29 – Palace Garden Entrance

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Session 29 Recap

The party passes through the unlocked outer gates and into the garden area of the Palace of Heart’s Desire. Ember notices a flagstone at the entryway with some obscure wording about harts and lions. The group enters a pavilion and meets a wide range of individuals: A group of badger minstrels, a talking bear, 2 elves and a headless dwarf. The most odd thing are a halfling and orc both of which are frozen in time. The party is offered cake and tea and learn that everyone in the pavilion is waiting to meet with Zymblina. They all have lost the sense of time and don’t know what happened to the orc and halfling.

A gift in purple metallic wrapping paper sits at the table. A thank you gift and card from Sir Talavar is on the table. After unwrapping the gift, no one can determine what it is. Zreith takes possession of it to study it further. The cupcakes and tea are delicious and there is a heated discussion about butter, scones and jam. Zreith is afraid of cupcakes and waits near the exit.

Out of boredom, Zreith exits the tent and wanders toward a tower and opens the door. A voice calls out to Zreith and commands him to enter the tower and bow before them. The group races to catch up and they all meet a stone lion named Envy. Envy mentions that he has been summoned here because something is wrong at the palace. His counterpart Wrath is also here. Together they form a security/locking system to the palace. Envy doesn’t have all the details but he mentions that a crown must be found and placed on the correct guardian (Wrath or Envy) to unlock palace doors and gain entrance.

The group leaves the tower to find a crown within the garden. Zreith spots a finely crafted great axe embedded in a tree stump and rushes toward it. Poppy chases him down and stops him before he can take it fearing it could be cursed. There is a bit of a wrestling match between the two Ember rushes over and polymorphs Zreith into a hamster and stuffs him in her pocket. Meanwhile, Mary eats some golden fruit and Marlie drinks from a water fountain frozen in time. Poppy investigates and pulls the enormous axe from the tree stump.  Drinkiing from the fountain causes some unforeseen circumstances for Marlie. Poppy rushes toward the group to catch back up while wielding a newly found axe.

Highlights:

  • Mary attempts to take cake outside of the pavilion but it disintegrates immediately.
  • Poppy has strong feelings about how to butter scones.
  • Ulrich hangs back in the pavilion while the others explore the garden.
  • Marlie and Ember discover some sort of teleportation circle in the garden.