Cookies, Songs, and Kisses

SUMMARY: While exploring the Tunnels beneath the Artificer's Guild, Alik and Elian encounter a Fae being and a portal to the Sidhe realm.

Ga'Elian has arrived.

The floor of the chosen pathway gradually converts from hewn rock to paving stones. The hewn rock walls become replaced by hard-packed earth full of broken-up rocks. Then a set of stairs descends into the darkness. For those who can see in darkness, the stairs take a curve toward the left.

Ga'Elian says, "Well, we seem to be getting somewhere. The stairs look reasonably clean for being untouched for presumed centuries."

Alik scowls. "Before, stairs not being here. Pfah." He fiddles with a device that records their travel through the cavern. "Yes, clean. Used, recently? The tracker, you are being."

GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Track: aliased to Survival+4+9+5: (12)+29+4+9+5: 59

Ga'Elian takes a few moments and looks around. He says, "There are traces of movement in here, but it's, uh, older than the dirt." He points to a little scuff mark on a flagstone, and a slight depression in the softer earth beside it. He says, "What I mean is, this place hasn't been disturbed in a very long while, yet it is still fairly clean."

Alik nods, scowling. "Not disturbed, no dust, not settling... not natural."

Ga'Elian turns to face Alik and asks, "Do you suppose that it could it be some sort of housekeeping magic that has been continuing to operate for centuries?"

Alik shrug. "Perhaps. Magic detectors, I have not equipped. You?"

Ga'Elian shakes his head. I gather detecting the presence of magic is an easy spell, but it isn't one I can cast. If there were a group of Sylvanori here with me, we might try the ritual of Faroth Fea, but there aren't. I guess we just accept it at fave value and keep checking it out?"

Alik nods. He makes more careful notes of the area, looking around for any signs that might explain the anomaly.

GAME: Alik rolls perception: (15)+20: 35

GAME: Alik rolls cartography: (4)+cartography: 4

GAME: Alik rolls craft/cartography: (17)+11: 28

Alik makes detailed notes on the map he's constructing.

Ga'Elian leads further along the path. After turning a little further to the left and going a little further down, the tunnel opens into a dank-smelling cavern with stalactites and stalagmites. Based on the trickling sounds of what must be hundreds of rivulets, this cavern must be huge. It is certainly far more vast than the 60-foot limit of Elian's darkvision. The elf whispers, "This place could be inhabited, by who knows what. It is certainly not articlficially excavated. Br careful to not fall lest you plummet far below."

Alik nods, and works his way along the nearest wall, sounding out the floor as he goes. As he transcribes the arc of the wall he is following, he looks at his map. "If wall is being symmetrical, cavern is being huge. Many living here could be, and not seen. Other tunnel residents, have already met."

It is possible with care to gradually descend along the curve of the cavern wall. As the pair slowly work their way along, a distant glimmer comes into sight, which quickly forms into a glowing patch of phosphorescent mushrooms. They look to be only a little lower and the light they give off is by now adequate for low-light vision. There is a little stream between where the explorers are and the patch of glowing mushrooms. As they get a little closer there appears to be a large mushroom, easily as large as a small cottage. It is dark, and mostly obscured by the general darkness of the surrounding cavern, but visible if one doesn't stare directly at the many tiny mushroom glowing in front of it. The effect is rather like a mushroom cottage with a garden of glowing mushrooms before (or behind?) it. The cabe wall isn't too far beyond the big mushroom. Finally, the faint outline of an arched door appears in the stump of the enormous toadstool. A bat hangs from the cap of the mushroom just in front of the door, its wings wrapped around it.

Alik hrms and looks at Elian, pointing to the door. "Faerie?"

Ga'Elian nods with a little smile. He beckons the gnome forward and points to the little mushrooms growing on the cave floor. He points out that they seem to be growing in circles. Then he stops and signs, "I need a couple minutes to prepare a spell that I'd like to cast. Feel free to explore, quietly, but I recommend not proceeding across the stream yet." <handspeech>

Alik nods agreement, and occupies himself with careful records of this space.

GAME: Ga'Elian has prepared commune with nature in a reserved spell slot.

After a couple minutes, Ga'Elian finishes preparing to cast a spell, then spends even longer casting it. Unfortunately, the casting does have a verbal component and the spell is too powerful for his Metamagic Rod of Lesser Silence to affect it, so his voice does echo. The bat seems to awaken to the sound of the wild elf's voice and takes to flight, mostly circling above the new intruders, but not attacking nor approaching. The cottage-sized mushroom now also begins to glow. Softly at first, but gradually brighter and brighter. Finally, after a whole ten minutes of casting that seem like hours, Ga'Elian smiles.

GAME: Ga'Elian casts Commune With Nature. Caster Level: 18 DC: 17

Alik has put the time to good use, getting detailed charts of the nearby cavern walls and terrain contours.

Ga'Elian looks up at the bat and says, "Hello, milady. May we enter your garden?" <sylvan>

Then to Alik he says, "That mushroom is a portal to another plane. I'd guess Quelynos."

Alik scowls. "Quelynos?"

GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Knowledge/The Planes: (19)+6: 25

Ga'Elian nods. The bat descends to about Alik's eye-level then shimmers, transforming into a wrinkled old crone with a hunched back, dressed in rags and carrying a gnarled staff. Her features are reminiscent of a goblin, but her complexion is like a dawn elf's. Fluttering busily, a pair of large translucent butterflyish wings sprout from her back. She says, "Well, young elf, since you asked so politely, yes. You and your friend may visit ky garden." He voice is like a that of a cackling, stereotypical witch from a Halloween cartoon. She then adds, looking to Alik, "Quelynos is where the Seelie and the Unseelie trade off holding their court. The homeworld of his ancient ancestors." She holds he staff up, pointing it at Elian, shaking it as if she had a palsey. <sylvan>

Alik tilts his head to one side, then looks at Elian. "Magic, I am thinking," he observes wryly, "yes." Switching to Sylvan, he asks the bat-lady "Are we welcome in your garden?"

She puts he staff back down and beckons with her other hand, "Yes, yes. Come, come! Woild you like some cookies? They grow in this circle here. Just tell the mushrooms what kind of cookies you like and they'll grow in the circle." At this, Ga'Elian looks a hit surprised and says, "You are most generous. Will these cookies bewitch us in any way?"

Alik regards the Fae skeptically, then nods in agreement with Elian's question.

The faerie woman replies with a wink and a chuckle, "Well, now that all depends on what you ask for." Elian approaches wades across the stream and says, "You are clever, milady." Then he shrugs and says, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained, eh? We are exploring, after all." Then he walks over to the mushroom circle and says, "Snickerdoodle with honeysuckle icing, uh, please?" At this, a cookie seemingly grows in the center of the circle. When it reaches a diameter of about three inches, Elian picks it up. Sure enough, it looks and smells like a honeysuckle-sweetened sugar cooiie with cinnamon. Elian looks carefullu at it, then glances to Alik, then takes a small bite. He says, "That's remarkable. Thank you."

Alik watches Elian carefully. "Liking snickerdoodles greatly, you are? Well. We observe now, if three heads you are growing."

The fae woman chuckles and says, "Three heads? What good would that be? No the cookies are fine. There is a price for them though. I think because the elf has been so polite, though, I'll require him to pay for his cookie with, hm... a song." At this, Elian looks a little surprised, but only for a moment. Then he abandons all caution and consumes the remainder of the cookie. He says, "A song? Um, sure."

Alik looks intrigued, and leans against a rock outcropping to wait for Elian's song.

Ga'Elian looks over at Alik and says, "You don't want a cookie of your own?" Then he looks at the fae woman

Alik shakes his head. "Not a singer, am being."

Elian looks at her as if taking her measure, and nods. He starts to sing. The lyrics are in Sylvan and tell the ballad of a boy, step-son of an abusive lumberjack, who flees into the forests near his home. While he is running, a dryad recognizes that he came from the woodcutter's cottage and causes a root of her tree to rise up enough to trip the lad. He cries, which at first she believes is from the pain he suffered taking his tumble, but she soon notices other bruises and gathers from his sobbing that he is a victim of the logger's brutality. The ballad tells how she had compassion on the boy and sheltered him. As the years went by in which the boy grew into manhood, the boy's mother would bewail her lost son, and when the logger was gone to ply his trade, would venture out into the woods to seek him, but never very far, for she was afraid of the fairies that she thought had kidnapped her boy. The lumberjack was cautious about straying from his work crew, always relying upon the safety to be found in numbers, and so the fae didn't seek revenge upon him for his brutality, but they did sometimes target his work crew with "accidents" to their equipment. One day, however, soon after the boy had achieved manhood, he having been raised since his escape by the fairies, the lumberjack got separated from his work crew. This gave the young man the chance he needed to get even. With the help of the fae, he got the lumberjack so thoroughly lost in thecwoids, that he was never seen again. When the young man returned to his mother, she was more happy for his return than than for the return of her husband."

GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Sing: aliased to Perform/Sing: (9)+19: 28

The woman looks at Alik and says, "Singing was his price. Yours would be different." Then she listens to the elfsong, and seems to enjoy it. The glowing mushrooms seem to react to the melody, as well.

Alik listens to the song intently, and smiles. "Well. What is the price being for gnomish gingersnaps?"

She reaponds, "I couldn't say until you get them. It might be a small feat of bravery, or to have you plant a flower, or, well, I don't know." At this, Elian says, "Oh, go on ahead, Alik. If she meant us any harm she's had plenty of time to inflict it by now. Besides, her mushrooms are really good bakers." He winks.

Alik sighs. This probably isn't a good idea, but then, he's certainly done worse. And it's not clear that refusing is any better an idea, really. And he hasn't had good gnomish gingersnaps in over a year. "Gnomish gingersnaps," he says to the mushrooms.

Three spots begin to grow into gnomish gingersnaps inside the mushroom circle.

Alik sighs. "Is being bad idea," he mutters, but reaches in to snatch up the cookies anyway. He tastes one cautiously, and smiles despite himself. "Better than my uncle Biscuit's" he admits grudgingly.

And they really are. They even have that warm-from-the-oven goodness. Elian and the fae lady both smile, almost laugh, and she says, "For you being so cautious, I thinks an act of daring. Yes, that's it. The price for your cookies is a kiss. With as much passion as you can muster." She puckers up, like the Aunt Bertha stereotype.

And they really are. They even have that warm-from-the-oven goodness. Elian and the fae lady both smile, almost laugh, and she says, "For you being so cautious, I thinks an act of daring. Yes, that's it. The price for your cookies is a kiss. With as much passion as you can muster." She puckers up, like the Aunt Bertha stereotype. (repose)Ga'Elian

Aliklooks the crone over incredulously, then sighs. "Must be warning... wife AND husband both are telling me am not passionate gnome. Good father, good provider, am being... bad kisser. But... if the price is being this, it is being this." He pulls his goggles up on top of his head, revealing startlingly green eyes set deep in walnut-brown skin, and steps forward, putting his arms around her. At least she isn't taller than he is. Several diodes on his collar light up in green and yellow as he pulls her towards him and kisses her, with great intent and a great deal of thoroughness, if not necessarily much skill.

When Alik pulls away from the kiss, the fae woman is drop-dead gorgeous-like who replaced the hag with the nymph? She laughs musically, and says. "Enjoy your cookies, then when you're ready, just step in that other mushroom circle and tell it where you'd like to be, then you'll be there. It was entertaining to meet you, but don't delay too long. My hovel and garden are soon to fade from this world. She turns into a bat again and flies back to the big mushroom.

Alik shakes his head, muttering "Shortcuts" as though it were a dirty word. "So. Is anywhere special you are wishing to be?"

Ga'Elian shakes his head, and says, "If only I were a poet. Whoo! the song I would write about this. I hope you felt like the cookies were worth it. Well, it was fun. We'll have to try these tunnels again. As for me, I think I just want to get back to Erithamiel."