Author: Marc Tizoc Gonzalez

Description

Above the paths winding below, only those with the keenest of eyes can discern the aerie of Qilau'nn. The tumble of rocks provides no easy path, and the cascade that spills down the north facing cliff is a further impediment to entrance, yet Qilau'nn flies above it all. For she is beloved of Phaulkon though his brother Phyton too spirits her devotions.

Having climbed or flown the more than fifty feet to the entrance of the aerie, a hero sees a landing of strangely smooth rock with lichen growing abundantly. A small yet old coniferous tree bends over the entrance to the cave, and at the threshold lays a clump of moss. The landing is not much larger than a thirteen-foot diameter circle. The cascade mostly parts around the cave's mouth and only splashes the edges of the land space. Over the aeons, however, water has bored its way through the stone, and thus flowing water is available but two steps from the shadows of the cave.

Crossing the moss threshold, a hero bearing light sees an impossibly smooth corridor, like a horizontal and elliptical cylinder, that rises slightly and extends just beyond the illuminating radius of a torch. On the concave walls of the corridor, a hero beholds frescoes of startling topic and bold color.

The frescoes show scenes from an unfamiliar history or perhaps a mythology. Only a master of the Flan or Suel lore might know a few of the names of the characters or the meanings of the scenes. A disciple of the Old Faith will feel a nagging familiarity yet be unable to articulate the meaning of the dancing forms of faerie people. A novitae of the Fae Mysteries will comprehend the haunting beauty of the frescoes as a high history of the dawn-time when Pesh was a pristine and verdant place, as yet untouched by war. (During nights when Celene is waxing, the pigments of the frescoes alight and flicker softly in many hues.)

At the end of a corridor there is a room shaped roughly like the space within an elliptical dome. When she is home from her travels, here lives Qilau'nn. Immediately striking to a hero is the diffuse and shifting light that suffuses the room. Looking up, a hero sees that there is a hole in the ceiling and that rushing water flows over it! The light comes from the sky and filters through the water, but it is unclear what force restrains the water from pouring into the chamber and out the corridor.

In the middle of the room stands a stool, and upon it sits a dulcimer. The stool is made of roanwood; its grain is pleasing and smooth, and its fittings are strong. (On the bottom of the seat itself can be found the mark of a craftsman from Courwood.) The dulcimer is plainly made and of a light-toned wood, yet its plectrum is ornate. Silver caps the wide end of the ivory pick, and slices of pearl are therein embedded; they cover the join. If played by a bard, then the instrument immediately illuminates in a spray of sparkling white light, which falling to the ground, extinguishes as it lands. (After the initial effect, the dulcimer only alights upon musical command.)

Beyond the stool and directly opposite the entrance, water (constrained by a cylindrical, deeper, and steeply sloped concavity in the wall) flows down the wall and beneath the floor though some splashes onto the floor. Beside the hole in the floor (which has an odd almost sculpted-looking lip around it), sits a large porcelain bowl with a prayer to Geshtai scribed in blue ink and using the complicated calligraphy of the Bakluni. (The hole in the floor, and the corresponding one in the ceiling are both less than two feet in diameter.)

Upon the walls of the chamber are more of the strange frescoes though their color has faded somewhat. Against the western wall and upon the floor, a bed of moss grows thickly. Furs from diverse animals pile upon the moss. They are of varying age, yet all were prepared with utmost skill. Beneath the furs is a pillow of silk, which is stuffed with down. It is mauve and embroidered with dragons in silver-colored thread. Upon the silken pillow is a singular pearl, softly grey yet iridescent. Beside the mossy bed is a bureau of teak. Hung within it are shifts of strange design. Made of white linen, they are like robes but with extremely large sleeves – practically open at the sides.

Opposite the mossy bed are a low table and short chair, the former of oak and the latter of cherry wood. While the table is of rude appearance, it is clean and heavy. The chair is so finely styled that it might have been made in Rel Astra. Atop the table are an earthenware pitcher and a goblet of beaten gold. The pitcher is filled with a clear liquid, which if drunk effects the consumer as a potion of sweet water. (The goblet is empty.)

Intent

Detailed above is the three-room lair of a sylph. I’ve tried to articulate the description of the place with a minimum of rules referenced. Though I realize that useful DMDs often present rules, I desired to be rules neutral, given the multiple systems that are currently used.