PART 3: THE DAMPHENITE TANGLEAbove the Tangle They pushed through the verdant and vibrant, dense foliage until the lip of a vast chasm appeared at the edge of their vision. Sorrel raised her hand to stop the party. She let her eyes unfocus and swept the horizon slowly, up and down, up and down, trying to catch any movement or any sign that something was out of place. She sighed.
“There was a camp here last time,” she explained. “They clocked us. I’m sure they have this time too. I hate feeling so amateur.”
A short walk away stood a familiar Eladrin warrior talking to a familiar Sprite warrior. The party walked over to greet them. Those amongst the party that could understand the Sylvan tongue, picked up on the Feys’ conversation as it tailed off upon the group's arrival.
“Were they talking about Nathalie, Sorrel?” Kavel asked his sister, “I think Sterel said something about Nathalie not knowing yet, and that she’s said many things though?”
“You’re mostly right, brother,” Sorrel replied, acknowledging the improvements in Kavel’s Sylvan, “You’ve understood the words correctly. But I think you may have missed some subtext while concentrating on the words. I detected some frustration from Sterel.”
Sorrel’s assessment had earned Kavel’s interest. He wanted to hear more. However, the party was just a few steps away from Anthea and Sterel by this point.
Sorrel spoke first. “Sorrel Darkfire at your service and your families”
“I remember you,” Anthea said, greeting Sorrel back, “Kavel?”
“Good to see you again, comrade Anthea. Sorry to interrupt your conversation,” the Goliath said, as he looked across to the hovering Sprite, Sterel, Nathalie’s second-in-command. “It is good to see you again, too, Sterel.”
Whilst Anthea did not greet the party with joy and smile, her greeting was at least warm. Sterel’s face was neutral. Kavel paid the cold expression no attention. But, Sorrel found it peculiar. Last time the pair were here, despite the business with the mark of Air and Darkness, Sterel was quite grateful to see Kavel, and more so when the party helped rejoin Nathalie’s spirit to her body. Sorrel had expected a warmer greeting for her brother from the second-in-command than what he got. Perhaps Kavel was right to be worried about the consequences of foolishly retrieving the Hunting Horn for Drusilia?
Sterel nodded to a distant Sprite, who then flew down into the chasm to the Damphenite Tangle home. Looking back at Kavel, Sterel directed her question at Kavel, “What are you doing here?”
“I have come unannounced. I admit. But, I have come to see Nathalie. We don’t spend enough time together, and we agreed that since she has spent more of our New Moon days with me in the Dawnlands, I should do more to ingratiate myself here. So, I thought it would be good not to wait for the next New Moon, and just come.”
Sterel was about to speak, as a Sprite flew up from the Tangle depths, trailed by some fellow warriors. The lead Sprite was much, much larger than the other Sprites, and her face did not hold a neutral expression for the visitors to her realm - her expression was one of joy.
“Quarlani’omah Nathalie. It has been some time,” Anthea said, addressing the tall Sprite, noting, “You look different.”
“Change is coming,” Nathalie responded.
Anthea tilted her head to the side questioningly. “I thought your people were done with change?”
Nathalie looked at Sterel before answering. “It comes sometimes - when it wants.” She looked once more at Sterel, before flying straight over to Kavel, a smile wide on her face.
“My love!” Nathalie said, as she crashed softly onto Kavel’s chest and face. The lovers embraced. Sprite and Goliath. Two opposites in stature. Kavel was averagely tall for a Goliath, at seven feet four inches tall. Nathalie, at around two feet two was very tall for a Sprite. When drinking the shrinking potion, proof of Nathalie’s tallness could be found in the fact that Kavel, a rather tall humanoid, shrunk to the same height as Nathalie. However, Nathalie at that moment, was very clearly far taller than what Kavel remembered. She measured around three and a half feet tall!
“Nathalie! You are different, yes?!” Kavel said, acknowledging that Nathalie’s height made her comparable to a small or young Dwarf, rather than a tall Sprite. Kavel held Nathalie’s arms and squeezed them a little. A smirk grew on his mouth, as he said, “Do you think that since you will be much taller than me when I shrink, that you can out wrestle me?”
Nathalie’s eyes smiled as her face playfully changed expression to characterise a mocking look of shock, “Well. I would hope that my man wouldn’t feel too emasculated if that were the case?” A grin then crept its way onto the corner of her mouth, “Perhaps we should find out in a bit?”
At that point, the lovers had matching grins on their faces.
Into the TangleAnthea brought forward the magic potion for visitors who were granted access to the Damphenite Tangle, but were taller than Sprites and could not fly, and as such were not going to feel comfortable down in the Tangle - provided they could safely reach it of course.
Upon drinking the potion, Kavel found he came up to Nathalie’s waist now. He was effectively a Dwarf to Nathalie’s Goliath.
Nathalie lowered herself from a hover to the ground to stand side by side with Kavel. She stood up as straight as she could. Kavel had to look up to see the matching smile on her face. By her waist, where his head came to, he wrapped his arms around her leg, and put his hands in a palm-to-palm, thumbs-tucked grip and squeezed. “I will reap your leg, and ground you. I’ve done this to a lot of opponents far larger, you know?”
Slapping his hands apart playfully, but with a fair amount of strength, Nathalie sauntered over to the ledge, and flirtatiously replied, “you’re very cute as a little man, you know?” She then turned to address all of her visitors, “now come on. All of you. We’ll have a feast prepared.”
The adventurers, now all tiny in size, including a now micro sized Lolli, stepped off of the chasm ledge and began falling, slowly to the Damphenite city below, as if a wizard like Lolli had casted the Feather Fall spell on the party.
The labyrinthine and intersecting gorges and chasms that make up the Damphenite Tangle is a wonder to see. The rock shifts in colour from warm yellow at the top to deep purples to vibrant magentas the further down one travels. As the canyon rock colour changes, the light changes, too. Hued in pinks and purples above, the light deepens into blues, giving way to the feeling of being under water despite being dry as any land.
The adventurers were watched as they descended. Sprites – families, warriors, young and old – observed the eclectic mixture of non native humanoids as they entered the Sprite domain in the plain open air on full display with nowhere to hide. There was, in truth, no way for anyone to enter the Damphenite Tangle without being seen.
The party made their way to a criss-crossing bridge made of the shifting rock. Some Sprites had turned away, returning to their tasks and duties. Others though continued to watch.
Sorrel noticed the warriors - initially just idle routine check-and-plan stuff to keep her hand in… weapons, distance, alertness, weak points, leader to take out first. The fun stuff. Then she realised something unsettling. The warriors, those who were dressed most like Sterel and Nathalie, were watching Nathalie with an intensity that went beyond simple scrutiny. There was something about this that made her very uneasy. She glanced over at Kavel but his eyes were focused on his love. Sorrel started reassessing the warriors more carefully, just in case.
Lolli, meanwhile, was happily waving to everyone. She noticed some of the families were giving the whole group wary curious looks. As a Fey herself, she felt she wasn’t met with much curiosity as she passed by. Beets neither. A Fairy is after all something of a larger Sprite. But Lolli picked up that while Sorrel, the Human of the group, was met with curious looks, the looks Kavel received as a Half-Giant were different. Kavel confounded the Sprites, as if he’s just too different to them. But, Lolli, ever an agreeable person, brushed that thought off and remained polite and happy as she flew down throughout the descent, smiling and waving to everyone.
Beets also noticed the eyes of many Sprites and the focusing looks on Kavel. She returned to her earlier thoughts on the matter,
‘Why should Kavel or Nathalie care what the other Sprites think?’The adventurers now found their feet firmly planted on a platform of rock. A particular group of warriors were looking at Nathalie.
“Have we come at a bad time?” Kavel asked.
“No. Of course not,” Nathalie said, reassuring Kavel that his surprise visit was fine. She then turned to Sterel, “Continue with the group drills. I will be there shortly.”
Sterel led the group of warriors away for their drills in one of the nearby meditation circles, whilst Nathalie led her visitors deeper into the Tangle for tea.
The Depths of the TangleIn one of the meditation circles closest to the bottom of the Tangle, the adventurers were being served tea by their host. In the lower circles the ceilings are much taller; facilitating Nathalie’s now gigantic sprite height.
Tea poured, Nathalie sat down next to Kavel in the group, and a facade she had been maintaining for some time fell. She breathed in deeply, and as she breathed out her shoulders fell, releasing much built up tension.
“I’m really sorry Kavel. I was hoping to have more time to sort out what’s going on. I want you to be here, but it has gotten really bad.”
The adventurers were caught off guard by Nathalie’s shift in demeanour - all except Sorrel, who felt that it was in line with the observations she had made. Kavel placed a hand on Nathalie’s thigh in support. Nathalie placed her own hand on top of his welcomingly.
“The last time you came I walked the spirit roads alone. You came to save me. Your red dragonborn companion who was there last time? He was right; I was foolish to go alone.”
Nathalie set her cup down, and began running her fingers across her Damphenite bangle. “There was an urgent feeling of something coming before I went in alone. I feel it all the time now. They say that I am clouded, distracted, because of my connection with you. And now I have grown.” Nathalie had indeed grown. Kavel wondered if given time, would she be as tall as him, at his regular height?
“But I don’t feel clouded, that doesn’t feel right to me,” Nathalie continued. “ I have some doubts, sure. And now tall as I am, I cannot enter the training and meditation circles above. The older rooms here are the only ones I fit comfortably in. Sterel feels this is a problem. The younger Sprites agree with her that there is something wrong with me. That I am trying to revive ways that were abandoned for a reason. The bangles are an old tradition that some of the warriors would do. It was stopped though. But no one knows why.”
Sorrel looked hard at Natalie. “What do you mean? Are you growing together? Is the magic binding you and Kavel?”
“Yes. But, the magic is only travelling one way. I made sure of it.” Natalie met Sorrel’s gaze.
So Kavel would not become a sprite, Sorrel thought gratefully, then realised something. “The villagers… Lolli said they thought my brother was the least fey in our party. I can see that might cause a problem.”
“It is not a problem,” Natalie was firm, then a flicker of doubt crossed her face. “But I can feel a dis-ease. Something is coming to the Feywild. Or something that will cause considerable unease. I sense it so much clearer now.”
Natalie touched the Damphenite floor with her free hand. The stone lit up under her fingers, and the bangles on both her and Kavel surged with spiritual energy. She removed her hand from the floor. The energy dissipated. Nathalie was probing the Spirit Road for answers, but her sight was obscured to the cause of the future unease, as if she was looking at the problem with glasses that didn’t have a strong enough lens.
‘Unease in the Feywild?’ Beets was reminded of Jasper’s warning. “Do you know what the Wild Hunt is?” She asked Nathalie.
“You’re familiar with the Wild Hunt?” Nathalie asked, surprised.
“A guy called Jasper said there is a group that will attack the Dawnlands coming from the Feywild.”
Reminded of a concern that had been playing on his mind, Kavel followed Beets’ statement by saying, “The horn as well, Nathalie. From the Temple For All Seasons, it was a Hunting Horn and I was told it relates to the Wild Hunt, and it is very bad.”
Natalie’s eyes opened wide. Ashamed, Kavel added, “It seems we have been useful idiots.”
Nathalie did not respond though. Instead she quickly returned her free hand back to the stone floor, but this time she took the hand on top of Kavel’s and touched the floor with both hands. The rock below her fingers lit up once again. This time, Nathalie’s eyes rolled back revealing the white of her eyes, and a surge of Damphenite spiritual energy came over her, as she began experiencing a vision. The mention of the hunting horn had provided her a stronger lens. A very strong lens, as Nathalie spoke as if the Spirit Road was speaking through her:
“The Heralds of the Hunt have their tools. The horn, the weapon, and the great mount. It is only a matter of time before the Lord of the Wildlings comes, and then it will be…” Breaking off from the connection, Nathalie grabbed her head in pain and screamed. Kavel stood up so he could reach his partner’s face, and placed both hands on Nathalie’s cheeks. Nathalie put both her hands on top of his, accepting the touch.
“That has never happened before,” the Sprite leader said. “I must tell Anthea, and get the information to the Queen!” With that, Nathalie pulled Kavel’s hands away from her face, and flew out of the meditation circle, and up to a higher level leaving the adventurers behind.
To follow, Kavel and Sorrel had to drink Potions of Flying that Sorrel had saved for airborne nighttime stealth missions. Beets could fly, and Lolli had herself a magic cape.
They tried to catch up with Nathalie as soon as the potions were downed.
Disagreement in the TangleThe adventurers landed on a platform and arrived in time to hear Nathalie arguing in Sylvan with Sterel, her second-in-command.
“I’ve been trying to get answers for the queen for weeks now,” Nathalie was heard saying as she pointed down to the lower levels of the Tangle where she left Kavel, “and it’s only because of my connection to him and him being here that we have something to report!”
Steel was not convinced by Nathalie’s reasoning. “You cannot know that. That practice was abandoned and it is changing you and making you less like us. How will we be able to follow someone who is not us?!”
Nathalie ignored the question. “I must speak to Anthea,” she said in a matter of fact way. “She will take my vision to the Queen.” Sterel stared off into the distance.
Nathalie could now see the adventurers had made their own way up to reach her. She walked over to them. Nathalie had to drop to her knees to look Kavel in the eyes, and she brushed his shoulder before reaching for a hand that he gladly accepted. “I know you came here to spend time with me. I want to extend an invitation for you to stay. But, I need to see Anthea now.”
“Yes,” Kavel said, acknowledging the importance of the matter whilst nodding as well. Nathalie took to the air.
Kavel watched Nathalie fly away. When she was out of sight, he put his hands on his hips and considered his situation. Looking at his comrades, he stated his thoughts, “I want to help. How does one go about enlisting the Dawnlands? I don’t suppose it is easily accomplished.”
“Kavel, my brother, I think you underestimate the respect you hold in the Dawnlands,” Sorrel smiled. “If you ask them, they will come.”
Sorrel believed what she said, and she believed in her brother. She was not concerned about Dawnland aid at that moment though. Sorrel was instead concerned with how her observations of sprite politics and culture since she arrived pointed towards a disagreement. One she did not fully understand, and which she felt her brother was almost entirely missing; while Natalie feels her connection to Kavel is right, others did not, and the practice of bonding through use of the Damphenite crystals in the form of bangles, was considered too dangerous.
“Brother. Stay here for a moment. I need to speak to Serel.”
Proximate SupportSorrel walked slowly over to Sterel keeping her hands in plain sight to show she posed no threat. The sprite eyed her cautiously. Sorrel bowed, hand on heart, and spoke in Sylvan.
“Thank you for letting us enter your lands in peace today. I would like to ask respectfully if I could speak with you privately?”
Sterel nodded and they moved away from the gaggle of sprites that surrounded the second-in command.
“Let me say first that Kavel is my brother,” Sorrel began, meeting Sterel’s eyes. “He shares my blood and I share his. He is the bravest, most loyal and generous… he is one of the best men I have ever met. But I see there is something unsettling at work here, you are uneasy with him, and I beg you to tell me what is going on. I heard you say you abandoned these practices, referring to the bangles, for a reason. What was the reason?”
Sterel looked uneasy. “Natalie is my sister just as Kavel is your brother, in everything but blood. She has led us well. Under her we joined the Summer Court and it has made our lives so much better. We no longer have to fend off attacks from the River King every other day now. She is a good leader to her people.”
“But the practices?”
“Our records are unreliable,” Sterel began.
“But you know,” said Sorrel gently.
She sighed. “The bangles form a bond between… what you would call two souls. It is an incredibly powerful bond. It brings the souls closer together… completely. Do you understand?”
Sorrel’s eyes widened. “They become… they become one soul?”
“She is changing. He is not like us, he is not Fey.”
“I saw that in the eyes of the warriors and the families…”
“It’s no shame to be other than Fey, but he is a goliath, of the mountains and the storm and stone…” Sterel broke off. “Of course! He is of stone. That is why she connects with the stone of the tangle more deeply now. That is why she can see things none of us can.”
Sorrel remembered that Natalie’s vision had come when she placed her hand on the stone.
“What does that mean?”
“That she is not just changing physically, she is changing spiritually. When she touches the stone it answers her. She is becoming less fey. She is becoming more goliath. And she is using her power to protect him from losing his strength in the same way. His strength matches hers, no-one else can match her. But he is not fey, and if she is not fey, she cannot be our Quarlani’omah. And if she cannot be our leader, that honour falls to me, but I am not the leader she is, I am not ready, I could never be as good a leader as Nathalie for our people.”
Sorrel searched Sterel’s eyes and saw no sign of a lie, just care and sorrow. She glanced around, and saw her brother and her heart broke.
“May I give you some advice?” she asked. Sterel nodded. “Kavel is your best friend right now. He is a good man. Maybe the best of men. He has risked everything for me from the depths of Hell to the heat of battle and he is not in love with me, he is in love with Natalie. There is nothing he would not do for her. Nothing.”
“She has so much at stake,” Sterel looked wracked by sorrow.
“Kavel has no land or people at stake, he is just in love,” Sorrel replied. “I mean it when I say he is your best friend right now. You should talk to him. Except, maybe not in Sylvan. He is getting better at it, but…”
Sterel cocked her head and said in common, “But this is such a coarse language.” She sighed. “Let me think and talk with my people.”
Sorrel bowed her head, then looked straight into Sterel’s eyes. “Kavel is my brother, as I said. He loves Natalie and her people. And so therefore do I. I will come if you need me. I will help you if there is help I can provide, now and forever. But I ask you, as Natalie’s sister, be careful with his heart. His happiness is my concern.”
End of Part 3
