Adventures in Sigil - IC - Part II [4E]

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain takes a step backwards in horror, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"You... You desecrated and destroyed the sacred gardens?" He feels sick, the world seeming to spin around him. What godless heresy had taken root here? He keeps his voice low to try to avoid upsetting the acolytes. It's not their fault their church is failing them, after all. It's hard to control his feelings, though. "And you're proud of it?!" He steadies himself.

"Corellon is the god of Spring. Denying the season denies part of who our Father is, as does denying his status as a warrior and depriving those who come here seeking his path of the beauty of experiencing those things." He shakes his head in sorrow. He had come here hoping to walk once more in the gardens he had loved, to once more see the statue of Corellon he had so many times taken refuge against as a child. But now those things were gone, the one bright and beautiful thing from his childhood here destroyed by mortal arrogance. It's as if a part of him has been ripped out along with the gardens he'd once loved.

"And yes. I've lost my powers as a Paladin. One of my friends made a bargain with a devil to protect another of my friends from doing so, wagering his soul against retrieving an item my other friend's father had failed to retrieve, in exchange for the freedom of my friend's father's soul. They wouldn't listen to reason, so I went with them to protect them. I indirectly helped devils. But on the way we also destroyed quite a few devils, and my friend's soul was kept safe, and my other friend's father's soul was released. Perhaps what I did will bring ugliness in the end, but there was also much beauty in it, and I don't regret protecting the people I love. I've already sworn to the Protector to atone for my sins." He frowns. "I think I've found where to start." He looks around again, once more feeling the horror.

"Arkerynsuoress Nelarin would never have allowed this. Where is she?" He turns to Toveliss. "And Certhiel approves of this?" He looks horrified. He shakes his head again, unable to believe all that he's hearing. He had never expected to come to this place again, but he'd taken comfort in knowing that it would still be there. Except it wasn't. Some of the hope he'd had that things might turn out alright in the end dies within him, along with some of his hope that Certhiel might be able to be saved. It's all he can do to hold back his tears and to hold back his tongue from giving this man the tonguelashing he deserves, or from simply throttling him. He shakes his head sadly.

"Excuse me. I feel the need to be alone to pray." He walks past Adyoorel and into the temple, walking numbly through the once-familiar halls. He reaches the ruins of the gardens, looks about and notes that he seems to be alone, and sinks brokenly to his knees to pray, weeping, not even daring to look about to see if the statue that once stood here is still present.

"Father, how could You allow this? How could You allow that man to desecrate Your temple and lead those children astray? Help me fix this. Show me some way I can make this right and restore Your temple to its proper beauty. I swore to You that I would find a way to be worthy of You again, but right now I don't even know where to start, and nobody would listen to a disgraced Paladin like me anyway. I don't know what to do, Father. I don't know how to make this right. I know I have no right to ask anything of You right now, I know I have no place judging others when I myself have lost Your favor, but I..." He trails off brokenly and sits in silence for a time.

(OOC: 'Arkerynsuoress' is a Corellite title translating to 'Great Holy Warrior'. I have no idea if Toveliss would follow Eltain or not. Feel free to have him do so and react to Eltain's crying session if you like. Otherwise, he'll eventually get up and go find Toveliss.)

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick looks back and forth between the Lord and Lady as he considers his answer for just a few seconds. "Well, I suppose I can see some merit in that. I haven't ever been to the Court of Stars, but my understanding is that there is often so much squabbling that little can really be accomplished. If one archfey can pull the factions together... Yes, I suppose I would support that."

Spoiler

Show

While Pavick would actually be willing to support one leader, he's certainly not willing to accept the one they have in mind. So here's a Bluff check - (1d20+20)[37] to cover that.

[Haberdashery]

The Shepherd ran his fingers through the coarse tangles of his long beard as he stared at the marshy depiction of the Murkendraw circling the southern reaches of the Feywild. Maybe this visit to the Plane of Sparkles and Obnoxious Restrictions wouldn't be so terrible afterall...

[Hzurr]

DM Post

----------------- Eltain ----------------

After a few minutes, Toveliss comes to find Eltain beneath the old statue. "Oh come now, Eltain, surely it can't be all that bad. So things are different than you remembered; it happens." He gives an encouraging smile "I know it's odd to see the church change, but aren't there are many sects of Corellon? I know of some that seem in direct opposition to each other, even though they worship the same god? I'm sure this is just another interpretation of Corellon. Besides," Toveliss shrugs, and pulls an pair of apples out of a coat pocket. "It's not like this is the only place where they changed it. All of the temples of Corellon in the Winter lands have switched to the new regimen. Highfather Adyoorel was sent from the Winter Court High Council itself to implement it here." He tosses an apple to Eltain, before starting to munch on his own.

"Mother explained it to me." he begins, as he takes a bite out of the apple. "She said that since so much influence was being placed on Corellon as a god of Spring, too many young winter fey saw their own heritage as a failure. With the new high priests, They learn both about the god of beauty, but still maintain their connections to our heritage. The decrease in swordtraining is because there were many who were concerned that the church was becoming too much of a military institution, instead of a place to learn about Corellon." he swallows the bite of apple in his mouth before giving Eltain another smile. "Facinating, isn't it? So you see, it isn't nearly as bad as you thought."

------------------- Pavick ---------------

Lady Labri pats Pavick affectionately on the knee. "See, I could tell that you had a good head on your shoulders." A half-smile creeps across the old woman's face. "Naturally, if such an archfey were from the Winter courts, and the Gnomish Council supported that leader, I can assure you that the Winter Fey would not sit idly by and allow the continued mistreatment of your people."

------------ Shep -------------

Even as Shep stares at the map, he can almost see the faint figures of snakes and will-o-whips moving in the Murkendraw, and between to of the trees drawn onto the map surface, for a moment he thinks he sees a small hut on chicken legs run by.

[Mando Knight]

"Yes, at this time I do believe not relying on Baba Yaga would be a good bet. Shep here might be simple enough to bring her around, but seeing as those who fail face fates stranger than death, I wouldn't recommend it."

Aramil stands over the map, and something catches his eye. "How have we been faring in our relations with the dragons? If our associates in the Winter lands uncover more material evidence of that Court's treachery, perhaps we could sway the Platinum Dragon to our cause."

[Hzurr]

DM Post

Lord Printempests leans forward. "The dragons? As far as I know, we've been on good terms with them. No large skirmishes in the last two hundred years or so. As for the Platinum Dragon, he's not worshiped much in the feywild, but I think there's a fairly large temple to Bahamut on the border of the Lake of Dreams..." he looks at Lord Ressort. "Didn't you have some nephews who served in those temples?"

Lord Ressort puffs on his pipe. "I did, yes. Berrian decided that he'd rather study wizardry, and left for the Material plane nearly fifty years ago. But I believe Larrian is one of the high-priests there. I can get in touch with him if you'd like"

He looks at Aramil. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

[Mando Knight]

"Berrian, you say? Wouldn't happen to be in the service of the Rex family, would he? Anyway, from what I've learned of Bahamut, though his breath is said to be as cold as the Vale of Long Night, his worshipers speak of him as the bulwark of justice. Though it would be easiest if we could find that evil dragons are to fight alongside the Prince of Frost, the influence of his presence on our side could throw the Winter Court's plans into doubt. As a dragon himself, he will be dangerous to deal with, to be sure, but if his followers are to be believed the qualities that make him dangerous also make him a valuable ally."

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

The corner's of Pavick's lips curl up into a smile, seeing that things are progressing. "That would be very much appreciated. Yes, I'm beginning to see the possibilities here. I am not the sole delegate, of course, so I can't make any guarantees yet, but I do hold a lot of sway with my people. So, what sort of support, exactly would you be interested in? I have to admit, I've heard a few whispers in dark corners of possible... unpleasantness to come."

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

Lucan grins at the little pixie. "I'm afraid I need my bow, but I do have something you can have." He pulls out his old drums. They're pretty fancy for drums, with silver tracing and beautiful artwork of the wild animals found in his home forest. The elves made them. "I'm sure you'd find these a lot of fun. Did you have drums back in . . . the honeycomb, was it? Where is that?"

[Nai_Calus]

Oh Toveliss, I thought you were one of the sane ones...

"You... Really believe that?" Eltain asks gently, looking sadly at Toveliss.
"These gardens were an ancient work of art. The magic that created and sustained them was woven long ago by several high mages and high priests through rituals that have been lost to time, and are said to have been inspired by Corellon himself.. It was a masterwork of both magic and beauty, and I loved coming here more than anything. Whenever I was sad, whenever I needed guidance, I would come here, and find Corellon more clearly than I ever did in the temple itself. It was the one part of this place that I truly loved and truly remembered fondly..." He sits up and looks about sadly. A faint smile briefly plays at the corners of his lips as he sees the statue of Corellon that once decorated the garden is still there, but it quickly fades. Once again to Eltain's eyes the statue looks sad. He stands and crosses to it and rests his hand on the statue's shoulder for a moment before turning back to Toveliss.

"
There actually aren't that many Corellite sects, and mostly they're at peace with one another. Occasionally the more moderate sects will clash with the more conservative sects, but none of them try to deny part of their own god's teachings because they find them inconvenient. Largely it's a divide in how Good Corellon is perceived to be, and sometimes some sects have a kinder view towards the drow than others. But that doesn't change the basic tenets of the faith. This does." He shakes his head. "The Winter Court's high council? They have no right to interfere in religious affairs. This isn't a secular matter, they have no place to dictate the way the church is run." He turns the apple over in his hands.

"And I doubt that anyone is truly ashamed of their heritage because Corellon is the god of Spring. It's well-known and well-taught that Corellon is the creator and protector of all of us. We're all his children, Toveliss, and he loves all of us and judges us all on our own individual works and deeds. That he's the god of Spring has nothing to do with anything. Those of us who have truly learned his ways realize this. I know that Corellon loves me no less than a Spring or Summer eladrin. He doesn't care where I come from or what season runs in my blood. He cares about me.]"

"It's more likely they're ashamed of the rumors and stereotypes always going about that the Winter fey are all cold, heartless, warlike monsters who want nothing but to turn the worlds entirely to eternal winter, even though we aren't all that way. And even if a few do feel that Corellon being god of Spring is somehow something against the Winter fey... Pretending it doesn't exist isn't the way to deal with it. Teaching them properly that Corellon loved them regardless is the right way. Showing them that it doesn't matter what they're from, as long as they embrace Corellon in their heart. You can't just destroy everything of beauty because it doesn't agree with you. Corellon calls upon us to protect it, not destroy it. What beauty did destroying these gardens bring to the world? What beauty is there in denying our Father's own teachings and nature?" He sighs.

"The new high priests... And what happened to the old ones, I wonder? And where do these new ones come from?"

"This is blasphemy, Toveliss. Corellon isn't just the god of beauty. And of course the church is traditionally militaristic in nature, we have to be. We've been called by Corellon to protect the fey from their enemies, both without and within. The orcs, the drow, the formorians... It is our sacred duty to learn how to fight and to use that knowledge to stand strong against the darkness, to strive that we might protect others. It's the highest, most sacred, most beautiful duty we are charged with as followers of Corellon. We have to be strong in order to do Corellon's work here in the worlds, to keep the things that are beautiful in them safe from those who would seek to destroy them. Nothing is more beautiful than protecting someone, than hearing their next breath that without your aid they might not ever have taken. If the acolytes aren't taught how to fight, how to protect others, then the church will be irreparably weakened and unable to perform its duty to protect others."" He paces.

"You can't say you've learned about Corellon until you've learned all of what he has to offer. And that means learning about the art of swordplay, and the beauty of Spring and renewal, and the glory of magic, and the joy of art. All of it, Toveliss, not just what some secular body finds appropriate." He sighs.

"Winter is beautiful, yes, I know it, but so is Spring, and so are Summer and Fall. All of it is beautiful. They speak of change, and yet they seem to want to deny that change exists. But it always does. Winter lets the land rest in preparation for Spring's renewal, that leads to Summer's lushness that leads to Fall's harvests that lead the worlds back to Winter's rest. It's a beautiful, glorious cycle full of promise... All the seasons are needed, and all of them are beautiful. The Raven Queen is worshiped here as the goddess of Winter. Why be afraid to acknowledge Corellon's dominion over Spring?" He sighs and shakes his head.

"I don't expect you to understand, I suppose. You weren't raised in the faith like I was. For me, Corellon has been my entire life. I've never known anything else. I've spent every day since I was old enough to understand speech learning about him, thinking about him, learning his ways and his teachings and how I could be a force in the world to show those teachings to others. I don't put my trust and faith in the church. I don't even put them in myself. I put my faith and trust in Corellon. In all the beautiful, magical, wonderful things he has to teach me and all of us. In all that he does in the world and all that he leaves us to do in his trust and love for us." He turns about, gesturing to what was once a beautiful garden.

"And all that I have always known and carried in my heart cries out against this. All of my soul cries out that this is wrong, not just this, but all of this. Toveliss, it has to be stopped. They are leading those children astray and denying them the chance to know about all of what Corellon stands for. This is wrong, Toveliss. It's not as bad as I thought, it's worse."

He sighs and sits down before the statue, looking across to where Toveliss is.

"I'm sorry, Toveliss. It's not your fault. I just can't accept this as simply another way of looking at things. I know all about other ways, I belong to an order who does look at one thing differently than most, but..." He sighs. "It's just not right, Toveliss. It reeks of censorship and someone trying to bury something in hopes of keeping the church from doing what it's supposed to do. If the church is too weakened to protect these lands, who will? There aren't any standing armies I know of, so who will protect us from the orcs? The drow? The formorians?"

His eyes glitter with tears and he turns and kneels, his head bowed in prayer.

"I will not let this stand, Father. I will not let them deny You and mock You like this. I'll find a way to right this, somehow. I swear it before You and all of the Seldarine. Guide me and protect me, and help me to see the way ahead. Let me prove myself worthy of you by fighting to restore what should be to these lands."

[Hzurr]

DM Post

---------- Aramil, Shep & Zyrr -----------

Lord Ressort refills his pipe with tobacco. "Well, we can't get Bahamut himself on our side. Deities are still forbidden from entering the Feywild, else I'd go to Sehanine herself." He chuckles slightly before starting to puff. "But still, we may be able to convince the church and some of the more righteous of the metallic dragons to join our cause. Even if they aren't platinum, a silver dragon on your side is nothing to shirk at" He eyes Aramil as he re-lights the match. "Would that be a task you feel interested in?"

Lady Altshuler, however, looks up from the map at the unusually quiet Zyrr. "Come drow, what do you think?" She says, gesturing to the map. "Aren't your people supposed to be great strategists?"

------------------ Eltain --------------------

Toveliss shifts his weight uncomfortably. "Well, if you feel so strongly about it, you should appeal to the Winter Court. I'm sure if you explained the problems you have with their influence over the temples they'd hear you out. Maybe it was a mistake, but I'm certain it will be one they're willing to correct."

As Eltain sits down, he finds something hard and cold jabbing into his back slightly. Clearing away the snow, he finds a long, pale blade nearly as wide as his arm driven into the snow up to the hilt, with a sideways eight-pointed star serving as a blade-guard.

Toveliss doesn't seem to notice Eltain's discover, and continues talking "Come, why don't we head back to the house. I feel that coming here was upsetting to you..."

--------------- Lucan --------------

The pixie gives a squeal of delight at the drums, and immediately begins banging on them, much to the annoyance of some of the passersby. "oh wow these are fantastic and shiny but they still make noise so they pretty much do everything I want to do except they don't have a name yet so I'm pretty sure I should name it but I can't decided if the entire drum set should have it's own name or if I should name each individual drum instead because that means that I'll know each one more personally and if I name them after people I don't like i can pretend I'm hitting that person on the head whenever I get angry!" Daryl stops, and looks at one of the drums for a long minute, before yelling "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN MY RAINDROP, MRS. FRISKYKNICKERS!" and smacks the drum so hard that Lucan worries it might break.

Daryl Flutterbum looks at the drum for a long moment, breathing heavily, before falling over in a heap of laughter. "Oh right, you wanted to know about the honeycomb caves which is really neat because I used to live there and I know all about them probably better than anyone else alive except maybe for my cousin Jiggletin." He stop and turns around, as if looking for something. He points, stops, turns again, points again, stops, sighs, looks up, yells at a bird, laughs, turns again, and points straight up the frozen waterfall behind you. "You have to go way way way way up the frozen river and follow the river backwards until you get to the third, no fourth, no third, no sixth, it's definitely the sixth little waterfall before this one and behind it is the honeycomb caves."

------------- Pavick --------------

Lord Hivernim gives a lighthearted laugh, "Well, the real support would be your voice in the Court of Stars. I don't anticipate any of the 'unpleasantness' you seem to have heard of." As almost an afterthought, he adds "Naturally, if such things did occur, we'd appreciate support in all areas. Morally, agriculturally, magically, militarily..." he shrugs as if it were trivial, but Lady Labri seems to be watching you intently

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain turns to Toveliss.

"Would they, now? We'll see. I certainly intend to bring it up if I ever have a chance. I doubt anyone would listen to me, though... Still, an attempt needs to be made, that's the first step." He chuckles. "Sorry about the sermon. It's just that, well, I do feel strongly about this." He sighs. "I just wish I were well-spoken enough that my words could inspire others, rather than simply make them uncomfortable..." He looks sad for a moment, wishing Toveliss could at least understand his views, before sitting back down in the snow sadly. He jumps slightly at the feeling of something at his back and turns to find the blade, which hadn't been there only a moment ago. He brushes the sword's hilt with his fingers reverently before drawing it forth from the snow. It seems made for his hand, the balance perfect, and he knows immediately how best to use it. He looks at the statue in surprise, understanding dawning. Corellon clearly approves of his course, and still supports him. What is it to the god of arcane magic if one of his servants uses it to serve him for a time? The practice of it is still a holy task.

"Thank you, Father..." He whispers, holding the blade in his arms before turning back to Toveliss.

"No, it's fine. I'm alright. There's someone I need to try to find, he was an instructor at the local magic academy a few years back, last I knew he was still there. I need to talk to him, and I have some practicing to do if he's up to it. You can come with me if you want, or if I've made you uncomfortable you can go back... I'm sorry I'm so emotional at times, Toveliss. I don't mean to get caught up in things so strongly, but I do. And this is something that really is important..."

(OOC: Eltain is going to go to said local magic academy, which I haven't bothered to name and am not going to because I'm lazy, to see if his old tutor Ephram Theryn is still there, or try to find out where he went if he isn't. Ephram's generally a friendly, laid-back person, although he takes the whole magic thing Seriously and is also somewhat religious. Also a Swordmage with bard leanings. Also, I'm keeping this short because I really needed to leave 20 minutes ago.)

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick's eyes grow large and he leans back in surprise. "Oh my goodness, I should hope not! I mean, I wouldn't want things to come to that! Of course, I'll do what is necessary to ensure Gnomish freedom, but I pray that things don't go all that far."

He takes a few deep breaths, calming himself. "Certainly, you'll have my voice at the Court of Stars. There is little I do better than talk, as my old teacher used to tell me." He giggles. "I just want to see to it that the Gnomish people are positioned as well as we can be for the future."

[Toric]

Zyrr tugs his illusory beard before changing back to drow form. "We are, but that reputation is earned in warrior academies. My training was for much more... personal combat."

He stretches his dark arms over his head, then leans toward the map. "We drow are also far from experts on this land, given how long it's been since we could reliably set foot in it, but I'll see what I can come up with. First... Do you know of anybody suffering from a strange human-like senility? I do hope you didn't throw away that other vial of antidote, Aramil."

He also points to two points on the map: the sea serpent near the City of Starlight, - "This here, do you really have sea monsters here? Can we deal with them? If so the Prince's domain is just a few ships away." - and the Kingdom of Nachtur. "And these folks are neighbors to our prey. If they aren't already allied, we can convince them that they don't have to provide much to our cause, just enough harrying to chip off a few icicles. We call it active spectating, a tactic my House used to win a few civil disputes. Or if we can give them a reason to go to war outright when we do, all the better."

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

"Thank you," Lucan says. "That's very helpful. Say, you wouldn't happen to know anything about Lings, would you?"

[Mando Knight]

"If by 'deal with the sea monsters' you mean 'parley with the Coral Court,' it's on the agenda."

Aramil leans on the table, propping his chin up with his hand as he pauses to think. "I had forgotten about the second dose..."

He nods. "I believe I still have it lying around somewhere, in case we need it."

Straightening back up, he turns back to Lord Ressort. "I would be interested, yes, but with several of my adventuring associates trying to subvert the Winter Court from within and the Court of Stars approaching, I'm not entirely sure how I could fit yet another quest in..."

[Hzurr]

DM Post

----------------- Eltain ----------------

Rather than accompany Eltain to the Pentagonal Arcanus, Toveliss excuses himself, still thinking about Eltain's speech. The words of his half-brother seem to be weighing on him, and Toveliss walks silently back towards the palace, eyes distant.

Behind the various temples and manor-houses, built into the very waterfall itself, is Celanthir's magic acadamy: the Pentagonal Arcanus. The building isn't as impressive as much of the surrounding area, excluding its odd shape. The base of the building is only 50 feet wide, but immediately begins broadening as it goes up the side of the waterfall, reaching it's greatest width 2 stories above Eltain, before quickly narrowing again and coming to a glistening point another 2 stories above that. The magic acadamy was always one of the smaller in the Feywild, not quite as large as the Separch's Tower back in Fallcrest. However, a handful of mages always resided there, and After knocking on the large brass doors, a servant shows Eltain inside and leads him through the winding and unlevel hallways up to the study of Ephram Theryn.

Ephram, an older Eladrin with thinning hair, gives a smile when Eltain enters. "Ah, Eltain, how good to see you. I didn't know you'd returned!" He sets aside a book he was reading, and walks over to shake the Half-Eladrin's hand. "You've only been away what, a year or two? I didn't expect you to make your way back here for at least a few decades."

-------------- Lucan -------------

As Lucan speaks about the Lings, the pixie's eyes widen, and his wings droop with sadness. For the first time, he speaks at a normal pace, and even uses complete sentences. "No, they don't exist anymore. Not since the pixies killed all of the ones left in the Feywild during the Great Cleansing." Daryl's hangs his head in shame, and slowly flies away.

------------ Pavick --------------

Lady Labri gives a sympathetic smile. "Oh of course not, no one wants it to go that far. That's why it's important we have all the support we can now, to prevent any sort of unpleasantness from occurring." She looks up, as a sprite carrying a serving tray enters the room. "Ah, how wonderful!" She looks back to Pavick. "Tea?"

Even as Pavick watches what looks to be an old lady holding out a cup of tea, Pavick can't seem to shake the impression that both of the Winter Lords seem very pleased about this meeting.

------------------- Aramil, Zyrr, & Shep -------------

Lord Printempest frowns. "Using ships would be a good way to get into the heart of the Winter Lands, the problem is traversing up the river." He points to the long winding river that empties near Astrazalian and flows down from the Veil of Long Night. The Archfeys Elias and Scamander have been feuding more often as of late for domain over the rivers, and you'd need the blessing of a river Archfey to move any significant forces into Winter Lands this way. But asking the blessing of one will earn the emnity of the other, so we'll have to be careful who we reach out to.

Lady Altshuler stops to think, and scrunches up her nose again (reminding Shep of a rabbit). She strums her fingers on the table, muttering to herself. "Oh, what was his name..." She bites her lip in frustration, before looking at Azula. "Azula, do you remember which family that red-haired Satyr from the Spring Harvest worked for?"

Azula, who had kept quiet up to this point, watching silently, arches an eyebrow. "Oh, the short pocked-face one who couldn't take a hint that none of the woman were interested? He worked for the Shynovinnes, I believe."

Lady Altshuler snaps her fingers. "Yes of course. Lord Shynovinnes has begun cancelling his appearances recently, and the last few people I've known who spoke with him said that he seemed a bit...confused." She looks at Zyrr. "If he's suffering from this malady, and you're able to cure him, it could go a long way towards cementing our relations with the Summer Court, and a good way to convince some of the Fey who are on the fence."

----------------

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

I'm going to start wrapping up the two separate storylines and fastforward up to the actual Court of Stars. I know that Eltain will want to speak with Ephram Theryn a bit, and Lucan may wish to follow up on the Honeycomb caves, but aside from that does anyone else have anything they'd really like to do prior to the Court of Stars?

[Haberdashery]

The Shepherd kept to himself again, letting the fey discuss their business, and choosing to remove his thoughts from the subject at hand. Instead, he was occupying himself with assigning names to the fey lords: Lord Printempest was the Old Goat, Azula was The-Icicle-Who-Forgot-She-Was-a-Flower, he had decided on Huff-and-Puff for Lord Ressort, and Lady Altshuler's latest animated expression had unequivocally deemed her Funny-Bunny. The Shepherd had to restrain himself from chuckling. He liked Funny-Bunny.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain laughs.

"A few decades? I probably won't even be alive then, Master Theryn, unless half-eladrin are more sturdy than half-elves." His smile fades as he ponders that depressing thought and he turns serious.

"I'm glad to see you're still here, Master Theryn. I was afraid that since you're from the summer lands they might have decided to get rid of you as well, after I saw what they did at the temple..." He sighs. "We need to talk, I'm afraid." He looks down embarrassedly.

"I suppose you know that after I went back to the temple I completed my training there and became a Paladin. Well, I've... Lost my powers as one for the time being. I'm working on regaining them, but I've had to turn to other skills in the time being." He looks up, a sheepish half-grin on his face. "You asked me to stay on here back then and offered to train me. I... Need some help with that. I'm only here for a few days, unfortunately, but mostly I just need to get back in practice. I've had to rely on what I learned from you, but you taught me well back then, and I've still remembered most of it, though I'm sadly out of practice." He frowns.

"There's also been an... Odd development regarding my current need to use arcane magic." He holds up the ice sword that appeared in the temple garden. "This looks like the kind of sword some warlocks carry. But I haven't even remotely made a pact with any fey lords. Certhiel's asked me to help the winter court, but I was evasive with her and certainly didn't swear any sort of fealty to her and she doesn't seem the type for that anyway. I didn't get it from her anyway. It just... Kind of appeared in the garden after I'd been praying to Corellon asking him to guide and help me try to fix things with the ridiculous changes they've made to the training regimens for acolytes. It hadn't been there before." He pauses, remembering something.

"I forgot to ask anyone at the temple, I didn't stay long and didn't talk to anyone but that new high priest while I was there, and mostly I was just trying not to tell him where to shove himself. They've stopped training the acolytes in the art of swordplay. Have they also stopped sending them here for training in the arcane arts with these new changes?"

(OOC: Awkward subject jumps, but you wanted us to hurry this up, so. Also, half-eladrin totally live like, twice as long as half-elves. Not that it matters much for PCs, who break the rules anyway.)

[DSCrankshaw]

Lucan - Half-elf bard

Lucan rushes back to the palace to find Eltain and Pavick, horrified by what he's discovered.

[Toric]

Zyrr chuckles as he thinks of how well this worked out. And to think Eltain was about to kill him over making two tiemann antidotes and only identifying one. Oh, good times. But there's business at hand.

"I have two more pieces of advice to offer you, as a drow. First, the typical drow strategy. If we were a drow city looking to launch this attack, our main move would be to secure forces..... here." He reaches his hand underneath the table and raps it from beneath. "The Feydark. I've been there once. Trust me, nobody pokes their head there unless they have to; the Winter fey wouldn't see us until we crawled up from beneath their feet."

He pauses for a moment, interlacing his fingers before resuming.

"As I said, that's the drow way, done because you fully expect to lose manpower en route. From what I understand, you Eladrin who follow Corellon aren't fond of sacrificing those you don't know very well. So I will guide you to the other extreme, of risking one of the few people I do personally care about for the safety of those I don't." Two index fingers rise from joined hands, and point to the Shepherd. "If he and I can convince this 'Baba Yaga' to grant us passage, we will then be taking both the most unexpected and the safest route to victory. We run the risk of losing one key figure rather than certainly lose many of our rank and file to battle and the elements. I say, from your perspective, that's a good bargain."

[Hzurr]

DM Post

------------------ Eltain ---------------

Ephram purses his lips in thought. "Yes, things for your temple have been a bit odd as of late. Although it's actually caused in increase in demand for my services, since there are many who want to learn the blade. With the temple no longer training them, I've got my pick of the litter." He gives a lighthearted chuckle. "Still, I think I can spare a few days for you." The old man gives Eltain a wink to show he's teasing, and leans back in his chair, stretching, and grabs a sword sheathed in a dirty, dark leather scabbard.

"As for your sword, there could be many places it could have come from. But really, I don't think it matters." A mischievous grin spreads across his face. "The only thing that really matters with a sword is whether or not you know how to use it. So," you see a twinkle in the swordmage's eye, "Do you?" Still sitting in his chair, the elderly man draws the sword from the scabbard and brings it down towards Eltain's head, giving the half-Eladrin only a split-second to react.

------------------- Lucan -----------------

Horrified by what he's learned, Lucan runs full speed back to the Sharma household. In a rush to find Pavick and Eltain, he rounds a corner too quickly and runs smack into a woman. Lucan bounces off whomever he ran into, and finds himself on his back, the wind knocked out of him. Opening his eyes slowly, above him he sees the blurry form of a woman that's difficult to make out. It takes Lucan a moment to realize that his vision isn't blurry because he hit his head, but rather because a layer of frost has gathered around his eyelashes, obscuring his vision.

Taking a moment to brush away the ice, Lucan realizes that towering over him, practically fuming in rage, is the archfey Koliada. "How... DARE you run into me!" The Winter Witch's voice is shrill and cold, flecks of spit flying from her mouth as she enunciates every word, only to freeze and pelt Lucan in the face like tiny pieces of hail. She puts a foot on Lucan's chest, small icecrystals surrounding it prickling Lucan's chest like a thousand tiny pins. "Who are you, you impudent WORM?!

Behind her, you can see Certhiel watching, looking slightly horrified.

--------------------- Zyrr, Aramil, Shep -------------------

Azula strums her fingers. "Wasn't the reason you had to go to the Feydark to rescue those gnomes because the Winter Fey had been sealing up entrances?" she stops strumming and waves her hand dismissively, but Lord Ressort takes out his pipe thoughtfully.

"Did they now? That's most interesting. That could be simply to hide their dealings with the Fomorians to grow the Tiemann, or it might be because they recognize that they're vulnerable to such an attack. Still, I think it's a fair bet to say that they are less likely to be watching for a Feydark invasion than they would be over land..."

As his niece and fellow Lord debate, Lord Printempest looks at Zyrr and Shep curiously. "You would be willing to risk a confrontation with the Baba Yaga for our sake?" This catches Funny-Bunny's attention as well, and she shifts in her chair, watching the drow more closely.

[Haberdashery]

The Shepherd simply shrugged, avoiding the arrows of Zyrr's fingers, and curled one graceful finger in his gray beard.

"Why not?"

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain frowns, puzzled by his former mentor's evasiveness. He'd expected the man to be more concerned about the situation, not to dodge his questions entirely and be completely unconcerned about the sword. Master Theryn had been one of the few people he'd thought of as a friend, and had always been open with him. And now... When the attack comes, he only barely blocks it in his distraction, and his follow-through is half-hearted and glances off the man's spell-shield. He sighs sadly.

"You really can't go home again, can you?" He mutters to himself unhappily. He puts the sword away, looking unfocusedly at a bookshelf.

"Master Theryn... What's going on? This isn't like you. What happened? Aren't you concerned about any of this at all? Why won't you answer my questions?" He looks at the Eladrin curiously. Did the winter court have him under some sort of threat? Had he wounded the man's pride without realizing it when he'd reluctantly turned down the man's offer to train him back then and returned to his Paladin training when the temple had insisted he come back?

[Hzurr]

DM Post

------------ Eltain --------------

The old man sighs, and sits down. "Kids these days. They come, asking you to teach them, and the second you want to start sparring they don't want to anymore." He waves a hand dismissively, but cracks a smile.

"Ok, take a seat, I'll get some tea." He pours two cups, and hands one to Eltain. "If my first answers weren't good enough for you, let me try again. First, the church." he pauses, and takes a sip. "I am fully aware of what's going on, and I don't like it. But do you know how much I can do about it?" He makes a circle with his thumb and firstfinger. "I don't have any say in how the church governs itself. They let the Court push them around and meddle in their affairs, and now they're suffering the consequences. If they continue down this path, eventually Corellon will leave them, they'll realize their mistake, and they'll reform." He takes another sip.

"Look, Eltain, you're young, but trust me when I say that these things happen in every church from time to time. People stray, they realize the errors of their ways, they come back. Do I like it? No. But it's not a lesson I can teach them. In the meantime, my own personal religious practices are unaffected, as yours should be too. Give the church a hundred years or so, and they'll figure out where they went wrong."

"As for your sword, you've already told me the important parts. You didn't make a pact with a Fey Lord, and I don't think you're stupid enough to have made one accidentally." He gives a friendly chuckle to show that he's teasing. "To be honest, I don't know what it is, but it does pique my curiosity. If you wish I can take it, run tests, conduct research and figure out exactly what it is and where it came from, but you said that you only have a few days, so my intention was to focus on making sure that you don't stab yourself in the foot. Which hurts, by the way. I've done it. Twice." He gives a chuckle.

"Now come on. Cheer up, finish your tea, and I'll make sure that you don't slice your own ear off."

---------------- Shep ----------------

Lord Printempest give Shep a smirk that's very reminiscent of Aramil. "Well...spending the rest of your lives in servitude to the Baba Yaga seems a good reason why not." He says in a dry tone. "I'm just surprised that you would be willing to risk so much for us. I'm touched, I just am not entirely clear on your motivations."

[Haberdashery]

"A shepherd is not a shepherd if he is not willing to die for his flock." The Shepherd kneaded his fingers together, and rested them on the front of his crisp, new kimono. "I was willing to sacrifice myself for your son in the Feydark, and I am willing to sacrifice myself for his family."

[dariathalon]

Pavick - Gnome Wizard

Pavick accepts the tea gratefully. "That would be wonderful, thank you."

He sips at the tea and changes the topic of conversation away from such weighty subjects, and instead opts for a lighter discussion, complementing them on the beauty he's seen so far in the winter realms, and asking for advice on other things he should see while in the city.

[Hzurr]

DM Post

-------------- Pavick ------------

Pavick's tea is rudely interrupted by the sound of an Archfey yelling in the hallway.

[Nai_Calus]

Eltain sips his tea unhappily, unable to shake his worries.

"Master Theryn, I don't have a hundred years. I'll probably be dead within sixty. I'm half-human, and half-elves don't live any longer than humans do. Nobody knows about half-eladrin, but I almost certainly don't have that kind of time. And neither does the church, or the acolytes they're leading astray. If they aren't even sending them here to learn about magic anymore, in a hundred years there won't be a church left. The church has to be able to stand against the enemies of the fey, has to be able to do something about the probl-" He cuts off. "It's nothing. No it's not. Actually." He frowns. "Master Ephram, I'm glad that the acolytes are coming here of their own will, but you have to be careful. If the Winter Court is forcing this... I don't want you to get hurt. I think I know why this is being done, and it's not a good thing. It can't be waited out. It has to be acted against, and soon, before..." He sighs.

"I'd like to think I'm not that stupid either." He sighs, then gives an obviously fake pout. "And I'm heartbroken that you think so little of my skill with a blade." He sips his tea for a moment before setting it aside and standing up. "I wish I could cheer up... But things seem so dark and hopeless right now, and I don't think I can stop what's coming. It's not just the church, there are other things as well... I'm just one person. I'm going to try anyway, but..." He sighs, then suddenly vanishes and appears behind Ephram, drawing the sword and bringing it to bear on the elder eladrin.

[Toric]

Zyrr shrugs in response. "And I suppose my lesson is that a true Drow and a true friend are not mutually exclusive. If the Shepherd puts his life on the line, I'm likely to be there to yank him off the web if I can. And if your son goes too, as I imagine he will, well then I'll just have to tag along."

He winks at the noble of the party before adding, "Besides, as I'm sure your knight-errant has informed you, my entire extended family is hunting me everywhere they can reach. That means everywhere but here in the Feywild, so it benefits me greatly to endear myself to the native folk if at all possible."