Session 31

Fact Sheet Sing me a song of a love that goes on

Players present: Ecchima, Marty, Meinhart and Tuur. Dins was our GM. We’re hoping Vinnie is okay!

Date: 31-10-23

Date in-universe: Sunday afternoon, leading up to Sunday night as we travel on The Vale

Major developments

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Previously: session 30 let’s get at the root of this problem

Up next: session 32 Arrival in The Vale

Notes

With dancer's influence and a courtier's grace, Storm tries to persuade Lusídhe that she and Lutiel could die here together, how lovely would that be? All she has to do, is help us end Lutiel… She shrugs off the charming influence, but she does sigh yes.
Cedar disengages from the harpy eagle & bleats he can help, if he’s allowed by his master
Ezra shifts into their tiger form & shoots Lutiel twice. Lusídhe is deeply affected by seeing Lutiel in pain
Lusídhe pleads that this is not necessary. Sobbing, she calls out "please help us, I protected you once, so please protect us now". Leaning over, she looks at the tapestry of vines obscuring the hollow below her. As the vines shift underneath her, they reveal Fyllion! He's sitting on his butt, very quietly strumming his lute & scribbling something on a bit of parchment. He looks up, appearing surprised and caught out! Lusídhe tree-walks to get closer to Ezra & tries to charm them into sparing Lutiel but our captain resists the spell
Lutiel is furious at Hali: how dare she attack a harmless dryad? Causing her pain, again?! He exhorts the animals: get that one first, kill her, kill her! He puts up a field of vines around Hali and Ezra. Hali is entangled. Then he hastens over to where Lusídhe came out of another tree
Hali uses 2 sorcery points to quicken her spells. She launches a moonbeam on Lutiel & struggles to break free from the tangling vines. As she succeeds, she chooses a new position
El exclaims in surprise that Fyllion is back. In their surprise, they fumble the Eldrin's blast they had ready. They follow up the blast with a hex
the harpy eagle doesn't bother chasing Cedar, preferring to attack El, the last person who attacked its master. Both the eagle's beak and talons hit & El squeaks in pain
Fyllion shouts out "friends, dearest friends, no stop, she's my friend" as he holds up his parchment. He continues he has a song! He belts out the first verse, dropping his lute because his chords aren't ready yet!
A tree, and lover. Tale as old as time.
But now under thorns and cover, I am inspired to sing and rhyme.
One ready to go, promises held all but one.
The other a hard ever no, cannot think of the time as gone.
Lutiel blanches by the further betrayal of Fyllion hiding near his wife: how dare he call himself her friend?? But as Fyllion's acapella voice carries on (despite Tuur's initial NATURAL ONE), there's a shift in Lutiel's expression. What that'll entail, we can only guess. Fyllion serenades Lusídhe, giving her a bardic inspiration, causing her to call out in a slurring voice "don't harm the boy"
the creatures heed her call, since they were ordered to go after Hali anyway:
1. the elk comes charging in, knocking Hali prone, hurting her & causing her moonbeam to fizzle out
2. the dire wolf runs up to Hali, forming a pack with the elk, even though Storm kicks out with his golden sandals
3. the vulture also forms a pack & hits Hali with beak (with a NATURAL TWENTY) and talons
4. the bear ignores Lutiel's orders & bites and claws at Ezra. They're both deeply in pain

We hear another rustle in the bushes right outside the cocoon. Someone is calling out: “Friend, I'm coming to you, keep singing, I'll find you”! It's the barghest, lured back by Fyllion’s voice. He’s rushing around the cocoon, trying to find the entrance. He's turned back into his adorable goblin form. We’re stunned to see Fyllion isn’t surprised at all. He doesn’t miss a beat of his new song as he calls out: “Remember, friend, only defense, don't hurt anyone! Be welcome, Louis”!

in a desperate bid to help his friend, Storm asks Bella Swan to help Hali out with resistance. The swan touches Hali to transfer the touch spell
Cedar wriggles free from his bonds & bleats he'll come help his master
Ezra roars at Fyllion "the problem isn't your friend, but him there, her lover, who doesn't want to listen, so if you have a plan, please do it now"! Then they cast hunter's mark on the bear, shooting the beast twice. The arrows do serious damage & Ezra chooses a new position
Lusídhe sees Storm sneaking up on Lutiel & she causes the polecat to stumble and fall with a vine
Lutiel chooses a new position near the entrance, from where he stares at Fyllion still. "How dare you, if you know what we were and what our love was, then you know why I must do this"! Overcome by emotion, he doesn't do anything else
Hali casts a tidal wave on the elk and the wolf. The wolf is pushed away & looks seriously bedraggled. Hali turns into her starry form & looses a starry arrow at the dire wolf, unfortunately missing
El decides to heal Hali with healing light & then lunges with their sword at Lutiel's eagle
the harpy eagle hurts El
Fyllion screams "Please friends, please Lutiel, just listen to my song & then if you're not convinced, we can still kill each other" and sings the second verse with a DIRTY TWENTY, evoking a lot of emotion in both Lusídhe & Lutiel
A promise to Skaravell, held through great pain.
Turned into sacrifice, as the wolves of hell they came.
Life unfair, dreams of love are lost.
As perseverance means pain, uncured despite the tries and cost
the creatures start their attacks
1. the wolf bites Ezra, but luckily our captain maintains their footing
2. the bear wants to attack Hali, but Bella Swan is in the way, so he swats her to the ground & she dissipates in a flurry of white down and glittering golden light. Storm’s wordless shout of dismay pierces through the battle cries and bellowing of the battle
3. the elk rams Hali
4. the vulture slashes at Hali with its beak...
5. Hali is unconscious, and now Storm’s cry undulates to encompass the crew’s worry about their friend

Louis the barghest is hovering nervously and starts scuttling towards Fyllion, repeating his promises of help and friendship

Storm tries to cast an illusion over Lutiel, in the hopes of convincing him that Lusídhe is Virgil, but it fails
Cedar promises Fyllion he'll help & he casts 2 eldritch blasts at the wolf & the bear. He hits the wolf... but with a NATURAL ONE he can't kill the wolf!
Ezra notices that Lutiel and Lusídhe are moved by Fyllion's song, so they decide to avoid fighting those two for the moment. Instead, they shoot the bear and kill it, following it with another arrow into the wolf, killing that beast too. Cedar bleats proudly "teamwork". They put their hunter's mark on the elk
Lusídhe sees how Lutiel drops his staff & falls on his knees, weeping openly. The creatures and his harness dissolve. Lusídhe uses the vines to pump Hali's blood back into her, healing her a bit so Hali wakes up. Lusídhe steps out of the tree & totters over to Lutiel.

Lutiel stutters he's guarded these trees for centuries, and in the miasma of pain and heartbreak, he lost his way and forgot everything their love stood for. As the adrenaline is leaving his body, we see his body's natural capacities are at their end. It looks like this fight and the burst of emotion is causing him to die...

Fyllion rushes over to them & puts his hand on Lutiel's shoulder, offering to finish the song. With a quiet murmur they concur. Fyllion sings the chorus and the final verse.

Chorus
It’s the tears,
the tears that grow from fear.
If it creeps,
You can neither fight nor fly.
For to lose oneself, is to stop oneself,
is to not grow from your tears,
and ignore the seasons of the years. Verse 3
Flowers always wither, all things come to their ends.
In that we find their meaning, even when the pain but slowly mends.
Your love will last forever, but this pain should not.
To let go, is not weak and is not to give up, but a show of the trust you have always and unconditionally got.

As Fyllion's beautiful words revive the meaning of their love, sprouting from their mutual devotion to the forest and all that lives and dies in it, he feels Lutiel slump under his hands. Lusídhe whispers it's time. She reaches out to Fyllion with the words “I'll need your help to end this”. She gestures at Ezra, and in particular at Baaloo winding around their shoulders: “it's time that Taurillon lets me go. Please follow me”.

We all join her at the hollow in the gigantic tree where Fyllion was hiding. Ezra and Hali guide her inside. Little gems of light are piercing the earth here, wending their way through the mud and half-baked ground. Usually this hollow frames the portal to the Fey Wild, but now it leads a little deeper into the middle of the tree. In the dim light, we see a huge cluster of thick vines are knotted there, pulsing like an unnatural heart. Baaloo unfurls in agitation: it’s clear that this is the core of the problem he’d spotted all the way from Yaruda.

With the last dregs of her energy, Lusídhe turns to Ezra, from Taurillon's servant to the bearer of Taurillon's companion. Our young captain's body language speaks of the empathy they're feeling for the decision Lusídhe has made, and for the courage the dryad is showing in facing that decision. With a gentle, half-broken smile, Lusídhe clarifies: “the blood of the forest has been nurturing and sustaining me but it's not right… Cutting through this heart should resolve everything”.

As Ezra slowly nods their agreement, the dying dryad turns to Fyllion: “I’m grateful I can once more cherish all the moments I’ve shared with Lutiel, and I’m relieved you’re here during my last moments. I can't help you much anymore, but there are 2 things I can return to you, I think”.

With her eyes she asks Fyllion’s permission to touch his face. As soon as the tips of her fingers graze his cheek, he's sucked into her memories:

Fyllion sees The Grove through her eyes. She’s perched in the elder tree, lounging above the portal as she usually does in her role of Elder Dryad of The Grove. It’s a peaceful day in the verdant and flourishing glade, and all is well with everything Lusídhe surveys, both in the clearing and in the forest.
Suddenly, a white whisp of vapour, like a deep breath on a frozen day, extrudes from the portal below her. Fyllion sees and feels how surprised Lusídhe was to see a group of beings tumble through the portal, in a dreadful hurry. Fyllion recognizes:

His current friends, part of the Young Kraken’s crew: Eldrin, Ezra, Hali and Storm. Baaloo and Bella Swan are nowhere to be seen

A satyr and a pixie he immediately recognizes as Cedar and Daisy

himself: He looks a little different. He stands a bit taller, his hair is longer and silkier, his skin appears to have an iridescent glow and his face and features are more beautiful and inhuman than he’s ever seen himself in the mirror before, be it before he ever left Ifykon’s side, or after he woke up with us all in Ghorann’s cart… Here he’s obviously more Arch Fey than he ever recalls feeling, and on top of his head a radiant crown is perched with daisies, cornflowers, and golden flowers. Befitting an immortal prince, his hair is waving dramatically in a breeze that affects no one else. The longer he looks, the more details he sees, and the more Fyllion feels unsettled to look at this glamourous past version of himself, but it does match the dreams he had as a kid, when he’d regale Ifykon with his wildly ambitious plans to reclaim his parents’ throne (see IMAGES)

Fyllion notices there are 2 more people in Lusídhe’s memory. He turns his attention to these faces:

Between Ezra and Storm, a woman with ashen blonde hair in a long white dress stumbles on. From the way they hold her hands, Fyllion figures she’s blind & recalling the previous clues, he wonders if this is Laithe?

With a renewed sense of vague vertigo, he sees his past self pushing someone through the portal. It’s a young blonde pretty looking elf girl (see IMAGES). She appears very upset, clutching Fyllion's lute like a piece of driftwood in a sea of emotions. She's sobbing: “I'm sorry I'm sorry, I didn't know”

In the memory, as soon as everyone has exited the portal, past-Fyllion immediately turns to Lusídhe. He urgently asks her to please close the portal right now: “if the hounds get this scent, surely all this innocence will die”! Lusídhe soberly reminds him that Taurillon doesn't take sides in the circle of life & she’s not in the habit of randomly closing the portal. Fyllion cheekily explains that "a moment is all we need, we just need a moment to get to a port"! He implores Lusídhe to not say anything to anyone, everyone might die!
As he’s observing the different aspects of the memory, Fyllion is aware that the others are debate what we should do. He notices the elf girl and maybe-Laithe are included in the decision. They settle on messaging a friend.
As present-Fyllion hears Eldrin cry out “please-a hurry”, his focus shifts back to past Fyllion. The Arch Fey is leaning into Lusídhe with all his otherworldly charm and in a secret whisper he asks her: “if we see each other again, I probably won't remember this & I might be another person;.. but can you promise me you'll always protect me”? Fyllion can’t help but shiver slightly in both admiration and alienation: past-Fyllion’s Fey aspect is incredibly insidious and irresistible. He feels no surprise when Lusídhe immediately gives her promise in the memory. Satisfied, past-Fyllion hands over his crown to her. Is it a request for safe-keeping?
Fyllion doesn’t pay attention, because behind past-Fyllion, Lusídhe saw that a man with black skin and long black hair teleported into her clearing. He’s wearing a golden mask over his face and as soon as he’s corporeal, he reaches out to the nearest crewmembers, who happen to be Eldrin and maybe-Laithe. Fyllion feels how Lusídhe nods vaguely in the memory: this must be the friend they contacted with the message spell. Contemplating the memory, Fyllion figures the man is probably Eluviel.
As everyone hurries to form a circle around the chanting magic user, Fyllion overhears what Lusídhe picked up from a snappy short conversation between Cedar and Fyllion. Cedar wants Fyllion to join them, but Fyllion refuses: he says he has another matter to attend to first. Then he will join the Young Kraken's crew in the city. Past-Fyllion also points out it's safer if Cedar doesn't get involved. Past-Fyllion cuts off Cedar: no he can’t do anything and shouldn’t question his orders – if Cedar were better at hiding, Daisy wouldn’t have to accompany him to keep him hidden.
As the memory begins to fade, Fyllion sees 3 departures:

Cedar and Daisy hurry away through the forest

With a crack the chanting mages teleport the group away

Fyllion sees his past self step into a tree as if it's a pool of water. Clearly, he knows how to tree-walk

Fyllion shivers and finds himself back in his shoes today as Lusídhe’s fingers fall away from his face. Lusídhe gives a small smile & reminds him of the second gift. At her tired gesture, the tree's roots shift to reveal the crown of daisies, cornflowers and golden leaves. A thin woodsy tendril holds the crown in Fyllion’s reach till he takes it.

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With a nod to Ezra, Lusídhe steps aside, waiting for Ezra and Baaloo to stab the invasive heart. As Ezra tightly holds Lusídhe's hand, Baaloo envelops their sword and together they give Lusídhe mercy: they cleave the heart in two, causing a wave of blood to splash out. Everywhere, the vines start to wither & turn to ash, even on Lusídhe's body. With a nod of thanks, she turns away from us all and she hobbles back to Lutiel's side...

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As the vines and the bloodred vines fall away, the dryads carefully enter the glade at the heart of The Grove. Saylara approaches her friend and they embrace before Lusídhe picks up Lutiel and steps into the elder tree, vanishing them both.

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Everything is still and uncertain, until Saylara steps forward and thanks us.

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As the new Elder Dryad, she puts her hands on the elder tree & sends her life force through the Grove and the entire forest. With a mighty creaking bursting sound, all the charred bark falls away & new growth is sprouting everywhere : leaves, flowers, wood and fruit manifest all at the same time.

As a crown of branches forms on her head, Saylara promises us neither Lusídhe and Lutiel’s love, nor what we did for it, will be ever forgotten in The Grove. Fyllion croaks that we did what we had to, especially after our actions. Saylara side-eyes Louis, she figures he's more responsible than we ever were. Fyllion sighs that he's a friend, at least for another 10 minutes. He hopes the dryads have no need for vengeance and can let him go.

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Hali feels the shell phone vibrate & then Aqueel's shrill voice: “all these nasty plants are flaking off, it's so gross, did you do that? Please hurry back”! Hali reassures him we'll be back in a few hours and Ezra cheekily suggests he can clean the cart as he waits. If he does his chores well, we'll get him new books in the next town. Torn between grumbling at the chores and cheering over the prospect of presents, he agrees to leave us be till we return.

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Saylara turns to Hali. As recognition for Hali's gift she reports that there wasn’t much to clean up in Bog's lair… but they did find a gleaming white opal. She fears it belongs to the shrine’s former guardian & she thinks it's better with us than just lying in an abandoned shrine. She can still feel life and energy in the gem, though probably not enough to bring the guardian entity back. After all, who knows what the devils did to it to drive its corporeal form from the mortal plane?

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Saylara offers to take us through the trees to the road which we gratefully accept. Hali creates a flower with druidcraft & is introspective for a while. Ezra puts Taurillon's token from Yaruda on the elder tree as well.

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Deciding to stick with his resolution to face his problems head-on, Fyllion heads over to Louis, the barghest:

Fyllion: we had a blast, right?
Louis: Yes, you and me, singing in that overgrown dank hole for 8 hours, it was great!
F: We were becoming real friends, right?
L: Yeah, that's why I changed my mind about selling you to the gloaming court!
F: So just remember that I kept my promise, and let you go, and that I truly believe you don't have to do what you're doing. You can leave this forest and live your life (with a persuasion of DIRTY THIRTY).

A flurry of emotions flit over Louis' face: anger, contemplation and finally understanding before he backs away from Fyllion. We hear him mutter “what the fuck am I going to do now” as he reaches the forest edge and disappears from view without attacking us. Encouraged by his success, Fyllion shouts “good luck, Louis” and blesses the barghest with a bardic inspiration.

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Cedar tugs on Fyllion's sleeve.

Cedar: I was wondering, I would really very much like to go home. Can I just wait here for the new portal, so I can go home master?
Fyllion: All I want, is for you to call me friend
C: that's inappropriate
F: I don't want to be that person bossing you around anymore. I may reclaim some parts of who he was or what he had, but I want you to go home and wait for me there in safety
C, hugging Fyllion’s knees in gratitude (because he can’t reach much higher & the knees are the least weird place to hug): I hope next time we see each other you'll still decide to be this good person
F: This is not farewell!
C, embracing his new bond: It better not be, friend; don't go to the unseelie woods again, that's where we were when we had to run. If you go to the Fey Wild, make sure it's in friendly territory

Stepping up as captain, Ezra rumbles with a purr: "well, friendly territory or no, if you ever go there, it’ll be with us, your friends. You're stuck with us, Fyllion. We’ll help you".

Forever ruining the moment, Storm can’t keep from blabbing: “since we’re speaking of friends… erm… here’s your dead pixie Daisy” as he fishes her stabbed and preserved body out of his satchel. Cedar agrees to take her home with him, even though he implies it’s perhaps more than she deserves for her betrayal. Fyllion gently tuts that as a pixie, trickery, change and betrayal were in her nature, so we shouldn’t blame her. Storm bites his lips in worry and apology as he hands her over.

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With that, Fyllion returns to his bravura & decides to try and tree-walk, but he just busts his knuckles. Cedar is sure his talent will return, he's his mother's son and his father was very fond of this trick.

Saylara promises Cedar will be safe until the portal opens again. We follow her through a nearby tree & after a cold moment in an unfathomable darkness, we see daylight again, and a bit further, Aqueel and Gladiola struggling to clean the cart, Lapis and Madonna.

As we're walking to the cart, Fyllion puts on his crown: the wreath of the Arch Fey of living gold leaves nestles in his curls & he starts attuning to it. He starts telling us how he managed to cast fast friends on the barghest, and we report how things went with Czernobog. Fyllion also details the memory Lusídhe shared with him.

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When Gladiola spots us, she frowns. She hurries into the cart and returns with a book. She presses her lips together and unamused she addresses Fyllion: “As you asked me about someone named Skaravell, I've been reading up while waiting & look what I found: Fyllion Skaravell, lord of trickery and guile, patron of changelings, son of Titania and Oberon of the Spring Court... Were your questions a test? Or were you just mocking me”?

Fyllion gleams at her that it's just a little trick among friends, and that seems to placate her.

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Ezra sighs we just need rest (at least El, Ezra and Hali). We'll need to wait a while before all this gunk from the disintegrating vines is gone anyway. We're allowed to shelter in the cart after the non-injured ones help clean the cart & the animals. Lapis is stained by the goo, but Madonna is in good spirits, though she’s looking forward to a good brushing by El.

Gladiola wonders what happened, where is that skinny old druid & why are the vines withering? Ezra grins that Fyllion will probably be delighted to tell the story, esp. the ending where he saved the day. Casting his eyes down at the ground & then looking up at us all again, Fyllion rebuts that he couldn't have done it without all of us.

Still, Fyllion doesn’t hesitate to explain the adventure in vivid detail; he even sings his new song. Gladiola is moved and confused at the same time. She recognizes a part of the song Promise to Skara in Koh'Shar : tears water our growth (IRL often attributed to Shakespeare, but it’s not in any of his canonical texts).

As he concludes his tale, he gives his flute to Aqueel, aka the runt as Gladiola calls him (to Storm’s outraged shock), so they can have a jam session together. Gladiola sighs. With a gesture she soundproofs the cart, so our captain can sleep inside, as we slowly lumber towards The Vale.

In a quiet corner of the back porch, Storm sinks into the ritual to find Bella Swan among all the dimensions in the multiverse. Despite the ruckus, after an hour, there’s a gentle rustle of feathers as the incense smoke thickens around Storm, and Bella Swan returns to him.

Story line

Previously: session 30 Let’s get at the root of this problem

Up next: session 32

Images


Map of the relative positions between the Vale, Yaruda, the Grove and The Spire (from left to right)	Arch Fey Skaravell Fyllion Springcrest, somewhere between 7 months and 4 weeks ago, in full possession of his talents, his crown, his titles and his cunning	Nameless elf girl, close to us 18 months ago - is this Viola whom Cedar named?