Chapter 5: The Ethereal Plane

## June 24, 2351

### Session 35

Having made their way into the Border Ethereal, our heroes made camp for the night. They were attacked by a ghost about three hours in, but made quick work of the shade. This would be the first of three ghosts they fought in their time on the Ethereal Plane, each of them quickly dispatched between Rorrik and Zo's radiant spells. They finished their rest without further incident.

## June 25, 2351

### Session 36

Waking and beginning to search for a way into the Deep Ethereal, our heroes fought another ghost. They also did battle with some sort of misty ethereal ooze, which temporarily knocked some of their number unconscious, but proved no more a threat to them than the ghosts were.

Shortly after this battle, they realized they could no longer make out the muted grey Material Plane around them; they had found the Deep Ethereal. However, they quickly realized that in that transition none of them had quite noticed until it was over, they had lost one of their number: Vyre was nowhere to be seen. They looked around, but in this realm where all around them was only swirling grey mist, they could find no clue as to where Vyre had gone, nor could they reach their missing paladin with *sending*.

Theodard suggested that, as one can reach any point in the Ethereal Plane if one focuses one's will enough to lock on to a destination, that they try to focus on Vyre and see if they felt drawn to any one direction over the others. Zo, Gulo, and Seth all felt drawn in the same direction, so our heroes continued their journey, hoping to find Vyre soon. They fought another ghost, the event hardly worth remarking upon, and found themselves drawn into a wild, whirling cyclone, each of them picked up and deposited in the Border Ethereal of what seemed to be the Feywild — thankfully, Theodard got them back to the Deep Ethereal without delay.

They came upon a tavern seemingly constructed out of a firming up of the Ethereal Plane's mists, called The Fine Line, manned by what looked like a winged tiefling, and the group decided to rest there for a time while planning what to do next. Having a drink and some food — some more exotic than others, they regrouped, tried to reach out to Vyre, and tried not to be too concerned at her lack of reply.

Setting out again, our heroes encountered other travellers like themselves: a travelling goliath salesman who identified himself as Wordpainter, who Gulo bought a rather suspect potion from, and an exceptionally *charming* half-drow woman.

Finally, our heroes reached a point where it seemed as though the thorns in Gulo and Zohal's jaws wanted to be planted. More tangible than the rest of the Ethereal Plane, with twisted vines like those the thorns had been part of back by Red Deer, this strange area was unsettling, but felt right to the bearers of the thorns. The pair removed the thorns and planted them, watching them immediately take root. It wasn't long after, however, that shadows peeled off from the darkness and rose to attack.

### Session 37

While the shadows closed in on our heroes, help arrived from an unexpected quarter: Yesphina, a halfling woman playing host to several ghosts, had been headed in the same direction as the party, drawn by a strange compulsion of her own, and saw them get attacked. Jumping to their aid, she did battle against the shadows, as well as the strange, emaciated figures who later appeared to back them up. The figures appeared to have some sort of magical powers, obscuring the battlefield and making psychic attacks against the party. Finally, the woman, invisible at the time, demanded to know why they had trespassed onto coven land. Though the party tried to explain they hadn't intentionally trespassed, she told them they would have to plead their case to the coven and hope for mercy.

### Session 38

With the party being escorted to the coven and Yesphina running on ahead, still driven by that inexplicable pull forward, our heroes came upon a vast dead tree with a single door in it. Strange, unsettling creatures patrolled around it, and the woman's voice told them to approach the door.

They did so, finding utter darkness inside. Those with Darkvision could just make out a solitary female figure at the edge of their vision, while Seth alone, with her superior Darkvision, could see a second female figure deeper inside. The closer woman asked why the party had trespassed, and requested payment as recompense. Various offerings were made — some received with more grace than others — and in the background, Seth began to realize why she had been so drawn to this place: both the women had hideous leather pouches on their hips, and Seth really, *really* wanted to steal them both, for reasons unknown to her.

While the closer figure was distracted by the bargaining, Seth made a grab for her bag and successfully snatched it without her noticing; however, the woman's companion *did* notice, and so our heroes' battle with the hags began. It was a difficult fight, and one which nearly took down our heroes at various points. Yesphina, after observing Zo summon several bears and then turn into one herself, concluded that this was an all-bear party.

### Session 39

The battle wore on, and though it nearly claimed the lives of some of our heroes and their allies, they ultimately prevailed, killing both the hags and their remaining servants, including the remaining emaciated woman and several strange fey creatures that teleported into the hags' lair. Finally, exhausted and bloodied, they had the chance to rest.

### Session 40

Before they could rest, of course, there was loot to be grabbed — including those precious leather bags that had drawn Seth in the first place, but also a great deal of treasure, magical and otherwise. Seth began to do her best to identify the objects, getting a better sense of some objects than others, and the party talked to Yesphina in a little more depth, learning that she was apparently possessed by quite a lot of ghosts, and wandering around to help them finish their unfinished business.

## June 26, 2351

### Session 41 (cont)

The party took their long rest, each of them talking to Yesphina in turn. Once they were all feeling a little less exhausted, they packed up and began to make their way out of the hags' territory, taking most of the loot with them. Theodard led them to a shimmering wall of curtains, each one a different colour, leading to a different place on a different plane, and informed them that he would be staying behind with Yesphina. After all, there were four of them, and only one of her, and between the two he was more worried about her chances of survival. (Also, she was cute. But it was mostly the worry thing.) Saying their goodbyes to the halflings, the party stepped through the curtain, hoping to find themselves somewhere familiar.

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