Solving Mist-eries
| Solving Mist-eries | |
|---|---|
| Date | 8/14/26 |
| Storyteller | Dag |
| Tier | Expert |
| Player Characters | Radari, Mimi, Inari |
| Rewards | 200 xp |
| Result | Awaiting our rescue |
| Author | Inari (frosty) |
| Downtime | 11 |
Associates spend more time in the mist.
Log
Mimi, Radari and I have all chosen to stay behind in Kill Valley and gather what information we can.
Talking to townsfolk yielded few results, though I suppose that’s to be expected. While they seem to be at ease with their current situation, this wasn’t a choice they got to make themselves, and their contentment being a product of foul play is not something we can rule out.
However, any ideas for plans were few and far between—Radari had some number of them, but in truth, they were rather nonsensical.
His one good plan, however, involved trailing the boatman. I suggested we converse with him, but both Mimi and Radari thought that if he had any connection to Monty—which he very likely did—he would be evasive about answering questions as well.
We also knew that we posed no threat to Monty while still within this domain—though we needed to make sense of where exactly we were, first.
We knew very little, admittedly. However, what we did know was that the place we were located in was indeed a demiplane, a finite plane created by another’s will. Furthermore, recalling when we first entered the mist, the unholy energy within it likely meant that there was a connection to a lower plane specifically.
With this connection to unholy forces at least being a starting point, knowing the boatman would not be cooperative, and also being aware that our time in town was limited before townsfolk became suspicious of us not taking Monty’s deal, we recounted our options.
Radari wanted to “sniff out” the source of the unholiness, which likely meant talking to Monty once again. However, before that, we decided to stop at the town shrine, to perhaps gain a better bearing on what faiths we might encounter and how they could be connected to this.
Within, the setup was fairly standard, with dedications to Sarenrae, Gozreh, and Erastil. However, off to the side was a small, unassuming alcove with no offerings besides a few coins.
I soon found it was a shrine to Charon, a horseman of the apocalypse. At least we then knew whose influence it was, and that it was most certainly daemonic. However, the fact that this shrine was not often used was interesting. Corroborating that with the fact that Monty and the boatman showed up at the same time, and that the coins and the boatman are assuredly connected, we came to the assumption that Monty is, in some way, a vessel for Charon’s daemonic power.
In order to confirm this, we had to interact with him, however. Mimi recalled that there was indeed something unholy about him, and Radari was quick to mention the odd amulet he wore that could be religious in nature. So we decided to make our way back to his manor, to invoke small talk with him while we studied the amulet from afar.
While studying the amulet up close was impossible, it presented itself in a rather odd way. It was not cut as if it were made for jewelry, per se, and it was marbled with two different shades of green—one pale, another a deeper emerald.
Radari recalled an expedition log in which associates recovered an amulet bearing a shard of Lamashtu’s divinity that too had been corrupted by Charon. These two amulets seemed very similar, and as such, we now know that this is a shard of divinity, so too twisted by Charon’s influence. Radari suspected this to be a shard of Erastil, and I confirmed this fact for myself. Such a thing would make sense, for if Monty is a follower of Erastil, he too could have been changed by Charon, resulting in the warped view he has of what protecting and fostering one’s community is like, as are Erastil’s edicts.
After leaving Monty’s estate, we made our way back to the town. Radari chose to investigate the river, but found nothing of note, while Mimi asked around about what life was like before the mist.
To the townspeople, it was full of worrying, and they felt much safer here now without any threat of the cataclysms. However, some people still get tired of this life, and when they do, the boatman takes them down the river to move on to the next life.
It seemed like the longer we stayed here, the more people began changing the subject of any conversation towards joining the community. Polite facades replaced genuine hospitality, and it was not long before we were fully unwelcome, with those who once showed us warmth now closing their doors on us. Radari, for his part, made no attempt to appease the townsfolk, and was shunned entirely, but I don’t blame him. It’s no use to lie to them if they can sense our intent to not join the community.
Exiled from the village, we had no choice but to wait for our rescue. In the meantime, however, we decided to try and find more outcasts, eventually coming across someone as we were exploring the forest outside town. She, albeit hesitantly, agreed to let us stay with her for the night, leading us back to a camp where the other outcast Radari had spoken to before was residing as well. She seemed unhappy about the situation, to say the least, but allowed us to stay as long as we provided for ourselves.
Mimi asked the two of them what life was like before the mist, in order to compare it to that of the townsfolk’s opinion. They said much of the same—that it used to be dangerous, and was now far safer—but at least they had each other back then. And that they wish things would go back to the way they used to be, if that should even be possible. They didn’t feel as if they were in danger, from Monty or the townsfolk, but alienation brings its own grief. There were, at least, other outcasts around, though they generally kept to themselves.
With nothing left to do but wait, we have been spending our time in the woods. I pray that this issue may be resolved soon, so that we may return to the lives we cherish so deeply. Life may bring dangers and difficulties, but it is life nonetheless.