The two of you find yourselves taking shelter in a cave near the foot of the mountain that supposedly houses Arctus Tor. The capital fortress of the winter fae. After your long freezing trip here the shelter from unending winds and snow is a welcome change to say the least. The cave is only about 15 feet deep but shelter is shelter and the occasional wisp of snow when the wind changes direction is far preferable to the constant battering you had all endured on the way here.
Sorin pulls out some wood from his pack and begins to set up a fire.
Silindrae lets out a hearty yawn and sets up camp in the very back corner of the cave. “Well I’ve got to be honest, this trip has really been something. You all really know how to treat a lady.”
Telara sits leaning against the wall, axe tucked under her arm. With the corpse long since cleaned from the haft, the greataxe looks like a high-quality piece most warriors would love. Maybe not elves, but in general.
"I suppose most things are better than sitting in the orb, aren't they?"
Ca we go somewhere normal after this? like a beach... or anywhere where someone isn't trying to kill or possess us? Kyras starts a fire using some of his magic, assisting Sorin without saying a word. He huddles under a large bear pelt blanket, staring out into the snow outside Also, i hate this place if i didn't make that clear yet
silindrae glances over and snorts. “It was kinda like a fever dream. It felt like one of those nights where you can’t sleep more then 15 minutes at a time so you keep waking up and rolling around just long enough to register that basically no time has passed. But instead of a 6 to 8 hour restless night it was thousands of years. At least nobody was trying to kill me, so you know... silver linings I guess. I am grateful for freedom.”
Kryas you reach out a hand and the fire starts immediately, sorin jumps back. He was never in danger but he sure wasn’t expecting it. Sorin looks to the fire and then back to you and nods his head. “I am going to scout a bit, be back in 30. It will be important for us to have an idea of the area and it’s... inhabitants before we head out again.”
Silindrae glances over and snorts. “It was kinda like a fever dream. It felt like one of those nights where you can’t sleep more then 15 minutes at a time so you keep waking up and rolling around just long enough to register that basically no time has passed. But instead of a 6 to 8 hour restless night it was thousands of years. At least nobody was trying to kill me, so you know... silver linings I guess. I am grateful for freedom.”
"As long as I'm still breathing, nobody is killing anyone in this cave. I'm unfamiliar with a fever dream though. They sound awful." The elven woman sounds genuinely unsure of what constitutes a fever dream, they probably don't come up in the Copse often.
Telara turns to the new guy. "I would offer to help Sorin, but I don't think I could do much good while we need to avoid conflict. Is there anything you might need at least?"
Can we go somewhere normal after this? like a beach... or anywhere where someone isn't trying to kill or possess us? Kyras starts a fire using some of his magic, assisting Sorin without saying a word. He huddles under a large bear pelt blanket, staring out into the snow outside Also, i hate this place if i didn't make that clear yet
"Come now, I'm sure if we go to a beach we'll merely find a zombie walking out of a lake anyway. We'll be away soon enough."
“just keep the fire going for me. Gunna be cold when I get back.” with that sorin covers his face and walks out into the snow. He is only visible for about three steps into the blizzard before he vanishes. And only the slow crackle of fire and quiet howl of the wind remain.
Telara closes in on the fire with the extra room now available. "Silindrae, can I ask you a personal question? What kind of person raises a dragon? I assumed at first it was another black dragon, but you talk about the others in the orbs as siblings, it sounds more complicated than that."
“Dragon’s have a complicated relationship with family. My siblings and I hatched as a single brood, we have parents in a sense. It takes two to make a baby in our species as it does with yours. We had 6 in our brood born from my mother who was a red and my father who was a copper. Strange bedfellows but most dragons don’t make it to breeding age so you take what you can get I guess. Though once we hatched our parents went separate ways leaving us to fend for ourselves. Like I said. Family is complicated, once we were strong enough to fly and fend for ourselves we put as much distance between each other as we could.” the whole time she speaks she does not raise her head or open her eyes from the laying position she took for bed.
As Silindrae finishes her story you hear the slight crunch of snow coming from the entry of the cave.
“Dragon’s have a complicated relationship with family. My siblings and I hatched as a single brood, we have parents in a sense. It takes two to make a baby in our species as it does with yours. We had 6 in our brood born...”
"Back home we have a tendancy to swaddle childre- wait." Before she begins talking about the Copse again Telaras eyes widen in realization. "Did you say six in the brood? We've only heard of five orbs. "
That... Doesnt match the stories... Kryas focuses on keeping the fire going , thinking about everything they've heard thus far
A small rabbit hops into the cave and nestles by the fire as you talk. Silindrae eyes it for a moment and then continues her story. “well yes. It was the chromatics who were most heavily hunted in the Dragon Wars. My final sister is a metallic. She befriended a dwarven settlement and together she and the dwarves carved out quite the empire... when I first met you in the mirror we talked about how some dragons formed alliances instead of hiding. She was one of those dragons.”
Silindrae seems to trail off as her story goes. Not so much finishing what she was saying but more seeming to get distracted by her own thoughts. She then shifts like she became suddenly very socially uncomfortable. Either of you can make an insight check if you feel the need.
So... she's alive then? Could she help us. Not at the moment mind you, but after
Kryas you get the feeling she said something she did not mean to and that maybe the sister is not a topic she wanted brought up.
Telara you know social awkwardness and you can absolutely tell that she is uncomfortable in what was said but the specifics as to why are unclear to you.
Silindrae groans and continues “My sister is less than inclined to work with me. We have not spoken since long before man came to prominence. It is not impossible that she may choose to work with you two. She’s always had a soft spot for goodie two shoes hero types.” a new powerful gust of cold air blows a peppering of snow into the cavern. Continued questioning is met with deflection or downright is ignored, seems to be a sore spot. Silindrae soon falls into a sleep to take her long rest for the night.
Kryas make a nature check.
Telara make a history check.
Telara: being from the copse you know that dimensional hopping is very difficult dangerous business. And the feywild specifically flexes and twists time from a line into more of a helix. While you are close to your goal and it is an important goal you know that the longer you are in this feywild the more and more likely it is that temporal distortions will occur on your way back. You have been here for 3 day cycles. It would be very dangerous to push it much farther. However pushing on could result in exhaustion and Kryas has seemed tense about what may lie ahead.
Kryas: Your new fey blood and position as the summer knight allows you to know the creatures of the feywild as if you had researched them for years. And you can’t believe it took you this long to notice but the rabbit resting at the fire is not native to the feywild.
You may not like hearing it, but we should find her and try to work things out. World being at stake and everything... Kryas listen and thinks a bit, eventually turning his head he see's the rabbitThat's... not a fey-wild Rabbit.. But what's it doing here? how?
"I suppose those questions are less of a problem than it's owner will be. Things like that don't just wander around here of all places." Telara's eyes follow the rabbit intently. She looks at her spear then to Kryas.
"Are you gonna talk to the rabbit or am I? Otherwise we need to begin the final leg of this journey the moment Sorin returns."
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Telara, i get that you want to be finished. and want to be out of here. Gods only know i agree. But we all need rest, i can guarantee there will be fighting and danger if who i think is up there... as for the rabbit. Kryas watches the rabbit a moment and tries to get it to come over offering a little food, And while i'm Criticizing people, Silindrae, How in hell did something manage to succeed at enchanting you earlier?
Silindrae’s eyes open for the first time revealing bright green irises and slotted pupils instead of the dark eyes of the human form she currently inhabits. There’s a second of very obvious frustration pointed at Kryas (likely misguided) before she collects herself and her eyes return to normal. “I’m not totally sure. I am very frustrated by it. I have 2 theories. 1. Is that the feywild is weird and the creatures here may be capable of bypassing my normal ability to refuse certain magical effects. 2. It may be possible that Tarkir’s mask is in play. I do not know the exact magical effects of the mask but it may be very possible that it acts as a bypass to my normal resistances. If the disturbance to the winter court is a result of Tarkirs mask we best be prepared. Though I highly doubt Mab would have been fool enough to use it.” she pauses for a minute before continuing. “if a mask is in play then we are in serious danger. They bring great power but at a severe cost.”
Kryas you reach out a hand to the rabbit and make a few quick kissy sounds. The rabbits ears twitch before it looks over and hops into your lap. It’s a very real non-magical rabbit just like you would find on the material plane.