20 - Curtains of Fate and an Eclipse of Meaning
| Session 1 | Session 19 | Session 20 | ||
| ◀◀ | ◀ | ▲ | ▶ | ▶▶ |
| Ashira Brolin Frostbite | Ashira Frostbite | Ashira |
Too bad she was gone already
The clouds of Yon clung like darkness as the adventurers prepared for what might be their strangest gambit yet - a theatrical deception designed not merely to entertain, but to outwit the hag Endalyn. The stage was their battlefield, and the script their weapon.
Act I: A Foolish Minstrel and a Jester’s Hat
Frostbite sat in the dressing room, arms crossed and eyes half-lidded. "A foolish minstrel," he mumbled, scoffing. "Aren’t all minstrels foolish? Otherwise, they’d be a bard, right?" He stared disdainfully at the silly jester’s hat someone had placed in his hands. "Don’t think I’ll be wearing no silly costume… hah. The silly minstrel hat will have to do. Let the others worry about their costumes."
With that, Frostbite lay down in the corner of the dressing room and drifted off into a nap, blissfully ignoring the swirl of chaotic planning around him. For about twenty minutes, the rest of the group was embroiled in increasingly convoluted discussions about the plot of the play. What they were planning sounded like utter madness to Frostbite - something about love, poison, a jester’s distraction, and a magical eclipse.
Eventually, Gleam shook him awake. "You need to know your part!" she exclaimed urgently. Frostbite groaned. "This is not my thing," he muttered as he sat up.
The group, trying to simplify things for him, outlined five simple steps - a phrase that filled him with growing dread:
1. Wait for Princess Maeve - though Maeve mentioned another silly name she took - to poison the servant played by Gleam.
2. Distract the princess by jumping and shaking his head, jingling the bells on his jester hat.
3. Wait for the princess to die.
4. Dramatically commit suicide by jumping off the podium.
5. Done. Easy, right?
It took several frustrating attempts for Frostbite to remember his cues. Only when the others looked just convinced he’d do it right did Stagefright, the jittery goblin, reappear.
"Are you ready to follow my words of the play?" the goblin asked, script in hand.
Dhanell immediately barked, "Shut up! We already know what we’re going to do!" But Stagefright wouldn't be so easily dismissed. "Please! If I don't do my job, the hag will punish me!" he wailed.
Despite this, the group ignored him and marched toward the stage to perform their own invented play.
Act II: The Tragedy of Endalyn's Eclipse
As the curtains opened, Maeve stepped forward, taking the lead with poise and purpose. Her voice rang out, honeyed and sorrowful, as she wove the tale of a doomed love triangle between a noble knight and a maid, the wrathful princess who poisoned out of jealousy, and the tragic end that awaited them all.
Frostbite watched from the wings at first, eyes narrowed in skepticism. But as Maeve continued, her words dancing like wind-blown silk through the air, Frostbite found himself leaning forward. Her voice, her command of the stage, her beautiful, poetic phrasing - it gripped something in him he kept forgetting was vulnerable. He, who scoffed at foolish minstrels and silly plays, sat utterly entranced.
When the time came, Frostbite shook off his daze just long enough to spring into action. He ran onstage in his jester’s hat, leaping and shaking his head like a fool. The bells jingled, drawing gasps and laughter from the crowd of darklings.
From there, he simply sat down, blinking. He didn’t really understand the rest of the story - something about the knight being accidentally poisoned, the princess begging a royal wizard to raise him from the dead, the failed resurrection turning him into an undead horror. There was a duel, a storm of emotions, and at the end… death. For everyone.
As the final act approached, Gleam, wearing her moon mask, walked towareds the conjured illusion of the sun - to blot it out completely. A perfect eclipse, inspired by the party’s knowledge that Endalyn feared such celestial events. The crowd erupted into ecstatic cheers - not necessarily because they understood the symbolism, but because so many people died in the play.
But just before the curtain fell, Frostbite noticed Stagefright again - scrambling toward the stage to stop the eclipse. Without hesitation, Frostbite lunged forward, tackling the goblin and pinning him down, his bulk silencing any last protest the creature had.
Unfortunately, Endalyn had already left her balcony before the eclipse could have any direct effect. Still, the crowd was enthralled. The play had succeeded. The hag had not interfered. And the troupe - our heroes - was told they were free to explore the place as they pleased.
Act III: The Oracular Library
Back in the dressing room, the group decided to push forward and explore the area. Pulling aside the heavy curtain backstage revealed a library - dim, cluttered, and curiously quiet. Three bespectacled goblins sat reading thick black tomes in dead silence.
Frostbite wandered up, confused. "Is this the Ocu Orcu - " he tried to ask, stumbling over the unfamiliar term.
HSSSSSHHHHH! came the immediate reply from all three goblins.
He frowned. "What? I’m just askin’ if this is the - "
HSSSSHHH!!!
His temper flared. "Can these little creatures not just answer a question instead of hissing like snakes?!"
Eventually, after several more grumbles, one of the goblins grudgingly answered: "Yes. This is the Oracular Library."
Frostbite turned back toward the group, arms wide. "See? This is the Ocusomething Library." More hissing followed. He ignored it.
Within the shadowed room, every book seemed black. One of the party read parts of a volume in goblin hands, reading aloud a part of a grim tale of Endalyn's downfall. Does every book chronicle potential futures - of Endalyn specifically? Hundreds, if not thousands, of twisted paths her fate might take.
Zephyr’s sharp eyes spotted something unusual among the monochrome tomes: a lone green book with a back shaped like a frog. He handed it to Dhanell, who opened it without hesitation.
CRACK.
A small, hidden vial inside the book shattered.
PFFFSSSHHHHH.
A white cloud burst from the back cover, engulfing both Dhanell and Zephyr in a misty swirl. The others stepped back in alarm, weapons half-drawn, eyes wide. As the smoke settled, the session came to a tense and uncertain end.
Thus closed the curtain on the party’s twentieth act. A play within a play, a deception woven of illusion and improvisation, and a library of shadows now beckoning them deeper into Yon’s secrets.
| Session 1 | Session 19 | Session 20 | ||
| ◀◀ | ◀ | ▲ | ▶ | ▶▶ |
| Ashira Brolin Frostbite | Ashira Frostbite | Ashira |
Updated on: 20:17
