Chapter 12: The Fae Realm
As Jawhara inspected the dead creatures, their right eyes suddenly began to wiggle and a mind flayer tadpole crawled out from behind them. She swung her axe, cleaving the thing in two along with the elf creature's head. The other tadpoles seem to shrivel and die soon after leaving their hosts. Jolkottr and Kane identified them as creatures of the fey realm, and in the pockets of the red caps they found a lock of a child's hair (likely one they stole away to become a changeling).
They picked up the trail of the shapeshifter and delved deeper into the wood, eventually finding where the tracks ended along with much blood and viscera. Jolkottr thought it looked like an animal attack, and Jawhara discovered bird droppings nearby and more humanoid food prints, suggesting the murderer had butchered its victims there and taken the form of a bird to get away without a trail. The tracks led them through the woods (though they spent the night encamped there and dreamnt of a large three-eyed mind flayer floating in space), all the way to the northern edge where their land and Schropsbury stood. They followed the trail into the basement, where they found meat drying on hooks and preserved in salt barrels. The group decided to question their cook Aethelstan and climbed up the stairs into to the house. There, they found the estate eerily quiet. The servants' quarters were in the midst of being emptied, and after wandering around they discovered pools of blood in the study. Inga, one of the maids, discovered them and was alarmed to see them. She revealed that creatures had emerged from the basement in the evening and attacked them. Aethelstan had made a stand to allow the rest of them to flee, and had been murdered by redcaps. Duchess Aelyn Silverlight awaited them outside.
The duchess (and elderly woman with silver white hair) immediately questioned them about the attack, suggesting it was the same attackers who had slain Tar'Kanis (and that they were looking for the radio). After some questioning, she reduced their suspicions of her somewhat but mostly spoke in riddles and half-truths. The duchess was clearly wise and posessing of some natural magical ability. She revealed some connection between the masters of the mistlands and this foe, and asked to be taken to where the redcaps had emerged. In the basement, she revealed a rift to the realm of fae that Jawhara was able to open with the flame of surtr. She tasked them with entering it and following the radio to the source of the signal, and offered to send some of her soldiers to guard the house while they were away. After she left, Kelthar revealed that he saw her not as a human but as a resplendent platinum dragonborn and immediately knew her as his deity Bahamut (queen and broondmother of the metallic dragons). They returned to Arlenport for supplies and entered the rift two days later.
As they passed through the rift, they emerged in a densely wooded forest. The air was thick with a multi-colored haze, and the colors were unnaturally vibrant. The sky above shone in dizzying hues of blue and purple, and they found themselves at once awed and unnerved by the beauty of it. Following the radio as it grew louder, they traveled east and soon encountered a group of pixies who admonished them for "destroying their home" by trampling through the underbrush. No matter what they tried to say, the pixies demanded a finger from each of them. When they refused, the pixies giggled and disappeared as awakened trees and writhing mounds of vines attacked them. Kane called upon Ingwi and charmed the creatures, allowing them to fight only one at a time with the help of the other plant creatures. Jawhara found her wild magic more stable, and both Jolkottr and Kane found their connection to magic nearer at hand. But each time they called upon it, they triggered strange occurrences (some helpful, and some harmful). At one point in the battle, Kane was turned into a potted plant for a few seconds while Jolkottr gained the benefit of a mirror image spell. Eventually, they defeated the awakened plants and moved on.
They continued east for a time, following the signal and finding similar geography to Arlyss--albeit covered in dense forests. Jolkottr's magic protected them as he conjured a protective druid's grove around them while they slept, but each use of his druidic magic came with unknown effects. As they traveled, the season soon changed (it would seem) as the trees turned to hues of gold and red and orange as though autumn had suddenly come. They encountered a procession of creatures including anthropomorphic animals carrying an impossibly tall palanquin. Atop the palanquin was a large being with bark for skin, pointed ears and leaves and moss for hair. It wore fine clothing and saw eating fruits and nuts. Behind the palanquin were several well-armed hobgoblin guards leading a procession of dirty, malnourished humanoids wearing nothing more than their undergarments and chained to each other. After speaking with the creature on the palanquin, it became apparent it was a slaver of some kind and the humanoids were it slaves. It mentioned several "courts" such as the "spring court," "winter court" and "summer court" and revealed it hailed from the "autumn court." When it became apparent diplomacy would lead nowhere, battle erupted.
Jawhara leapt atop the palanquin (empowered by her wild magic), igniting her flaming axe and swinging at the fae. Meanwhile, one of the slaves (a muscle-bound dwarf warrior) entered into a fitful rage and broke free from his shackles, swinging the chain like a makeshift whip at his hobgoblin captors. The fae creature atop the palanquin then pointed a scepter at Jawhara and unleashed an arcing bolt of lightning that split after striking her and struck the dwarf, Kane and Jolkottr. The hoggoblins leapt into battle, killing one of the slaves as the others fled. Jolkottr conjured his fae spirit and Kane healed some of their wounds with his magic before swinging his mace at a nearby hobgoblin. Jawhara retaliated with more swings of her axe, forcing the fae creature to fight back with their scepter (which proved to be as deadly as its magic). As the others dealt with the hobgoblins, Jawhara blinded the fae with a beam of light from her wild magic. It then unfurled insectoid wings from its back and leapt into the air, launching a fireball directly beneath it and destroying the palanquin with Jawhara still atop it. The blast badly burned her, killed a hobgoblin and wounded the others. As the dwarf, kane, Jolkottr and his fae spirit finished the hobgoblins off, the fae creature attempted to fly away. But Kane fired a bolt of holy light that decimated it, engulfing it in an explosion of green flame and light.
The dwarf introduced himself as Thrain and explained that he had been captured by the fae and brought here with the others. He retrieved his gear from a chest in the flaming ruin of the palanquin, donning half-plate armor emblazoned with the image of a rearing dragon and wielding a mighty great axe. He bore a quiver that seemed to store a great number of javelins, clearly a magical item of some kind. After the group filled him in on their quest, he decided to join them. Though they found nothing of note in the palanquin or the hobgoblins, the dead halfling slave had a map of the fae realm carved into his back with a glowing green marker showing their location. Distrustful of the fae and sensing divination magic about it, they decided not to take the dead halfling's skin as a map (to Thrain and Jolkottr's chagrin) and instead transcribed it onto paper with some of kane's spell materials. Nevertheless, they now knew they were miles off-course from where they thought they were (another chaotic nature of the fae realm). Using the radio, they found their path once more and began traveling towards it.
Despite having a map, they soon found themselves in unfamiliar territory once more. Rather than finding greenery and the signs of the summer court lands, they found themselves deeper in autumn court territory. They came across a dryad struggling to convince her boat to cross a river. The boat had taken root and refused to go, and she needed to cross to travel to an "important appointment" at the autumn court. They agreed to help, though they soon found why the boat refused to move as a deer on the other side of the river suddenly disappeared with a snap from beneath the water. Jolkottr used his magic to transport them between two trees rather than cross the river. The dryad was thankful and rewarded them with magical acorns.
As they traveled north, they encountered several more strange occurances. Magical lights entranced them and nearly drove them off a deadly cliff, and they suddenly found themselves walking up a cliff and looking over its side to see the ground stretched out before them. Jolkottr turned into a giant eagle to carry them down, which granted him some much-needed insight into where they were geographically. Having found their way and their location again, they rested for the night and chose to eat the acorns (which put them into a deep and restful sleep). As they set out again the next morning, they came upon a lake that Kane identified as the Dragonmere (if they were still in Arlyss...). Nearby, they found a cluster of greenery in an otherwise autumn-colored forest with a dark cave that beckoned them to enter. A voice inside their head beckoned, and when they resisted it asked "WHO IS THIS WHO RESISTS ME" as a massive green dragon with emerald-like green scales emerged from the cave...
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