I'm a GM for a long running game of Pathfinder.

The party had been hired by the Dwarven city to help deal with Giants that had been causing issues on top of the mountains where the Dwarves lived. On their way towards the Giant encampment, they found themselves in a burnt and destroyed village. The Giant's handiwork. They noticed a red fog that lingered all over, with misty skeletal hands occasionally grasping out from within. The vampiric mists being hungry for fresh blood began to chase the party!

They eventually found themselves holed up in the remains of one of the various houses. Once inside, they heard a child, crying in the attic. The bard went to investigate with the barbarian behind them. Once inside, they found a small Dwarven form with torn clothing. As they got closer, the sobbing became more and more distorted until it was an amalgam of terrible sounds causing both to roll will saves or take penalties to attack and damage rolls. The child notices them and turns revealing a skeletal Dwarven kid. Recently turned into an Attic Whisperer by the trauma of the events that transpired in this village. The child caught the arm of the bard and they almost felt as if their larynx was being ripped from their body (Succeeded the will save) The barbarian of course decided to attack it. The bard though was a bit more curious about the child. So when the undead creature reached out again reached out again, they willingly failed the save, allowing the Attic Whisperer to absorb the voice of the bard.

Now at this point, more of that soul-sucking red mist and found them and the other party members would not be able to hold it off for much longer. They needed to leave. Quickly. But the bard was actively trying to communicate with the child and was able to get the barbarian to stop smashing them with his hammer. So I thought, "This'll be fun. Why not?" And so the terrified Dwarven boy who didn't fully understand that they were dead named Amald came to be.

At this point the party had basically decided that they were going to adopt this kid and bring them with them.

"Ok. Cute sidekick who isn't even all that squishy. Sure, sounds good"

Nope. To any GM's or future GM's: Never underestimate the ability of the party to do the unexpected.

They decided that they were going to release this boys soul so that he could move on.

So I created a ritual to do just that, that I'm very proud of. It's components include a basilisk eye (to represent being between life and death), a thorned rose (to represent the love that makes one cling to life), Plenty of gold (Representing wealth), A symbol of power (Due to people being willing to die to gain more control).

This ceremony also needed to be done in a certain location. Deep in the Duskmeadow forest, where the sun is appears to be perpetually setting, there's legend of an Elven city built among the trees. Where they guard a nexus. a rift where the planes of both positive energy and negative energy collide.

The party were ambushed by Elven scouts and were able to convince them to help. They were told to venture down into a well in the middle of the city, and that they should make sure to take off their pants before going in as well. "The guardian of the rift is a bit of a stickler when it comes to decorum", they explained. (Now might be a good time to mention that this campaign is meant to be filled with memes. I may have to tell the story of the Actual Cannibal at some point) The barbarian and Ugandan Knuckles stayed up top as the bard and ranger removed their pants and ventured in with the child. They had managed to find all of the ingredients on their way through the forest. As they descended the rope down into the well, they found that it was built over an ancient temple of some kind. And then they heard movement. Along the floors, walls, and ceiling. Whatever it was could move quickly and climb quite well. Out into the light, stepped a a gorilla.

The party indeed had their dicks out for Harambe, The Guardian of the Nexus.

After a discussion of what was to come, Harambe began the ceremony. White and black tears streaked the air around them before eventually with a smile on his face, the child whispered "Thank you" before slowly fading away into the unknown.

It was honestly a great side mission, and one that I did not see coming in the slightest. But I like that my players have the agency to do whatever and that I have to make up lore for the crazy distraction they found.

The party never did return to deal with the giants. I wonder how much further they've been able to push into Dwarven land without anyone around to stop them...