The Barrens Part 2

## Episode 12 - The FeyWild West

The Barrens, District 3. Seline sends Cortez scouting ahead and he spots a patch of green in the distance. Seline, Talia, Rhenalle, and Brother Martin decide to avoid the oasis as it would take them off course. They come across a block that looks similar in fashion to those in Kal-Undar. Seline and Talia decide to show Ernest. To get Ernest there, they have to return to the Oasis against Brother Martin's protests. Rhenalle, Talia, and Seline immediately take advantage of the Oasis and jump into the small pond. In the spirit of playfulness, Talia drags Brother Martin into the pond as well. As Brother Martin gets out of the water, he appears to be melting. However, it is pounds of makeup running off him. It reveals that his skin is discolored with several sores all over him. Talia is pissed about the deception as Brother Martin goes inside the mansion. Seline goes also goes in the mansion and checks on Jareth who is with Water-Under-the-Bridge. They have white fur with snow leopard spots. They're helping Jareth with literature, a book called the Life and Memoirs of Judy Hagglesfoot. Seline asks Jareth to ask Talden and Ernest if they want to see what they found in the desert. Seline goes to the guest house to speak to Brother Martin. He initially doesn't come out of his room but when he does his makeup has been reapplied. He claims he didn't tell them he had Legacy because the stigma of having Legacy would have hurt his efforts to help others. Seline cast zone of truth. Brother Martin claims he doesn't know how Legacy is transmitted and transmission is rare. He also claims that they're knowing he had Legacy wasn’t pertinent to the mission. Seline draws three cards, ace of cups inverted (blocked emotions), four of pentacles inverted (self protection and greed), nine of swords (hopelessness). Seline says that he's diluting himself about the situation...

> It matters not what happens to this body, but the spirit within.
>
> Brother Martin

Talia has decided to keep the horses outside for the night and stay out there with them. Seline joins her out there and they discuss the Brother Martin situation. Talia suggests Seline speak to the Mother and Seline resists the idea. Seline draws a card from the deck without shuffling, queen of cups (emotional compassion and being intuitive). Eventually, they fall asleep outside.

Seline dreams that she is in darkness. The air here is colder and the wind is whipping around her. There's a shape in the Darkness it approaches. It is Sarastra Aestruum, the Queen of Night and Magic. Tea with the Queen of Night and Magic

Seline tells Talia about her conversation with the Queen of Night and Magic. Talden and Ernest arrive later in the morning. Talia's nose confirms that they smell like each other. Talia explains the stones in Kal-Undar and now the stones in the Barrens. Ernest says it might be an interdimensional barrier, Ernest is eating a lot because he is using a lot of magical energy to study the crystals. He's trying to communicate with the crystal without touching it. They all travel to the Realm of Pale Shadows. Talia tries again to make friends with the squirrel-o-pillars to no avail. She also finds the Broker at the border. He claims he's there because Seline's realm is so close to the material. Talia tries to warn him off. Talia tells Seline about her encounter with the Broker and suggests that she asked Reginald about moving the realm before they leave for the Barrens. They start by wondering where the stone was quarried from. Under closer inspection, it appears that the entire surface of the stone is covered in tiny runes. Ernest theorizes that the stone is a part of a detection system as well as a dimensional barrier. Through spells, they see a pillar of light into the sky while the door knob is on the stone. Talden explains this is not a random stone in the Barrens, but with a spell outlines the rest of the building with yellow light. They're at the pinnacle of a buried pyramid. Martin says that this is not what they're looking for but he knows that they're almost there. he claims that it's a feeling. Talden dates the structure at about 800 years old around the time of the Anthonian Empire. They continue saying that this was likely a temple and one of the many monuments constructed by the emperor to himself. Ernest takes the opportunity to return to the mansion and then to Talden's apartment from the mansion. He also says he has to talk to them in a few days. Talia makes he promise that he'll get sleep before they go. Jareth is not happy to be working on sentence diagrams for school. Adrienne in her art room is painting a shadowed figure leaning up against a tree. He's painted entirely in a deep black purple except for a single golden eye looking over. She says that he is watching but doesn't know why he's watching. When Seline dreams at night she finds herself wandering trying to get away from something everywhere. She doesn't look everywhere. She doesn't turn as a pair of golden eyes watches. When she wakes, Seline and Talia find Reginald at her cottage in the realm of Pale Shadows. She asks Reginald if it is possible to move her realm. He says it is but it would involve going to war to expand the realm or a great deal of deals and trades. To further explain he demonstrates what the feywild looks like abutted to the material plane with cups representing realms of the feywild and the tray representing the material. With a cup representing the Realm of Pale Shadows, he pushes it through several other cups to get it away from the material plane. He explains that it will require a great deal of power to do so which Seline doesn't have right now. After Seline says that he's having bad dreams, Talia says at least he can't enter the realm. Reginald points out that the Broker could if he was willing to declare war. Reginald also points out that most peace is maintained in the feywild because most realms are waiting for another realm to initiate aggression. The longest current standing peace is between the Bear King and the Queen of Cats whose peace is maintained in this fashion. After Talia patrols the border, she tries to befriend the squirrel-o-pillars with a bowl of ice cream. It manages to run off with the bowl and Talia decides to give up on befriending the squirrel-o-pillars. Also Talia’s sense of smell tells her that Reginald and Bartholomew have been frequently keeping company. As they head out into the Barrens to start their day, Lenore returns…

> If you're headed to Anthopolis, you better come speak with me.
>
> Franya

They pass more runed stones. Cortez scouting ahead, spots of dark shape not moving a day's ride ahead. When they stop for the night, they ask Rhenalle to keep an eye on Brother Martin while they get ready to leave for the Grove.

\*\*\*a transcript of Seline's conversation with the Queen of Night and Magic is here

## Location

* The Barrens

## Characters

### Players

* Seline Argent-Grey
* Talia Argent-Grey

### NPCs

* Rhenalle
* Jareth Argent-Grey
* Brother Martin
* Sarastra Aestruum, Queen of Night and Magic
* Talden
* Ernest Felson
* Reginald