Plot for session 16

Adventure background

The party is dealing with the fallthrough after Mogo told the liminal sprites that their curse was over and they were free to return home. They are also low-key dealing with the wallabeess "kidnapping" their keeper to take her over into the fey place in order to save her from the plague.
The party has essentially put the main quest on hold, to explore around, which got them into some troubles.

Summary

The session starts with the boss fight: a three-stage fey fight in which their opponent increasingly becomes more like a plant, until it splinters into nothingness revealing the Brambled Heart .

The PCs are very likely to head into the fey world: to check on the wallabees and the "kidnapped" wallabee-keeper, to make sure the remaining liminal sprites can settle in, and to check a seed I dropped last time about an Oracle in Pindrop.

Goals

PCs:

• Defeat the fey who won't let the liminal sprites in
• Investigate why the wallabees think their keepers will be safer in the fey world
• Travel to Pindrop and find out more about the "oracle"

GM/Meta:

• Discover that it was the liminal sprites who stole the fern
• Discover that the fern not only held the prophecy but also the music to travel to the other continents in the fey world
• Introduce the players to the fey plane (called Godless world) and a few of its locations

Failure consequences

• Right now, losing to the fey would be a TPK. The Moonlit clan is racing over to stop the wallabees kidnap their keeper, so they could try and save the day if the fey is almost dead.
• But if the fey is still healthy, the Moonlit clan cannot kill them. In that case, the fey finishes off all the sprites and returns to her bridge. The fate of the PCs will depend on whether they stabilize or not.
• If there is a PC death, the oracle can help them facilitate their reincarnation.
• If the PCs do not discover how to access Candle village, they will have to travel to Pindrop for answers.

Post boss-fight

Right after the end of the battle, the sprites and any other fey present will hurry to carry to the other side their wounded allies (and maybe even their enemies!). For if they don't, their essence will be forever lost. There is no real death in the Godless realm, as essences/spirits are recycled and reborn. Death in the material plane, however, is very real, and all fey know that.

Discover the Brambled Heart

If the PCs attempt to harvest or investigate the remains of Tyrialjee, they will detect a powerful magical artifact.
Knowledge (nature or planes) 20: When powerful fey die, part of their essence and magic remains powerful in their heart.
Knowledge (nature or planes) 30: That magic is often only unlocked by planting the heart as if it was a seed.

If the PCs do not harvest Tyrialjee and travel to the fey realm, the heart will find the ground and will slowly sink into the ground. When the PCs come back, the area will be unnaturally luscious and verdant.

The Bridge

The scars of battle are slowly disappearing on the bridge. The lianas and brambles that had grown are slowly receding, finding their way to the shores of the bridge. On the other side, the hazy cloud-like essence of the Godless realm awaits.

Inspecting the Bridge

If the PCs inspect the bridge, they will suffer the glyph inscribed on its head. The grippli inscription was put there knowing that gripplis are the most likely to traverse this area. The bridge is there only for an hour, so if the PCs dilly dally, the bridge will disappear.

The bridge has an odd composition and construction: the pillars and supporting beams are built from wooden beams, while the footpath has been built of stones of a wide array of colours, although the colours are muted and pale.
An unusual pattern is inscribed at the head of the bridge in grippli runes:

To live or to die are no matters here,
turn around before the way is not clear.

Glyph of Warding CR 4
XP 1,200
Type magic; Perception DC 28; Disable Device DC 28
EFFECTS
Trigger spell; Reset none
Effect spell effect (glyph of warding [blast glyph], 3d8 sonic damage, Reflex DC 14 half multiple targets (all targets in a 10-ft.-square area)

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Crossing the Bridge

Each PC will have an odd experience while crossing.

Mogo "The stars in your eyes start moving rapidly in all directions. Constellations broken, exploding into the corners of your field of view."
Dai "The Yuelstone floating above your head starts spinning rapidly, but out of rhythm, as if it is skipping a beat. As you get closer to the middle of the bridge, the Yuelstone seems to not want to go, as if two magnets were being forcibly put together."
Rumuk "You see what looks like a white raven dart from the Godless realm into the bridge, and swan dive into the water. It was so fast and silent, you doubt if it was real."

Once the PCs are on the other side, Mogo's vision of the starts has completely changed. The moon and the three stars which never twinkle are still in the sky. All the other stars are gone. He loses his ability to find his way to tell the time from the starts' movement. However, he gains the ability to see the music pathways, in a way that others just infer.

In your blackened view, devoid of most of the stars that have guided you through your life, colourful voids open in your vision, like three milky ways without the stars.
A deep and darkened emerald, a darkened blue, and a light and sparkling pale yellow.

The PCs find themselves in the orchid lake.

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Following the music

The PCs got this piece of advice from the grig music band that has been accompanying them for a couple of sessions. Once the PCs cross they will realize just how necessary it is. The PCs have no way of knowing which music leads where, so they may end at Candle village, and the Megafauna area, or in Pindrop.
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Environment

Lake
Fey plane (aka: Godless realm)

Common monster types

Fey
Fey animals
Magical beasts
Plants

Boss monster type

Fey

Mood

Intense and tragic during the fight.
Relaxed and exploratory afterwards.

Godless realm planar traits

• Gravity normal
• Time erratic
• Realm immeasurable
• Structural morphic
• Essence minor positive-dominant
• Alignment mildly neutral-aligned
• Magic enhanced and impeded magic or wild magic

Contents

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Important locations

Candle village
Pindrop
Megafauna area
Gongon

Important NPCs

Wominillu: the wallabee-keeper kidnapped by her fey animals
The Oracle

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Important notes for next session

• The drow clan living in candle village will leave one of their spears by the Bridged Lake.
• As a result of a fey trade, Mogo now has to give out awkward pamphlets to everyone he meets.

Branching points

There are four possible branching points, according to where the PCs go:

• If the PCs do not spend time in the Godless world, they will return to get their bark canoe and travel to Gongon.
• Candle Village
• Pindrop
• Megafauna area

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