than you really felt comfortable, a very feint song began to be heard. Hysteria recognized this song as a traditional elvish song from the frozen shores although it was exclusively treble and very tinny. The party followed this music for a good while as it grew louder and louder. After some time a turn was made that led to Hysteria stopping the party and informing them that no good will come from that direction.When signing didn't seem to convince the rest of the party, Hysteria decided to make a shocking revelation as they "spoke" for the first time, their voice appearing in Kaswink's head, and with that it was agreed that the party should, despite the long journey, turn back the way they came.
The Dragon's Candle
On the way back Agave noticed something odd. The many rooms that had been passed on the way to this point had all been empty, but one of them now seemed a lot darker with its only light source being a candle wrapped in red dragon scales and sitting on a small end table. Intrigued by the candle, the party began entering, and Namina silently wished that she could have a seat at this table which seemed to cause a chair to appear for her. As she sat down in the newly created luxury a bottle of tequila and a glass appeared on the table. Agave recognized this tequila as the same bottle he saw back in the donation room, it looked valuable, rare, and the single blue agave plant depicted reminded him of home. He decided to give in and pour himself a drink. Reaching for the newly apparated glass he found that despite it being capable of holding liquid it phased through his hand. Thinking that this might be a test he decided to procure more shot glasses from his bag and pour a drink for everyone in the room and leave the phantom glass for the spirit. The plan worked and the glass drained itself.Meanwhile, Kaswink wanted to give an offering to the flame and wrote a secret on a peace of paper before burning it. The paper carbonized as though burning but the ashes didn't float into the air, rather they just vanished from the paper. As the last bit of ash burned away Kaswink found that she could no longer remember what she wrote down...or that particular secret at all. After having a drink and finding the tequila to be quite tasty, Agave noted the quality and began inspecting the room. He soon came across a spike that nearly cut his hand but he managed to just barely pull his hand back and requested the presence of Namina once more to illuminate the area. They found a door, covered in chitin much like what you saw in the dark hallway earlier with serrated spikes reaching out from all around it. The design of these spikes was reminiscent of the ones jutting from the spires in all the paintings you saw earlier.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party was communicating with the candle, asking questions and finding that it seemed to reply to yes/no questions at times by flaring up. You weren't 100% sure on what it meant, but you hoped that it flaring up meant yes and learned a bit about the supposed dragon spirit that controlled this flame. Namina noted that each time it flared up or accepted an offering it a presence was felt in the room. Offerings were made to the candle with hopes that it would earn its favor and "allow" you through the room. I forgot to mention it, but you do not remember having the items you offered or what it is that you offered to the candle, those memories are lost : ( boowomp.
The Chained Man
The door was pulled open easily enough and you all passed through to another hallway of darkness. Catching onto the trick rather quickly, Kaswink began extinguishing the torches. With each torch that was extinguished a word was heard and more light was provided to the room. The words created the question "what is knowledge?" and as the third torch was extinguished another light revealed something troubling at one end of the hall. A humanoid man, held up only by chains that pried his arms back, was slouched over as his chains began to rattle. As the chains rattled a clicking noise began to build up speed around you as the man began to speak, asking again about "What is knowledge?" as he looked up at you revealing his face. You noticed immediately that he had several puncture wounds in his forehead and strange, insect-like mandibles extending from the sides of his mouth. He stared at you and cried out in pain as the clicking noise built up to a rather unpleasant chittering sound that filled the hall along with his cries and the rattling of his chains. From the halls around you you heard a more calm voice ask "What are memories? Are you imprisoned and tied down by your pasts? If you could forget your mistakes...would you be better off?"The man struggled against his chains throughout all this, and as you attempted to answer the series of questions with your own personal interpretations, the man collapsed again, unable to support himself any longer and again held up only by the chains. An argument was had between DAN, Frode and Kaswink about whether or not to just end the guys suffering. Frode believed he should bear his burden as it is what Ilmater would want, while the other opinion was that his suffering should be ended. Namina attempted to heal that man which did close his wounds briefly but they only reopened with fresh punctures. Kaswink attempted to put a bolt in the man's head after Frode acquiesced and read him an excerpt from the big book of Ilmater. The bolt left the crossbow and the rest of you saw it vanish as it reached the man's head, he seemed unaffected though Kaswink could not remember pulling the trigger or even loading the crossbow. Another attempt was made to instead just break his neck, the neck twisted and "broke" though it continued twisting quite unpleasantly and the man continued breathing after it was set back to a "normal" position. You woke him up to ask why this is happening and his only response before passing out again was "it won't let me die." Considering it a lost cause and that perhaps Frode might be right about him being some avatar of Ilmater or something they left him there.
Meanwhile, Hysteria investigated the area behind and around the man. They found a secret doorway which lead to yet another dark spooky room. This room was full of darkness, and, much like the candle room, it had only one light source. A chandelier hung from a chain that extended up into the darkness above and gently illuminated the center of the room revealing a figure in a dark robe seated in a tall throne and facing away from the party.
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