Favor, Episode 27: Swan Song

## Starring

Sage Stafford as Aoife Flannery
Naseem Etemad as Fittonia 'Toni' Silvertail
Katie Budabin as Lluvyras 'Lu' Ssath
Celeste Conowitch as Dungeon Master

**Episode 27: Swam Song** *(2x27)* is the 27th episode of the Venture Maidens Favor campaign.

## Synopsis

#### Penny Dreadful

Penny sits on a dilapidated couch, staring far away. The Maidens, Rook, and Gwen all stand in stunned silence, staring at the words the Archfey had written on the blackboard. “Kill me. Please.” The whole room is familiar to them, though decayed, and Lu touches Penny. The woman jumps, but settles and is led over to sit closer to the group. Lu explains that they have a lot of questions, but they were going to discuss amongst themselves before they ask anything.

Lu tells them that Penny is unwell, and has no idea where to start with what is written on the board. She guesses that they can figure out what went wrong with the machine and maybe Penny can figure out how to reverse things, and how to get hold of the Lady of Shadows. She turns to Gwen and suggests she sit down. Gwen, in complete shell shock, stares at Penny. She is on the verge of a breakdown. Toni notices that Penny does not have the book they remember from their dreams.

Lu admits that they might be scary, but they have good intentions and mean to help her and protect her. Gwen agrees because they are too far now. Lu stops her, telling her that it isn’t that there is no return, they were just close to winning. Gwen admits that she is afraid, and she doesn’t know why. Toni admits that she is scared too and Aoife says that she wouldn’t know how to react if she learned her whole life was a fiction. Lu has the urge to hug Gwen, but decides against it. She snaps Penny out of her stupor and asks if she has seen a golden page so that they can complete a book. Penny isn’t sure if they were listening, but if they complete the book, they will see the woman responsible for all of this. If she sees them, she will kill them.

Lu guarantees Penny that they know what they are doing. They are trained monster hunters and were good at what they do, and they trust in each other, so as long as they go in prepared, she thinks they can do it. She had said it herself, they were the only ones to have gotten this far, and that had to count for something. Lu asks if there was any way to fix the machine and perhaps use it against the Lady of Shadow. Penny shakes her head. The Lady of Shadows destroyed the machine beyond repair. There was no return from this. She leans in close to Lu and reveals that when the Lady of Shadow dies, she and Gwen will die as well, and it was for the best. She begs Lu not to tell Gwen and Lu agrees because she has no idea where to even begin telling the girl they were heading for her death.

Lu asks what happened to Penny’s daughter and Penny tells her that it was the Lady of Shadows. She tells them if they wish to confront the Lady of Shadows, she was there to help, and waves a hand towards some ruined bookshelves that barely held any books. She informs them that the page should be in there. Once they put them on the lectern, they should be able to see the stairs and can confront the Lady of Shadow. Lu tells Penny that she is going to confer with her friends to formulate a plan. Penny apologizes that any of them had to get involved and Lu tells her not to apologize. They volunteered to come here and knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but they were here to help her and Gwen.

Lu asks Penny if she wants to talk to Gwen, and Penny says that Gwen is dead. Lu understands that, but suspects a piece of her remains, motioning to the Gwen in the room. Penny doesn’t know why she had chosen that name, but supposes it was probably to keep some part of her daughter alive. Lu goes back to the group and relays the information out of earshot of Gwen, who had been led off by Rook. Toni is confused by the scattered aspects of their problem and Lu simply states that if they kill the Lady of Shadows, Penny and Gwen would die. She tells them that they could face the Lady of Shadows once they place the completed book upon the lectern.

#### Enigma Codex

Toni approaches Penny and asks her, since she has had the Enigma Codex for so long, if she had come across anything that they could use against the Lady of Shadows should they fight her. Penny says that the book has many great and wonderful things in it, but also many things that people shouldn’t know. The machine was meant to help by changing her, but it changed them wrong. Nothing in that book is meant to help and she was a fool for thinking she could use it differently. She doesn’t know where the book came from, but knows it to be an evil thing. It comes with no warning or word of caution on consequences, just limitless untapped knowledge. They were never meant to know that much. Fear flashes across her face and she wonders why Toni is asking about the book. The fighter had heard that was how Penny had managed to come here and build the things she built. Penny tells her that the machine she had built from within the pages of the Enigma Codex had split them in thirds, and one or two of those were the worst parts of them. She fears that the best of them is doomed, just like Gwen was to minute she had built that machine.

Toni feels ready to take on the Lady of Shadows, admitting that there was someone back in town waiting on their success. Penny smiles slightly, remembering the town. Toni asks what had her smiling and Penny mention Storyville, or was it Talemoor? Where she had met her daughter. Her smile turns to a sad expression and Toni pats her on the shoulder before returning to her friends. She indicates that she is ready to face the Lady of Shadows.

Aoife, with the knowledge that this might be the last time anyone ever hears from, or of, Penny Dreadful again, decides to search the bookcase for the torn page and for any journals or diaries that Penny has stashed on the shelf. She wants to bring something back to Storyville for those that loved her to remember her by. She does not find any personal effect from Penny among the books, suspecting if the woman had been here as long as the legends say she has, there was likely little left of the Penny any of her loved ones knew for them to even recognize. Aoife flips to the back of one book and the golden page falls out onto the floor.

#### Harness Your Anger

Gwen asks if her ritual to lay Penny to rest is going to work. Penny looks up and says it might work and there was no harm in trying. Gwen tells Penny that she has to help them. She can’t just keep sitting there doing nothing. Penny says she will join them if they will have her and they all agree. Gwen says she is sick of this place and Toni tells her to harness her anger. Aoife hopes that they can find some way to rejoin the three parts. Something is nagging at the back of Lu’s mind because Penny keeps saying that Gwen is dead, but Lu didn’t sense her presence in the mausoleum. She asks if she should mention it to Penny but Toni talks her out of it, not wanting to risk any further delay or to upset them again.

They take the page and make their way back through the castle. Lu can see the ghostly images of the castle staff and pets lining the hallways as they go, like they know something is about to change. They approach the lectern and Lu can see dozens of servants gathered with looks of hope on their faces. Toni slides the pages into the book and stitch back into place, and they find a ritual to lay the dead to rest. Lu suggests they study the ritual in case they can’t reference it later. The ritual is similar to an exorcism and as Gwen reads through it, she pulls the necessary supplies from her bag and hands them off to Penny. She tells them that when they get up there, she has to read a section of the text without interruption and will need them to buy her a minute of time. Toni slots to book into the lectern and they hear a clanging from overhead. They look up at the stones that shake and move out of the way and creaking spiral iron-wrought staircase descends.

Lu, mumbling positive affirmations to herself, chooses to go first. Rook stops her and asks who is guarding Gwen. Lu suggest Toni, who agrees. Rook asks what they are going to do about Penny since she is determined to die. Lu pivots the conversation and requests Rook fight by her side. They climb the rusted staircase into the ceiling, afraid that it might disintegrate beneath them. Lu looks down and can see that more ghosts have gathered at the base of the stairs, perhaps a hundred. She reaches a wooden trapdoor that she pushes open. She is dowsed in dappled light when she enters an atrium room attached to a much larger room. The light comes from stars that twinkle in the night sky, finding themselves in a glass conservatory on top of the castle.

Lu hoists herself up to let everyone in to look at the room. The room is made of gorgeous glasswork with beautiful stained glass windows along the sides that depict various plants and woodland animals. The surrounding furniture has been demolished, but amidst the beauty are three silvery pylons stabbed into the ceiling at various points throughout the room, forming a triangle on the edge of the room. Lu whispers at Gwen and asks her if the ritual can be started now, or if they have to find the Lady of Shadows first. Gwen asks if they think this is the haunted location and they all glance around, quickly agreeing.

Gwen moves into the room and gets the ritual set up before beginning the first line. A hiss of wind blows through the space with the first few words, extinguishing the candles she had lit around her. Gwen nervously looks at Penny and they can hear a zapping sound coming from the pylons at the opposite end of the room, which have begun to emit some type of energy. The girl continues with the second line and they hear the shattering of glass and the sound of rolling thunder from above. They look up to see the stars beginning to wink out and storm clouds roll in.

#### Powered On Pylon

Lu positions herself between Gwen and the pylons, trying to figure out what the pylons were doing. She knows it is not a technology she has ever seen before. With the sound of electricity, she can tell they are like lightning rods on a large scale. They are some type of electric conduit and should not be touched. They do not appear to be physically connected to anything, but they are beginning to energize, which is concerning. Gwen is speed reading the ritual as a full blown storm unleashes its fury upon the room, which has grown impossibly dark. A dark blue electricity gathers in the center of the pylons illuminating a woman with long stringy black hair. They hear a whisper, even over the storm.

It asks why they have come and Aoife steps forward, throwing a Light spell on her backpack. She says that they have come for a book, but they have stayed, despite finding it, to correct a wrong that was done over a century ago. They can see how broken she is and they want to help her, whether that means having to put her to rest or to mend her parts back together. They can see that the woman is in pain. A howling laugh bounces off of the glass and grates along their nerves. She calls them fools because she was the strongest of them all, and she would survive and not simply disappear.

They all watch the blue light travel up the pylon, which is struck by lightning, adding more light to the chamber. From the top of each pylon, glowing white lights appear and drift down towards them. Lu dashes forward, passing by one of these balls of lightning. As she runs past, a volt of electricity jolts out of it and through Lu, stopping her heart for a second. Lu recovers and activates her sonic dagger, plunging it into the Lady of Shadow, which feels like stabbing into a corpse. As the blade makes contact, it explodes with a sonic force, blowing away the woman’s pale flesh. The Lady of Shadows looks surprised for a second before turning her veined gaze back to the rogue, who uses the moment to draw her cold iron dagger and bring it to bare, slicing through the fey with a radiant flash. The fey woman hisses away from the cold iron.

She brings her hands up on either side of Lu’s face, latching on and sending a pulse of rage and regret and sadness through her. Lu experiences the pain as a vision of her ripping apart a laboratory with fingers bloody from the effort, but she feels she has to do this so that nobody ever goes through it again. She is stunned until the end of her next turn, though the desire to protect her friends and the people behind them shields her from some of the harm.

#### Irreplaceable

Rook runs up beside Lu, casting Protection from Good and Evil on herself, guarding herself from fey by dusting her curly hair with chicken nail clippings. Aoife strides towards the center of the room, standing as tall as she can, calling out to the Lady of Shadows. She pleads that they are more than equipped to take her on, as evidenced by the dagger that Lu wields, and begs her to join back with her separate halves. She knows that the woman mourns the loss of Gwen, and is even willing to stay and stand in her place. The Lady of Shadows opens her mouth and screams that nobody could replace Gwen and the other two can’t handle it. They could not handle what it was to lose a child, and it was only for her. Aoife feels the rejection slap across her as she is not willing to accept her bargain. Aoife passes along a Bardic Inspiration to Lu as a Lightning Ball moves from the southern pylon to strike at Toni, hitting her in the chest with a bolt of lightning.

Toni brings her sword down on the Ball of Light, slicing through it and dimming its spark. She brings the blade back up through it, dimming it further and dropping into a defensive stance to protect her friends. The Balls of Light move in, striking out at Lu from behind when Rook dodges out of the way. Gwen and Penny continue reading off the ritual and Aoife and Toni can see a blueish tinge come over them while they visibly shake. They also notice the panels of stained glass, which show the reflection of a black haired girl with wings standing up to the Lady of Shadow. They can hear her pleading with the woman, frightening Toni as she is dragged into the vision and feel the emotions of the little girl, filled with fear as she looks up at her mother.

Lu manages to regain control of herself and is no longer stunned just in time to mentally guard herself from a wave of energy emitting from the Lady of Shadows. The wave passes through Rook and Lu, who manages to fair better than the werewolf. As the pulse passes over them, they are bombarded with visions of the girl, with the sound of shattering glass and tearing metal and the sound of a scream they know. Everything goes dark and they ask themselves what they did. The girl’s scream tears through them.

Rook pulls her crossbow and quick-loads two shots of cold iron tipped bolts, blasting holes through the Lady of Shadow’s physical body. The Ball of Light closest to Rook lashes out at her, catching her across the back, but some of the energy is absorbed by the crossbow bolts when she uses Absorb Elements. Aoife passes another Bardic Inspiration to Toni to bolster her friend and draws her rapier to jab at the Ball of Light, but it is like trying to stab a firefly. The remaining Ball of Light retaliates on the Bard, blasting her with a bolt of electricity. Toni disperses the Wisp with a pop of sound when she brings her sword through the creature. The vision retakes her, but Toni remembers a time when she placated her mother with flowers and manages to transpose memories of her own mother into the situation. She disconnects from the moment of horror and is freed from the fear. A Wisp tries to shock Lu, but the rogue expects it, easily dodging out of the way. Gwen and Penny now look worse and Gwen hacks up blood, but they continue pushing through with the ritual.

A blue flash travels through the room and one of the Wisps vanishes, being absorbed by the Lady of Shadows. Electricity dances across her skin causing her wounds to surge back together. Lu downs a Potion of Healing and brings her sonic blade up to stab once more into the Lady of Shadow, returning the woman to her previous state. The Lady raises her hands towards Lu and Rook. She tells them that she will not let them leave there with the book and that she will not allow anyone else to be hurt by it, that it would die with her. Lightning shoots from her palms, but Rook manages to jump out of the way. Lu is not as quick and lightning dances through her causing her to go momentarily blind. Rook, having dodged out of the way, cocks two more bolts and embeds them into the Lady of Shadows. Aoife passes Rook a Bardic Inspiration before dashing past one of the Wisps to cast Cure Wounds on Lu, stitching some of her injuries closed with her magical thread. Toni feeds into her vampiric nature, vanishing from her spot to a point behind the Lady of Shadows. Her appearance changes slightly, growing more angular. She digs her claws into the Lady’s back, hyper-aware that even though the woman looks undead, she can sense a faint heartbeat inside. Right as she goes for a second strike, the Lady of Shadows matches her speed and stops her hand as it attempts to enter the woman’s chest. Her black eyes meet Toni’s and she offers a word of warning. Feeding into her monstrous side is what got her here in the first place. Something stirs inside of Toni, awakening the beast further inside of her, drawing the monster closer to the surface. Toni’s fangs grow and she grows more bat-like in appearance. She uses an Action Surge to attack once more, sinking her engorged fangs into the woman’s throat. Manic laughter tears from the Lady of Shadows throat in a spray of blood. Toni can feel the woman grow lighter as she drains her blood. Toni retracts her fangs and draws her sword, dropping into another defensive stance.

#### Killing Blow

Aoife sees that the woman is goading Toni. She wants to die, and she is determined to take somebody down with her. A Wisp shocks Lu once more, but her attention is drawn to a scream coming from where Gwen and Penny are performing the ritual. The chanting stops, followed by a desperate cry. The stained glass shimmers again, displaying Penny and Gwen sitting at a normal family dinner. Penny is explaining to Gwen that she cannot remain there with how Penny is, but she has devised a way to change. Gwen is shaking her head no. Penny keeps saying it is the only way. None of the them are drawn into the vision and they all return to the fight. Lu, still blind, reaches deep inside and calls out to the ghosts below them to reach up and hold the Lady of Shadows down, once more tapping into her ghostly nature. She feels them by her, sensing their fear and doubt. In the level-headed calm tone of her mother tells them that they are all in this together and all they have to do it try. The spirits, angry and tired, crash over in a wave, surrounding the Shadow Lady and forcing her down into a kneeling position. The Shadow Lady looks to Toni and tilts her head to the side, allowing Toni to bring her sword down straight through the woman’s chest. The Shadow Lady’s body shakes and she tells them that she has won before slumping forward. A flash passes above and the pylons power down. The room grows immediately quiet and still and Toni lowers the Shadow Lady to the floor. Toni asks her why death is better than combining with her other selves. The Shadow Lady tells her that it is the only way because once you know the darkness you are capable of, you can never go back. She asks Toni to carry her to the other parts of her, who have collapsed to the floor. The three bodies become one in a flash, showing them the woman they knew from their dreams. She reaches a hand out to them, beckoning them to her. She tells them that she owes them a favor, but to speak it quickly because she can feel death coming.

While Lu and Toni agree that they need to het the Codex, Aoife offers another possibility. Seeing what the book has done to someone, perhaps Penny could take on Toni’s debt, but they determine that Toni owes 2 favors, so Hecate would just force her to get the book anyways. They agree to ask for the book and Penny is reluctant. She makes Toni promise to hold her loved ones close before reaching up and patting her face. She calls to Gwen, saying that she is sorry before she is gone. As the Archfey dies, her Demesne crashes around them into darkness.

They are awake again, with mud under their hands. They feel that the monstrous natures within them have left. They are in the square of Storyville and a heavy splatter draws Toni’s attention as the Enigma Codex lands in the mud beside her. The townsfolk are confused, all waking up in the square beside the Maidens. Changelings from the village come out of their houses, confused about the Changelings that have been missing for a century reappearing out of nowhere. Toni wants to use the confusion so that they can all get out of there quickly, but Lu has so many questions, like what happened to the real Gwen, because she wasn’t dead. Aoife argues that she also has to collect the letters that she promised to take back to the Planes with her. Toni decides the best course of action is to feign confusion. They take advantage of the situation to get back to the Pendragon Inn. A figure wearing a deep black hood appears before them and runs toward them. Before they can dip inside the door of the Pendragon, the figure calls out with a familiar voice, asking if they could answer something for her.

#### The Real Gwen

The figure asks if Penny is dead and Lu says that she is. The hood drops away, revealing a girl with long black hair and a patch of feathers growing along her skin. The cloak covers her bulky wings, but they know they are looking at the real Gwen. She tells them that she tried, but Penny wouldn’t let her stay and she wouldn’t let Gwen back in the Demesne. Lu asks her where she has been and why Penny thought she was dead. Gwen didn’t know that Penny thought she was dead. Penny had cast her out of the Demesne and she couldn’t get back in. Aoife suspects that Penny mourned the loss of Gwen, knowing that she would not see her daughter again, and thus made herself believe that the girl was dead. She doesn’t want to burden Gwen with the details, but assures her that her mother rests peacefully and whole now. Gwen says that she loved her mother just the way she was before thanking the Maidens, promising not to bug them any more. Lu tell Gwen that she isn’t bugging them and they would be there to talk if she needed to, but she is sure there are other villagers that want to see her. Gwen waves goodbye, allowing the Maidens to retreat to their room of the Pendragon Inn.

The Inn is empty, and a collection box of letters rest on the bar. They know that they are within a day of their deadline and can either use the fairy ring or take the Chicken Hut. They decide to take the ring so they aren’t at risk of missing the deadline. They circle up and snap the ring, immediately finding themselves on the outside of the Glass Garden. They can hear laughter an music coming from inside. Toni walks in on the Wyrd Sisters conversing with other fey beings. Hecate, draped in a veil of midnight blue, saunters over to Toni, surprised that she was able to complete the favor in the allotted time. She demands the book in exchange for one of the two owed favors and Hecate agrees. Toni drops the book into her hands and Hecate motions for a servant to take it and put it with the rest of her things. She casually dismisses the trio with a shooing gesture. They don’t argue and quickly retreat before using the magic of the fairy ring to return to the Pendragon Inn. Rook has not spoken but looks deeply troubled. She asks them if they are going to return to Coven or if they are going to stay in Storyville. They all agree to leave in the morning because they have no way of protecting the Changelings, no matter how they feel about it.

#### A Heated Confrontation

Lu is angry that they are just going to leave the Changelings behind, especially after they just killed the only person who protected them. Toni suggests Lu stay behind to stay in Storyville if she was so determined. Rook interjects that it was always going to be this way between fey and mortals. If she cared too much, she was destined to get her heart broken. She tells Lu that she can make it personal if she wants to, but she will never last if she does. They all suck, and that’s why they kill fey. They may have lost today, but they would do better tomorrow. She could cry and whine if she wants, but Rook needs a drink. Toni knows that they are not in an easy position, especially since she still owes Hecate a favor, but if that was too much for Lu, perhaps she shouldn’t go with them. This sends Rook on another tirade about how messed up the Wildes are. Lu wants to become one of them? Fine, let her throw away her mortality and everything else. Lu counters that at least she wouldn’t wind up closed off because someone hurt her, unlike the cursed woman. Lu doesn’t care about the fey. She was here because she wanted to help because they are her friends and the only reason they were all even here was because of Whistler. She helped Rook against her better judgement and listened to all of their opinions, but it doesn’t sit right with her that they are using their job as an excuse to play fast and loose with people’s lives.

Rook turns to Toni and Aoife, asking if they are coming. Aoife looks torn, her head snapping between Rook and Lu. Throughout the argument, she had been sliding closer to Lu and takes a moment to look back towards Storyville. She knows that they are all tired, and have been through a lot, especially having seen the worst sides of each other. They just killed a woman who wanted to die, but that didn’t make it right, and they just handed a powerful book to a bad fey. What got them through all of that is that they fought and worked together. She agrees with Lu because they have to have something to guide them outside of their own means, because if they stand for nothing there was no point in doing any of it. She looks small, tired, and defeated. She tells Lu that if she wants to stay, Aoife would stay with her, but only after they rest because they are all frazzled. Lu agrees to return with them to figure out arrangements. She tells the bard that she doesn’t want her to stay with her in Storyville, and it isn’t because she doesn’t want the satyr around, but because she is young and should experience the world instead of being stuck there.

Rook makes her way towards the hut, trailed by the Maidens. They lay down to rest in stony silence, and one by one are taken by sleep. It isn’t long after Aoife’s head hits the pillow that she is once more whisked away into a dream. It has happened to her so often now that she knows she is in a dream. She once more sits in the Pendragon Inn, but the lanterns are lit and customers sit happily, as if the troubles have finally passed. She hears the jingle of the bell above the door and turns to see the dragon headed figure wearing a regal robe. He spots her and waves before requesting two drinks and joined her at the booth. Something feels more real about him as he settles into placed. He knows Penny couldn’t be saved, but Aoife reckons they saved a piece of her in the girl’s heart, along with any other that the Archfey had touched along the way.

Aoife determines that the man is from the Sleeping Court, and asks what she should call him. He reveals that he has never had a name and suggests that she give him one. Aoife comes up with the name Felix and he thinks about it at length before deciding that he likes it. He tells her that it wasn’t her fault, and that Penny was a casualty of the war to exist. Aoife asks why Felix comes to her dreams, as if she is special. Felix smiles and thinks that if only they could connect and hear one another, perhaps they wouldn’t have to do it alone. It is a terrible burden, because from the moment they are born, they are part of a fight they didn’t ask for. He explains that who and what he is is a bridge. Aoife taps the bar with a ring and says to remember the name. Felix asks Aoife to tell her friend that he will watch out for the Changelings of Storyville. Its the least he can do for Penny. He tells the bard to steel herself, because both his world and hers were about to change and he doesn’t know which way to wind is going to blow. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out some gold coins. He clanks it on the counter as a tip and disappears.

This is where our journey comes to a close, until next time. Venture Away!

**Aoife's Dream:**

"So you weren't able to save her after all."

"Another casualty of this war. A war of survival. The battle to exist."

"If only we could connect and hear one another. Maybe then...maybe then we wouldn't have to do this alone. It's a terrible burden. From the moment we are born, we are part of a fight we never asked for."

"I will watch over them. This place. It is the least I can do for her."

## Featured Characters

### Player Characters

* Aoife Flannery
* Fittonia 'Toni' Silvertail
* Lluvyras 'Lu' Ssath

### Non-Player Characters

* The Dark Lady
* Felix
* Gwen
* Penny
* Rook

## Locations

* Penny's Dwelling
	+ Castle Dread
* The Wildes
	+ Storyville

## Quotes

"Steel yourself young dreamer. Both your world and mine are on the brink of change. And even I don't know which way the wind will blow." -Felix