Another's Wilde Den

Metaphysical / Paranormal event

The Fractured Pack are tossed into a tangential side adventure within the Feywilde that holds deeper conequences than anyone could have imagined.

Appearing into a much different forest on the other side, no portal or even structure was behind the party. In a forest of ferns and flowers three times their height, the party was surrounded by vibrant colors. Across the way they could see a stone bridge over a small creek that glowed cyan. On the other side was the fiery creature, now of more definite shape though most of the increased resolution was in the face, hands and feet. The limbs had basic form before returning to a still vague torso. As the Fractured Pack approached the creature and began to interact, Hali telepathically warned party members not to take food, make promises, nor offer up any truthful names. Crossing the creek, the water flowed in both directions. The fiery entity gave the name of "Lattice" if you needed to refer to her.
  "Lattice" admitted to being bored and wanting to have some fun. Lucky for her the party stepped through. A series of mixed threats and flirting elicited between Broxon and "Lattice" of varying degrees of intentionality. In questioning an exit, "Lattice" stated that she could still see the door you lot came through but mortals couldn't see it; if you can't see it, you can't open it. Magical inquiry into the landing zone revealed clouds of conjuration magic but nothing Hali or Buck could directly interact with. If they wanted out, they would have to get permission from the ruler of these lands: Parsicon.
  A deal was made that "Lattice" would lead the Fractured Pack to Parsicon in exchange for some fun playtime at the end. The fiery fey led onward. Time and space proved both long and short, stretched and sudden. Hali had attempted to walk upriver on her own beforehand and quickly found herself at a distance. Now, led by "Lattice", the party arced through rivers to beach front to river in a flurry of prismatic delight before the party fully felt the length of their travel. They had already traveled a full day through the Ulgos and now were hit with the feeling of another 3 hours of travel all at once.
  Some party members maintained, others felt the impact harshly, particularly Hali. "Lattice" was of the opinion that she would just continue leading to Parsicon to fulfill her deal, if party stopped that was their problem. In the end, she acquiesced to stay as long as Hali could keep her entertained. Hopefully it would be long enough to get the party the rest they needed. Buck made Hali some special Olisuba Leaf tea he had also earned on his Dul Kag job to aid Hali in her recovery.
  With the party asleep, the spotlight was on the air genasi. Hali whiled away the hours entertaining "Lattice". She brought out here intricate tome and walked “Lattice” through all of the magic and mysteries within. Hali played up the dense materials, having to put effort in entertaining the fey similar to the effort of reading a full prose book to a child versus a picture book. Hali attempted to contact her patron as a means of adding depth but failed to do so. In a fast bounce back, she produced Byakhee and contorted him into a greater aberrant force. Conversation then developed into the fractal natures of perception between what Byakhee is here versus on it's home plane of the Far Realm. This was brought into concert with "Lattice's" purely flame form in the Prime material versus here in the Feywild.
  As the fey drew closer and closer to Hali, "Lattice's" touch brought with it the same heightened levels of sensation that it had with Broxon though Hali did not fall under it's sway. Hali is a person of more reserved emotions and dampened feelings, aiding in maintaining a cool head around the fey. Despite this, her next ploy to maintain "Lattice's" immobility was to inquire into emotions. Hali bade "Lattice" to teach her about emotions. "Lattice" attempted to do so but her main purchase point to do so was to take the greatest emotion Hali had and to expand from it. Hali admitted that the greatest emotion she had was paranoia. Pressing for topics to bring the pair to that point, Hali gave many examples: the possibility of Byakhee turning on her, her unknown past, a god she really doesn't know, the symbol upon her tome, the random and sudden unfeeling of death she had come close to fully experiencing recently, and what might happen if she was without her headband.
  Now, "Lattice" had already tried to acquire Broxon's hammer. When posited with the headband as an option, "Lattice" was more than willing to explore it. While other options were possible, Hali too settled on that being the route to paranoia. Hali felt like she knew too much and the headband helped with that. She didn't know what would happen without that brace. She attempted to remove it but upon placing her hands there, her arms stopped obeying her. She asked "Lattice" to remove it. The fey brought up the condition that it would be hers if she did so. To reach ultimate paranoia, Hali couldn't have a lifeline, couldn't have that tether of knowing she could put it back on. The genasi agreed.
  "Lattice" reached up to remove the headband, but when she did, her hands burst into showers of sparks. The color drained from her body, down to a dull maroon as he hands rained out yellow white sparks. The scream shocked the party awake. Hali then used her control of fire to twist the flames of "Lattice's” torso into the three armed symbol upon her book and it grew a deep mustard color. The screams went silent as the face continued to elongated in it's pain and tear apart. "Lattice" disintegrated into nothing in those moments. In quite communion, Hali found that her patron had gathered the knowledge needed to continue on to Parsicon. The directions became appeared in the book in scratching, twisted hand writing as a list of places to use as waypoints: Candlelit Forest, Lake of Dreams, Graveyard of Glass, and then a struggling, almost inkless reference to a Den, almost as if the entity was not allowed to write it down.
  After the death of the Fractured Pack's guide, the party shared some loose conversations as they finished their final sliver of rest. When finished, they continued on under the guidance of Hali's mystically granted knowledge. Within the variable space and time of the Feywild, it seemed that knowing where you were supposed to go aided in being able to go there.
  The Candlelit Forest
The first step along the way was the Candlelit Forest. Within, Buck found a vibrant pink, stringy shrub that was more than willing to talk with him. Buck identified it as a Candor plant, a plant used in making Truth Serum. Within the Feywild, it's sentience proved far more than just a conversation partner. It was capable of quickly discerning if an individual was lying and more than willing to speak out. While much effort went into wanting to take the dubbed “Candace” with them, it was soon discovered to be more problematic than it was worth. Candace revealed that the dotting lights in the distance were wisps, and inquisitive wisps at that. The would batter voyagers with questions. Delay or impropriety would lead to the wisp shocking the voyager and Candace would not be able to help themselves from speaking out against anything they felt was false. Buck merely acquired a sampling of truth serum before leaving. Harvesting quickly and without practice distressed Candace and left them in a wilted state to recover from on their own.
  Anna went ahead to scout but quickly fled back with wisps bobbing at her tail blathering questions. She out ran the horde to inform her friends but mid conversation a few dozen of them appeared throughout the whole area. Rattling questions proved Candace's information right. Swift, earnest, fulfilling answers left the party unberated but delays or half-replies received shocks. Our companions attempted to flee but were dragged down. Moving too fast around the wisps was abjured for not taking time for their questions. Leaving the path bogged them down as the grasses and shrubs attempted to hold the wayfarer back. Hali read the situation and weaved a magic that combined enchantment with what the wisps wanted. Rattling off answers to questions while Enthralling those around her, Hali in a matter of moments satiated the horde in a fraction of the questions, and therefore shocks, than otherwise would be needed. The only sacrifice was her own privacy.
  Lake of Dreams
Moving on from the Candlit Forest, the Fractured Pack continued onto the Lake of Dreams. Within the restful and dreary place, the party encountered a pair of centaurs out for a picnic for their anniversary. After a minor discourse with the gents, the party let them be. Not wanting to disturb, the party continued on. The lake captured many of their curiosities but also their fears. Anna had already enchanted the party with a waterwalking transmutation which prevented any deeper investigation than pressing a face beneath the waters. The party attempted to outlast the spell's duration by taking a short rest but found themselves refreshed in minutes rather than an hour within the soothing environment. Eventually, they gave up on their curiosity (beyond Buck taking a water sample) to continue on yet again.
  Graveyard of Glass (Shrine of Damned Selves)
Their final waypoint to get to their destination was the Graveyard of Glass. Here, they found a a small shrine teetering on a hemispherical foundation that they learned to be the Shrine of Damned Selves. The vibrant haired priestess of the shrine introduced herself as Mel Tash, a two-spirited follower of the Raven Queen. In this realm of change and intention, her role as a cleric of fate was to care for the unfulfilled futures of lives. Whether through choices, outside afflictions, or slow mutations of mindset, many futures that once seemed prominent would never be fulfilled. It was Mel Tash's practice to ensure that these unrealized potential futures of people settled and resolved themselves.
  Walking through the jutting glass tombstones, the Fractured Pack could see into snapshots of those unrealized futures, one for every stone here. Many stones showed different people though with enough looking, multiple unresolved futures could be discovered for a single individual. Walking the grounds, our companions found some snapshots they sought whether the image was wanted or not. Broxon found a future as the champion of Tempus leading a charge into battle but failed to find one of Garlin.
  Buck found one of his parents, aged and contented amid a successful hunting trial ceremony. He likewise found one of himself as a hermited old man by himself at the edge of his society. Anna found one of her aarakocra self being praised within a lived and lively Alecaster for some medical achievement.
  Anna's eyes also found one of Hali's as the genasi failed to find one for herself. But what Hali saw, she did not know. Herself a little older sitting behind the counter of a nice shop. She ruptured the glass tombstone to take a fragment with her for future study but this brought the ire of Mel Tash who had warned of individuals unable to deal with and process futures lost to them. While Mel Tash then kept Hali adjacent to her and away from her own stones, Buck gathered the shard. Hali did find one more recognizable but not for herself. Jayden the Crude, partying filthy rich in a ship.
  The Floral Den
With their time around the Shrine of Damned Selves done, the companions continued to their final destination with the proper name given by Mel Tash: The Floral Den. Entering through banks of flowers, the Fractured Pack stepped intro a vibrant fey spring amid a party of singing, dancing, eating, and drinking fey. Pixies, sprites, eladrin, satyrs, centaurs, the whole sweep. But in the center upon a surging coral throne amid the pond was the ruler of this land. Masculine and vibrant, a mane of flower petals around, a masquerade mask of flowers and the boxy mouth of a feline predator sat Parsicon, the Archfey of this valley.
  The heroes made their case for wanting out of the territory and back to their own. In doing so, though, they were easily talked into enjoying the atmosphere. The warnings of “Don't eat the food” that had been given in "Lattice"'s grove were quickly cast aside for fear of offending Parsicon. The wine brought to the companions elated them. Tasting of their most desired flavors, warping texture and density in suit as well, the wine was of heightened presence. All but Anna fell under the sway. While thoughts were still their own, emotions were turned up to 10 at all times.
  Anna knew the dangers here and sought out. Knowing they had partaken in the feast, the Rule of Reciprocity meant they would have to give something in return. Worse still, Parsicon demanded not only a return on the wine but retribution for Hali killing one of his citizens. Parsicon had a portal back to the prime material for the party to use but it would not be free. The archfey also had a pet there to protect it. They could use the portal... if they could get to it. Of course, that would only be after they had given back to the party.
  Anna animated one of her hammers, sending it to dance with Fluffins to provide entertainment. By then, Parsicon had become enraptured by some mermaids about him. When he turned back, the pair did little for his fancy. Broxon attempted to challenge Pariscon or his best champion to a duel for entertainment but Hali herself talked the archfey out of it, unable to lower himself to such a standard to not immediately win. Broxon was not enthused. It was here, with Anna's hammer and spider dance, that Parsicon feltout his entertainment.
  The archfey enchanted the already livid dwarf into thinking that Hali was fully surrendering with white flag and all. The spite and vitriol from the dwarf led to Hali herself producing a phantasm of dead companions from such singular challenges as Broxon had made in the past. The fey wine took over as a grapple began that Anna and Fluffins had to physically pry apart. The genasi levitated up for Broxon to density warp up and bare down with hammer blows. Throughout all of this, Buck appealed out to Parsicon who just laughed. Anna pulled away in dismay with Fluffins who tried to shield her from Broxon's continued wrath, continued swinging hammers mixed with spider legs. In elation, the archfey clapped hard and with the singular hand slapp the fey wine's heightened emotions fell. A dancing hammer and spider indeed.
  Parsicon had wanted his entertainment and he had had it. Anna's provided topic on a grander scale. What was not expected was how much more he would get from this. With the wild truths locked inside the pack cracked, they continued to ooze out even without the wine. As Buck tended to Hali, getting her back up, the genasi slung more mud at Broxon. Pressing the point, she made sure Broxon knew he was responsible for his companions deaths in Hell.
    After the inter party conflict calmed from Parsicon's pleasure, the pack separated out. Broxon stormed off to pace out his remaining aggression and found himself the social prey of an equally fuming eladrin, shining bright yellows and oranges of their passionate summer form. Bucks inquires after the dwarf made the social wall visible as Broxon wanted no further contact until the pack would be facing off against Parsicon's pet guarding the portal out. Buck let it bem returning to the group to figure things out. What he would never truly find out is that the situation was worse than he would ever have guessed.
  As Broxon moved away with the Eladrin to let it feed on his emotions for greater recuperation before the trial of Parsicon's pet, Broxon also had a more personal communion. Reaching out to Tempus, Broxon agreed to the terms. If this is how things were, fine. He didn't need his companions. He would accept being champion even if it meant his they would die by his side. He was okay with that now. In irony, Broxon himself would never know that this would be his greatest failure. At the first major testing point of his loyalty to his friends, he abandoned them as his father had abandoned him. Whatever the dwarf wanted, he would not be stepping back onto the road of being the champion of Tempus.
  While Broxon traded his emotional outrage for better rest before the encounter, the rest of the companions spent their time attempting to sus-out their challenge. Most responses came in the form of teased answers, nothing straight forward but all relevant. A dancing centaur let Hali know that a bolt or teleportation directly for the exit would not be as entertaining to the Fertile Court and would not go well. A degree of time would be needed, dancing with the pet to provide proper amusement. Buck learned from another centaur offhandedly spreading flowers that rerooted themselves that the pet was eternal of Parsicon's court, that whatever damage may come it would survive any winter in the fey lord's presence, merely recuperating as it's bulb to reemerge again. Within the Fertile Court, everything acted as Parsicon willed it to be. Hali swam with the merfolk, holding her breath endlessly as she telepathically spoke to the drowners of mortal folk. They would be present on the battle field, having few places to watch from other than the center. Should things grow too close, they would have to retreat for their own safety though.
  Throughout this period, Buck continued to bandage the party, both physically from their interparty scuffle and emotionally, attempting to bolster the resolve for what was to come. Despite this, when the party was paraded to the portal's arena, Broxon stayed among the eladrin and not the Fractured Pack.
  Parsicon's Pet
Coming upon a glade with a built up rocky mount in the center, the group could see a large tree upon a plateau on the rocky hill. Parsicon bade the tree to split open forming a portal back to the prime material. Where that portal went would be up to the first to step through. Parsicon had multiple connections to the prime and the portal would take the party to the location nearest their desires. Before that though, they would have to get there. The Archfey then bayed his pet to come out to play. A humongous bulb opened at the base of the rocky hill to reveal hooks and barbs running down the petals. Huge tendrils of vines ending in serrated pincers burst from the soil and pushed ruts through the ground as they moved.
  The companions broke into multiple strides. Anna and Hali started forward to take cover at a boulder, shooting out with fire and flame far more dramatically, attempting to put on a good show. Buck dashed sidelong, separating out. Broxon, though, went straight in. While some of the Pack started off deliberately trying to make a good show of it, they quickly learned that a pantomime was not needed. This creature was deadly enough to require full force for mere survival. The fragrances and spores that emitted from the creature wore down personal buffers to toxins that otherwise would have held firm. Fungus began to rapidly grow on the companions, sucking away life. When things seemed like they couldn't get worse, an errant owlbear stepped through a wicket gate or a giant lizards reaction to the merfolk in danger made their way into the arena.
  Broxon attempted to focus on the main bulb but got swallowed by it in the process, the enzymes deadly. He burst out in a surge of power and attempted to scale the rocky face to simply be picked up by a tendril and chucked back down. Hali's Byahkee lasted only moments before she was bashed and thrown back by another tendril. Anna tried acrobatic winging through the battlefield but was grabbed and bashed, slung to and fro towards her desired destinations and away again. Buck managed to place a few good shots before realizing that his role as medic was far more needed. Hali levitated herself up to the portal tree's ledged to be grabbed by a tendril, squeezed into unconsciousness, and thrown tumbling back to the hill's base next to Broxon.
  As Buck rushed in to aid, the dwarf was lifted from the ground, pulled in two directions by separate tendrils. Luckily, Bucks' retreat distracted one. The distraction wasn't enough though. As Anna and Flufflins charged in, Vengaza surging with light and jolts of energy popping with attacks either painfully into the bulb or in adrenaline surges into Broxon. The bulb retreated into the ground as Broxon was squeezed, slammed into the wall, and dropped unconscious for decomposition on the the soft soil above the reburied central creature. Fighting by the skin of their teeth, the Fractured pack outlasted the tendrils, one by one retracting into the ground until the final one was slain and Parsicon dismissed the interfering animals out of the battle field. Crowds cheered for the best portaltrial they had seen in ages of the ageless Feywild. Parsicon amusedly clapped.
  The Fractured Pack picked themselves up, broken and beaten, to the portal tree as the cheers lingered on. A quiet conversation among the party confronted a truth. No one took the lead in entering the portal first. No one felt the need to force their chosen destination above others. Each party member was willing to let another step through first. In the end, Hali and her goal of the Tertalak led their way. Anna and Broxon followed with Buck helping them through. Buck went last, his had lingering behind him in the feywild to conjure one last bird into existence.