Present Party: Keviks, Lupan, Nana, and Wren.
Setting: The capital city of Kystad, Midtia.
After leaving the Uptown Theater, the party returned to the palace where Nana spent the night doing some research and casting Identify on the pan flute that Quest Carron's spirit had left behind.
- Nana had realized that this pan flute was a semi-divine artifact from a creature known as a "copper dragon." She had heard of blue, black, green, red, and white dragons... but never a copper one. When she tried to look further into these creatures, she could find no records or history about them.
- She conducted some research on Captain of the Riot Guard, Eli Hawks, but found very little aside from public records. She found out that the previous Riot Guard Captain, Juliana Rowin, had died due to health complications.
- Ego came to her with information about Alaion and Akig. The player has yet to share this information, so I will not yet detail it here.
- She looked into the history of Quest Carron to find out where he'd been born and where his family might be buried. His mother and sister died in Dragon's Valley - where he'd been born - in a black dragon attack.
Nana didn't sleep very well that night, still unsure of what was to come.
~~~~~
The other members of the party woke up and attempted to find Nana to see about collecting their reward.
Nana brought them to her room, and spoke with them about the pan flute. They debated what to do about it, specifically whether or not to tell King River what they'd found. Nana also wanted to confront Eli Hawks about Hugo DeMarco - the guildmaster of the Hero's Way chapter in Kystad. Apparently, 15 years ago, Eli had appointed him. However, Nana knew - especially from reading about him - that Eli had only been captain for 10 years. Hugo also seemed to know something that Nana hadn't been able to find about these metallic dragons. There were strange inconsistencies, and the party seemed particularly worried. Then, there was also the issue of the Royal Selection. They were going to be expected to start that soon.
After some debate, which even the pan flute got in on, the party decided to proceed with The Selection for now, and to speak to the king and some of his advisors on the matter sometime later. Wren, being the only person in the party who knew how to play a flute, attuned to the Copper Dragon's Pan Flute.
Here is how the process of the Royal Selection works:
- The party and Crown Prince Fang must remain in the city for as many days as there are eligible bachelorettes. For example, Kystad has five eligible bachelorettes, so they must stay for at least five days consecutively once they've decided to commence the Selection in that city.
- Each bachelorette is entitled to one date with the prince, and the prince is not allowed to go on more than one date per day. There must be at least one person from the party escorting the prince on this date.
- Each bachelorette must also undergo an interview with the party. These interviews can be done one at a time, all in the same day, or in any other combination of ways. The prince is not present during these interviews. This is intended to pull them from an environment where they're comfortable, and really help the party get to know these girls so they can advise Fang on who may or may not be good for him.
After looking over the five women in Kystad, they decided to kill two birds with one stone, and visit Anabelle and Arabelle Valentoise for their interviews - twin girls. Then, one of them would be able to go on a date with him. The Valentoise sisters were in a particularly unique position. The family had been friends with the king for generations. Fang had met the Valentoise girls before, which wasn't the case for any of the other girls.
Charlie Valentoise
Human, age 19
(Art by kir-tat on DeviantArt)
They started their first interview with Anabelle Valentoise, where they discussed some political questions as well as some personal ones. Overall, after some Insight checks, they found that she was very poised, if a bit haughty. She was intelligent, but thought very highly of herself in such a way that she genuinely thought of Fang more as someone she may be able to control, rather than love.
Anabelle Valentoise
Human, age 21
(Art by hanutella on DeviantArt)
Wren asked her, as her last question, "Anabelle, you're in a very unique situation with this Selection. What's it like essentially competing against your twin sister in all this?"
Anabelle smiled slightly. "Well, in all honesty... I'm not worried."
Then, they brought in Arabelle, and immediately realized why her sister might have said that. This girl was anxious, clearly. She never looked at anyone for too long. Her voice was quiet, and she constantly fiddled with her fingers throughout the interview. The party kept her questions mostly on the personal side and tried very hard to make her feel comfortable. Arabelle was clearly more humble than her sister was, and given less responsibility by her mother. She had a very sweet demeanor, and when asked whether or not she liked Fang based on the interactions she had with him in the past, she said that she'd always found him very nice. He made her feel very comfortable.
The party decided that Arabelle was the best choice for the date today. Lupan and Wren offered to accompany Fang on the date while Nana and Keviks went to pay a visit to Hero's Way and get paid. They also wanted to seek an audience with Hugo, to see what he knew.
~~~~~
Arabelle Valentoise
Human, age 21
(Art by eliz7 on DeviantArt)
The party fetched Fang and brought him on horseback to the Valentoise Estate. Once they got inside, the party noticed Charlie sneaking up on Fang in an attempt to surprise him.
Lupan distracted Fang by asking, "So, Fang, we haven't asked you yet. What do you look for in a woman to be your wife?"
Fang chuckled for a moment, and started to answer, hesitantly, "I... Well... You see, it's a little interesting that you would say... something... uh, I-"
Charlie rushed in and said hello. Fang almost seemed relieved to speak to him. Lupan and Keviks both rolled high enough on their Insight checks to notice that when Lupan brought up "a woman to be Fang's wife" that the smile on Charlie's face faltered for just a moment.
Charlie offered for Fang to visit him later tonight, or later while he was still here. Fang rambled for a bit about how he wasn't entirely sure if he could. He seemed slightly embarrassed and maybe a bit awkward. Charlie didn't seem to mind.
He left them. Nana and Keviks also left the party at this point to run their errand. Arabelle came downstairs, and she and Fang began their ride that turned into a walk around the city. They chatted politely. Arabelle was still fairly nervous, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. Lupan and Wren played music for ambiance. Towards the end of their date, they went back to the estate and played chess. Fang won.
Afterwards, Fang bid her goodbye, and they made their way back. They talked about the date itself a little bit, and Fang admitted that he had always liked Arabelle more than her sister.
"Can I tell you two something?" Fang asked Wren and Lupan as they traveled. He looked around at the city, his smile slowly growing wider. "This is my first time here... Like... out here."
"Outside the palace?" Wren inquired.
Fang nodded.
Lupan laughed, "Well... how do you like it?"
"It's... beautiful..."
"I'm very excited that you get to see the world while doing all this, Fang," Wren told him.
He chuckled. "Me too."
~~~~~
Meanwhile, Keviks and Nana walked over to Hero's Way. Along the way, they both talked more about their concerns when it came to Hugo - how powerful he was, what his motivations may be, etc.
When they arrived, they were paid by Lindsey for their last job and she went about trying to get them an audience with Hugo. Hugo was willing to see them, and Lindsey sent them up through a teleportation circle.
Before she left, she told them, "Please know that once you're inside Hugo's office, neither of you will be able to cast spells, but he will. Do not steal anything - not from the guild in general, but especially not from him. Okay? Good luck."
They arrived in a dark room. Several globules of red light popped into existence, illuminating the area. There was a large desk in the center of the room with papers neatly organized. Hugo, in his half-elven form, was sitting at the desk. Behind him were two large bookcases, filled with tomes and books of all kinds.
"Master Hugo," Nana greeted.
"That would be my name, yes," he replied, smirking.
The three of them spoke, and learned more about him. Hugo was rather liberal with the information.
- Hugo is about 600 years old, though he's only lived in Midtia for about 50 years.
- He was born in Thalnotia, a country far to the south, off the continent.
- He did voluntarily choose to become a lich, though he didn't specify how or why. He did say that he was "nearly" a lich before. He also said that although he chose it, there's parts of him that regret it, and other parts that would do it exactly the same way, again and again.
They inquired about the dragons - how he seemed to know what was going on with Quest and this alleged "copper dragon."
Hugo asked them, "Have you ever read a story where a character who was so... well-known in your culture from religion or folklore or what have you just... appeared? And you knew them? Even though this wasn't necessarily their story, they appeared and already you knew their motivations, you had an idea of what they would be like, et cetera." He took a book out from one of his shelves, and flipped through it. "That's what the metallic dragons are, but... they're a southern folktale. Not something you would have ever heard here in Midtia or its surrounding countries. Some say they existed a long time ago. Others say they never existed at all. I was in the latter camp... until yesterday."
He turned the book to them, and showed them the poem.
~~~~~
Unfortunately, our group experienced some technical issues last night while playing during the last 30 minutes to an hour of our game. We typically play online, via Discord, and Discord went down. This was as far as we got.
I'll be posting the poem here on the blog tomorrow, for your reading pleasure. Hope you enjoyed!
~~~~~
ARTIST LINKS
https://www.deviantart.com/kir-tat/art/Vorpatril-psd-tutorial-395415424
https://www.deviantart.com/hanutella/art/The-Lost-Princess-546765072
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