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Wonky recoils at the notion of carrying such a dagger. "I would sooner carry a 'dog-bane' weapon, I would think," she indicates, agreeing that Katrine would be the most apt party member to carry such an important weapon. "Don't mistake me; I believe that it is a necessary enchantment to fight those that we might find ourselves up against. but it's not me that would wield it."
To Pelipe, Wonky poses the reply: "If the treant has indeed perished from the Bleaching, then there is little purpose in returning its heart to its inert form at this point until we can cure it of its lethal illness."
Prior to leaving the First World side of Uringen, Wonky takes the briefest of moments to hunt for a trinket that could be affixed to the harnesses on both Sprocket and Doo-dad. "They need a tchotchke as a reminder of their time here, and possibly a focus for future spells," Wonky explains.
"I prefer to fight at range, but if nobody else wants it... well, we might need it in the future." And if she has to engage in melee, it would be a good idea to have an enchanted weapon. Katrine's axe and current dagger are well-made, but otherwise ordinary. Although I'm not sure if I should be insulted that they're offering me the weapon that they think is so repulsive.
Maybe it's because they have fey friends? But Katrine has human friends and family, and she trained to fight humans because there are a lot of human bandits and other ne'er-do-wells out there. Well, if they want to be squeamish, Katrine will just have to pick up the slack. The ranger accepts the dagger, carefully wrapping it in a spare cloak from her pack. She'll need to make a sheath later.
"I also prefer to fight at range, and I do know how to use a dagger, but my fighting ability with such an item is nothing compared to your ability, Katrine. You take it, dear. It is quite a beautiful item in of itself. Knowing Tamlyn's potential foe, it may come to some use. Though...perhaps a mage can alter the bane quality on it to be focused on hags!" she chuckles, knowing the disdain Katrine has for them. Perhaps with enough study, she could figure out enchanting?
"We'll see," she answers. If nothing else, she can try.
She will take the heart from the apparatus and unless someone stops her, will return it to the tree. Pelipe begin to cast and will temporarily cause a connection to the fey realm using the rudimentary magical knowledge they learned earlier with the portal. Perhaps their Bleaching experimentation will be like a treant "heart surgery", infusing the fey-styled magic that is not natural here, to the Treant. Her hopes are that it will reverse the Bleaching effect even to a small degree. Perhaps, then such an ancient treant can mend itself once it experiences this?
"I would say if there is no reaction at all," she answers with grace and kindness. "In which case, we can discuss that when we cross that bridge. For now, let's hope and pray for good things that we'll start to restore this mighty being." She gestures to Ahto. "Since you are wanting fey so active in your community back in your homeland, how much better if a treant joins us? Who knows what an ally like that can do? Tend the forests? Be a soothing presence to all fey? Make sure renegade woodsmen don't run amok and cut everything down?"
The treant's heart is, appropriately, significantly larger than that of a humanoid's. It requires at least two of you working in tandem to haul the magical organ, along with additional assistance to raise it from the sinkhole.
When it is brought within the bleached husk of its former owner, there is, tragically, no miraculous revivification. The dead treant remains dead.
However, Wonky can sense that the tower-like structure of the treant's hollow trunk seems to amplify the heart's energy, akin to how the acoustics of a properly designed hall can amplify a performer's music.
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"Well there's an unexpected effect," Wonky exclaims. "It would appear that the treant's heart can be used as an amplifying focus for the energy emanating from it. It'll make our work easier, thanks to you, Pelipe." Wonky gives an acknowledging nod.
"The treant in this form is dead, however, but we still may be able to obtain a cultivar from its hollow trunk."
While things aren't exactly like she hoped, she can perhaps do something to restore this being. She replies Wonky's nod of acknowledgment with one of her own.
"Not a bad idea. Let's see what we can do."
She will take a vessel from among the supplies down in the sinkhole that Mather used to drink out of, will fill it with water so that the cutting can keep fresh and perhaps even reroot itself or sustain itself long enough for them to return back to Tamlyn.
After a thorough examination, Wonky and Pelipe conclude that, although this deceased treant does not perfect correlate with species of tree native to Golarion, it is most comparable to a Mirnbay spruce. These are the largest known species of spruce, and they are the fifth-largest of all known conifer trees.
Although such trees usually reproduce via seed cones, you aren't sure whether this applies to treants. Indeed, the knowledge of treant reproduction is a closely guarded secret usually known by only the elders of druid circles.
However, the pair of researchers discover some manner of small offshoot or stalk growing from one of the exposed roots. They do not recall seeing it prior to returning the heart to the trunk, so they conclude that it was fostered by an invigoration or reaction from the restored fey energy.
They carefully extricate this seedling sprig and prepare it for transport back to Tamlyn.
"Its hope is restored, all. Look!" she happily exchanges. With her help, Wonky is able to collect the seedling sprig and begin the process of getting it to start regrowing. After getting it settled properly, she feels almost druidic. Perhaps such a being will flourish and bless Ahto's lands? She hopes it is not the opposite.
For the next couple of days, she will want to do numerous things. There are many hours in a day.
Early Morning: She will rise early to see the sunrise. After it, she will head to the bakery for a pastry. There she will sit and review her arcane studies lightly. She will recall information about the forests they are in and what lives in them to potentially aid in whatever dangers they would experience.
Mid Morning: She will want to exercise and will be seen in the city limits exploring the nearby paths, greeting people generally, and observing the beauty of the location. She will go to the waterfall near the mayor's and study the exposed stone there to get an idea of what is in their location. If possible, she will gather a large masoned chunk in which to make a small statue. It may be strange to see a cute, small-framed woman heave a stone chunk onto her shoulder for transportation to a quiet spot.
Afternoon: Around lunchtime, she will find a quiet place away from people's homes, but within the safety of the city. There she will strike her stone, breaking it into a slimmed shape for modeling. If any of her companions wish to see her work, she is exceptionally skilled and you've never seen her as focused or at peace as when she is working with her hands like this. Before long, her hands are covered in stone dust and there is a rudimentary shape of a humanoid. It is here that she stops working and will pack the reduced size of the statue in her saddlebag and clean up her mess.
Evening: Earlier in the evening, she will visit the bathhouse again. For some reason, while the spell did clean her, it left her without a clean scent, fragrance, and the normal noble freshness she is accustomed to. It was better than being covered with blood and scrapes, but she felt unclean still, so she makes herself presentable (in her mind) again. That evening, she would try to make herself open for her companions, should any of them want her for spending time together...
Late Evening/Night: It has been a mad rush since the death of her companions. She's lived in fear since leaving home. Only here, getting to relax in relative safety does she feel like she can truly relax. It is here she looks up to the sky for the first time to really appreciate it. She spends time in the square with its large open field to observe the heavens while she lies on her bedroll in comfort. That night, she would have to find where the rest of the party is staying and will join them for sleep.
Early Morning: This morning, she rises to study her spells and prepare her gear for the next few days. The mage also takes some food with her and heads to the watchtower. There, she will try to unravel its mysteries, as well as why the towns are shifting so randomly. If it can be restrained or brought into order, she could help the cities (both of them) flourish and repair their relationships.
Mid Morning: After eating, she would want to spend some time writing. In seclusion, she would finish her letters home, would finish journalling what had happened in the past few days, and would seal her letters.
Afternoon: Around the time for lunch, she would again, seek to spend time with Ahto, but not only with him. She values her other team members equally and would try to come to know them more intently by asking them, even the guards with them, questions about their homelands, memories, occupations, and interests.
Evening: As evening rolls around, if possible, she would like to visit a tavern or restaurant with Ahto. Pelipe would like to discuss her role in the nation of Tamlyn with him specifically. She would confess she is without funding, poor to the point of having almost no money on her after having her valuables stolen, and dependent on his grace to provide either a reference for occupation or whatever else he has in mind for her. Pelipe makes it clear she is his to command as he wills. He will find she is careful with her words, not wanting to seem like a leech, but it is true, they've grown closer as friends, and she seems to be appealing to his kindness; perhaps in the hopes he can give her at least an anchor of provision of some minor means in his homeland.
Late Evening/Night: She is open to whatever.
Back in the town square in unstuck Uringen, Seripan finishes her performance and stands up straight atop the lintel of the old stone well. The sunlight, peeking out from behind the strange clocktower, casts her long yet tiny shadow upon the Vixen.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Miss Crimson Legs herself," the grig sneers. "She shows up...at last!"
Lady Aurelia may have undersold how bitter Seripan can be when people miss her performances.
The Vixen kneels before the grig. “Please accept me apologies. I’d knocked out a tooth fairy prior to restraining Mather Nithra. I defeated both; but not in ways that could’ve killed ‘em.
“It was very important to me to see ye… but nothing matters to me more than being able to truthfully claim I never made an attempt on the life of a fey. Nithra was killed after being restrained. For the best, really. But I wasn’t about to let that tooth fairy be killed as well. I personally handled the prisoner meself.”
She notes, “Ye’re better off with Nithra dead, but I hope ye get me… I worked too hard befriending Tyg, and many fey since. A cold iron weapon in me hand; knowingly offering an ally an opportunity to kill me fey prisoner… just one crossing of that line, and me rep with the fey is obliterated.”
A treant seedling! How exciting! "I hope the seedling flourishes in Tamlyn. Wouldn't that be something?" Katrine keeps an even more vigilant watch while the two scholars prepare the seedling and carry it out of the First World.
Hmm, what now? Katrine sure isn't going with the Vixen to see Seripan. She wants to stay a non-entity as far as potentially angry fey go, thank you very much. Just some hired muscle for the road. It's a role the ranger is quite familiar with.
Instead, she opts to browse the crafters' district, looking for a shop that sells materials for leatherworking. Maybe Uringen will have some unique dyes or threads available. She could use more ink and extra large parchment for mapmaking, as well.
"Wow. I have no idea what you're talking about."
Seripan blinks, her expression blank as she waits for elaboration.
"Ooh! Now I get it! I suppose that is a pretty good excuse for missing the show. You're not off the hook - I'm still pretty miffed - but I understand.
"I'm still gonna play the song I wrote about you. I'm, er, actually pretty happy with how it came out. Happy accidents, you know?"
...
Meanwhile, Katrine finds that with the Embeth Travelers periodically visiting town to trade in their wares, there is a wealth of materials for leatherworking and dyeing to be found in the shops and stalls. Indeed, she finds some unique colors and pigments available, collected from rare and maybe fey sources.
However, while she is able to find ink, parchment is in somewhat short supply. No large sheets are available, and the regular sized sheets are priced a bit above the expected cost.
...
Speaking of the Embeth Travelers, a trio of their representatives arrive in Uringen and venture into the unstuck town. They track down Ahto with surprising celerity, proving their skill at tracking down targets. Once the death of Mather Nithra is confirmed, they offer up the bounty collected from their fellows.
They present 231gp, 111sp, and a magic bow.
At the time that the Embeth Travelers make their way into unstuck Uringen and exchange a reward for the death of Mather's gang, she will inquire if they head in a direction to a populous city in the north that can deliver a couple of letters that way. If not, perhaps they can relay the messages to someone who can? If so, she will hand over the two and explain where they are to be sent.
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Wonky greets the Embeth Travelers with surprising gregariousness.
"Welcome! We've heard much about you, and your reward is most kind. I'd like to introduce myself - Wonky Prong, Jr, Chief Librarian of the Great Library of Tamlyn. My colleague Pelipe Lightdriver and I are questing in order to seek any scraps of knowledge that we might find to uncover the cause of the Bleaching affliction so common to my kind. We had felt that Nithra was likely selling snake oil cures for it, and we were proven correct, but more to the point - what resources might the Embeth Travelers have that could aid our quest?"
Wonky looks shockingly coy. "I was raised a traveler myself, of course. Not your kind of traveler, but still a tinker's daughter. An itinerant home on the road, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I'd be keen to know more of your organisation, if I may."
The Vixen’s mask hides the look in her eyes, but her lips part just slightly in surprise. For a moment, she feels like she is both Addison and the Vixen at once.
“Ye wrote a song… about me?” She’s not so quick with a quip or even a ”thank ye,” which is given without the emotionless facade. Not that she’s choked up, but there is a softness in her expression of gratitude. What would she sing about… me?
The Vixen finds a place to sit and listen. “I’d love to hear yer happy accident. Ye’ve a right to be miffed… I should’ve sent word o’ me delay. I… I should really remain silent. I’m at a performance!”
The Vixen’s lips form a smile. It’s almost giddy, like a child’s. Anticipation and wonder overtake her, and she just wants to forget about being shrunken and wrestling a grig, and carrying an unconscious fey in her hand, and all the death necessary to save the blighted gnomes… and just take in the beauty of Seripan and her music…!
"Oh, wow!" Katrine is like a kid in a candy shop with all the dyes available. She buys some of everything that she can afford and doesn't already have. Vixen would love this, I need to tell her about all the colors she can get for her clothing designs. It's disappointing that she can't find map-sized parchment, but at least she got some good quality inks.
Purchases stuffed into her backpack, the ranger sets off to track down Ahto and the rest of the group.
Wonky previously speculated that the clocktower was constructed using instructions from a manuscript that was stolen from her old university. You recognize that the tower is meant to be a focal point for time alteration magics. However, based upon other observations you've made and history you've learned about the area, you suspect that the tower was built atop an ancient fey circle that caused erratic arcane fluctuations. In tandem with the improper construction that Wonky noted, this could have caused the tower to displace itself and the surrounding parts of the town when it was first activated.
"I'm sure that there's more than a few folk back at one of the camps who'd be willing to serve as a messenger, at least if the price is right," one of the Traveler representatives confirms for Pelipe.
The Travelers wear simple outfits of gray and green, ensuring that they stand out from both the black-and-white clothing of static Uringen as well as he vibrant colors of unstuck Uringen.
In response to Wonky's enthusiastic greeting, their leader introduces himself as Jamel Visser.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, but I hope you won't mind if we keep this meeting brief. It has been many years since we've ventured into this afflicted town; we only dared take the risk because of the promise that Mather Nithra had been killed. While we are proud to protect Uringen and it's people, we never visit the town itself. Whatever arrogant magic cursed Uringen...we simply find it too dangerous. We don't want to be lost when the town shifts again."
The longbow, besides being crafted with a significant draw strength, has been enchanted to aid when tracking down one's prey and to bring them down all the quicker.
The party may see her wandering around with these scrolls of information before packing them in her horse's saddlebags.
When the Embeth Traveler suggests that the price need to be right, she is curious. The man just paid them for the death of this villain who has eluded them for so long. Could he not find it within his will to take her letters? To her, it seems like he wishes for some other form of payment than money. Even as far as money goes, she is unsure if the reward goes to Ahto alone, to him and his upper echelon of companions, or to all of them who took part in the task. She trusts in his generosity but doesn't demand it at this point. Instead, she relies on herself.
"Mr. Visser, sir, I have little in the way of possessions. I have this magical pearl. It can aid with spellcasting...and this comb. It is made of mother of pearl, a gift passed down from the women in my family. It is not worth much, but it bears my family crest on it and is probably worth more than a normal comb..."
It pains her to relinquish her mother's comb, passed down through their family line. To her, the request of her uncle's aid, as well as communication to her mother and father are far more important and may help stabilize Ahto as a ruler. It is a heavy price, but one she must pay.
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Once Ahto determines the nature of the bow, he seeks out Katrine, who seems to be the most likely to make use of its power.
Once he locates her, he divulges the powers of the bow.
"It seems to be a good fit with your abilities. Are you interested in claiming it? If not, I will offer it to the others. If it remains unclaimed, we will either add it to the Tamlyn armory or sell it, and bank the proceeds of that sale in the Treasury."
Katrine visibly perks up at Ahto's description of the bow. "Ooh, nice! I have a magic composite bow, but it just has a basic enchantment. Nothing like this new one." She grins at the leader of Tamlyn. "Yes please. You can have my old bow in exchange, either sell it or put it in your armory." The ranger hands over her old weapon, trying not to look too eager as she takes the new one. Taking a shooting posture, she pulls the string back without an arrow, testing the draw. Katrine nods in approval and slings the bow across her back. "The Embeth Travelers have excellent taste in weapons."
Visser chortles as Pelipe describes the wealth available to her. The Traveler leader invites her to walk with him and his associates as they acquit themselves of the unstuck part of Uringen.
"You offer too much. Any of my peers who took the job would be delivering the message on foot, perhaps on horseback - not in some gilded carriage. A dozen gold would easily suffice as payment. I'd imagine that you could manage such a payment from your share of the monetary reward for Nithra's death."
While Ahto goes over the bow with Katrine, Pelipe walks with the Embeth leader and discusses the matter quietly with him, "Ahto is a good man. If I were you, in the future I would put my trust in him to act well, as I do. Certainly, he is one to align your followers with, in safe travels and kind welcome. Perhaps in time, even friendship among him and the Ebeth Travelers, but I will leave that for him to sort out with you."
"As for the reward, he is not greedy and cares much for us. However, the reward was placed in his hand, and far be it from me, a subservient at the moment, to request a share from him; regardless of my efforts in the subduing of Mather. I was raised better than that. I have no doubt he will provide it though, as he is one of the most generous of leaders I've seen. Generous, but firm. If time comes that he gives me a share, I will pay you gladly, otherwise, as stated, I will be giving greater than is required. I cannot have these letters not sent if the opportunity is available to me out here in the wilds. It will take months off the time for a letter to arrive from his home in the wild, assuming it can be sent at all. I trust the Embeth Traveler's to make it such a distance safely as well...Such is how important them being sent is to me..." She looks at him mild seriousness. It's not as though she's a spy concealing the fact she's sending a letter, but she does clearly want it delivered as soon as possible.
If Ahto does split the reward, she will gladly deposit some in the hand of the deliverer. If not, she will be trading away either her comb, or pearl of power, or both. She would prefer the message be delivered with speed and on horseback if possible, and would pay 20gold for it to be done.
One of the men accompanying Visser personally agrees to deliver the message for Pelipe, explaining that his horse is tied to a hitching post back in the static part of Uringen. He accepts the 20gp when Ahto divides the party's shares of the cash reward.
As you finish counting out the coins, though, Sprocket and Doo-dad begin to bark and ruff. Something seems to have them agitated.
"What is it, boys?" That's odd, Storm isn't barking. Katrine frowns, scanning the area for signs of something amiss.
Pelipe doesn't like it when dogs get agitated. This is partially from a particularly mean dog nipping her hand when she was young, so when the dogs start growling at what she's doing and the situation surrounding her, there is a clearly nervous look on her face.
Ahto discerns no auras of evil nearby. Stranger still, none of you can identify anything that could logically be causing the dogs such distress. However, you notice a few other animals - birds, squirrels, and the like - also acting unusually. By wing and paw, they begin fleeing outward from Uringen. Stranger still, this behavior is not shared by all animals. You see some that remain utterly calm: robins unmoved from their perches, squirrels undeterred from trying to rob windowsills.
You also notice that Visser and his companions have taken note of this behavior, which leaves them, too, discomforted.
"We must hurry. The town is going to vanish any moment," Visser says in a loud hiss.
They do not wait for any reply before breaking into a spring, making for the roped-off limits of unstuck Uringen.
Katrine whistles sharply to Storm, then sprints after Visser and company. Was our inn in the anchored half of the city? I sure hope so... Most of her camping and leatherworking supplies are with her horse and mule at the inn.
The Vixen offers Seripan her hand, “Need a lift?”
If the grig accepts, the Vixen says, ”Ye focus on calling the crowd to safety while I run us there.”
Pelipe hurries along, taking note of the specific time that it is shifting. It will all go to her studies of the clocktower and sorting out the mess that is this fey energy shifting the city. She will need to consult with some other mages as well when she has the opportunity, but for now, she just focuses on running to her horse and riding out of the unstuck city.
When the first perceptible clues of the pending shift manifest, Ahto reckons that there is perhaps a couple minutes at most before unstuck Uringen phases out of sync with the Material Plane.
Much like how the animals display a dichotomy of reactions, so too do the humanoid inhabitants. While traders and visitors from static Uringen join the hurried exodus, gathering up their packs and satchels, those who live permanently in the unstable heart of town remain calm, even bemused by the mad flight of their neighbors.
The Vixen offers Seripan her hand, “Need a lift?”
If the grig accepts, the Vixen says, ”Ye focus on calling the crowd to safety while I run us there.”
"Why? What's the hurry?" Seripan replies, reclining upon her perch atop the well. "It's not like I'll be stuck."
The Vixen replies to Seripan, “Inhabitants’re safe. Got it.” She bows to the grig. “The song ye wrote for me was beautiful. Thanks.”
She cracks a smile, turns on her heels and—
—her stiletto gets snagged between cobblestones and she falls flat on her face.
“Fuuuck…”
She gets up, muttering, “Ye did not just see that, none o’ ye saw what didn’t just happen.”
She bolts full sprint, graceful and nimble and super-speedy… and careful about the cracks in the road as she bolts to the exit!
The rest of the party crosses the rope barrier that marks the divide between the two Uringens. With a moment to breathe, you find that the Vixen is not standing beside you.
You see her, sprinting down the cobblestone street as fast as her damaged shoe will allow. You also see a shimmer, akin to the ephemeral waves of heat that rise from the ground on a summer's day, swelling outward from the clocktower. As it grows larger and draws closer with frightening speed, it grows denser and pocked with sparkles.
The Vixen nears the limits of the phenomenon, but the plane shift is almost upon her heels. Finally, she leaps into the air and sails over the rope barrier with an aerial flip. She lands beside you just as the last glimpses of unstuck Uringen vanish from sight. The shimmering fog, too, fades away until you see naught but a wide, empty field where the fey-touched town once sat.
Pelipe, feeling the pain of hustling and the tremors in her chest at the final moments of VV crossing the ropes, lets out an exasperated sigh.
"I have got to fix that clocktower!" She gives VV a quick hug. "I thought you weren't going to make it!"
The Vixen says, “Sorry to cut it so close. I thought there was a need to rescue the locals, but it turns out this is completely normal. And I did lose a few precious seconds thanking Seripan for composing a piece for me. And I lost several seconds more when I…” She blushes, and her lips fail to conceal the humor she sees in the situation. “…tripped.”
Katrine smiles and claps the Vixen on the shoulder. "That kind of thing happens to everyone sooner or later. I'm just glad you made it out in time."
“Yeah, I’ve got the grand entrance down to a science. Me exit-strategy needs work.”
Pelipe chuckles to VV's exit strategy, but then realizes something. Lost deep in thought a moment, she stands there wondering about the gnomes.
"We were going to bring them with us...now they are trapped. Mostly alone."
She looks to Ahto, "How will they ever make it safely to Tamlyn?"
"I have mapmaking supplies, although I'm a little low on large parchment. Unstuck Uringen had some lovely inks." Katrine's mismatched eyes widen as she remembers something. "Oh no, the dye shop is gone! Vixen, they had the most amazing dyes. I stocked up, so if any of them will work on fabric as well as leather, I'm willing to share."