What Fools Us Mortals Be

Journal, Sixteenth Entry

The Fey Lord and his Trusted Servant

As we neared the capital of Avalon, my companions and I came across a small band of undead soldiers, shambling members of the Wild Hunt. Though not long work for seasoned adventurers like ourselves, it was during this skirmish that we were met by a curious being: horned was he in visage, with the lower half of his sculpted form being that of a deer or goat. With a knowing grin he announced himself as Puck, servant of lord Oberon, King of the Forest of Avalon. As he led us toward our destination, he shared with us some of the troubles besetting the kingdom of late: for it would seem the Queen of the forest, lady Titania, has left the kingdom and her husband after their most recent quarrel (apparently concerning a dalliance on the part of the King), and is believed to have sided with the leader of the Wild Hunt to spite her lover. This was an ill tiding for Oberon. For he and Titania share a seat on the Council of Seasons: an alliance of powerful beings who preside over, and whose power is tied to, the seasons of the Year. As such, Titania and Oberon would be in the prime of their power, with summer being upon us, but their separation meant that equal parts of this power were divided amongst sides. The Wild Hunt and the Unseelie Court had the advantage of Titania's power, while we were sided with Oberon's.

I was taken aback upon meeting the Fey King in person: for in the full prime of his glory, he was a mighty figure to behold, and his kingdom too blossomed with beauty unequal in the lands of mortals, even when beset by the woes of war. However, with Unseelie Court back in his Forest, and with the mysterious Wild Huntsman after his excellency, Oberon seemed unsure how much help he could spare our rebellion. However, he did believe he could help us in some way, and thus did he bring about a curious reunion.

He led us to his dungeons, wherein we were met by a flustered Jack Nimble, who had apparently been attempting to negotiate the release of our old friend Tom Thumb. For it would seem that after his and Thumbelina's experience in Dornstadt with the whole everybody-turned-into-a-plant-monster thing, poor Tom was plagued by whispered pleas from plant life day and night, calling to him at times in a queer tongue he could not quitter make out, yet felt strangely familiar. He felt compelled to answer this strange calling, believing that doing so would somehow reveal much about his and Thumbelina's origins. As such, he asked Jack to perform a certain candle jumping ritual, not to proclaim the future as he did long ago when we first met him, but to cull forgotten information from the past. Jack flatly refused, still believing his candle jumping to be a dangerous magic that should only be used as a last resort, and thus did Tom steal into Jack's quarters to attempt the ritual himself. However, something had gone horribly wrong: Tom's eyes glowed with a frightening green aura, and shouting in an alien tongue he fled into the forest! Jack had tracked Tom to Oberon's court, where the poor fellow was being held after attacking (and apparently causing serious damage to) a contingent of Oberon's soldiers. Jack believed he could correct and reverse the botched ritual, but Oberon had been hesitant to allow this. Vouching for our friends, we were able to convince the Lord of the Forest to go through with Jack's plan, and so we removed Tom from bondage. He was a fearful sight: ragged where his clothes, and gaunt and sickly was his complexion. His eyes glowed frighteningly, and he raved and foamed gibberish unceasingly. As Jack made the necessary preparations for his ritual, Jack apparently had a moment of clarity, and spoke clearly and softly with Thumbelina: he believed he had made contact with their people! Before he could say more though, Jack prepared his ritual leap. Before he made the jump though, he warned us that the process of correcting the ritual could have unpredictable side effects, and commanded us to steel ourselves for whatever may happen. And with that, he jumped.

And we were taken by darkness.

Gone were Jack, Tom and Oberon, and were we lost in a lightless void. However, a dim red glow cut the darkness, a glow that soon becoming a glaring crimson. Dimly could I make out the features of my allies, waiting silently and nervously for whatever frightful sight awaited us. A familiar voice rang out in the shadows.

"You sent me to Hell... Devoured me, damned me. Burnt my flesh, crushed my bones... But now, you join me..."

A thin, clawed hand ruptured the floor, and soon a gruesome hairy body pulled itself up onto the surface. Hollow, dead eyes glared at us in gleeful hate from the mangy visage of our traitorous friend: Kala had returned. But as his torso loomed into view, another face peered out from his hulking shoulders. Another voice, more proud and deceptively soft called out.

"In the City of Briars I walked free like some Night God, my eldritch glory unloosed and unbound in triumohant. And you, unworthy and unwashed mortals, you stole my triumph, cut down my children running free in the street..."

Twas the charred face of the Lord of the Wolfshades. But still the torso rose, and another face did we see. No voice called out clear, for the third head of the Kala-Thing was gagged and blindfolded: the tortured countenance of Eisengraham, Rumplestilskin's unwilling steed, who had helped Kala and the Wolf destroy Thumbelina's people so many years ago. The beast's corded, hunched back boiled and undulated, and three pairs of wings, black and gangly like those of a vulture, protruded from his spine. And the thing was upon us!

The Kala-Thing proved fearsome indeed, commanding uncanny strength and making use of Kala's old spells. Thumbelina tried to use her magicks to summon a swarm to aid us in battle, but whatever creatures lurked in that dark place (if any did dwell there) seemed to ignore her voice. However, we were soon beset by other horrors. For Piknik, readying a spell, found himself beset by a swarm of lady bugs, which suddenly dragged him through the floor, and into a different world entirely. For the swarm dragged him into an odd sea of red clouds, and to his horror the swarm took on the vague shape of a woman. This deeply disturbed Piknik, but I have been unsuccessful in learning the meaning of this vision from him. Occultis was also plagued by an apparition, a more familiar figure to us all: For Occultis found himself standing on an ethereal chess board, facing a lone opponent: O'Donahue, wreathed in ebony stone like a terrible, living Rook, and still wielding his thundering sword.

It was at this time that I, appropriately distanced from the battle, decided to consult my notes, and see if I could glean any understanding of our nightmarish predicament, for something did feel oddly familiar about this scenario. Sure enough, I came across a tale or two, and a few scribbles of verse collected from some small town or port I visited long ago, detailing an encounter such as this: for the tale I discovered described a weary old soldier who, having outlived all his comrades, wished desperately to have a drink with them one last time. He consulted a candle jumper of some repute, but the soothsayer would not hear him out. Like Tom, the old soldier attempted the ritual himself, but he was not greeted by his old friends, but found himself surrounded by the grinning, undead forms of all the enemies he had cut down in his youth...

It was hear that despair truly clutched my heart, for I feared what other dastardly apparitions we would face in this nightmare world. However, these fears were quickly put to rest: Thumbelina's swarm finally heeded her call. They came like a flying river of green light, which swarmed and churned around us and our foes. I remember a warm, light sensation, trapped in that swirl of light, as the odd little beings healed my wounds. But they treated our enemies to no such courtesy: They crushed the ghostly chess board, delivering Occultis safely to us, while sealing the O'Donahue creature in eternal stone, as well as eroding and undoing the Kala-Thing before our very eyes. Piknik too was saved, as the lady bug swarm was surrounded by the green creatures, and the swarm no longer droned in anger but in peace; the storm clouds parted, and Piknik thought he could see the womanly formation waving in friendly departure as he was spirited back to us. It was then that I noticed the once barren landscape of that dream realm had sprung up in life, with thick, tall grass and beautiful flowers. The green swarm started to calm, and I saw our new allies more clearly: they reminded me of tiny dragons, though they seemed playful and friendly (indeed, three of them tackled Thumbelina, licking her face like a troupe of excited puppies), but where one would expect scales there protruded grass blades and flower petals, and they had multiple wings of a similarly botanical aesthetic. It was then that we were reunited with Jack, Tom and Oberon, as the three of them rode in on a much larger version of the flower creatures, with Jack directing the gentle beast at the head. With a flick of the steed's tail, a great grren gate appeared in the grassland, which glowed with a warm, otherworldly hue. Tom smiled at Thumbelina, his eyes clear and his countenance again at peace and healthy (although I noticed his once brown irises had taken an apple green appearance) and said calmly and without hurry:

"Thumbelina, are you ready to meet our People?"