Candlekeep Mysteries Group 2

"Interesting." says Emporious. Continuing on the beat of the tune, almost as if he is unable to help himself, he asks Varnyr, "Dooooooes this meeeeaaaan anything tooooooooo youhoo? It seems quite.....ooood"

Suddenly realizing what he just did Emporious eyes pop wide and he puts a fist to his mouth "Ahemhmmm!" he coughs before repeating in a steadier tone. "Seems odd."

Odd? How so? Its just a catchy tune. Whats so ominous of a song, friend? He tilts his head slightly trying not to think too much into the fact they all are humming the same tune

Mav comes shuffling out of the bedroom in his bathrobe, doing a little dance step in tune to the music he and apparently everyone else is humming but doesn't realize it until he sits at the table and starts to eat.  He looks at everyone else humming or singing the same tune and says "Well this is certainly odd....why are you all humming my song?"

Isa cringes at Hino's singing and leans over to Barbar "I'm so sorry, yesterday she sang so beautifully..." mental note, NEVER ask Hino to sing again... she goes back to humming the tune to herself... but she can't get Hino's voice out of her head.  "Ahhh" she grunts shaking her head  Suddenly she looks up at the others, kind of half realizing that they are all humming the same tune.  "When did this little tune get in y'alls head" she asks.

Isa tries to remember the first time she heard the tune: 12 

"Odd... because we're all hearing and utilizing the melody, yet no one knows where they heard it first. At least I can't seem to remember. We should check around and see who else is hearing this. How about the person you delivered those books too last night? Might be possible they did something that would have an effect on any who are near." replies Emporious. Now aware of the phenomenon he is able to push the tune to the background in his mind but try as he might it won't completely go away. The wizard repeatedly catches himself starting to hum the tune under his breath.

Good heavens, with a performance like that, you're liable to get kicked out. Isa, strangely, you can't remember hearing this song before in your life, yet, here you are - and everyone else - humming it. You can't get it out of your head. This morning, K’Tulah and Ebder share the table with you all. Ebder looks up from reading a book, he looks annoyed, and says, "Can you all please stop that humming? We try and keep it quiet in here."

After a few moments, to your surprise, he begins humming it too.

"If you prefer, we can sing it instead...." Mav says before launching in to a raspy baritone version of Hino's song

[Performance: 4]

"Gloomy Sunday with a hundred white flowers
I was waiting for you my dearest with a prayer
A Sunday morning, chasing after my dreams
The carriage of my sorrow returned to me without you
It is since then that my Sundays have been forever sad
Tears my only drink, the sorrow my bread..."

See? Its contagious. This is becoming more and more weird. I didnt prepare my detect curse spell today, i mean how would i have known?!

Wide eyed blinking for a moment, Isa simply stares at Ebder as he annoyingly tells them to be quiet....

After a few moments she starts giggling.... and humming along with him.  "It's in your head now too, isn't it?" she says almost mockingly.

She waits a moment and then asks K'Tulah and Ebder "Do either of you recognize the tune?"

More annoyed than amused, Hino shoves her chair back away from the table, gets up, and marches to the exit of the Firefly Cellar, back into the House of Rest.  Mumbling to herself, "Has this affliction affected everyone?" she looks around for other guests in the House of Rest, to see if this curse has spread elsewhere.

Investigation: 15

She'll then march straight back to the breakfast area, and report on the results of her investigation.

Moments later, the hatch in the ceiling of the upper floor (area F1) slams shut, followed by the sound of several mechanical locks engaging. Varnyr, the senior-ranking Avowed in the place, has locked the hatch, sealing herself, you guys, Ebder, K’Tulah, and Crinkle inside the Firefly Cellar. 

As she descends the spiral staircase to area F2, she hums the cursed tune in a soft voice. With effort, Varnyr suppresses her humming and shares the following information:

“When I first arrived at Candlekeep, the Avowed were concerned about a ‘singing madness.’ A book merchant had been afflicted with it and was put in isolation after several Avowed began singing the song as well.” She pauses and frowns. “I don’t know what happened to him or the others. That was six hundred years ago.” She gathers her composure and adds, “I’ve alerted the Avowed and sealed the exit to stop whatever this is from spreading.”

K’Tulah says, "I'm not sure I like being confined down here. What does this mean? Are we stuck here?"

Ebder says, "Ugh. What an annoyance. All this commotion will certainly affect my work!" 

"So what you're telling me is that this is the song that never ends. Did you all hear that? According to her it goes on and on my friends. So if I have this correct, some one started singing it a while back not knowing what it was and they continued singing it just because it's a song that never ends." Emporious shakes his head in denial. "This simply will not do. This will make it very difficult to concentrate on a spell. Let's get busy and puzzle this out. What are you studying Master Ebder? If I may be so bold. You as well Madam K'Tulah. I do hate to intrude but perhaps this may,be related some how."

Still humming Mav looks around "600 years is a long time to be singing a song.  What happened to this book merchant?"

"600 years?!" Hino exlaims.  "I don't think I could last 600 seconds longer with this dumb song in my head!"

She's apparently starting to freak out, as she starts to pace back and forth around the periphery of the room like a caged rat, all while humming the damn song.

Suddenly halting...she points to Varnyr and angrily retorts "Now wait a second..."  she hums a few bars of the melody ... "How come the music doesn't seem to affect you?!  Maybe you're the source of this curse?"

Isa attempts to listen as Varnyr tells the... she starts humming to herself again, what a lovely little tune she thinks.  She continues to hum along...

Maybe you're the source of this curse?

"I am NOT" she emphatically states looking back at Hino but suddenly realizing that Hino wasn't even talking to her "Oh, sorry... I thought you were talking to me."  Isa cheeks flush a bit as she turns and starts humming again.

"You said it originated with a book merchant." says Emporious between moments of humming. "Do you know what books he had in his possession at the time?" He asks Varnyr.

Ebder is reading a book on scriptoriums, and K'Tulah is reading a book on local folk magic.

Suddenly halting...she points to Varnyr and angrily retorts "Now wait a second..."  she hums a few bars of the melody ... "How come the music doesn't seem to affect you?!  Maybe you're the source of this curse?"

Everyone in the room is humming the song.

"You said it originated with a book merchant." says Emporious between moments of humming. "Do you know what books he had in his possession at the time?" He asks Varnyr.

"It was 600 years ago. I don't know." she says.

Crinkle comes back in with more food, whistling the tune absentmindedly.

Isa hums along as crinkle comes back with more food "Oh thank you!" she pauses for a bit "you wouldn't know how to make fries would you??  I could go for some good ole crinkle cut fries..."

Isa looks at the others "Maybe we should have all the guests come here so that we could have a good ole hum along discussion about when and where everyone started noticing themselves humming this tune." She grabs a bite of food and starts humming again.

Mav looks at Isa and says "Aren't any fries they make technically Crinkle cut?" and he smiles again as he continues to hum the tune.

books.. Books... Wait. Are any of those books from yesterday related to this?