Act III: The Olden Days and the Next Generation
Scene iii: The Summer Cotillion
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CW / TW: Light allusion to sexual assault, both past and present for some characters.
That section of the summary will be written in blue text. Skip the text to skip the content warning.
Please note that these plot points, situations, and settings were brought up and cleared with all players involved before the session was played. They were properly warned and were okay with the situation I was putting their characters in.
No characters were physically harmed during this session, and the players were satisfied with the outcome.
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Present Party: Boris, Venus, and Sylyeras.
Setting: Mostly the Spring Court, including a place known as Pleasure Palace, and partially the Winter Court, including The Winter Queen's Forest and the Kumonga Lair.
The party reconvened after their friend, mentor, and (for Venus, anyway) uncle - Finn Lihtaur - was kidnapped by the Winter Court during the Summer Cotillion. They were healed by Lady Sunshine, and given a rather ominous task by The Summer Queen:
"If I find that he's dead... you'll never be welcomed back into my court again. If you find him and bring him back in a timely manner, perhaps I'll grant you a reward."
Finn's satyr friend, Puck, offered to take the party up to Winter, but claimed that travel in the Feywild (although very quick, especially compared to the material plane) had to be done in a cycle.
"We can't just take a straight shot from Summer to Winter," he informed them. "You have to follow the seasons either forwards or backwards. So from here, we can either go to Spring or Autumn. Then you'll go to Winter to find Finn, and then you go through Spring or Autumn - whichever you didn't go through the first time."
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| Please ignore the fact that some of the text is colored differently or incorrectly. That was a mistake on my part and not an intentional inclusion. |
The party, before they left, also met up with Finn's dryad daughter, Aurinia. She made it through the Winter Court's attack by hiding in her tree back in the Grove. The party told her that they'd get her father back, and that she should stay here and stay safe until they did.
Puck called for a boat, and the party started to sail east. Puck said that it was probably better to take Finn back through Autumn. If they needed to leave Winter in a hurry, there are more access points to Autumn than Spring. They also discussed exactly what had happened at the Cotillion, and told Puck about the person who impersonated Finn, the changeling boy who imprisoned him in a diamond, and Venus asked why she hadn't been able to stay up.
Puck explained that the Summer, Autumn, and Spring Courts all have the same effect on those who hadn't gotten much sleep lately: it forced them to sleep. Winter actually had the opposite effect: if you haven't slept outside of the Court for some time, it prevents you from sleeping. The party, knowing that Finn hadn't slept for a while due to his nightmares, were now even more concerned for him. Puck called the creature that had been impersonating Finn a "Miksani" - shapechanging creatures similar to changelings, but they aren't humanoids; they're fey. They're the only type of fey creature that can lie.
"And about that changeling... that's odd. From the sounds of it, if he's the one that put Finn in the diamond, those sound like some Warlock powers. And I only know that because I know Finn can do it too," Puck said.
"Do you know any Winter Court Warlocks?" Venus asked.
"Hm... there weren't any, last I checked. The Courts keep tabs on all the Warlocks - especially in the case of Winter and Summer because, well, we've been at war since the beginning of time. If he's a Winter Court Warlock then... I don't know who his patron is, and he had to have been a pretty recent addition. Just as well, I don't know why they would choose to attack today. It's the Summer Solstice. We were at the height of our power, we forced a retreat. They had to have known that would happen."
"So there has to be a reason," Boris remarked. "And that reason had to be Finn. It's the only day of the year that they know he's here. The attack was a distraction."
They decided to get some rest on the boat until they arrived at their next destination: the border between the Summer and Spring Courts. Puck said that he needed to ask some friends about something before they crossed into Spring. They walked a bit away from the shore, and found themselves in a colony of sprites. Two sprites, Aed and Cosmo, challenged Sylyeras to a sword fight because he "worshiped evil." As a Warlock of Cthulhu, in a way, he kind of did. However, with some convincing from Venus and the fact that Sylyeras did, in fact, win the sword fight, Aed and Cosmo were comfortable letting him live... for now.
Puck asked Aed and Cosmo if they knew whether or not Kalicosio was in the Spring Court at this time, and they assured Puck that he was. Puck explained that Kalicosio was a friend, and that he'd be able to get the party some supplies for their journey into Winter. He also told them that he wouldn't be coming with them. The Winter Court had never been particularly kind to him. He also asked if The Prince was home in Spring, and Aed and Cosmo said that he was. Puck told the party that they'd have to be careful going into Spring in that case. There was somewhere there that could eat up a lot of time, and time was what they needed at the moment.
They crossed into the Spring Court, where the trees had white-wood bark and were covered in cherry blossoms. A tree had managed to catch Sylyeras for a moment and the party was briefly hounded by pixies. Boris picked up Sylyeras (a very common occurrence for this party) to keep him out of harm's way. After that though, they looked for Puck to lead the way, and he was gone. They walked to try and find him, and Venus disappeared as well.
From behind him, Boris heard a voice. It was a man's, and he told him that if he wanted to pass through, he had to go inside. Boris didn't turn around. Sylyeras looked and saw Ariel, his wife, and when she spoke, it was her voice. Boris put Sylyeras down, and he disappeared too.
Boris took one step forward.
~~ CW WARNING BEGINS ~~
Sylyeras woke up in a bed, in a house he'd never been in before. He could smell the sea, hear the waves crashing outside.
"Syl! Time for breakfast!" his wife called from the other room.
Sylyeras left the room cautiously, and found his wife in the kitchen. She wasn't pregnant, and she was serving breakfast on a small kitchen table. To his left, he could see a deck through glass windows. Below that was a dock with a rowboat tied to it, and even beyond that were their ships: The Bastard Prince and Dragon's Delight, anchored in the water.
"Wh... Where's Romeo?" he asked, referring to the name they'd given their unborn son.
"We left him with Storzak last night, remember?"
Sylyeras passed his Wisdom Saves, and he was able to remember that he was in the Feywild, and that he and Ariel didn't have a house. Romeo hadn't been born yet.
"So... you're not my wife. So I'd like to leave please."
Ariel sighed, "Aw... okay. Well, the only way to leave is to see The Prince. I can take you to him. For a price."
"What?"
"One kiss, and I'll let you go. Two kisses, and I'll take you straight there and make sure no one else picks you up along the way." She approached him. "And you... get to pick where. And you can't pick the same place twice."
Sylyeras kissed the back of her hand, and then the top of her foot. He made her laugh, and she led him out the front door, and into a grand palace hallway, decorated with flowers and beautiful art. It was warm. It smelled like roses. Ariel linked arms with him and led him off.
~~~~~
Venus found herself in her boyfriend's bakery. She could smell strawberry pastries cooking in the kitchen. He called to her, welcoming her home, and coming out to greet her. It was Civis, just as she remembered him. She quickly realized that it wasn't him, especially since there was no front door to the bakery. When she brought this up to him, his brow furrowed.
"Venus, what are you talking about? The door's right there."
She turned and it was there.
"Are you okay?"
She turned to leave, straight out the front door, and ended up coming in through the kitchen. Civis turned to look at her as though nothing was wrong.
"Let me go," she demanded. "You're not him."
"Of course I am. Who else would I be?"
Venus took out her Sending Stone. Her boyfriend had the other half. "Civ, are you there?"
"Yeah, I'm here," came his reply. The other Civis stood still, unmoving. "Are you okay?"
"Um... no. I'm with someone here who's pretending to be you."
The other Civis smirked.
The real Civis said, "Oh... O-Okay, um... Well I'm here, I'm not there."
"I know, just keep talking to me."
"Okay... I went up to the winery for dinner this last weekend..." Civis continued talking, keeping Venus grounded.
Venus looked at the other Civis. "Let me go."
The illusion of the bakery faded, revealing a bedroom, similar to the one they'd stayed in at the Summer Palace. This one though, rather than being decked out in bright yellows and whites, was all pink and red.
"This is the Pleasure Palace. The only way you leave is by talking to The Prince."
"Then take me to him, or let me out and I'll find him myself."
The other Civis attempted to negotiate, asking for time from Venus - a couple hours every Thursday for three weeks. When she asked for what, he said, "As payment. To take you to the king."
Dissatisfied, Venus left the room on her own. She kept talking to Civis, desperately trying to keep her mind off the fact that around every corner, she could hear him. Beckoning to her.
At one point, the stone went quiet, and she stopped. There was a hand on her back, and another on top of the stone. She looked up and saw Civis there. Venus failed a Wisdom Save. The bakery returned.
"Are you alright?"
"I... no... I thought we were going to the Feywild. Where's Uncle Finn?"
"Finn's up at the winery," he told her. "And you did go to the Feywild. Sometimes, when you go to the Feywild, you come back and you don't remember you ever went."
"How... How would you know that?"
She looked down at where the stone was. She could feel it buzzing as if someone was speaking through it, but she couldn't hear anything.
She pulled away. "No... No, you're not him, let me-"
"Whoa whoa whoa," he said. "Okay... no, I'm not him. Not really." He sighed. "But he brings you pleasure doesn't he? Not necessarily through sex, but he's... pleasurable, isn't he?"
"Do you mean 'happy?' He makes me happy."
"They're the same thing, aren't they?" He gestured to himself. "I'm trying to bring you pleasure. Would sleeping with me bring you that?"
"No," she said immediately. "I want to leave."
"Okay. Then I'll take you to The Prince."
She hesitated. "And you won't touch me?"
"No."
"And you won't make me touch you?"
"No. Only if you want to. I'll even let you hear him again, if it will bring you pleasure. Not all of us are here for the sex, you know."
Venus looked at him, and then at the stone. "Please?"
The fake Civis tapped her forehead, and she could hear Civis's voice again through the stone. She sighed, relieved, and this creature escorted her out. She promised to let Civis know when she was sure that she was safe.
~~ CW WARNING ENDS ~~
Boris entered the Pleasure Palace through the foyer. Several humanoid creatures walked through the halls with Miksani at their side - chatting, kissing... some doing more illicit activities. Once inside, he met up with a tall, nude gentleman with pink eyes and long, dark hair. This man introduced himself as The Prince. He led Boris to a throne room, and once inside, two other doors opened, and Venus and Sylyeras stepped through. To Boris, both were escorted by Miksani, and they parted with them very calmly.
Puck also joined the group again, and when they were upset that he'd disappeared to the place he specifically said they were going to try and avoid, he shrugged, and said, "Shit happens. That's the Feywild for you."
Puck negotiated with The Prince, and the archfey said that he could get the party to the edge of Winter and Spring as long as Puck stayed behind, which he was planning to do anyway. He gave the party a conch shell and told them to blow on it when they got there. It would call his friend Kalicosio, and he could get them everything that they would need to survive in Winter.
The Prince teleported them away, and they found themselves on a coast. Back towards land, there were rolling green hills and wildflowers. Ahead of them was an ocean, frozen over with ice. Boris blew on the conch shell, and a bush appeared on the grass. When the party approached it, a fox head the size of a medium-sized humanoid's head popped out. An anthropomorphic fox rose up out of the bush, but it wasn't entirely a fox. It had hands and feet like bird's talons. The creature stared at the party, unblinking, grinning, showing sharp teeth.
This was Kalicosio, and he gave the party everything they would need for (after some light negotiating) Venus's severed horn (which she'd been carrying with her up to this point), three of Boris's molars, and three of Sylyeras's fingernails. They resolved to get Puck back for recommending Kalicosio to them, but now they had proper cold-weather wear and ice skates for all of them, and for Finn when they found him.
They skated across the ice, all except Boris who pulled himself across using handaxes after falling once. They found themselves at the edge of land at the Winter Court. They snuck slowly through, taking note of the thorns and brambles beneath their feet. Sylyeras used Sending to get in contact with Finn. They found out that he was outside, trying to get closer to the mountains, but he couldn't walk anymore. As they went, Venus scouted ahead. She found the changeling boy again, with two women who looked like elves with long, white hair. One of them was serving him some kind of hot beverage. The other was wrapping up his bare feet, which were cut and bleeding in places. The party decided to go around them.
The thorns around them sprang up not long after that, restraining Sylyeras and Boris. Venus started trying to free them, but stopped when she heard running footsteps towards them. The changeling boy had come into view. Boris burst into a rage, and broke free of the brambles. He restrained the boy immediately, and the boy begged for his life.
"Please, please don't hurt me! I-I know where your friend is - the elf!" he said. "W-Well... I know who knows where he is now anyway, and I can take you there. But we have to go! We have to hurry, The Thorned Lady is coming! She hunts in these woods, and she'll kill you if she finds you."
"You were the one who took him," Boris reminded. "Why should we trust you?"
"Yes, I took him, but I didn't want to. I had to." He looked at Venus. "I-I even said I was sorry, remember?"
Venus managed to help Sylyeras out of the vines. Boris picked Syl up again on one shoulder, and put the changeling on the other. He and Venus started to run. The boy guided them.
On the way, Venus asked him, "What's your name?"
"Lars."
"How old are you?"
He smiled a little, sadly. "Nineteen..."
Venus sighed. "You're gonna be okay. We're not going to hurt you."
They arrived at a cave, beside a dead tree. Boris, hesitantly, let Lars down so he could lead them in. He called for someone - "Khuva." They went into a huge cavern with a high ceiling, covered in spider webs. A huge black spider descended from the webbing. Lars told him - Khuva - that the party was looking for the elf.
Khuva, the spider, spoke. "We know the elf, but we need some things in order to retrieve him. If you can help us with that, then we can help you. Besides... any friends of Lars's are friends of the Kumonga."
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