"Hope the oven is big enough to fit all of us." Katrine and Storm probably won't have any issues, but Ahto is not exactly a small man.
After quickly recovering your adventuring gear, the party files back into Goshstone's bakery. The door chime does not startle the put-upon baker this time, and he accepts your return with a heavy sigh.
However, he becomes agitated anew when you walk towards his oven.
"What are you doing?" he exclaims.
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"We are acting in the interest of Uringen," Ahto replies, sensing that Goshstone did not, in fact, request the party go through the oven portal and confront the villains. "In your interest, as well. I will even give you an alibi to protect yourself, should we fail."
He grabs the little man by the front of his apron and lifts him off the ground. With his other hand, he draws his dagger, and places the tip under the gnome's chin. "We discovered the portal. We learned to whom it leads. We are going through. You cannot stop us. If you try, you will suffer for it."
Ahto's tone sounds like he is reading the threat off of a page. It has no emotion or inflection. It is almost boring. He then immediately sheathes his dagger and sets the little man back down. He then nods to him and says, There. Now you can truthfully state that you were threatened, and were powerless to stop us."
The Vixen thought the baker wanted them to step in, but it seems Ahto knows what’s really going on. She waits…
Pelipe has a thrill of excitement on her face as she lingers near the Vixen. Her eyes seem to be communicating some extra attraction toward Aho at the moment as she waits. When they are all ready, she will go in as one of the last.
Katrine looks far more comfortable in her sturdy homespun, leather, and mithral breastplate. She grins at Goshstone. "Oh no, what a shame, you were forced at knifepoint to let people go beat the tar out of some dark fey."
"Oh my. Lord Ahto, so forceful," Althea says in a mock swoon. "Keep that up, and my practical interests in you may become far more personal."
She punctuates this with a patrician laugh, but she seems genuinely impressed by how Ahto handles the matter.
"In the meantime, shall I stay here to keep an eye on both gnomes?" she asks, gesturing towards Vark and Goshstone.
The Vixen turns to Lady Thrune.
She speaks in a deeply serious tone.
“Lady Thrune, should this oven turn out to be a magical trap, and I end up as a rose-shaped cupcake, be sure to tell me wife o’ me tragic demise, preferably with certain details left out. ‘Died in a fire’ would suffice. ‘No, I haven’t the body. For the best, ye’d not recognize her.’
“I’m counting on ye.”
With that, Vixen crawls into the oven.
"Oh, Hell forbid such a terrible fate," Althea replies to the Vixen with a sardonic smile.
The Chelish woman watches with equal parts amusement and rapt attention as the party, one by one, climbs into the magical oven and vanishes within is sooty depths, one after another.
You crawl through the oven and pass through the portal. The sensation can be likened to climbing out of a cool root cellar and passing back into the vibrant, warm sunlight of a summer's day. A dim light beckons, heralding the end of this dark, tunnel-like passage.
One by one, you emerge from a burrow dug into the heady smelling soil, nestled at the foot of a massive mushroom, its cap almost as wide as a cottage's roof. You find yourselves within the interior of a hollowed out, dead tree of incredible size. Even the old sycamore back in the Kamelands would pale in comparison to this behemoth of a tree, which seems more akin to a tower or keep.
Very large insects crawl along the moldering bark of the dead tree or among the tall plant life growing like statues from the well-fertilized soil. For a moment, you wonder whether you've been transported into the First World itself, based upon the strange proportions you see around you.
This notion is cast aside when the last of your companions emerge from the portal in the ground and stand among you.
Katrine and Doo-dad tower above you! The dog is the size of a horse, whilst the huntress is as tall as a giant!
Your companions, however, are unnaturally small, standing only as tall as children around you.
Pelipe is glad she had changed out of her beautiful, new dress and into this adventurer's outfit, or else her knees would have been scraped up, muddy, and wet from the tunnel. As she comes out, immediately she recognizes the feeling of being reduced in size, as she's done it to herself numerous times.
"Oh! This is a transmutation spell. I can cast this myself. It actually might be beneficial for me to stay like this for the time being," she whispers with a chuckle to the others. She is silent as she is not sure what is around them. "Here, let me help."
In a moment, she pulls out some spell components and casts enlarge person upon Lord Ahto. The act should dispel the effects of the reduce person spell upon him.
If she has time, she remove her stones of power to reprepare the spell and cast it for the others in the party if they wish . She gets flush red in the cheeks at the mini-sized gnome in their party. "SO CUTE!"
She looks around, trying to identify where these creatures reside.
“I ain’t baked into a cupcake, but I’m cute as one,” the Vixen says in a deadpan serious tone. When Ahto is magically grown back, she asks Pelipe, “Ye know transmutation magic then. How long’ll it last?
“Maybe leave me like this ’til we know it’s permanent. I might be able to sneak about. And size don’t matter much. Tyg showed me that several times over, and you too, Wonky, and Melianse.”
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Ahto feels the unfamiliar sensation of compression as he emerges from the oven reduced in size. He then feels the more familiar sensation of expansion as Pelipe's enlargement spell restores him. He looks to Pelipe and give her a warm, grateful smile. "Thank you, Miss Lightdriver."
He turns to the others. "I could not move stealthily if remained small, or even if I had been reduced to the size of a mouse. At least at my true height, I have a better chance if combat should arise."
“Pelipe, if ye can cast Message on me, or if any o’ ye know a spell that can keep tabs on me whereabouts, cast now.
“I’ll scout.”
VV is sneakier than she’s ever been!
Pelipe can't help but chuckle at Small-Vixen's jokes.
"I can't say for certain. I'd need a stronger detection spell than this to know the caster's strength. Typically it will last a few minutes, which would indicate that if this was indeed a trap, they probably also have an alarm in place to let them know when people have arrived. I'd be wary, everyone."
She smiles happily to Ahto's thanks. It is clear the looks between them have warmed.
"Of course." She kind of gets lost for a second reveling in (to her) large-sized Ahto, and then blinks and looks back to VV as she speaks to her. "It may take me a minute. I had not prepared it. Sorry..." she fumbles as she begins digging through her spellbook for the cantrip. "Let's see, you will need to stay within about a hundred feet or so of us. Does that help? This tree is expansive. Our quarry may be within its recesses themselves."
As she reviews the spell, she tries to commit to memory the proper methods of connection between the two of them. If there is sufficient time, she will cast it upon the Vixen and take up a hiding position herself.
The Vixen takes in the world being a bit bigger.
But regarding the possible alarm, “We might not see ‘em coming. Most fey can become invisible. Luckily our dogs still have their big noses.” She makes the mistake of patting storm’s snout. “Wait, ah, no tongue?!”
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Wonky clucks her tongue in recognition as the transmutation effect dawns upon her. She takes a moment to ponder its origin.
She then turns around to regard her massive canine companions.
"Whoa! Doo-dad! Sprocket! You've been getting SO BIG, my boys!" the diminuited gnome calls out. "Bend down, Doo-dad, and let me climb up! I'm keen to get a ride!"
Wonky then attempts to mount her less-martial canine companion.
Katrine does a double take as the group emerges from the portal. Everyone except her and the dogs has shrunk! "Okay then... I suppose I should have expected a magical trap from a fey portal."
But regarding the possible alarm, “We might not see ‘em coming. Most fey can become invisible. Luckily our dogs still have their big noses.” She makes the mistake of patting Storm’s snout. “Wait, ah, no tongue?!”
This human is Storm's friend! The wolfdog gives her a great big lick from chin to hairline. Katrine chuckles at the Vixen's expression. "Sorry, Vixen. That's what happens when your face is in licking range. I'll let you do the scouting, you'll be sneakier at this size than I am."
Wonky quickly identifies that you are still on the Material Plane, but she also recognizes that this site has some manner of connection or affinity to the First World. The massive, dead tree that currently surrounds you is the biggest piece of evidence to that effect.
The pale, bone-white bark of the tree also guides you to the worrying hypothesis that this fey specimen may have succumbed to a variant of the Bleaching.
As the party regains its bearings and Pelipe does her best to undo the shrinking caused by the fey trap, she notices some winged creatures flitting about high above among the bleached bark of the dead tree's interior. Size and proportion are difficult to confirm, and Pelipe also can't confirm whether what she saw was just some insects or birds or if they were dark fey sentries.
Just ahead, perhaps sixty feet or so away, you spot a company of figures moving among the shadows. They range in size from tiny and sprite-like, to the size of Wonky, to the size of you and your more human companions. They stand on the verge of some kind of cavern or sinkhole that opens upon the forest floor.
Vixen whispers to Pelipe via message.
“I got people smaller than me, bigger than me, and about the same. They’re hanging around a hole in the forest floor. Underground lair?
“Ain’t no getting around it. We could ambush, but I’d rather take me chance that talking’ll work. How about ye run this by Ahto. I get their attention soon as ye start walking? If they attack me, the rest o’ ye hit ‘em while they’re focused on me. If they chat it up, then we give diplomacy a shot.”
[/b]
VV remains still and silent, awaiting Pelipe to relay acceptance of her plan or an alternative.
"Alright, and look above you too. I thought I saw something fluttering around up there. I can't be sure..."
From her small hiding place, she calls out to Ahto.
"We may have people above us in the tree...or perhaps it was just bugs. I saw something moving there. I can't be sure right now." She taps her ear to the whispered conversation. "The Vixen says that she's spotted potential hostiles ahead of where she is. A company of people of all sizes. They are presently in front of a large hole in the forest floor. She proposed this is possibly an underground lair. She wants to know if we should ambush them, or try diplomacy."
She knows that normally you don't give way to terrorists or people who wantonly bring harm to the citizens of your region, so she is interested to hear what Ahto has to say.
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"If we assume they are the hostiles we seek, we might inadvertently sour relations with potential allies if we are wrong," Ahto replies. "I would rather approach them directly, if it is to be a confrontation. We speak with them, and if they are hostile, defend ourselves. The best solution would be for our diminutive companions to sneak close enough to listen and observe. If they can confirm and report whether or not these are the hostiles we seek, we need not worry about diplomacy."
Katrine nods, stringing her beloved composite longbow. "Works for me." She would rather greet the dark fey with cold iron arrows, but that's why she's not in charge here.
Pelipe will report back to the Vixen what Ahto has said. There is something in the tone of her voice that is appreciative of such wisdom, though she doesn't say it directly. It is only detected by her subtle eagerness to report what he has said.
"I am ready when you are."
With caution, she will move forward after him. (On the defensive)
VV reports, ”I assume they’re dark fey, but part o’ what makes us the good guys is we don’t start chopping up fairies ‘cause their wings don’t glitter. That and there’s so damn many we’d be fools to start a fight.
“I speak Sylvan, so I best show meself. I’ll stay hidden ’til they notice Ahto, and’ll do me part to translate. I ain’t no diplomat though.”
You step forth through the cleft in the hollow tree trunk, which rises like a jagged arched doorway, and emerge out into the shadowy glade. The limited sunlight breaching the thick tangle of tree branches where the massive, dead tree pierces the canopy provides only dim lighting around the trunk - and deeper shadows further out.
Rather than fey, you find a line of gnomes waiting for you. There are five of them: three men and two women. Their hair and skin are pale, making them seem akin to ghosts lurking on the edge of the light in the glade. They greet you with spears, javelins, and knives gripped tightly in their white knuckles. Their faces are wracked by expressions of fear and despair.
Storm growls softly, but quiets down when Katrine puts a hand on his head. She frowns and leans in to speak quietly to Pelipe. "There are a bunch of smaller people just behind the gnomes. Probably fey, but I can't quite see any details. Pass it on to the others with your spell, would you? Wonky can probably see them for herself, but I doubt humans can."
Pelipe will nod quietly to the much larger Katrine. She can see her beautiful eyes now with new wonderment at how large they seem to be. Pulling away from them she whispers to VV.
"Be warned, there are a bunch of smaller people behind the gnomes. Katrine thinks they are fey, hidden in the dark."
Seeing Ahto step forward, she will do so as well, but further behind him, staying close by. She will curtsey to those of the fey who address them and wish to lower their weapons. She clearly does not have any out at the moment, so she definitely helps support the fact they aren't there for violence.
"These words are true. Please. We are here to help and work with you to the betterment of all." She gestures to those supposedly in the darkness, as though she were able to see them. With welcoming hands, she beckons them closer. "Come. It's okay. My name is Pelipe, what are your names?"
”Lovely. I wonder if the blighted’ll obey the fey out o’ fear. Still… I’m glad we ain’t making the first move. The day I strike first because o’ what I face, I’m a hypocrite.”
The Vixen holds her position for now.
"You need to leave," one of the gnomish men declares, his voice dying without an echo in the forest glade. "We loyally serve Mather Nithra the Great, Savior of the Bleached, and you are trespassing on his land. If you don't leave, we will be forced to hurt you."
The Vixen holds her position.
She’s pretty sure Ahto’s instincts are way better than hers, so she’ll just pay attention to his lead.
Katrine looks to Ahto, wondering what he'll do. He's the boss; she'll follow his lead.
Even without his divinely honed senses, Ahto could see the truth: Mortal fear compels these gnomes' actions.
Their hands tremble, and their postures are unsure. Someone - undoubtedly the dark fey lurking just out of sight - has the gnomes so terrified, so cowed that they are willing to take up arms and stand against you, even though they know it is a futile gesture.
The question becomes whether you can save them from this fear.
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"I know you do not wish to fight. We all do, including the cowards hiding in the shadows behind you too afraid to fight their own battles. Know this, you are battle fodder to them. They do not care if you live or die, and they will just as readily kill your kin and companions, regardless of whether you obey them or not. This is your chance. Turn on your captors. Join us, and break from the yoke of your oppressors. You will be welcome to accompany us back to Tamlyn and start your lives anew as First Citizens of a new nation. If you fight, we will defend ourselves, and we will kill you if we must."
"Please no...let it not come to a fight." she looks up to Ahto with worried eyes as she stands behind him. Though he tried, sometimes the will of the evil do not submit. Her heart begins to beat faster in anticipation for the coming threat and her mind races for what to do next.
The Vixen waits. Her attacks will be nonlethal regardless of the foe.
And she’ll have the element of surprise.
The gnomes look crestfallen. One chews his lip, another closes her eyes as though bracing herself.
"No," the lead gnome says sadly, shaking his head. "We can't. They won't let us."
The gnomes, resigned to their fates, prepare to rush the party.
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”Try not to kill these ones, if you are able, but not at risk of your own lives. When the cowards in the back show themselves, grant them no such mercy,” Ahto says to his companions, as he draws Burden from its scabbard.
Ahto calls on Abadar to infuse him with the divine virtues of Justice and Purity. He then steps forward into the clearing, readying himself for the fight.