Bulletin #5 - Levity Lodge - NoQu 2025

NoQu 2025

Day 13

Total Words: 21,666 Words

Chapter 5: Levity Lodge

"…this mythic Faun; how happy, how genial, how satisfactory would be his life, enjoying the warm, sensuous, earthy side of nature; reveling in the merriment of woods and streams…"

-Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun

The forest soon gave way to a serene valley, filled with birdsong and flowering shrubs. You think you must be imagining the sound of panpipes echoing, but the more you walk the less likely that seems. Finally, you see it. Half man, half goat, darting between the shrubs. The melody doesn't echo anymore.

"Hello?" You call. A giggle is your only answer. His pattering hoofbeats rush through the grass just past you. He doesn't say a word, only plays his pipes and giggles. But you follow him anyways, and he doesn't seem to be trying to lose you.

As the sun sets, the goat man leads you to a dimly lit lodge nestled between two hills.

Prompt: Make a character laugh at something they shouldn't.

"What fun, what fun," are the first words you hear him say. He beckons you to the front door of the lodge, bouncing with each step like a mountain kid.

You oblige him. Your pocket feels warm again. "What is this place?" You ask as you step up to the threshold.

"Levity Lodge, of course! The only place worth staying for lovers of wit and humor, as you clearly MUST be!" He giggles and pushes the door open. You can hardly see inside.

"A bit dark in here," you comment.

"Yes, yes, but a new face will brighten things up! Come, come!"

Ambiance: Flute Music in Valley

Weak candles in tin-punch lamps are set on shelves and tables inside. Satyrs are gathered round, playing darts and cards and eating heartily and singing and dancing and telling stories, and laughing— so much laughing.

"It's been slow, so slow, since the stage lights went out," said your guide mournfully. "How could we possibly have stand up night without stage lights? We tried, but the faces are part of the story, and when you can't hardly see faces— face it! It's hard to laugh."

The lodge grows quieter, just a table or two at first, before it spread through the whole room. "Look everyone!" Says someone from the crowd. "Our next comedy act!" Excitement ripples through the crowd.

Dare: Pan flute - write 15+20+30+45+65+90+120+155+195 words for 735 total when you're done

"Oh! No, you've got it wrong, sorry," you say above the crowd. Everyone freezes.

"No jokes?" One asks. Everyone droops with a sigh or a mutter.

"I'm better," you say, trying to save it. "I'm here to fix your stage lights."

A cheer erupts from all the satyrs, and soon a small group of them is pushing and swarming around you to try and be the one to show you the lights.

With a piece of the map, it's a simple fix, and you earn some shed satyr antlers for your trouble and a nice warm bed for the night. You barely want to leave, but you still have half a map left. It can wait for tomorrow.

Question: What is something you find funny in your project and why?

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