Present Party: Lupan, Nana, and Wren.
Setting: The city of Lanti, in the kingdom of Midtia. Briefly, the Summer Court of Alfheim.
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| Royal Custodian Castilian Nana's Eidolon (Art by Danila Kalinin on Art Station) |
In the afternoon, before the arrival of the queen, Castilian noticed Fang sneaking around with Sebastian and attempted to follow. When Fang noticed his protector doing so, however, he sent him on an errand to fetch a pair of black gloves from his room. No such gloves existed. Castilian stayed and kept looking, but didn't find anything. When the prince returned to him, he told Castilian that he was sorry, and he must have forgotten the gloves at home.
~~~~~
After Dancer, the small taskforged the party found on the abandoned ship, had been given her check-up and put back into working order, Nana received a check-up from Liam the artificer as well.
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| Liam Human, Artificer Associate of Veers (Art by NoFlutter on DeviantArt) |
He was surprised to find that Nana was also a Stonebridge Model - a taskforged made by Stacie Stonebridge, the inventor of the race. She was likely one of the first taskforged ever made. Despite that though, she was in great condition and he wasn't worried about her being unable to to replace any parts of hers that would break.
"That's a very fortunate thing," he told her. "Some parts can be really hard to come by these days, and there are so many taskforged and warforged who... just can't be repaired after a point."
Nana also asked about potential body modifications. Liam explained that it was certainly possible, but she'd need tools, parts, and time. Using Detect Thoughts, Nana was able to get some quick instruction from Liam. She'd definitely have to start working on it physically to gain proficiency, but it wouldn't be impossible.
A couple of hours later, the party had a private meeting with the royal family, where King River was caught completely up to speed on everything, except for the faking of Keviks's death. The party was a little confused as to why River had opted to take Riot Guard Captain Eli Hawks with him on his journey here, knowing he may be a traitor.
River admitted, "I'd rather have him here, with me, while my sons and mother are alone in the capital."
He also claimed to know that Ego was in the kingdom of Isverden to the southeast, but Prince Fang and the other party members assured him that they knew otherwise. He was still in the capital, but they didn't say how they'd come across this information. Fang convinced his parents to trust him and the Selection party, for the time being.
The party also inquired what the plan was, when it came to meeting with the officials from Erdia about what had happened.
River answered, "It's hard to know right now. We don't know what their defense is. All I know is that, from what I was told, we're the victims and you were all framed to appear as though you were responsible for killing this general and knight. We need to hear their side of the story before any drastic choices are made."
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| Veers Changeling Warlock Works for Hugo DeMarco (Art by Claparo-Sans on DeviantArt) |
Nana cast Sending and asked him to speak his reply as well as reply telepathically. Eli had brought a changeling Riot Guard member with him as well, who Veers had told them not to trust. However, it appeared this person was the real Veers. The party left him to his devices, and when they finished the meeting, he was gone.
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| Sebastian Mulcaster Human, age 18 Wren's younger brother (Art by Charlie Bowater) |
The party settled in for bed not long after that. That night, through the open windows, Wren could hear singing. She looked out and then up to find her brother Sebastian, lying on the roof. She joined him. Sebastian was incredibly happy, and singing a song about love and finding someone who helps you see the world and yourself better.
Wren was once again floored, when she
realized her brother had written that song in only a few hours. He asked her if
she was going to come to his concert a few days from now, and she said she’d do
her utmost to be there.
“Nobody has ever come to one of my
concerts,” he told her. “No one of our family, anyway…”
Sebastian was the fourth of four
children. Orion had his duties as heir to the family. Cassandra was in the
Selection and had been preparing for it her whole life. Wren had received
attention from their parents because of her musical talent and general rambunctiousness.
They encouraged her to pursue music. But, as Wren knew, Sebastian’s
accomplishments often went unrecognized; his praises were unsung. He, too, was
a talented musician and composer… but he didn’t cause trouble. Wren assured her
brother that he had gifts worth being proud of.
“Out of everyone in our family… Wren,
you’re definitely my biggest cheerleader. Thank you for that.”
~~~~~
The
next morning brought the first of the five-day festival: Dragons’ Day. This
festival was held annually to celebrate the end of the Dragon War two hundred
and fifty years ago. It was during this war that the Dragon Lancers defeated most
of the chromatic dragons that had been plaguing this continent. Each day was
named for a different Dragon Lancer. Prince Fang also very excitedly accompanied the party out today, as he'd never experienced Dragons' Day before, outside of the noble party that was typically held on the fourth day.
On
Variel’s Day, the party enjoyed watching a jousting tournament, and they
partook in some festival games. They’d won small constructs: little ants that
could form themselves into small structures.
The
next day was Dharvas’s Day and that day featured a magic duel. Both Wren and
Nana decided to join the tournament and found that both Finch and Veers were
also in it. Nana had a match against Veers which, after a long bout, he conceded.
It was during this match that she discovered he was a warlock. Wren had a match
with Finch and theirs was more of a struggle between his ability to cause great
fear, and her ability to charm her opponents. After another close duel, Wren
emerged victorious.
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| Finnegan "Finch" Pomeroy Human, age 22 College of Whispers Bard (Art by Claparo-Sans on DeviantArt) |
“I’m
just really good at making people paranoid.”
Again,
as much as they had fun, they insisted on having dinner and seeing a show
together sometime.
That
same day, there was also a huge street brawl. Thirty men go into a ring with
weapons and one comes out victorious. Lupan was extremely curious and excited
by this prospect, so he joined in as well. Getting ready, he noticed a maroon tiefling gentleman across the ring. He was dressed in blue scale mail and had long, black hair and large horns. Lupan attempted to get his attention and challenge him. The tiefling took that challenge in stride. When the whistle sounded to start, the two of them rushed each other. They did introductions mid-battle. The tiefling called himself Confidence Milton.
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| Sir Confidence Milton Tiefling Eldritch Knight of Midita (Art made by me, using Heroforge) |
What followed was an excellent brawl, leaving only Lupan and Confidence, nearly at their ends. Lupan made the decision to grab Confidence's hand and hold both of their hands high, in a show of solidarity. The crowd watching the brawl seemed quite content with this ending. Confidence took the whole party out for drinks, where they were reminded that they'd heard of him before. Wren recalled that he was on the guest list for Orion's engagement party; he was a knight of the royal crown. Prince Fang had also met him before; he'd been present at Confidence's knighting ceremony. Confidence Milton had also trained Fang's cousin Flower, who lived in Dragon's Valley for a short time. The party was pleased to inform Confidence that she'd be continuing her training under the paladins of Heimdall, and he was pleased to hear that.
~~~~~
Festivities couldn't last forever. On the third day of the festival, the party was a bit preoccupied with other, political things. Today was the day the Erdians had arrived in Lanti, and the day they were due to meet with Erdia's Great Leader Draxon Turnuroth at the Mulcaster Estate.
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| Orion Mulcaster Human, age 25 Wren's older brother (Art by Tina Yeh on Art Station) |
"This is the last time you'll ever have to talk about it," Wren assured him.
He admitted that things were starting to finally feel like they were behind him, but that he hadn't slept the night before. He could still hear Vekea in the back of his mind.
"I know... but Orion, know that if you ever need me to be the bad influence so you can get away - so you can be better - I'll be that bad influence."
They went back in for the meeting. The Midtian side of the table consisted of our Selection party, the royal family, Reverence Akira the war strategist, Alyphira Elona the chief diplomat, Baron Mulcaster, and Orion Mulcaster. The Erdian party arrived shortly after:
- Two knights of the same order as Vekea - an aarakocra and a tiefling - were in attendance.
- A man who appeared human with long red hair was introduced as Pavel Keenstalker, Nithea's husband and Vekea's father.
- A dragonborn man with black scales, a half-orc woman, and a halfling woman were also there, appearing to be a group of diplomats.
- A taskforged with buttons on their chest and arms. They acted almost like a typewriter, and they were referred to as "Record."
- Lord and Lady Sultasar were also present, much to the dismay of Lupan and the Mulcasters specifically.
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| Great Leader Draxon Turnuroth of Erdia (Art made by me, using Heroforge) |
"King River, thank you for your invitation into your kingdom. Baron Mulcaster, thank you for the use of your home as our meeting place."
There were a few major points discussed at this meeting:
- When the party brought up Xade, Turnuroth asked Record the taskforged to find anyone by that name or his alias, Xavier O'Malley, in the Erdian army. There were no records of him.
- With this information, Turnuroth declared that should he be found, Midtia can do to him what they deem fit, especially considering that he was responsible for shooting Prince Fang.
- Turnuroth claimed that the Keenstalkers had acted of their own volition. He and the Sultasars who sponsored them had no knowledge of what they were planning, and what they had done could be considered treasonous. Turnuroth even threw a passive aggressive insult at Pavel Keenstalker, apparently suspecting him of knowing something as well. Turnuroth said he would deal with it later.
- Lord Sultasar was still demanding the dowry he'd paid on Vekea Keenstalker's behalf from the Mulcasters. Baron Mulcaster was quick to shoot down the idea, on the account of the fact that money had already been stolen from them. They were victims in this. Sultasar's poor judge of character had been his flaw.
- Instead, Sultasar proposed something that he viewed as a compromise: he had a daughter who he would betroth to Sebastian Mulcaster. They'd be married in a year's time, and Sebastian would move with them to Erdia.
- Lupan was most vocal here, reiterating that the Mulcasters shouldn't give anything to the Sultasars based on their own poor decision making. River and Fang had both come to Lupan's defense and support.
- Turnuroth shut Sultasar down shortly after that.
- At the end of the day, neither country really had anything to offer the other. Keviks was dead already, and he'd been considered the one responsible for everything except the prince's attack. Nithea and Vekea were also dead, and there was nothing that could be done to punish them further for their crimes. Instead, as a compromise, Turnuroth offered something of an ambassador program, which was tweaked slightly over the course of the meeting. Eventually, the terms worked out as such:
- Two ambassadors of each kingdom would live in the two largest cities of the other. These ambassadors would be treated with the utmost respect, as though they were noble families of that country: invited to functions, political meetings, etc. They also received full diplomatic immunity.
- These ambassadors would be appointed directly by their respective leaders. If leadership changed, the ambassadors may also change.
- They will live on land, provided by the Crown / Government of the nation in which they are living.
- The guards for these ambassadors will be hired adventurers from Hero's Way or another adventuring guild. This guild must be approved by the respective Crown / Government.
With these terms in place, the Erdians took their leave without fanfare. For once, it seemed as though the party could breathe a little easier.
~~~~~
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| Crown Prince Steel "Fang" of the Mountain Tabaxi, age 18 (CUSTOM ART by @WtfdoIdraw on Twitter) |
Fang looked at Castilian. "Castilian, could you do me a favor?"
"Your Highness, you need not send me on needless errands. If you wish to be alone, I-"
"No, no... just..."
The door opened, and Sebastian was standing there. "Fang? Is the meeting over?"
"Yes, it is." Fang turned again to Castilian. "Just... Castilian, please don't tell Nana."
Fang pulled Sebastian in for a kiss. Castilian gently pushed the prince into the room, and shut the door quickly behind him.
~~~~~
Lupan woke from his rest that night to find himself in a strange place. It was bright and warm. His bed was not his at the Cromdor Estate, and he had a beautiful woman with him. She was fully nude, had dark skin, freckles across her face, curly blonde hair, and golden eyes. She looked at him fondly.
"Well... judging from the fact that I'm not at the estate, I'll take it that I haven't taken you home with me from Lanti."
She chuckled. "No... No, you're dreaming. I'm the Summer Queen... and I'm here to see you about the next phase of your little... test. You see... I'm giving you a little hint to help you find something that will help you in my trial. When you find the item, you'll know what it is when you see it. No matter what anyone says, it rightfully belongs to you."
She gave him a deadline: the summer solstice, which was still two months away. If he found it sooner, she'd know, and she'd appear to him early. If he didn't find it, he'd have to brave his trial without it.
Lupan thanked her for the information, and opted to stay asleep for a bit longer than the four hours required for elves... as long as it meant he spent those hours with her.
~~~~~
ART LINKS:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lxnKoV
https://www.deviantart.com/noflutter/art/Steampunk-Han-Solo-678695197
https://www.deviantart.com/claparo-sans/art/Punk-789871089
https://www.instagram.com/charliebowater/
https://www.deviantart.com/claparo-sans/art/Edricane-547043882
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/4blGw4
https://twitter.com/wtfdoidraw
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