ZEITGEIST Pcs allied with Pemberton, need suggestions

[tragicThaumaturge]

So at the end of adventure 6 the PCs decided Pemberton might not be such a bad ruler for Ber (they hated Bruse Shantus). Both they and Pemberton stood to lose if they fought, so it really made sense to make peace, but now I'm facing the dilemma of coming up with an appropriate response from Ber.
They didn't attack the military because they let Pemberton keep Tinker, they only wanted to speak with the gnome. And they're basically just pretending they killed the dragon and destroyed the facility to let Pemberton escape and go back to his original plan of slowly taking over Ber with duplicants (a bit evil, yes, but they figured Ber was already in pretty rough shape with Bruse Shantus at the helm and Pemberton, though evil, was at least a capable and intelligent individual, and the alliance could benefit Risur as well in dealing with the Ob).
I don't want to be too harsh on them regarding Risur's response because they really enjoyed being able to reason and negotiate with a dragon, but I also don't want everything to be neat and tidy because I feel like it wouldn't make sense if there weren't consequences. I'm also at a loss about what to do with adventure 7 because Pemberton tries to get revenge on the PCs at the end exposing them during the schism, but that's probably not going to happen now.
I would appreciate any input about what I could do regarding Risur and Ber's reaction once all this comes to light, and how I could modify the parts where Pemberton plays the role of antagonist in adventute 7 to keep the campaign moving. Thanks in advance.
PS: things I've already though about is using El Extraño as a possible antagonist for them going forward since the Beran government is not going to be happy once they realize Risur basically conspired against the Bruse. I'm not sure if this would work though, I haven't given it much thought. Just throwing it out there.

Edit: spelling. And any info on who's Terakalir's mother? PCs are curious.

 

[arkwright]

My party sided with Pemberton, it's a pretty decent option. After all, does Ber even know that Gradiax is Pemberton?

As far as I recall, Pemberton does not out the PCs during the Schism, he just goes nuclear to try to wipe out the Ob. Plus it's not a fixture of the adventure, I wouldn't worry about dropping it.

Note that Pemberton becomes a de facto ally in Book 10 and 13, he's not meant to be a strict antagonist, especially if the party did not kill Terakalir.

Could just go with El Extrano hunting the PCs for a few books trying to find out the truth about Pemberton, then blackmailing the party and Risur for concessions to Ber. Or you could have the party try to assist in toppling the Bruse in favor of someone who will forgive Pemberton.

Presumably, Terakalir's mother was one of the many dragons who died in Ber's last dragonslaying efforts.

 

[skotothalamos]

My party supported the rebellion and helped install the new Bruse, and the Artificer started work on a prosthetic arm for Pemberton's daughter. The PCs didn't really care for Pemberton, but the players loved his chaotic, antagonistic nature. They were grudging allies at the end of adventure 6 and all kind of rolled their eyes and went "oh, there goes that guy again lol" when he disrupted ObCon.

 

[Lylandra]

Haha, nice one! Regarding Risur, I would throw in Harkover Lee / Inatch who knows about Gradiax. well, not as the mother of Teraklir, obviously, but as someone who might have had a relationship to Gradiax back in the days.

Our GM had Grady and Inatch have a rather big age difference, which is why Harkover was constanly worried about Gradiax and his plans while Gradiax was just merrily doing his Grady stuff (and he was of course also honoring the Pact of Boyle, so King Aodhan would kind of shrug it off after a certain point).

 

[RangerWickett]

Just by random chance, after you called him 'Grady,' I am sitting at work with my coworker Grady Harris, who was the inspiration for Pemberton. Normally he works at another library, so it's a rare treat to hear his lovely deep Georgia accent.

 

[hirou]

Re:Terakalir.
First of all, I really don't need a version of ZG where Inatch is somehow her mother. I believe someone here had a version of campaign where all NPCs were changed into cute anime girls...
Second, as a fanon version, in my campaign I'm trying to weave a subplot about dragon lords in Lanjyr all being "fake" dragons, e.g. powerful individuals of different origin. They all ended with a similar image since the dragon of Jiese is one of the world spirits, and her form is a natural "perfect" symbol of power (and an Epic Destiny for one of my PCs). Naturally, no procreation is possible for dragons, they don't exist as a species, and appearance of Terakalir breaks this rule. In reality, she is an example of Lanjyr's innate ability to create substance from beliefs ("words made real"): Gradiax gave some pretty egg-shaped rocks to one of his kobold tribes as a symbol of his favour, and then went and disappeared for a hundred years into his Risuri "public service term". In the absence of the actual dragon god, kobolds poured their faith into rock eggs, and when Pemberton returned from his exile, he was quite surprised (as a bit scared) to see his newborn daughter...

 

[skotothalamos]

Re:Terakalir.
First of all, I really don't need a version of ZG where Inatch is somehow her mother...
.

Oh man, I love this idea.

My group would go absolutely nuts for a female dragon who is male when wearing the human form.