(Oct 27)
Cascade
Myrwood
Autumn 64
As they gather around at breakfast, the world suddenly slips and shifts, and they’re in a tavern filled with people laughing, talking, looking clean and well-fed. Investigating outside, they see a vibrant, living city, and no tower on the horizon (until it wavers back into view, as they know it’s supposed to be there). The people in the tavern have no clue of earthquakes, undead or anything. New “memories” start to arise of being sent to Myrwood to pick up supplies for Basil Porter, Ava’s father, and they have rooms here in the tavern.
They scatter to investigate further.
Esmund goes to the library and finds a book on interdimensional travel for his “thesis.”
Kaisi finds Briggs Bramblehorn, who doesn’t believe his story and thinks he’s casting for a shadow play, but tells him about Maigran, a nearby clockwright. Kaisi immediately spills everything to her about being from another plane and wanting help to get back. Realizing he’s telling the truth, she writes it all down, gives him a formula to give to Esmund to get back, and after he leaves sends a report of the story to the Verdict and to the Queen.
Aureya and Salinger find Salouis, suddenly remembering they were sent with Salouis chaperoning; Salouis shushes Aureya telling her about the situation and says no one would believe her. Salouis goes off to a meeting with the magister, and Aureya and Salinger go to the temple of Brunnhilde, which is still empty save for a memorial caretaker. They learn a little about its past, that Brunnhilde was a protector and goddess of strength.
Xalati goes to the Post & Parcel to Send some messages; her first two are to Ixtalan, which seem to go through, according to the postmaster. She sends a third to Postmaster Simon at Shepherd’s End, an innocuous one asking about the ruins and giving her love to all the members of her family.
A response to the first message comes in: “Unstable reality, get out of there.” Xalati books it back to the inn to grab their stuff.
They mostly manage to congregate and pass their findings around; Esmund goes to the artificer Maigran, while Aureya goes to the magistrate and asks Salouis about the Angel of Doors and finding ways to new places, immediately triggering Salouis’ suspicions (as the only reference to that name is on a scroll hidden in her office). Apparently a “conceptual relationship” exists between the myth of the goddess Brunnhilde and the Angel of Doors.
Esmund talks to Maigran, who explains that the only way the formula she gave would work is if there was a total and cascading destruction of all dimensions. Only due to the eradication of dimensions would you be able to shift from one reality to another, as the destruction would cause the broken edges of the dimensions to overlap with one another. Esmund nods and buys a sunstone and retunes the Door Jamb using the formula Maigran gave him.
Activating the Door Jamb wraps them in a bubble and warps them to another dimension. They pass through a world with a red sun and an upside-down city; a Myrwood with a great hole in the north (where Sal and Aureya do some light graverobbing of a sarcophagus and grab a greathammer); and end up in the same place Ava and Seyfried had described when they fell through a tear months ago. Warping once more, they find themselves greeted by Sylas, who tells them they need to leave immediately.
Tala comes out from nearby brush and explains this is the group of people she told him about previously. Sylas rolls his eyes and quickly explains they’re in the Place Between. The Pale Lands are gone or disconnected, the Raven Queen missing or destroyed, and the souls of people are unable to continue beyond. Souls are now stuck in this place and taken away to the White Tower in the north. He theorizes that the Tower is a type of engine terraforming the planet to better suit it.
During this explanation, Kaisi is trying to convince Tala to return with them but Sylas stresses to everyone that she cannot return, and holds her back. As Esmund activates the Door Jamb device once more, Sylas yells to them to find Sav—if anyone can solve and fix this situation, it’s her.
As the warp kicks in, Tala breaks from Sylas and grabs Kaisi’s hand, just as the Angel of Doors phases in and sees all of their faces.
The final warp is successful and the group find themselves back in the Myrwood of their home reality. However, when they turn towards Xalati, they instead find that a grown Ixtalan has taken her place. She looks back towards Kaisi and asks, “Where is she?”
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