February 10, 2024

Hook

TSB;EoA: Katabasis Game 5 (Itzehecayan/Smorodina, Kurago)

Plot Synopsis

The parties all met up on Mordrick once again to share the gathered items and obtain information as to what exactly they were fighting against. It took a week before everyone showed up. This party learned that they need to do two things. Find a way to close the holes in the Kurago and find some way to appease the creature making them.

The game officially started (very late) with the party discussing their next moves on the back of Bob the Electrolotl, delving into the depths of their brains to determine if they knew anyone who could mess with portals or holes of nothing in such a way. Nakai and Merrit shared a story of an ancient spirit, potentially one of the earliest, who was essentially a witch. She popped up in children’s stories every now and then serving as a guide/teacher, usually knowing things about strange beasts and how to ward them away. Wyren remembered Darnell, an old member of his circus troupe who sadly passed away. Feare, as a last resort, suggested finding the spirit of Charles Lithicore, to grind him for connections and information and then find some way to destroy Charles’s spirit.

This gave the party three options. Nakai decided the best option was to try and find Darnell, as he would most likely have actual information whilst still being real enough to track down. Nakai used his Channeling abilities to find the echoes of Darnell’s spirit. This led the party to Itzehecayan, the land of the Eternal Blizzard. Lucero took in the area, having never seen snow before, finding the calming area peaceful. Wyren’s Toyota suffered major damage from the blizzard, with its tires almost popping from obsidian shards and it getting hurled into the air at one point. Thankfully no one was hurt in the landing, though the car was damaged. Thankfully, it was nothing that Midna or a similar smith couldn’t fix, so the party continued onward.

They came to a stone suspension bridge over a river filled with burning sulfur known to Merrit as Smorodina. While they crossed, a large being jumped down from the bridge’s towers. Some of the party thought it was a troll, others said ogre, Nakai called him a blue oni. The being explained that he considered all of those names to apply to himself. Merrit asked for identification, to which the being gave the clearly false name of “uhh…uhh…uhh…Radaghast the…uhh…Icy.” Lucero initially attempted to make friends with "Radaghast," spouting some very profound wisdom. “Radaghast” offered to let the party pass and tell them where Darnell may have went if they offered up some gold. Merrit assured “Radaghast” that he would get his pay from Merrit’s higher ups, but he wasn’t convinced. Wyren then pulled “Radaghast” aside and offered something of great value which should be kept secret.

“Radaghast” let the party pass, finding the secret to be of great value, enough to let them pass for a whole year. On the other side, the party found that the taiga landscape was a lot greener, almost the summer to the frozen winter on the bridge’s other side. While searching around on the ground, Feare and Merrit found some scraps of multicolored handkerchiefs on the ground, one of which contained a jester mask. It seemed like they left a trail. Wyren now fears the worst as he knows Darnell has somehow been captured by a previous infamous and artistic member of Wyren’s old circus crew

Noteworthy Postgame Events