Ilphyl Palace Run

[spacetogrow]

Content Warning

Parts of Ilphyl’s past deal with religiously motivated child abuse, sexism (albeit fantasy sexism as it is against male drow), transphobia and fantasy racism. If you want to engage with Ilphyl’s Palace, but not this content, let me know and I can make sure you stay on an alternate route. I’ll also put warnings on particular rooms if it seems likely to come up, and use the subject lines of threads to add in warnings if it comes up unexpectedly.

Goal
Find and return Ilphyl's consciousness to prominence. You know it will take the form of a small bat, but aren't sure how you know this.

Comments

START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[spacetogrow]

You are standing in a stone-walled tavern, with a wooden floor and cross beams. Window wells in the walls suggest it is slightly below ground level; the light from them is daylight, but indirect, so the tavern is also lit by lanterns and candles. It is clean, but largely empty of people, giving the appearance of morning time before it opens. The bar occupies one side of the room, with bottles and kegs visible behind it; in the wall behind the bar is a door labeled “Staff Only”. The bar is clear of mugs, though a faintly luminescent potted blue mushroom is sitting on one end. In addition, two of the tables have another potted mushroom, this one more of a puffball shape. A clock on the wall reads 10:00

There are two people in the room. Behind the bar stands a masked dark elf; with the mask, it is hard to tell their identity, but it certainly could be Ilphyl. They are dealing out a deck of cards in what looks like a solitaire game. On one of the barstools is a bark-covered humanoid, whose rootlike feet are merged with the stool. She is watching the elf deal the cards like a cat watching a human knit a sock.

> Talk to the dark elf.
> Talk to the dryad.
> Examine the bar’s mushroom.
> Examine one of the puffballs.
> Examine the door.
> Something else?

The Hall

[spacetogrow]

There are a number of doors here. They are all roughly the same size and shape but have differences in materials. Many of them have obvious padlocks, but three are unlocked (and the first person will see the masked dark elf unlock a fourth, but block it). All have clocks over them. The clocks read 9:00, 8:00, 4:00 and 2:00.

The masked elf points to the 8 and 9 doors. "For people who can't behave themselves." They point to the 4. "That one is fine, but you are going through it before this one." They gesture to the door they are blocking. "And you aren't going through that side if you don't think you can just observe. No matter what. There are things in here that you can't win against."

Inn Room (8:00)

[spacetogrow]

You see a room, with two beds, a nightstand with a basin and another blue potted mushroom, and a table and chair. There is an actual window, but looking through it is almost painfully bright. The sounds and smells of a medieval city street come through it. On the wall opposite the beds is a second door, with a clock set to 9:00.

Scattered on the floor against the wall are ten different backpacks. In many cases, weapons or armor are resting near them. A black and white cat with yellow eyes slips past you into the room, and curls up on one bed, watching you. People who know Ilphyl might recognize the cat as a wildshape they use.

A dark-haired human man is sitting in the chair, looking at a piece of paper in his hands. On the table are a pen and ink, blank paper, a signet ring, wax, and a lit candle. He turns as you approach, and smiles. One of the backpacks is open next to the chair. “Can you help me with something?”

> You agree.
> You check the room first.
> Something else.

The Forest (9:00)

[spacetogrow]

You open the door to forest. The light is somewhat obscured by the trees, but the bits of sunlight you see are dazzling. More of the puffball mushrooms line the path, and it takes effort to not trigger one. There are also stands of blue mushrooms to the left and right. Neither quite fit with the rest of the ecosystem.

> Touch the puffballs.
> Touch the blue mushrooms to the left.
> Touch the blue mushrooms to the right.
> Keep walking.
> Something else?

Courtyard (4:00)

[spacetogrow]

The stairs leading down open out into a ground-level courtyard. Weren’t you below ground before? Unlike the tavern, the scene is twilight, though it is hard to tell if it is dusk or dawn with the building and trees covering much of the sky. Strangely, despite the color of the sky, you have little problem seeing detail and color, and even the shadows still have objects dimly visible in greyscale.

The surrounding building’s architecture feels elvish (lots of wood and curves), but the windows all have tight shutters, that are currently all open. To the left is a crowd of dark elves clustered around a stone statue of an elven woman holding a sword upraised, her hair in motion around her. The features of many of the gathered elves are indistinct, more suggesting a crowd than focusing on any one individual. The leader, a dark elf woman, is holding a blue mushroom. She sets it aside and begins to start telling a story.

To the right, you see Ilphyl kneeling alone in an alcove. Another statue is the centerpiece, showing a female elf (quite possibly the same elf) but younger and with body language more of determination than triumph. A garden of flowers (mostly night-blooming varieties) surrounds the statue, then a path rings the alcove. On the wall are a number of carvings, with shelves below them.

You also see a small, mostly empty bookcase to one side. A few books are on it, and a potted blue mushroom.

Straight ahead, you see a door with a clock above it reading 2:00. A few cobwebs cling to the frame, and there is a sign hung on it saying “Keep Out” as well as thorny vines clicking to only this part of the scene. The masked elf cuts ahead of you to take down the sign and clear the frame.

> Speak to Ilphyl
> Listen to the crowd of elves.
> Speak to the masked elf.
> Investigate the left statue and bookshelf.
> Investigate the right statue.
> Something else?

The Temple (2:00)

[spacetogrow]

You are in a stairway that descends down into the earth, seemingly unlit though you can still make out the walls and stairs of dressed stone. It’s hard to say how long it goes before you hit a door. It is covered in vines and fungi that look to have tried to swell it shut, but a hole has been knocked in it.

Entering the room shows that it is lit well enough that you can see, again with the sense that your night vision is far better than human's. The room is cut stone, with a vaulted ceiling. Briars and various fungi and lichen have done their best to cover every solid surface, but they only soften the lines of the room without obscuring much. A patch of floor at the front of the room is clear, almost as if burned away. An altar sits in the middle of that patch, with some woven tapestries behind it. The tapestries are somewhat faded and hard to make out. The stonework inlayed in the floor and the motifs on the altar have a distinct spider or web design.

The puffball mushrooms mark the margins of the no-go zone for the flora. The briars curl around them, though one can’t say if it is to protect you from what they contain, or them from you breaking one open. Either way, it seems just as likely that the briars will break them open as you would by touching them directly.

The masked elf is as still as a statue, and you can actually see the whites of their eyes, even through the mask. “The only way out is through.” This is said almost at a whisper.

> Talk to the masked elf.
> Investigate the plants.
> Touch the puffballs.
> Investigate the clear area or altar.
> Soemthing else?

True Heart (?:??)

[spacetogrow]

This space is underground but natural. The walls appear to be the roots of a tree above your head forming a domed wall/ceiling, while the floor is heavily covered by various mushrooms and flowering plants. Above, gaps in the roots show a starlit sky with beams of moonlight illuminating it, and glowing vines hanging through to ground level. It smells like a forest right after rain, and seems far more phosphorescent than any real place could be.

A gravel-covered path leads down to a central flat stone, directly over what must be the trunk of the tree.

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[beexceptional]

[Hmmm, elf could be Ilphyl, but there is something she recognizes.]

[She will examine glowing mushroom.]

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[spacetogrow]

The mushroom releases minty-smelling spoors. Suddenly you see something in your head, rather like a dream.

– You are sitting in a chair while a human man applies some kind of cream to your face. A mirror nearby shows that this is a first-person experience from Ilphyl; your face is Ilphyl’s, save that your hair is dyed brown, and the human is applying makeup to alter your skin tone to a dark brown rather than charcoal-gray. Perhaps this is some kind of memory.

A second human man holds up something – a green dress with long sleeves and a high neckline. “You’re sure you want this?”

“Wood elf males aren’t as short as I am,” you say. “So a female disguise makes more sense. Plus, it’s another thing to check off my blasphemy bucket list.” –

The vision ends, and nothing has seemed to change.

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[terribletwos]

>Talk to the dark elf.

Ilphyl, is that you?

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[beexceptional]

[....ah, so people are racist to the drow. Good to know.

[She rubs at her face uncomfortably, but she figures she can look at the other mushroom first. Items then people! Like a video game.]

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[spacetogrow]

They grin. "In a sense. But in a sense everything here is Ilphyl. Except her." The gesture to the dryad, who has reached for one of the playing cards.

The voice is spot-on. The tone and body language are slightly off in a way that's hard to pin down.

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[terribletwos]

I guess that makes sense since we're supposed to be in her, er, your heart... Do you know what's causing the trouble?

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[spacetogrow]

There are two.

When Chloe touches the first one, it releases glowing spores that smell of old paper. Instead of dispersing, they form ghostly images of people at one table, ones Chloe will recognize as the members of Nymph, including Ilphyl. They don't take notice of her as they appear to be having a meal and talking, though the sound is somewhat attenuated, more implying conversation than clear.

The second one has a similar sort of puff of spores, showing a different crowd of people at the table eating a meal: several humans, and Ilphyl, who is looking rather under the weather as they pick at a bowl of something. A stray puff of spores creates an angry dwarf storming the table. He seems to be very upset about someone dying his beard pink while he slept; the image does not include color. Ilphyl winces at the volume and goes back to their food.

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[spacetogrow]

The slip in pronouns gets a surprised look.

"I'm aware of what happened and how you can fix it, if that's what you mean."

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[beexceptional]

[...oh, that's. That's a feeling.]

[Can she interact with the Nymph illusion or is it just the image of a few peaceful moments?]

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[spacetogrow]

[Interactions don't seem to register. It is a very peaceful moment, though.]

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[terribletwos]

Yeah, yeah that's what I meant. What do I need to do?

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[spacetogrow]

"The part of us that is our conscious mind is around here somewhere," the masked elf gestures to the door labeled "Staff Only".

"Or else you decide that any portion of us is good enough, and I'm the one guarding the door." They grin.

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[beexceptional]

[She does stare a few moments longer. Seeing it compared to the colorless one....]

[She sniffs briefly and shakes her head. Let's approach the dark elf.]

Hello?

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[terribletwos]

What do you mean you're the one guarding the door?

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[spacetogrow]

[The one at the bar?]

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[spacetogrow]

"I mean, that the consciousness is behind there," they gesture to the door, "I am in front of there, and I have the keys."

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[beexceptional]

[Yes, the one with the mask.]

Re: START HERE: The Tavern (10:00)

[spacetogrow]

[Got it!]

Hello!