Session 21: Ribbons

Having ended their meeting with the Raven Queen, the party finds themselves perusing a gallery of her art, before finally making their way out of her realm. After a badly needed rest, the party spends a few days navigating the underdark, before being separated from Kerani and Bulgey, and coming across a desperate elf being attacked by a giant insect.

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A Step Back into Sanity

The party, promised information and a safe exit, follow the Raven Queen's speaker as he leads them out of her... fortress? But before they leave, they stop in a gallery, while Kerani is sent through a portal of sorts to retrieve the information she seeks about the Teeth of Three. Wary of the situation, the party balks at the idea of her being separated from them, but Kerani insists that this is what she wants.   While she is away, the party explores a gallery of tapestries. The speaker explains that these are expressions of artist's work, as they die and come through their space. He offers that they simply sit and wait if they'd prefer, but the gallery is available should they want it. And so the party explores. They find a variety of tapestries, including some that they had seen in disrepair before. An apple tree, a holy man resisting the darkness, a series of circles of light and dark; all sorts of art lined these walls, although their meaning was largely lost on the party. They did note that the older tapestries they had spotted before seem to be in a more complete form here, and although it didn't convey any particularly new information to them. Brian read off the various locations in the scroll that he had bargained for, although the party was unable to confidently identify most places in the list. The Elemental Plane of Fire, Coluria, The Outlands, and Mechanus, were recognizable places to some of the group, but others, like Eagantsi were unrecognizable by any of them. But Brian couldn't remember why they were important, and the rest of the party was at a loss. The Raven nips at Fork's ear in impatience, and Tilly makes various comments about pranks and biting that flummox various party members. It may just be a Fairy thing, no one is certain.  Vita seemingly is unfamiliar with practical jokes.  Making their way back towards the arcane circle, they find that Kerani has returned, with a jar containing some sort of silvery string. She explains that it's a memory regarding the Teeth of Three, to give to Iskandar.     Her mission complete, the speaker brings them to the edge of the fortress, and the party gets their first look across the landscape of the Shadowfel; a grey wasteland of swirling mists; the only light dimly lighting the landscape from nowhere in particular. The speaker leaves them at this stage, suggesting that the bird onFork's shoulder will guide them out safely. And so the party follows it. A few particularly aggressive specters in the mists try to approach, but the bird seems capable keeping them at bay; and the party is able to make their way to a series of tunnels. The rightmost; a cacophony of noise of creatures, while the left the sound of industry. Tilly questions Kerani about the information she gained, who resisted sharing it with the party. She insisted the party was safer not knowing, and despite Tilly's protests, Kerani remained silent. Taking hands, the party steps forward cautiously, and after a brief blinding light, finds themselves back in a world they are familiar with, albeit still underground, and very lost. The Raven led them down the central path, and after some time came across a room, in which the raven finally leaves Fork's shoulder, indicating that this is the place.  

Another Dark Tunnel, Another Rescue

Tilly tries using the trinket given to the party from Iskandar almost immediately to contact him, to no avail. Planning to take shifts, Kerani offers to summon something to take watch, allowing the entire party a full night's sleep. Bulgey offers to keep her company, and the others go to sleep. However, for Fork the night wasn't quite so comfortable.   The following.... morning? found Fork reasonably distraught, about as much as he was the evening before with his new raven associate. He showed that the back of his right hand was seemingly branded with a sort of mark of the Raven Queen, one which he couldn't remove like a normal tattoo or scar. He glares angrily at the bird, establishes some ground rules which nobody is certain the bird even hears. They move on into the tunnels, looking for a way out.   It's a few days of travel before anything notable happens. Low rumblings cause a collapse, which forces Kerani and Bulgey to backtrack a bit, while Tilly has a wild magic eruption, seriously injuring Vita, Brian, and Fork.   Moving forward without Kerani or Bulgey, the party eventually comes across the sounds of a scuffle. An elf, seemingly struggling against a large insect-like creature. He pleads for help from the party, who rush into the fight. Successfully beating the creature and it's smaller swarming allies, the party collects itself.