Dance of the Seasons VI: The first few fae meetings (Songs of Spring)
Game: Changeling: The Dreaming: Dance of the Seasons
GM: Aaron (2_ragged_claws)
Setting: The Grass Sea
Players/Characters:
Coming outside, they noticed that Charlotte had become more resplendant -- she, apparently, had a chimerical form of her own. Wendy went to take care of her, as another fae approached from the East. He introduced himself a Gribkin, and from his appearance he was a rat pooka. He explained that their awakening had been like a beacon of glamour, which had drawn his attention. He offered to take us to his home, which he indicated was in the direction of the Blasted Lands, to help us reintegrate into Fae society. Something about his behavior, as well as Charlotte's reactions, made us wary, so Wendy tried to ask the fates about him as Gwen had; however, she misinterpreted her vision and came to the conclusion that he was a good guy instead of a bad guy, and thus that we should trust him. Perhaps even to his surprise, they agreed to accompany him in the morning. He called out his 'associates', a number of Dire Rats and a horrific creature he called Bibkin, which it soon became clear was what was frightening Charlotte. Nevertheless, based on Wendy's previous advice, they trusted the Pooka. Martus and Jerim slept, and Wendy pretended to, perhaps more worried for Charlotte than anything else. Martus questioned one of the rats about where the Pooka was leading him, and the description he received sounded scarily like slavery.
When they awoke the next morning, Bibkin was gone, and both Jerim and Martus had a bad feeling about going with the Pooka. Martus questioned him a bit more about what their new life would be like, and quickly he and Wendy decided not to accompany Gribkin. When the Pooka turned to ask Jerim, the young man responded with a battle cry and some swift mace-blows to the head. Gribkin died before the shock of the sudden attack had worn off. His dire rats continued the fight, but Wendy, Charlotte, and Jerim made swift work of them. One of the rats managed to get a nasty bite against Jerim, and poisoned him with its ichor, but before they could do anything too more serious, some arrows flew in and pierced the rats.
As they quickly assessed Jerim's wound and wondered who had aided them, a gentleman whose skin was mostly covered between cloaks, bandanas, and the like appeared in the middle of them. From his equipment, it was obvious he had been the one to aid them against the rats. He explained his name was Malthus, and gave what he admitted to them was a suspicious story similar to Gribkin's about his arrival -- that their awakening had caused a major glamour spike and convinced him to investigate. Based on his assistance, demeanour, and even uncanny similarity to Duncan, they trusted him somewhat more. He also explained somewhat about their memory and memory loss -- how they'd divided their memories into multiple items of importance to them in their past lives, like the staff, and those items had been spread across the land to prevent their discovery. Getting to three of them, in total, he explained, would cause them to fully remember what had happened before. He believed that, when they next slept, they would become aware of the location of another of the items. He took his leave of them, then, and vanished as suddenly as he had arrived.
Wendy was impatient, and wanted to immediately attempt to locate another such item. Jerim tried to locate her former sword using his staff, but failed to do so. Wendy tried to call upon the vision gift she had seen Gwen use, but only succeeded in giving herself a headache (and nightmares that evening). Without any real lead, then, Jerim suggested they head to the Blasted Lands and find his people there -- given Gribkin's arrival and their relative vulnerability while regaining their memories, it seemed like it would be prudent to have allies with them when they next did so. They were concerned, however, as Gribkin had claimed they now looked fae-like to all, which obviously could change the reaction people would have to them (especially, unbeknownst to them, Jerim's people). Still, with no better options, they decided to go that way. Before they left, Martus bound and treated Jerim's wound, and then they were off.
They travelled on for about a day. Partway through their trek, they discovered Bibkin's head on a pike with an arrow similar to Malthus' sticking out of it, which at least reassured them that Bibkin wasn't on his way to report their awakening to Queen Fallout. When they slept, Martus and Jerim dreamed of Jacob's laptop, and when they awoke the next day, the two of them could sense themselves being pulled in another direction -- they assumed in the direction of the laptop. It was to their northeast, which didn't fill them with a whole lot of confidence -- it might be in Queen Fallout's land at worst, Roshatar (which was somewhat better, but not great), or even further travel. Nonetheless, at least they had a better direction now.
Continuing along, they eventually noticed a group of people and animals to the north, along with a small patch of glamour. As this was their first real encounter with glamour in this new life, they decided to investigate. They soon discovered it was a meeting of many of the Grass Sea tribes for a yearly celebration of the birth of the first calves. The leader of the group they had come across, Chieftainess Pithgra Miloti of the Red Bulls, welcomed them as messengers of the gods, and invited them to stay for the upcoming ceremony. The group agreed.
Eventually, they found the source of the glamour -- a small sapling with a single chimerical bell on it. They realized this must be where the Solitary Ringing Tree had been in their previous lives. They spent the rest of the day with the Red Bull tribe, waiting for the upcoming ceremony. They weren't disappointed when it began -- a trod opened, right where the one had been in their previous life, and out of it pour a tragos of dancing, reveling Satyrs. All present, including the three of them, were caught up in the dance, as more fae came out and joined the celebration. Eventually, a troll wearing a bull skull and a dryad like woman came out of the trod -- they presumed this was Gaal Bonan, the Bull Lord, and the Mother of Spring. The party continued, but Wendy and Jerim managed to shake themselves loose from the celebration before it devolved into a mass orgy. They debated dipping into the trod to see what was on the other side, but, lacking the ability to reopen it themselves, they didn't want to be trapped in the dreaming. They, a while later, got their wish, however -- as the other fae were leaving, one of the Satyrs explained that the "gods" had requested they come with them, so the three of them once again passed through the trod beyond the Solitary Ringing Tree.
GM: Aaron (2_ragged_claws)
Setting: The Grass Sea
Players/Characters:
- Matt (ra1330)/Jerim Mirtin: A young warrior from the Blasted Lands, dangerous fiefdom of Queen Fallout.
- Peter (zero_the_fool)/Martus "the Wise": An older itinerant hermit originally from Roshatar.
- Sarah (kalliplokime)/Wendy: A young scholar from Roshatar.
Coming outside, they noticed that Charlotte had become more resplendant -- she, apparently, had a chimerical form of her own. Wendy went to take care of her, as another fae approached from the East. He introduced himself a Gribkin, and from his appearance he was a rat pooka. He explained that their awakening had been like a beacon of glamour, which had drawn his attention. He offered to take us to his home, which he indicated was in the direction of the Blasted Lands, to help us reintegrate into Fae society. Something about his behavior, as well as Charlotte's reactions, made us wary, so Wendy tried to ask the fates about him as Gwen had; however, she misinterpreted her vision and came to the conclusion that he was a good guy instead of a bad guy, and thus that we should trust him. Perhaps even to his surprise, they agreed to accompany him in the morning. He called out his 'associates', a number of Dire Rats and a horrific creature he called Bibkin, which it soon became clear was what was frightening Charlotte. Nevertheless, based on Wendy's previous advice, they trusted the Pooka. Martus and Jerim slept, and Wendy pretended to, perhaps more worried for Charlotte than anything else. Martus questioned one of the rats about where the Pooka was leading him, and the description he received sounded scarily like slavery.
When they awoke the next morning, Bibkin was gone, and both Jerim and Martus had a bad feeling about going with the Pooka. Martus questioned him a bit more about what their new life would be like, and quickly he and Wendy decided not to accompany Gribkin. When the Pooka turned to ask Jerim, the young man responded with a battle cry and some swift mace-blows to the head. Gribkin died before the shock of the sudden attack had worn off. His dire rats continued the fight, but Wendy, Charlotte, and Jerim made swift work of them. One of the rats managed to get a nasty bite against Jerim, and poisoned him with its ichor, but before they could do anything too more serious, some arrows flew in and pierced the rats.
As they quickly assessed Jerim's wound and wondered who had aided them, a gentleman whose skin was mostly covered between cloaks, bandanas, and the like appeared in the middle of them. From his equipment, it was obvious he had been the one to aid them against the rats. He explained his name was Malthus, and gave what he admitted to them was a suspicious story similar to Gribkin's about his arrival -- that their awakening had caused a major glamour spike and convinced him to investigate. Based on his assistance, demeanour, and even uncanny similarity to Duncan, they trusted him somewhat more. He also explained somewhat about their memory and memory loss -- how they'd divided their memories into multiple items of importance to them in their past lives, like the staff, and those items had been spread across the land to prevent their discovery. Getting to three of them, in total, he explained, would cause them to fully remember what had happened before. He believed that, when they next slept, they would become aware of the location of another of the items. He took his leave of them, then, and vanished as suddenly as he had arrived.
Wendy was impatient, and wanted to immediately attempt to locate another such item. Jerim tried to locate her former sword using his staff, but failed to do so. Wendy tried to call upon the vision gift she had seen Gwen use, but only succeeded in giving herself a headache (and nightmares that evening). Without any real lead, then, Jerim suggested they head to the Blasted Lands and find his people there -- given Gribkin's arrival and their relative vulnerability while regaining their memories, it seemed like it would be prudent to have allies with them when they next did so. They were concerned, however, as Gribkin had claimed they now looked fae-like to all, which obviously could change the reaction people would have to them (especially, unbeknownst to them, Jerim's people). Still, with no better options, they decided to go that way. Before they left, Martus bound and treated Jerim's wound, and then they were off.
They travelled on for about a day. Partway through their trek, they discovered Bibkin's head on a pike with an arrow similar to Malthus' sticking out of it, which at least reassured them that Bibkin wasn't on his way to report their awakening to Queen Fallout. When they slept, Martus and Jerim dreamed of Jacob's laptop, and when they awoke the next day, the two of them could sense themselves being pulled in another direction -- they assumed in the direction of the laptop. It was to their northeast, which didn't fill them with a whole lot of confidence -- it might be in Queen Fallout's land at worst, Roshatar (which was somewhat better, but not great), or even further travel. Nonetheless, at least they had a better direction now.
Continuing along, they eventually noticed a group of people and animals to the north, along with a small patch of glamour. As this was their first real encounter with glamour in this new life, they decided to investigate. They soon discovered it was a meeting of many of the Grass Sea tribes for a yearly celebration of the birth of the first calves. The leader of the group they had come across, Chieftainess Pithgra Miloti of the Red Bulls, welcomed them as messengers of the gods, and invited them to stay for the upcoming ceremony. The group agreed.
Eventually, they found the source of the glamour -- a small sapling with a single chimerical bell on it. They realized this must be where the Solitary Ringing Tree had been in their previous lives. They spent the rest of the day with the Red Bull tribe, waiting for the upcoming ceremony. They weren't disappointed when it began -- a trod opened, right where the one had been in their previous life, and out of it pour a tragos of dancing, reveling Satyrs. All present, including the three of them, were caught up in the dance, as more fae came out and joined the celebration. Eventually, a troll wearing a bull skull and a dryad like woman came out of the trod -- they presumed this was Gaal Bonan, the Bull Lord, and the Mother of Spring. The party continued, but Wendy and Jerim managed to shake themselves loose from the celebration before it devolved into a mass orgy. They debated dipping into the trod to see what was on the other side, but, lacking the ability to reopen it themselves, they didn't want to be trapped in the dreaming. They, a while later, got their wish, however -- as the other fae were leaving, one of the Satyrs explained that the "gods" had requested they come with them, so the three of them once again passed through the trod beyond the Solitary Ringing Tree.