Act III: The Olden Days and the Next Generation
Scene iv: Golden Boy
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CW / TW: Racism and Racial Prejudice throughout
Read at your own risk.
The players knew that this particular section of the campaign would discuss these topics, and they were okay with the content that I was presenting to them.
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Present Party: Athena, Boris, and Yera. Sylyeras makes a brief appearance at the end.
Setting: The kingdom of Erdia, in the cities of Audacity and Gilden.
Yera took a few moments to herself to calm down after seeing the father of a child she'd given up for the first time in years. When she was sixteen, she and this young half-elven man - Zanfaerd - had a child. She, being a pirate and working under her abusive mother, knew that she was not in the position to raise that child. Zanfaerd said he knew a place where the kid would be safe, and took that child - a son - there.
When he woke up and was coherent, she went to speak to him. Yera knew he was a pirate, and found out that his ship had been attacked and sunken by a bronze dragon. She demanded to know where her son was, especially now that she had her daughter, Elle, who was currently staying back in Aldea with Caldor.
Zanfaerd said, "I left him in Trodia. The king adopts orphans. I left him just outside the palace walls. He's probably a prince now, so you don't have to worry about him. He's going to be better off than you or I ever will be."
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| Iparnord: the northern continent of Roglovar The party has just entered Erdia from the port city of Audacity. (Map by me, using Inkarnate) |
Finally, the party arrived at their destination: the city of Audacity in Erdia. The south side, leading up from the docks, had smaller buildings and structures made of wood, and some of stone. Beyond that was a huge stone wall - 50 or 60 feet in height. Even beyond that, the party could see the tops of stone and marble towers on the other side of the wall.
When the party arrives in new kingdoms, Finn typically tells them what to expect.
- Erdia is kingdom with a heavy population of dragonborn. In addition, there is a hierarchy / caste system in Erdia based on race that goes as follows:
- Metallic dragonborn with tails
- Metallic dragonborn without tails
- Chromatic dragonborn with tails
- Chromatic dragonborn without tails
- All other humanoids
- Erdia is ruled by an elected Triumvirate (an executive body of three people) and an elected Senate.
- The letter Boris had received last session, which was made known to the other members of the party as his reason for wanting to go to Erdia, claimed that he was related to a now-dead senator in some way.
- Finn also informed the party, "As you know, I have saved the world before. I am a legendary hero. I am a renowned diplomat. However, in this place, if the Triumvirate heard about the cults and the Concordia from me - an elf - they might take weeks to actually respond and take it seriously. If they hear it from Boris, a golden dragonborn with a tail... now we've actually got a chance and we can keep moving forward. We can't let them get ahead of us."
- It seemed as though Boris - the group's barbarian / fighter - would have to learn to be the diplomat here.
It was late so they decided, after saying their goodbyes to Venus and Sylyeras, who were going their own ways, to find a tavern to stay in. As they went through the south side of Audacity, they noticed that the streets were largely populated with chromatic dragonborn and non-dragonborn humanoids. There were also posters all around, advertising that there was a wanted man on the loose. Paprax Talmath was his name, and he was a large, black, tail-less dragonborn who was wanted for murder.
They found a tavern to stay in that would take all four of them, and Boris spoke with the barkeep: a blue dragonborn woman with a tail. She addressed him as "Ushakal" which, in Draconic, was a term of respect, akin to "sir." Boris insisted there was no need for formalities, as he wasn't from around here. Boris had been born in Imperia, to the east, and raised a little bit of everywhere.
Upon hearing this, and seeing that Boris was of the adventuring type, she asked a favor. A friend of hers needed some help. The man didn't have much, but he'd pay for it, and it was of great importance to him. She pointed to the opposite side of the bar. Sitting there, in plain sight, was the man whose wanted posters they'd been seeing: Paprax Talmath.
She explained, "I know what it looks like, but he didn't do it and we all know it. Why do you think no one's turned him in?"
The party decided to talk to Paprax, and found out that it was true, he didn't murder anyone. The man that he was accused of killing was Senator Raspitanian - the senator that Boris was allegedly related to, and whose property and assets he'd just inherited. Paprax explained that he worked for the senator, and so did his wife and son. The senator had been stabbed in his home one night. Paprax had been blamed, so he fled. The party offered to clear his name, but he refused. Instead, he just wanted them to help his wife and son out of the city and then leave the country as soon as possible. Boris said that he would do everything in his power to make that happen, especially seeing as he owned the house they worked in now. Paprax said that he would be staying here until then, so they could be sent this way.
They left Audacity the next morning, and in about two days, they arrived in Gilden. The city had two halves, much like Audacity did, but instead of being north and south, the halves were upper and lower. The lower half of the city was set into a valley by the mountains. This was the poorer section of the city, with buildings made of crude stone and wood. There was, however, a large colosseum in the center of Lower Gilden. Upper Gilden was literally up in the air, and held aloft on top of this massive platform that glowed with golden arcane energy at the bottom. In fact, this glow was the only thing that seemed to light up Lower Gilden at all. They could see huge buildings on top of the platform: some of stone and marble, and others made of literal solid metals.
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| Picture found by Boris's player for what he wanted Boris to be wearing in Upper Gilden. |
With Boris's inheritance letter in hand and the fact that he was a golden dragonborn, it was easy for the party to get to Upper Gilden. While there, Athena, Finn, and Yera were treated more like Boris's servants than his traveling companions. They also decided that it might be more beneficial for Boris to look the part when it came to collecting his inheritance, so the party went shopping to explore the fashion for the Erdian upper class. Boris was fitted with an appropriate outfit that I described as looking like something out of 16th or 17th century France, in terms of the aristocracy. Thus far, he'd come to hate everything about this place, including the upper class and their flagrant displays of wealth.
After that, the party moved on to the Office of Legal Affairs, where Boris's letter had directed him. They met with the former senator's lawyer: a bronze dragonborn with a tail by the name of Damien Daragoss. He informed Boris of a few things regarding his inheritance and of Gilden:
- The inheritance included a sum of 75,000 gold pieces, an estate here in Gilden, and everything within the estate. That did include the staff who currently worked there, but it was his choice whether or not they continued to work for him. He was even given the key to the estate and told that he could stay there now, if he so chose. Any other possessions were his to do with what he pleased.
- The money would be granted to him after a meeting with the Triumvirate, which would probably be held during some important function or party. That was customary in Erdia. He would be receiving a letter soon about when that meeting would take place
- The colosseum was a great place to go for entertainment, and so was the tavern known as "The King's Manor."
- Boris was allegedly related to Senator Raspitanian through a long string of cousins. Somehow, he was the still the sole living heir.
They moved on to the estate, which was a Versailles-esque manor, accented with gold, behind 15-foot marble walls. They entered into a beautiful front garden with hedges, flowers, trees, and bright green, neatly-trimmed glass. There was a fountain at the very front of the house. The manor itself was brightly lit and covered in expensive art - paintings, vases, statues, rugs, and all manner of other décor.
A human in his early twenties greeted them, a little surprised to have guests. He was a member of the staff here. When the party asked his name, he answered, "Well... see... that's a little complicated. I um... I don't... have one."
His mother had worked here too, and she'd hated him so she never gave him one. He was born here, he'd always worked here. The former senator had only ever referred to him as "Boy" and it was the only thing he'd ever responded to. Boris assured him that he would be able to pick one, but for the time being, that was who this servant was: Boy.
He escorted the party to their rooms, and Boris requested for him to rally the fifteen-person staff in an hour for a meeting. Boris investigated the master suite for information or possessions. He found jewelry and some love letters from a someone named "Nericyne" to the former senator. Finn informed him that the name was likely elven and probably belonged to a woman.
Athena and Yera asked Boy to show them around a little, and he led them to an in-home theater. Athena, a singer by trade, decided she was going to put on a concert tonight for everyone in the house.
Yera demanded that Boy show her to the kitchen so she could make cookies for everyone too, but Boy said that he wasn't allowed to. She didn't work for Boris (they'd been distinguished to Boy as friends) so she was a guest. Guests were not allowed into the kitchen.
When it came time for Boris's staff meeting, they all met in one of the parlors in the house. He told them that in the coming days, once he got the money that was owed to him, they would all be given 500 gold pieces and let go to pursue whatever they wanted. One of the staff members, a green tail-less dragonborn named Arkin who introduced himself as "something of the head servant," stepped up. He explained that although some of them would be able to do as he said, others would not. For some of them, this place was their only home. For others, they were forced to be here as part of their prison sentence. If they were fired, they'd go back to jail, which (for some of them) would be a death sentence. They're also in the situation where they can't leave the city either. Arkin did offer, however, to get him a list of everyone, their jobs, whether or not they wanted to leave, and whether or not they could leave.
Yera received permission to use the kitchen and she enlisted Boy to help her make and pass out cookies.
Lastly, the party spoke to Paprax's wife, Sora, and found out that she and her son, Balthazar were, in fact, free to leave. They just needed the money. Athena sent a message to Paprax using Sending to let him know that they were in Gilden, and that his family loved him.
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Sylyeras was possessed by his warlock patron, Cthulhu, for the first time this session. He passed his Wisdom Save, so Sylyeras was conscious while Cthulhu had complete control of his mind and body. He also passed his Constitution Save, so Sylyeras has not yet gained any levels of madness.
Cthulhu lied to Ariel via Syl's sending stone ring, and let her know that his crew was stocking up on essentials in Audacity before joining her again on the Xanden Sea. In reality, Cthulhu seemed to be recruiting drunks and homeless people to "join something bigger, something that would change the whole world as they knew it." He would touch their foreheads, their eyes would go black, and they would get up and walk away.
At one point, he approached an elven woman who looked tired, homeless, hurt, and dirty. He asked her if she wanted immense power, beyond her wildest dreams. She said yes. He snapped his fingers and she disappeared.
Sylyeras came to sometime in the late afternoon the next day. At that point, his ship had already set sail again.
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