# [[060_20220703 The heads reveal the name]] ## Session Summary > [!tldr] [[060_20220703 The heads reveal the name]] > The party saw the Court of Storms and decided to go up the stairs to the upper floor of the palace. There, you sailed down the Flooded hall and explored a secret library belonging to Zybilna, where you discovered two books about the Shadowfell: one describing a city in the Shadowfell called Moil, and the other telling the story of an abomination, an unnatural union between a woman from the Feywild and a man from the Shadowfell. You left Nav and Diesa there to investigate further while you went on to explore more rooms. > > You found a room of dretches that seemed to embody negative emotions belonging to Zybilna, another room with eight mannequins bearing Zybilna's clothing from different stages of her life, and finally, a room of hatches. Each hatch had a garish decapitated head of different types of creatures that, when opened, yelled out a syllable. Ora figured out that she had to open them in sequence so that the heads said "Baba Yaga", and everyone was teleported to what looked like a ruined study. > > One wall of the study had been partially blown apart, and through the hole, you could see a half-orc woman, frozen in surprise, seeming to have been thrown out of the study by the explosion. She didn't seem to react to anyone's presence, but Ora used her magical rope to tow her into the study. ^summary %% <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MPLtKyMbL9w" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> %% --- ## Housekeeping - Who's taking what loot? - circular metal case - Mithral armor: - Chain mail x3 - half-plate (worn by the faerie noble) ## Recap ### Big-picture recap - Amid the many flying carpets of [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/Port Damali]], you had asked the proprietor of one of the magic shops there, [[Heymat Sol]], where you might be able to purchase one, and he said that the enchantment was simple enough, but that the key was getting silk with intrinsically magical properties that would hold the enchantments. He mentioned that all the flying carpets were made of silk from [[Pride's Call]]. - The carnival - You decided to go to Pride's Call, but as you set off, you saw [[The Witchlight Carnival]] arriving and stopped to have a bit of fun in it. - A kenku had been causing trouble, and she revealed herself to be [[Topplepot]], a warlock whose patron, [[Zybilna]], had been missing in action lately. She was convinced that the carnival was a Fey crossing to the domain of prismeer where Zybilna ruled. - The carnival owners, [[Mr Witch]] and [[Mr Light]], showed you how to get to Prismeer through the Hall of Mirrors, in thanks for capturing Topplepot. - [[Hither]] - Your blue dwarven friend, [[Kettlesteam]], and [[Topplepot]] were nowhere to be found when you entered Hither. - [[The Hourglass Coven]] rules Prismeer now. - You pretended to be bullywugs, fought [[Bavlorna Blightstraw]] and killed her. - You met [[The Grim Accord]] and agreed to be allies... for now. You agreed to let them have three things, one from each hag (a staff, a necklace, and a cloak). - You pretended to be Bavlorna and sent a message to her sister, [[Endelyn Moongrave]], trying to lure her into a trap. However, you were surprised when she showed up with [[Skabatha Nightshade]], and even more surprised when Endelyn even joined in on killing Skabatha. - Endelyn seemed to have an uncanny ability to tell the future, and was able to teleport herself out after Skabatha's death. You learned from Skabatha that Endelyn believes the only way she can die is during an eclipse. - [[Thither]] - In Thither, Skabatha's former home, [[Loomlurch]], seemed to be in disarray after many of its mistress's enchantments had been nullified upon her death. You saved some of the children in Skabatha's workshop. - You learned about [[The Palace of Heart's Desire]], and Skabatha's old rocking horse turned out to be a real unicorn named [[Elidon]] who graciously gave you part of his horn to get into the Palace. - [[The Palace of Heart's Desire]] - Many things in the palace seem to have been frozen, and only those who had somehow managed to find their way in _after_ things were frozen could move. - You found out that you had to put a crown on the hart to open the door to the Palace, but as soon as the doors opened, you were attacked by some fey guards. ![[059_20220501 Getting there is half the fight#^summary]] ## Strong start You've just slain the three well-armoured knights and the more lithe, nobly-dressed elf, whose bodies still lie still around you, some of them with armour removed. Ora hears a crackling noise coming from the other side of one of the doors, and opens the door to reveal a seemingly endless, roiling storm below and a column that rises from the centre of it to a few hundred feet above. ## Scenes - [x] Exploring [[The Palace of Heart's Desire#P13 Court of Storms]] - People with _fly_ abilities: - Diesa - _Fly_, after a short rest (3 people) - Irae - _Fly_ (2 people) - Kryx - _Polymorph_ someone or _wild shape_ himself. - Lira - _Fly_ (3 people) or _Polymorph_ - [x] Rescuing and talking to [[Sereas]]. If they don't rescue her, she will die in the storm. - [ ] A portal opens near them and pops out a gift from [[Eryn|The Summer Queen]]. - [x] Exploring the rest of the castle, figuring out how to get into the turrets where Endelyn is. ## Secrets and Clues - [x] [[Endelyn Moongrave]]'s domain, [[Yon]], is a permanent night that is plagued by storms. She's taken residence in the Court of Storms and turned it into something more familiar. - [ ] [[Uldun of Parts Unknown]] is a Luxonborn, and he used to be [[General Osvil Nightchaser]] in his past life. Osvil was one of the fighters [[Damota Tarak]] (Boris's past life) trained. However, Uldun doesn't want to go through [[Anamnesis]] and remember his former life. - [ ] [[Aro]], Ora's twin, is captive in the red gem that Endelyn wears as a necklace. They are linked to Endelyn via a [Bloodlink potion](obsidian://open?vault=dnd-vault&file=items%2FVault%20of%20Magic%2FBloodlink%20Potion). - [ ] [[Hardrak|Othrog the Titan-Knuckled]] has been unifying orc tribes in [[The Many Hosts of Igrathad]]. - [x] [[Baba Yaga]] was the name of the mother of [[The Hourglass Coven]] and [[Zybilna]]. - [x] There is a tear in the fabric that keeps [[ttrpgs/The Slayers Five/The Feywild]] separate from [[The Shadowfell]], and Endelyn wants to make it bigger and bring an army of the unseelie into the Feywild and then eventually into the Material Plane, to help set [[Uk'otoa]] free. - [x] The seelie and unseelie courts are two opposite sides of the same coin. They separated long ago. - [x] [[The Shadowfell]] is the only thing [[Zybilna]] is afraid of. She was born out of a union between [[Baba Yaga]] from the Feywild and a man in the Shadowfell, the only being that is unseelie and seelie at the same time. The unseelie court wants her "unnatural" blood. - [ ] [[Sereas]] is [[Hardrak|Othrog the Titan-Knuckled]]'s daughter by rape, but she opposes him and everything she stands for. - [x] The only way to get to the enclosed [[The Palace of Heart's Desire#P31 Throne Room]] is through the study. - [ ] [[Arkenox]] is a shadow drake from the Shadowfell. That's why Zybilna was able to bond with him -- he sensed the darkness in her that was from that domain. ## NPCs - [ ] [[Eryn]] - [x] [[Sereas]] - [ ] [[The real Captain Three Earrings]] ## [[Loot]] - [ ] [Scrimshaw Comb](https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/4891108-scrimshaw-comb), from [[Sir Talavar]]. ("_With compliments of the Summer Queen. Use in a moment of dire need to beseech the Queen for aid. Lasts one minute._") - [ ] [Snicker-snack](https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/3895576-snicker-snack), but a dagger. --- ## Log Ora uses her mind link for 4 hours: - Boris - Lira - Jamedi - Irae Books in Zybilna's secret library: - _[[The City That Waits]]_ (one explorer’s treatise about [[Moil]], a city of haunted spires). - Fictional account - hungry for flesh - city in [[The Shadowfell]] - *[[Court of The Shadowfell]]*: a historical/nonfiction account - Describes a forbidden love between a woman from the seelie court and a man from the unseelie court. The product of this union was an offspring, a girl proclaimed unnatural and shunned by both courts. [[Thrinarv|Nav]] stays in the secret library. She's looking for information on: - The Shadowfell - the Hourglass Coven - The Palace of Heart's Desire 6 hours Psychic Whispers - Boris - Nav - Lira - Irae [[Topplepot|Diesa Torunn]] stays with Nav, to look for the same things + anything about silk and the secret of creating it. They've figured out Natasha is the "abomination" of seelie and unseelie. They just met [[Sereas]].