(photos by Janna "Iawen" Oakfellow-Pushee)
Words by Brianna "Margaret" Meisser
I arrived at Folkstone looking forward to seeing friends old and new and enjoying a new place I had never been. The Tavern was decked out, and the feast staff was working hard when I arrived. I sat outside for a bit, playing ukulele, chatting with Adoros, and watching Savage Sarah as I waited for everyone else to make their way to the event. People began funneling their way into the feast hall. There were so many people there that I did not want to limit myself to just one group, so I found myself hovering between groups throughout the night as I caught bits of conversation.
Though I am not much of a food person myself, the smiles on peoples faces as they dug in to me was an indication that the food was quite good. I personally enjoyed nibbling on some bread as I chatted with friends.
During dinner, court occurred. Lady Matiya was given the reins of Folkstone, along with the Magic Bookmark, an item which can allow the user to change one word of a spell. Sir Gordon was also given a well deserved knighting into the Knights of the Sable Dragon. And Griffin Hurana became Sir Tao’s squire to the Knight’s of the Eternal Flame.
After dinner, there was an auction and some gambling, before our adventurers went outside to go questing.
Cassiopeia, the mother of the star goddess Audrey and the blackhole goddess Andromeda, came to us asking for help. Since Audrey was consumed by Andromeda last time the adventurers of the realms interacted with these beings, Cassiopeia has been struggling to maintain the balance in her absence. Now, their world threatens to collide with ours causing chaos in its wake. A small piece of Audrey managed to escape the consumption by clinging onto Magnus James Swift as another being of light, and many adventurers tasked themselves with protecting him and her by extension.
We were led through a portal to a land called Oasis by Cassiopeia, Cassie for short. There were puzzle pieces throughout the clearing, as well as a fire, a shrine to Audrey, and a library. I ended up being pulled into the library, somewhere I was initially reluctant to go due to the librarian's dislike of weapons and my reluctance to be unarmed when evil is afoot. But as the one with the light, my presence was useful in solving the puzzles set before us. The library door locked, trapping myself, Sir Kara, Elora, and Irri inside, and I began to get nervous, as protecting Audrey was one of my top priorities for the night. I was debating calling for the aid of the Just god to force my way out of the door, when the puzzle was completed and we were knocked out and transported to the catacombs beneath the library.
Inside we found two books as well as some chalices with water in them. My lantern was left behind in the library, but Aurora’s blessing granted me some light to help me see. We began to hear fighting from above, and I grew increasingly anxious being unable to protect my friends and the goddess they held. Whether because of my anxiousness, or the presence of another goddess of light nearby, or some other reason entirely I am not sure, but Aurora began to whisper in my ears, calming me and helping to solve the puzzle.
We used the water from the chalices to melt some ice, getting a key out of the ice and unlocking a box. Inside of the box were 3 pieces of paper, and two vials, one white and one black. We were told these were the essences of Audrey and Andy (short for Andromeda), and that similarly to how our souls can be called if our bodies are destroyed, so too can theirs. I felt drawn to the white one, and asked if I could keep it safe with me. Sir Kara took the black one, and Elora took the papers. The roof began to shake, and we rushed out of the catacombs, yelled at as we ran for the knowledge which was to be lost as the room collapsed behind us.
We met up with the rest of the group, and began to walk as we fought familiars of the shadow. I felt pulled down the path, as the essence of Audrey heated up within my pouch. Myself, James Swift, and Sir Kara began to blip ahead of the group, Swift using resist magic to keep himself and Audrey safe behind a shield wall. Without that same magic, I followed the path, trying to protect myself and Kara to the best of my ability. Audrey began conversing with me throughout our walk, and explaining that she was scared but felt compelled to go in the direction we followed.
After following the path for a while, we encountered what seemed to be a lock, in the shape of constellations. We had to use the bones of the familiars we fought along the way to draw out the constellations in order to pass. When we solved these, I continued to be dragged further along the path. We met someone called Seira, who claimed to be loyal to Andy standing at what seemed to be a shrine of hers. She said that she and Andy just wanted to be left alone, and that Casssie was biased towards Audrey, wanting her to consume Andy. Audrey began to cry in my ear, saying she did not realize how hard Andy had it and that she just wanted to help her sister. I was unable to converse with Seira much, my inclination towards the light making me too biased to aid one of the shadows. But Sir Kara, Warlord Cronin, and Magnus Swift convinced Seira to return to Oasis to try and converse with Cassiopeia and come to a peaceful resolution to save both their world and ours.
As we traveled back to the Oasis, we continued to be attacked by shadow familiars, no longer able to be contained by Seira. We had to fight our way back. I am not fully privy to the conversation that occurred. I sat with James Swift from afar, as much as I would have liked to be up front helping, because protecting the pieces Audrey we both had was more of a priority. This decision likely saved my life and Audrey’s as well, as Seira tried to stab Cassiopeia, who then began to consume everything around her in an ever expanding black hole. I ran as fast as I could, not stopping until I saw tavern lights.
Once back at the Tavern, there was confusion over who consumed who, Seira or Cassiopeia. A fortune tell from Crane’s Blessing revealed that it was Cassiopeia who consumed Seira. This was reinforced to me by Audrey crying in my ear that mother had done it again, that she consumed.
We went inside, doing a headcount to try and determine if anyone was missing. Ser Kovaks realized that Sparrow was missing, and a vision confirmed that they were consumed by the Black Hole, along with Seira. Kyomi was also touched by Cassie and is being slowly consumed.
Another vision confirmed that the consumption breached through the portal from Oasis into the realms, and that Cassie is not done.
There was no way to restore Sparrow that weekend, but that more information would be given at the Black and White ball.
With no clear path forward, and the assurance that more would be revealed in time, the adventurers of the realm went to bed, preparing for the trip to New Verai and the weekend of questing ahead.
OOC:
The feast was great, it was really good to see friends again and the realms back in full swing. Congratulations to Lady Matiya, Sir Gordon, and Squire Griffin, all well deserved. Thank you to Lunar Aegis for a great night quest, I hope to see more of this plot line in the future. And thank you to all of our NPCs who made it happen!
May Aurora Light Your Path
And in Service to the Realms
Page Margaret August
