Wibbly-wobbly, Timey-Snowmeny

by Luke Thomas

Dear Diary,

We are snowmen now. Or something close to it.

It started with Liliana frozen on the throne, the silence of the shattered room thick with unanswered questions. Hayley asked Gael to contact Dynia, hoping our newly minted Queen of Immerglade knew what had just happened to our paladin. Alas the reply was cut short.
A biting, unnatural cold wind began to spiral around the throne. Alistan opened his mouth to say he’d received a message, but the words froze in his throat. Literally. He turned into a solid sculpture of ice.

I threw open my Third Eye. The room was drowning in raw Conjuration magic. "Back away from the throne!" I yelled, scrambling backward with Gael.

Hayley ignored me. She stood her ground, weaving a spell to examine Liliana. In a flash of blue light, the cold wind enveloped her, and she froze solid, her hands still raised mid-incantation.

Ileas cried out, a sound of pure panic, and ran *toward* them. It was a foolish, desperate act of loyalty. The wind took him before he even reached the steps.

Gael and I backed out of the throne room. Gael raised his hands, his eyes glowing with primal light, and summoned a *Gust of Wind* to push back the freezing gale. The two magics collided in the doorway—the cold snap of the Feywild against the raw breath of the Material Plane. The friction birthed violent, cracking lightning strikes that scarred the stone walls.

But Gael's magic buckled. The cold wind roared through the doorway, washing over him. The primal glow faded from his eyes as he turned to ice.

I was the last one standing. I threw up a *Ring of Fire* around myself, a desperate, roaring barrier of heat against the encroaching cold. I slammed my hand onto Gael's frozen shoulder, pushing my senses past the ice, trying to read the magical signature.
It wasn't a curse. It wasn't an attack. I sensed the unmistakable, complex arcane matrix of the *Simulacrum* spell.

Outside my ring of fire, the cold wind raged as if it were alive. And then, the impossible happened. The flames surrounding me simply froze solid. The heat died. Everything went dark.

I awoke shivering. I was lying in a field of snow. Above me, the sky was a strange, muted twilight. A few feet away, the snow abruptly stopped, giving way to a lush, green grass field, thick woods, and a looming mountain.

I wasn't alone. The others were here, picking themselves up from the snow. And we all looked... wrong. Our skin was alabaster white, stark and cold. We were the simulacra. Copies made of snow and magic.
Liliana was with us, looking exactly the same. Hayley practically tackled her in a hug. Alistan held off for a more pragmatic approach, demanding to know what was happening.

Liliana explained. When she sat on the throne, she tried to use the ambient magic of the realm around Whitewail to revive Vivienne. Instead, her consciousness was pulled into a strange, mirrored chamber. She was presented with three distinct, possible futures—or pasts.
One mirror showed her and Hayley in an idyllic sanctuary while a storm raged outside. Another showed Liliana ruling from the throne with Hayley by her side.
The third showed a fey village in the past, long before the fall of Immerglade. Dynia had appeared to her in that vision, explaining that this third path was the only one that might save Vivienne's soul. Dynia gave Liliana the means—charcoal and fresh snow—to summon her allies into this timeline. She made us. We are echoes of our true selves, projected into wherever or whenever we are.

We headed toward the mountain. Liliana looked at the peak with a strange expression, explaining that this is where Whitewail—the frozen city we just fought in—will be built in the future.

We found an elven village nestled in the treetops at the base of the mountain. It was dying. A massive tree in the center was sickly, its bark rotting, its leaves withered. As we walked through, doors slammed shut and windows were barred. The elves were terrified of us, or perhaps terrified of everything.

Liliana approached the central tree, wrinkling her nose at the smell of rot. Hayley reached out with her magic to *Speak with Plants*. The tree’s voice was weak, whispering that the village was dying because their lord was dead, and the "new lord" was hungry. It didn't know the new lord's name, only that it came from "up the mountain."

We found the town hall and spoke to Edranel, an old elven woman trying to hold the frightened village together.
She gave us our bearings. We are in a village called Yore. The mountain is Stormpeak. Queen Titania still rules Immerglade in this era.
The village used to be protected by Lord Ambros, a Summer Eladrin. But a new power, Edun the Stormlord, claimed the mountain. Ambros marched an army up the peak to stop him and was slaughtered. Edun tossed Ambros’s broken body back down to the village and declared everyone would be punished.

Then Liliana asked the question that brought us here: "What about Vivienne?"
Edranel was startled. She only knew of Vivienne as the wife of Lord Ambros. But she died. Many, many years ago. You see, this Vivienne died in childbirth, along with their first child. We had no idea if this was the same Vivienne, or if things were too different here.
All we knew is that these people were in trouble, and that we could help.

We decided to sleep before confronting this Stormlord. Edranel offered the floor of the town hall, warning us to be careful what we said aloud—she believes Edun can hear through the storms.

We slept. All of us except Liliana, who stayed up all night desperately channeling divine magic into the dying tree, trying to revitalize it.
She woke us up the hard way.

I woke to the sounds of screaming and the heavy thud of combat. I scrambled up and looked down from the town hall balcony.
Vine Blights were swarming Liliana and Alistan. A massive Treant had uprooted itself, its bark twisted into a face of pure terror, and was thrashing wildly. Gael leaped from the balcony, landing softly in the snow, and immediately began putting arrows into the vines.

Then the lightning struck. Living, crackling elementals of pure electricity materialized and lashed out. The creatures looked far too terrifying to be dealt with after barely a few hours of sleep. But Hayley cast *Shatter*, causing a sonic boom that rattled my teeth, and I knew I had to work for my keep.

I summoned a Fire Elemental to flank the lightning creatures and started raining *Firebolts* from the balcony. One of the lightning elementals surged upward, bursting into the hall and engulfing Ileas, Hayley, and Gael in a terrifying arc of electricity. I countered with a disintegration ray to remove it from the battle, then followed up with a barrage of fire to blow the others apart.
Down below, the Treant was battering Alistan and Liliana until Hayley, having recovered from the shock, simply turned the massive tree to solid stone.

The battle ended, but thunder immediately crashed through the sky above us. Edranel emerged, pale and shaking. "You have made Edun mad," she whispered.

We took a short rest to bandage our wounds. Then, we began the climb up Stormpeak.
The winds were brutal, trying to tear us from the mountainside. Ileas slipped, nearly falling into a ravine. The climb was treacherous and slow.

I looked at Liliana. "Describe the top. What does it look like in your time?"
She described the layout of the castle that will one day sit there. Relying entirely on her memory of a future that hasn't happened yet, I cast *Teleport*.

We vanished from the icy cliff and materialized at the edge of a massive, subterranean cavern. Before us was a wide, dark chasm filled with churning water.

A voice, deeper than the thunder outside, echoed from the dark. *"Who dares disturb my slumber?"*

Liliana stepped forward, her voice ringing with defiance. She taunted it, demanding it show itself.
The water erupted. A creature rose from the depths—a Behir, but impossibly huge, a wingless dragon with six muscular arms, scales crackling with latent storm energy.

Liliana yelled that we were here to stop it from poisoning the village.
The giant Behir looked down at us, its eyes devoid of mercy. *"They simply exist to suffer. Just like you."*

It reared back, lightning dancing across its jaws, and prepared to strike.

— Luke

Continue reading...

A test of magic
24th of Aran, Y126 Year of the Tree

Trades and Punishments
1st of Edon, 126 Year of the Tree

Homecoming
15th of Edon, 126 Year of the Tree

The price of a ring
16th of Duna, 126 Year of the Tree

The Journal Entry’s title

The Journal Entry’s title

A Festival of Foxes and Frolics
30th of Dagda, Year 121, Era of the tree

Elsa

Adventure Ahead!
1st of Lug, Year 121 of the Tree

Rosebloom's Bookworm
4th of Lugh, Year 121 of the Tree

What to do when your hostess has a Secret Society Membership
5th of Lugh, 121 Year of the Tree

The most useful kind of magic
6th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

A Betrayal of Satyrs
7th of Lugh, 121 Year of the Tree

Maladies of the Mist
8-11th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

The Hunter
11th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

A Hidden Path to Logvale and Beyond
12th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

A Master of Fire
13th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

Too Many Goodbyes
20th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley I
1st of Ogan, 122 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley II
3rd of Solstice, 122 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley III
24th of Edon, 123 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley IV
17th of Gobu, 124 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley V
7th of Daga, 125 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley VI
14th of Mannan, 125 Year of the Tree

Dreaming of Lord Ignus
127 Year of the Tree

The Reunion
14th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Emissaries of the Fenhunter
15th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Fall of Cairn Fussil
4th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

Festival Frenzy
10th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Terror of Ravensfield
13th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

Dragon Bones in the Dark
15th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Determination of an Undead Kobold
16th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

Battle at the Burning Village
17th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

A Reminder to Take Action
18th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

A Grand Ball of Intrigue
20th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Search for Norgar
20th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

Why you can never trust a bard
20th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

A Royal Reward and a Challenge
28th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

An apple a day...
29th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

Dealing with the fey
30th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Aunty's Wrath
3rd of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Best served cold
9th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Venturing into dangerous waters
11th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

The Fury of the Marsh
11th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

The young stag and the undead wolf
20th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Anaya's Prison
21st of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Tales of Immerglade
22nd of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

The festival of Wolf's Rest
26th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Battle of the Bards
26th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Undead at the Cathedral
30th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Elves and worms
4th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

How we got Sixteen Cows
8th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

Descent into Acid
9th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

Sorry we stole your hoard
10th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

Strange Dreams of the Northern Wetlands
12th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

Latebra Velora
15th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Tragedy of Alistan De la Roost
17th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

From Keralon into the Feywild
22nd of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

A Feywild Festival
??, 126 Year of the Tree

Into the Jaws of the Warg King
??, 126 Year of the Tree

The birds have wings
??, 126 Year of the Tree

Sneaking into Whitewail
??, 126 Year of the Tree

Arrival at Nimmerburg
29th of Gobu, 126 Year of the Tree

The Fey Tournament
1st of Madan, 126 Year of the Tree

Lumiria
1st of Madan, 126 Year of the Tree

Homecoming
2nd of Madan, 126 Year of the Tree

The dinner party
4th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Mausoleum
11th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

Chain of Souls
11th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

Sister Willow's Story
15th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Briar's Ritual
15th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Water Temple
22nd of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

An unexpected journey
22nd of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

Temples of Sand and Air
22nd of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

Haggayn
22nd of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

The beginning of the end
30th Mannan 126 Year of the Tree

Ashes of Wolf's Rest
30th Mannan 126 Year of the Tree

Exiles of the Silver City
10th of Edon, 126 Year of the Tree

The Prison of Rosebloom
15th of Edon, 126 Year of the Tree

The Darkness around Hillfield
16th of Edon, 126 Year of the Tree

Setting the stage
16th of Edon, 126 Year of the Tree

Why is it always spiders?
9th of Duna, 126 Year of the Tree

The Ethereal Bard
9th of Duna, 126 Year of the Tree

Trimming the Greenery
10th of Duna, 126 Year of the Tree

The road to Ghenna
10th of Duna, 126 Year of the Tree

Back to a changed Keralon
15th of Duna, 126 Year of the Tree

The bitter taste of defeat
15th of Duna, 126 Year of the Tree

A Hard Choice
16th of Duna, 126 Year of the Tree

Dragons and Elves
2nd of Hagan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Primordial Storm inside
7th of Hagan, 126 Year of the Tree

Rumours of my death are somewhat exaggerated
11th of Dagda, 126 Year of the Tree

The Beast of Butchery
12th of Dagda, 126 Year of the Tree

Stalked in the Maze
12th of Dagda, 126 Year of the Tree

The dangers of trying to steal from hags
13th of Dagda, 126 Year of the Tree

Moving planes
17th of Dagda, 126 Year of the Tree

The Queen of Immerglade
17th of Dagda, 126 Year of the Tree

All Hail the Ice Queen
3rd of Solstace, 126 year of the tree

Wibbly-wobbly, Timey-Snowmeny
4th of Solstace, 126 year of the tree

A Wizard's Torment
4th of Solstace, 126 year of the tree

Giants in the Dark
5th of Solstace, 126 year of the tree

A Maze of Devils
5th of Solstace, 126 year of the tree

A Duel of Fireballs
5th of Solstace, 126 year of the tree

Wibbly-wobbly, Timey-Snowmeny

Continue reading...

Find your way!

Resources

WHO WE ARE

LEGAL

Get the news

Worldbuilding Academy

Listen to our Podcast