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<blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 7838374" data-attributes="member: 6816692"><p>It takes a while this time, but we're finally being granted another audience in Slate. So we take the opportunity to directly ask King Aodhan and Principal Minister Lee whether and how Francis Fordren would be entangled with super secret projects of the risuri government. To our surprise, we're being rebuffed at first as these matters touch sensible levels of critical secrecy. Needless to say that Auryn is both disappointed and taken aghast.</p><p></p><p>“With all due respect, your majesty....” she says “how could a person like Fordren, a Danoran, a slaver, hold so much insight into critical secrets of Risur? How has the person whose duplicant technology has most likely led to the assassination of Bruse Shantus earned more royal trust than the people who try to dissolve the resulting crisis?”</p><p></p><p>Seeing both of our discomfort at the situation, King Aodhan bites his lip, takes a quick look at Harkover Lee and then raises his voice again.</p><p></p><p>“Curse my fondness of you, damn my trust in you, both of you.”</p><p></p><p>He then turns to the guards who are routinely stationed near the room's entrance.</p><p></p><p>“Out, all of you! Constables Auryn Galadin and Gabriel Carlyle and Principal Minister Lee remain with me. And shut these doors! None shall enter before we open them again”</p><p></p><p>All of the guards leave immediately, and when the doors are finally closed, Aodhan sternly states that whatever we're going to hear now is considered to be top secret, as only he in his function as King and those involving the secret know about it. This secret, he explains, has been kept by the monarchs of Risur for centuries, which is why he is quite reluctant to be the first one to share it with others. He reminds us that this secret could alter several political relations at once, so we have to keep it at all cost.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">(Well, no problem. At least one of us is literally bearing the name of “Secret keeper”)</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">Aodhan then tells us about King Boyle, who helped the tribes of Ber in their battles against the fallen Dragon Tyrants. Boyle, he explains, ultimately decided that despite their tyrannical tendencies, simply killing all dragons would be wrong. So he offered those Dragons who wished to stay alive in the new, flightless world, a pact: To play dead, stay out of sight and swear to never ever harm Risur. In return, he offered the Dragons the protection of the land, a safe shelter that protected them from all sorts of divinations.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">Gradiax the Steel Tyrant, ruler of southern Ber, had been one of those dragons who accepted the Pact of Boyle, which included to keep a humanoid form for a century. And it turns out that Francis Fordren is one of the alter egos Gradiax had developed over the years.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">Needless to say that this revelation shocks us even more. It takes quite some time to process what we just heard, and it is Carlyle who regains his posture first. He asks Aodhan what would have motivated Boyle t make such a bold move. Sure, he had taken a risk and succeeded, but to what end?</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">“That is rather simple, and I believe that you understand his reasoning. After the death of Srasama, after the events of the Malice, after the genocide that happened to the Eladrin, Boyle did not wish to be the cause for yet another extinct race. Even if I doubt that the dragons would deem each other kin.”</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">With these words, he takes a quick look at Harkover Lee who's still listening without making any move.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">“I understand. And I've never been more proud to call myself an agent of Risur and a servant of the King.”</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">Finally, Auryn nods silently while still breathing heavily. It seems like, despite her hatred for Fordren, she can agree that making an agreement with the former Tyrants would have been the more empathetic, more humane solution.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">Aodhan then explains that yes, we were correct to assume that the persona Fordren had been involved in Project X until the Witchoil experiments had proven to be too dangerous to continue. He also confirms that a duplicant prototype had been in development although it had never been finished. Then Harkover Lee finally breaks his silence and guesses that Gradiax might have an offspring who would not be covered by the Pact of Boyle. He doesn't know for sure though as he doesn't meddle with the dragon's daily lives, but the Isla de las Focas had been the location of Gradiax' original hoard and the old geezer has no need for his relics and riches as he's only interested in tech these days.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">(Well, Auryn would certainly disagree on the latter)</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">We share our thought of someone (Pardo...) possibly creating a Dragon duplicant, someone who just tries to use the name of Gradiax to unify the gnolls, and Lee agrees that this sounds like a clever plan as well.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">Next, we discuss the problem of Lya Jierre who will most likely do everything she can to get her hands on Tinker. Even if we tried to make sure that she wouldn't get the chance to go ashore. Having her sneak around the island might also mean that she'd possibly stumble across any dragon that might or might not be there. We all agree that Lya must not know about the dragons' existence, and even less the Pact of Boyle and we explain that we already asked Bruse Cavallo to keep her vessel as far away from the island as possible.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">Carlyle then reveals that, should things turn south, he'd volunteer to take care of this problem on his own. Still, he asks King Aodhan for permission as Lya is still his ex-fiancee. With a heavy heart, Aodhan agrees, even if he'd prefer a less bloody solution and is quite optimistic that we'd be able to find one.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">As we're curious about the nature of dragons, Harkover Lee tells us that most of them are individuals, first and foremost, which is why they wouldn't call themselves a “people” - unlike the Eladrin. Which is also why they don't feel the need to make sure their people “survive” - occasionally they meet, mate and have eggs. Regarding Gradiax, he speaks with a mixture of disdain and respect. He had been a paragon of Tyrants, seemingly immortal, with records dating back 3000 years and maybe more. We muse that this may mean that Gradiax might feel that his life is ending which is why he might have felt the need to have an heir, but Lee explains that Old Gradiax didn't show any sign of Twilight when he last saw him. Oh and Gradiax wasn't really a family guy either, as he had many short-term lovers or mistresses, but never a true mate.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">“I guess all he ever loved was himself.” Lee says dryly.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">Should there truly be a young dragon offspring, Aodhan asks us to make the youngling the offer to enter the Pact of Boyle to make sure that their existence continues to be a secret. And should the hypothetical dragon refuse, we have to make sure that the secret is being kept anyway. Even if that would most likely infuriate Gradiax. Again, we promise to opt for a diplomatic solution to such a threat.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">In case of such events, we assume that it would maybe a good idea to create an inert dragon duplicant ourselves. Which means that we'd ask Fordren to create one as he might be the only one who could provide us with a believable body. Which also means that we would have to tell Fordren that we know about his true identity. King Aodhan isn't really happy at this prospect as this could lead to unforeseen complications, but he ultimately agrees.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">(Saving my big comments for the end this time... what a reveal!</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">So, first I have to say that I am incredibly happy that Tiz made the bold move of making Francis Fordren the human persona of Gradiax, who is not only a dragon, but <em>the</em> dragon tyrant. Which also confirmed one of Carlyle's whackier theories on Fordren. And it was just perfect. I actually re-read the background I had written for Auryn (which is floating around in an earlier post) and, reading the paragraphs with Gradiax in mind, it made even more sense. Of course, a dragon would want to collect treasure and of course he would not be so easily swayed by said "treasure's" pleas for freedom. </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">Second, there was so much going on in this eight-eyes dialogue. Starting with silently observing Harkover Lee (who was probably just as nervous as we were) who is obviously yet another dragon but who'd wait until adventure 9 to reveal his true name. So again, totally understandable that he would scare Auryn away when she dug too deep during the peace conference. </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">Then there was us actually emotionally pressuring King Aodhan into spilling the beans on the Pact of Boyle. I guess the King knew that he'd maybe lose at least Auryn's trust by making it seem like he was placing Fordren's needs above her own and he turned out to... like us so much that he would not risk that. Which in return made the bond between Aodhan and our two characters even stronger. </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">Especially Carlyle had been moved by Boyle's reasoning to offer the dragons a second chance as he - being originally from Crisillyir - knew that humans were quite masters of retaliation and hatred. A path that drove him away from his homeland. And it the end this had been one of the factors that eased Auryn's mind on that matter, even if it ultimately concerned her nemesis. </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">Her own feelings took quite the turns as she started with major doubts and stress, was completely shocked by the reveal, then felt betrayed for a moment only to end up being relieved in the end. She had thought about Delft who had ignored her request to do research about Fordren's involvement on Axis Island and also Price-Hill who had insisted to let Fordren be. Her first thought had been that Risur, the nation she risked her life for, and King Aodhan, the first male authority she had trusted had hidden and protected her enemy from her. </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">But then she realized that it was simply the other way round: That all this time, Aodhan had tried to keep her from trying to fight the most powerful dragon of all time. And that it had been this strange coincidence of being rescued by Risuri, and becoming a Risuri herself that had offered her an impenetrable layer of protection as the Pact forbade Gradiax to harm Risur or its citizens. </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">So in the end she knew that she'd be truly free from having to fear "Fordren" as long as the Pact would stand. And she realized that the fact that Fordren was actually a dragon in disguise was the sole reason for her freedom. Oh the irony.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">Regarding Gradiax and his interests... well, we'll see into that in one of the next entries)</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lylandra, post: 7838374, member: 6816692"] It takes a while this time, but we're finally being granted another audience in Slate. So we take the opportunity to directly ask King Aodhan and Principal Minister Lee whether and how Francis Fordren would be entangled with super secret projects of the risuri government. To our surprise, we're being rebuffed at first as these matters touch sensible levels of critical secrecy. Needless to say that Auryn is both disappointed and taken aghast. “With all due respect, your majesty....” she says “how could a person like Fordren, a Danoran, a slaver, hold so much insight into critical secrets of Risur? How has the person whose duplicant technology has most likely led to the assassination of Bruse Shantus earned more royal trust than the people who try to dissolve the resulting crisis?” Seeing both of our discomfort at the situation, King Aodhan bites his lip, takes a quick look at Harkover Lee and then raises his voice again. “Curse my fondness of you, damn my trust in you, both of you.” He then turns to the guards who are routinely stationed near the room's entrance. “Out, all of you! Constables Auryn Galadin and Gabriel Carlyle and Principal Minister Lee remain with me. And shut these doors! None shall enter before we open them again” All of the guards leave immediately, and when the doors are finally closed, Aodhan sternly states that whatever we're going to hear now is considered to be top secret, as only he in his function as King and those involving the secret know about it. This secret, he explains, has been kept by the monarchs of Risur for centuries, which is why he is quite reluctant to be the first one to share it with others. He reminds us that this secret could alter several political relations at once, so we have to keep it at all cost. [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)](Well, no problem. At least one of us is literally bearing the name of “Secret keeper”)[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)] Aodhan then tells us about King Boyle, who helped the tribes of Ber in their battles against the fallen Dragon Tyrants. Boyle, he explains, ultimately decided that despite their tyrannical tendencies, simply killing all dragons would be wrong. So he offered those Dragons who wished to stay alive in the new, flightless world, a pact: To play dead, stay out of sight and swear to never ever harm Risur. In return, he offered the Dragons the protection of the land, a safe shelter that protected them from all sorts of divinations. Gradiax the Steel Tyrant, ruler of southern Ber, had been one of those dragons who accepted the Pact of Boyle, which included to keep a humanoid form for a century. And it turns out that Francis Fordren is one of the alter egos Gradiax had developed over the years. Needless to say that this revelation shocks us even more. It takes quite some time to process what we just heard, and it is Carlyle who regains his posture first. He asks Aodhan what would have motivated Boyle t make such a bold move. Sure, he had taken a risk and succeeded, but to what end? “That is rather simple, and I believe that you understand his reasoning. After the death of Srasama, after the events of the Malice, after the genocide that happened to the Eladrin, Boyle did not wish to be the cause for yet another extinct race. Even if I doubt that the dragons would deem each other kin.” With these words, he takes a quick look at Harkover Lee who's still listening without making any move. “I understand. And I've never been more proud to call myself an agent of Risur and a servant of the King.” Finally, Auryn nods silently while still breathing heavily. It seems like, despite her hatred for Fordren, she can agree that making an agreement with the former Tyrants would have been the more empathetic, more humane solution. Aodhan then explains that yes, we were correct to assume that the persona Fordren had been involved in Project X until the Witchoil experiments had proven to be too dangerous to continue. He also confirms that a duplicant prototype had been in development although it had never been finished. Then Harkover Lee finally breaks his silence and guesses that Gradiax might have an offspring who would not be covered by the Pact of Boyle. He doesn't know for sure though as he doesn't meddle with the dragon's daily lives, but the Isla de las Focas had been the location of Gradiax' original hoard and the old geezer has no need for his relics and riches as he's only interested in tech these days.[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)](Well, Auryn would certainly disagree on the latter)[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)] We share our thought of someone (Pardo...) possibly creating a Dragon duplicant, someone who just tries to use the name of Gradiax to unify the gnolls, and Lee agrees that this sounds like a clever plan as well. Next, we discuss the problem of Lya Jierre who will most likely do everything she can to get her hands on Tinker. Even if we tried to make sure that she wouldn't get the chance to go ashore. Having her sneak around the island might also mean that she'd possibly stumble across any dragon that might or might not be there. We all agree that Lya must not know about the dragons' existence, and even less the Pact of Boyle and we explain that we already asked Bruse Cavallo to keep her vessel as far away from the island as possible. Carlyle then reveals that, should things turn south, he'd volunteer to take care of this problem on his own. Still, he asks King Aodhan for permission as Lya is still his ex-fiancee. With a heavy heart, Aodhan agrees, even if he'd prefer a less bloody solution and is quite optimistic that we'd be able to find one. As we're curious about the nature of dragons, Harkover Lee tells us that most of them are individuals, first and foremost, which is why they wouldn't call themselves a “people” - unlike the Eladrin. Which is also why they don't feel the need to make sure their people “survive” - occasionally they meet, mate and have eggs. Regarding Gradiax, he speaks with a mixture of disdain and respect. He had been a paragon of Tyrants, seemingly immortal, with records dating back 3000 years and maybe more. We muse that this may mean that Gradiax might feel that his life is ending which is why he might have felt the need to have an heir, but Lee explains that Old Gradiax didn't show any sign of Twilight when he last saw him. Oh and Gradiax wasn't really a family guy either, as he had many short-term lovers or mistresses, but never a true mate. “I guess all he ever loved was himself.” Lee says dryly. Should there truly be a young dragon offspring, Aodhan asks us to make the youngling the offer to enter the Pact of Boyle to make sure that their existence continues to be a secret. And should the hypothetical dragon refuse, we have to make sure that the secret is being kept anyway. Even if that would most likely infuriate Gradiax. Again, we promise to opt for a diplomatic solution to such a threat. In case of such events, we assume that it would maybe a good idea to create an inert dragon duplicant ourselves. Which means that we'd ask Fordren to create one as he might be the only one who could provide us with a believable body. Which also means that we would have to tell Fordren that we know about his true identity. King Aodhan isn't really happy at this prospect as this could lead to unforeseen complications, but he ultimately agrees.[/COLOR] [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)] (Saving my big comments for the end this time... what a reveal! So, first I have to say that I am incredibly happy that Tiz made the bold move of making Francis Fordren the human persona of Gradiax, who is not only a dragon, but [I]the[/I] dragon tyrant. Which also confirmed one of Carlyle's whackier theories on Fordren. And it was just perfect. I actually re-read the background I had written for Auryn (which is floating around in an earlier post) and, reading the paragraphs with Gradiax in mind, it made even more sense. Of course, a dragon would want to collect treasure and of course he would not be so easily swayed by said "treasure's" pleas for freedom. Second, there was so much going on in this eight-eyes dialogue. Starting with silently observing Harkover Lee (who was probably just as nervous as we were) who is obviously yet another dragon but who'd wait until adventure 9 to reveal his true name. So again, totally understandable that he would scare Auryn away when she dug too deep during the peace conference. Then there was us actually emotionally pressuring King Aodhan into spilling the beans on the Pact of Boyle. I guess the King knew that he'd maybe lose at least Auryn's trust by making it seem like he was placing Fordren's needs above her own and he turned out to... like us so much that he would not risk that. Which in return made the bond between Aodhan and our two characters even stronger. Especially Carlyle had been moved by Boyle's reasoning to offer the dragons a second chance as he - being originally from Crisillyir - knew that humans were quite masters of retaliation and hatred. A path that drove him away from his homeland. And it the end this had been one of the factors that eased Auryn's mind on that matter, even if it ultimately concerned her nemesis. Her own feelings took quite the turns as she started with major doubts and stress, was completely shocked by the reveal, then felt betrayed for a moment only to end up being relieved in the end. She had thought about Delft who had ignored her request to do research about Fordren's involvement on Axis Island and also Price-Hill who had insisted to let Fordren be. Her first thought had been that Risur, the nation she risked her life for, and King Aodhan, the first male authority she had trusted had hidden and protected her enemy from her. But then she realized that it was simply the other way round: That all this time, Aodhan had tried to keep her from trying to fight the most powerful dragon of all time. And that it had been this strange coincidence of being rescued by Risuri, and becoming a Risuri herself that had offered her an impenetrable layer of protection as the Pact forbade Gradiax to harm Risur or its citizens. So in the end she knew that she'd be truly free from having to fear "Fordren" as long as the Pact would stand. And she realized that the fact that Fordren was actually a dragon in disguise was the sole reason for her freedom. Oh the irony. Regarding Gradiax and his interests... well, we'll see into that in one of the next entries)[/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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