Session Notes for 2005-05-21

The Faerie King is quite tall with long blond locks. His eyes almost shine. The king gestures for us to approach.

He welcomes us to his court. He asks what we think of his kingdom and the Queen. Morn provides reasonably neutral answers. He laughs frequently at our responses. The King asks about our visit to Dragon Manor. Morn mentions that we saw the Matriarch's granddaughter. He is surprised that we were allow. Morn mentions that we cleaned up a loose end.

Some sort of psychic, silent communication with another courtier ends with the King mentioning the washerwomen. A Lady answers a few questions for the King; apparently the washerwoman have thrown their lot in with the Grey King. Rumor has it that the Grey King put his own blood somewhere to ensure his own safety. The Grey King now needs the blood from other powerful creatures to sustain himself.

The Faerie King asks about the faerie powers that Dorian and Lyle received. Dorian says that she has the knowledge of Faerie. The King says this explains why we almost caught his spied on several occasions. Lyle declines to specific about his power.

We're invited to the night's revelries. We're provided rooms, again with food that is safe. The rooms are again quite large, still made out of trees. There is expensive but completely mismatched furniture. A small feast awaits us on a table. We eat. It's delicious, with much more meat than the Queen's feasts.

Lyle explores the chests. There is a great deal of clothing. It's high quality. but not quite as formal as the clothing of the Queen's court. The clothing is full of secret pockets.

Several of us take the opportunity to clean ourselves off. The rest of the group dresses in the faerie clothing. I prefer to stay in my outfit.

We head back out to the main room. A revelry is in full swings. Bards are scattered about, singly loudly to drown out their competitors.

Rumors abound. Morn learns that the King occasionally decides to move. The trees revert to their normal form, servants pick up the furniture, and they parade to a new location. The occurs anywhere from weekly to every few months.

The Queen apparently has a "scruffy old man" she allows to hang around. Rumor has it that he is her father.

There is a woman wearing armor and carrying weapons looking very serious. Another reveler identifies her as Mauve, apparently she is very serious.

A man encased in black armor approaches Morn and complains about her holy symbol. When she refuses to remove it, the man storms off to the King, removing his helmet, head still inside. Another partier steals the man in black's head, and runs off.

The King lets Morn know that she shouldn't worry about him; but she might want to avoid him. Apparently he's the old god of Death.

I overhear a bard singing about Music of Ages and an isolated temple. I ask him if he knows any other poems or songs on those topics. From two songs, I learn that apparently the music was "taken across water by evil mortals." It's being used for meditation and to commune with nature. Another song suggests that the isolated temple is inhabited by men who wear grey. The bard offers to confer with other bards and get me more information. I thank him for his generous offer.

An isolated temple with men who wear grey and meditate? I've heard of another monastery in the islands who rather unusually wear grey. They are very isolationist. They focus on quiet; many take vows of silence. Perhaps it is there?

Lyle hangs out with a fairy by the name of Arianna. They eventually move outside, then up to her room.

The armored woman nods approvingly at me. I speak with her. Her name is Mauve. She is pleased to meet another warrior. She asks if I'm one of the mortals the King is interested in. I confirm her guess. I learn that Mauve lives on the same mountain as the Ice Castle, but not near the Ice Maiden. Her proximity to the Grey King means she sees battle occasionally, but in general battle is rare in faerie. Mauve finds both the Queen and King's courts to be superficial. She prefers the King's open mindedness, even if he is a fickle.

Early in the morning we head back to our rooms. The party is still going on. When we return, the doorways fill with wood. Lyle doesn't show up for the night.

August 2nd

When we awaken, a meal is waiting along with a quickly scrawled, sealed note. "When you get the chance, come see me. - King" We eat, then head off to see the King. Lyle hasn't yet shown up.

The throne room is much more empty. A few people are sleeping in a corner. A few more are hanging around. The King is sitting on step on his dais. He asks that we keep him in mind when we collect the items we seek. We're free to visit his library. The emerald will allow us to revisit him at will.

He offers us some presents. He grants Morn the ability to open a portal to and from the mortal realm. He grants me the ability to see someone's animal nature. If I touch someone, I'll get the sense of what animal they are most like. He has a red-headed fairy by the name of Vivi take us to the library. (Vivi was present at the party, hanging out with the courtier responsible for both speaking with the King telepathically as well as stealing the black knight's head.)

A bit later Vivi returns, this time leading Lyle.

We don't turn up much on the Bloody Queen. Some upstarts who attempts to overthrow the Faerie Queen and King are referred to as the Bloody Queen, usually because of their grisly deaths. One in particular gets the title for orchestrating several massacres. She is referenced in a number of songs as being immortalized. One song mentions a connection to chess.

Flocks frequently refer to creatures that fairies watch over. One book refers to fairies that had children with mortals. They had fairy appearance, but not "the majesty." The children didn't get the powers of Faerie. Feeling like less, they left the community. They're referred to as Long Lost. Morn digs up a book that specifically refers to them as the Long Lost Sheep. They left thousands of years ago. One of their parents is a woman called Margot; she has two sisters. I learn that they went south with a scribe with them. They may have gone into the mortal realm. They were not immortal, so the fairies have given up hope on finding them; the lost sheep probably don't remember their heritage.

I experiment with the King's gift. Dorian gives me a sense of wolf. Lyle gives me a sense of weasel. Morn, oddly enough, just gives me a sense of human.

We head out. Morn tells the path that we seek the place in Faerie that corresponds to the Adrigal in the mortal world.

By evening, we arrive near the edge of the forest. According to Dorian the path begins moving in circles.

Morn focuses; the trees shimmer slightly. We ride through. It's late enough that we decide to camp.

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