Session 83: "Was That a Proposal?"
General Summary
The party prepares to go to the Silver Lodge to warn them of the oncoming attack. Levi and Tertius head back to Eastbridge to secure Cnaeus Arius as a prisoner held in the city. They spend the evening there as The Fox enjoys the bell to ring to have chickens brought to him.
Aisling has someone begin to prepare flamable caps for her Spirit Stick, though it is not immediately available to take with her. Aralmeni Caskhood states that if the Silver Lodge is under threat, technically, it is the property of her Lady, Meabh McGowan-Glenns, and she should go to aid in its protection.
As the party determines how to get to the Silver Lodge quickly, Levi points out that Caer Cenwynn should also be warned. Tertius asks Eastbridge's wizard, Seabert, to teleport the party to Caer Cenwynn. He is able to send the party and their companions, but not their mounts.
Tertius is able to gain audience with Queen Finnea Mirabar. Though the Queen does not have the most favorable view of Tertius, he is compelling enough to impress the dangers of the Oleander assault planned on Caer Cenwynn. Tertius also warns her about Albus Calor, the White Dragon That Breathes Fire, as part of the attack. Queen Finnea begins to prepare defenses for the city and grants Tertius his request for horses for the party.
The party hurries to the Silver Lodge, arriving by midday. There they are first met by Vilithyss Arlin, the steward of the Lodge. He states that he was unaware of their arrival, but as the party explains the reason for their arrival, he waives formality and allows them to enter and offers to have the staff prepare a luncheon for them, as he reminisces about the wedding and the loss of Maximillian D'arlington in a somewhat favorable manner.
The party heads back to the Moonwell to meet with Wistari Enydark, where they find him talking to and teaching Tigs. The party informs Wistari of the intended Oleander attack and he agrees that the Emissaries of the Stag King should be warned. He recognizes Illeavere's budding antlers and what they mean as far as their allegiance to the Stag King. He agrees to take the party to the Emissaries after lunch. The party also notices at this time Tigs is seemingly very excited at seeing Levi, but is trying to mask his excitement. Tigs also has a more humanoid face now, though still obviously made from twigs and wood, he is becoming his "own person" more so now than before.
The party heads in for luncheon where Wistari and Tigs make a more formal introduction to Aisling and update her on their histories. Aisling also recognizes that Tigs is a faerie changeling, though they are typically used to replace children that the Fey are abducting and are meant to be temporary, sickly things that die out. But this is a large changeling, meant to replace a fully grown human and has since gained a bit of permanence to its being. Wistari also explained the nature of the three Emissaries of the Stag King, stating that one was the most "fey-like" in the manner that they enjoyed misleading and tricking people with bargains, but had little sense beyond the here and now. This was the Emissary that the party referred to as the "Beautiful Fey Top." Wistari then described the next Emissary having a deer skull for a head and was the most "fey-like" in the sense that he was stark and direct, often bearing a darker turn of events for those who cross his path. The final Emissary Wistari described as the most "responsible" of the three and that they had the most knowledge of secret paths. It is said that she teaches stags and hinds these secret paths, which is why they are able to move so quickly to elude hunters in a forest.
The party also notices Tigs is watching Levi and mimicking his every action at the table, though he does not eat the food himself. Despite trying to be his own person, Tigs seems to have an easier time learning how to act by watching and mimicking Levi.
Aisling sees that he isn't eating food and quickly fetches some flowers and honeysuckle, which Tigs happily eats. However, Tigs doesn't want to bring "not food" to the table and sits on the floor to eat. Aisling joins him on the floor and soon everyone else does as well, delighting Tigs as people are imitating him for a change.
After lunch, Wistari leads the party through the moonwell to the Court of Leaves and Whispers in the Autumn Court. He warns the party to stay close to him as he guides them, as he states the way is "convoluted." Wistari leads the party through a winding path in the forest that seems to change. Stumbling steps seem to turn people around and they would have easily taken the wrong path if it was not for Wistari's lead. Illevaere has no difficulty with the path, finding it rather straightforward and not led astray by the bending ways.
The path lets out to a courtyard with a giant oak. The roots of the oak twist to form stairs that lead up to a door. The door opens and the Emissary of the Stag King walks down the stairs, looking at the party and Wistari curiously stating, "Funny. I don't seem to recall asking you to come see me." The Emissary is sylvan and beautiful, masculine and feminine at the same time. Long white hair hangs to his shoulders and a large rack of antlers rise out from his head.
Wistari explains that the party has arrived to inform them of a danger and Illevaere stumbles and stammers, unable to describe what has occurred. Ilbryen instead speaks up, informing the Emissary of everything that the party has come to know.
The Emissary seems a little confused as he asks, "Haven't we just helped you stop bad things from happening or some such?" Illeavere explained that there was more danger and threat. As Bolvaic began to explain, the Emissary interrupted him and said, "Last time we met, I gave you perhaps the greatest gift of all, did I not?" The Emissary told Bolvaic that most people live their century or two not doing anything of note, but he had given Bolvaic a purpose--to grow and care for an apple tree.
The Emissary stated that he did not know where Rivariin had gone, and he seems legitimately uncaring of his location. The Emissary seemed to be unimpressed with the warning of danger, seeming to not care since it was not occurring right at that moment and didn't seem to have much foresight to plan. He said that since they intended on coming through the Moonwell that wouldn't it be the simplest solution to destroy the Moonwell. Wistari balked at that and the party stated that then they will simply find another Moonwell to pass through.
Ultimately, the Emissary agreed to "bend the ways", making travel to and from the Lodge more difficult--similar to how the party traversed through the woods when Wistari led them. As the conversation was ending, Illeavere made a play to try to gain attention, if not favor, of the Emissary, but they only responded with a slight nod.
Wistari led the party back to the moonwell, where they used it as a font to scry as Illevaere attempted to find Rivariin. They saw a visage of Rivariin trying to make his way through walls of thorns and briars in a path that seems to change and close in on him. They also noticed a sigil on one of the flagstones that matched one on Tiarjead's bow. Realizing this connection, the party realized that Rivariin was most likely in the Court of Thorns and Brambles, which is a Winter Court ruled by the Barbed Countess. While most of the "Courts" have their own rule, their titles mean little outside of their own Court, so a King who rules one Court does not necessarily have any more rank over a Count who rules another Court. However, the Barbed Countess's title and rank was not given to herself, but rather given directly from Queen Mab, implying a stronger connection to the Unseelie Queen. The party also realized that the bow that Tiarjead possessed was taken from the Thorned Knight, who had claimed that he was the Champion of his Court when the party encountered him when they helped the Spriggan, Brae, return to The Feywild. The party had slain the Thorned Knight, taking both his sword and his bow as reward from his body.
With the scrying finished, the party returned to the mortal world and the Silver Lodge to prepare for the assault. Illeavere prepared the area creating a druid's grove just beyond the moonwell. During the preparations, Aisling asked Bolvaic if he wanted her to perform a wedding ceremony for him and Aralmeni before the attack. Bolvaic became confused at this, uncertain if he was engaged to Aralmeni or not, asking Aisling to ask Aralmeni.
Aralmeni was just as surprised at the offer, asking Aisling if that was how Bolvaic was proposing. Embarrassed and realizing her error, Aisling excused herself, but Bolvaic and Aralmeni began to call out to one another from across the field, trying to determine what exactly their relationship status was.
After both agreed that they would like to marry, and Aralmeni prompting Bolvaic to actually ask, she accepted and the pair became engaged. However, Aralmeni stated that while she is removed from her own clan, she still has traditions through Ctenmillar that she would like to adhere to, and she stated that she would like to include Bolvaic's clan's traditions as well, so a quick wedding from Aisling was not what they wanted. They both agreed that the Silver Lodge, however, would be a good venue for a wedding since they've seen one there already and since Aralmeni's Lady owns it, they could "get it on the cheap." Bolvaic also brought up that it had meaning to him and therefore his clan and Aralmeni said that though it wasn't dwarven constructed, she still liked it because it was where they met.
As the nature of Bolvaic and Aralmeni's relationship were realized, the forces of the Oleander Throne began to arrive. In the distance, they saw a giant white dragon take to the sky toward Caer Cenwynn, signifying some sort of assault there.
Other troops, however, began to arrive at the Silver Lodge. Some of the soldiers were delayed and lost by the bending of the ways, but others still arrived, including four calvarymen. The group was led by a figure who seemed to be Servius Oleander, the would-be All-Father himself, and the ground trembled and broke as a gargantuan ivory worm under the control of Oleander made its presence known as it also approached the moonwell.
Levi Obadiah Kilgore
Chaotic Good Human, Northlander (Marked by the Beast)
Barbarian 11
Barbarian 11
115 / 115 HP
STR
17
17
DEX
14
14
CON
16
16
INT
14
14
WIS
12
12
CHA
9
9
Ilbryen Dorydark
Neutral Good Half-Elf (Sage)
Cleric 10
Cleric 10
63 / 63 HP
STR
10
10
DEX
10
10
CON
12
12
INT
14
14
WIS
20
20
CHA
15
15
Aisling Hawthorne
Neutral Good Half-Elf (Entertainer)
Bard 5
Paladin 6
Bard 5
Paladin 6
75 / 75 HP
STR
12
12
DEX
18
18
CON
12
12
INT
7
7
WIS
14
14
CHA
18
18
Illevaere Solandra
Chaotic Good Wood Elf (Outlander)
Druid 10
Druid 10
83 / 83 HP
STR
11
11
DEX
18
18
CON
16
16
INT
14
14
WIS
20
20
CHA
12
12
Aralmeni Caskhood
None Mountain Dwarf (Acolyte)
Cleric 8
Cleric 8
67 / 67 HP
STR
15
15
DEX
12
12
CON
17
17
INT
10
10
WIS
18
18
CHA
10
10
Donk
None Kobold (Burnfist Clanmember)
Paladin 3
Paladin 3
22 / 22 HP
STR
8
8
DEX
16
16
CON
10
10
INT
8
8
WIS
10
10
CHA
12
12
Bolvaic Boradrak
Chaotic Good Mountain Dwarf (Outlander)
Barbarian 10
Barbarian 10
115 / 115 HP
STR
18
18
DEX
12
12
CON
18
18
INT
9
9
WIS
10
10
CHA
10
10
Tertius Greyhall
Neutral Good Human, Daoine (Noble)
Fighter 6
Warlock 2
Fighter 6
Warlock 2
50 / 50 HP
STR
8
8
DEX
16
16
CON
11
11
INT
15
15
WIS
8
8
CHA
18
18
Report Date
20 Jan 2025
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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