006 How the World Dragon stole Mid-Winter

Fresh from their victory, the heroic party who rescued Princess Aurora returned to Village-on-Shorewydd via hatchlings of the Thunderbird. They had only a few days to take in the rapid growth and changes in the settlement, including the addition of a miniature Slab encampment, before a peculiar arcane messenger descended on Guildmaster Orin's turn. Taking the form of a cluster of large, brightly colored, translucent spheres, the messenger magic spoke in the voice of Captain Amara, the leader of the Adventurer's Guild of Demra a former protege of Guildmaster Orin.
At her anxious request, the party allowed themselves to be transported via magical bubble directly to Demra. There they discovered that the rich magical fabric woven throughout the city by the blessing of Grandfather Winter was being damaged by an unknown force. They discovered that the culprit was a creature called the Barloff, a grinning malicious trickster spirit, seemingly capable of eroding and absorbing Winter's blessing. The party dispatched the creature with some difficulty (including the near death of Azmir at the beast's giant crushing hands and the non-lethal but painful fall of Brick's wolves from the rooftops).
Defeating the beast left them with a strange artifact, a piece of the Barloff's crude, disgusting cloak. After the beast's death the scrap of cloth changed mysteriously. With the aid of the Chief Storyteller of Demra, a sort of high priest mediating Winter's blessing for the city, the party was able to identify it as a fragment of Winter's mantle, the embodiment of his power. Some binding and seeking spells turned the artifact into a sort of crude compass. Following this magical trail they were led deep into the frozen woods past Demra where they discovered a massive evergreen tree with a seeping patch of corrosion and a collection of dead elves and Theia Commerce Group operatives.
One of the operatives dropped a strange artifact, a black obsidian disc in a gold setting. Peering into the disc produced a horrifying and strange series of visions. By trial and error the party surmised that the disc was somehow capable of peering into alternate realities. Combined with their experience with the Barloff and the fragment of Winter's mantle and its strange transformations, they came to the conclusion that somehow alternate reality versions of Grandfather Winter had been loosed into the world.
From there the strange artifact led them to a Thin Place deeper in the woods. Using an arcane ritual with the artifact as a focus they were able to tear open a rift and pass into Faery. They found that Winter's realm was not only invaded but experiencing giant rippling waves of distortion which were shifting parts of the domain into alternate versions of itself.
By force of arms and arcane might the party was able to breach the doors of the keep, defeating the horrifying spirit of Fall and sacrificial flames, known as Jack Smith. Inside the keep the distortions became more pronounced and disorienting, sending the architecture and even the servants swinging wildly from winter cheer to dark bloodstained steel to frozen crystalline sterility. Finally discovering how to navigate the strange geography of Faery, the party was able to fight their way into Winter's audience chamber.
There they found Grandfather Winter locked in a four way brawl with other versions of himself, the rusted and bloodstained warrior the Erlking, a nightmarish creature of retribution and punishment called Krampus and Lord Winter, a cruel and cold sorcerer of implaccable wintry death. The party was able to succesfully tilt the balance, defeating Krampus and support Grandfather Winter. Combined with Winter's powerful Fey magic they were able to defeat the Erlking and Lord Winter.
With the dark dopplegangers defeated Winter's domain stabilized. Winter was able to use his power to heal the massive evergreen tree the party had discovered, revealing to them that it was the Seal of Fate, a font of extradimensional energy that connects nearby alternate realities. With Winter rescued, Demra restored and the Seal protected the party returned home to Village-on-Shorewydd