Against the Crimson Tide IC

Anya: You have been brought to Reskevan, a small town on the shores of the Inland Sea, by omens you cannot ignore: the flights of birds, the weather, even an arrow falling from the sky to impale the location on a map. Upon your arrival, you were told by the local lord, Baron Kessen, that the town has been plagued by bizarre occurrences, most of them dangerous, and that the beginning of these oddities coincided with the sea turning a blood-red. He has begged you to learn the nature of these events, and stop them, before the town becomes entirely uninhabitable.

Domina: You have come to Reskevan at the request of the provincial duke, a former lieutenant of yours named Saredk who married into the nobility. The coastal town, one of several under his control, has been experiencing considerable unrest, verging on outright rebellion, which the local baron seems either unable or unwilling to control. He hopes that your reputation will allow you to assist the baron, without upsetting the balance of power as a direct move from the duke would.

Fairweather: Several weeks ago, you began feeling the inklings of a major disturbance in the fabric of the land itself. Extremely unseasonal weather, aberrant behaviour from animals, even earthquakes where no fault lines lay, these things threaten considerable damage. Speaking to your colleagues, you have learned that the source of the disturbance is located somewhere in the Inland Sea; you have come to the town of Reskevan to learn more from the local druid, a man named Teodric.

Jesper: One of your most highly trusted agents, an elven woman called Tevaria, has been orchestrating a subtle takeover of several shipping firms based in the Inland Sea. Her attempts at subverting a small middleman operation in the town of Reskevan met with surprising resistance, so she investigated herself; she disappeared three days ago, shortly after entering the town. This would be bad enough, but she owns one of the gate keys to your private plane, and you don't know whether or not it was taken.

Reskevan? What the hell is going on in Reskavan? It's insignificant, just another port town with little going for it in terms of operations. And damn it all, Tevian has a gate key!

Tmion, we had better get going to Reskevan. I don't like this, we'd better get to Reskevan. Tevian is usually reliable and her dissapearing like this may not just be a minor matter.

Jesper sighs and looks at Tmion.

She had a key as well. We're going to need to recover that, regardless of the state she is in. Make sure the guards are on alert and that the forces are ready in case of invasion. You and I had better go to Reskevan.

Jesper gathers together his belongings, and heads out, followed by Tmion.


The journey to Reskavan is uneventful. Now the time has come to go into the city and discover what is going on. The underground here will be investigated and any necessary actions taken- behind Tmion's back when necessary!

Fairweather, female human druid 25, dire tiger Kessian, bogun Mossflower

*Fairweather, Kessian, and Mossflower flew into the seaside town of Reskevan as seagulls, wheeling low over the city to find Teodric's home. Fairweather was more worried than she liked to let on, and even Mossflower was picking up on it. It seemed the sea itself was bleeding, thrashing in the earth, causing all manner of trauma to things big and small. With these worries in mind, she had left her husband and children, kissing them good-bye and warning them against the dangers she had seen. Everything she had worked for as a guardian of the land was being dashed to pieces by this disturbance, and Fairweather was going to do everything possible to set it right!*

*She scanned for Teodric or his home, looking for a good place to land.*

Domina shades her eyes and squints at the building looming at the end of the road. Well, I guess that's it.... She nudges Arshae forward, reining him in when the guards near the door call "Halt."

Dismounting, she grasps Arshae's bridle lightly and walks forward. "I am Domina ex'Zamia, and I wish to speak with the Baron regarding the state of Reskevan." She eyes the two guards before dismissing them as not near her skill. I hope that Saredk knows what he is doing... and hopefully the Baron is just unable to deal with this, not unwilling. She sighs. I don't want to deal with unwilling. She awaits either the guard's reply, or to be escorted to the Baron.

Fairweather and her companions locate Teodric's hut, a small sod structure just outside the town palisade. He greets you warmly, and invites you in for a quick pot of tea.

Domina, the guards restrain themselves from groveling, and usher you in. They inform you that Kessen is in his study at the moment, showing you to the door. The baron stands at your entry, seeming startled and a little overawed at your presence, then asks "What may I do for you, milady?"

Jesper: where do you intend to begin? There's the merchant Tevian was investigating or the safehouse she was staying at.

Leaving Arshae ground-tethered outside the mansion, she follows the guards inside and to Kessen's study.

"Baron Kessen." She nods in greeting, and glances at the guards at the door. They hurriedly close it, leaving her alone with the Baron. She absentmindedly leans Final Darkness against the wall and sits in the chair opposite Kessen’s. Waving him to sit as well, she leans back, armor clinking slightly.

“I’m to understand that there is a good deal of unrest in this town recently. Mobs, protestors, rebels… it can be difficult at the best of times to handle such things. A friend asked me to assist you in controlling the area.” She raises an eyebrow and smiles. “If, of course, you are willing.”

Paxus Asclepius said:

Fairweather and her companions locate Teodric's hut, a small sod structure just outside the town palisade. He greets you warmly, and invites you in for a quick pot of tea.

Click to expand...

*Fairweather dismisses the feathered forms of herself and her companions, revealing herself to be a thin, pale-skinned woman with golden blonde hair and pale green eyes, wearing fine leather armor. Kessian resumes his enormous form of a dangerous-looking dire tiger with a multitude of gems swirling about his head. Mossfoot resumes his form as a cat-sized, frog-like woven manniquin. Flying in on wings made from a hundred dragonflies and beetles, Mossfoot starts to pour the tea for Fairweather.*

"Teodric, what in the name of all the gods is happening here? I saw the sea as I flew in," she asks, worry creasing her features.

Kessen sits nervously, clasping his hands on the desk, then leaning back to cross his arms, then straightening his back and finally beginning to speak. "I'm not sure what you've heard, but there's nothing really like that going on. The people are just getting uneasy, nervous. They're not organized rebels, really, just people who expect something to be done. Did this friend of yours tell you what was happening? Boats have disappeared, the fish are gone, crops are coming in, well, wrong, and the people just don't know what to do. Yes, there've been a couple riots, but all they want is someone to make things better. They don't really want to rebel, whatever you might have heard. I appreciate the offer of assistance, and believe me, I could ask for none better, but I just don't know what you can do. It's not the people that are making trouble. It's something else, bigger."

~

Teodric sighs. "I just don't know. I can't figure out anything, except that it's bad. Most of the sea creatures have just up and left; the dolphins are still here, but that's only because they can't leave the estuary or salt levels will change too much for them to survive. The merfolk have no more idea than we do, and I haven't heard from the locatha colony (a couple day's swim into the sea) for more than a week. We're starting to see things on land, too; the crops just came in, but some were already rotting, never grew, or were otherwise unusable. Most of the land animals are still here, but I don't think a deer migration is too far off. As to what's turning the sea red, it seems almost like blood, but from what, I couldn't begin to imagine."

"I could go and see what is wrong with the locatha colony. Perhaps it is something in the see itself that is causing this terrible stain. When did this start, do you know?" Fairweather asks, wracking her brain for anything she's ever heard of that could have a bearing on this situation.

"The disturbances began three weeks ago, and that is when the sea turned. I can ask one of the merfolk to guide you to the colony, if you'd like."