Act III: The Olden Days and the Next Generation
Scene iii: The Summer Cotillion
Present Party: Boris, Venus, and Sylyeras
Setting: The Feywild - mostly the Winter and Autumn Courts, followed briefly by Summer. On the Material Plane, the party finds themselves in the port city of Veerport, in Aldea.
The party said goodbye to their Kumonga-spider friend, Khuva, and started to make their way south, hoping to cross into the Autumn Court, bantering along the way. Lars was still leading them. Boris took it upon himself to carry Finn, who was still suffering from frostbite and hypothermia to some degree. The berries were making it a lot easier. His sleep deprivation wouldn't get better until the party reached Autumn though, due to (as Boris has always said) "Magical Bullshit." Sleeping in the Winter Court was difficult, especially for those who hadn't slept in a while.
They arrived at the iced-over ocean to the south, and started to make their way across. Beneath the ice, just under the surface, was a huge white dragon. Boris asked if they should be concerned, but Lars assured them that although the dragon was alive under there, they would be fine as long as the ice didn't break. It was already heavily cracked in some areas. Still, the party used their skates and started making their way across, but three Yeth Hounds came charging out of the forest from where they came. The party fought them off and continued forward, managing not to crack the fragile ice holding the dragon in the process.
Lars brought them to the small town of Aiqua across the ocean. Venus made sure to disguise Finn by turning him invisible, in case people were looking for him. They stayed there for the night, and then continued forward until the snow started to disappear. The thorns underfoot were sparser and sparser. The trees began to transition from pine trees, covered in snow, to deciduous trees with leaves colored red, orange, yellow, and brown. Lars stopped on the very last bit of snow, and looked back at the party.
The party assured him that they'd figure out what to do for him; they'd get him out of his warlock pact somehow. Then, they crossed the border, leaving Lars in the Winter Court.
Finn passed out almost immediately upon entering Autumn. The party discussed where exactly they should go, considering they no longer had a guide. They wondered if they could pay Kalicosio - the strange fox / bird hybrid archfey - to teleport them to the border between Autumn and Summer. That way, they could move quicker. When they called him, he said that he would gladly do that for them for the price of ten gold but that someone needed to talk to Finn before he was allowed to do that.
"Are they going to take him?" Venus asked.
Kalicosio chuckled. "No... Not yet."
The party (albeit reluctantly and cautiously) agreed, and they walked through the maze of trees that made up the Autumn Court. It was, as Boris quickly found out first after storming away, a literal labyrinth. Going certain ways caused you to walk the same path, and there were very specific turns that you needed to take. You couldn't backtrack. The only way to "go back" was to walk backwards, which Boris figured out very quickly. He met back up with the rest of the party quickly.
Kalicosio led them to a small cabin at the base of a waterfall. Inside, there lived an old man who offered them food and a place to rest. Talking to him, the party discovered (somewhat) who he was.
"I am not a lord of Autumn. I am not the king of Autumn. I am Autumn." He smiled. "But you may call me 'Father.'"
The old man seemed relatively harmless. When Finn finally woke up, he and Father had a conversation in Sylvan. None of the other party members spoke the language. The conversation lasted for about an hour and a half before ending with a handshake. They all said their goodbyes and left. Nobody questioned the content of the conversation that had transpired.
Kalicosio, for ten gold, teleported the party to the edge of Autumn and Summer. Finn regained his powers. The party crossed the border, and made their way easily to the Summer Palace. They summoned a boat to get them out to the island, and while sailing, they were accosted by one of Sylyeras's mermaid friends, Hali.
She informed them that the party had been gone for five years in Feywild time.
The party, understandably, were shocked, worried, and appalled by the idea. Finn reassured them that time spent here didn't necessarily matter. The Summer Queen could put them back in the material plane five years ago as long as he made a good case for it. Sylyeras messaged for Aurinia to meet them when they arrived. She did, and was ecstatic to see her father after five years. Finn went to see the Summer Queen. The party went to find Lady Sunshine and see if there was absolutely anything they could do for Lars or about the time travel situation.
Lady Sunshine, in terms of Lars's situation, didn't really give them any new information. There had to be a trade of equal or greater value - basically warlock for warlock or person for person. The Lady of Darkness needed a source of pain. The time situation was different. The party sat, trying to figure out which event had led them to being gone for five years. After explaining what they'd been through, Lady Sunshine looked shocked.
"You asked Kalicosio to teleport you? Oh! Well that would do it! He's the archfey that controls time here! He's the reason everything's different compared to the material plane."
Boris and Venus set out immediately to call Kalicosio and make things right. Sylyeras stayed back to talk to Hali a little bit more, discouraged about what was happening and especially worried that he'd missed the birth of his son.
Ultimately, Kalicosio and Boris struck a deal. Boris gave Kalicosio 5,000 gold in exchange for him teleporting Boris, Venus, Sylyeras, and Finn to that exact spot two days after the attack when Finn was taken.
It was done. The party sailed the boat back to the Summer Palace. All the archfey were standing in the foyer, alongside Barnabus Shay - another Summer Archfey Warlock - and Aurinia. All of the archfey remembered everything, but The Summer Queen had been very genuinely impressed with how the party handled the situation. She and Finn discussed the terms of their departure.
There was only one remaining problem: Lars. Considering the jump in time, Sylyeras decided to see if Cthulhu still remembered their conversation. He prayed.
~~~~~
Sylyeras rose out of the inky, black water and found himself face-to-glowing-eyes with his patron. Cthulhu did not forget, but Sylyeras was still determined to help Lars.
"You can ask me for anything - anything except my wife or my kin. If you help this kid out of his pact, I'll give it to you."
Cthulhu answered, "I want you... I want your mind and body. On the material plane for... a minimum of six months. And I will relieve this boy of his pact and grant him to another of my kin."
"How about this? You can have me - my mind and body - for twenty four hours, once a month, for the rest of my life. And during that time, you will not harm, speak to, or get anywhere near my wife, my son, any of my future children, anyone else of my kin, or any of my friends. And you cannot make pacts with any of my children. When Lars is freed from his pact, send him to me."
Cthulhu accepted this trade, and said, "I look forward to our new partnership going forward, Captain Taldin."
Sylyeras returned to the Summer Court.
~~~~~
When he returned from his state, Sylyeras was shaking and nauseous. Venus did her best to comfort him, but all he could say was, "She's going to kill me..."
Lady Sunshine helped Sylyeras as best as she could. Within the next two minutes, Lars appeared at the Summer Court as well, screaming and crying. Venus calmed him, and managed to get him to tell her what happened. Lars had been teleported to a large body of water - the ocean - but he didn't know how to swim. He was drowning, when a wave washed him ashore and he met with this huge monster of some kind. He was terrified and very confused. They promised to help him.
The Summer Queen and Finn returned. Venus, with a look, reminded Finn to ask about Aurinia and whether or not - as long as they had a spell to safely unbind her from her tree for a time - Aurinia could move to the material plane to live with Finn and his husband, Caldor. The Queen, with persuasion from her daughter, Lady Sunshine, agreed. Finn could come back and unbind her safely when he was able to.
With that: Venus, Boris, Sylyeras, Finn, and Lars were shifted back to the Material Plane.
~~~~~
The party found themselves in a city they'd never been in, but that Finn recognized as Veerport, in Aldea. They were about four days travel north from where Finn and Caldor lived in Rugathore. They were in front of the docks. Sylyeras's ship - The Bastard Prince - was in port. So was his wife's ship: The Dragon's Delight. Finn asked someone for the date. Today was July 30th. Ariel would officially be due any day.
Sylyeras rushed to her ship. Venus and Boris made sure Lars stayed with Finn, and went after him. They found out that Ariel was in labor. They'd made it just in time.
On July 31st, at three o'clock in the morning, Romeo Taldin was born. Ariel's first mate, a goliath named Storzak, announced to the crews of both ships, "It's a boy!" All of them erupted into cheers and shanties.
A few hours later, Sylyeras traded in his mother's flag for his wife's. He'd officially quit Pirate Lord Ashglade's fleet. There would be no more hiding.
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