Session notes 13-5-2020 & 20-5-2020

16th of Vilrand - continued
 
I took some time to fly over the city looking through Mina's eyes. I will never, not be jealous of the sight of taking off, I can feel the wind past Mina and the taste of the dry yet sulphury air here around Sarton is strange to experience. The flight was really nice, I actually spot Ferrum walking around.
 
Around noon, we find each other again. Most of us simply took a walk around the city, Thalmiir specifically went to look for Gizelle, but found little in the short time we had. After this short reconnaissance, we walk back to Roberta. She has a new list for us! As we inquire about the contents of set interesting shopping list, we see and feel a large shadow looming over us from behind. A heavy voice booms a few words, and the messy surroundings around us suddenly force themselves into all the shelves. Revealed behind one of the flying piles is Merril, and a floating set of books, who were apparently organizing everything. Merril, and his even his unseen servant look a bit disappointed about the now neat, but completely unorganised bookshelves. The Dragonborn turns to us, and introduces himself as Len Hycel, a wizard expert in the field of 'universal magic'. Yet another one I do not know! I should really make another booklet with all the types of magic I do not know. Now that I know this magic I have a bit, have it somewhat figured out, it might be interesting to start figuring out a bit more about other forms of it! That chronomancy was interesting, but universal magic sounds mysterious as well.
 
After introducing ourselves, and stating our affairs here, Len Hycel leaves us be, and makes his way up the stairs. Roberta and Merril look a bit flabbergasted but quickly return to the task at hand.
 
We need the following items:
* Fire of a Phoenix
* Lightning in a bottle
* Heart of a Titan
* Eternal Frost
 
Most of these things sound like they are not real, but the latter is something that might be like that small block ever-ice that Thalmiir has. All of the other things, I have no idea how we ware supposed to get those.
 
We are on our way to the forest, Roberta has told us that we can get all these items in the Feywild, a kind of duplicate dimension of this, but sort of enhanced? It is said to be a strange place, full off trickery and deception. There is a person, called Baradox, who will help us get there. Further, into the forest, Roberta shows us a hole in a tree and explains that we should go through there in about a few minutes.
 
Things to remember in the Feywild:
Siadarvinax is the name we should ask for.
We can send sending spells to the wizards.
Never give your whole name, or "only give your name to people you trust, which is no one".
Do not sign anything.
Never say "Thank you".
We must be back within a month.
 
Other names we gave ourselves:
Ferrum = Orange
Thalmiir = Red
Erky = Pink
William = Teal
Liya = Lavender
Nimueh = Blue
 
Arriving in the Feywild was, in itself already an experience. The world turned and twisted and then I landed in the grass, only to only see Orange. The dancing grass and golden glow of the low sun already gave this place a magical feel. This tall tall grass also obscured Pink and Red in the grass. It took a while before we all arrived there, on the other side of this tree marked with a strange spiralling sigil. As Red was investigating the surroundings, Orange tried to hit the grass with his axe, but it somehow skillfully dodged all of his cuts. After Lavender has come through the portal, we decide to go and look for Baradox, the man supposed to meet us here. It did not take long. As Tha-Red stated that he wanted to go find this guy, he appeared from behind a tree. A sharp, glistening geode was the first thing the rest of us saw of him as he came out of the foliage. The slender person had a sort of large helmet made fully out of a blue crystal. Ranging from light to deep blue, it seemed too heavy to have on one's head, but he gracefully stepped towards us and introduced himself to us as Baradox.
 
The first thing he said after his introduction was 'If you have any questions, do not ask them." Well, that is clear.
 
Following Baradox through the forest and fields is like walking through a filtered version of the forest we walked through in Sarton. However, this land feels and acts as tho it is alive in some kind of way. Everything is more vibrant and seems to glow. As I summoned Mina with a small snap of my fingers, it almost seemed if she was more alive here as well. The soft glowing light reflects and refracts in the crystals we see on the volcano where Sarton would be, which is now covered with patches of the blue crystal that Baradox is wearing(?). Not sure if it is called wearing. When looking at him it almost seems if it is part of him? Who knows, I was told to expect to see things I had never seen before so let us keep an open mind.
 
Wading through the flowing grass goes extremely slow, yet the sun seems to have not moved through the sky at all. It makes it very difficult to keep track of time here, for me at least.
 
Walking up the volcano, Baradox suddenly stops and opens some kind of door. He weaves his hands over it and it opens for him. Walking inside, we once again stop. "Now, you can pose your questions." our crystal-helmed guide says.
We learn that secrets are worth a lot here and thus that people may always be listening, so one should always take care. Next to that that we are going to see Siadarvinax, that we should be polite and not too loud, and that we can get more answers there. Walking through the tunnels in the mountain is disorienting, I am glad that Baradox is here for we surely would have gotten lost. There are more figures here with crystal helmets, some are smaller than others (perhaps there is some kind of hierarchy?). The crystals still seem like they weigh a lot, but no one seems to mind and everyone is walking gracefully and with a straight back.
 
Thalmiir took a look at the strange geode structures that form in the tunnels and the helmets. He does not quite know what it is, but takes a piece and pockets it. I have no idea either, but it glows with transmutation magic, and also divination? No, the divination was from Thalmiir's symbol of Morradin, interesting.
 
After some time, passing through some doors that Baradox can open (they seem to melt into the wall at his command), we find ourselves in front of two large, intricately carved doors. We are told to wait.
 
In the room, we are faced with a large semi-circle of chairs, on all a person with a large crystal on their head is seated. We are a bit hesitant, but a push in the back from Ferrum was enough to convince me to go forward.
 
This time, I was on the receiving end of some mind-talk. Siadarvinax, sitting right in front of us, ask us about our business here. As I answer mentally, I get a mental smirk and "ah a psionics user as well?". It was strange to talk to someone who is fluent with this technique. But after a short conversation in which I explain why we are here and that Roberta send us, Siadarvinax states the following. We must prove ourselves to be trustworthy, and then they will help us find the items from the list Roberta gave us.
This task that we have to perform before getting any hints or help is to do some 'investigating' and retrieving an object from someone. We did not get much more information from the council of crystals and Siadarvinax, but Baradox will bring us.
I do not think any words were actually spoken in that room, it was only after we had given a nod and left the room that Baradox spoke to us again. Or maybe that was telepathic as well? I am not sure anymore. Anyway, he has something he wants to show us.
 
After wandering behind Baradox through the many hallways within the mountain, we find ourselves in a space where a small ship is parked. The ship looks somewhat like a sleigh, but with the same colour crystals covering it. Wulfric is immediately interested by the blasters that are placed on the front and back of the vehicle. As Baradox enters the ship, the crystals on the sides begin to softly glow.
 
After we all boarded the ship, Baradox let the ship slowly lift off and out of the mountain. After a mental sigh of relief from our captain, Baradox told us a little bit more about the 'investigation' we are supposed to do. The people who we met are part of the order of the sapphire. For them, we apparently we have to go and get a 'grey portrait' from a man named Earlton. The whole endeavour is basically theft. We are not too sure about it first, but suppose we must decide there. Then, when we know what kind of person it is, we can decide what we are going to do. Perhaps steal it, but trading could possibly also be an option?
 
The whole trip there will take around 8h, but it will feel like no time passed when looking at the sun. It is such a strange sight.
We chat a bit with Baradox, about the odd crystal helmets and how they feel on his head and such. He gives us some tips about the place we are going to visit. For example that we should not pose questions, or take anything we do not know.
 
Our conversation was broken up by the movement of some strange clouds. Well, they are not actually clouds but Cloud giants. This becomes apparent as large rocks start falling from the erratic moving cloud. Scarily enough, we are directly in the line of attack. Baradox quickly flies lower, almost beneath the foliage of the forest we were flying over. He explained that we must not be spotted, they are known as 'sky pirates' and thus we must be careful. We waited until the Giants flew over, hoping that we would not get hit by any of the rocks. SItting like a spring waiting to be released, we all prepared and hoped for the best. As a large rock headed straight for our ship, Oranje stood up and cast a spell I was all too familiar with: Shatter. With a lot of noise and pieces of rock flying about, the rock was destroyed. It was at this peak moment of our shock that Ferrum was not Ferrum that Baradox quietly said, "I am not sure what that was, but I cannot stop this, prepare". With that, the ship bolted forward with incredible speed. This burst of energy and speed would also have made sure that the rock missed the ship, but now, we knew something was up. As soon as we were flying on a constant speed again, Thalmiir raised his hand with a guiding bold prepared to shoot straight towards Oranje.
Oranje raises his arms, and answers all our questions. -Who are you, where is Ferrum, are you Copper, what are you doing, why are you here, why did you not say anything-. I take a moment to try and reach Ferrum mentally. I hear a defeated Ferrum state that he does not know who this is and that it feels exactly like when he got overtaken by Copper.
 
Concerned, but being as perceptive as possible, I sat down to mend pieces of the ship that were hit by the shattered rock.
 
Only minutes later, four small points break loose from the cloud giants cloud. Baradox looks very concerned. He urges us to prepare once again, and quickly states that the front cannon is damage dealing, while the cannon in the back slows creatures down. We take places on the ship and prepare for, what are apparently wyverns coming for us.
 
A short battle, with some nice shots and some pretty magical effects, the wyverns eventually leave us be. Strangely, Oranje/Copper/Whateverhisnameis keeps shooting at the wyverns even when they have turned their backs to us and are flying off...
 
 
While Thalmiir is healing Baradox from the battle, we rest, looking for more clouds acting strangely. After Baradox felt a little better, we took off again. Still five hours to go, so we try to relax for the rest of the trip.
 
We saw a giant turtle moving through a forest and completely wrecking it! It moves very slowly tho, so the forest some way behind him is already healing. As we are almost hanging over the ledge to get a good look of it, we hear Baradox say "it is moving to the sea".
 
Thalmiir -Red- talks to Oranje, who we should just keep calling Oranje I suppose and simply asks him when he is going to go away again. It is not often that I have seen Thalmiir look so distrusting. While eavesdropping their conversation, I do hear that Oranje is not M-54, but F-32 (M-54 was the person calling themselves Copper. Copper is allegedly a regiment of several soldiers, which would explain the plural form he spoke in.) .
Anyhow, to get my mind off it, I decide to take a good luck at how Baradox is steering this ship. He seems to have some kind of connection with the steering wheel? It lights up on the sides as we steer to the other side, it is an intriguing sight.
 
As we are getting close to our destination, we see large hedges doom up in the distance. It seems to be a kind of maze, in which we can see some large structure in the middle. That must be Earlton Keep? There are also some smaller structures scattered throughout this maze, small villages perhaps? We cannot look for long, as Baradox lands the ship in front of the maze. He explains that we cannot fly over the maze, there is some kind of enchantment that prohibits it. Naturally, Oranje and Wulfric go and test this out. While they are hovering over the maze - with strange devilish like wings, I had not noticed that before when Copper cast it..-, I set up an Alarm and Tiny hut, in which we can all take a nights rest. It must be somewhere like two or three hours after sunset for us right now, we arrived here, just after noon in our time, were in the mountain for an undetermined amount of time and travelled for eight hours. I am tired at least.
 
The grass acts weird again, it moves away when I try to put my bedroll down.
 
When we have all gathered again, Oranje and Erk-Pink, tell us what they have seen in the maze. Nearly none of the ways are straight, and there seem to be highways and narrow alleyways within the maze itself. Also, it is indeed not possible to fly over, you simply get placed back at the start. It is a shame, as it would have saved a lot of time, however, it might be interesting to see what is present in that maze. I do find it quite intimidating, the hedges are very high, I am afraid that it might be very strange to walk between them, but I guess those are worries for tomorrow, I have the final watch so I will have time to think about it then.
 

 
Perhaps the 17th of Vilrand - second day in the Feywild
 
The final watch, it is quite calm. Oranje is up with me and we chatted a bit. He does not remember all of what happened. I am not quite sure if we can trust him yet, but I told him some basics of what we did. The house hunting, the fight with the Roc in Old Apéles, a little bit less about the war and the military. Still, he does seem different from Copper, not sure in what ways tho.
One of the reasons I am not sure about him yet is the fact that, when I was woken up by the alarm earlier during our rest, he was awake with Thalmir. It could, of course, be that he had woken up because of the sound, but it could also be that he is skipping nights to prevent Ferrum from returning.
 
This morning, when I was keeping watch, I heard something strange from the maze. I let Mina take a look for me, and there was a man, shirtless walking around erratically and shouting. There was hardly any muscle to him and he looked pale as snow. I could not quite make out what he was shouting, but I got parts about him being unable to get out. Frankly, it made me a whole lot less excited to get in there.
 
 
After discussing what our strategy is going to be over breakfast, we decide to just follow Oranje, as he had seen the routes the day before. We make our way over the largest road through the maze. We walk for, what feels like a couple of hours. The mood is strange through this maze, with the sun barely changing it is like we are constantly waiting for dusk and the angle of the sun casts strange shadows through the hedges.
 
It is somewhere, in this maze that we see a ruby red tiger being dragged along by a group of elvish looking figures. They look somewhat suspicious of us, but walk away confidently. When Thalmiir approaches them, they ignore him at first, and they say some very foul things in Elvish -I think Thalmiir did not catch it as he remained very calm-. They handed him some kind of gem and said something within the lines of 'let us keep this a secret'... I tried to reach out to the tiger psychically, but it did not respond. I am afraid it could not understand me.
 
We decided to continue our way, the main road feels safest for now.
 
I made a sketch of yet another type of teleportation circle, it was one I had not seen before. - how could I, it was in a different dimension after all- but it was quite intriguing! It was made with stones and the runes in the drawing, and all Wulfric and I could get from it, was that it was some type of teleportation. It may be useful someday.
The air here is filled with a lot of magic by the way. From abjuration to conjugation and illusion. Also, divination? It is just a bit uneasy, it feels like being watched.
 
Some more walking had passed when we arrive at one of the village-like structures we had spotted from the Highwind. The people here are all elvish looking, and they give nods to William and me occasionally. They look like they are doing well, much better than the person I had seen this morning (well when I woke up that is).
Walking closer, we see that there is some kind of alleyway build into the hedge here. Boutiques seem to have built within this strange place.
 
When we got closer to the people, it becomes apparent that they all have somewhat golden looking teeth, and the spare around their eyes is almost iridescent. Curious to learn more about this, I made my way to take to one of them to talk. However, there was not a straight word to be drawn from them. In normal speech or mental. The person I talked to simply did not respond and looked like they were somewhere else completely.
On a second look, I saw the enchantment glow that surrounded all of these people. With this little amount of info, I returned to the group, and with that, we decided to find the person least affected by the enchantment. This turned out to be the barber. A strange fellow. In return of food from the material plane, he would explain us a bit about the trade here, which apparently has something to do with tiny satchels of some kind of golden dust that are being handed over everywhere around here. This strange barber told us that that is the currency around here, and gave us a very very tiny bag of it. I gave it to Thalmiir for him to identify it.
 
It turned out to be pixie dust. Not that that made it any clearer to me, but it is used in potions to make people fly and it is also some kind of drug that makes you feel and look younger and more clear. It is also highly addictive. That does explain a lot.
 
The roads towards the castle are getting narrower with every turn we take. The 'main road' that we were following is hardly distinguishable from the roads we called 'side roads'. Luckily, the castle is much closer now. It is an impressive building, lots of small towers and many many balconies. A lot of different styles seem to have been inspirations for this building.
 
 
The process of me walking and writing was interrupted by the following: an actual rabbit. Thalmiir and Liya noticed something moving or falling in the hedge beside us and investigated. It was a rabbit which could blink away. It somehow teleported from one place to another. The little bag of pixie dust was really interesting for it, and it followed it with its eyes very very closely. Thalmiir attempted to give it a little bit of the dust, and then.. it died. It literally died. Probably an overdose. It was so sad, that tiny rabbit. Thalmiir looked really shocked as well but we soon realised there was little to be done about it. Then he tied the creature to his belt and that was our cue to continue walking.
 
Some more walking later, it was really getting tiring at this point, we arrived at yet another open place, with a broken old teleportation circle. The confused man I saw earlier today was here! He looked, well, not well. Very very thin, only wearing pants and looking bewildered.
 
The rest of the way felt like it took ages, but finally, we were at the castle. It looks quite fancy up close. Together, we make our way towards the throne room. A green-eyed man is sitting on the throne, this must be Earlton. At every door, minotaurs are situated. They are imposing figures, their horns have golden points and they wear purple and silver armour with some kind of shield and a large battle axe. And they threw Thalmiir outside while we were discussing our plans. Just him. Not sure why?
 
When we joined Thalmiir outside, Oranje and Wulfric decided to go and look inside at the throneroom and Earlton, perhaps they can learn something. In the meanwhile, Thalmiir walks around the castle, and Liya William and I set up a place to spend the night, we are not sure how much time has passed but we are certain that we are going to need sleep quite soon now. After setting up a hut in one of the alleyways close to the castle, I decided to let Mina fly up around the castle, just to take a little sneak peek at it. Strangely it had a lot of balconies without any doors leading to them? As well as something that looks like a sea on the third floor? It is a strange building when looking at the entire structure. Still, I was able to find some cool things, that third floor is interesting but I think I have also found his bedroom, up on the fourth or fifth floor.
 
Thalmiir talked to one of the elvish figures, one which was really, well high. Thalmiir simply wanted to know what was up with the way people were treating him, but a very straightforward answer was not provided. There just seems to be enmity between dwarfs en elves here. I thought that was something from the past, as in our world they work and live together almost everywhere. But time here is weird, so maybe the wounds here of what happened have not yet healed?
 
A little while later, Oranje and Pink return. They have listened to some kind of speech by Earlton, about how amazing he was and more of such bragging. This man's ego is out of this world. Still, Oranje and Pink were welcomed to the church-like throneroom that he wat pitching in and happily accepted to Earlton keep. He even gave them to bags of the pixie dust.
 
Our rest was relatively calm until we just got woken up by a figure trying to make their way into our hut, but they gave up after a few failed attempts. Hopefully, the rest of the 'night' is calm. I am really happy with the dark interior of this hut, you can barely notice that the sun is still up outside when you close your eyes. It is quite calming.