Episode 62
Prying eyes
Since we have already been in Seobriga, we teleport there directly to save time. Then we make haste to get an audience with the Bruse at his palace and ask to be admitted as incognito as possible, as we don't wish to draw any attention. When we are finally admitted to Cavallo and can talk to him, we find that he seems far less averse to us than the saber-rattling we got from the official channels would have suggested. After assuring him that we surely have not built towers to use them as weapons to be thrown at the Danoran army, Cavallo shares an honest laugh with us before he tells us that his people seem to be strangely divided in their opinions regarding Risur.
We try to explain him the background of this phenomenon – basically a more subtle form of mind control - and inform him about the state of our research on rituals, magic, planes and the Obscurati, especially the things that happened at the conference. We hint that there might be a connection between the near-destruction of Cherage, citing Brakken as witness, and whatever strange things might have happened in Ber, more specifically Ursalina. The Bruse, in turn, explains that he has heard of the Hivemind phenomenon, but that it is nowhere near as widespread in Ber as it is in Danor.
“You Berans surely are individuals and seldom agree easily on how to proceed”, Auryn states, making sure that this is meant as a compliment rather than an insult.
We also tell Cavallo that "someone" is apparently killing Executores, which sends Cavallo into a fit of rage. Gabriel tries to calm the old orc, explaining that it is a good sign that the Executores are not turning to the Bruse or the military, but rather to their independent friends, as this only means that the organization is still working independently. Bruse Cavallo ultimately understands this train of thought, and he nods grimly. Nevertheless, he states that this problem should be solved as soon as possible, as the functioning of the judicial system of Ber must be preserved at all cost.
We also share our intelligence information about the military strength of our neighbors (and potential enemies) and come to the conclusion that even throwing all of our troops in one basket, we are outnumbered. At least on paper. Risur has at most 28,000 combat-ready troops, while Ber has about 30,000, although it should be noted that both nations have strong druidic magic and the Berans have tamed the Beran megafauna. Crisillyir would have a maximum of 45,000 soldiers, including some priests and summoned angels. We've also heard reports of priests taking their own lives after the ritual incident, so we don't know if this is still a viable number. Danor and Drakr would have the largest armies at 55,000 and 75,000 respectively.
However, we would like to point out that, with the exception of Danor, hardly any nation would carry out such an illogical plan as invading a foreign country with a full force of all their troops. Not while the countries themselves are still in such a state of internal political chaos. And that, usually, the defending nation has the advantage of fighting on their home turf. A fact that Bruse Cavallo knows all too well. We also suggest that Elfaivar will not fight alongside the Obs, but will defend itself against invaders, and may have the most powerful individuals there, with a certain Matriarch having gained access to her full magical potential and teaching others the same. Which, by the way, is also an advantage that we ourselves can exert over any foolish Northener. Also, the small city-states are still undecided and probably not worthy of Nicodemus' attention. However, if they are given the help they so desperately need, they may prove to be valuable allies.
The Bruse finally suggests offering the Obs official cooperation to lull them into a false sense of security and ensure that they will be caught off guard in the event of an invasion. We also agree that sabotaging the Avery Coast Railroad in the Malice Lands would be a good way to disrupt supplies and troop movement. Having a city-state as a base could also be helpful here. Oh, and we could also shut down shipping by making common cause with the Archfey Beshela and having them mark suitable targets for the Kraken.
(We won't mention the other Titans explicitly, as we want to keep them as an ace up our sleeves just in case.)
“So you really got that sea monster under control?”, Cavallo asks curiously, raising both his brows.
“As it would be expected of the King of Risur. She Who Writhes is a Titan after all, and dealing with them has been part of the Monarch's job ever since King Kelland founded Risur”, Gabriel explains somberly.
Bruse Cavallo seems happy with this news and approach, especially since it allows him to keep his belligerent captains happy.
"Glad you're on our side then...", he adds "..a man that can wrestle with sea monsters would probably be one too formidable adversary"
Meanwhile, we promise him that we will take care of the problem of the missing Executores and also the Gidim Sijhen.
So we say goodbye to Bruse Cavallo and head for the throne of Glaucia in Seobriga, where a nervous gnoll is already waiting for us. She seems extremely wary and uses a divination spell to see if we really are who we appear to be. As the spell confirms our identity, Glaucia seems happy to see us and explains that too many of her colleagues have either disappeared or been killed.
Then suddenly 5 drunken Berans stumble into the courtroom, with their shadows moving pretty oddly. As we take on the scent of Witchoil, we immediately realize that these shadows are up to no good.
Auryn instantly attacks one of the shadows and is surprised to find that the witchoil-shadows have combined their life force with the Berans. At the same time, an invisible ghost manifests, aiming at Glaucia. She sees the ghost and attacks it herself, while Auryn scares the Berans and Gabriel takes care of the shadows. We then make sure the shadows stay away from Glaucia.
When the ghost is defeated, he turns more talkative and introduces himself as Schuman Larkins. He admits that he had the Executores killed because they can influence the public opinion and have proven to be relatively resistant to the ideas of the Obscurati. Nevertheless, he has failed in this task and must expect to be punished by Nicodemus. We point out that he certainly did not expect "punishment" when he agreed to fight for a new world, and explain that no true do-gooder would resort to such methods. Larkins laments his fate, and also mentions that "a young woman" is now the leader of the Spirit Council in Terio's place. We suggest that Nic apparently has a weakness for such women and offer to look for ways to remove him from the Council, just as we did with Macbannin. To do this, however, he would have to come to us after his re-manifestation.
Larkins seems unsure of what he wants and doesn't know if he'll be able to make it to us after his reformation. Then he disintegrates with blank-looking eyes.
(one could almost feel sorry for the guy...)
Glaucia thanks us for our intervention and tells us of her dilemma with the missing and dead Executores. Especially as she was unable to directly contact anyone besides us, as she doesn't know who to trust anymore besides her sisters. She also mentions that she has sent some of her Executores to Ursalina, most recently a certain Salome Nieves, from whom she received at least one sending. In it, she reported glowing objects over the city, as well as Obs activity and a merchant named Flida who was favorably disposed toward her. After that, she never heard from her again. We tell Glaucia of our suspicion that the creature named Sijhen might have something to do with it, and point out that Larkins has just given her and us proof that the Obs were behind the Executores' murders. For the sake of completeness, she publicly interrogates one of the beaten Shadowmen, who confirms the story. Even if some of the inhabitants of Seobriga still don't want to believe it.
With this information and under our protection, Glaucia next goes to Bruse's palace to officially inform him of the development, especially the fact that Obs agents were tasked with killing Executores, and that the order can be reasonably traced back all the way to their leader, Nicodemus. This enrages Bruse Cavallo even more. He then sends a note of protest to the Obscurati headquarters, as it is unacceptable that foreign agents are killing his judiciary.
(Regarding the Obs and Ber... as you see, we had a really good standing with Cavallo, and the whole “Ber being influenced by the Obs” is rather a”Berans are being split ideologically” scenario. Which... made sense, as we never had given the Berans much reason to distrust Risur and tried to strengthen the bonds on any occasion, going as far as suggesting a “southern Alliance” of Ber, Risur and Elfaivar.
But even in the usually to be expected story development, I'd rather not have Ber be as easily influenced as the rest of the world. First, it feels a bit dull to have the exact same problem with all nations no matter how the original political relations were or how their culture is structured. I'm just someone who loves diverse and more nuanced scenarios. Danor, Crisillyir and Drakr are built upon the ideas of obedience, militarism/dogmatism and hierarchy/status, while Ber is rebellious, individualistic and tribal. Especially as adventure 12 comes up with a very similar plot device, and one that is much stronger and easier to enforce on everyone. Second, Berans despise slavery and control to the point that enchantment magic is forbidden. In my view, if enough Berans could be convinced that they are currently being under the Obs' enchantment – we still have that logical reasoning planar effect and the effect can be resisted– they should go nuts and turn against the Obs and rightfully so. Don't want to sound too harsh, but I felt like the original idea for the beran problem in adventure 10 was disregarding the unique beran culture a bit, and the stakes work just as well, if not better, when the beran leadership and parts of the public are actually on your side 
As to what happens when relations between the party and the troubled nation are not that good? We'll see a glimpse of theat in the Crisillyir part soon)
With Glaucia's help, we make our way almost directly to Ursalina via wind walk, only stopping in the nearby towns to familiarize ourselves with the surroundings while trying to gather as many impressions as possible.
When we arrive in Ursalina, we notice that the town is unnaturally quiet for a Beran settlement. The only things we notice are singing, processions, and the faint smell of flowers. We ask around and notice that the people behave in a mannered way and gave inconspicuous but very suspiciously similar answers to the patrolling policemen. They also talk about a festival of fools. We also find prominent obelisks in the market district, but there seems to be nothing remarkable or unusual about them.
We also learn that the strange policemen work for the Lord of Ursalina, Winslow Cardagyr, and get the impression that they might be former prison inmates or something similar, rather than properly trained officers. In any case, we want to avoid them for the time being. But that also means that we have to abide by the curfew that is about to start – yet another highly unusual call in Ber, as Glaucia points out. We continue to look at the posters spread around the city and see that the phenomenon of hiveminds seems to be well known here as well, with the posters giving advice on how to prevent forming them.
As we continue to look around, we are being informed that, as travelers, we need passes to enter the various districts, which we immediately have issued. We also learn that a group of Obscurati, led by Eduardo Flavio, have taken up residence in the Red Peacock and are trying to stir up the population from there. We also learn that the headquarters of the Executores is located in the Steel Grey Cube in the Northern District, right between the homes of the rich and famous, although the ladies of justice have not been seen for some time. Which might explain the presence and odd behavior of these strange policemen...
We then ask around for the merchant Flida, who was mentioned by Salome Nieves in her sending, and are glad to find her quite easily. We talk a bit with the woman and explain to her that we are here on behalf of Executores Glaucia to get to the bottom of the strange events happening in this city. Flida invites us into her dressing room and only there she has enough courage to break her silence. She explains that she hasn't seen Salome for a while and that she has seen glowing objects flying over the city. We remember that we almost felt like we collided with something when we flew over Ursalina and take her tale seriously. She also tells us that the governor Cadagyr is strangely reclusive and that his really nice son, Dieter, recently left home. Which he'd probably only do if there was a rift between him and the governor. Oh, and there are also rumors of a masked vigilante who defends himself against police attacks and had protected a crippled girl who was caught on the street after curfew.
We thank Flida for the information and start to investigate the possibility of invisible flying Gidim above the city. And indeed, after a while we spot hovering tentacle-armed eyeballs and patrolling entities that look like twisted dragonflies. We also manage to see a fine web on the walls, emanating a flowery scent and seemingly imbued with Apet energy. A sense of terror and dread starts creeping up as the two of us realize that this city has been basically been occupied by an unseen enemy force. Against a pretty heavy resistance, Gabriel manages to pluck one of the flowers, which soon begins to dissolve.
“Well, after Cherage, I knew that dealing with the Gidim would be disturbing, but this city appears to be under their complete control. What a nightmare...”, Gabriel whispers as he watches the fizzling object.
