Session 192 – Jadis and Tressa – 26th September 2019

- GM’s note: The PCs try to figure out what to do with Jadis (the White Witch) and a conclusion as to what happened to Tressa the Red. How did she disappear from Marindar?

- Hopefully out of earshot of Jadis, Grant asks Ethan seriously whether he thinks he is being influenced by her. Ethan frowns and says that he doesn’t think so. Checking his watch, he does admit that he shouldn’t be away from Hilda for this long. He doesn’t want to stay here long. Grant is very concerned about where this is going – if they take Jadis onto the Stair and if she is a threat then it will be their responsibility. Ethan is concerned by Grant’s reaction – he thinks that it would be cruel to leave her here in a lifeless world.
- Grant encourages Ethan to use Divination to look into the consequences of this. He reluctantly does so and says that the fortunes are even. Ethan confirms his suspicion that she is on the verge of becoming a Warden of the Stair but he can’t tell Grant this when she could potentially overhear.
- Grant feels defeated and gives in to Ethan. He suspects that he will end up being responsible for Jadis rather than Ethan. Grant goes to talk to Jadis. She asks if they have ‘decided what to do with her’ and Grant asks what she thinks they should do with her. She admits that she finds him hard to read. Grant isn’t surprised by this (GM’s note – he’s an Umbra Master. Umbra Masters are hard to predict) Grant says that they’ve decided to take her with them. Ethan pipes in and tells her that they should discuss over some food. This elicits a positive reaction.
- They escort her to the Door. Grant opens it and they step onto the Stair together. Jadis steps through, a look of fascination on her face. Grant and Ethan note that she is not a Warden at this stage – they could sense if she was. She asks many questions about where they are and where they are going – she displays childlike wonder as Ethan leads them along the Stair to an Ultra-modern world. In this realm, the floors have a metallic sheen. Everything is very clean and ordered. Small machines clean up imperfections and misalignments. Vegetation exists only in pots and manicured gardens. Blue skinned humanoids with thin faces and lots of metal servants populate this place. 
- The four of them reach an eating area via a flying saucer like platform that carries them to an arboretum. The trees produce fruits and the metallic servants pluck them to serve the guests. Jadis asks many questions. She cannot understand what is being said by the servants but Ethan and Grant translate for her. She also finds that her magic does not work here and she is disappointed by this. She asks Ethan if his magic works in all places and he says that it works in ‘most’. She is fascinated by this and shows eagerness to learn.
- Seeing Grant’s apprehension at this line of inquiry, she asks about where they come from and why they came to Charn. Grant explains about Marindar and the Marindan Games. She knows of Marindar and asks who is in power there. She is surprised and interested when Grant admits that he is in power. She asks more questions with a hungry curiosity. Jadis is keen to see and learn more.
- Looking at his watch, Ethan excuses himself and steps away. He uses an Icon to contact Antigone to find out how Hilda is. A panicky Antigone answers the contact and admits that she has lost Hilda. She thinks that Hilda has run away. Ethan promises to come at once. He closes the contact and then tells Grant and Jadis that he needs to leave as his daughter has gone missing. Jadis surprises both of them by immediately offering to help. Grant and Ethan are lost for words – they didn’t expect this.
- Grant and Ethan each mull over what will happen if Ethan accepts Jadis’ help. That will mean that Jadis will end up in Marindar. Ethan pauses and asks Grant if it is okay. Grant takes a deep breath and agrees. Ethan then contact Antigone via Icon and takes Jadis with him through to Marindar. 
- Suddenly Grant is alone and left with the bill. The servant robots expect payment in blue crystal chips which he finds in his pocket. 
- Grant thinks about what to do next. He decides to return to the Stair and then back to Charn. He spends time looking over the world, reasoning that even if she destroyed all life here, surely there must be records that have survived. He also returns to the mirror room and finds that the mirrors are inert – the spell that preserved her has been broken. 
- Grant finds some accounts of Jadis. She is described as a Great Evil. A Destroyer. The Iron Queen and a great sorceress. The accounts show that at the brink of defeat she refused to surrender to her sister, Cadia the White. The accounts end at this point, presumably because she used magic to destroy all life on Charn. However there is plenty of evidence that Charn was once a prosperous world full of magic, dragons and flying carpets. The accounts align with the Marindan accounts. 
- Meanwhile on Marindar, Antigone is surprised by the appearance of Ethan and Jadis. Antigone is fearful of being punished for losing Hilda. Ethan calms her and uses other Icons to contact people who might know where she is. He chooses Abbie first and finds that Hilda is with Abbie. Hilda left without telling her ‘Auntie’. Laughing at how innocent the situation is, Ethan reassures Antigone that it is all right and he promises to talk to Hilda about this. 
- Ethan then takes Jadis back to Marindar via the ‘tear in reality’ between the forest and his home. He shows Jadis a little of Central and then introduces her to Lady Sophia.
- Mulling over the implications of bringing this woman to Marindar, Grant returns home to find Jadis in his house chatting with Lady Sophia. The conversation is polite but Sophia is unusually guarded. After a long conversation, Lady Sophia confers privately with Grant and tells him that she thinks Jadis is dangerous. If she is a sorceress in her own realm then it will not take her long to master Marindan sorcery here. She wants to be hospitable but she would prefer that she not stay in Marindar too long.
- Grant offers Jadis with a place to stay and an attendant to help her to get settled. She graciously accepts.
- Separately, Grant tells Ethan that he may need help if Jadis steps out of line. He also contact Lady Vala and tells her about Jadis. Vala has heard of ‘the Iron Queen’ and she reacts with caution to the revelation that she may shortly be a Warden of the Stair. Vala promises to come to Marindar in the near future to keep an eye on her.
- Jadis spends some time over the next few days in the museum, looking through the many antiquities from dozens of worlds. Grant keeps an eye on her. After a few days he seeks her out to find out how she is settling in. They meet in a marketplace in the sunshine beside a fountain of clear water. She seems to have picked up a lot already. She has figured out that Grant is not Marindan but comes from elsewhere. She is perplexed as to how he came to this place and became Lord here without conquest. She wonders why he chose this place. Grant confesses that he stays because of his love for Lady Sophia. Jadis accepts this – she understands that she is his Queen. 
- She asks if Grant is the master of the world that he came from and Grant has to explain that the world he came from is broken. It was badly damaged during the Great War. She quickly associates the Great War with the Dwimmerlaik and she asks more about the Lords of Gossamer. How many are there? Are they all like Grant? Is his friend, Ethan, one too?
- Grant shares information as he thinks is appropriate. He tells her that Lords of Gossamer are chosen by the Stair in a manner that no one really understands. Jadis is fascinated by the power that the Lords of Gossamer wield.
- Jadis shifts the conversation and asks where Ethan is. Grant is suspicious and asks why. Smiling, she points out that Grant doesn’t trust her. Grant admits that he thinks that she is dangerous. 
- Jadis offers her word not to harm anyone or anything here. Grant warns her that promises of hospitality in many places have consequences if they are broken. Nevertheless, she promises to abide by the rules of Grant’s realm whilst a guest here. Grant believes that she means it – at least for now. He decides to leave her to her own devices and relax for a bit.
- Returning to his home, he finds that Julius has taken the night off. He spends an enjoyable evening with Lady Sophia.
- Over the next few days, Jadis seems to be a model guest. She is even entertaining the locals with some newly learned Marindan sorcery – she turns the water from the fountain into an ice sculpture. (GM’s note – nothing ominous to see here. Move along. It’s all harmless like Frozen…. honest!)
- Meanwhile, Ethan has been using his quiet time to build yet another submersible that can be used in Boraelis. He maintains a low profile and refrains from checking in with either Abbie or Isabelle in case they would distract him. He also thinks further about how to recover Grimples. He spends some time looking at one of the manikins that did not destroy itself and he uses a combination of Postcognition and Divination to figure out its movements and where it might have come from. He decides that the manikin was receiving instructions via an Icon-like mental link. A residual link remains intact despite the manikin itself being destroyed.
- Vala pays a visit on Ethan when she arrives in Marindar. Olin welcomes her on Ethan’s behalf and then goes to fetch him from the workshop. Ethan was expecting her (thanks to Divination) and he makes tea for them both. Vala mentions to Ethan that there is movement in the Hedron network – someone is using Nicol Bolas’ network of portals between worlds. Ethan tells Vala about Liliana and asks for her help to guide her. Vala says that she would like to meet Liliana and Ethan introduces them to one another. Vala agrees to spend some time teaching Liliana when she can learn no more from Ethan.
- Ethan receives an Icon contact (it will be revealed shortly from whom) and he agrees to return to Earth (Realm 0) shortly with Grant. On the way to Grant’s residence, he contacts Abbie and asks if Hilda would like to come to visit the next day. He explains that he is running an errand on Earth and suggests that they go and see a show together while he is there. Hilda is excited by this and agrees.
- Ethan meets with Grant and he suggests that they go for a walk back to Fiveways and have a bite to eat in the local pub (the Tipsy Elephant). Grant is surprised by this but he thinks it is a good idea. The two of them head to Westgate Cottage via the Stair. The house is just as Grant remembers – it has been too long but it feels good to be back in England.
- They walk the mile and a half to the town. The two friends talk about old times and Ethan hopes that fish and chips is still on the menu at their ‘local’. 
- Reaching the pub, they find the cricket on. England is winning against Australia. Grant chuckles at this and they order pints. At this point, Grant realises that Ethan has invited a friend. It is Tressa the Red, dressed in a jacket and jeans. She looks guarded but a little pleased that he has come. Grant is dumbfounded and Ethan explains that he set this up because Tressa asked if she could get to know Grant a little better.
- Ethan then steps away from Grant and Tressa so that they can talk. He goes to check on the jukebox in the hope that some of Abbie’s hits are still on the box. Luck is with him – they are.
- Tressa admits that the world that Grant and Ethan come from is very interesting. She knows that Grant and her adopted mother are ‘a thing’ so it seemed appropriate to find out more about him. They talk for a while. The food arrives. They talk some more. Tressa drinks a lot. Grant has the impression that she is a tough cookie but she has a soft spot for her adopted mother. The evening is reasonable. Grant learns that Ethan has moved her vessel to the Legendary Isle and she explains to explore new oceans and seas. In this place she isn’t hunted. She even has ‘corporate sponsorship’ and a camera crew who want to record her voyages.
- Grant is perplexed. How did Ethan manage to transport an entire sailing ship out of Marindar? Tressa admits that she doesn’t know so Ethan is called over to explain himself. Ethan explains simply that he used his cube – it can be used to store anything, even something as large as a sailing ship. Grant is utterly shocked by this – the frightening possible that it might be possible to bring an entire army or armada into another realm via a pocket dimension has never occurred to him before.
- Ethan goes back his beer and playing pool. Tressa continues to drink like a fish – she begins slurring her words. Grant decides to wrap up the evening and head home. Grant asks if Ethan will look after Tressa and Ethan promises to. He leaves and returns back to Westgate, looking over the cottage one more time before returning to his home in Marindar. When he arrives home, he finds Lady Vala waiting for him, having tea with Lady Sophia.
- Meanwhile, with Grant out of the way, Tressa makes a drunken pass at Ethan. Ethan deflects the pass, telling her that his life is complicated enough. Drunkenly she heaps praise on Ethan and tells him how much she admires him. Ethan diplomatically suggests that they head home, even though it is a long walk. After two more for the road, they head back together to Westgate Cottage. She continues to try her luck with Ethan as they head back, even going so far as to make some rather crude, direct proposals to get Ethan to go to bed with her. Ethan sidesteps this, acknowledging her affections (however misplaced) without offending her. He finds it odd that her attitude contrasts so strongly with the way that Lady Sophia behaves, but he assumes that she has picked up a lot of bad habits over many years and decades as an outlaw. 
- At last when they arrive back at Westgate, she appears a little disappointed with Ethan’s reluctance but shrugs it off and goes to bed with half a bottle of brandy that she smuggled out of the Tipsy Elephant.