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Lylandra's War of the Burning Sky continued
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<blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 7110354" data-attributes="member: 6816692"><p>The group of four rent some horses and travel to the outskirts of Vidor where they see strange signs who warn travelers of troll attacks. Also, the city is currently being reinforced by wooden palisades. As the don't really have time, the don't bother to ask what this is all about. </p><p></p><p><em>Note: Small foreshadowing for Kate's sidequest. I used the 4e version “troll king” scenario much later and wanted to hint that there might be trolls hiding somewhere in the swamp. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p>Along the road, they visit a young half-elf who is renting and selling carriages and sleighs. When they want to buy a sleigh for their journey (Balan doesn't like riding on horseback for too long), Cuin realizes that the young man is actually a half-Taranesti who occasionally mutters prayers to Syana as if she was some sort of goddess. Turns out that his mother was a wandering Taranesti who fell in love with a human. Sadly, both of his parents died a few years ago. Cuin teaches him a bit about the true nature of the guardian of Ycengled and both part on good terms.</p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Note: 4e stuff again. I knew that adding the half-elf would be an instant hook-up for Cuin, so I placed him there. Didn't bother with the skill challenge though. I resolve such challenges mostly by roleplaying.</em></p><p></p><p>The travel the frozen Nashan river when they suddenly see a bizarre scene: A group of worn-out refugees who are fleeing from a giant, insectile creature. The elves and Balan correctly identify the creature as a Remorhaz. Balan is horrified when his companions decide to save the refugees as he prefers to hide in the sleigh. Cuin'halar turns invisible, “sneaks” up on the creature and downs it in a flurry of electrified blows. Just when both Balan and the refugees start cheering for this impressive feat of strength, a second Remorhaz emerges from the ground and swallows Cuin whole. Torrent and especially Tinuviel are mortified and start fighting the creature. They try to identify the correct place to strike the Remorhaz as they want to free their comrade, but fortunately Cuin manages to dimension door his way out – half digested, but still alive. Together they slay the second creature as well.</p><p></p><p><em>Note: Yep, that was just me being mean. Cuin had a lucky streak of crits (critical intensified spell combat shocking grasp... ouch) and I originally wanted to challenge them with the Remorhaz. So... I just added another one who had not eaten recently. I knew Cuin could survive the swallow long enough to be cut free even if he didn't make his concentration check (which he did).</em></p><p></p><p>They continue their journey on ice until the sleigh comes to a sudden stop and Balan hits his head really hard in the process. Torrent checks up on him and fortunately the diplomat is only knocked out, although he might have suffered a cerebral concussion. As the sleigh appears to be struck, they search for the cause of the accident and find a leather belt belonging to a corpse which is otherwise encased in ice. They continue their search and find a total of three bodies who all carry emblems of Lady Dene's. What seems more surprising is the two of the three were killed by bolts and the third had been hung. As they suspect a case of murder, they follow the easily discernible trails carefully. </p><p></p><p>After a few hours they finally arrive at another disturbing scene: A group of five soldiers is harassing a caravan and searching for what appears to be valuables. As they suspect a robbery, the party advances quickly. To their surprise, the “bandits” are wearing emblems of Steppengard and the guy who appears to be their leader is in the process of dragging a screaming woman out of a carriage. As both elves cannot simply watch an innocent (?) women being treated this way, they call out for the officer. He orders them to not interfere in official matters of the Talon police as the woman and her helpers are clearly traitors who were in league with the foul assassins who killed the queen's children. Cuin and Tinu both agree that the man is out of his mind and ask him to keep cool and maybe discuss the matter first. The officer ignores their pleas and is about to strike the woman down for her crimes, so naturally both try to intervene and save the woman. Tinu wins the initiative and can psychically electrocute and stun the man before he can harm the woman. Then the rest of the party joins their friend in battle and they manage to subdue the Talons. They ask the two who surrendered what this is all about and at first they are pretty pissed that some foreigners interfered with their jurisdiction. As Cuin points out that this is not jurisdiction, but rather an on-spot execution without a lawsuit, the Talons tell him the whole story about the assassination and also that the woman was consorting with one of the assassins. As neither of the brothers can see a confirmed involvement of the woman, they ask her about the whole affair. She tells them that yes, she was in love with one man who was arrested (but she's sure that he wouldn't be able to harm anyone) and fled Bresk as soon as she realized that everyone and their mom was being arrested for treason. They believe her story and let the caravan continue their journey. They continue to ask the Talons and get to know that Lord Gallo is the one who is suspected to be behind the assassination plot which has to be supported by other Lords or Ladies of Dassen. They also tell them that they have the order to execute anyone who is resisting arrest by fleeing Steppengard. When they ask their prisoners about the Talon's leader, they tell them of a former Dassen military member named Thurask. </p><p></p><p><em>Note: A lapse on my side. I didn't remember the fact that Nina Glibglammer was officially the head of the Talon and Thurask was a guy I made up on spot. When I realized my mistake one session later, I told my party that Queen Steppengard had appointed her adviser to the new head of the Talon police force after a few days, leaving Thurask as second in command. They did remember his name though and I continued to use him as a minor NPC. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p>They leave the Talons to tend for their comrades and continue their journey. As they point out that they are official ambassadors of Seaquen (and show their papers), they try to make sure that they can invoke political immunity later. </p><p></p><p>In the evening, they arrive at the gates of Bresk. Fortunately, Balan is already feeling better and can help them find a room to stay. In fact, he offers them fine rooms in his family's favorite hotel. After putting their luggage to their rooms, they all head to castle Steppengard and ask for a possible audience with the Queen as they are ambassadors of Seaquen who wish to discuss matters of an alliance against Ragesia and also offer the Queen their condolences. They are more than happy to hear that despite all the chaos they have been announced earlier via sending and may have an audience in two days. </p><p></p><p>The elves use the evening to discuss Dasseni diplomacy with Balan over a glass of good wine. When they realize that the proxies do indeed serve as substitute for their lords and ladies and the latter do have a critical influence on the politics of Dassen, they all agree that it would be wise to talk to all the proxies in advance. This way they can probe everyone's interests and personalities before being thrown into the cold water of the court. Seems like a sound plan for the next day...</p><p></p><p><em>Note: I was really expecting a move like that. Because I know they would take the time to talk to the proxies, and none of them besides Jineer had some sort of description, I decided to flesh out the rest of them. What I did then was write up a small portfolio for every proxy and added a bit more info to each lord's/lady's interests and character. The whole diplomacy session took a while, but my players told me that it was totally worth it (more about that later) </em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lylandra, post: 7110354, member: 6816692"] The group of four rent some horses and travel to the outskirts of Vidor where they see strange signs who warn travelers of troll attacks. Also, the city is currently being reinforced by wooden palisades. As the don't really have time, the don't bother to ask what this is all about. [I]Note: Small foreshadowing for Kate's sidequest. I used the 4e version “troll king” scenario much later and wanted to hint that there might be trolls hiding somewhere in the swamp. [/I] Along the road, they visit a young half-elf who is renting and selling carriages and sleighs. When they want to buy a sleigh for their journey (Balan doesn't like riding on horseback for too long), Cuin realizes that the young man is actually a half-Taranesti who occasionally mutters prayers to Syana as if she was some sort of goddess. Turns out that his mother was a wandering Taranesti who fell in love with a human. Sadly, both of his parents died a few years ago. Cuin teaches him a bit about the true nature of the guardian of Ycengled and both part on good terms. [I] Note: 4e stuff again. I knew that adding the half-elf would be an instant hook-up for Cuin, so I placed him there. Didn't bother with the skill challenge though. I resolve such challenges mostly by roleplaying.[/I] The travel the frozen Nashan river when they suddenly see a bizarre scene: A group of worn-out refugees who are fleeing from a giant, insectile creature. The elves and Balan correctly identify the creature as a Remorhaz. Balan is horrified when his companions decide to save the refugees as he prefers to hide in the sleigh. Cuin'halar turns invisible, “sneaks” up on the creature and downs it in a flurry of electrified blows. Just when both Balan and the refugees start cheering for this impressive feat of strength, a second Remorhaz emerges from the ground and swallows Cuin whole. Torrent and especially Tinuviel are mortified and start fighting the creature. They try to identify the correct place to strike the Remorhaz as they want to free their comrade, but fortunately Cuin manages to dimension door his way out – half digested, but still alive. Together they slay the second creature as well. [I]Note: Yep, that was just me being mean. Cuin had a lucky streak of crits (critical intensified spell combat shocking grasp... ouch) and I originally wanted to challenge them with the Remorhaz. So... I just added another one who had not eaten recently. I knew Cuin could survive the swallow long enough to be cut free even if he didn't make his concentration check (which he did).[/I] They continue their journey on ice until the sleigh comes to a sudden stop and Balan hits his head really hard in the process. Torrent checks up on him and fortunately the diplomat is only knocked out, although he might have suffered a cerebral concussion. As the sleigh appears to be struck, they search for the cause of the accident and find a leather belt belonging to a corpse which is otherwise encased in ice. They continue their search and find a total of three bodies who all carry emblems of Lady Dene's. What seems more surprising is the two of the three were killed by bolts and the third had been hung. As they suspect a case of murder, they follow the easily discernible trails carefully. After a few hours they finally arrive at another disturbing scene: A group of five soldiers is harassing a caravan and searching for what appears to be valuables. As they suspect a robbery, the party advances quickly. To their surprise, the “bandits” are wearing emblems of Steppengard and the guy who appears to be their leader is in the process of dragging a screaming woman out of a carriage. As both elves cannot simply watch an innocent (?) women being treated this way, they call out for the officer. He orders them to not interfere in official matters of the Talon police as the woman and her helpers are clearly traitors who were in league with the foul assassins who killed the queen's children. Cuin and Tinu both agree that the man is out of his mind and ask him to keep cool and maybe discuss the matter first. The officer ignores their pleas and is about to strike the woman down for her crimes, so naturally both try to intervene and save the woman. Tinu wins the initiative and can psychically electrocute and stun the man before he can harm the woman. Then the rest of the party joins their friend in battle and they manage to subdue the Talons. They ask the two who surrendered what this is all about and at first they are pretty pissed that some foreigners interfered with their jurisdiction. As Cuin points out that this is not jurisdiction, but rather an on-spot execution without a lawsuit, the Talons tell him the whole story about the assassination and also that the woman was consorting with one of the assassins. As neither of the brothers can see a confirmed involvement of the woman, they ask her about the whole affair. She tells them that yes, she was in love with one man who was arrested (but she's sure that he wouldn't be able to harm anyone) and fled Bresk as soon as she realized that everyone and their mom was being arrested for treason. They believe her story and let the caravan continue their journey. They continue to ask the Talons and get to know that Lord Gallo is the one who is suspected to be behind the assassination plot which has to be supported by other Lords or Ladies of Dassen. They also tell them that they have the order to execute anyone who is resisting arrest by fleeing Steppengard. When they ask their prisoners about the Talon's leader, they tell them of a former Dassen military member named Thurask. [I]Note: A lapse on my side. I didn't remember the fact that Nina Glibglammer was officially the head of the Talon and Thurask was a guy I made up on spot. When I realized my mistake one session later, I told my party that Queen Steppengard had appointed her adviser to the new head of the Talon police force after a few days, leaving Thurask as second in command. They did remember his name though and I continued to use him as a minor NPC. [/I] They leave the Talons to tend for their comrades and continue their journey. As they point out that they are official ambassadors of Seaquen (and show their papers), they try to make sure that they can invoke political immunity later. In the evening, they arrive at the gates of Bresk. Fortunately, Balan is already feeling better and can help them find a room to stay. In fact, he offers them fine rooms in his family's favorite hotel. After putting their luggage to their rooms, they all head to castle Steppengard and ask for a possible audience with the Queen as they are ambassadors of Seaquen who wish to discuss matters of an alliance against Ragesia and also offer the Queen their condolences. They are more than happy to hear that despite all the chaos they have been announced earlier via sending and may have an audience in two days. The elves use the evening to discuss Dasseni diplomacy with Balan over a glass of good wine. When they realize that the proxies do indeed serve as substitute for their lords and ladies and the latter do have a critical influence on the politics of Dassen, they all agree that it would be wise to talk to all the proxies in advance. This way they can probe everyone's interests and personalities before being thrown into the cold water of the court. Seems like a sound plan for the next day... [I]Note: I was really expecting a move like that. Because I know they would take the time to talk to the proxies, and none of them besides Jineer had some sort of description, I decided to flesh out the rest of them. What I did then was write up a small portfolio for every proxy and added a bit more info to each lord's/lady's interests and character. The whole diplomacy session took a while, but my players told me that it was totally worth it (more about that later) [/I] [/QUOTE]
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