Session 30: Eladrin's intrigues

The Littleton Legends emerge from the underground passageways into Kagen’s Court Café, and immediately notice a stunningly beautiful eladrin woman who seems disturbed by their arrival and makes a quick exit out the door. Isaya’s new familiar takes flight, much to the awe of the other tavern patrons, and attempts to discretely follow the mysterious woman. Unfortunately she spots the pseudodragon and teleports out of sight using a misty step. The small, green dragon returns to the tavern where Aaler has just finished arranging a new home for Stubert, and the group then heads off to the Citadel Arcanum to rest.

Before going into meditation, Aaler and Isaya introduce Shed and Jerky to Vyndra Sysvani. She is eager to hear more news of the material plane, and understands the group's urgency to complete the Urna Guldur when Shed reveals that the north is in flames. Unfortunately the criticality of the situation here in the Feywild prevents her from providing much help beyond a room in the Citadel to rest in.

On his way through the winding corridors of the Citadel, Jerky spots two eladrin he recognizes. The first is Farendale, the nobleman Shed intimidated at Kagen’s Court Café, and the second is the attractive female Eladrin who was in that very tavern less than an hour before. They finish a hushed conversation in their doorway and kiss each other before Farendale walks away and the woman goes back into her room and closes the door. Shed follows Farendale to Vyndra Sysvani’s office and eavesdrops on their conversation, learning that the young Eladrin is going on a mission to retrieve his brother’s remains. Shed reveals himself to Farendale and warns him not to go, but the noble elf cannot be dissuaded. Meanwhile, Jerky knocks on the door and confronts the female eladrin about her strange behavior at Kagen’s Court Café. She introduces herself as Rowena and explains herself rather convincingly, revealing that she was to be wed to Farendale but that his brother Boreas's disappearance caused the marriage to be postponed. However, she seemed to have a suspicious interest in Boreas’s Night Watcher’s Ring when Jerky mentions it, and appeared to be lying about her reason to be in the Old Battery district that afternoon...

Shed and Jerky reunite with Aaler and Isaya after a quick rest, and the Littleton Legends decide to head to the temple to Elune and Gozreh after warning the night watcher Galprath about their suspicions concerning Rowena. The four heroes exit Mithrendain and trek through the enchanted forest in silence, their thoughts drifting between the dangers that lie ahead of them in the feywild and those they left behind in the material plane.

After several hours of walking, the group arrives at a structure that may have once been a magnificent temple, but is now tarnished by decades of disuse. Two towers stand on opposite ends of the temple, one of them elegant and proud, made of light smooth wood, the other raw and powerful, made of dark brown bark. Between the towers, a central circular structure bears the symbols of Elune and Gozreh at its pinnacle. The meaning of such a structure sinks into the minds of Aaler and Isaya: a place of worship pre-dating the Great Divide, when the children of the moon and the children of the wind lived as one. Reading about those times in books and hearing about them from the oldest living elves was one thing, but seeing physical evidence of it in the form of a temple makes it seem so much more real.

The earth around the structure itself is putrid and decayed, and the separation from the vibrant enchanted flora of the rest of the forest is strikingly clear and perfectly circular. Two glowing balls of light send eerie shadows across the grounds, but they disappear as soon as they are approached, it’s no wonder this place is rumored to be haunted. The Littleton Legends make their move towards the front door of the temple, but half way across the gardens, they realize something is amiss. A shiver runs down Shed’s spine and he swirls around, seconds too late. Piles of putrid vegetation have amassed into a gigantic shambling mound which engulfs the monk. Simultaneously, the two glowing orbs known as will-o-wisps reappear and swarm Isaya, electrocuting her. For almost a full minute Shed is held within the shambling mound while Jerky and Aaler attempt to subdue it, and Isaya struggles with the glowing orbs that seem to resist her magic. Finally, Jerky manages to help Shed escape, and after pausing for just a moment to catch his breath, the monk swiftly eliminates the two will-o-wisps allowing the Littleton Legends to focus on the shambling mound and finally hack it to pieces.

A dead silence falls upon the temple for a few seconds after the battle, only to be broken by a faint howling that might be made by the wind should it be blowing through the hollow structure. The air, however, is as still as death itself. Aaler voices a quick prayer to Elune to heal the group, and the Littleton Legends approach the temple entrance...

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