Previously: Chapter 59: Interventions
Leaving Shortlot
Penny sips the orange wine that she purchased, and notices that she shrinks slightly, as well as getting heavily inebriated. Kal asks why she is shrinking, with Penny asking why they’re all growing. Dandelion goes to ask the bartender Jackie Daytona what is happening, to which he responds that it is an effect of the pumpkins found in the area, they cause the drinker to shrink, but also makes them luckier and can handle dangerous drinks and foods better. He asks if they would like to purchase a bottle, but they decline.
As the night goes on, with the party finishing their drinks, Kal and Penny go to sleep in their room. Relic sits in a quiet corner in the tavern, trying to regain some strength. Kal makes sure to put a sign on him that says that he is recharging, and to leave him alone. Dandelion goes outside to sleep in the snow, and finds a nice spot near the lake that gives her a beautiful view of Elysum, the moon of Iozaria. She eventually falls asleep, surrounded by snow, but kept warm by her thermal cube. In the middle of the night, Kal and Penny both are awoken by someone shouting “BAT!”, with the sounds of tiny wings fluttering away just before dawn. Kal thinks to herself that it must be a druid.
In the morning, Dandelion awakes partially covered in snow, and is met by a cloudless sky. Penny and Kal both go down to meet Relic, who is reading a book. As Dandelion enters, they order breakfast, and find the pseudo-bacon to be scrumptious, so Kal goes to ask the owner, Jasper, for the recipe. He is reluctant, as it is their signature, but accepts when Kal trades some of her own recipes back to him, with the promise that she will not monetize the pseudo-bacon. He also tells them that the central plains is filled with tribes of centaurs who might take offense to them traveling through, and recommends being courteous and polite, and offer trade for safe passage. He also mentions the Banshee of Swellingstrum, when Kal asks about interesting landmarks. After breakfast, the party prepares their carriage for travel, and heads eastwards.
Waldenmill
The party travels on the road for a couple of days. To the south, they can see the vast plains that are barren of snow, signifying the end of winter, and spring soon approaching. Towards noon on the third day, they come to the tiny village of Waldenmill. Just a few hundred inhabitants, it’s a quiet little place with few interesting sights, but Penny notices a couple of familiar faces. Some of the people she knows from her community, a couple of older women, who in turn recognize her. She approaches, meekly, and gives them a short wave. They can hardly believe their eyes, and ask if it truly is Penny, which she confirms. They tell her that it is good to see her, and they didn’t know what became of her.
Penny asks them why they are in Waldenmill and not back home, and gets told that they couldn’t handle the stress of living in the Sanctuary anymore. Penny says that she knows about the problems, and is on the way there to take care of it. This causes the old ladies to be suspicious, and flat out asks her if she has been dabbling with the dark arts, but Penny tries to calm them down by saying that she hasn’t. She manages to convince them, and they tell her that she should return home swiftly, as her parents are worried sick, thinking that she was kidnapped by the traveling bard that was visiting. Penny is shocked by this, and tells them that he was not kidnapping her, she just went with him willingly, but the ladies are still doubtful.
They look at the rest of the party, and are surprised to see another firbolg, considering they thought they were quite rare. They reference a firbolg named Raindrop from the sanctuary, whom Penny seems to know of. In either case, they tell the party to hurry onwards to the sanctuary, if they truly can help, and hope that Penny stays for good. She says that she can’t, but Dandelion interjects and tells her that there will probably be a tree they can use for fast transport back to the sanctuary later. The ladies ask that they let them know if they solve the problem, so that they can move back, as they are tired of travelers coming and going, and want more of a quiet place where people stay the same or stay for good. Too many people coming and going are stressing them out.
Into the Woods
Leaving Waldenmill, they continue onwards until they come across a river with an old stone bridge crossing it. This is the landmark they were told to look out for, and find a little used pathway that leads north, following the river, as instructed. Dandelion sends Argus and Ira high into the sky to scout ahead, as the party follows the river north. As darkness begins to fall, they set up camp, across the river from some houses. The owls eventually return, and tell the party that they can see a large tree far in the distance, at least a couple of days' travel from where they currently are.
Before going to bed, Relic casts Fly on himself, Kal and Penny, with Dandelion wildshaping into an owl, to see the path in front of them. They too see the large tree looming in the distance, with Penny confirming that it is her home, since she knows no other tree that big. Dandelion thinks to herself that she definitely wants to use that as a way to transport via plants. Argus, peering into the forest below them can see that a few of the trees seem to be quite… rough looking. Like they are sick or something. When they land, Dandelion decides to do a commune with nature, and finds that the surrounding area is just regular forests, nothing out of the ordinary.
Eventually the party goes to sleep, waking up early in the morning to head into the woods. As the forest is not that well traveled, they get no use from their horseshoes, and so the journey takes longer than expected. Luckily, Kal prepares find the path, and manages to lead the party through the forest, after Penny gives a proper description and depiction of the sanctuary, using minor illusion. Dandelion takes a few rests to do more communes, and finds a spot with some powerful dryads, with a feywild influence to the north-east. She takes note of any nearby trees that could be useful to easily find their way back there, before moving on. Penny tells the group that she was told not to wander away from the sanctuary when she was little, and wonders if it was because her parents were afraid of her getting lost in the feywild.
After a couple of days, the trees around them starts looking more and more deteriorated, like Argus spotted on the few ones that were nearby the first night they were in the area. Dandelion approaches one of them, using her druid powers to communicate with the plants, to get an impression of what is doing it to them. She gets a feeling of tiredness, like the trees are exhausted somehow. They all just want to lie down, but Dandelion knows what that would mean, and hopes that they manage to stay upright. Penny tries to contact Gleamshroud, but gets no response. They must not be close enough yet. What both Penny and Dandelion notice however is a stark absence of creatures. No birds, no wildlife, nothing. It’s like they have been chased away from the area. Penny remembers that they never had a problem with predators, and the sanctuary has always been a place where everything lives in harmony and peace. She does not like how this looks. They press onwards, and soon find the massive tree looming over the treetops, as they see buildings between the trees in front of them. Dandelion thinks to herself that she has to find a way to use that tree as a transportation point.
The Emerald Earth Sanctuary
As the party approaches the sanctuary they see the massive tree, towering over them, at least 3-400 feet high. It has no leaves, which the rest of the party assume is natural with it being winter and all, but Penny looks worried, saying that it always has leaves all year around. Something is wrong. Before the party gets a chance to respond to this, a figure comes flying down from high above. An aarakocra lands in front of them, with Penny immediately shouting “Skyfeather” at the woman. The lady looks at her, and asks if it truly is Penny, before running over to give her a hug, asking if she is okay. Penny tells her that she’s fine, and that she has returned to help with the sanctuary, having been told that it is in danger. Skyfeather is happy to have her return, and shoots off to tell her parents, but Penny quickly tells her that she wants to surprise them. The aarakocra stops in mid air, gives Penny a nod, before flying up to a lookout post in the tree instead.
As the party heads inwards towards the center, they ask Penny how much they should tell them about why they are here. She says that they shouldn’t say anything about Gleamshroud or what he is, but that they talked to Perry magically, which is why they know that the community is in danger. They don’t want them to panic, so just tell them the bare minimum. When they pass people sitting outside their homes, several of them notice Penny and start to wander after the group. When they reach the tree, two tieflings, one woman, red, and one man, snow-white, starts almost running towards the party. The woman, Penny’s mother Leyla, shouts at her daughter “where HAVE you been?”, with her father being more laid back, and happy to see Penny alive and well. Leyla runs to Penny and embraces her, causing them both to topple over, with Penny’s father, Elmwood, picking them both up, and they embrace in a group hug. Elmwood asks where Morgan is so that he can kill him, for kidnapping his daughter, but Penny reveals that she ran away, and Morgan is not a bad guy. Her father seems hesitant, but accepts her word. Afterwards they introduce themselves to the party.
Suddenly, a door opens nearby, and a halfling boy comes running out, with books falling out behind him. Perry runs towards Penny, and jumps into a great hug with her, thanking her for finally being back. He too suspected Morgan of kidnapping her, so Penny makes it clear to everyone around that Morgan is innocent and that she ran away at her own volition. This seems to calm them down, and in the meantime, Relic has begun to try to identify what is happening by casting a spell on Elmwood, but he finds nothing is magically affecting the tiefling, he’s just very tired, just like the surrounding trees. They ask how long they have been feeling lethargic, and the sanctuary murmurs a bit, but remembers it started to creep up on them about two to two and half months ago. This is a while after Penny’s connection to Vuthul was severed, so they wonder what has been happening in the meantime. Apparently a few people have died supposedly before their time, possibly due to the effects of the forest. Others have moved away, like the ones they met in Waldenmill. Leyla says that they must be hungry, so they head towards the large structure surrounding the tree.
Inside, there are a few tables that people use for gatherings, and as soon as people starts wandering inside, a large firbolg, Raindrop, that was sleeping in the corner, wakes up and comes lumbering over. The party is taken aback by his size, being much taller than Dandelion, towering over her. He approaches, and greets Penny fondly, saying hello to the other visitors. He seems to be quite simple, but well behaved, for the most part. He points out that Dandelion is like him, prompting her to ask where he is from. He remembers coming from a forest, and that his mothers name is Rose, but he hasn’t heard of Faunus, or at least he can’t remember him. He seems quite intrigued by the metal man Relic, and picks him up, shaking him a bit to see if he makes a funny noise. He then looks to Kal, and points out that she looks quite sad, but Dandelion corrects him by saying that she just always looks angry. Kal does not mind this. Raindrop, tired of the pleasantries, goes over to the makeshift kitchen to prepare supper. To Kal’s horror he seems to just randomly put vegetables and meat in a large pot, with no concern of portions, but surprisingly it smells and tastes quite nice when it is finished.
They exchange stories over dinner, with Skyfeather having heard about Relic’s home town, as she is from Kesser City, a floating island near where he is from. A few of the townspeople have heard about Faunus, but no worshippers sadly. Dandelion continues to talk to Raindrop, and she ends up going to his “shop”, which is a table filled with things that he has found, pretty rocks, flowers and such. She gladly trades a hagstone for a flower that she conjures using druidcraft. Raindrop, in awe, takes the flower and puts it in a planter, thanking her for the transaction. The door opens, and a drow woman enters, but meekly turns back as she sees the large crowd of people gathered. Penny runs after her, giving her “aunt” Valthrae a big hug, asking if she will join them, but Valthrae seems to have some anxiety, so she will get some later. She does however ask Penny to join her for tea like they used to, to which she gladly accepts, she just has to deal with a few things first. Penny then walks away from the tree and into the forest.
After walking for a short while, she finds her old tree where she used to sit and talk to the voice that she now realizes always was Gleamshroud. She enters, brushing away some of the snow that has crept inside, and sits down, reaching out to Gleamshroud. She gets a reply rather quickly, saying that he is quite weary, and has been waiting for her to return. She asks where he is, and how she can reach him, and he tells her that the entrance to his cave is near the coast, but she will have to travel through water, and that she has to be careful, he might not realize it’s her when she approaches. She says she will find him, and runs back to the sanctuary to talk to the rest of the group.
Finding the Dragon
In the meantime, Dandelion has been trying to talk to the tree to ask what is wrong, and if it might be the source of the “tiredness” that has taken the area, but finds that it too is afflicted. It does however feel that the source is near its roots, underground. She sits down to try to commune with nature, and finds that there is a weak influence from the abyss, and that there is a strong presence from a powerful dragon. Penny quietly enters, and asks Perry to come outside to talk to her. She decides to tell him about Gleamshroud, that the voice he has been hearing is a dragon. She asks if he has heard that name before. He thinks back, and realizes that he has read the name somewhere, but can’t remember exactly where. Probably something about the history of the kingdom that was before the Empire of Moroxia. She asks him to see if he can find that paragraph, which he agrees to do. He runs back to his house, and starts reading.
Penny gathers the rest of the party, who agree that they have to see if they can fix this tonight considering what Penny was told by Gleamshroud, so they head over to Valthrae to ask if she can look after the owls while they go about investigating. She happily accepts, being glad to have company. Dandelion even tells the owls that they can talk to this woman, since she seems to be able to handle it better than most. She takes the owl inside, and begins brewing a nice cup of tea for them. The party then heads towards Penny’s tree, the one place she hasn’t shown anyone else before.
Dandelion sits down and does another commune, this time trying to find another way into Gleamshroud’s domain. She finds that there is a vast cave system below them, one reaching several miles to the north, possibly the entrance from the coast, and also south and west. There seems to be a point where the river flows into the caves, that might be an easier way inside, so they decide to go there tonight, realizing that this might be an all-nighter, since it’s already quite late, but they might save some lives in the process. Penny uses her sending stone to tell Morgan that everyone thinks that he kidnapped her, and he replies that it is understandable, but that he should make his way there at one point to explain exactly what happened.
After about an hour of walking, they reach the river, and search a bit, finding a small outflow that goes into a hole in the ground. Whilst they investigate the hole, Relic casts telepathic bond which allows them to communicate. It seems to be large enough for someone to pass through, so Dandelion decides to check it out first, by turning into a fish, jumping into the stream, following it down. After a short while she falls into a large dark cave, being forced out of the wild shape as it is quite a rough landing. She tells the others that it is safe to pass, but it will be cold, and that it has a large drop at the end of the tunnel. Eventually they all come through, with Penny and Relic both using feather fall to stop their descent. Kal isn’t so lucky, so she falls flat on her face. They realize that it seems to be a perfect reservoir of fresh water, and Dandelion sees that there is a large footprint near it, so she assumes that Gleamshroud uses this as his drinking water.
In front of them there are several paths, but Penny and Dandelion both manage to find the most used one, so they stealthily try to sneak that way, hoping not to disturb any hidden dangers. They find however that the cave is completely devoid of life, and seems to be not natural, burrowed out by whatever lives here, most likely the dragon itself. The caves are extremely old however, hundreds of years old at least. After heading eastward for what seems like forever, they eventually come across heavy breathing around the corner.
Gleamshroud
The party carefully peers around, and sees a gargantuan ancient amethyst dragon lying on its side. Its wings have nearly deteriorated fully, being replaced by shadows, as has its legs, and half of its face. It seems to have noticed them, since it wearily gets up on its feet, and walks towards them, shouting inside their heads “so you’ve come to finish me off?!”. Penny, who is in front, tries to calm him down by saying that it is her, his friend. Penny. The dragon, mouth open, ready to unleash its wrath on the party, closes it, and asks if it truly is her, before falling over, exhausted by the ordeal. Penny runs over towards the dragon, finding the immediate area around it to be hard to move through, but she gets close to him, cradling its face with her hands, tears coming out of her eyes.
The rest of the party carefully approach, seeing the deteriorated state that the dragon is in. They ask him what is happening to him, and he replies that he is slowly turning into something… dark. Kal, not knowing what else to do, uses Divination to ask her god what they can do to fix what is happening to him. She gets a flash in front of her eyes, as Udall imprints a saying directly into her essence.
“In realms where time's embrace is slighted, Where mortal dreams and fey are united,
Seek the blossom untouched by the fall, Eden's grace, the cure for all.”
Kal relays this to the party, which triggers a flash of brilliance for Relic, who recognizes the poem as a cryptic reference to an extremely rare flower that only grows in the Feywildwild. The Edenflower, said to be able to cure any and all curses and diseases, as long as the victim still draws breath. Dandelion mentions that there was a place not far from the sanctuary that she pinged, that had a strong presence from the Feywild, but Relic shoots her down. He says that traveling to the Feywild is dangerous, and it should be the absolute last measure they should take. They ask what he means, and he tells them that traveling between the material plane and the Feywild might have weird temporal effects. A day in the Feywild might be a year in the material plane, or vice versa. It’s impossible to tell until they leave.
Penny is not saying anything. She is just sitting with Gleamshroud, stroking his chin, saying to him, or maybe herself, that it is going to be okay, but inside she feels completely helpless. The party is trying to speak telepathically so as to not scare or disturb Gleamshroud, but unbeknownst to them, Penny is relaying the most important information to him, wanting him to know what is happening. Kal, thinking that it couldn’t hurt to try to help the dragon somewhat, walks over, takes out some diamond dust and tries to cast greater restoration on him. The shadows flare up, and the spell is thrown back to Kal, wounding her much like what happened when they fought the Aspect of Vuthul in the shrine of Udall. “It absolutely could hurt,” she thinks to herself.
They ask Gleamshroud if he knows or feels how long he has left. He tells the party that the being that did this to him told him that this would be a slow and painful process. He feels that he might have 5-6 months at best, until he is completely turned, and that his mind is going away more and more each day that pass. The being said that it was a punishment for Penny, and describes it as a “half man, half spider”. Penny says that she will offer to return to him, as long as it released Gleamshroud from his torment. But she gets no reply.
The iron flask they got from Thervan remains unused, and they realize that it might be a way to at least suspend the transformation indefinitely. Gleamshroud protests, saying that he has to be here to protect the sanctuary, as it is important. If he is gone, or disappears, then something dangerous will notice, and fill the void. He cannot allow that to happen. Relic asks what is so important about this place in particular, that he has to stay. He musters what little strength he has, and says in their minds:
“Every age has its crucible, a focal point where destinies intertwine and fates are forged. Throughout the annals of time, certain places and beings become nexus points of cosmic significance. The Emerald Earth Sanctuary is one such nexus. It is not just the land or the people that I protect, but the very essence of what they represent in the tapestry of time. Balance, harmony, and a promise of hope. These are things that, once lost, are not easily regained. In your lifetimes, you might see them as mere ideals, but on the scale of ages, they become pivotal.”
The stress of the question and the effort it took to convey it, causes Gleamshroud to release an aura of lethargy outwards. Penny, Relic and Kal manage to shake it off, but Dandelion succumbs to it, and begins to feel the tiredness that plagues the area take hold of her. Kal suggests to Gleamshroud that they can put him in the flask, and then she can try to use divine intervention to get something to protect the place until they can find the Edenflower. Gleamshroud is satisfied with this, as long as they can find a protector soon. Kal tells Thervan what they are about to do so that he doesn’t accidentally release him, and at the same time asks if he knows how to get an Edenflower. He replies that it should be fine, and that they should ask the “Summer Queen”. She relays this to the rest and gives Penny the open flask.
Since he cannot willingly go inside, Penny casts bane on the dragon, and then holds the flask up towards him, trying to force him inside. The bane works, and he begins to flow away slowly into the container. Penny drops it on the ground, and cradles Gleamshroud’s face once more, promising that she will find a way to save him. He tells her to awaken him when she needs him, as he fades away. The stopper flies out of Kal’s hands towards the flask, and closes it. Penny picks up the flask, holding it close to her, before the spell Thervan put on it takes effect, and it slowly fades away. For the first time in over eight hundred years, the sanctuary stands without a protector.
It’s Been a Long Day
Before they decide to head back, Kal suggests they search the cave, just to see what the dragon was hoarding, if only to scratch that curious itch that she has. They spend some time looking around, but find only discarded bones from prey. No treasure in sight. Lighting up the cave however reveals vast gatherings of amethysts and geodes in the cave walls, reflecting the light. They are standing in a treasure trove of gemstones, but they are all too big to take with them. Tired, and wanting to go to sleep, they head back. Dandelion casts transport via plants on one of the large roots that leads into the cave, and emerges out of Penny’s tree.
When they get back to the sanctuary, Relic goes to recharge his “batteries” in the carriage, with Dandelion finding a nice secluded spot near the tree below the barn surrounding the tree, kept warm by the ever burning fire pit outside. Kal goes to sleep in the barn, finding a free bed, and lies down. Surprisingly, it is one of the more comfortable beds she has ever lain in.
Penny goes back to her parents house, finding them still awake, waiting for her, as she never told them where they were going. They were afraid that she had disappeared again, and gave her a great big hug. Elmwood takes out a big bottle of wine and three glasses, filling them up, and they share a drink. Penny decides to tell her parents about Gleamshroud, and they both seem genuinely surprised to learn that a dragon has been resting beneath their feet the entire time. She tells them more about her travels, the ups and downs, and how much she has missed them. Eventually they are all too tired and decide to go to sleep. Penny goes to her room and finds it exactly like she left it, before collapsing into her bed.
The next morning, they see that everyone seems to be a little more refreshed than they were the day before, so they definitely did something right. Kal sits down to try to have Udall intervene in order to give them a protector, but he sadly does not answer her prayers. Dandelion sits down in the center of the sanctuary, and begins to cast plant growth to speed up the revitalization of the surrounding area.
Next: Chapter 61: Harmony