Chapter 2: The Scholar's Society

''The party finds answers. But mostly, more questions''... When the IKP finally finds the elusive Meta-Magical Scholar's Society, they are met with open arms and a lot of nonsensical science talk. They claim they would be happy to employ the IKP, on one condition - that they prove themselves to one of their members first.

Entry to the Scholar's Society
As the IKP passed through the tunnel into what they assumed was their destination, they were immediately greeted by an exceptionally nerdy-looking man, with fabulous brown hair, a pair of brown breeches, and a poet shirt. He enthusiastically greeted them, introducing himself as Lazlow Balter, a researcher for the Meta-Magical Scholar's Society. His first order of business was confirming that, yes, he was the one who sent the letter to them, and yes, this is the base of operations for the MMSS. He then led them to the Observatory, which seemed to be his base of operations. There, he conjured an image depicting the Planar System, which is his main point of research, and attempted to explain planar theory to the group:

''To simplify: a plane is like a planet in a solar system. A planet is a self-contained celestial object that orbits other objects in a mostly-closed system, regulating and effecting each other. Planes are similar, except instead of being an object that is separated by distance, it is a world, a universe, that is separated by reality. Through our research, we have identified 16 planes that appear to be working as part of a single, cosmic ecosystem.''

''The 16 identified planes can be essentially classified into 3 different categories: material, fundamental, and transitory. Firstly, there are the material planes—these reside in the metaphorical centre of the planar system and are constituted by the other planes. We are inside a material plane right now, what we have called the prime material plane. To continue our solar system metaphor, the prime material plane represents the earth.''

''There are also what we call fundamental planes, which embody core concepts and philosophies. Six fundamental planes constitute the physical properties that filter into our prime material plane, and six more constitute the metaphysical properties of “reality.” Those planes closely orbiting ours - the "inner" planes, if you will - are the planes of fire, water, air, earth, light, and shadow.''

''The "outer" fundamental planes are the planes of magic, time, thought, dreams, life, and death. If our plane was a cake, then the fundamental planes are the ingredients. If the cake and the ingredients that make it were able to exist simultaneously, that is. To complicate this a bit, there is a third category of plane: that of transitory planes. There are very curious ones indeed! Rather than embody a concept, like the fundamentals, or a complete, livable world, like the material, the transitory planes appear to filter and run between the other planes, acting, to once again return to our solar system metaphor, like empty space. The ethereal and astral planes are transitory—you may be familial with magic that allows one to briefly enter into the ethereal or astral planes.''

- Lazlow's Explanation of the Planar System.

Lazlow then said that although the academic knowledge regarding the Planar System that the MMSS possesses is great, they are all limp-wristed wizards who are desperately in need of beef, and they can hardly fend for themselves in the Prime Material Plane, let alone the harsh realities that exist beyond. He offered the IKP a job; they would act as honorary field researchers for MMSS, journeying into the various planes of existence and using their skills as adventurers to survive the deadly challenges that inhabited them. Lazlow said that, in addition to providing valuable research into an esoteric subject, they would be rewarded handsomely for every mission they complete, and both food and rooms would be provided. Homeless and with no options, the IKP accepted. According to Lazlow, however, they would be required to complete their first mission in order to be initiated as full members.

The First Trial
Excited at the IKP's compliance, Lazlow insisted that they embark on their first mission immediately. He called in his friend and fellow researcher, Fernwei Vespertide, who immediately started roasting him like the nerd he is. Laughing it off, he explained the perimeters of their first mission on behalf of the MMSS. Fernwei would lead the IKP to a planar connection, which is a place in which the barriers separating the planes of existence are especially thin - this one was particularly in-tune with the plane of the Feywild - located a day's travel away from the MMSS base. Once Fernwei and the IKP arrived at the location in question, which was a glade harboring a willow tree to one side, she would initiate a magical ritual that would form an active connection between the Prime Material Plane and the Feywild.

With that, the group set out. A good few hours into the journey, they came to a crossroads. Separating the MMSS base's side of the Strigidae Bluffs from the planar gate's was a ravine hundreds of feet deep with something bad to fall into at the bottom. The IKP plus Fernwei had two choices - they could go the long way around the ravine and risk a journey through the owlbear-infested woods, or try an exceptionally rickety and decrepit rope bridge over, which would take significantly less time. After a brief discussion, they came to the erroneous conclusion that the bridge shortcut would be much easier than fending off terrible owlbears. They approached the bridge, which looked so much worse then any member of the IKP could have predicted.

Krumgrum, being an exceptionally brave Dwarf, went first, Naruto-running onto the bridge, causing its feeble structure to creak under his prodigious weight, and then directly off the bridge in less then five feet of movement. A careening Krumgrum made attempts to grab hold of the bridge, but those failed too. With certain death below him, Krumgrum tried to think of spells for a pregnant pause before remembering his recently-acquired Polymorph spell, which he used to turn himself into a plump dove, flying up onto the other side of the bridge. After that near-death experience, the next one up was a nervous Faetra. She opted for a more careful approach, but fell victim to the exact same fate, falling off before she could even get halfway across the bridge. Once again, she attempted to grab on to the railing of the bridge as she fell, but her tiny gnome hands couldn't grip the bridge enough to keep her from falling.

As his gnome friend was plummeting, Nyx drew the Wand of Levitation that he had stolen from fake-Velloqui last chapter and levitated her to the other side safely. Nyx went next, and his dexterity and grace allowed him to cross the bridge without issue. Callus tried to run across the bridge after him, but his size caused one of the wooden planks to snap, and he almost fell through the bridge, but he managed to hold on long enough for Nyx to toss a rope to him, allowing the IKP members that had already crossed the bridge to pull him to safety. After watching all of them fumble around the bridge, Fernwei cast a spell on herself to increase her jumping distance and leapt across the ravine.

The Second Trial
After the bridge incident, the IKP made their way to the planar gate without much issue. While the IKP couldn't find anything wrong with the scene that they came across, Fernwei sensed something off immediately - according to her, the glade was supposed to be vibrant and full of life, and now, it looked like a shadow of its former self. At her observation, the IKP also noticed that this particular location had some pretty bad vibes. However, the group was determined to prove themselves to Lazlow, and even if they didn't want to continue with the ritual, Fernwei probably wouldn't have let them bail. The party situated themselves around the glade, with Nyx keeping watch from his vantage point up in the trees, as Fernwei began the ritual.

She carved a series of arcane glyphs and sigils into the ground around the glade while scattering a white powder, concluding the ritual by holding up a tuning fork remarkably similar to the one used in Planchette's ritual, although Fernwei's was about the size of a forearm, whereas the one in Mortimer Manor was larger than a person. As she finished the ritual, establishing the connection, two hellhounds emerged from the surrounding forest. The IKP leapt into action, attempting to fend them off. Faetra immediately opted to turn herself into a rhino, Nyx tried to prevent the hellhounds from disturbing Fernwei's ritual, and Krumgrum and Callus went on the offence. According to Fernwei, who was trying to maintain the connection while the rest were fighting, this was not normal.

What was even further from the rituals that she performed before was the dark pulse of energy that cascaded out from the pond every five or so seconds, starting about halfway through the battle, attempting to control the minds of the party members. These short-term instances of mind control caused party members to try to kill each other, which complicated the matter of protecting Fernwei's ritual significantly. However, it was possible to resist these attempts, and the IKP killed the hellhounds nonetheless, but not before Nyx was affected by the mind control, during which something very strange happened; instead of trying to kill any of the party, he pulled out the deed to the Mortimer Manor, which he kept on him, and signed it. As he did, the piece of parchment set itself ablaze, seemingly transforming itself into a strange, semi-circle iron pendant - the same kind that Planchette was wearing when she was possessed.

When he regained control, he quickly pocketed the pendant so that the rest of the party couldn't see. Once the hellhounds were dealt with, Fernwei said that she had lost control of the connection, and it would take too long to close the connection in the official way, so she told the IKP to manually close the connection, which is scientist for "destroy the planar gate entirely, right now." The IKP was happy to oblige, with Nyx freezing the tree and shattering it, Faetra magically destroying the water in the pond, and Fernwei finishing the job by destroying the tuning fork. As the planar connection was destroyed, the shadowy atmosphere was removed in turn, with the grass appearing a little greener, and water would've been clearer if it hadn't been destroyed directly before. As the IKP could feel this oppressive presence lift, this chapter came to a close.

The Meta-Magical Scholar's Base
The Meta-Magical Scholar's base is concealed on an inaccessible cliff in the Strigidae Bluffs. The base is comprised of several pale stone buildings, perched on a plateau overlooking the surrounding mountains and valleys. The structures are interconnected via a series of steps and bridges. Colourful fabric hangs between the windows and spires of the buildings."Inside, Lazlow leads the IKP into the Observatory, a large room with a domed ceiling located in the main MMSS building. Large sheets of paper are pinned to the walls, depicting complex runes and illegibly scribbled notes. There are several tables around the room, containing unfamiliar objects—little silver instruments emitting faint hums and puffs of smoke, a fountain pen locomoting on its own and drawing a Spirograph in emerald ink, and a few books that appear to be leisurely flipping their own pages. A large object, perhaps some kind of telescope, stands in the centre of the room."

The Willow Glade
The willow glade is a small clearing located in the Strigidae Bluffs. It was previously a planar portal to the Faewild, but it's current status is unknown. A small pond sat to one side of the glade, underneath the shade of a willow tree. When the IKP first arrived, the grass of the glade was a dull shade of grey, the reflection of the pond's surface was distorted, and the willow tree was rotting. The IKP destroyed the willow tree and the pond in order to sever Fernwei's planar connection.

New NPCs

 * Fernwei Vespertide, Warlock researcher for the MMSS

Loot
Half-Circle Pendant. The half-circle pendant is an iron, bisected circle with a half-circle on top. Nyx received the half-circle pendant after he signed the deed to Mortimer Manor.