Stripan

*Stripan* refers to the book which acted as a gateway between the main world that the SMP presides in, and the world where the first WilburtwtSMP DND campaign took place in. Dm-ed by Cacoa and LunaXLee

## Stripan

### Performers

(Player Characters)Jamie, Salt, Mar, Bread, Ferris, D. Wilbur, Ace

### Date

December 30 to 31, 2022

> *This page is a work in progress.*
>
>

## Synopsis

The DND campaign starts with the party preparing for their camping trip by purchasing supplies in an unnamed town, located in their world (the WilburtwtSMP). One party member, Jamie, goes on to purchase a book from the bookstore so that he has something to read to the other campers on their first night in the wilderness. Jamie bought a book named Stripan from the mysterious librarian villager, Kuthar, who appeared to have been trying to get rid of the book.

Later that night, the party gathers around the campfire and Jamie reads the book to them. The start of the book tells the story of a world who once had a colorful court of gods that lived together in harmony. However, due to past disputes and corruption, the gods plunged themselves into war. In the midst of this war, two gods, known as the God of Life and the God of Death, met and fell in love. The war ends with them being the sole survivors, as they made a vow promising that they will not turn on each other nor will they cause each other pain. Thus began their reign as the God of Light and God of Darkness (in order).

Jamie found that the story ended there, and the remaining pages remained blank. As he flipped through it, a white light envelopes the whole party, before a disembodied voice tells them that they have been chosen to walk 'the world of darkness', and that they must succumb to the light.

When they wake up, they find themselves in Stripan. A stranger, named Xenon, dressed in bandages and a hooded cloak greets them. He introduces himself as the guardian of the woods and the nearby town named Motley, and explains that he was the one who created the book that Jamie purchased. The book's purpose was to *safely* take travelers from other worlds, as before travelers would be dropped into the world of Stripan in a near-dead state. This implied that there were those before the party that were taken to the world of Stripan, and that an unknown force was pulling them in.

As they venture into the forest, Motley being their destination, the party is told their purpose in Stripan. Xenon tells them that a 'Darkness' befell on the world, casting dark shadows in every nook and cranny, and it prevented the night from ever ending. Humanoid, shadow monsters called the Unlit started spawning from the shadows. The party faced three of these monsters in the middle of their venture into the forest. The party's purpose in Stripan is to kill the God of Death/Darkness, Azrail.

When they arrived at Motley, an old man came up to them, riddled with disease. The old man had a coughing fit before dropping dead in front of the party. Xenon explains then that the population of the town is so low, as well as the general population of the world, due to a sickness that came with the Darkness named katifeia. The sickness is described to be an illness everyone living during the Darkness would contract, a darkness that would grow in the core of their bodies, covering their skin in dark splotches. It is an erratic illness that either takes time to kill its host, or kills the host immediately upon contraction.

Xenon tells the party that the actual cure to katifeia is to get rid of the Darkness of the land, which involves killing the God of Death. When asked how the party could return home, Xenon also relates it back to the God of Death; he told them that the God of Death is keeping the world prisoner. There is a way in, albeit unknown, but the only way out is to kill the God of Death as well.

Xenon also explains that there is a concoction that does not cure katifeia fully, but slows down its effects. It's located in a nearby Light Temple outside of the town, however its exact location is only known by the fisherman Rusorth. And so, the party was instructed to explore the town first. Their first destination was the steelsmith, as they need to upgrade their weapons which they brought over from the other world. The upgrade involves adding a glowing crystal that makes their tools effective against the Unlit. The party was told that these crystals were hard to come by.

The party goes on to talk to the other NPCs of the town, learning more about the world, their quest, their companion, and so much more. They learned that Xenon covers himself in bandages and hides under a hood as he is suffering from an extreme case of katifeia that disfigured, covering his whole body in black splotches that make him appear unsightly. He was also 'adopted' by an elderly couple, Atheena and Marigold, whom provide him with food and new bandages. Atheena is also the cartographer with whom Xenon leaves a piece of a map. Xenon explains that he found it in the woods one day, where he afterwards had an 'accident' that resulted in the map looking damaged and incomplete.

Conversations with the NPCs reveals that Xenon has a healthy relationship with everyone, and that the treasure that the party has brought with them is not valued much in Stripan. So, they were allowed to have anything for free, under the guise that all expenses were put on Xenon's tab.

They meet Asher, the owner of the bar, who provided them with drink and food. Asher gives them a letter