Plane of the Sidhe

[Below is an account of the 16-Nov gaming session.]

The party meets with the local leader, a Sidhe elder who relates to them the plight of the Sidhe. Four hundred years ago, the Sidhe noticed that they began aging and subsequently, dying. They did not know the exact cause of their malady, but they were able to discern that it was magical in nature. Their solution was to create a gate to another existence where this malady was not present. It worked. Now, they had time to try and find a solution to their problem and be able to return to their homeland. This pocket universe, as it were, possessed some strange phenomena, the most noticeable being that the perception of the surroundings tended to mimic the feelings of the most willful person in the area. For example, the first area was “ruled” (for lack of a better word) by a Sidhe that was previously a skilled alchemist. He was always optimistic and certain that a cure would be found. As such, the area within his domain appeared to be a vibrant and busy alchemical lab, with all people in the area (regardless of their actual skills) appearing to be apothecaries, doctors, and assistants working in lockstep to find a solution. In reality, the Sidhe in this domain ran the gamut of experiences and skill sets (warriors, gardeners, carpenters, fishermen, etc.) but they all appeared outwardly to be workers in a laboratory environment.

In an adjacent domain, the strongest willed Sidhe is a man who, back on Arnur Soghal, was a skilled naturalist. The years away from Arnur Soghal began to take a toll on his spirit, putting him in a state of perpetual despair. As such, the appearance of his domain was one of darkness and gloom. The Sidhe here outwardly appeared to be sentient plants that would attack intruders by spitting thorns (Sidhe archers) or slashing with barbed vines (Sidhe soldiers).

Being a proud race, it is not within the nature of the Sidhe to ask others for help. However, in this case, after 400 years, they are beginning to get desperate and have beseeched the party to aid them in solving their problem.

The party, continuing through this Plane, traveling from domain to domain, finds Y’lora’s parents, discovering that they are her foster parents; her biological parents left Y’lora for dead at birth. Her foster parents have been calling to Y’lora from this existence through her dreams. They were apprehended by the Sidhe several years prior, thinking that they were the biological parents of a Severed Soul, and hoping to study them for a cure to their malady given that the Sidhe believed there was a link between a cure and Severed Souls. Finding out that her foster mother is barren (and thus, not the biological mother of a Severed Soul), the Sidhe left Y’lora’s foster parents on their Plane, determining that finding a cure and returning to their beloved homeland could be hindered if the other races of Arnur Soghal were to discover too soon the true reason that the Sidhe had disappeared from the land.

Y’lora’s foster parents had not been held as slaves by the merchant from Cloie. Rather, he was a philanthropist and had bought Y’lora’s foster parents from a slave trader in order to free them. Being miles from their (now destroyed) home in the Eastern reaches of the Tiarnach Forest, the merchant provided employment for Y’lora’s foster parents. When the Sidhe apprehended them, the merchant of Cloie assumed them dead after they had not returned for several years. Y’lora’s foster parents, being older than their appearance would indicate, began to die due to old age. Their souls, however, lingered on the Plane of the Sidhe, tormented until they could see their long lost daughter one last time whom they had not seen since her childhood. Now they could pass on to the afterlife.

After Y’lora’s foster parents fade away, everyone in the party begins to experience vertigo, with their surroundings beginning to blur. After a few moments, everything goes dark. The party members open their eyes and find themselves in their beds in the inn in Cloie, and it is morning.

Except for Alexis. She opens her eyes to darkness.

The party members go down to the common room to check on each other. Siglan awakens to find himself blind once again. When he gets out of bed and prepares to go to the common room, he picks up his staff and his eyesight returns.

In the common room, the party members (minus Alexis) talk of their dream; all of whom experienced the same thing. Outside the inn, Thain is engaged in a heated conversation with a noble and his two aides. The noble is Alexis’ brother, Vincent Gastoni. Vincent is demanding to know the location of Alexis. Thain explains that he has no idea as to her whereabouts. Vincent demands that until she is found, Thain is to remain in Vincent’s custody. The party comes to Thain’s aid, words are exchanged, and a fight breaks out between Vincent and his two aides, and the party.