The Second Ripple (Act 2 Opening)

Under an orange sky,
On the banks of the Sea of Aether,
In the presence of the Two Kings,
A convergence sends a Ripple through the stars,
And we watch their reflections dance.

Uusi looks out from the top floor of the Refulgent Beacon, over the fortress she’d helped finance. The bathhouse had recently been completed, the wooden walls surrounding the property had been erected, and the finishing touch was currently being installed in Glob’s temple of Denizen: a finely crafted bell roughly the size of Glob himself, intricately inlaid with a selection of the symbols Uvier had shown her a while back. This third floor of the tower had recently been completed as well, and she’d ventured up here to plan the furnishings, but something else had her distracted. Quarrel’s prophecy bounced back in forth in her head, having been brought to mind by the Ratfolk herself, who would oft repeat it to the residents and workers of Knightstower. The people of Aresgate had a prophecy about the Ripple as well, but theirs was more vague. “Ripples of blue and orange.” Blue and orange. Perhaps the orange sky? But then, what of the blue? Uusi was not usually one to trouble herself with riddles and poems, preferring to untangle the hard sciences of magic and the magics of science, but today she let her mind wander.

Ida sat in the supernaturally soft grass at the edge of the Fey Glen, having taken the ferry there several hours ago. She’d had a fitful sleep the night before, filled with dreams she couldn’t quite remember, but even that left her with a sense of dread and a headache she couldn’t shake. The Glen had become a very comforting place for her. She felt a sense of connection and calmness, the complete opposite of what she’d felt the first time she passed through this alien place. She closed her eyes and tried to recall what she’d seen in her nightmare. She was hunting, or being hunted, or perhaps both at once. She felt a heavy weight and a sharp pain on her chest as if a creature was latched onto it, but try as she might, she couldn’t shake it off. She felt panicked and enervated at the same time, as if she couldn’t stop running or she’d collapse in a heap, perhaps never to wake up again. These were not good thoughts, and Ida allowed them to leave of her mind, instead filling it with the sounds and sensations of the forest. This peace was not to last however, as those sounds seemed to drop out, one by one. Ida opened her eyes and peered into the now silent woods, that sense of dread returning once more.

Tor took a deep breath and released a sigh of satisfaction as he looked upon his new dwelling. His home here in Knightstower was full of familiar objects and furniture, finally moved from his previous home in the jungle. Additionally, Tor had collected enough brick, clay, and iron from the other construction projects in the fort to build himself a forge for practicing his new art, just outside the back door. The furnace was a little lumpy (but that gave it some extra character) and the anvil was about as functional as he could hope for. Tor smiled and stepped out the door, intent on finding Ida and delivering the package he’d been given by Hilda, but this plan was interrupted by a sharp pain on his arm that almost brought him to his knees. He gripped the Blight brand tightly and scanned his surroundings, trying to find the source of his discomfort, but there was none of the purple dust in sight. Tor ascertained the direction of the disturbance and quickly headed towards the gate, allowing  instincts to take over.

Stinky adjusted her habit as she stepped out of the Temple of the Pantheon into the evening air. She hadn’t been back from Portes for long but she could already feel some of the Primordian she learned starting to fade, so she decided to visit the temple to read some of the teachings of Primordius in their original language. The diversion also helped keep her mind off of Rikkard, who was scheduled to meet with Lord Dolph Habbsberry this very day. She was anxious for an end to Rikkard’s struggles. Two leaders, set to exchange two artifacts of incredible magical significance. What was that word Quarrel likes to say? A convergence! Stinky smiled to herself for remembering such an impressive sounding word, not giving any thought to the context. The satyr set her sights on the tower that now peaked over the trees on the hilltop west of Fenside and set off, hoping to arrive before the sun set and beautiful clear sky gave way to inky blackness and starlight. She only made it a few steps before she was interrupted by a sharp pinprick of pain on her cheek. She wiped her face and looked down at her hand to find a single purple grain of sand.

Uusi could spy the deep blue waters of the Chrysocolla sea from her vantage within the tower. “On the shores of the sea of Aether.” Could Mobius be considered a sea of Aether? If so, where would its shore be? Somewhere where the barrier is thin enough for the material plane to touch it perhaps. A place such as-

The kobold’s attention was suddenly diverted by a distortion in the sky above Silgate. A swirling pattern was forming between the amber sunset and the dimming blue expanse, like paint slowly being mixed. Titanic globules of atmosphere began to form and drip downwards, the entire mass spinning faster and faster, and all the while a strange but familiar sound of distant, screeching metal met Uusi’s ears. Her eyes widened and a chill ran down her spine as realization dawned on her.

The Ripple is here.

Ida clenched her hands over her ursine ears as the screeching sound rose to an almost deafening volume. She couldn’t tell what was happening and she felt sick and disoriented. Her vision faded in and out, glimpses of fangs and claws when she blinked. Screeching gave way to a deep bass and a powerful shockwave blasted through the tree trunks and knocked Ida off her feet. She was unconscious before she hit the grass.

Tor was momentarily stunned by the blast. Distant shouts and screams reached his ears from all directions, but more worrying were the whispers. He had no time to think about them though, as the mangled body of a buck landed on the ground behind him with a wet thud. He spun around and looked up at the source: an unstable rift that was already closing. Rifts like this were opening all over the fort and beyond, and not everything falling through them was dead. Tor had a choice to make; would he follow the whispers to the Blight to the east, or would he stay here and defend Knightstower?

Stinky is surrounded by panicked and confused villagers. Blight dust gently floated down from rifts in the sky, poisoning the ground where it landed. She felt a weight in her hand and looked down to see Blind Justice, already summoned, or perhaps sent to her from the other side. She gripped it tightly and set to work. The temple of the pantheon was the safest place in Fenside right now. What are Stinky’s priorities?

Uusi continued to watch the swirling sky as it became a funnel, stretching down until it engulfed Silgate. She was shaken from her academic curiosity by the sound of her name being called from the road below. Uvier stood there, hands cupped around his mouth, shouting up at her, “Uusi! Monsters have breached the barrier! Bring everyone to Glob’s temple! We can stop this!” Monsters? She scanned the rest of the fort and saw horrible creatures, confused and angry, tearing at homes trying to get at the people inside.

Ida was just above the Aresgate arena, exhausted and scared. She felt as if she were being dragged unwillingly by a leash, not forward but rather through. She looked down into the stands at hundreds of fleeing bipeds, but also a dozen figures in robes standing equidistant around her, raising their hands and chanting. The figure directly in front of her removed his hood, exposing a furry white face and two tall rabbit ears, while the other figures cackled like hyenas. “I welcome you, Xengral, by my new name! Sidax, the Warbeast!” the rabbit shouted, “You’ve come a long way! Rest now, until you are needed.” Ida once again felt the energy in her chest draining, and the smirking, bestial face of the man who was once the Warfather was the last image she saw before waking up at the edge of the Fey Glen.

The Glen was no longer silent. Warbling cries rang out from its depths. Stinging dust fell softly around her. Ida was still dazed and confused and unsure if the large figure charging towards her was real, but that question was laid to rest as the enormous arm of Pathtender scooped her up and rushed her towards Fen lake. “Ida, child of the wild, the Tyrant Queen has been born, and it is no longer safe here. Return with help when you are strong enough to face an Archfey.”

With that, Pathtender hurled Ida into the lake where she landed on the surface and tumbled to a stop - the Firbolg must have enchanted her as he threw. She looked back towards the Glen, but Pathtender was nowhere to be seen. In his place were a pair of strange purple felines with tentacles sprouting from their shoulders, sending warbling snarls her way, but not daring to enter the water. Screams drew her attention to Fenside, where the Blight was spreading quickly.