Ep. 22 The Journey Back Chapter 1

## Listen

Ep. 22 The Journey Back Chapter 1

—Terry Pratchett, *A Hat Full of Sky*

The party takes a shortcut through Syrania, the plane of angels, but doesn't count on the angels having such a problem with Beric.

## Synopsis

### The Return of Jacob

Jacob stands amidst a gathering of fifty druids in the Towering Wood. Beric, Dex, and Therudak look at him in wonder at this boy who traveled to Mabar and came back unscathed. The druids start approaching him, examining him and asking who he is and how to came out of their portal. Farlan waves them off, and when Jacob sees the familiar face he goes over to them.

Dex tells him they've been searching for him. Jacob is confused and trying to make sense of how he's been gone so long, fifteen years for him, and it seems like nothing here has changed. He was pulled through the gate in the Faded Forest, and something in Gram's locket protected him from the creatures there. He hid and fought and killed and did whatever he needed to survive in that dark place.

Jacob hands the locket to Dex for him to examine it, and Beric, who's still ben sulking and leaning against his tree, pushes off and uses *Detect Magic* on it. It immediately drops to the ground, Beric recoiling from the light coming off of it(not because he's a vampire). It's overwhelmingly magical, and he can tell it's nature is the Silver Flame. Jacob quickly snatches it up and puts it back on.

Jacob notices Therudak and Dak tells him that he's been traveling with his friends. They tell him how Draconos got pulled through a portal similar to the one in the Faded Forest, and they assumed Jacob and the tiefling were in the same place.

Beric pulls out Curse-Bringer and asks if he knows anything about this. The sword says the locket contain an energy needed to fight the darkness. Beric gets saucy with him and points out that Curse-Bringer got pissy with his father for attempting to access that same light, then dismisses the sword before he can utter another word.

### The Next Step

Jacob tells them they need to get back to Gram; they need to figure out what the locket is, and she's the only one who would know. Beric mentions all the traces of magic he saw when he went to visit her, and her books on the Silver Flame. He assumes he's at least some sort of cleric.

Farlan informs them that he can get them to Mistmarsh quickly. He went on the train to follow them, but he's been moving between forests by planar travel. The druids can cast a spell to open a portal to a plane that time works differently in, so that it could take them three days of travel but in Eberron time it would be merely minutes. The risk of going into another plane is that there are creatures you might encounter there, but they're guaranteed not to hit any of the more dangerous ones like Mabar, Risia the Plane of Ice, or Fernia, the Sea of Fire.

Dex is absolute saying he will not go through any portal. In an attempt to make him realize how serious the matter is, Jacob tells him more about Mabar. There were tears in the plane and creatures would pour out, but they closed before he could get to them. This one opened up right before him, and the locket was able to hurt the lich enough that it retreated. These things are escaping their plane, though; this locket might be the only thing that can fight back. After some convincing, they all agree to use the portals, and Farlan says he'll talk to the head druid about starting the ritual. It's a one way trip though, so they have to make any preparations before they leave.

Farlan tells them it'll be about an hour until they're ready for the ritual. In the meantime, Dak looks for more rocks, finding one that's no replacement for the one he gave up, but good enough.

Beric goes off by himself, summons Curse-Bringer, sticks it in the ground, and sits in front of it, telling him to continue his earlier thought. Their discussion, as usually, quickly turns into Curse-Bringer being vague and Beric being sassy, but the sword says there's only one of him, and the reason he didn't want Eladrin using the light was because he wanted it in a diluted form.

*"Have any previous wielders of you told you that you are terrible at conveying useful information?"
—Beric*
Eventually Farlan interrupts them and tells them the ritual has fifteen minutes before it's complete, and walks away. Beric dismisses Curse-Bringer and finds the closest druid, who happens to be Shayana. He asks for any other weapon to use, and she gives him an ashwood spear, and after he asks for anything silvered hands him a silver spearhead. He thanks her and goes to join the others.

Dex walks with Farlan to where the druids are gathered, and on the way asks about a cure. Farlan explains a little more of the nature of lycanthropy, and drops their semi-serious feud to give him some actual advice. He tells Dex that if he does lose control, he won't turn into a monster; he'll be a literal bear, so as long as he's not putting anyone in danger he'll be fine.

### Syrania, the Jumping Plane

When they get to the clearing the druids are arranged in a semi-circle around the archway, much like when they opened the portal to get Jacob out. Reality starts to flow within the gate and it begins to glow with a bright shining light. Beric, realizing it could be useful in this new plane, switches out his spearhead for the silvered one then and there, but Dex doesn't notice.

*"Hey Dex, Beric looks like he got a silver tip on that thing."
—Therudak*
Farlan leads the way, hopping through the portal, and after making sure Jacob goes first, Beric, Dex, and Therudak all walk through.

As soon as they cross they're assaulted by wind, and a brilliant, clear sky like they've never seen. There's not a lot of ground; the plane seems to be floating in the sky, with other land masses around them. Farlan gives a sigh and welcomes them to Syrania the Azure Sky. This is the plane of angels, and they don't take kindly to anything that's not an angel. When Farlan was here previously they let him go with a warning that they would kill him if he ever came back.

He also warns them that gravity is different here; if you jump straight up you'd probably go about twenty feet into the air - Dex and Beric immediately prepare to jump - but don't do that; you might not come straight back down, and the fall is endless is you miss. They can, however, pretty easily jump from platform to platform, and that's how they'll be traveling.

The platform they're jumping to first is too small to fit everyone, so they go one at a time, Farlan starting them off. After a false start, he misjudges the distance and grabs onto the underside of the platform, which is made of crystal, not dirt, and scrambles up. Dex goes next, also grabbing the edge. Beric makes his jump but sees he's not going to land on the platform and uses *Misty Step* to teleport there instead. Dak makes sure Jacob goes first, and then follows after.

When they all get to the other side safely, they notice some ancient runes with angelic iconography. Dak asks Farlan about it, but he says that stuff is everywhere, and they turn their attention to the next platform.

### A Beautiful Face With a Horrible Attitude

Before they can take off again, Beric feels strong arms grabbing him around his chest and he's lifted into the air. A painfully beautiful angel with long strawberry blond hair gives him a stern look and demands to know why he's here. Beric explains that they're just trying to pass through, and the angel tells him this is no place for him, a creature with darkness in him. Beric agrees that he just wants to leave, and asks if the angels know anything about the darkness in him to explain, because *he* doesn't. The angel hurls a few more insults and Beric holds out his hand to summon Curse-Bringer - but nothing happens. The angel shakes him and threatens to drop him if he doesn't explain himself. Beric tells him usually the sword would appear, and wonders why he could cast a spell but not summon his weapon. He tells the angel about traveling from the Towering Wood to Mistmarsh in an attempt to stop an invasion form Mabar, and they were told the fastest way was through the planes. When he mentions the druids the angels turns and flies furiously back to the others.

Farlan cusses and Beric manages to roll out of the way before the angel would slam into him. The angel glares and Farlan and says he told him to never come back. Dex tries to start talking but is interrupted by Beric frantically exclaiming that he can't summon the sword, holding his hand out to demonstrate. Dex starts again and tells the angel that they're traveling and didn't mean to end up in this plane, but they're trying to stop darkness from taking over Eberron and if the angel won't help them he's a "big ol dickhead."

*"Okay, I put Farlan in my bag of holding."
—Jeff*

The angel says he has a problem with them bringing "this thing" into him home, gesturing towards Beric. Dex tries convincing him that Beric is on their side and helping them fight the darkness, but the angel is adamant that there's nothing but darkness in him. Beric is desperate to get more information out of the angel, but the angel just accuses him of being vague while doing the same thing. Dex asks the angel's name and he says he's Gabriel, and he's taking them back to the capital. Large angels come flying in and grab each of them. They fly for a few minutes and come upon a very large piece of land. It's a city made and inhabited by angels, and after a moment they're dropped in a large courtyard with what looks like a council of three angels waiting for their arrival. There's an extremely old beared one sitting in the highest seat, and he looks directly at Beric and says he never thought he'd see someone like him again.

End of episode.

## Locations

* The Eldeen Reaches
	+ Towering Wood
	+ Greenheart
* Syrania the Azure Sky

## Spells

* **Beric**
	+ Detect Magic
	+ Minor Illusion
	+ Misty Step
* **Dex**
	+ Daylight

## Quotes

"Gentlemen, what happened last time?"
"We hate you."
"Ya \*\*\*\*\*\* us."
"We need to talk about that."
"Well…ya know…it wasn't all bad…"
"It's a miracle you're still at the table."
*—Eric, Philip, Jeff, and Randy*

"Here's the thing. I don't want the world to end; it's where I keep all my stuff."
*—Dex*

"Are there more of *you* out there?"
"I am one."
"Eh…"
"Of one."
"…"
"There's only one of me."
"Ah. So the word we would use would be, 'No.' That's how we would express that."
*—Beric and Curse-Bringer*