Session 048: Matters of the Heart
General Summary
We begin as Aphid leaps into battle with the Spring Goddess's creature. The two take to the air, at times multiplying, at times morphing into other creatures. They fall to the dirt of the Weave nearby and there, Aphid is pounded to unconsciousness by an elephant. He comes to with a slight breath of health as the creature states that the Spring Goddess is fond of second chances. However, a moment later Aphid is struck again and his vision once again goes dark.
Aphid opens his eyes to see the Spring Goddess above him.
I'm sorry, Aphid says. I'm sorry I'm not good enough to be your champion.
Oh, Aphid, the Goddess replies. It was never about winning. It was about being willing to get back up again and again no matter the odds.
The Spring Goddess graciously accepts Aphid as her champion and informs him that he will have another chance to fight for her before leaving the kingdom and in doing so will earn her diadem. She also gives him a message for the Verdant Quarter: there is more to the prophecy, listen to your young ones.
Aphid opens his eyes yet again and finds himself in a clearing with Mosi. When Aphid speaks, about letters sent, about the Summer Kingdom, about his grandmother's demands, Mosi is confused: this is a dream, so Aphid should be talking about normal things; Aphid should be talking like he isn't gone. Aphid insists that he *isn't* gone and says that they will meet here in their spot in a week's time and that he will send a letter postmarked from the Spring Kingdom before then to prove that even though they're dreaming, this is real. Mosi, distressed and refusing to believe it in fear of waking up brokenhearted, disappears before they can hear Aphid say, I promise.
Aphid opens his eyes for the last time to find himself looking at the Motherheart. For his companions, no time at all has passed.
Eventually, Elder Alb and other Verdant Quarter reinforcements arrive. They restore Zenith to flesh and blood and the group is able to have a group hug at last, with all of them alive and safe and totally and completely emotionally stable.
The group is escorted back to the coliseum, where they are officially announced as members of the Verdant Quarter and given tokens of their membership. Aphid delivers his message, which prompts a small boy to pop out of the bushes yelling that he tried to tell everyone: Mathius has been telling him about additional lines to the prophecy.
One to stand for Summer, to hold fast the sands of time. One to stand for Spring, to hold fast the earth that grows. One to stand for Winter, to hold fast the waters sublime. One to stand for Autumn, to hold fast the history we know.
One to stand for Evil, to hold fast the balance of strife. One to stand for Good, to hold fast the shine of life.
So there's that.
Discussion turns to what is to be done about Talasea's family after this. Talasea makes a set of careful demands.
The elders offer the following: two castings of Planar Shift (which can teleport directly to a teleportation circle on another plane) and possibly also a spell scroll of Gate from the Winter Kingdom. There are problems to consider, however. Planar Shift can only transport a total of 9 people, including the caster. Gate requires a diamond worth 5,000g, which the Quarter doesn't have, and must be cast by an arcane caster of considerable ability. Turning to Talasea, the group decides to accept the castings of Planar Shift for now.
The group heads to take a long rest and get some information prior to departure. Alban begins to tell them the basics of the situation that the world is in:
For at least as long as the Verdant Quarter has existed, and possibly since the beginning of time, rifts have periodically appeared throughout the kingdoms. The rifts often slice through to other existences, but occasionally end up touching what they refer to as the Reverie, also known as the void plane. A place between planes and existences, populated by darkness and stars. Now, however, the rifts are occurring much more frequently. The prophecy that has been gleaned from a tablet passed down through the ages says that the Dreamer will have to be put back to sleep by a set of champions. Prior to today's events, it was thought that it would be four champions. Now, however, it will apparently need to be six. The letters that the North Wind have been carrying have identified them as the champions, going off of the first letter given to Zenith by the allegedly missing Master Dida. That begs the question, however: since there are only five people in the group, who is the sixth champion?
Talasea recalls the recurring figure of the Dreamer from literature and also remembers the book written by the alleged plane traveler, which mentions a story he heard in another plane of a creature that was put to sleep in order to save the world and was guarded by four spirits to ensure it stayed slumbering.
Alban also informs them that the Grays are attempting to wake the Dreamer, complicating the situation and hastening its deterioration. The group tells Alban of the symbols they saw first on a brick in Narwhada and now carved into the Motherheart. In doing so, they discover something odd: when Talasea goes to draw the symbol from the brick, he instead draws the symbol from the Motherheart, which he never saw. Looking at the illustration that Zenith copied from the brick, they see that it now reflects the symbol from the Motherheart. They also can't quite recall what the original symbol looked like.
Spooked by this strange occurrence and swimming in the new information, the group settles down to rest and prepare for their impending journey into the Reverie to save a ship full of people from a dragon.
Aphid opens his eyes to see the Spring Goddess above him.
I'm sorry, Aphid says. I'm sorry I'm not good enough to be your champion.
Oh, Aphid, the Goddess replies. It was never about winning. It was about being willing to get back up again and again no matter the odds.
The Spring Goddess graciously accepts Aphid as her champion and informs him that he will have another chance to fight for her before leaving the kingdom and in doing so will earn her diadem. She also gives him a message for the Verdant Quarter: there is more to the prophecy, listen to your young ones.
Aphid opens his eyes yet again and finds himself in a clearing with Mosi. When Aphid speaks, about letters sent, about the Summer Kingdom, about his grandmother's demands, Mosi is confused: this is a dream, so Aphid should be talking about normal things; Aphid should be talking like he isn't gone. Aphid insists that he *isn't* gone and says that they will meet here in their spot in a week's time and that he will send a letter postmarked from the Spring Kingdom before then to prove that even though they're dreaming, this is real. Mosi, distressed and refusing to believe it in fear of waking up brokenhearted, disappears before they can hear Aphid say, I promise.
Aphid opens his eyes for the last time to find himself looking at the Motherheart. For his companions, no time at all has passed.
Eventually, Elder Alb and other Verdant Quarter reinforcements arrive. They restore Zenith to flesh and blood and the group is able to have a group hug at last, with all of them alive and safe and totally and completely emotionally stable.
The group is escorted back to the coliseum, where they are officially announced as members of the Verdant Quarter and given tokens of their membership. Aphid delivers his message, which prompts a small boy to pop out of the bushes yelling that he tried to tell everyone: Mathius has been telling him about additional lines to the prophecy.
One to stand for Summer, to hold fast the sands of time. One to stand for Spring, to hold fast the earth that grows. One to stand for Winter, to hold fast the waters sublime. One to stand for Autumn, to hold fast the history we know.
One to stand for Evil, to hold fast the balance of strife. One to stand for Good, to hold fast the shine of life.
So there's that.
Discussion turns to what is to be done about Talasea's family after this. Talasea makes a set of careful demands.
The elders offer the following: two castings of Planar Shift (which can teleport directly to a teleportation circle on another plane) and possibly also a spell scroll of Gate from the Winter Kingdom. There are problems to consider, however. Planar Shift can only transport a total of 9 people, including the caster. Gate requires a diamond worth 5,000g, which the Quarter doesn't have, and must be cast by an arcane caster of considerable ability. Turning to Talasea, the group decides to accept the castings of Planar Shift for now.
The group heads to take a long rest and get some information prior to departure. Alban begins to tell them the basics of the situation that the world is in:
For at least as long as the Verdant Quarter has existed, and possibly since the beginning of time, rifts have periodically appeared throughout the kingdoms. The rifts often slice through to other existences, but occasionally end up touching what they refer to as the Reverie, also known as the void plane. A place between planes and existences, populated by darkness and stars. Now, however, the rifts are occurring much more frequently. The prophecy that has been gleaned from a tablet passed down through the ages says that the Dreamer will have to be put back to sleep by a set of champions. Prior to today's events, it was thought that it would be four champions. Now, however, it will apparently need to be six. The letters that the North Wind have been carrying have identified them as the champions, going off of the first letter given to Zenith by the allegedly missing Master Dida. That begs the question, however: since there are only five people in the group, who is the sixth champion?
Talasea recalls the recurring figure of the Dreamer from literature and also remembers the book written by the alleged plane traveler, which mentions a story he heard in another plane of a creature that was put to sleep in order to save the world and was guarded by four spirits to ensure it stayed slumbering.
Alban also informs them that the Grays are attempting to wake the Dreamer, complicating the situation and hastening its deterioration. The group tells Alban of the symbols they saw first on a brick in Narwhada and now carved into the Motherheart. In doing so, they discover something odd: when Talasea goes to draw the symbol from the brick, he instead draws the symbol from the Motherheart, which he never saw. Looking at the illustration that Zenith copied from the brick, they see that it now reflects the symbol from the Motherheart. They also can't quite recall what the original symbol looked like.
Spooked by this strange occurrence and swimming in the new information, the group settles down to rest and prepare for their impending journey into the Reverie to save a ship full of people from a dragon.
Report Date
02 Sep 2023
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