Episode 1
After meeting on an island mansion in Willapa Bay inherited by their wealthy friend Fab, the player characters (PCs), Deborah, Reed, Fab, and Staggy, are directed by mysterious clues to an equally mysterious chamber beneath a carousel, which contains kilometers of stolen art in a seamless metal corridor. They meet a tiny gnome, named Centhwevir Blue-and-Gold, after traveling down the corridor, who warns them that they are in “grrraave daanger!”. Exiting the carousel they are startled by an explosion from the mansion, astonished by a ghostly figure playing music at the carousel keyboard, and then attacked by mercenaries led by mysterious business suited individuals called, “The Smiths”. The Smiths send their mercenaries away after the PCs are defeated in battle, and then zap the PCs with a ray from a device shaped like a Moebius Strip that knocks them out.
The PCs wake up as 2-Dimensional figures trapped in a portrait in the mansion alongside a gallery of similar portraits. The Smiths enter the room, and the PCs can now see each Smith has a bizarre distorted ethereal figure with tentacles, sharp teeth, pincers, and chitinous limbs floating above their body. One of the Smiths states, “This body is senescing, I require a new. This one is now ripe”. The Smiths unlock one of the nearby portraits letting the 2-D figure, with a vaguely human ghostly form floating above, flop to the ground. They zap the figure with their “Moebius Cube”, and it becomes 3-D. Then they use Moebius Cube to create an ethereal blade to cut away the ghostly form above the figure. The tentacles from The Smith reach out and grab the new body, dropping their own body stone dead in the process.
After the Smiths leave, the PCs are freed by Centhwevir Blue-and-Gold, the strange tiny gnome and the ghostly keyboard player. Still 2-D, they find The Smiths downstairs moving the stolen artwork and engage them in battle, freeing the devices and regaining 3-D form. The carousel is activated, the ghostly keyboard player returns, and a vortex forms above the island, sucking the entire island and all the PCs into another dimension, to the familiar sound of the TARDIS from Doctor Who. The characters awake on a sunny hillside next to the the TARDIS.
Episode 2
The PCs are joined by Otto, Mr. Bruno, and Phil, whose car had just been driving up onto the island when the vortex sucked them away. The PCs discover inside the TARDIS is Fab’s island in the midst of a gray nothingness that is gradually devouring the island. Also inside the TARDIS is the now stone figure of Centhwevir and the ghostly keyboard player. They zap the ghostly keyboarder with the Moebius Cube, and discover they each recognize the translucent figure as someone they briefly met from their past. This person seemed innocuous at the time, but they find a series of newspaper and internet articles that show them dying in the same past scene as they met this person. Inside the carousel, an image from the past of Fab’s now deceased Uncle Archie, explains that they must rescue the remaining pieces of The Doctor, who has been dimensionally fractured, so The Doctor can in turn rescue them from their terrible fates.
They also soon discover they are in fairy tale land and rescue the town of Dale by battling the Big Bad Wolf using the mercenaries’ Humvee and silver shotgun pellets. As the battle concludes, they free the BBW from a Smith using the Moebius Cube, and then desperately work to heal the now human Woodsman, Lars. Lars survives and heals remarkably quickly, then relates how Baba Yaga originally turned him into a werewolf to punish him for cutting a dryad’s tree. He spent the full moon each month as a relatively harmless wolf. But then The Smiths had turned him into an evil and dangerous BBW.
Episode 3
The PCs are joined by Ralphus the homeless psychic, who had been walking up to the mansion off the road shortly after everyone else had arrived, just before the vortex took them away.
Lars, the werewolf Woodsman, leads the PCs to meet his grandmother Baba Goose. On the way they meet a freak storm that drops a house and a waterfall across their road. They notice the cries of a baby in a cradle caught in a tree overhanging a river. As the wind blows the swaying tree they rescue the baby and continue on.
At the town of Crossroads they see GIANT footprints and massive signs of devastation. They meet Baba Goose who is chanting nursery rhymes as she magically brings the people of Crossroads back into the world. Baba Goose has moved into a gigantic discarded shoe with many orphaned children, whose gingerbread orphanage was crushed. They learn the devastation was caused by a godzilla sized fire-breathing giant’s attack on the town of Crossroads, capturing anyone Baba Goose could not hide with her magic. Baba Goose is overwhelmed by caring for all the kids, so she sends the PCs on to the Emerald Castle.
The PCs then travel to the seaside Emerald Castle. They are granted entry over the magical drawbridge by the Castle Seneschal. A being that forms its shape in their own reflection on the walls of the castle. Inside the castle are many refugees from the giant attack. Inside the central keep they enter to meet the Queen/King (Queeng) of fairy tale land, Titania/Oberon, another strange being who in one body is a blend of many animals, plants, insects, and male and female human figures.
Oberon/Titania leads a large circular ceremonial dance. With skillful dancing Otto reaches the center of the dance, briefly meeting The Wizard before The Wizard dances away, and then Otto speaks to the Queeng. The Queeng offers to help the PCs after they spend the night.
However, at midnight the Emerald Castle chimes and shudders like a broken bell waking them. Out of their pockets pop jelly beans that turn into jelly lizard monsters and attack them. They quickly defeat these creatures. Then they discover the Queeng has been dimensionally splinched into her/his component animal, plant, and human forms. Alive, but paralyzed and insensible. They discover next to the Queeng a device that resembles their Moebius cubes, now burnt out.
Episode 4
In the chaos following the battle, the PCs meet a variety of colorful characters including group of royalty in playing card livery, and a group of gnome ambassadors who resemble Centhwevir. The PCs are accused of causing the Queeng’s splinch by the card royals who have been misled by the Harlequin. Phil distracts the card soldiers with fireworks, as Staggy knocks out and captures the Harlequin with his boxing. Capturing the Harlequin in 2-D form using a Moebius Cube, the PCs escape in true action hero style by jumping their Hummer over the closed drawbridge, wrecking it on the other side of the chasm. They escape down the road on foot and avoid pursuit by hiding in the marsh. They use the blade from a Moebius Cube to free the Harlequin of a Smith. The mute Harlequin recovers, then mimes that the Smiths captured him too, and shows from his pockets the jelly beans that had turned into monsters. The Harlequin then guides them through the marsh away from their pursuers.
Episode 5
The Harlequin leads them through the marsh towards the town of Crossroads to where they meet Lars the wolfman as a wolf, and his daughter, Jack (Jacqueline), who wears a red hood, a gift from her Baba Goose. They lead the PCs back to the shoe orphanage. There they meet Lar’s extended family, the Cobblers, who introduce them again to the gnome ambassadors. The gnome ambassador’s do not recognize the Centhwevir statue, nor do they recognize Centhwevir as a gnomish name, but they do pronounce him as astoundingly handsome. They offer to guide the PCs to Baba Yaga, a dangerous and powerful witch, who may be able to help them understand what is happening.
A short time later, a powerful storm approaches Crossroads. Baba Goose is alarmed and warns the PCs the giant is approaching again. Deborah decides to confront the giant using a Moebius Cube. Staggy pursues her to prevent her suicidal effort, but stops short of the chaos. Deborah is nearly crushed by the debris scattered about by the mountain sized figure. The giant is driven away from the town by lightning from Baba Goose’s wand, and moves off toward the Emerald Castle, the storm following over the giant. As the PCs watch the giant depart they briefly catch a glimpse of a floating island in the storm cloud above the giant.
The next morning, on the way to Baba Yaga’s house in the mountains, the tiny gnomes lead the PCs over dangerous terrain, not realizing the larger PCs have trouble with the route. Eventually, they reach a mountain meadow where they see Baba Yaga’s house, a small winged hut resting on giant stork’s legs. The hut flees as they approach, but with a combination of music and agility they are able to reach the lintel and the hut settles to the ground. They all enter the hut. There they meet Baba Yaga who after some discussion agrees to help, providing them with magical gifts, including a bag of magic beans. Baba Yaga tells the PCs to ask her sister how to use the beans.
Baba Yaga also explains how The Smiths are also known as The Smiths of the Dimensions. They are beings of the null dimension, similar to Time Lords in their mastery of space, while the Time Lords have mastery of time. They are not native to null space, nothing is, but have adapted to it to survive after being driven there eons ago. Now they envy the uniqueness of other dimensions, and try to steal it, bringing it back to null space. As they invade a dimension, they begin by stealing those things that make it most unique, famous artworks. These things fade as they bring them back to null space, and eventually The Smiths build momentum in their dimensional theft, sucking entire dimensions into null space where they fade away forever.
Baba Yaga reveals that the TARDIS is currently being absorbed by null space, hence the gray nothingness that is consuming the island inside.
Baba Yaga’s gifts
small bag of magic beans: staggy: planted under a full moon it will create a giant beanstalk to the Giant’s castle.
vial of pixie dust: phil : allows you to switch bodies with someone.
eye bauble (and twin eye bauble necklace): deborah: allows the character to see the true form of something. Also allows for remote seeing with an eye bauble necklace.
blown egg: staggy: A hiding place: By peering into the hole of this blown out egg, the character is shrunk to a tiny size and is hidden within the egg. They can exit by looking out the egg’s blow hole from inside.
Bird wing: deborah: This roc’s wing has been reduced to a tiny size by Baba Yaga’s magic, however it still can generate the full hurricane force of an adult roc’s wing.
fox combe: mr bruno: this comb, when worn in the hair turns the character into a fox’s body with their normal mental state. They turn back into a human when they scratch the comb out of their own hair.
snail shell: mr bruno: this is a magical maze in which a person will be lost for some time if they peer into the shell.
rose: phil: causes a person to fall asleep when given to them. They will awaken when it is removed.
Episode 6
After being delivered by Baba Yaga near Crossroads, the PCs try to get advice from Baba Goose as to how they should use the magic beans. Baba Goose is very busy as usual, but gives the PCs a terse clue, “Hey Diddle, Diddle”.
The PCs then attempt to reenact the aspects of the nursery rhyme, “The Cat and the Fiddle”. They find an intact dish and spoon in the shattered town. They also find a cat and a little dog at the orphanage. One of the PCs already has a violin. On the way to the fields to find a cow, one PC finds some glowing blue mushrooms, which they decide to experiment with. A few PCs take the mushrooms while others abstain. Rainbow colors abound for the stoned ones. The PCs plant the “magic” beans and then recite the nursery rhyme.
The unstoned ones see the the cat purr and rub against the violin strings, the little dog play barks as it chases the running cow in the field, and a PC loses grip on the dish and spoon and they flip over in the grass. The stoned PCs see the Cat playing the violin like a Fiddle, the Cow jumps over the full Moon, the Little Dog laughs like a cartoon woodpecker while watching the Cow, and the Dish and Spoon grab hands and run away over the fields together.
Then nothing happens. No beans grow. The disappointed PCs decide to camp out for the rest of the night.
As night grows deeper a mist rises over the ground. The wind picks up and storm clouds cover the sky. Soon rain deluges the fields. The PCs stick it out and eventually see a whirling vortex of clouds and rain focus over the spot where the beans were planted. soon thin vines are climbing skyward, rapidly thickening and growing taller and taller out of site, angled towards the ocean. By sunrise as the storm abates, the PCs see a massive vine, about 30 feet in diameter, extending at a 25 degree angle from the ground far out towards the sea. They begin climbing.
The PCs climb for hours and are soon thousands of feet above the earth. Suddenly the vine draws taut with a massive THRUMMM! The PCs are nearly shaken loose but keep their grip in the tangle of smaller vines. They realize that the vine is now under tension, and has probably anchored the floating island in the giant’s cloud. Concerned that the vine may snap while they are on it, they hasten their march up the vine.
Within a few minutes they see the giant’s island peeking out of the clouds. Scrambling the last few yards they reach the grassland at the edge as the vine gives a snap, then dangles loose behind the island.
The PCs proceed onto the island and into a pile of wrecked houses from the giant’s literal “sacking” of Crossroads. There they find an 8-year old girl who has been hiding for weeks. She is hiding from a group of stick and straw golems that hunt through the captured houses for people and drag them back to the large castle in the center of the floating island. The PCs see the golems coming down the hillside led by a teenaged boy. Using Deborah’s eye bauble they can see that Smiths have possessed the golems. But it is clear they are obeying the young man. They use some of the magical gifts from Baba Yaga to attempt an escape. They all go into a magical egg that shrinks them and hides them inside, and are strapped to the back of Mr. Bruno who uses a comb that can turn him into a fox.
As a fox, Mr. Bruno tries to dodge through the crowd of golems, but is eventually captured by one. The egg falls off his back and breaks, causing an explosion as the PCs are all returned suddenly to full size. Combat ensues until Phil uses the Pixie dust to switch bodies with the young man who led the golems. Gaining power over them, Phil commands the golems to stay back and they halt. Then Phil switches back to his own body, and the young man surrenders.
The PCs learn the young man is named Klaus. He was an apprentice to the Wizard. He inadvertantly brought the Smiths into this world when he cast a golem spell from his Master’s magical book, trying to get help on his chores. The golem Smiths, bound by the spell, were required to obey Klaus, but they were able to take other action when he was not paying attention. The golem Smiths trapped the Wizard and possessed him. The Wizard then intimidated Klaus into obeying him. Klaus has since been capturing people for the Smiths, frightened out of his wits, and lost to how he can stop this disaster. He has no hope left.
The PCs destroy all of Klaus’ broomstick servants. They then convince Klaus to lead them to the castle in the center of the island.
At the castle the PCs enter the front door. Inside they find a split passageway with an identical door at each end. Trying one side, they discover the door is actually much smaller than they can reach through on their own. On the other side, the door is gigantic, impossible to move. After some thought, they realize the passageways are either shrinking them or making them too large to get through.
****{Does anyone remember how they got through? I remember they were miniaturized when they entered the giant’s room}*****
Entering the next room, they find the largest interior cavern they have ever seen. It appears to be a simple room with a table and chair, but everything is massive. The giant, who looks exactly like Centhwevir, even to the missing boot, is the size of a skyscraper. On the other side of the cavern is another passage leaving the chamber. On the top of the table, the PCs can barely make out a gilded cage, filled with captured people.
Entering the chamber, the PCs try to sneak across the room. However, as they near the giant, he stirs, with a thundering “Fee!”. They freeze, but the giant rises from his chair, “Figh!”. They run for the entry door, “Foe!”. As they reach the entry, they hear the thundering footsteps approach, “Fum!”
The PCs quickly dart back through the tiny passage, and into the enlarging passage. Reaching the far end at their own largest size, they are still dwarfed by the giant’s hand as it smashes through the wall and grabs Reed Powers. Combat ensues, with the PCs still each only about a 10th the giant’s size. Grenades are swallowed, explosions burped, then finally Phil throws the tiny stone statue of Centhwevir into the giant’s mouth. Moments later the giant turns to stone and topples backwards to the ground.
Staggy, still in giant size, climbs to the top of the table to rescue the townsfolk. But as he lifts the cage away from them he begins to shrink to his normal size. Still trapped on top of the massive table, the PCs have a difficult time rescuing the people from the towering table. Finally with some ingenuity using the roc’s wing and the 2D ray from the Moebius cube, everyone is more or less safely returned to the floor of the cavern.
The PCs then follow Klaus into the passageway on the far side of the chamber. Klaus informs them that the Smith’s rift is only a short distance ahead.