Fairy Tales Revisited
March 29th, 2011
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another exciting Grave Plots, where we bring you new and exciting plot hooks and adventure ideas each and every week. Those of you who tuned into yesterday’s Dark Designs will already know that it’s Fey Week at Necromancers of the Northwest. For everyone else, welcome to Fey Week here at Necromancers of the Northwest! Faeries have always held my interest, whether they be humble polevoi or mighty sidhe fey creatures are some of the most fascinating creations of folklore and fiction, and those of you who have been reading Grave Plots for a while, or who have checked out the archive, will notice that I already wrote an article about faeries way back in May of last year. That article focuses on some very broad ideas about what to do with fey at the table. This time around I thought I would narrow the focus a little bit and look at a new adventure idea featuring a fey first introduced in that article. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me reintroduce you to the lovely Suri’aria.
Suri’aria
Thoroughly distinct from common sprites, and lacking the base primal lust common to nymphs and dryads, Suri’aria is a creature of distinguished ethereal beauty, tall and lithe with skin the color of moonlight and eyes of the deepest green which shine like polished jade. Her hair changes with the seasons, pale gold in the summer, rich red in the autumn, deep black in the winter, and a modest auburn in the spring. She always appears in garments appropriate to the region she is in, though always of higher quality than is actually available; in fact it is rumored that she once appeared as a guest at an emperor’s coronation dressed in a suit of armor with plates of silk and mail of diamonds. In addition to her appearance, everything about Suri’aria – from the soft, almost musical tones with which she speaks to the fluid grace of her movements – marks her as a being of otherworldly elegance, tempered by the fierce beauty of the natural world. Suri’aria’s bearing is always one of aloof serenity and her features reflect a sense of calm and acceptance even in stressful or dangerous situations. But despite her projection of calm serenity, Suri’aria is a creature of such powerful emotion and intense passion that those around her can actually feel a tangible sensation, quiet and subdued yet pervasive, that leaves little doubt as to what the fey is feeling. It has been often said that this combination of calm bearing and intense emotion can be quite disconcerting for mortals, though if Suri’aria is aware of this fact she chooses to ignore it.
Suri’aria dwells in a place called Veridis which exists at the very edge of the world and which, it is said, can only be found by those who already know where it is. Those who claim to have witnessed Veridis report it, with varying degrees of poetic license, to in essence be a beautiful and verdant garden which is constantly subjected to fierce storms and incredible winds. Unlike many of Veridis’s inhabitants Suri’aria regularly leaves that sanctuary to interact with the mortal world. Often Suri’aria will follow the careers of exceptional mortals or those she believes to be important to the world’s future, and sometimes she will provide advice or aid in exchange for future favors, though history would caution one before accepting her help, for the debt can sometimes last for generations. She also has been known to engage in romantic relationships with individuals who most excite her; while these relationships only very rarely result in children, in the cases where it does, for generations those offspring and their kin tend to live especially blessed or cursed lives. Perhaps most fascinatingly, Suri’aria shares a special bond with those who share her blood, or who are in her debt, even after generations have past.
Suri’aria has been ascribed a number of exceptional supernatural powers, including the ability to appear anywhere in the material plane suddenly, and seemingly without effort. This ability seems to be unrestricted by magic circles, dimensional anchors, or even antimagic fields, and this in turn has lead some scholars to believe that Suri’aria may possess some kind of limited omnipresence. Suri’aria has also been known to on occasion possess knowledge of the immediate future, and has demonstrated a great aptitude for passing undetected, even fooling some of the most powerful divination spells available. Finally, the special bond she forms with mortals allows her a unique knowledge of those individuals, giving her insight to their physical and mental presence and allowing her to easily locate them, and making it nearly impossible for those with whom she is bound to lie to her.
Adventure: The Escape
The PCs have been captured by the evil lord Kormas, and while awaiting execution following a sham of a trail, they have been imprisoned in a jail which is entirely contained within an antimagic field. Guarded by a group of storm giants fanatically loyal to Kormas, there seems to be little hope of escape, but just as the hopelessness begins to set in, something extraordinary happens: a woman of unearthly grace and beauty appears and offers them help in escaping. She explains who she is and offers to get the PCs out of this situation if they will help her with a problem she’s been having. At this point she is vague with the details and stresses that they really don’t have any other choice.
Should they agree, she shakes each of their hands and transports them to Veridis, where she explains the nature of her problem. A dear friend of hers, by the name of Felicia Sinti, has been imprisoned not unlike they were just recently. Unfortunately for Felicia, she is being held beyond the mortal world by a powerful sorcerer and Suri’aria can’t personally get involved. A deal is a deal and Suri’aria will release them from their debt should they rescue Felicia.
While tracking Felicia turns out to be fairly easy, during the course of the investigation the PCs discover that the sorcerer, a man named Sheliam, imprisoned Felicia because it was revealed to him that she would destroy the world in the near future unless properly contained. If the PCs convince Sheliam to reveal the source of his information then explains that the faerie Suri’aria had had a prophetic vision which she chose to share with him.
Should the PCs confront Suri’aria about this prophecy she not only confesses that she told Sheliam that Felicia would destroy the world, but confides that she still believes it to be true. Still, she says that a deal is a deal and if the PCs will not free Felicia from the sorcerer’s prison then they will remain in her debt until they complete to her satisfaction three tasks to be named at a later date.
While the PCs can release Felicia to escape their debt, they will then have to deal with a terrible cataclysm caused by a magical experiment with the forces of nature conducted by Felicia. However, it may be possible to satisfy their debt in this fashion and avoid catastrophe if the PCs are clever. Should they choose to trade for three later favors the PCs may have to put up with some very perilous and morally questionable situations, or, perhaps worse, may never hear again for Suri’aria and have their debt passed on through the generations.
Well, that’s if for this week’s Grave Plots. I’ll see you next week for more plot ideas; until then allow me to wish you all the best in your gaming endeavors.