The Winding, Moonlit Path

As the time neared for Arnor to leave, they all prepared in different ways. Gorlock busied himself with managing Gorlock's Palace and putting the finishing touches on a tiara, though he found no one to sell it to, it was so fine. Mac mostly tended the bar, though no one remarked if he occasionally took a drink himself. 

Greeba spent her time tending to her small foundry and training her apprentices as gently as she knew how while Eamon, Joell, and Wisteria each disappeared into their rooms for long periods of inner reflection. 

It was the Goliath who could not sit still. Nathia spend the last two days furiously cooking and baking every unusual recipe of her gran's she could think of: a layered grumpfl so green it nearly glowed (using up nearly an entirely parsley plant from Arian's garden), misshapen bon bons the size of apples and tasting of summer, traveller's sandwiches large enough to quench the heartiest appetite. She hoped they might prove unusual to one such as the Lunar Knight -- food from the mountains, a place close to the moon, where the air was thin and cold. And, if not, they always needed to be fed. There was always comfort in a full belly.

The last day, Blurb sought out Arnor himself, finding him silently cleaning his pike. "Messire Arnor, what do you think we will encounter in these new territories of yours? I am about to prepare for that big adventure and be one with the soul of mother nature and I could make some humble requests for spells I don't usually practice but could prove vital in our new quest? What are the dwellers of that place mostly made of, or what do they fear most?"

Arnor looked down (slightly) at Blurb. "We - I - must pass through the Tower and Fields of the Lunar Knight, to reach his court. He rarely welcomes visitors, and at best will set us tests to prove us worthy - and to provide amusement to his court. The Court of the Lunar Knight comprise Shadow Fey, such as myself - but smaller."

The smaller part, at least, heartened Blurb, but Arnor continued.

"I hope that if we reach his Court, he will grant me permission to pass through to the Court of my Queen, Sarastra. If I am fortunate, my Queen will have emissaries at his Court who may intercede on my behalf. If I am judged worthy to live."

Blurb chewed upon that like an old piece of jerky. "Thank you for this precious advice, Messire Arnor. I will do everything in my modest powers to help you and hopefully tip the balance of justice in your favour." 

Arnor nodded. "I am grateful."

The next night found them all approaching a circle of standing stones upon Skul Peak not far from the fort, the moonlight bathing everything in a glow that seemed like it was from beyond the world.

As they walked, Wisteria recounted for them everything she had learned -- it seemed she had been studying intensely the last few days in her room, not meditating. As she spoke, Arnor nodded along, but Nathia took little comfort in the description of the strange courts she outlined for them. How would one reason with people like that? Their world seemed far removed from anything she knew and even though she recognised the leaders of her tribe, she could not imagine the unfettered devotion that the Shadow Fey seemed to have ingrained within them.

Wisteria spoke of how Arnor's queen was named Sarastra and she was known as the ruler of the Summer Court. That, however, did not mean that she welcomed the warmth of the summer sun. It had more to do with the seasons than anything and her power was greatest during her time. Her king was the Moonlit King, but he was rumoured mad, driven that way by exile, though Wisteria was not sure how that had come to pass. Yet his court was the one that they needed to pass through -- the Winter Court, currently presided over by the Lunar Knight. 

The stones themselves were Nar, which Greeba recognised immediately, though they were so old that they pre-dated the demon uprising. Light seemed to emanate from them. Arnor turned to look at them all and briefly bowed his head. "They way is here," he said, "...if you wish to follow." And with no further words, he seemed to duck beneath a stone -- and was gone. 

Nathia and Greeba followed him, soon joined by the others. The strangest thing, perhaps, was how for a moment it seemed as if they had gone nowhere at all. Everything was the same, but different. The moonlight was crisper. The air felt heavy and still but was fragranced with blossoms that could not possibly be growing so high. A dark path stretched on from the stones, down and down. 

They followed it, passing through the Crooked Wood, alert for the brigand knights they had been told might prey upon them on the fey road, but none showed themselves. Soon, they approached the next portal: to the realm of the Lunar Knight. They came to a clearing with ground like ash -- a powdery, dusty sand like moonlight turned solid and then pulverised. The windswept plain swept out around a tower the likes of which Nathia had never seen before. No matter how you looked at it or squinted your eyes, you could not get a clear look upon it. She had no sense of how big it was or how small, how tall or short. Walls in a crescent shape flanked either side, seeming to draw them in towards a set of silvery doors set into the base of the tower.

It made her nervous. Was it too soon to give an offering of peace? She took one of the bon bons from out of her bag and carefully approached the doors. Not going too near, she set the small plate down and made a quick bow, then stepped back. Nothing happened. 

Joell and Wisteria used their arcane knowledge to examine the doors from a safe distance. They could tell that something might happen if one were to pull upon the handles, though it wasn't clear what. Unwilling to wait any longer, Wisteria knocked, making sure to avoid the handles, and the doors swung open to reveal an oddly shaped room with white pillars and a mother of pearl spiral staircase. 

Two shadow fey elves of a terrible, breathtaking beauty--duellists, it seemed--were inside, swords already drawn. A brief conversation made it clear that they would allow them to continue forward if they "entertained" the court and duelled with them, though death was not off the table. As Wisteria agreed to the terms, the doors shut and the room was suddenly in pitch darkness, though Greeba had not been caught unawares; she brought her flametongue sword to life immediately and light flickered within, casting long shadows. 

Greeba, Nathia and Mac managed to attack, though Arnor missed, perhaps distracted by the light of the half-orc's sword. Yet another shadow fey, hidden before, a handsome, bare-chested archer, attacked Wisteria with some type of poison and brought her to her knees. Gorlock, who's cape had been caught in the door, chose that moment to work himself free and rush forward, intent on saving her from further harm. Blurb responded by casting entangle upon the other duelist, effectively trapping her. 

Seeing how fast Wisteria had fallen, Nathia calls upon her stone's endurance to withstand the blow that is laid upon her; luckily only one hits and she takes just a small amount of damage. Wisteria healed a bit, Gorlock concentrates his eldritch blasts upon the entangled swords woman. An arrow streaks out from behind the stairs -- the archer again!

Joell manoeuvres around into the darkness beyond the stairs where the light from Greeba's sword did not reach and somehow managed to lay a hit upon the hidden shadow fey. While the attacker tries to retaliate, the paladin's shield of faith repels his blows and Joell laughs in the direction of what he assumes must be the fey's face. Blurb, alerted by Joell's actions, moves forward enough and casts bonfire. A fire explodes into being, right at the enemy's toes, illuminating him. Meanwhile, the original two duellists have been forced to yield.

Almost as if in response to the druid's fire, the hall is suddenly lit as if by daylight, causing all the shadow fey inside to flinch, including Arnor. Nathia, unable to get close enough to attack effectively with her great-sword, drops it with a clang and and pokes the last standing attacker with her pike, twisting it in just the way that Arnor had taught her would hurt the most. Joell, still grinning, smites the shadow fey and he too yields.

The three: Aria (who Mac courteously helps to her feet after her surrender, gaining him a smile), Tanaris (the bare chested male shadow fey of such great beauty that Wisteria does not even mind that he felled her), and Locath (who grudgingly nods his head to Joell and Eamon) tell the party that they are free to move on -- onward and upward.

They climb the stairs to discover themselves not in another room of a tower exactly, but upon the Effulgent Fields, set up for a joust. But the mounts available to them were not horses but a hippogriff, a worg, and fey blooded nightmares. It seemed that three of them must ride--and succeed--to be allowed to continue on. Points were to be awarded much like in a more mundane joust: 1 point upon a strike, 3 points if you were able to dismount them, and it took 5 points to win a match.

Nathia, unwilling to leave Arnor's fate in the hands of another, strode up to the hippogriff, Takis, and fed it a bit of grumpfl. Mac somewhat surreptitiously blessed her, just in case. She had never ridden upon a hippogriff before, but he looked a noble beast and large enough to carry her. After the first pass, where she chanced a hit upon her opponent, she was happy with her choice. By the end of the match, though she had not managed to unhorse her opponent, she had won. The shadow fey she had ridden against bowed his head to her and offered this advice: Beware the statues in the garden.

Joell rode next, choosing the vicious looking worg as his steed. While he was unseated in the second round by Quintor, the shadow fey, he managed an inspirational victory in the end. One could see that he wished to keep riding the worg even after the match. Quintor's advice to him was: Do not drink from the New Moon fountain. 

Meanwhile, Eamon and Wisteria were arguing over who should ride last. Eamon won the argument, but lost the joust. Still, he acquitted himself well enough that his opponent, the fey knight Varthier, also offered him a bit of wisdom: Those of strong mind can change the moon. Wisteria, perhaps to salve her nerves after being denied the chance to joust, spends some time with Tanaris in one of the tents and emerges after an hour with a self-satisfied grin.

Unsure exactly how to proceed, they follow the shadow fey into one of the colourful tents that surrounded the field and find that the inside is much larger than the outside. Another staircase climbs up and they go on to see what challenge they will face next. 

Above, if that is where the stair leads, is a room with a fountain in it, shining with the light of a new moon. Three translucent lunar devils attack, at first only noticed by Blurb, bloodying the druid with its tail and claws. The devils seemed to draw energy or strength from the moon light, so much so that even Greeba's flametongue sword seemed dimmed and hardly effective. 

She cleverly worked out that the fountain holds the key and Mac manages to turn the moon dial enough so that finally their advantage is reduced. By the time that only one devil is left, now howling in pain, they were able to concentrate their attacks and defeat it. Eamon, even blinded, somehow managed to make his way down the stair and stun the creature with a well-placed punch. Blurb's javelin, well-thrown, strikes true but does not manage to damage it overmuch. Nathia, thankfully, was able to strike it down with her great-sword. They took a deep breath and surveyed the carnage. What would the Lunar Knight throw at them next?

What indeed -- but a hedge maze under a gibbous moon. They enter it, Joell bravely (or perhaps foolishly) leading the way. He finds a pool surrounded by stone benches and, curiously, sticks his javelin into the pool to see what will happen--nothing, happily. Wisteria finds an inscription in Slyvan: Take joy in the memories left here or lose your own. 

Nathia does not approach; she has come all this way to make memories, not lose them nor leave them behind. 

Tiffany, called by Gorlock, attempts to lead them through the maze but is nearly undone when they come upon a glass coffin with the body of a pristine sleeping beauty inside. The warlock winds up sending her away in the hopes that it will have no lasting effect upon her. 

Perhaps due to the advice they were given earlier, they proceed quickly through the maze, touching nothing and leaving nothing and soon emerge disconcertingly directly into the court of the Lunar Knight.  Well-dressed fey greet them with scattered applause. Genuine? It is hard to tell. 

One of Queen's ambassadors is in attendance, perhaps luckily, and the Lunar Knight himself seems in a good mood and well diverted by their efforts. He is surprisingly amenable to Arnor's plea for safe passage to the Queen's Court, which gives Nathia a sudden worrying realisation -- does the real danger lie ahead in the court of Sarastra? She had worried for so long over the Lunar Knight but now...is there a darker, more tangled problem ahead?

When Mac somewhat jokingly suggests that she and Arnor be wedded before they move on, she looks to the Shadow Fey Guardian to see what he thinks of such a thing, but is concerned to see the reticent look on his face. He had been increasingly silent during the trip, almost as if he knew something more about the dangers they faced than what he had told them. In fact, with some gentle prodding, he now reveals that he is not free to marry how he wants; it is the Queen who holds his fate in her hand.

Meanwhile, Blurb has a surprisingly genial conversation with the Lunar Knight and his guests, where he learns that phase spiders might soon be terrorising his home village. Gorlock, entranced by the Queen's ambassador, tries to offer her his well-crafted tiara to buy, but she misunderstands and considers it a gift. Will it buy them any fortune? Only time will tell.

The Lunar Knight opens a portal -- beyond it lies the Summer Court of Her Celestial and Royal Majesty, Sarastra Aestruum, Queen of Night and Magic, Duchess of the Heavens, Countess of Thorn, Mistress of Air and Darkness, Lady of the Summer Palace, and Bride of Shadows...

An accounting taken from the journals of Mac, Blurb, and Nathia.