Session 32 - Fairy Tales

78th of Summer

Early Morning

Meera and Hart initially feel a bit ill as side effect from the magic fruit hit them. Meera shrugs off a wave of exhaustion, and Hart uses his sheer willpower to suppress a disease that threatens to take hold of him. Both are healthy and have no lasting ailments.   Nôx and Meera head off while the group packs up camp (an Unseen Servant packs up on Nôx's behalf). They have a mostly private conversation about the recent tension between them. Malikathar watches in owl form from the trees, though Abbit stops watching about halfway through due to his own confusion and apathy about mammalian relationships.   Meera states that she drinks to forget things, and fucks to feel things, and that she's never been interested in forming a real relationship in order to keep people at arm's length -- thus her focus on himbos like Kassan and Mato. They more or less agree to take things back to clean state and start over from the "we'll get to know each other better" stage of things.   Talitha later double checks on Meera to stress that she was absolutely going to give her a heads up about it all.   The group starts their hike further north. The day is calm and peaceful.  

Fog and Shade

Heavy fog rolls in around noon. The party is lost for several hours, passing by the same tree. The forest seems to be reshaping itself around them. Eventually a blue light is seen in the distance, cutting through the mist. It is from a lantern. Held by an undead warrior and badly broken armor. He cannot speak, only groan, and Piers feels an intense sense of comfort from him. Piers follows directly behind him on Moose, convinced the Hero's Shade is leading them down a safe path. The rest of the group follows with great anxiety -- if only to make sure Piers doesn't get triple shanked again.   The Shade leads them through a rocky difficult path, and they hear skittering in the distance. But nothing happens. The Shade does indeed lead them through the fog safely. And they eventually find themselves at a pretty little cottage near where Piers's grove would be.  

Meeting Lady Sunniva

Sunniva appears to be a very pretty fey elf, with long bright blue hair and a smiling face. She seems very pleasant and happy to see them. She even runs up and throws her arms around Piers, saying how nice it is to see him again. She invites the party inside to relax after their long journey. Stay the night! It's getting late!   Everyone is extremely suspicious after all their divine warnings. Many initially do not walk inside. Hart even makes a point of sprinting around the entire cottage so he can stare into the window of her sitting room as Piers, Nôx, and Meera enter. Glaring from behind his shades.   She offers them many gifts! Don't worry about what mortals have told you. The fae aren't that cruel. In fact, there's usually no price at all for any of her gifts. She likes to help people, like Piers does. Fix their problems. She doesn't come after them like a mob boss would. The payment is usually just mortals feeling needlessly guilty, thinking that their acceptance of the gift altered fate somehow.   The party refuses anything offered. She stresses that she's a good person and just wants to help. Don't be shy.   She claps her hands, and the party must make a wisdom save as a wave of magic hits them. Only Piers and Abbit succeed.  

The Gift

The group finds themselves in a large banquet hall -- the throne room of the Labyrinth. Abbit is a seven foot tall handsome Zora adorned in fancy twilight cleric armor. Meera has turned into Chikara Nadir.   The hall is full of everyone's loved ones. Selena Nadir and Wisp Contras sit in two thrones at the far end of the hall while the center throne remains unoccupied. Hart's lady friend is there chatting with El Sudario. Nali Goldenclaws is there with a backpack full of little battle tortles. Bonk is also present, as she has adopted him to be Krud's brother. A tougher looking Rhys in a captain's longcoat is there, with Zayda waiting tables to "pay off her crimes against humanity," and Talitha's mother is in attendance. Nôx's old friend Tiras is there, chatting with Lady Cassia -- Abbit's deceased Zora friend. Sarael is present, back in her celestial form rather than her fiendish one. Leo sits eating a big plate of breakfast food.   Sunniva says this is the gift. She can offer a demiplane just like this, with everyone together and happy, or perhaps they'd like something more specific they see here. She vanishes, saying they can have a whole day here with no strings attached.   The banquet is being held to "honor the adventures" of the party. Like the final montage in a happy fantasy story as title credits roll. Everyone mentions things that have not yet happened, such as Tiras saying the war between Uradiel and the Gerudo was halted after his brother was deposed with the party's help. Selena was freed by Wisp after Abbit tipped her off to the Imprisonment spell. Et cetera.   Lady Cassia approaches Abbit, not knowing who he really is, only that he's the handsome Zora who saved her from death. She made him that fancy armor as a symbol of their engagement -- as they are to be married in the spring! This greatly hurts Abbit and leaves him feeling uncomfortable.   Tiras is excited to see Nôx's real face for the first time!   Talitha's mother gives her a big hug and congratulates her on the many successful adventures.   Krud runs around with Bonk looking for "hidden enemies," since Abbit said not to trust this place. Bonk! Friend! Meeting Nali, however, is a bridge too far. It's weird. Not real. Feels wrong according to his instincts. Krud eventually gets scared and overwhelmed and hides in his shell for the rest of the meeting.   Hart is enthusiastic about meeting Pearl again, a little less pleasant to El Sudario, and has a pleasant conversation about what has transpired since he left. But the story starts to fall apart as things progress, with the "simulation" not accounting for him using a fake name for his sister, and Pearl does not correct him.   Meera ascends to the throne after being happily tackled by her two displacer beast pets, Hope and Despair, playing the "role" Chikara Nadir to the best of her ability. Selena teases her about finally being able to make friends and offers her wine, and otherwise makes snarky-but-passive comments about how her new companions seem like nerds. She even says hello to Piers after faking shock about how such a person could be her brother, but then cracks a smile and says she already knows.   A redeemed Sarael hugs Piers and apologizes for their "disagreement," saying that he's ultimately a better person than even she could be. A true redeemer and beacon of hope. She motions for a family hug, inviting a hesitant Selena into it, but that's when "Chikara" takes a firm stand. No hugging. You shouldn't even be here. You definitely can't hug Selena after doing such a terrible job as a mother. Let go of Piers too, for that matter.   The group agrees this is all fake. Good. They can break out, then.   Meera splashes wine in Sarael's face and commands the displacer cats to attack her. Hart then attacks El Sudario. Sunniva, upset that people don't like the gift, then starts to end the effect. Everyone must watch as their loved ones turn to ash in front of them, and then the scenery.    

The Tale of Sir Roland

The group ends up in Piers's grove. Which is a Great Fairy Fountain. Sunniva is waiting for them, sad that they didn't like the gifts. But perhaps they'd be interested in something more specific. She could make Meera into Chikara. Or make Abbit into a Zora using Transmogrification. Give Hart the ability to travel between planes at will.   Piers instead focuses on his past. He wants to know the truth. And since she's fed off their emotions with the vision, it's going to be a reward. Not a new deal. She relents after being persuaded.   An illusion of the past forms. They see Roland escorting his children into the grove, thinking Sunniva is just a kind elven woman. She offers to ward the children and make sure the creatures of the Woods will never harm them while here, and that they will remain hidden from their mother -- who wants to hand them over to the Silent Guardians to serve the state as loyal aasimar warriors. Against their will.   She makes casual conversation. "You look like the sort of man who'd do anything for his kids."   "Of course."   Then, with mirthful but amoral fascination, Sunniva asks: "Would you die for them?"   He responds, "Of course. Who wouldn't do that for their kids?"   She says the deal is struck. Roland realizes too late that she is a fey, and this was a language trick. He tells the kids to go on ahead and follow the nice lady. She will protect them. Selena is suspicious. Piers is too young to see anything amiss. As the children walk away, Roland stays behind, feeling pain in his chest. As they leave his view, he drops to his knees and disintegrates, his life force powering the warding spell that now protects the children.   Later, Selena's paranoia gets the better of her, and she wants to leave. But Piers doesn't. They quarrel. Selena is intent on marching away and abandoning him. But then her sense of duty gets the better of her. And muttering to herself about how she has to look after her brother, she instead takes a stick and goes to confront Lady Sunniva. They fight. Sunniva is offended and sees that Selena will not relent.   Sunniva says she will have to bend the terms of the contract since they are at an impasse. She "will hasten a process that is probably inevitable," referring to Selena falling from grace. She uses magic to shear off Selena's celestial wings. She screams in pain. Sunniva then teleports her out of the Lost Woods, saying that now she looks like just a normal, regular human and the Silent Guardians won't notice her at all. Good luck out there!    

Spare or Kill?

As the vision proceeds, Nôx has his longbow drawn and ready to fire, intending to fulfill his patron's request for murder. The group waits to see what Piers will do, since this was his family and quest.    Piers decides to spare Sunniva. Stating that everyone involved made their own choices here, and this is just her nature. Right? The group fed the librarian to the devils for the same reason, after all.    Piers walks away from the grove, content to continue their quest.   [Everyone dislikes this.]   But everyone also follows, albeit bitterly.    

The Long March

The group hikes in awkward silence for the rest of the day. Abbit sets up a totally separate dome so he can have time to himself (Krud can stay, though). While there are some late night talks that start to unpack some feelings, most everyone is pretty tight lipped, lost in their feelings about both the visions and the decision not to kill Sunniva.    Meera sneaks off in the middle of the night, finally upset and lost enough to go do something her soul hasn't done in six centuries or so. She prays to Lazu. Pleading with them for at least some kind of guidance. There's a long moment of silence. And then she passes out near the riverbank.    Session end.