Characters
Dario Diego Durant, swashbuckling swordsman
Doctor Anastasia Nadya Strahov, a gun-priest who says strange thing about blood
Johanna Albrecht, a lycan bard with a particularly keen nose
Ulu, the party's urska mom
Varro, a young snow elf bearing a magical sword
Morwenna, a carrion-eating harpy
Events
When we last left the remnants of the Charnel Hounds, they were in trouble: they had found the child-eating hag in her dank cave lair, but she had mental control over Varro and Ulu. In fact, she had managed to deal Anastasia a grievous wound using Varro as a proxy weapon.
Luckily, she seemed open to negotiation.
In fact, she wanted to strike a deal: if the characters were willing to fetch a ring that had been stolen from her, she would release Varro and Ulu, give back the abducted child from Braelin, and cease her child-eating activities. She explained that the hag they saw before them was not her natural form; she had been cursed with a hunger for children by Devanya, the Fairy Queen of the Summer Court, for beseeching aid in finding her own missing children one time too often. If Raenessa got her ring back, she would be returned to her original form and be cured of her murderous impulses. The party agreed to her terms, which were sealed as a blood oath between Johanna and Raenessa.
The group returned the child to her parents, then rested at Kaul House before they set off again in search of Raenessa's ring. In the morning, they all opened bank accounts with the beautiful and imperious Arabella Godwin at the First Bank of Braelin--but the less said about that, the better.
After three days of travel following the river south from the Felken Woods, the group arrived at where a paddle boat called The Vulpine was moored at the riverbank. After crossing the gangplank, the group found a trio of fey creatures--one a alligator-headed man, another extremely androgynous and moth-winged, and the third a cat-headed woman--who told them they weren't properly attired for the party happening on the second floor of the boat. They were sent to see Lyanthor, the boat's resident satyr tailor.
Lyanthor unleashed a swarm of flittering fairies upon them to take their measurements, then miraculously produced a series of garments that fit their whims and tastes. He also took their adventuring equipment, including their weapons, which left some members of the party feeling distinctly naked even with their new finery.
After traversing the stairs, the group discovered that the second floor of The Vulpine was far too large for the dimensions of the boat; they rightly suspected fey strangeness afoot. They passed through a feasting hall, where they saw an impossibly odd assortment of creatures eating and drinking with abandon, then crossed a long hallway in which more fey beings milled, before ending up in the black-and-white tiled ballroom.
The dance floor was filled with whirling, madcap creatures of the Summer Court. At the other end of the room sat Lady Devanya, perched on a wooden throne that continually bloomed with wildflowers that immediately withered only to bloom again. Lady Devanya was a tall fey noble with lightly green-tinted skin and pointed elfin ears. She lounged on her throne, clearly bored with the proceedings. Upon her finger was an emerald ring--Raenessa's ring, in fact.
Dario and Johanna were waylaid on the dance floor by an elf in tree-like attire who aggressively danced up on them. Dario was far more receptive to this treatment than Johanna. The elf's name was Sabrine, and she helped orientate them to what was going on aboard The Vulpine.
When the character approached Lady Devanya's dais, with Anastasia taking the lead, she looked to them to alleviate the tedium of her eternal party. They made it clear that they wanted Raenessa's ring, and it was resolved that a contest might be just the thing to enliven the fey party: Varro and Dario were to square off against two of Lady Devanya's champions in the fighting pit--because of course The Vulpine had a fighting pit ready for use. If the party's duo won the bout, Lady Devanya would give over the ring, but if the fey queen's champions reigned, Dario would become a plaything trapped on the ship until his natural life expired.
Down in the fighting pit, Dario and Varro learned that their foes were to be two trolls outfitted with steel claws. The battle was tense, but at the ultimate moment--Dario was bloodied by a viscous blow from one of the trolls. The party would not be leaving with the ring, and Dario's life was forfeit.
Until, at least, a double or nothing proposition was proposed...
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