Astvanor Session 153 (11/8)

[cinaed]

Session 153: Days 19 and 20 of Saedan (11/8)

It is night. The Night Market is in full flush and effect. The lights are bright and blinding, the sweet and savory smells of food fill the air. Az holds onto Diana, heart pounding, still smelling the scent of rot clinging to his nose and clothes and hair. Every time he breathes in hard, hurrying down the road towards his house and the Tower, he can feel it lining his throat.

Audacity and Yolov are headed to Pepet’s. The little mousefolk spots them coming and immediately hangs down off of the overhang where she works, above where someone else is selling their wares. She greets Az with a bright hi, who walks up the stall to join her.

Pepet holds out the keychain. It is a very nice, beautifully carved keychain. It’s been polished and sealed in a way that looks natural but protected from the elements and has a nice little cord.

Audacity thanks her and she shows him how precisely she’s copied the flower that he drew for her. She gives him a little receipt as well, using a tiny mouse from her pocket to ink his paw onto the receipt. Audacity is charmed.

He hops back down off the roof. As he does, he spots over the rooftops there are a lot of thatched wooden roofs of the various stalls. There are a few with people like Pepet working on top, but his attention is caught by Adrin who is perched on a stall before she launches herself upwards and begins to fly in a loop around the market.

Yolov watches a stupid grin on Audacity’s face melt away to alarm as he lands a little clumsily. He asks what Audacity saw.

Audacity says they need to get back to the Turen estate, Az is taking Diana to the Feywild tonight. As Yolov stares in shock, Audacity grabs the Sending necklace Queen Wrenvar gave them all and tells the group that Az is up to. Hava begins to scream in frustration as Yolov tells Audacity he’ll get them as close to the estate as possible and Dimension Doors them both out of the market.

Audacity makes a beeline towards the Tower as Az has been running towards it with Diana, Az using the head start and his knowledge of the city against Audacity’s monk speed.

Az and Diana get to the tower, where it looms over them both and feels bigger and wilder at night, as it always has forAz. Everything’s scarier in the dark, he used to think. He reaches for the doorway, his hand touching the stone, just as Audacity catches up behind him.

Az yelps in surprise.

Back in the market, Hava begins to fly and Galowen starts running beneath her, both bolting towards the estate as well as Yolov runs after an Audacity who quickly disappears from his sight.

Audacity aims a punch at Az, who takes the punch with a wince and turns invisible as he teleports into the portal. Az finds himself in the same spot as before, eyeing the Redcaps who are gathering up mushrooms by a fallen tree. Every single time one of the Redcaps leaves, the fallen tree replenishes itself. They are babbling back and forth in a language he doesn’t recognize.

Outside in the dark of the Striogian night, Audacity and Diana are looking around for him as Yolov gets to the estate. They recognized Az’s disappearing act, but they also realize he should have reappeared by now and that he must have disappeared through the portal.

Audacity looks down at a smudge of dust where Az was, running his tongue along his teeth and saying that it’s tempting just to let him go. Diana says he’s a friend, about to unleash his patron. Audacity tells her that the third fight they were ever in, Az left him to die. He was getting beaten to shit after saving Az, and Az stood there saying they should just leave. Audacity is struggling with the friendship definition.

Yolov arrives, leaving a trail of sand behind him as Diana says she understands that the amount of stupidity Az is showing is likely due to fear. Yolov asks where Az is and when they tell him he’s inside the Feywild, immediately starts for the portal, stopped by Audacity.

He starts to protest, but Audacity points out they need to wait for the others before they drag him out of the Feywild. Yolov waits impatiently and updates Hava and Galowen on the situation once they and Adrin arrive. He says they’re going to bring him back and get some rest. Hava says she’s going to kill Az.

Adrin curls against Diana who says she was scared when Diana disappeared. Diana assures her that it wasn’t her idea.

Inside the portal, Az hears his patron tell him that there are tears within the Feywild that will lead him towards his patron where he can finally be useful. Az asks about the tears since he and his friends stop tears and his patron says that the Feywild can tear itself apart if it wants.

Across the river, Az sees what is almost a mirage where sand turns almost purple and blue and jagged crystal. It’s much wobblier in comparison to the rest of what he sees, so he takes a step towards it.

As soon as he does, his foot hits a small stone that rolls in the direction of the Redcaps. They all perk up immediately, two harvesting mushrooms and one standing there as they all look towards him while his patron’s voice grates almost painfully in his head.

“And just to be sure that you will come for me, you’re not leaving here until I do too.”

The roar drowns out of footsteps as the rest of the Hooligans get through the portal just before it closes.

The Redcaps pull out huge sickles at the sight of them all.

Hava reacts first, spying Az. She moves closer to him and asks what the fuck is wrong with him. Az says that they needed him and she says they don’t need him for shit, he’s a fucking idiot. She uses her Twilight Sanctuary aura and then casts a Healing Word on Az. She tells him he’s like a brother to her but she also wants to beat the shit out of him.

Diana rushes up to one of the Redcaps and breathes fire on two of them. Both of the Redcaps shriek as she burns them. There is the smell of burnt wood and flesh and sand as Adrin rushes forward and bites one as well. Her jaws close over a shoulder and crushes it.

Az casts Summon Fey to summon Sabara. He puts her behind the mushrooms. She looks far more tangible here than she does on the material plane, her tail wagging furiously as she bites the Redcap Adrin just attacked. She goes for its throat, tearing it out and spraying blood across her face.

Galowen rushes forward and puts himself between the Redcaps and Az as the Redcap attacks Diana, slashing her repeatedly with his sickle.

The other Redcap dashes closer, joining the other Redcap in front of Diana.

Yolov look sadly at Az as he sends Es forward and tells Az that after this they are going to discuss why Az decided to risk his and Diana and now everyone else’s lives. Then he stretches out his staff and casts Fireball on both of the Redcaps, burning one completely to ash and badly injuring the remaining one.

Audacity doesn’t look as Az as he stalks forward and snaps the last one’s neck. Then he turns to punch Az but Hava stops him and tells Az that he had no right to do this.

Audacity adds that he dragged Diana into this and Az is shouted down when he says she volunteered. Audacity says she probably just didn’t say no.

Diana tells Az that this was a very stupid idea. Az tries to defend himself and explain that his patron wants to be freed, but Hava tells him that she doesn’t care about what his patron wants. Now they’re all trapped with the fracture closed.

When Az says there are other tears here they can use to get out, Audacity asks if Evie knows about these fractures. Evie tells Hava that she felt it when they came to the Feywild, it felt like they brushed against her. Hava asks what she knows about the Archfey and Evie says she doesn’t consider herself with such matters.

Hava asks if she knows how to get out and Evie explains that the Feywild is split, there are tears within the Feywild. One will get them back to the material plane. Evie tells her that she would prefer they not damage it further.

Hava assures her that she wasn’t planning on it, she didn’t even want to be here except for a stupid impulsive decision from Az. She tucks Evie away as Az looks at the mushrooms and Galowen contemplates finding a place to rest.

Hava realizes that they’re still in a dangerous spot. She can see the fire from a nearby Redcap settlement. They agree to set up a Tiny Hut as Yolov keeps looking at Az in disappointment and interrupts the group discussion on setting up watch to say that Az shouldn’t take watch, which offends Az.

When he goes to find a spot in the Tiny Hut as far away from Az as possible, Az follows him to try and apologize and explain, enduring heckling from the others. Yolov reminds him that he promised to help Az free his patron, he guesses Az just forgot.

Az says he didn’t forget, he just needed to get to his patron as quickly as possible. When no one looks convinced or impressed, Az asks Audacity to read his mind and shows him the memory of his encounter with his patron in the Night Market. As that memory ends, Audacity hunts down the scarred face memory. He also gets that moment, watching Az get mouthy with his patron and the way the patron grabbed his face and forced him to look up at them.

Everyone sees Audacity goes from an agitated twitching to completely motionless. After a long pause, Audacity blinks and takes a breath and says, “Okay. Have you considered getting another patron?”

Az says the patron was also his mother’s patron. Yolov tells him that his mother couldn’t possibly want them to treat him like this. Audacity explains what he saw, and Diana puts her hands on Az’s shoulders and tells him that she knows people like his patron, they will take everything from him until he’s outlived his usefulness and he will be discarded.

Diana looks the most serious the group has ever seen her.

Audacity asks how his mom died.

Az says nothing could have been done. Audacity was there in Juniper’s workshop. He knows the warlocks couldn’t be saved. Az says that they can release his patron and discuss making a clean break.

The group argues against this, Audacity saying that they should kill his patron and find him a better one and Yolov pointing out that he is willing to free the Winds of Change, it seems to him that the punishment outweighs the crime, but Archie is a better option than Az’s current patron. He reminds them of Archie and his daughter, and Audacity says he doesn’t think they should get the Courts angry with them.

Az says that they should rest and discuss this in the morning. He wants to try and find a Fey town, learn more about what people think about the failed coup. Audacity asks him to promise not to run off again, and Az says he gives them his word.

When the party presses him, Az says he promises. Yolov quietly asks what he would swear by and Az says that he gave his word, isn’t that enough. Yolov is silent for a moment before he says he doesn’t know.

Diana says she has a solution and spits on her hand before offering it to Az. Az hesitates, grossed out, but relents after she wipes her hand on her pants.

They sleep and take watch, undisturbed.

In the morning, Hava is the last on watch. She sees a tiny little rock figure approaching the Tiny Hut. She coos at it as the Tiny Hut dissolves. It offers up a fine parchment paper that reads, "The Great Tarieshkaelayla requests your presence for a late afternoon tea." There are tiny glass rock glitter on the parchment that hurt Hava’s fingers.

Galowen and Yolov realize this parchment is from the material plane. Audacity also realizes that Galowen can’t be scryed upon by Elathias while in the Feywild, and Galowen temporarily gives Az his anti-scrying necklace.

Az writes a letter saying that they would be pleased to attend tea and offers it to the tiny rock figure, who doesn’t move until Yolov asks it to lead them to Tarieshkaelayla. Then it toddles along past the fallen tree to the tear Az had noticed. Yolov grabs one of the mushroom blooms along the way, tucking it into his haversack for Juniper.

They all follow the tiny rock figure through the tear into a much cooler space, surrounded by rocks and ragged rock glass, all covered by over fifty tiny rock creatures, making little noises back and forth.

Ahead of the Hooligans, amidst the blue, white, silver, pink juts of crystal there is a long central line of pieces of crystal jutting out of the floor in plinths and spires ten to fifteen feet tall, clustering in one point and then going onward until the end of the line, where three additional tears await them.

The earth beneath them rumbles for a moment.

All the rock creatures chitter and start to clamber slowly and awkwardly as the golem with the letter keeps toddering towards the mountain of crystals as the creature beneath the crystal rises and lifts up crystal wings and shakes it head, sending crystal and stone to the ground with a crash.

When it opens its mouth, they brace for an attack, but it yawns and shakes its head.

“Do forgive me,” she says. The dragon bows to them all. “I forgot how long it takes for people to travel between tears. I am the Great Tarieshkaelayla but you can call me Tari. I hear that you are planning a jailbreak.”

Az bows back and thanks her for the invitation.

Tari offers them tea, creating a table and crystal teacups. She curls her tail around herself and says she thinks she can help them with that jailbreak.