Three Shall Be The Number

A Knight in Greene

Zip and Zap informed the party that the area they were located in was a location called the Placingpools, a sort of secret world-between-worlds that facilitated travel between areas in Faerie. Each pool within the grove corresponded to a well in the outerworld, and travel in and out of the grove was facilitated by a set of keys: gold to get in, and silver to get out. The sprites revealed that they had once been the guardians of this grove, but had been tricked by the Eloqui mage the party sought to give up their silver exit key. As punishment, Lady Rosepetal had sentenced the sprites to reside within the Placingpools with no means of escape and established a new guardian in their place. The sprites called in the favor that Aberchak bargained for, and bade the party defeat the guardian and obtain his silver key, which would allow all of them to escape the Placingpools.
Zip and Zap led the party to a small clearing that surrounded one of the largest silvery pools in the grove. In the middle of the pool, standing atop the water, was a humanoid figure clad in verdant green plate armor bearing a massive axe and a helmet with large stag-like antlers affixed to it. As the party neared the clearing, the figure began to stride across the surface of the water to engage them in combat. Precision took point, charging to meet the guardian head-on while Aberchak ran interference. The figure summoned massive tendrils of thorned roots from the earth to entangle the Aberchak and Lethe. Erevan was able to get the killing blow from his scorching ray, which was nearly counterspelled by the knight before Lethe countered with his own counterspell. When the figure fell dead, Zip and Zap retrieved the key and bade the party hold hands before stepping into the silvery pool.

The Springtide Halls

Emerging from the pool, the party found themselves in a strange liminal space that appeared to be simultaneously a palace interior and a meadow of bright pink flowers; confusingly, hallways would appear and disappear depending on the angle they were viewed from. Zip and Zap informed the party that this was known as the Springtide Halls and was the castle of Lady Rosepetal, before taking the two keys and flying away. The party entered what appeared to be some sort of reception hall and much to their surprise were greeted by a strange plant sitting upon a desk, who asked the party's business. Upon learning they sought an audience with the arch-fey the plant bade them enter through a large set of doors, and on the other side the party found themselves in an odd throne room that was lined with pillars of budding vines. In the center of the room on a raised platform was a large flower which opened into a throne as the party approached. Sitting in it was a youthful freckle-faced maiden of flowing blonde hair, clad in a spring dress of white and purple flowers. She introduced herself as Lady Rosepetal, mistress of the Flowerfield Vale and archfey of the Springtide Halls. She asked the party what brought them into her demesne.
The party stated that they were seeking a rogue wizard who they were told was in the Prince of Games's court, and ultimately sought to destroy the Planespire which kept the realms of Mundane and Faerie separated. Lady Rosepetal replied that she could transport the party to the Prince of Games's demesne of Turnseason, but in return she demanded that Precision remain behind in her service as the new guardian of the Placingpools to replace the guardian that they had killed. While the party was extremely hesitant they soon realized that they had little choice in the matter, as the archfey assured them that the alternative to being transported to Turnseason was to pass through the demesne of several other archfey who were much less amenable than she. Precision agreed to stay behind, and in an instant the bright, verdant growth of the Blooming Maiden's demesne gave way to lustrous fall-colored auburns as Erevan, Lethe, and Aberchak found themselves standing in a vast field of yellows and oranges

Turnseason

Blinking, the party looked around to take in their new surrounding. The pasture seemed to be a recently-harvested cornfield that stretched to the very edge of the horizon. In the sky above them they could see the moon Elar, fully intact instead of shattered as it was in their world. High above them was what appeared to be an inverted, floating mountain suspended roughly a half-mile above the ground. There were few features on the ground in sight save for a massive mountain range to the north and what appeared to be some sort of estate a few miles away. The party elected to walk towards the estate, and after an hour as they neared the estate they began to hear the sounds of a string quartet. Getting closer they observed what appeared to be a large garden party underway, with an odd variety of guests: elves with exaggerated features, bipedal rabbits the height of a man, stately golbinoid creatures, and all manner of strange otherworldly attendants.
As the group approached the event they were halted by a tall rabbitfolk individual dressed in military regalia who inquired about the party's business. Lethe told the figure they were there on business for the Prince of Games and to back off, which sent the rabbitfolk hopping away in a huff. The party looked around the garden event for a brief time before hearing screams from the far end of the lawn. Emerging from a treeline on the edge of the estate grounds was a disturbing, grey-skinned monstrosity. It walked on two legs, but instead of feet its legs ended in long, pointed boney spikes. One arm ended in a similar spike, and from the other arm trailed nearly ten feet of elongated tendrils that connected to a spike of their own. Its face appeared deformed and vaguely humanoid, and crying an endless stream of thick, black tears. As many of the guests ran away from it, the rabbitfolk who had accosted the party drew a rapier and moved towards it. In response the monstrosity reached its shorter arm towards the rabbitfolk, shooting the spike at the end of its arm out through the figure's head before reeling his body back in through tendrils that connected the spike to its arm. The party moved to do battle with this horrifying visage.

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Three Shall Be The Number"

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Previous Chapter: Through the Looking-Glass

Next Chapter: Lonely is the Night

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Ingame Date: Indeterminate
Real-Life Date: July 25, 2021
Protagonists:

• Precision
• Lethe Argie
• Erevan
• Aberchak Haverdak

Featured NPCs:

• Zip and Zap
• Vernlak†
• Lady Rosepetal

Locations:

• Placingpool Grove
• Springtide Halls
• Here-and-Gone