The Two (Ivory) Towers – Sheryl, the Fae-Touched – 7.01.2020

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Super sleuth, Detective Sheryl was on the case!

There are a few tricks our daughter of fey has learned in her years in the Summer Court and one of them is most people are not used to having their thoughts read. Sometimes, it is easier to take a good long look at a person and, if you know what to look for, you will see signs of what they are hiding right away. She has a knack for these sorts of things, our fey bard.

But this time she was able to take it a step farther.

From the moment Sheryl spotted Aurelia’s letter asking for assistance on behalf of the scholars of K’ul Goran, she was ready to go. They were asking the sorts of questions she had been wondering herself: What exactly did those orange lines of fire mean? Who was controlling them? What was their source?

Markas, BB, Bones, Aggie, Bubbles, and Sheryl got to the site where the scholars were attempting to reconstruct a “moveable diagram” as they called it of what the symbols were. Professors Gasp, Strongroar, and Clubhead asked those of them who were there the day the lines appeared what they remembered from where they were. It felt so good to finally be working towards solving the burning questions she had about the incident since it happened, and helping those who have better knowledge of these things.

After telling Professor Gasp everything she could recall – which had been quite a lot – the group had dispersed. Markas and Bubbles stayed talking to Professor Clubhead and his student/assistant Rosie about devils and demons, Aggie was keeping an eye on the horizon, BB was attempting to help plant some flowers in the scorched and barren earth since it had once been farmland and she wanted to help make things grow again, whilst Bones attempted to fly… but kept landing on his face due to the high winds.

Sheryl wanted to take a closer look at this reconstruction the scholars were working on. Professor Gasp had mentioned that, for some reason, the sigils weren’t aligning or they were missing something that should be connecting them. He wasn’t clear, probably because even he wasn’t sure what they were looking for. She may not be an expert on infernal happenings like Rosie
(A fascinating choice of interests. Must remember to mention her to Sunday.)
but maybe her super sleuthing skills could help solve something. Why weren’t the lines connecting? What could possibly be causing this disjointedness?

That was how she saw it. The spectral hand that moved the bits of the construction from one pile to another, making it a false representation!

This was, of course, the time when the harpies decided to attack. Thinking about how she got charmed by their caterwauling makes her ears turn pink in anger. But with the combined efforts of Sheryl’s friends, none of the scholars got hurt! Though, Bubbles did summon a demon which was pretty frightening to see. It reminded Sheryl of Serpentine, and not in a good way.

But back to the spectral hand.

As it transpired, that hand had been very busy sabotaging the progress of the dig site for a while. Using her magical abilities, and a new trick she had seen Kruxeral use numerous times, Sheryl was able to figure out exactly who was responsible! The first person she confronted had, in a panic, tried to stab her whilst she was charmed by the harpies, and though she did not take kindly to him doing that, she knew he was just scared. His punishment for attempting to sabotage the research was having his academic tenure revoked, along with his accomplices, which seemed a bit more fitting for his crimes.

Still, there was a part of her that was satisfied when Markas had punched him in the face. There was more behind the outburst however, and though Sheryl had acknowledged it at the time, she also did not wish to pry. Not then, not there. She has not adventured much with Markas but he, like her, seems to like to wear his heart on his sleeve.

It can be hard seeing those you care about being hurt even when you’re there and you cannot do anything about it.

After the scholars and Professors had a chance to readjust the moving diagram to be where it was supposed to be they discovered a number things: First, it confirmed the symbols formed a seal that was either used to lock something in or, the more terrifying thought, release something which had been imprisoned. They also were written in Abyssal, which was even more terrifying to think about, considering out of the two places she had been thinking of, the Abyss is more chaotic.

Before they left Professor Gasp offered one more bit of treasure to the group. Two bolts of slaying, one for elementals and one for fey. The moment her eyes saw it, Sheryl knew she could not let any of the others take it. She couldn’t say why. She avoided touching the Cold Iron bolt head though, as it gave her a queasy feeling.

The others gave her curious looks as she tucked it away in her little satchel but she did not meet their gazes. She thought of her time training in Willow’s Glade with Sunday and what she had said to her then.

“I need to be ready for anything.”

It was less than three months until Sheryl had to return to the Feywild. She hoped she would not need to use such a bolt on her friends and family. But if things were volatile, as they sometimes tended to be in the lands of the fey… then she must be prepared.