Candlekeep Mysteries Group 2

"HA!" Crinkle barks at the pun. He nods and goes to fulfill your request.

'It seems, while 600 years ago, this 'Singing Madness' was notable enough for you to remember it after so long. Do you recall anything else about it..?' asks Orvok, having now recovered from his drinking the previous night. Then what he's just heard, and asked sinks in. 'You were here 600 years ago...'

While Varnyr is answering, he will ritually cast Detect Magic in order to help determine any local enchantments that might be responsible...

"I was around, but I don't remember much - especially because I wasn't there. This is only what I heard. I'm a sun elf. We live a long time."

"Sun elf my arse...you still haven't answered my question...why isn't this curse effecting you, huh?" Hino angrily responds to Varnyr .

"Hino, I'm not sure how all this works," says Emporious as he waves a hand about in a circle indicating Hino's entire form, "but you may need to do an assessment of some type. Varnyr was humming the tune as she came down the stairs and so is seemingly affected as well." Turning to Varnyr he replies to her answer by saying, "I can understand the difficulty in remembering details from such a far removed time but you are the only connection we have to the original event. You have to try and remember some more details, like perhaps where they quarantined the man specifically, or how they stopped it initially." 

Post #894.

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:

"So am I correct, mmm, mmmmmm, hmmm, to assume that the bookseller was locked in here? If, hmmmmmm, mmmm, hnnn, mmmm, you don't know maybe there is a record somewhere we could look at. I'm just trying, hnnmmmm, mmMMMMmmm, to get as much background as I can so I can try and get this cursrd tune out of my head." Grumps Emporious us between moments of humming.

"It may be time for you to do a hard reboot Hino" Isa suggests... 'or a hard something' she thinks to herself laughing a bit.

"There must be something with one of these books in here..." she starts humming to herself mid-sentence and suddenly realizing that she never completed her sentence "Oh, Um... sorry... one of these books in here that is causing this curse."

Surely! Otherwise there would be no need to shut us in, because if it has originated somewhere else, we wouldn't be the only few who are affected. So does anyone have a way to contact someone from outside of this place to verify that theory?

As Ebder is about to answer, he lapses into some sort of trance and begins making a horrible sound. It's a shrill sound that tears through the Firefly Cellar, overpowering all other noise. Though it rapidly rises to an uncanny pitch, scaring the dickens out of you. Ebder’s eyes are bulging in terror. He begins to hums the rhyme’s melody, the rest of his body paralyzed. He’s cold to the touch. He continues to sing the rhyme over and over for over five minutes. Crinkle looks absolutely terrified.

Emporious grabs Ebder by the lapels and gives him a firm shake " Snap out of it man!" He shouts before going right back to humming. If that fails Emporious will give him a lite slap acroos the cheek.

Nope! This has gotten out of hand!

Barbär starts to flip through his leathered spell book, thumbing through notes and checking spells

Arcana check on wtf is going on 18

Nothing seems to be working! He's just now screaming the words to the tune! It's horrifying. Barbell, you've never seen this in your life. After a number of minutes go by, Ebder stops.

Ebder? Are you ok? Are you alive? 

Bramble gets in close to give a medicine check to see if he still lives 18

Edber doesn't speak, but he's alive. He's extremely shaken by this incident. Everyone gathers around, wondering what to do, or what to say.

Isa stares wide-eyed at Edber as he shrieks the tune and suddenly goes cold and stiff yet still alive. She starts to nervously hum and pace in a panic. “Is this going to happen...” she drifts off humming again. 

“Is this going to happen to us”. She goes back to humming and nervously pacing. 

"At least I'm trying to do something about this curse, other than you nerds who just wanna stand around and stick your thumbs up your arses and talk about it!" Hino grumbles.  "All talk, no action."

Hino then turns to K'Tulah, and in an friendly voice asks "How 'bout you?  When did you first notice this humming?  And does any of your research into folk magic have anything to say about this?"

Getting further agitated and antsy, Hino refuses to stand around gabbing away with the theorists, so she gathers up her things and proceeds to explore the rest of the cellars for any possible exists (other than the one that Varnyr came through and locked), or other clues as to what (or who) might be causing this curse.

She'll start with the top floor, looking in the various alcoves around the periphery of the room.

Hino then turns to K'Tulah, and in an friendly voice asks "How 'bout you?  When did you first notice this humming?  And does any of your research into folk magic have anything to say about this?"

"When did I first notice the humming? About twenty minutes ago when it first started. And nope. Nothing but folk magic. Nothing on strange musical curses."

F1 

The circular room contains curved, dark wood bookcases packed with books of assorted shapes, sizes, and ages. Flowers in ceramic pots line the tops of the shelves, giving the area a sweet fragrance. Alcoves are spaced at regular intervals around the perimeter of the room. Four of them contain polished bronze statues of bespectacled scholars, and three hold overstuffed chairs. In the center of the room, a brass railing surrounds an overlook that gives a view of the lower level of the stacks.

Hanging from the ceiling, above the opening in the floor, is an enormous stone sculpture of an open book that looks as though the cover is flapping to keep it aloft. A spiral staircase to the east leads down, as well as up to the trapdoor exit set into the ceiling. The occasional errant firefly flits about. The bookcases are 10 feet tall, and each one has a new rolling ladder attached to it. Area F2 is visible from the balcony.

Hino makes an anxious circle around the entirety of area F1, and finding no worthwhile clues, she'll head down the stairs to the middle floor, and enter area F3 (knocking on the door first, before barging in).

All the while, she's muttering to herself the lyrics to the song she just can't get out of her head.

F3

The musty smell of old books hangs in the air here. Concentric rings of bookcases dominate the space, with a heavy granite table occupying the room’s center. The table would be a circle, but for six semicircular gaps cut into it around its edge, creating spaces for six chairs. Small stacks of books rest on the table along with a candleholder that contains firefly-filled jars.

The Firefly Cellar’s general study area encourages quiet reading. The shape of the table creates six individual study spaces. The table weighs around 300 pounds, and four rolled-up indigo rugs rest underneath. The bookcases are 10 feet tall. Two of them have attached rolling ladders. An unattached ladder leans against a shelf in the southwest part of the room. Looking up, you can see into area F1 and the enormous stone book sculpture dangling overhead.