Good Night To All The Girls With Daddy Issues...

Furus asks Nira to cast lay on hands and not ask why he needs it. Nira agrees and curs him by smacking the back of his head. They quickly find Swift’s Market and walk in. The shop is moderately busy, and very well stocked. There are shelves and barrels of food and other items. Belladonna picks up her badger and places him on her back tucked in by her quiver. Juniper and Aquilla wander the store smelling everything they can. Carindrina sees two people who look like they could be Timothy Swift’s parents, a small windswept woman and a large burly man with a big beard, and tries to read their demeanor. Her own bitterness with her family clouds her judgement and she decides that this large, burly man must be a bad father and looks like he would send his own son away. He has a large beard and she assumes he is like dwarven men who have bigger attitudes than beards. Belladonna asks the group to talk to the family. Furus tells the group he isn’t here for the shopping episode and leaves to deliver the skull. Carindrina says that she is all for protecting the children but the after effects and deliver is not something that she typically does.

Belladonna steps forward and asks if they might be the parents of a boy named Timothy. The man looks like he is almost in tears, “Do you have news of our son?” Belladonna says that they have their son and he is alive and relatively well. The large man breaks into a sob and the wife pats his arm, and tells him to calm down. Belladonna explains that he is in Balvonier with people who are keeping him safe, he was found with other children missing from neighboring towns. They would like to bring them to visit him while he recovers. The wife asks if they know who took him or why. Zephyr sits on a barrel and is crying. Belladonna says they are still figuring a lot of that out, they believe he was being manipulated for a time and he will need more time to recover from that trauma. With the two of them visiting and some more time, he will be back to himself in a minute. As this is occurring, Galia and Nira are chatting and not paying attention as closely, Nira saying that she would have been over the counter with her hands around our necks if we didn’t take her to her kid immediately. Venus is watching the woman closely, seeing that she will be the reasonable one. Carindrina stares at Zephyr and realizes that the more he is sobbing, there are things shaking and rattling. Midna notices that he is causing a small storm to appear in the store, Adalia notices the same, but that this is an air-based magic, not water.

Carindrina, reaching her boiling point, walks over to Zephyr, grabs the front of his shirt and lifts him to his feet, telling him to shut up and join the conversation because this crying in the corner is getting old. The group, not used to Carindrina losing her temper, tries to intervene, Nira trying to pull her back and offering her some pixie sticks. Belladonna tries to stop her as well, the badger wide eyed in horror, suggesting that they all take a few breaths. Galia whispers to Belladonna that she knows she isn’t supposed to make people happy when they don’t want to be, but she feels like she *should* do that right now with Carindrina. Belladonna tells her to wait just a second and Galia grumbles that she wants to do it now. Zephyr seems to be shaken out of his stupor. He explains that they lost his sistr when she was really young and when they lost him, it crushed him. They thought that he was never coming back as it had been weeks. Adalia stepped in, saying they are glad to bring good news and asks if they can do anything to help them get ready. He says he needs an hour to get a bag and they will be ready to leave. He bangs his hands on the counter and loudly announces that the shop is closing, they can leave money on the counter and they will return soon. The shop clears as people leave money on the counter. Zephyr announces that he is going to pack a bag and he will be back soon. Adalia talks to Vanya, the wife, and asks for directions to the Derrow family and the Windlow family. She explains that the Windlow family owns Providence Herbary across the street and the Derows are the gardeners and will likely be near the manor.

Carindrina says that she is suspicious of the father starting a storm as that doesn’t seem to be related to being happy. The group tries to explain that it was just a reaction to very emotional news, but Carindrina is grumpy and remains unconvinced. While they debate the influence that the fey are having on this, Nira sing-songs “It’s beginning to look a lot like *vampires*”. Carindrina stomps out of the shop and Nira teases her, “When did you adopt Belladonna’s philosophy that it’s the fey?” She claims that it isn’t because of his fey nature, he just seems suspicious. Thoughts of her own family bring forth simmering resentment. Belladonna commiserates and tells the group that her mom’s response was “Oh, you’re alive.” when she returned home, so she is also a little bitter. Adalia puts a hand on Belladonna’s shoulder and tells her to be warned that their daughter was very clearly fey, so her family may also look fey.

The next shop is smaller, Providence Herbary. They enter and a happy silver bell chimes at the door. There are crystals and jars and potions and a large fire on one end of the room, with drying herbs hanging from the ceiling. A voice calls out from the back, “Coming! Coming!” A woman who looks very much like Bella comes into the room and smiles at them, “Oh! It’s you! It’s all of you!” The group stares at her.
“No, it’s not all of you. One of you is missing! What’s wrong?”
Nira pauses, “Have we met?”
“No, not yet, but I know you. Bella has been found?”
Adalia nods, “Yes, we found her, and Furus is delivering something in town.”
Belladonna whispers to Adalia that at least Timothy’s family looked human, and while they don’t have to trust them, she isn’t comfortable with how she knows so much about them.
“Oh good. I couldn’t tell where Bella was. Or where she is now. But I knew you would find her.”
Venus whispers, “She must be a seer.”
Adalia asks if she is a seer and the woman turns to look at Nira, losing focus of her vision, then speaks to Nira in a soft voice, “You will finds yours, too. Don’t worry, I know you do.”

Nira freezes, then begins to reach forward to grab the seer. Looking closer at her, she is clearly a seer and Nira’s heart freezes at the thought of knowing more about her brothers. Galia tries to hold her so they can explain where to meet to take her to Balvonier.

Nira starts vomiting questions: Where are they? When will I find them? I need answers!! The group decides to leave Galia to babysit Nira and prevent her from killing Bella’s mother while they go to find Nicola’s parents.

Nira calms down and asks when, where, why, what, how? Delphi says she isn’t a chronowitch so she doesn’t know when, and somehow they are connected to Bella. She isn’t sure where they are. There is one place that is very cold and one that isn’t here, it is a different plane. Nira asks if there is anything she can do to help her see her brothers, or will she lose the visions now that Bella is found. Delphi explains that if she tries to look for a vision she typically doesn’t get correct information. Galia thanks her for her time, grabbing two bottles and leaving money on the counter, explaining they will meet in front of Swift’s Market and leave in about an hour.

Belladonna complains that you think good news would go over better and Adalia agrees. Nira and Galia catch up as the group enters the fields near the manor. The manor is larger than Stoneblood Manor, but nowhere near as massive as Tanglewood Manor. There are two people in the field with more of a russet coloring and bright hair that look similar to Nicola. Adalia nudges Belladonna, they look kind of normal, anyone can have pink hair. Belladonna harrumphs. Adalia saunters forward and asks if they are the Derrow family. The woman is balancing a basket on her head and asks if the manor needs something, she doesn’t recognize them. Adalia explains they have news about Nicola. The woman is excited and calls her husband over, and introduces them as Aubrey and Ash. Adalia says that they found Nicola and she is safe. Aubrey is misty eyed and says they thought they had lost her forever, she turns to Ash and grabs his hands, “We can take the ribbon off the tree!” Adalia asks her to explain and she says that those who follow Aaila tie a ribbon to a tree so that those who are lost can find their thread of fate and come home. Nira says “God has nothing to do with this, honey.” Aubrey sees her robes, “Ahh! Oure. It is so nice when you visit, we have a cleric here that you might know. She is wonderful.” The group explains that they are meeting in one hour in front of Swift’s Market to walk the group to Balvonier.

The group discussed visiting Nira’s contact in Weatherby who was the cleric of Oure. She explains that the cleric will have more ability to do higher level magic such as removing curses and other things that may help with interrogating the eldritch horror they are trying to treat like a child. Nira offered to go alone, but the group came with her. Nira leads them through town to the address given to her by her mentor. There is a small, quaint, quiet house with a small wildflower garden. It is shaded and soft, a very cooling and serene cottage. She knocked on the door and the woman who opens the door takes her by surprise because she looks almost identical to her mentor and is even a ganza like her mentor and Nira.
“You got a sister?” Nira smiled.
The woman laughed and said yes, “Nira! I wondered when you would come, I assume Erinye didn’t tell you I’m her twin, she loves the surprise.”
Nira laughed, and seeing the hurt behind her eyes, Elentiya swept her into a hug, “I’m so sorry sweetie. I will do everything I can to help you. Are your friends welcome to come in as well?”
Nira turned to look at the group, “Yeah, they’ve become ride or die, so let’s bring them in, too. I’ve been getting a lot of information today about my brothers and I’m overwhelmed. According to a seer we just met this is all connected.”
Entering the home, it was much more cozy than they expected.
“I stumbled on another set of missing kids while looking for Lumen and Lux. And you know me, I couldn’t say no to sticking around and helping out. The deeper it got, the more entangled it got with aspects of our religion and the chaos plane, and faires.”
Elentiya nods, “The fairies here in Wyrmwood Court are good people, though I know there are other courts who are much darker.”
“We ended up making a promise to find the kids for the Wyrmwood Court.On the way we found a chaos portal, an underground temple, a lot of toxic waters, vampires, and even an eldritch horror. He’s currently in the attic of a house in a warded cage and he isn’t talking because he has a cursed collar and hopefully if you are like your sister, you can help us with that.”
Carindrina turns to Nira, silent through the whole exchange, “Wait...who are you?”
“I’m still NIra, but I’ve been trying to just get information for myself because I have two important people missing from my life and I need to find them, but also they would be really upset with me if I didn’t help find these kids. I’m not sorry.”
Carindrina explained, “No, I’m actually impressed.”
NIra was startled, “Oh, I was expecting horror, it’s in my eyes, that is what everyone reacts with...horror.”
Juniper goes up, smashes her head into Nira’s lap and wraps her in a hig. NIra pets her head.
Galia says that she doesn’t think any of her siblings would come look for her. Nira reminds her that she did try to give her siblings up to Nira for adoption. Adalia gives her a side hug and says “We are your family now.” Galia says that the offer to take one of her siblings is still open, but that she wants to help find her brothers.
Nira says that she would appreciate that, they just need to get these kids safe and figure out how it links with her brothers. She says that while she knows Shinze really well, as she was raised in that religion, and her older brother Lux went on a pilgrimage to prepare to be a priest, and when he disappeared, Lumen went to find him, but he vanished as well. They were the only two people who loved her even though she was different. She hasn’t been a creature of the light since the day she was born.
Elentiya says that she has a different kind of light and not all darkness is bad. She never met Lux, but she did meet Lumen. He was very polite and kind, and asked about Lux, but she didn’t make the connection until Erinye contacted her much later. She asked if he was a heavy drinker. Nira said he wasn’t, and Elentiya said that while people do get more in their cups during festivals, the last day she saw him he was drunk and paranoid, slurring his words and very upset. She has never felt worse about any inaction than not stopping and talking to him that day. Nira says that she has felt bad about letting him go from the start, and that she should be at peace as Nira doesn’t blame her. She wonders if this is related to the water they are investigating, could he have gone to the brothel and been exposed to the faerie dragons? At least they know he was alive, still questing, and that she is on the right path. Elentiya said that he was very very particular about what he drank while he was here which is why she thought it was so strange he was drunk. Nira asked what he had told her about the water. Elentiya explained that Lumen was convinced the water was being altered in a town that doesn’t exist any more, Mistvale. All the towns of the roueda worship a different god: Balvonier is Shinze, Thornyside is LIguaquide, Weatherby is Aaila, Spindledown is Zeleantho, and Mistvale was Oure. I originally came here to find the missing city, I wanted to be an adventurer and reclaim the city, but I never found it. The towan was supposed to be built around a magic grotto, the town was guarded by a shadow drake. She has searched and searched but never found the city.

The group discussed the shadow that attacked them when they met the merchant outside of Thornyside, or if that is where they found the children, or the place under Stoneblood Manor. Nira realizes that the area of the forest prior to entering the pocket dimension is a place that would be very easy to hide a city, and that placing a pocket dimension under the hidden city would be a great way to keep it hidden.

Nira pulled out the small pin that she found in her room at Iron Key house and asked Elentiya to look at it, hoping that her Protean would be better and she would be able to read the note and decipher the pin. Elentiya asks where she got this. Nira said it was in the house that the fey provided. Elentiya says this is not fey, and this is not good. Nira had tried to translate the note as call to the old ones, they are coming, but Elentiya explains this really means “herald their arrival”, not invite them in, they are already here, and that was the same pin that her brother was wearing when he disappeared. Nira panics and tries to explain that she doesn’t think that the old ones are the old gods, but are creatures of chaos, the plane that influenced her birth. Adalia says that the kids went missing before Nira had opened the portal, so maybe they aren’t completely related. They pass the pin around. It takes Adalia a minute to recognize the pin, but when Belladonna begins to dissociate, the small curved details resolve into the upside down kraken. Belladonna explains they keep seeing this symbol, a pack of cards under Stoneblood Manor, the abandoned Liguaquide temple in Thornyside, and the monks in Lowtown. Nira said this isn’t an old god, this is an eater of worlds. Adalia remembers the monk in Thornyside yelling “The Devourer will have us all!” before he disappeared. The group discussed back and forth, trying to determine how everything went together. They gathered the group and walked to Swift’s Market, ready to meet Furus and the other parents.

Furus’s Adventure coming soon.