What Angel Wakes Us

What Angel Wakes Us was the session that took place on July 16th, 2020.

Synopsis
Following the Mad Magus' trials, the Seekers demand to finally be taken to the Monarch within their ivory tower. The Mad Magus relents and says he will unlock it for the group. He leaves half of a black masquerade mask to Saphir, advising the group not to put it on - when questioned as to why, he decides to demonstrate by putting it on himself. The knight is promptly removed from the area, though still talks to the group through the mask and advises them to take their time and enter whenever they're ready.

The group enters the tower to the sight of a grand ballroom where they are greeted by Mia-Ni. The fairy greets the group, asking what took them so long. They ask for a gift, and after some nudging, made clear that they meant the mask half. Saphir presents the item and the Monarch promptly places it on their face, revealing their true form: Mia-Niameyta the archfey, a brilliant feminine-presenting ruler with two sets of vibrant butterfly wings and an ivory staff that matched her knight's.

Unlike the Winter Queen, Mia-Niameyta greeted the group warmly and offered them (mortal) food and drink. They urged the group to ask any questions they desired, which the Seekers felt dubious of at first, though the Monarch assured that they meant only to help. Saphir inquired for any details they may be willing to share of his father, which brought a melancholy reaction from the fairy. The Monarch explained that there were some whose absence never stopped hurting, and that Laern was one of the few to ever have that effect on the denizens of the Spring Court. They seemed genuinely sad about the circumstances.

Rylee and Sorithyn inquired for any details of the Eternal Tempest. Mia-Ni explained to the group that it was one of the few places that the fey (other than the Nyl) have not been able to travel unscathed. Clairen seemed suspicious on how helpful the fey seemed to be after hearing the rumors that Seekers had heard before entering their lands, to which Mia-Ni responded that the group's performance before the Winter Court had left more of an impression than initially assumed. Mia-Ni insisted that they were in fact the first to suggest that the fey courts provide assistance to the Seekers in their journey.

Shifting the conversation towards the future of their quest, Mia-Niameyta declared that they had one final trial for the group. Because the Summer King would assuredly want to enjoy a hunt but would never want to repeat someone else's, the Spring Monarch suggested a battle with themself in which the group would not be in any mortal danger. The group agreed after some brief deliberation and made their preparations.

Clairen preemptively gave bardic inspiration to everyone in the group other than Alavara and activated her Armor of Phlegethos while Sorithyn began to play her countercharm. Saphir got into position to fire off a ranged attack as soon as a group member was in melee range. Mia-Ni took the first real action by casting a spell, which Clairen quickly counterspelled. Sorithyn dove in to strike with her flametongue weapon and was able to land an early blow. Saphir took his shot and landed a solid sneak attack, dealing massive early damage along with the bard's strike. Rylee attempted to cast Faerie Fire which was resisted, leading to the party to discover that the archfey had extremely high saving throws. Clairen ignited a fireball in her face and singed off Sorithyn's eyebrows in the process, and although Mia-Ni tried to counterspell it herself, Clairen replied in kind. Ally struck with a divine smite, ending the first round of initiative with a heavy blow onto the enemy.

After combat, Mia-Ni restored Kalza (and subsequently the rest of the party) to full health, just before Sorithyn gave them a thwap on the arm as revenge for turning her into a dog. The Monarch praised the party and resummoned the refreshments from before, seemingly excited that the group provided such an exhilarating encounter. They explained that the Summer King would be far less likely to hunt them in their brother's lands, then offered the group respite for the night within their castle. Clairen tried to act confident and swore that she could go another few rounds before falling over, exhausted.

The encounter was finished up with a parting gift from Mia-Niameyta - a small shoe that would provide easy access to the Summer Court's Hunting Grounds. They complimented the party's cohesiveness and teamwork, specifically nodding towards Kalza regarding her powerful use of a Life Transference spell. The Monarch summoned attendants with pointy red hats into the ballroom chamber to escort the party into some resting chambers and added that she would see us off personally in the morning after a good night's rest.