Present Party: Keviks, Lupan, Nana, and Wren.
Setting: Dragon's Valley, in the kingdom of Midtia.
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| Lilli Robertson Hero's Way Guildmaster in Dragon's Valley Celestial Warlock (Art by Cmy Cai on Art Station) |
The party left Jack with Nana's eidolon Castilian and in the hands of the paladins of Heimdall. As they were leaving, they walked out of the temple of Heimdall and into an argument. The high priest - Vargas - was arguing with a woman on horseback. She was dressed in red, and had a wide-brimmed hat with a short, gray veil. The veil covered her eyes, but no other parts of her face. On her shoulder was a bird that looked like a raven, but had bright red feathers and purple eyes. She was also very calm and poised, whereas Vargas was nearly screaming at her. At her side were the familiar faces of Veers, the changeling who worked for Hugo DeMarco the lich guildmaster in Kystad, and his adventuring party.
This woman addressed the party, introducing herself as Lilli Robertson, the local guildmaster of the adventuring guild, Hero's Way. She requested custody of Jack, with the hope that he might know something about the human traffickers in the area. Jack was the party's captive, and as the prince's escort, (and with Nana being the Royal Court Mage) it was their decision. They allowed it for the time being. Castilian and Veers's party members went and retrieved Jack. Lilli thanked them for their cooperation, and for the gryphon and dragon parts they'd sold to the guild. She'd found good use for them in her alchemy.
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| Elicia Sun Elf Paladin Member of Hero's Way (Art by MarcelaFreire on DeviantArt) |
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| Liam Human Artificer Member of Hero's Way (Art by NoFlutter on DeviantArt) |
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| Veers Changeling, works for Hugo DeMarco Member of Hero's Way (Art by Claparo-Sans on DeviantArt) |
Castilian stayed with Veers's party at Hero's Way. He, being a creature of law and goodness, actually stopped one of Veers's party members, Liam, from torturing Jack for information. Liam definitely wasn't happy about it. Castilian also learned the name of the elven paladin woman who travels with Liam and Veers: Elicia. She also seemed to be against the torture of this man.
She brought up someone named Eraxan, and how that person would not be proud of what Liam was doing. That made Liam stop.
~~~~~
The party went back to the estate to fill in the crown prince. When they arrived, they also noticed that their dragon demigod friend, Quest, had returned.
Keviks took the lead, and told the party about the telepathic conversation he'd had with Jack. The details of what he told them are all in the last session summary, but he left out a couple things:
- He didn't tell anyone about the assassination plans, where certain members of the forces of Erdia were assigned to kill certain people within the royal family.
- He didn't tell the party why Jack believed Alaion had gone back to Erdia.
- Keviks did not tell the party that Jack had an escape plan.
The party also started drawing on any historical knowledge about Erdia and Midtia in terms of former conflicts. Nana recalled an old conflict several centuries ago, when Erdia's borders extended far into what is now Midtia. She knew that currently Erdia was ruled by an elected dictator. She didn't know his name though. Keviks, however, recalled it: Draxon Turnuroth.
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| Quest The Copper Dragon Demigod |
"I don't know much about what happened at the very end," he said. "I wasn't able to see from where I was and then we all got buried when the cave collapsed."
He insisted that if they wanted to know more, their best course of action would be to find the other Dragon Lancers. Specifically, he said that Variel, Axel, or Dharvas would know more.
With this new information, the party decided that they needed to set up a meeting with the prominent figures of Dragon's Valley. They figured that the best way to do this was to see Guildmaster Robertson again, and see if she could contact everyone they needed.
They went to Hero's Way, where they met up with her and their other adventuring friends: Finch, Arcta, Kressa, and Boomer. Casper, the young half-tabaxi boy they'd rescued, was there as well. Veers stood in the corner of the room for a while before going to report on any progress made with the interrogation of Jack. They filled them in on most things regarding what Keviks learned. Their fellow adventurers, who had planned to head to Lanti tonight, had suddenly changed their mind, knowing that Xade would be there and that Casper might be in danger. Instead, most of that party opted to stay in Dragon's Valley. Finch, who was also invited to Wren's brother's engagement party in Lanti on account of his noble lineage, would accompany the party to Lanti tomorrow, rather than go on his own. Lilli assured the party that she could have Lindsey at the front desk contact everyone they wanted to attend this meeting, and quietly. They'd meet tonight, around nine pm. Veers returned with Liam, who frustratedly informed the party that, due to Castilian's moral code, there wasn't much Liam was able to do. Ultimately, it was decided to send Jack back to the church and put him in the hands of the paladins there.
Before the meeting, Nana did one other thing: she used Sending to contact Queen Wisps, Fang's mother, knowing that she was far more level-headed and far less trusting than her husband, the king. The queen was also formerly a Horizon Walker; she was capable and could handle herself in a fight. She managed to tell her that she believed there was a plot against the royal family, not to tell King River, and that she needed to exercise extreme caution and, above all, trust Fang.
The queen replied that she understood, and that she would keep the information quiet for now. Her only other request was that Fang be kept safe.
~~~~~
The time for the meeting rolled in, and there were several people in attendance:
- Our adventuring party.
- Prince Fang - Nana had insisted on his attendance as a political leader and representative of the royal family.
- Guildmaster Lilli Robertson of Hero's Way.
- Guildmaster Ruz of the Horizon Walkers.
- High Priest Vargas and High Paladin Creed Garros of the church of Heimdall - Creed Garros is also the much older brother of Desire Garros, one of the bachelorettes.
- Finch, Kressa, Arcta, and Boomer as Hero's Way members and trusted friends.
- Quest, for the specific reason that the party wanted to play all of their cards now, in the hopes of gaining as many allies as possible. If they wouldn't listen to them or to the crown prince, perhaps they would listen to a reincarnated demigod with the soul of a legendary hero.
The party purposefully excluded:
- The four noble families of Dragon's Valley. They didn't know many of their allegiances, and they were afraid of getting too political. What they needed now was protection, and the guilds and church were their best bets.
- Veers and his party, simply because nobody trusted Hugo DeMarco, and they knew that Veers was a direct line to him.
The party told this group everything that they knew, from their travels and from what they were able to get out of Jack. They also revealed Quest, and Quest told them all everything that he knew regarding the situation and about the metallic dragon gods. What they needed now was a sure safe haven, in case things went wrong. They needed people with power who they knew they could trust to protect the crown and stop and invading army. Dragon's Valley is well-known for its defenses and they are a stubborn group. During the Dragon War, this village had been destroyed and rebuilt dozens of times. The people had refused to leave.
Nana led most of the discussion with the others chiming in as needed. Wren spoke about her brother's potential involvement. Keviks spoke of what he knew about Erdia. Fang said very little, but had promised the room that, for this, he'd owe everyone in the room a favor. Coming from the future king, that was nothing to sneer at.
The results of the meeting were as follows:
- The other adventuring party was willing to help in any way they could. Finch said, "We've known you this long. You've helped us. You saved Casper. There's no reason for us not to believe or trust you at this point."
- Ruz insisted that the Horizon Walkers would be on board, simply because Xade had been one of their own. He was a serial killer in Dragon's Valley before this, and that was what forced his expulsion from the guild. Additionally, Ruz stipulated that they wanted the magic bow that Xade had, so they could destroy it. Nana agreed, but said that they'd only receive it after the safety of the royal family was ensured.
- Lilli claimed to be unable to offer much, even with the favor. She did, however, promise to contact her patron: Mimir, the god of wisdom and prophecy. She would use her powers to try and locate other Dragon Lancer items so the party could find more information on Turnuroth. She promised nothing other than that.
- Creed wanted justice for the three paladins Xade had killed in his escape. He also wanted to ensure that his sister got a chance at her date with the prince, and that it would be safe. He requested to put extra paladins on as part of an additional guard. Fang agreed, though the party noted his slight discomfort at the idea.
- Vargas agreed when Creed did, though begrudgingly after he'd been called out by the party and Guildmaster Robertson for some misogynistic actions in the past and present.
It seemed as though the party had secured a verifiable set of allies and a safe haven in Dragon's Valley.
~~~~~
When the party returned to the estate for the night, Keviks asked for Wren to see him in his room when she could.
Keviks admitted to her that she was the person he trusted most in the party. Because of that, so she knew exactly what they were all heading into, he told her pieces of his past as a member of the Erdian army.
- As soon as Keviks was born, he was ripped away from his family. He'd been a soldier since birth.
- His first order out of training camp was to return to his village in the forest, where he'd been born, and to set it on fire. He'd done it, and killed everyone including his own family without asking questions. He'd been taught not to ask questions
- He was welcomed into the army after that. Free to make his own decisions (as long as they were in Erdia's best interests, of course.)
- He'd spent about a year, pillaging and conquering towns and villages to keep them under Erdian rule. This didn't bother him; it wasn't what drove him to leave. What did drive him to leave... was tyranny. Keviks did not want a world ruled by only one man or one country.
- Keviks flew away as fast as he could. Erdia hunted him for a short while, but they stopped. After all, what damage could a lost aarokocra with no family and no ideals but those imposed upon him by Erdia?
- Keviks admitted to Wren that he was not - is not - a good person. But he hopes now that by fighting back against Erdia, it can redeem him... if only a little.
~~~~~
ART LINKS:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/2YJmA
https://www.deviantart.com/marcelafreire/art/Commission-Aurelia-801301770
https://www.deviantart.com/noflutter/art/Steampunk-Han-Solo-678695197
https://www.deviantart.com/claparo-sans/art/Punk-789871089
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