Ah Yes, the Ominous Whispers

We pick back up, mid-conversation …

Queen Titania states to the group, “My son, Jyaernos, he was so clever, so strong…” she says as we see the first bit of emotion on her face, “he thought he could bear the weight of this crown alone. His darling [name] lured him to his study on the outer reaches of the kingdom. I don’t know what happened there. It’s become a place we avoid. We call it the Mausoleum of Shadows and haven’t been able to dispel it. It seems to ward away fey creatures. I have been attuned to my plane and am in charge of it, and I sense charges of power there. I gather is a piece as to why the planes are weakening. No fey can get close to it and I have trust no mortals to be strong enough to be able to handle it, but this Shadow Shard as you mortals call it, must be the thing my son got his hands on. Otherwise, why would Beshaba have cursed him?”

• “Before I share any further, I have someone you should meet.”

Baptise enters

• He shares that he followed a party through a portal which brought him to the Feywild. He was following people who mentioned Graz’zet. But now, he is stuck here.  Baptiste brought that information to the Feycourt and it worried Queen Titania as the last time Graz’zet was around, Tiamot was trying to enter the material plane.

Queen Titania suspects a few things:

• First, RC bears a heavy burden with the bow. Many millennial ago, she used the bow to steal Tiamat away in Avernus. The bow has been blessed by Bahamut. Tiamot has tried to break free several times over the years. As Tiamat is now defeated the “power transfer” is possible (?). It seems Zarieal and Loviatar are trying to bring Haephestus back through his bloodline. RC continues to resist their efforts, keeping Bahmut safe. 

• The heart of the dead Erinyes is key. Queen Titania will shape the heart into a useful item, but we will need an item bound to the plane in which we seek. This heart will be used a key, which we can use to take back Bahmut from Zariel. Concerning Graz’zet, Queen Titania is not sure what steps to take next, but imagines the next steps will include us going to the Mausoleum to hunt for the Shadow Shards. 

 Brylwynn asks Queen Titania about Larael, as we know she had been cursed by the Crown of Thorns in the past. We learned the Prince of Frost, aka Jyaernos, has been split into 3 parts: his soul (material plane), 

• His soul is the Crown of Thorns, which Larael wore and now Brylwynn is cursed with it

Glittr asks about the Ki-Rin and its powers, and Queen Titania shares they are very rare, typically there only being 1 Ki-Rin per deity. She suspects their devilish blood mixed with the Ki-Rin blood may have made them more powerful.

Caulkin asks about procuring a seal that shares we allowed to be present in the Feywild. Queen Titania relays this through the trees and their roots, and Caulkin is disappointed at not being able to create a counterfeit seal of his own. 

As we get ready to leave, she turns of Autumn, instructing him to bring us as far as he can to the Mausoleum of Shadows. As we turn to leave, we see a floating cape with a Raven head on it. We hear a voice in our heads:

• My champion and my queen from so long ago. So much pain has led to this moment, and I have waited so long. For a champion who bears the might of my Jyaernos. While I am a deity

• Beshaba is gaining strength, and her and Graz’zet’s champions hunt for the shards. Lliira and I are working as hard as we can with the material plan, to combat them. My champions, Pearl & Fey, you have trusted me for so long. 

• “I hope the six of you know you carry the blessing of The Raven Queen if you continue to act in my favor. What say you, my champions?”

• Pearl relays that we will continue working with her and Lliira and the cape disappears.

Before we leave Queen Titania pulls RC to the side and asks that he knows what the bow stands for. RC replies “justice” which Queen Titania states is the most important attribute. “Justice isn’t doing just what is right or wrong, it’s about doing what is fair.” She asks him to remain ‘Just’ and he agrees. She asks him for a favor:

• “My son, I do not know what happened to him nor the influence that the crown has brought. If he can be saved, I trust you to handle it. If it is just to save him, do so. [...] The damage he has done, consider that it was Beshaba’s and not his doing [...] I don’t care about what wrongs he has done as the crown corrupts absolutely.”

• RC agrees to remember and abide by this.

• She wants her son saved if it is ‘appropriate.’

• As RC readies to leave, Queen Titania hands him a small Iron Bottle, covered in runes. 

After a short walk, we make our way to the Mausoleum of Shadows, which is surrounded by low-hanging clouds. We examine the Mausoleum from afar, about 60 feet or so, but we are unable to make out anything clearly. As we get closer to around the 30’ mark, we hear whispers from within the shadows. As we walk forward Pearl hears a “STOP!” from one of the shadows, as she puts her arm up to stop the group. She recognizes the voice as The Raven Queen’s. 

• The Raven Queen outlines that this is where she came to combat Beshaba. “Don’t be fooled by anything that lies ahead.” [...] get the Shadow Shard and don’t listen to anything inside. To activate the shard and begin your journey, activate the shard and dispose of the evil within. Together, you must chanel 12 levels worth of spells all at once within 5 feet of the shard. It  will absorb the intentions of the person who triggers the spell. Do not falter, prepare yourselves. The last person to cast the spell will be the person who activates the shadow shard. 

• “My champions, Pearl and Fey, this is the last sound advice you will receive from your Raven Queen.” Anything past this point is a lie.

Pearl and Fey hold hands, stepping forward together into the shadows. As they do, they the whispers turn to shouts.

• They scream and should cruelities towards the sisters. The whispers seem to surround their head and are antagonistic and vicious. Fey reminds Pearl that this is fake as they need to carry forward. Pearl strengthens her grip on Fey’s hand even more, as the voices all around them get worse.

Pearl thinks about the day her father died and shattered into icey shards as the Prince of Frost slashed him down. She felt hopeless in that moment with her sister as they are positioned now, but much stronger. This memory is so viscous, that Pearl feels shards of ice all around her. They then see the Cloak of the Raven Queen in front of them providing comfort and agreeing to help lead them to the Mausoleum. Pearl is insightful and realizes that the cloak in front of them is one of the remnants that the Raven Queen warned her of before they entered the shadows. As they realize this, the cape turns into a horrible black shadow, and Pearl and Fey are assaulted by dozens of shadowy black creatures.

• Pearl casts Protection from Evil and Good on Fey. As this happens, Fey radiates a dark blue energy, standing up and looking at Pearl. She says, “You’re so strong sister, you have to go on.” She stands up and says, “I have the token of the Raven Queen, not her! It’s me you want!!!” as she says this, Fey is bombarded the shadow after shadow. Fey calls for Pearl to carry onward as Fey is covered by shadows as the light from the spell dims, but still active. 

• Suddenly, Pearl notices that the whispers stop and a sense of calmness overcomes her. She looks out, seeing the shadows starting to clear up a bit as they become more opaque. Ahead of her, she feels a marble building in front of her, which she suspects is the Mausoleum. She turns around and sees the rest of the party, who are seemingly still close by.

Seeing the signal from Pearl, we trundle into the shadows. As we do ever

• Caulkin thinks about training under this grandmother at 9 years old. He hid in a pit with dead bodies for 3 days as his group was attacked.

• Baptiste thinks about discovering the bodies of these students during a routine scouting mission. Worse was not realizing he failed them, but having to tell their parents.

• Glittr thinks about this mother falling into madness and how it affected the trajectory of his life. He recognizes this is likely one of the shadow tricks.

• RC thinks about when the Cult of the Dragon stormed into his home in the Mere of Deadmen, killing half of his clan and enslaving the rest.

• Bahmut thinks about yesterday.

• Brylwynn thinks about losing both RC and Caulkin yesterday during battle. She sees their two bodies on the ground, worrying if we would be able to resurrect them or not. While painful, she makes off the memory of loss, remembering she was there to help bring them back.

We move forward to Pearl, asking where Fey is, and she says, “She’s gone.” Pearl turns around in a state of shock, taking the lead as she moves forward to the marble structure in front of us. We enter and we find ourselves in a very cramped foyer.

• We see two doors, magical resistance and two doors labeled “Combat” and “Magical Resistance.”

• We take a vote and 5-1, we decide to choose Combat instead.

• Caulkin investigates the door for traps and Pearl casts Guidance on him. As she does, she feels the spell protecting Fey drop. Pearl wretches with anxiety, realizing her grave mistake.

Baptiste pushes open the door and it slides open. Inside, there is a curved hallway encompassed by shadows.

Baptiste, Brylwnn, and Glittr walk into the door and as it does, it closes behind them. 

• In the Magical Resistance room, Caulkin, Pearl, and RC come up with a plan. Caulkin throws jerky into the room and nothing happens. Thava flies out and lands on the first orb, hitting her with a beam of energy. The orbs turn colors going from Dark green, to light blue, roaring red, dark blue, light green, and then sickening yellow.

• In the Combat room, we move forward in a tight group as the room is filled with skeletons.