A Midsummer Dream

and

Justin as the DM

"**A Midsummer Dream**" is the twenty-second episode of Rise of the Arcane, the third season of Tales From Del'nasra

To further help the party and provide them with secret knowledge concealed to their order, Guardian Peshan has sent Antyr on an induction trial with the rest of the Fonkey Casuals into a version of the City of Embers torn apart by chaos but all might not be what it seems…

## Episode Synopsis

#### **Previously on Tales from Del'nasra**

*"You all sailed the sloop back towards Port Creach after dispelling Doe’s poppet doll and after discussions with George and the other children learned of a secret entrance into the city through the dock’s sewers where George and the children had a hideout. While sailing; you all perused through the documents stolen from this boat learning that the Marquis now known to be named Torgol Marrshade had been working with Kastagar the Architect of Sorrowed Gloom and had been building ships to excavate the surrounding reef using a warehouse at the docks. It also mentioned in these notes that the Marquis had discovered a sword in the reef and that he would be giving it to Duskreaper Aelinor during the Marquis Masquerade ball on the 16th of this month; which was now four days out.*

*The sloop was aimed for some rocks to sink it and swim stealthily towards the port which was filled with Umbral Knights and dock workers; but hit some coral and rocks hidden amidst the shipwrecks in the reef and the boat violently capsized throwing everyone overboard. George led you all on a swim towards the sewer entrance warning everyone to avoid the shipwrecks due to the things living in them had a habit of eating people who got too close.*

*Eventually, the secret entrance was reached and after crawling and sliding through sewer tunnels you all arrived in the children’s hideout. While everyone slept Antyr discovered a demiplane in a pool of pristine water outside the hideout. Come morning; breakfast was attempted once again in the form of beans in melted chocolate. The party messaged Guardian Peshan to warn them of a possible traitor in their midst in the form of Thrammarn, which seemed to confuse them as they mentioned Thrammarn had died weeks prior in an encounter with the Umbral Court.*

*Guardian Peshan teleported to you all, teleported the children to Arthur Wordweave’s Tower back in the City of Embers and helped you all investigate the demiplane doorway which Grin discovered led into a tower with weird stained glass windows and other shadowy doorways. After discussions about goings on and current events, Guardian Peshan mentioned they couldn’t reveal too much since you weren’t in their order, but mentioned a loophole since Antyr had been squatting in one of the towers. You were all teleported into a larger tower with windows looking out to different landscapes and stepped through a window leading to the continent of Dragon’s Beard and towards the tower Antyr had been squatting in.*

*You were led into the basement of the tower and Guardian Peshan opened a doorway and mentioned that once the trial was completed Antyr could be inducted into the Ley Guardians as a member, and that time wouldn’t pass while on this “trial” and that they could get you back to Drowned Maiden Reef for the masquerade if you so desired.*

*As you all stepped through following Antyr you stepped into what seemed to be the City of Embers erupting into chaos."*

#### The Episode

As the flashes of green light soothed and faded; the Fonkey Casuals had been transported into a version of the City of Embers erupting into chaos. Explosions of various colours erupted in the sky and the city itself was packed with panicking refugees and residents alike. The sky around Del'nasra was an explosion of colours in an empty expanse, and a large, green glowing moon hung in the sky with tendrils of weaving mint-green magic reaching down towards the planet.

Upon arriving in this vision, Guardian Peshan told the party that someone was interfering with the ritual and they shouldn't be seeing this moment before there was a gasp of pain from Guardian Peshan and a flash of bright green light. The party felt like they were falling and hit the ground hard, and something had split the party up as Antyr, Lionel and Grin stirred and woke up in a glade of high mint-green grass with a forest of autumnal colours on the horizon where a tower stretched towards the clouds.

As the three of them awoke; they noticed they were alone in this place and Grin feared that the others may be dead. Seeing that this tower was the only discernible landmark, the trio made their way with Antyr and Grin getting a feeling that this place was connected to the Feywild in some capacity. Moving through the glade they felt a calming, soothing sensation and strangely as soon as they started walking they found themselves standing at the treeline of this forest, like they had no memories of walking this far. Before them and stretching and weaving through the forest was an orange brick path covered in moss and flanked by a mossy wooden fence.

Grin began to lead the way down this pathway that twisted and weaved through the forest for quite some time, and after a while of walking the three of them were alerted to movements from a nearby oak tree that strangely had golden apples growing from it. Looking towards the tree they could see a branch shifting as if a figure had been lying on the branch before it spoke; and the face of a large, grinning dark blue cat appeared with bright, vibrant white stripes before the rest of it's body faded into existence.

Frightened of the large cat and recognizing it as a grinning cat; a common denizen of the Feywild, Grin darted behind Antyr and went invisible. The cat introduced itself as Grimal and spoke in strange riddles, mentioning that the path ahead could be opened by "the sound of thrice". It seemed to be quite mischievous before bidding the three of them adieu and then faded from view again. Antyr plucked one of the golden apples from the tree and took a bite and upon doing so they're body was overcome by a prickling sensation that didn't seem to go away, like their whole body had fallen asleep.

Collecting the apple and taking Grimal's words to heart, the trio proceeded forward and eventually arrived at the tower. It was tall, rising up towards the clouds and set with a conical pink roof. The tower was covered in vines and brambles and was surrounded by a moat of what appeared to be boiling hot chocolate. A drawbridge was raised and there was a small collections box resting on a stump nearby. Antyr opened up the box and saw a note telling to "Take something sweet, leave something sweet or be destroyed by my toll collectors". The box was filled with various sweets and pieces of candy. Curious if it would work, Antyr placed the apple they had collected within which caused the drawbridge to lower.

As the trio crossed the drawbridge they all heard a voice under the bridge curse and swear in annoyance that the toll was paid. Curious about the source of the voice, Grin peeked under the bridge and saw a large, gangling construct made of candycanes scuttling along the underside of the bridge and into a small hole in the moat with a door and closed it behind them. On the opposite end of the bridge was a freshly painted, yellow wooden door with a brass knocker in the centre that resembled a cat.

Before entering the tower, Grin suggested they try to contact the others to ensure that they were safe. Antyr cast message and attempted to communicate with Torger but received nothing in response. They lied that Torger got the message and said that they were safe and everyone was okay. Deciding it was time to enter the tower, Antyr attempted to use the knocker but could only budge it once. Grin gingerly knocked the second time and with some assistance by being lifted up, Lionel knocked for the third and final time.

With the final knock, the door creaked open revealing a dead end lined with what appeared to be closet doors all locked by glowing padlocks. However, three names magically began to appear on three of these doors and the padlocks disappeared. These names were Antyr, Grin and Lionel. Lionel suggested that Antyr lead the way and quietly turned to Grin and mentioned that if things go poorly and Antyr dies the two of them should bail and just keep running. Either way, the three of them entered the tower with no effects and approached Antyr's door and opened it. The room was decorated with dark purple wallpaper reflecting the colors of the Astral Sea while models of Spelljamming ships lined the walls and shelves. In the centre of the room was a purple key suspended from the ceiling by string. Antyr grabbed the key with their *Magus Reach* and gestured for the others to continue.

Grin's room was next and appeared to be a grotesque kitchen where everything was made by the Archmaw. The furnishings and cooking implements were all made from skin, teeth and bone. Grin snagged a key made from yellowed bone as well as a small apron that would fit him made from hair and skin with the words "Kiss the Chef" written across the apron in childlike writing with a pair of lips sewn beneath the words.

Lionel's room was last and contained what looked like a child's nursery filled with toys and overlooking a vineyard and coastal city. Lionel mentioned this was his son Vernon's room and this was a memory that Lionel had. He grabbed the key which resembled a child's toy and as he died the three of them heard a sound of grounding stone from outside the room.

Investigating the noise, the trio had seen another door form on the walls with a padlock set with three keyholes. The three of them placed their keys into the lock and the door opened revealing a grand chamber filled with empty bookshelves, and a large stone well in the center of the room filled with mint-geen water. In the corners of the room were small manifestations of memories from these three and cats seemed to be asleep and sitting on almost every furnishing in this chamber. Shying away from the cats, Grin kept close to Antyr and Lionel while the three of them explored this open chamber.

Reaching into the shelves, a book seemed to manifest in Grin's hand and this book was bound in human skin with the name Grin etched into the cover. The book contained each of Grin's memories up until this point. Antyr did the same, and also manifested a beautiful purple leather bound book covered in constellations and this book also contained memories. Antyr perused through the book, skipping a large portion at the front. Lionel was the last to do so which manifested a worn, leatherbound book you'd find in a noble's study. He confirmed his was also filled with memories, including ones he had no recollection of.

After a few moments of investigating this room, a black cat woke up and approached the party, transforming into a beautiful pale human woman with raven colored black hair that turned to white at the ends. She wore a long dark cloak and tunic with raven feathers woven into the fabric. She introduced herself as Iggwilv the Witch Queen and ensured them that the other members of their party were safe back in Antyr's tower, but her mother's ritual didn't work as intended and only transported these three here. Iggwilv called this place "the Dreaming" which was a Domain of Delight in the Feywild that could be entered whenever a fey-touched being slept, went into a trance, etc. Grin asked why they were brought here with Iggwilv mentioning that herself and her siblings still loyal to her mother wished to show them the truth of what is to come, and the secrets being held by Guardian Peshan in regards to the Grand Restoration and the plans Duskreaper Aelinor was working towards.

She mentioned that they had no reason to trust her, but to see the truth they'd need to drink from the well in the room and she'd ensure their bodies were kept safe while in the vision. Grin drank from the well with the other two following suit. As they did it felt they were falling into a dream and woke up in an explosion of colour, the same explosion of colours and light that they had saw surrounding the City of Embers. They were racing through this space at remarkable speeds, and were standing on the back of an impossibly large creature that was infinite in length. It appeared to be a massive, hybridized form of a flying whale and a shark with deep purple skin and covered in large spines the size of mountains. A mile ahead along this creature's body sat Duskreaper Aelinor holding the original luminspire and seemed to be controlling this monstrosity. As they got a look of their surroundings they could see Del'nasra was being destroyed by the shattered moon crashing down into it, being pulled out of the sky by the leylines.

Cities scattered around the world were encased in domes of mint-green energy and were being lifted into the sky to avoid the destruction of the world. As the world was destroyed the flaring magic began to explode in an array of colours while the world slowly appeared to be restored and this creature the party were standing on began to race towards the explosions and consume the magic and erupting manifestations of the leylines. Three pores also opened up on the back of this creature and birthed three eggs which hatched, causing three reptilian-like creatures resembling this whale-like being to emerge and attack.

#### After the Break

The fight with the beings proved tough almost immediately as they seemed to dish out a ton of damage with every bite and they also seemed to be able to consume magic much like the creature they were birthed from. One of these creatures was able to consume the weave used when Grin attempted to cast Darkness causing the spell to fizzle out and upon consuming the spell the creature also appeared to heal itself.

Eventually over the course of the fight, the trio found ways to deal with the creatures. Lionel continuously used their metamagic to avoid the counterspelling abilities of these creatures, and with two Wild Magic surges really changed the tide of the battle. The first of which summoned a unicorn into existence that began to heal Lionel as well as deal some serious damage in the fight, while the next surge turned everyone including the creatures and the whale-like beast they were riding on invisible. Eventually, the three of the creatures were defeated and this vision concluded with this whale-like beasts consuming the raw weave suffusing the exploding planet.

Upon returning from this vision, the trio spoke more at length with Iggwilv who suggested her mother join in on the conversation since had knew more of the machinations working behind the scenes from Duskreaper Aelinor and the Ley Guardians. Baba Yaga revealed that this whale-like beast was called Arcane's Bane in the Common tongue and was created during the civil war between the courts that make up the Seelie Court. The Summer Queen at the time, Queen Valestria created and used the creature during the final days of the war as her paranoia and feelings of betrayal grew to an all time high. Arcane's Bane was released and would consume the whole of the Feywild with its endless hunger for magic. However, Queen Valestria was slain and Arcane's Bane was imprisoned within another plane of existence.

Baba Yaga theorized that Duskreaper Aelinor discovered the secret of Arcane's Bane and sought out Queen Valestria's Luminspire (the luminspire the Fonkey Casuals had in the beginning) so he could control Arcane's Bane once he released it. The creature's prison was also revealed to be bound with the leylines and thus; with the Ley Guardians, specifically the one in command. Baba Yaga mentioned that Duskreaper Aelinor was most likely intent on killing Guardian Peshan to break the lock, and Guardian Peshan was most likely intent on transitioning that over to Antyr, hence this little trial they were sent on. However, she and Iggwilv mentioned that things weren't adding up with Peshan, which Lionel reinforced with the confusion of Thrammarn's fate and betrayal. Worried that the children weren't actually safely dropped off by Peshan, Antyr contacted George with *Sending* and was able to confirm they were indeed safe within Arthur Wordweave's tower.

So; the trio decided it would be best to avoid Guardian Peshan for now until they had more answers as to what was going on. The trio were plane-shifted out of the Dreaming and back into the children's hideout within the sewers of Port Creach, while the other members of the party began to stir from being knocked out.

## Featured Characters

### Player Characters

* Antyr Xiloscient
* Doe
* Grin
* Hopper Thimblefoot
* Lionel
* Torger Otrson
* Vonkar Eldsaga

### Returning

* Baba Yaga
* George *(via Sending)*
* Kena Peshan *(via telepathy)*

### New

* Grimal (a grinning cat)
* Iggwilv the Witch Queen

### Mentioned

* Arcane's Bane
* Auntie Gothel
* Duskreaper Aelinor
* Graz'zt
* Leek
* Marquis Torgol Marrshade
* Oberon
* Sir Arthur Wordweave
* Titania
* Thrammarn
* Queen Valestria
* Velkaris Vel'Tarajin