Of Glass Houses Part 2

## Episode 2 - The FeyWild West

Kal-Kanar, District 3. Talia and Seline Argent-Grey walk through the city streets and its markets on their way to the Glass Palace. Before long they find themselves leaving the crowds of the streets to a clearing and a line in front of the gatehouse to the inner city. After about 5 to 10 minutes of waiting they get to the front where the gate guard upon seeing their pass says that the Favored of the Glass Palace could go on through. In the inner city, it feels more spacious and less crowded with the buildings spaced not so close to each other. Additionally, the buildings here are also made of sandstone like the outer city but they look less rough-hewn and have more artistic touches like mosaic tiling. In the inner city, there are also luxuries like plants here. People here are still milling about but the guard presence is double what it is in the outer city. As our adventurers get closer to the Glass Palace, the level of opulence increases. The buildings are getting taller and the clothing more luxurious. Hawkers selling wares are becoming less and less in place of more discreet shops. The clothing here is light and airy with bright colors and patterns. The Glass Palace looms shining over the city, dominating the skyline. The domes of glass reflect sunlight. The road they’re on opens up into a Courtyard with merchants and stalls and in the distance the gate to the Palace. Seline and Talia buy clothes to blend in. Seline decides on a red gown with intricately folded fabrics with some beaded trim. Talia gets purple something laced with a spider web thin pattern of gold thread throughout it that shifts and sparkles in the Sun. While Talia’s browsing some jewelry, Seline notices some children watching her. As soon as they realize she spotted them they run for it. Talia also gets a long gold chain. The Argent-Greys search for an in to set up the doorknob. Unfortunately, people who come to the Glass Palaces either stay with friends in the inner city or are guests of the palace itself. Eventually, they’re directed to a place called the Inn. They're not used to walk-ins because most rooms are usually reserved months in advance or permanently rented rooms. They pay $5,000 gold until they leave. The room itself is very nice. It has an open archway to a balcony with privacy curtains. The floor is covered in beautifully patterned rugs with vibrant textiles, decorative pottery, and mosaic decorations along the walls. There’s a stunning view of the palace through the balcony. They change into their new clothes putting all the weapons in the bag of holding. Talia does keep some gold with them in a pouch on her side. She leaves the back of holding in the house and wraps the gold chain around the door knob and hangs it from her neck. The line from the gatehouse to the Glass Palace is gone. As the Argent-Greys step up to it six guards approach them. The guards pat them down while another guard inspects their invitation with a gem of true seeing. Once inside they see that the glass domes redirect the sunlight away from the inside reducing the smothering heat as they step out into a garden. Now they are surrounded by lush manicured bushes and trees that are not native to this climate. Seline feels fey magic is being used to keep the garden so lush. The garden is also inhabited by groups of exotic birds like parrots with vibrantly colored feathers and a group of long-legged cranes. The other people present stand about marveling at the sights while one of them is painting the birds. They are also people outfitted in vibrant red and a subtle smokey gray observing the other people, walking around, and some of them are also tending the garden. The Glass Palace itself is held up by three spires that from a distance look like one. Along the spires are also buildings that are attached running up and down. Moving about the spires is a platform with insect-like legs. One of the people in red and gray robes approaches Talia and Seline with a polite but reserved smile. It is a dwarven woman with a neatly braided beard. After checking the invitations to the collection, Ella leads them to the part of the collection that’s outside the Glass Palaces through several dense trees on a path lined with rose bushes. Surrounding the section is an iron band that juts just above the path that encircles the ahead area. At first, they can’t see anything but trees, until one of them blinks. It's a humanoid shape with bark-like skin and softly glowing yellow eyes. Ella calls them dryads. The masters found a way to transplant this one to this enclosure in the garden where it sustains itself on the trees there. It says to Seline help me and Seline replies I’m going to. They have to wait for the platform on legs to take them to the rest of the collection. When it arrives, Ella ducks her head for the passenger who’s there. Stepping off is an individual in gold robes with an inlaid gold epaulet piece that covers his entire chest and extends out to sharp points at the shoulders. He steps off the platform with his tail swishing but he’s possibly a tiefling. They arrive at the glass portion of the palace. The walls, floors, and ceilings are clear but some of the rooms are frosted for privacy. The hall they are walking through looks white due to refraction but gives it a sterile feeling. Ella says though the entirety of this portion of the structure is made of glass it’s infused with magic to keep it sound for over 200 years. The collection itself is in the centermost portion of the palace. Talia sees somebody entering the Glass Palace through one of the spires on the corner. On the way to the collection, Ella mentions that the Favored of the 12 also stay in the Glass Palace. Additionally, the 12 will grant Favored status to whoever captures the winged creature and the giant hound or wolf, although the winged creature is preferred. They arrive at an obsidian door. Ella pulls out of seal similar to the one they took from Relberon. They enter a massive octagonal-shaped room. The glass above allows in light but there are no plants in sight anywhere. In front of them is a massive cylinder water feature that stretches up toward the ceiling with this spiraling coral reef going up along it with thousands of different kinds of colorful fish swimming up through it. There are different types of anemones growing along it. There is a spiral glass staircase that winds its way around the cylinder to a platform about two dozen feet above them. Below them through the floor, the cylinder is just a part of the aquarium that goes into the floor as well. On their level, are several spindly glass pedestals that display objects and artifacts. Some are ancient weapons. All about the room are enclosures. There are anywhere from 2 to 4 enclosures per side of the octagon. As they go up the staircase they see mermaids swimming through the column. The mermaids follow until they reach the top of the fountain, pop their heads up, and then go back down. Ella says that there are about eight mermaids and they’ve been there for about 10 years. In order to house them in the collection, the 12 had to reform a good portion of the room including several floors below. The water is crystal clear and there is a stone structure below the water where the merfolk are swimming in and out of. There are eight (three males, five females). They pass enclosures with exotic animals. One holds peacocks. Another holds a tiger-like cat with blue fur and yellow stripes. Another has a forested enclosure that has a large that changes colors. The next one has a Pegasus. His wings have been clipped to prevent flight. Ella takes her leave for an errand but says that she’ll return in 2 hours. They’re able to tell the Pegasus that they will break him out later. The next enclosure that doesn’t have an exotic creature in it has very tall grass and humanoid bones as well as used cutlery. The Medusa inside has a narrow visor and speaks to them. She says that she’s been trapped here for a hundred years. Seline remembers that medusas are from islands south of this continent where others like her reside. At Talia saying that they might be observed, the medusa says that during midnight, noon, sunrise, and sunset the guards are changed and no one is watching. In another enclosure it is forested. There are tiny houses amongst the trees and Seline sees a pixie going into one. There’s a hall next to that enclosure that leads to two very large enclosures. One houses a roc. The other enclosure holds a mutilated beholder. Its central eye has been covered over by metal and its eye stalks have been cut short. It says it’s been here a long time but that Talia smells like another here. It also spouts threats when they leave. As they’re moving on to the other enclosures one of the objects on the table catches Seline’s eye. It’s a thin curved band of metal floating in the air traveling in a spherical pattern. It is a single piece of a band orbiting in the air. Inscribed on it is the Guardian of Titania. While discussing how the 12 have so much from feywilds, a voice says to them it’s because they have a door. Getting up against the wall in one of the enclosures he's a man just in a dark pinstripe suit and expensive-looking loafers. He’s about 6 ft, lean, black hair looking either messy or deliberately styled to look messy. His blood-red monolid eyes track them as they approach. His smile is lazy with just a hint of fangs behind his lips. He kind of looks like this fancily suited man who just walked into this enclosure and got stuck here. His enclosure looks like it's full of rocky terrain with mountains that have a deep red hue to them. There are also a few books stacked against the wall the man is leaning against. They try to speak to him in other languages and he flinches that celestial but they settle on elvish. He says that being in the menagerie, security is pretty lax until they try to take something out. He says that his being here is a mistake of circumstance and that they would feel sorry for him if they knew his mother. He calls himself Carmichael and claims he’s a devil (he is a cambion). He says he’s not like a tiefling and changes form. He pushes away from the wall and his clothes smolder and melt away and his skin changes colors to this deep crimson. Two massive horns sprout from his head as well as two large bat-like wings that sprout from his back. He also gains about a foot in height as he transforms. He asks to be broken out and offers a reward in exchange. They leave with the suggestion that they might return around midnight in the near future. The next enclosure is bare with gray walls on all sides with dark stains of about on the floor and lower parts of the wall that look years old. There’s a small pallet with dirty blankets against the back of the enclosure. On it curled up on them trying to look as small as possible is a young motionless form. They are young possibly not even 18 yet. Dark hair long and unkempt matted. Their arms are wrapped tightly around their legs which are pressed tightly against their body. Their skin and hair color are similar to Talia’s. They also have marks some are old that have faded into scars and are stark against the skin, and new ones that are still scabbing all over their body. They don’t have much in the way of clothes aside from something wrapped around the middle. As our adventurers get closer the person tries to become smaller in the back of the enclosure. As they get closer they can see thin wires that run down inside along the glass. Next to the glass is a placard, werewolf lycanthrope. Beneath the placard is a button that says push to view. Tears are streaming down Talia’s face. Talia tries to speak to them climbing over the bar to get as close to the enclosure as possible. Watching her fearful fellow lycanthrope, a distraught Talia realizes it’s her cousin Connor. She breaks down crying at the realization, saying that she didn’t know he was here. Connor’s father was Talia’s mother’s brother, Talia’s Uncle Matthias. Talia keeps trying to talk to him while Seline surveys the rest of the enclosures. There’s a figure in a darkened enclosure. Talking to it, Seline learns that it’s a mind flayer from underground. It’s been here for 50 years and will feast on the knowledge of its captors if freed and asks to be called Brian. Seline returns to the fountain and tries to talk to the merfolk and gets splashed for her trouble. They’re reluctant to talk until Seline casts tongues on herself. After some reluctant conversation, Seline convinces one of her good intentions and that she will return soon for them. Seline waits near the door for Ella, looking at the remnants of a shattered stone sword on display. Ella returns with another person who does not have eyes and is a very pale bald. Their thin lips part in a kind of gruesome smile with very small very pointed teeth. It appears that their eyes were removed the sockets are scarred and healed over closed. They call themselves Keeper Kasum, Favored servant of Lord Bisha. They noticed Talia’s tears as they leave to attend to their duties catching Talia’s scent as they pass by. Kasum smells like something old. Something that should have died a long time ago but not undead. Pre-undead? Ella escorts them from the Menagerie.

## Characters

### Players

* Seline Argent-Grey
* Talia Argent-Grey

### NPCs

* Zoo Attendant
* One of the Favored
* Connor