It's known that Tenzekil is one of the commanders of the Fellnight army. Wherever he is, he's surrounded by spriggan troops.
The spriggan army has not returned to their Fellnight realm. They are occupying parts of the forest and their locations are known to the fey.
The menhirs outside Devarro's house are the same ones on top the hill where the conclave was held. It's now very unlikely that Rhoswen will show up any time soon.
"So, let's start by asking about these stones, and then go retrieve Tenzekil. If we have to wade through spriggans to get to him, all the better."
I would guess the elves would be the most experienced. But it would be better to ask Devarro to recommend someone.
Devarro refers you to King Maligorn and Aripha. They reveal that stones like the ones you recovered circle the physical location of the Fellnight Realm for hundreds of miles, creating the Faengard. These stones must be from the breach Tenzekil caused.
"So theoretically, if we put these stones back where they were, we can trap Rhoswen again? Sounds like a plan to me. Can anyone tell me how to get to the location of the Faengard?"
"As a stop-gap measure, and as leverage in bargaining, that would be well and good.
"And, where can we find Tenzekil's company?"
"So theoretically, if we put these stones back where they were, we can trap Rhoswen again? Sounds like a plan to me. Can anyone tell me how to get to the location of the Faengard?"
"That would presumably be in a place other than where we found them for the Faengard had already been breached at that point. The other problem is that simply placing them there won't work if those centaur decide to remove them afterwards. But it's a thought."
Like they say in Jamaica maaaan... Nooo problem.
Thediar makes a point of not referring to Ylera as "Your Highness". That kind of stuff always got him in trouble.
"So theoretically, if we put these stones back where they were, we can trap Rhoswen again? Sounds like a plan to me. Can anyone tell me how to get to the location of the Faengard?"
"Palombier and his kin know where the breach is and can teleport you there. But replacing the wardstones does not complete the restoration of the faengard," replies Aripha. "Another perilous task must be done."
"And, where can we find Tenzekil's company?"
"We do not know where the traitor is, presently," says King Maligorn.
"That would presumably be in a place other than where we found them for the Faengard had already been breached at that point. The other problem is that simply placing them there won't work if those centaur decide to remove them afterwards. But it's a thought."
"If you ... if someone ... replaces the wardstones, we will position troops to defend the breach," says Aripha, "long enough for the second task to be carried out."
"Palombier and his kin know where the breach is and can teleport you there. But replacing the wardstones does not complete the restoration of the faengard," replies Aripha. "Another perilous task must be done."
Teleport?? thinks Thediar. Just how far away is this breech, and how are we going to find our way back? He shrugs. After all, we've managed to convince people that simply resealing the Faengard was a particularly poor choice.
"What's the other task of terror?" he asks aloud.
Hmmm...teleport...I wonder if this is going to be a one way trip...
"And where exactly is this second task?, Sarek adds.
Ylera draws herself up to her full height, no longer hiding her features in the hood of her cloak. "Whatever this task entails, we will do it. Destiny has called us here, and we shall not be found wanting. Those that contest against us will find us prepared."
"After the stones are placed, an item of great magic, the crook of Cildhureen must be activated. This will repair the breach, imprisoning Rhoswen and her minions once more. But the problem is, the crook is in Rhoswen's possession, likely in her palace of thorns."
"Hmmm. We have to go to her castle, where presumably the Queen is currently located, to get the Crook. What would happen if in trying to take the Crook forcibly from the Queen, she is killed. Do we still have to worry about the stones? Or the Crook for that matter?"
"And how is the crook activated?" Thediar asks with an innocent smile.
"Hmmm. We have to go to her castle, where presumably the Queen is currently located, to get the Crook. What would happen if in trying to take the Crook forcibly from the Queen, she is killed. Do we still have to worry about the stones? Or the Crook for that matter?"
"Yes, the faengard must still be restored, for there are thousands of shadow-tainted monsters in her realm that cannot be let free all at once."
"And how is the crook activated?" Thediar asks with an innocent smile.
"If the crook is brought back to the breach, we will send our mages there to perform the necessary spells to use the crook. This time, though, the faenguard will fade within just a few centuries. But that will be more than enough time for us to prepare for the denizens of the Fellnight."
"What kind of 'denizens' do you speak of? Creatures like those spriggans?"
"Yes. And other, simpler woodland creatures who have been transformed by Rhoswen's vile shadow magic."
"What can you tell us about this shadow magic? What should we expect from the Fellnight Queen? Isn't this the same sort of conjuration that illusionists use?"
"It is related but not the same," replies King Maligorn. "It is the formless magic of the Shadow Plane, a loathsome and horrible place. I will never understand how Rhoswen can practice that sort of magic."
Things are becoming clearer. Thediar nods enthusiastically. "One last question: it might be important if we encounter her. What was Rhoswen like, before she started working with shadow magic?
"And, I guess, where did she learn it from? Who taught her?"
You can't negotiate with a caricature, and that's what she's become, nothing more than a cartoon object of hatred and fear. With this, we might be able to get a better sense of her.
Thediar is trying to get Maligorn and Aripha to open up and explain more than they might, otherwise. Diplomacy: .
Things are becoming clearer. Thediar nods enthusiastically. "One last question: it might be important if we encounter her. What was Rhoswen like, before she started working with shadow magic?
"And, I guess, where did she learn it from? Who taught her?"
You can't negotiate with a caricature, and that's what she's become, nothing more than a cartoon object of hatred and fear. With this, we might be able to get a better sense of her.
Thediar is trying to get Maligorn and Aripha to open up and explain more than they might, otherwise. Diplomacy: 1d20+19.
Sarek steps up until he is standing beside Thediar. "Yes...anything else that can tell us would be helpful....no matter how insignificant you think it might be."
"She was a vain and narcisstic woman, totally unsuited for the role of Queen," snaps the satyr king. "As many recall, she was a bad seed to begin with. She took to dark magic as naturally as a vulture to carrion. She learned through demons and other dark planes walkers, no doubt."
Aripha nods, agreeing with Maligorn's denunciation of the Fellnight Queen.
Thediar bows his head, grateful to his friends for their support. "No doubt. And yet, she was Your queen? Could Your Majesty provide an example of how You and Rhoswen ruled?"
JZ, just to place my marker now, as soon as we depart the satyr's royal presence, Thediar is going to track down Lady Lielaera of the wood elves and get her version of all this, as well. He intends no offense to King Maligorn, but His Majesty is unable to provide an unbiased account of things.
"I will not deign to compare my rule against her disastrous reign. You annoy me. Greatly."
The Maligorn dismisses the party from his presence. Aphira is conciliatory, thanking everyone for what they have done for the fey.
Thediar and his companions find Lielara Shantru in the wood elves' camp north of the faerie hill. She greets them suspiciously.
"So you represent the humans in all of this? How long, do you know, before the axe-men of Bellis strike a deal with Queen Rhoswen?
Thediar grins.
Diplomacy:
"We asked the satyr king about this Fellnight Queen, and the asking offended Him. We would seek your counsel, long-lived and wise ones. What do you know of Rhoswen, or of her powers?"
The wood elf leader replies pointedly in Common, "no, you're quite clearly a gnome. But many of your kind traffic with humans, as if they were one of them. So forgive me when I ask, if I told you what I know of Rhoswen, would that help Bellis in their negotiations with the Queen of Fellnight?"
"We doubt that, on our honor. If the lumber corporations are indeed trying to strike their own deal with Her Fellnight Majesty, She might well entertain them and play them for fools, to further Her revenge. That would disastrous for everyone concerned. We've heard nothing of this, but if it's true then you have nothing to apologize for, in your prudence to avoid furthering that kind of negotiation.
"Indeed, your information might arm us well in our struggle to turn such a disaster aside."
"I'm very glad your people see things that way. What do you intend to do, exactly?
"What was agreed to by the council: give Queen Rhoswen an opportunity to present her case, to see if there might be a way that the forest and the Fellnight might find accord.
"People differ sharply on the chances for success, but we all agree that it would be better to have a strong ally than a strong enemy, but if Her enemies we must be, then we must strike to kill the Fellnight Queen, not merely re-imprison Her and wait for someone else to find the key."
Thediar doesn't feel like going into tactical decisions with the elves. In all of these conversations, he's acted under the strong presumption that Rhoswen might be listening in, and he has taken care to say nothing that She might find hypocritical, and to say as little as possible that might provide Her with our strategy.
Lielara seems honestly surprised by Thediar's answer.
"Maligorn intends to send you as his emissary? Then has he not had you briefed on Rhoswen? I know of her only through legends so ancient even our sages have almost forgotten. The fey court know her as well as their own kin."
Thediar nods sympathetically, "Yet the memories of her have eaten at them, year after year, and they have lost all perspective as to who she was or what she'd done. Vinroot remembers her as a pleasant 'girl' who was headstrong but not wicked. His Fecund Majesty can thing of nothing good about her at all. What do your legends say?"
"That she was a headstrong woman who cared nothing of what others thought. The weird hybrid sorcery she practiced was an abomination to her people. And though they condemned her to a fate almost as final as death, she had never, ever brought harm to her own folk."
"What do your great sages understand of this 'shadow magic'? What makes it so terrible? Ylera here has suggested that it corrupts the mind of its users. Is that so? Is it tied to Hell?"
"What do your great sages understand of this 'shadow magic'? What makes it so terrible? Ylera here has suggested that it corrupts the mind of its users. Is that so? Is it tied to Hell?"
"We know that it can corrput the spirit of otherwise good creatures; Rhoswen's spriggans are a fine example of that. I am no mage, so I would not know if the magic of shadow comes from Hell.'
"Thediar, I understand that you are trying to bring a peaceful resolution to this. But you should know that however she has come to her present pass, she is a creature who has little regard for even her own people, much less those of the mortal realm. The magic she uses is derived from the Plane of Shadow which one might think of as twisted mirror of our own world a mirror which reflects with a bent most sinister. To use the magic of that plane so deeply and so long will bring out the worst traits of it's wielder, especially one that had corruption within from the start.
What I know of her from my father is that she is a mercurial and cruel woman who sees others only as tools that she can use.... and discards them for when they no longer suit her whims. You saw what was decreed when we stopped her minions before. In her mind she had already discarded her loyal follower for the simple crime of not being able to prevail against us. If she would treat her own thusly, how do you expect her to regard a mortal stranger?"
She pauses before continuing raising her hood once more. "I will support you as lead voice when we speak with her again, but we must be ready for the treachery which will follow, whether she comes to an agreement or not."
"Makes sense to me. We can try and talk with her, but if she refuses to listen or tries to double cross her, we can do what we have to do to convince her."
"Then we are all agreed in intent. We will take whatever actions we must, to ensure that the Fellnight does not conquer these woods. This I swear, by wood and by wave.
"Lielara, do you have any other counsel for us?"