Present Party: Keviks, Lupan, and Wren.
Setting: The capital city of Kystad, in Midtia.
After their fun night out at the tavern, Charlie said goodnight to Fang and the party. Charlie assured Fang that he would find them a way to hang out more while Fang was still in town. They made their way back, talking to Fang about the dates to come.
Lupan already had a head start, saying goodnight to his friends and leaving the bar in a bit of a hurry after the strange confrontation he had last session. He went to the library in the palace, and looked for anything he could find on "The Spring Lord." However, (due to a lack of information, and not necessarily a bad roll) there wasn't much to see. Much of what was there was information Lupan knew, from legends and stories in his tribe.
- "Alfheim" was the name of another plane of existence where fey creatures lived. It is divided into four courts.
- Each court is based around each of the four seasons, and each season has a monarch that presides over the court. "The Spring Lord" is the title of the King of the Spring Court.
- The Spring Lord is known for his particularly jovial attitude, and his love of drinking and dancing. He pulls the occasional prank here or there too from what Lupan could recall from his tribal folklore.
- Additionally, there is a "high king" of Alfheim: the Vanir god Freyr, god of fertility and health. He is a celestial being, not a fey creature.
Later in the session, Lupan would meet Laraviere - "Lara" as she preferred - the royal physician, a firbolg and cleric of Freyr. He asked her if she knew anything about The Spring Lord, but she replied that she was unfamiliar. She did know quite a bit about Freyr though.
"What is he like?" Lupan asked. "Does he... tend to meddle in mortal affairs?"
Lara answered, "If he does, it's on special occasions, and it's always for what he believes will benefit the largest number of people. He's good by nature and very, very rarely dishonest."
Lupan learned of Freyr's symbol: a blue and gold greatsword, pointed upright.
~~~~~
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| Dragon Lancer: Quest Carron Tiefling Form College of Satire Bard (Art by @guttertongue on Twitter) |
She asked if the flute was part of Quest in some way. If it was a piece of him. The flute replied by showing her several images. The first had her looking down at Quest, whose hand was outstretched towards her. The palm was facing her and his fingers were pointed up. Then she was greeted with another image of Quest as she'd seen him in his spiritual form: with translucent copper dragon wings.
Satisfied with the answer it gave her, Wren spoke to Keviks and Lupan about playing games together. She asked if they wanted to play chess and while they didn't reply, the flute definitely seemed interested. While the boys played a round of cards, Wren stacked books on top of a chair and played chess with the flute. The flute indicated how it wanted to move by sending her visions of the board in her mind and moving the piece it wanted to on that board. Wren would be the one to physically move the piece. She won against the flute, and received a strange image. It was of a man who looked vaguely human with long, dark hair. He was sitting at a chess board across from... some creature. It had to be a creature because when the creature reached out to move one of the chess pieces, it did so with a long claw, and a hand covered in copper scales.
Lupan and Keviks played Wren and the flute as well at chess, and they had a fun night.
~~~~~
The rest of our session was occupied by dates and interviews for the last bachelorettes of Kystad.
When the party woke up in the morning after their night on the town, they received word from Nana that she wouldn't be accompanying them for the next few days. The young princes - Fang's brothers Aspect, Snow, and Time - needed her assistance. She encouraged them to continued their work without her. They also noticed that there were several servants running about. The party was informed that the Valentoise family were visiting for the next few days.
Lupan and Wren resolved to continue their interviews, and Keviks stayed behind. He explored, and while he did, he stumbled upon Fang and Charlie. They were sitting out on a balcony, on the railing, talking. He eavesdropped on their conversation:
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| Charlie Valentoise Human, age 19 (Art by kir-tat on DeviantArt) |
Charlie laughed. "Nervous? What do you have to be nervous about?"
"You're telling me that you wouldn't be nervous if you were me? If you were doing this?"
Charlie thought for a moment. "I think... Well... I suppose I would be, definitely. This isn't exactly what many would call a 'normal' Royal Selection. Speaking of which... how's that going?"
"What, exactly?"
"You told me you were going to... work something out."
Fang nodded. "I... Well... it's complicated. I've figured it out, but it's not exactly... the best case scenario."
"I could guess that much, based on the fact that... my sisters are here."
"I just... I didn't know what to say. What am I supposed to say, Charlie? This was planned from the day I was born; from that day forward, they knew there would be 64 women in my Selection. Like... how can I..." Fang leaned forward and put his head in his hands.
Charlie wrapped an arm around Fang's waist. "Hey... Hey. Your father... he loves you, right?"
Fang nodded.
"And your mother and grandmother, they love you?"
He nodded again.
"And those little gremlins you call brothers, they love you?"
Fang laughed, and managed to nod a third time.
"In the end, that's what matters, you know."
"Yeah... Yeah, I know..."
Charlie sighed, "So what's Plan B?"
"Just... do what I can in my travels, I guess?"
"Have you told your escort yet?"
"Umm..." Fang shook his head slowly.
"Are you going to?"
"I... don't really know yet. I mean, I feel like I might be able to trust them. I know I can trust Nana, but... I'm almost afraid to tell her."
"Why?"
"I... don't want to disappoint her. I don't want her to think that I've been lying to her or that I didn't trust her because I do."
"Fang... if she's disappointed in you for being yourself, then... she never loved you to begin with."
"Yeah... but it's still just as daunting as like... telling my parents. I doubt they'll hate me, I just don't want it to be a burden on them. Or a burden on the country, or the people, or our image." He sighed. "Then there's Wren. I like Wren a lot, but she... she has a sister. In the Selection. And I realized that I know Wren, I've met her before, in passing."
"Oh... Do I know them? The family?"
"Probably not. Then there's Lupan and Keviks but I don't know them that well yet."
Keviks left after that, allowing them to continue their conversation privately.
~~~~~
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| Wit Zorcus Tiefling, age 18 (Art by Kii Weatherton on ArtStation) |
When Lupan brought up that the prince also fights, she scoffed and replied, "Oh, I know... Believe me, I know. And he's... quite good."
She also admitted that she had no desire to be in the Selection. She had no intent of being chosen; it wasn't what she wanted. They would, however, still have to go through the formality of a date. They asked her what she'd prefer.
Wit answered, "I'd like a fight, actually. With the prince."
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| Anabelle Valentoise Human, age 21 (Art by hanutella on DeviantArt) |
Fang sighed, "Well... I'm not excellent, but I'm not bad."
To test it out and as practice, Lupan and Fang went to the training area and had a short duel. The party discovered a few things about Fang's fighting abilities. His weapon of choice was a rapier, and he used studded leather armor and a shield in a fight too. He was quick and light on his feet, as one would expect from a tabaxi. After a series of unfortunate rolls on Lupan's part, Fang actually managed to come out victorious. The party also got the chance to meet Piper Emperya - Fang's martial tutor. After that, they visited the physician to get patched up.
The next day, Fang fought Wit, and won two of their three matches. The party finished their last two interviews: Ivy Seriene (Seh-REE-en) and Finde (FIN-dee) Isielenion (EE-seel-en-EE-en.)
Ivy Seriene
Half Elf, age 18
(Art by Zolaida on DeviantArt)
Finde Isielenion
High Moon Elf, age 112 - Physical age 19
(Art by Beauline on DeviantArt)
Ivy, it seemed, also didn't necessarily want to be part of the Selection. She personally found the process to be old and outdated. Through some other questions, they found out that her family had a history of conflict with the royal family based on how the Seriene family historically treated their staff. The Seriene family wasn't viewed in a very good light. Still, the date between Fang and Ivy seemed to go far better than the last. She was funny, and they seemed to have a good time but there was no romantic chemistry.
Finde, on the other hand, seemed to be a bit more spacey. She often lost track of the conversation. It seemed as though she had nothing to talk about except herself - both in her interview and her date. One thing that the party noticed about her and her family, strangely, was their lack of "dragon motifs." So far, the city of Kystad had been very heavily influenced by dragon motifs. All kinds of dragon art could be found in noble estates. Dragon carvings and ornamentation could be found on temples, guild halls, and even some shops. Art of the heroes who ended the Dragon War - the Dragon Lancers - was also very popular. This estate had none of it.
When they asked Finde about it, she giggled a little awkwardly. "Well like... it's a statement. I mean... way back in the day, my family didn't exactly support the people that everyone calls heroes you know? Because... they did more harm than good. At least, that's what we thought."
They didn't press her on that subject.
After Fang's date with Finde - the last one in the city - the party walked him back. He said that the Valentoises were still staying for a few more hours into the day so he wanted to get some time in with Charlie again before he had to leave. Fang guessed that they would probably set out on their journey tomorrow.
They arrived back at the palace, and Fang started to leave... but then he stopped. It seemed as though he considered turning back around to say something else, but then he didn't. He just kept walking.
~~~~~
ARTIST LINKS
https://twitter.com/guttertongue/status/1045505333265924097
https://www.deviantart.com/kir-tat/art/Vorpatril-psd-tutorial-395415424
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/bKgKNG
https://www.deviantart.com/hanutella/art/The-Lost-Princess-546765072
https://www.deviantart.com/zolaida/art/My-fate-466555316
https://www.deviantart.com/beauline/art/Dark-Elf-772975956
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