Session0031

Episode 0031 - A Fool's Errand
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**Setting:**

Nakuloko Island - The Feywild - May 12th-13th, 211 AW
**Synopsis:**

* Divided on how to proceed regarding Passeri's request, the party decides to temporarily part ways, with Louche, Malkoth, Patches, and Gragnok traversing the crossing into the Feywild, while the others remain behind.
* Arriving in the Feywild, the party meets with a group of Feywild natives who serve as protectors of the crossing, and together they embark toward the Court of Spring to seek out Queen Ostara and Primrose.
* En route to the Court of Spring, the party battles a fearsome jabberwock, and encounters several other fey oddities, including a barbershop quartet of campestris and a waterfall with magical reflections.
* When they arrive at the Court of Spring, the party spends some time enjoying the local revelries, purchasing fey drugs, and shopping for magic items.
* After enjoying the festivities for a short time, the party meets with Queen Ostara, who explains the nature of Passeri's curse, and her reasons for banishing him, despite Primrose's protests.
* Queen Ostara offers to end Passeri's curse and allow him to return to the Feywild. In exchange, she tasks the party with finding a way to stop Queen Yule - the Queen of Winter - from continuing her advance into the borders of the Realm of Spring.

## May 12th

Outside Passeri's hut on Nakuloko Island, Louche asks Passeri for a description of Primrose, which Passeri gives him. He then asks Passeri to give him his favorite string from his harp, to offer to Primrose as a token of his continued love for her. Passeri agrees, and gives Louche a string from his harp.

The party discusses how to proceed. Louche is insistent on going to the Feywild and fulfilling Passeri's request, while some other party members are unwilling to do so. Eventually, the party resolves to temporarily split up. Louche, Malkoth, Gragnok, and Patches decide to continue on to the Feywild, while Odell, Jack, XVIII, and Frog remain on the Material Plane. The group remaining on the Material Plane keeps Syntithenai, and Malkoth also gives them the Imlaq Amulet for safekeeping. They explain that they intend to return to Buttonsworth and Lo on the coast of Lake Ryne, where they will wait for 2 days in case the Feywild group returns quickly, then otherwise proceed onward to the College of Mimrinoth.

Gathered around the pond which serves as the Feywild crossing, the party makes preparations to part ways. Referencing the crossing's requirement to state one's truest love, the party discusses their true loves. Jack says that his is Djinni, to which Pepper agrees. XVIII says their true love is their family.

Louche agrees to be the first through the crossing. Following the inscription, he removes all of his clothing and gear, stands in the water of the pond, and states aloud his truest love, Israphel. When he does so, he disappears in a flash of pink light.

Malkoth goes through the crossing next. At first he states "drugs" and "fire" as his truest loves, but when nothing happens, he instead states the name of his mother, Miriam Arkin, and disappears.

Patches follows next, stating his truest love is "the Changing Tree," and disappearing.

Finally, Gragnok follows, stating that his truest love is himself.

Arriving in the Feywild, the party finds themselves at a similar pond - seemingly a parallel plane to where they came from - with their left behind belongings sitting on the banks of the ponds. Gathered around the pond, the party discovers a group of fey creatures seemingly keeping watch over the crossing - an eladrin, a wilden, a dandy lion, a kodama, and a treant sapling bearing a cornucopia of strange fruit. The treant introduces herself as Juniper, and explains that the party has reached a place called the Changewood. She says that she and the others are the protectors of the crossing to the Material Plane. She takes special note of Patches, saying that he smells familiar, but Patches deflects.

The other fey entities also introduce themselves, explaining that they are the protectors of the crossing. The dandy lion introduces himself as Dan D, the kodama is named Konohana, the wilden is named Tippiti, and the eladrin is named Brook. Brook also reveals that she is a Princess of the Summer Court.

The party explains their business in the Feywild, saying that they are in search of Queen Ostara and Primrose at the Court of Spring. Tippiti says that he knows the way to the Court of Spring, and after some insistence by Juniper, the fey entities agree to lead the party to the Court of Spring and accompany them on their journey through the Feywild.

Louche asks Juniper and the others if they have ever heard of Passeri, but none of them have heard of him. Juniper says that someone else - a devil named Titivilus - came through the crossing asking questions about Passeri a number of centuries ago.

Malkoth asks how the crossing back to the Material Plane works. Juniper explains that one must eat a piece of the magical fruit that she carries, which will cause certain magical changes to take place. The individual will be temporarily encased in a cocoon after eating the fruit, and tossed into the pond. Upon emerging, they will be back on the Material Plane.

After gathering their belongings, the party sets off toward the Court of Spring, accompanied by their new escorts, with the exception of Juniper who stays behind the watch over the crossing. Notably, as the party begins traveling, they notice that the time of day seems not to be changing. The fey natives explain that in the Feywild, "day" and "night" correspond to geographical directions, such that moving one direction causes the "time of day" to progress forward, and the opposite direction progresses backward. The passage of time is measured instead in the cycles of Ley Phases and Zeniths, which proceed on the same schedule as on the Material Plane.

As the party is traveling through the Changewood, Malkoth begins performing arcane experiments with conjuration magic, in hopes of developing the necessary framework to eventually create a tuning fork for the *plane shift* spell, attuned to the Feywild.

While traveling, the party passes the time by playing music. They are briefly accompanied by a group of tiny mushroom-like creatures called campestris, which sing along with their song, expecting a tip.

Later, the party encounters a raven-like bird with large purple eyes, which Tippiti and Dan D recognize as a jub-jub bird. Brook warns that a jub-jub bird is an ill omen, and a sign of danger. Proceeding onward following a river, the party begins to see more jub-jub birds, and expects that they are approaching danger.

Eventually, the party reaches a canyon with sourceless waterfalls pouring into it, filled with a rainbow-colored mist that rises from below. They spot a nearby bridge across the canyon, upon which dozens of jub-jub birds are perched. Gragnok tosses a large boulder into the canyon, and due to the lack of an impact sound, deduces that the canyon is seemingly bottomless.

After some discussion about how to safely proceed, Brook grows impatient and leads the party across the bridge. As they cross the bridge, a jabberwock emerges from a cave hidden by the mist, and attacks the party. The party battles and defeats the jabberwork, along with the jub-jub birds which swarm them during the fight.

Exploring the aftermath of the battle, the party finds a hoard of treasure in the jabberwock's cave, including coins and magic items, which they collect. Malkoth also retrieves a vibrating, gurgling orb from within the maw of the jabberwock, which he identifies as a powerful magical relic called the frumious bandersnatch. He attunes to this relic.

The party continues their travel for another hour or so, before eventually reaching the edge of the Changewood, and making camp in a vast grassy meadow. Konohana and Brook utilize plant magic to create a safe campsite for the party.

On his watch during the party's rest, Malkoth does some more work on his tuning fork theory. During this time, he suddenly suffers a violent hallucination and a severe bout of psychic pain. When the hallucination ends, he deduces that it was caused by the frumious bandersnatch, and suspects that the item is cursed.

## May 13th

Though the time of day remains the same, a Zenith occurs, informing the party that another day has past on the Material Plane. At the Zenith, Louche performs the Psalm of Rest. Several of the fey natives recognize that the song is similar to songs produced by singing stones, which they describe as stones that produce magical songs during Zeniths.

The party once again sets out toward the Court of Spring. While traveling, Brook tells the party about her family, explaining that her father is Prince Aster - one of the princes of Summer, and son of King Beltane and Queen Litha of Summer. Her mother, she explains, is a mortal elf named Rosanhi Pettris, one of Aster's concubines. She admits that due to her half-mortal heritage, she is not respected as a full member of the royalty as her siblings and cousins are.

During their day's travel, the party passes by a waterfall, wherein their reflections act independently and attempt to attack them. Gragnok shoots his reflection with an arrow, and the other reflections flee.

A few hours later, the party arrives at the Spring Court - an opulent glass building surrounded by a settlement resembling a great spring festival. As the party arrives, they are approached by several fey that are interested in the Material Plane natives. Malkoth explains to a group of pixies that he has been cursed by the frumious bandersnatch, and they recommend that he speaks to Queen Ostara about removing the curse.

Louche contemplates attempting to sneak in to the court to find Primrose and speak to her privately, but Brook speculates that she is likely at court with the Queen, based on her previous visits to the Spring Court.

Before proceeding to meet with the Queen, the party explores the vicinity of the Spring Court, finding it is filled with festivities, food, drinks, drugs, and revelry. They buy a few magic items from vendors, and Malkoth samples and purchases some of the local fey drugs. In particular, he purchases a great deal of belladonna, a sensory-altering flower, from a wilden named Hyacinth; a great deal of backscratch, a consumable fish scale drug, from an eladrin named Caimaoilian; and a great deal of bumble, a euphoria-inducing honey, from a satyr named Cletus. With all three of these individuals, he proposes that he would like to establish a business relationship, purchasing their drugs for re-sale on the Material Plane. Cletus urges him not to speak to Queen Ostara about this arrangement, fearing reprimand, as he explains that Ostara is notoriously prone to banishing satyrs from the Feywild. When asked, Cletus says that he has never heard of Passeri.

During their exploration of the settlement, Louche also gets a magical tattoo from a quickling that infuses tattoos with Material Chaos.

While exploring, Brook also mentions to the rest of the party that she has a magical mirror belonging to her mother, which can be used to divine information from the past. She offers to use the mirror to find out information from the party, in exchange for a yet-to-be-determined favor in the future. Malkoth agrees to this arrangement, on the condition that the favor can't be claimed for at least 1 month. Brook agrees, and Malkoth asks her to use the mirror to divine information about Natalie Shaw's tuning for attuned to Sigil.

The images which appear in the mirror show Natalie Shaw in a tavern with Louche in his former devil form - a scene which Louche recognizes from his meeting with Natalie in Sigil. The image then shows Natalie in her study - which the party recognizes from their investigation of her estate - wherein she is unsuccessfully attempting to create a tuning fork attuned to Sigil. Next, the imagery shows Natalie comforting a young, bloodied Lane Coronato, reassuring him that what happened was not his fault. Next, the imagery shows an older Natalie etching glyphs into a tuning fork, before turning her attention to the Material Resonator - a device that she is creating, with an indentation in the shape of the Imlaq Amulet. Finally, the mirror shows an elderly Natalie speaking with Elrah Saevel. Natalie apologizes for things that transpired between them, and asks him to keep her inheritance safe in case Lane or any of her descendants return for it, handing him a sealed wooden chest.

Afterwards, once the party has concluded their business and exploration of the area, they enter the Court of Spring. Inside, they find Queen Ostara seated on an opulent throne, with Primrose also lounging nearby, surrounded by a court of revelers and attendants. Ostara greets the party and welcomes them, seemingly excited and intrigued by their presence. She recognizes Brook especially, and welcomes her back to the Court of Spring. At first, the party keeps their intentions reserved, saying they there are simply traveling and exploring.

Malkoth explains what happened in the Changewood with the jabberwock and the frumious bandersnatch, and asks if it would be possible for her to remove his curse. She says that it is possible, but she would need something in return.

Brook asks Queen Ostara for a dance with Primrose. Ostara declines her request, citing that Brook is only a half-daughter of the Summer Court, and not a true fey.

Louche makes his introduction by playing some music for the court, which is well-received. He then gives Primrose the string from Passeri's harp, explaining that it came from him, and he is still in love with her. Ostara seems somewhat annoyed at the mention of Passeri, and also states that Titivilus asked about him recently.

Ostara explains that Passeri was banished from the Feywild after proposing marriage to Primrose, explaining that he was unworthy of courtship with the princess and did not understand the meaning of love, and expressing her frustration at having to arrange a political suitor for her daughter. She also reveals that Passeri has been using his magic songs to transfer his soul into new bodies over centuries in order to prolong his life. Louche asks about Ostara's definition of love, and if she wishes for Primrose to find true love, suggesting that Passeri could provide it. Ostara responds that there is no one true meaning of love, and reveals that there is no solution to the riddle of Passeri's curse. She insinuates that the irony of his plight is comedic, but Louche disagrees.

Ultimately, Ostara agrees that she would like to see Passeri again, and suggests that the party must care deeply for him to speak so boldly on his behalf in her court. Gragnok responds that he did not come on Passeri's behest. When pressed for an explanation, he recounts his encounter with Brigganock, and says that he wishes to be able to manipulate time, or even go back in time to right wrongs from his past. Ostara says that she could grant Gragnok an ability to move quickly through time briefly - much like a brigganock's abilities. But she explains that even she is not capable of sending someone back in time. She does, however, say that she can influence the time dilation that will occur when the party exits the Feywild. Regarding the subject of moving backward in time, Ostara references something called the "Everlasting Night," but doesn't offer any further explanation.

Having heard all of the party's requests, Ostara says that she can grant them their desires - ending Passeri's curse, allowing Malkoth to travel freely between the Feywild and the Material Plane for his proposed drug business (which, notably, Malkoth had not mentioned to her), granting Gragnok the time manipulation abilities of a brigganock, and influencing the time dilation upon their departure from the Feywild. In exchange, she explains that she requires a favor from the party. Showing them a map of the region, she explains that the nearby border between the realms of Winter and Spring, known as the Last Frost, has been slowly advancing further into the Realm of Spring over centuries - the work of the Queen of the Winter Court, Yule. She says that if the party can find a way to stop the advance of the Last Frost, she will grant them their requests.

Ostara also offers to allow Brook to court Primrose if she aids in this endeavor. Brook insists that Primrose is free to court who she wishes, and walks out of the Court in a fury. After a tense moment, Ostara laughs the insult off.

After concluding their formal audience, the party spends some time mingling in the Court of Spring. Louche speaks with Primrose about Passeri, and she expresses her continued affection for him. Louche warns that he looks different and has become somewhat crazy as a result of prolonging his life, but Primrose seems unconcerned, certain that Ostara could restore him to his former self.

Louche asks Primrose what she knows about Queen Yule. Primrose explains that she once had a dinner with the then-Prince of Winter, who was later killed by the Queen. During this meeting, the prince revealed that his sister, Camellia, the princess of Winter, was staging a coup against their mother, and that she was concerned about losing her throne.

As Louche and Primrose conclude their conversation, Primrose intentionally drops her glass of wine in order to create a distraction while she whispers to Louche, asking him to take her with him if she leaves the Feywild.