Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
EN Publishing
Tizbiz Zeitgeist Campaign
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 7600916" data-attributes="member: 6816692"><p><strong>orcish diplomacy</strong></p><p></p><p>Now I'm curious. But no spoilers <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>Any yep, we're currently chasing Kasvarina's memories with Cherage and Methia being the last two missing stops on our list. </p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>Brakken soon leaves the tavern as well to wish us a good night. He casually mentions that this chat turned quite weird indeed and that he also sensed that there had been a lot of tension he couldn't lay his finger on, especially as he couldn't sense Fordren's emotions and thoughts at all. </p><p></p><p>“I have never seen such a secluded mind. Well, the sovereign of Danor came close, of course.”</p><p></p><p>The minotaur then turns to Auryn and looks her straight in the eye.</p><p></p><p>“But you...”</p><p></p><p>“What about me?”</p><p></p><p>“You appear to really hate this man. That fire inside of you is so hot, yet your words were precise and cold. I wonder what happened between the two of you.”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, I do. But we came to an agreement, so unless he breaks his vow I wouldn't either.”</p><p></p><p>“The price of peace. I see.”</p><p></p><p>Then Brakken leaves as well and soon it is only the two of us standing at the beach in a moonlit night. After he's gone, Carlyle expresses his astonishment about Fordren's open statements and his stance regarding the Obscurati. He stresses out that, of course, he has different reasons to go after them than we have, still knowing that he's basically on the same side as we are is quite the relief.</p><p></p><p>Carlyle then states that he'll never forget what Fordren had done in the past, even if he found the man he saw today to be quite sympathetic. Auryn is understandably more hesitant to agree, but she gets what he's trying to say. Even if she's going to need time to get the thought sorted that Fordren may be a potentially on their side against the Obs.</p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(Needless to say that she felt very uneasy despite the rationale telling her that it'd be better for Risur this way. From her point of view she just had fought a mock battle against her enemy. Even if she knew that his bitterness had been no bluff at all)</span></p><p></p><p>After this short exchange, we take the fastest route to Citada de Cavallo. We arrive very late and get rebuffed at first as the guards of Cavallo de Guerra aren't really keen on upsetting their lord by letting the hoof-lickers of Bruse Shantus into his castle. We react pretty much dismayed by the impolite treatment and return that we deemed Cavallo to be more honorable than to berate risuri ambassadors who are also Knights of King Aodhan.</p><p></p><p>Acting royally pissed seem to do the trick and so we're soon allowed to enter the castle. Our guide, an impressive half-giant woman named Alonsa Folián even invites us to sit at Lord Cavallo's banquet table and explains that of course we'll be given a room for the night. If we don't mind sleing in the room next to Lya Jierre's who arrived earlier that day, she says. So it seems like the competitors didn't wait to make their moves either.</p><p></p><p>Before we enter the banquet hall, we spot one young orc who's looking sickly and who seems to have an injured leg. The child is quickly shoved aside though and we remember that being sick is said to be a sign of weakness or corruption in this part of Ber. Alonsa also mentions the banquet being part of a series of festivities being held after a large abandoned dragon hoard had been discovered recently. </p><p></p><p>We're then being introduced to Cavallo de Guerra who's both annoyed and amused by the fact that Bruse Shantus sent not one but two foreign entourages to go on his nerves. Both we and Lya insist that this wasn't our idea of fun or diplomacy either. We stress out that Risur, being Ber's closest neighbor, tries to keep good relations with this country which is why we are ready to help find a way to end the strife between Shantus and Cavallo. We then mention the bond between our two nation, especially in terms of freedom, but also in to their combined effort against the Dragon Tyrants in the past.</p><p></p><p>Lya takes this as an opportunity to claim that this kind of approach is so typical for the Risuri... clinging to the past, hiding behind the accomplishments of old Kings who are long dead and trying to derive an ancient debt from something that happened 200 years ago all while they are only interested in benefiting their own nation. </p><p></p><p>“Isn't it funny how the danoran ambassador speaks of benefiting Risur when her own nation is so keen on benefiting from this whole situation that she'd try to convince the honorable Cavallo de Guerra to attack their neighbors? Only to lure him into a trap laid out by Bruse Shantus? And that said ambassador doesn't appear to think twice about the possible result of what could very well be the start of a war between our two nations. A war that would benefit neither Risur, nor Ber, but only Danor.” Auryn throws in confidentially as if she'd only waited for this opportunity. </p><p></p><p>Lya appears to not take any offense by Auryn's statement and we get that she's politician enough to separate her job from her personal feelings. She replies that Risur does look down on the “barbaric” tribes of Ber for sure which is why they'd always try to patronize their neighbor.</p><p></p><p>“Enough of this bickering!” Cavallo finally shouts after he's already been silent for quite a while. “A banquet is meant to be enjoyable! Bring in the food! Let the music play!” </p><p></p><p>As neither Lya nor we wish to upset our host, we cease the purely political animosities and feast on fine beran food and wine. During the banquet, Cavallo de Guerra confirms that his people have indeed stumbled across a dragon lair near Lago Fuego, including a large hoard with quite the amount of treasure. He mentions that the treasure was brought to his castle to be secured and appraised, and even hints that he may allow his honored guests to take a look at a true dragon's fortunes. </p><p></p><p>From his chat with his sea chieftains, we also get that Cavallo's navy seems to be troubled by either fey or sea monsters as his ships got attacked recently by unknown entities. He also doesn't get why he should pay for these damn tracks that Shantus would like to see connect citada de Cavallo with the rest of Ber. After all, he could find some workers who'd ram these “sticks” into the ground, but alas, he lacks the steel to forge said metal sticks. </p><p></p><p>We use this as an opportunity to mention that Cavallo's wine is of a pretty good quality and add that growing decent wine in Risur is no easy feat. So we might be able to negotiate trading wine for risuri steel. </p><p></p><p>As evening turns to night, Cavallo's four sea chieftains grow tired of faked etiquette and wine, so they turn to stronger spirits and reminisce about their past plundering. Some of them don't seem to be too fond of peace, Risur and having peace with Risur, so Auryn decides to do what she does best and starts singing beran shanties. The chieftains are positively surprised to hear that fresh take on their traditional songs, so they chime in and invite her to share a few spirits with them. Needless to say that she's getting heavily drunk in no time. Which doesn't keep her from singing though. </p><p></p><p>Carlyle takes this as an opportunity to keep an eye on Lya Jierre. The tiefling doesn't seem to be too keen on listening to shanties all night long, so she withdraws to her room. Once she realizes that Carlyle does follow her, she turns around and greets him with a disarming smile. </p><p></p><p>“Not what I'd expected from a man Bruse Shantus calls 'his rival'. But then, I don't know what I should have expected either.” Lya says casually and then turns to a window to gaze at the night sky. </p><p></p><p>Carlyle isn't in the mood for small-talk so he just says that he believes Cavallo de Guerra to be a wiser man than Shantus. He then tries to talk Lya out of following that Man Hill plan again as Auryn just put her cards on the table and Cavallo will be wise enough to avoid such an obvious trap. Lya agrees on his wisdom, but adds that this old warrior surely has much of his fighting spirit left. She then deflects any further attempts to read her true intentions and wishes Carlyle a good night. </p><p></p><p>As Lya does enter her room afterward, he uses the opportunity to take a sneaky stroll through the castle. This way, he does get a peek at the dragon's hoard and stumbles across a pair of orcish teens who are being worries about the girl's brother's condition as it appears that the young boy is infected by something malicious. Carlyle, knowing quite a bit about diseases and infections, remembers the sight of the young orc's leg and combines this image with the girl's description of his symptoms. He then realizes that the boy might just be infected with dragon worms, dangerous parasites which are immune to all sorts of fire, even a dragon's.</p><p></p><p>When he tries to share this news with his partner, he finds her utterly intoxicated but still humming while the other sea chieftains seem both drunk and drowsy. </p><p></p><p>“Din'now that senorita could take so much. An' I always thought Risuri to have sticks in their arses...” one of them mumbles before his head drops on a wooden table.</p><p></p><p>Carlyle picks Auryn up after making sure that she isn't really poisoned or anything. Which means that he basically has to drag her to their room as she cannot walk straight. She doesn't mind though as she takes this as an opportunity to get closer than necessary.</p><p></p><p>“You smell sooo good” she babbles while completely ignoring her surroundings.</p><p></p><p>“I know”</p><p></p><p>“You look good, too. Why do you have to be so handsome?”</p><p></p><p>“These are matters we should discuss on the morrow. Now you need to rest.” </p><p></p><p>Carlyle then brings her to bed and, after making sure that Auryn is asleep, decides to finally get some sleep as well. Only to realize that Lya Jierre (who's sleeping in the room next to us) is just as an uneasy sleeper as Auryn (at least when she's not passed out from drinking too much).</p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(Auryn being drunk made her lower her restraint in terms of showing her affection for Carlyle and yes, she totally got the hots for him. As I mentioned earlier, her emotions during that time were quite a complicated mess and Fordren added another layer of complexity. But it seems like Carlyle didn't wish to complicate the situation even more. Either that or it would have just felt wrong for him to even take the least bit of advantage of someone who couldn't think straight.)</span></p><p></p><p>The next morning, Auryn has one of the worst hangovers in her entire life. And as Cavallo's castle is pretty close to the sea, we're both being woken up early by squawking seagulls.</p><p></p><p>“Now I know why you hate these birds...” Auryn mumbles, hiding her head underneath her pillow. </p><p></p><p>Fortunately, Carlyle is very much used to help other people sober up in the morning, so he prepares an antitoxin and orders smoked fish for breakfast. After consuming both medicines, she's quite well again (even if she's still pretty tired). But to Carlyle's surprise, she does remember everything she said the evening before, so she reminds him with a chuckle that she still got to discuss a certain someone's smell. </p><p></p><p>Before the situation turns too awkward, Auryn explains that she's still attracted to Carlyle no matter what, but adds that she can usually restrain herself from acting inappropriately. Which, she confesses, isn't easy, but manageable. Carlyle seems a bit surprised by her need to distance herself from her attraction and asks her why she'd feel the need to do so. </p><p> </p><p>“I just don't wish to overpower or harass you. Yes, I am attracted to you and yes, I'd love being close to you. But I got the impression that you don't really feel the same for me, despite our strong bond and our mutual trust.”</p><p></p><p>“But that's not... I am just reserved and you know that. Showing affection wasn't appropriate in my past life, and I'm still not used to it.”</p><p></p><p>“So you've never been interested in any woman for four centuries?”</p><p></p><p>“Oh, I have been. More than once.”</p><p></p><p>“And you've never shown them any sign of your affection?”</p><p></p><p>“I have.”</p><p></p><p>“Huh.”</p><p></p><p>“These were different times and different women. But I'd like to make a suggestion: After we finish our work here, we should spend an evening in one of these cozy tango bars. We both love dancing, don't we?”</p><p></p><p>Now this lightens up Auryn's mood quite a bit and she says that she'd love to do so. After this is kind of settled, we then talk more about this mysterious infection and whether curing Cavallo's grandchild could help us getting the old orc's ear. Carlyle says he's quite sure that the boy got the dragon worms and extracting them is usually a painful and slow procedure. When he mentions the parasite, Auryn remembers that these worms lay their eggs in warm waters and are often caught while bathing in places where dragons lived and bathed. Which is really odd as the boy seemed to young to be part of an expedition to Lago Fuego. </p><p></p><p>We also discuss helping Cavallo to get rid of these “sea monsters”, especially if they turn out to be fey. But then, we need more infos, so we decide to go looking for the sick child first. </p><p></p><p>Before we can get that far, we stumble into a messenger who delivers a mysterious message from a certain Elias who writes very eloquently that he's been captured by a tribe of goblins who he had tried to help. He asks to be freed and gives a rough description on how to find him. We're quite surprised to get this letter by sheer coincidence, but agree that Dr. Recklinghausen – who we're quite sure is the true identity of said Elias – might just be the one we need to help the sick orc boy. Seems as if fate smiles on us today. </p><p></p><p>After breakfast, we first wish to take a look at the grandchildren of Cavallo de Guerra to see if more of them got infected with dragon worms. We find them playing in the courtyard while being watched by Corta Nariz who's both Cavallo's daughter and the mother of the infected child. Auryn takes it on herself to make a good first impression on Corta Nariz and asks her whether she may play with the kids. The orc woman doesn't mind and Carlyle invites her to a game of chess in the mean time. </p><p></p><p>Carlyle takes the opportunity to chat with Corta and is being told that Cavallo's scouts drained Lago Fuego, which had been some sort of sacred place of the local goblin tribes. They later found the abandoned hoard in a nearby cave. Carlyle explains that these goblins might just be the cause of her child's infection as goblins often catch the dragon worms and they may be transmitted by swallowing contaminated water. </p><p></p><p>Corta understands this reasoning, but she insists that her child never bathed in Lago Fuego. She adds that there have been more cases of these parasite infections lately with sailors who enjoyed the hot springs near the harbor. Now that Carlyle has the full picture, he guesses that there has to be a subterranean connection between the reservoir of the waters of Lago Fuego and said hot springs. He adds that he cannot do much more for the boy as these worms are immune to magic and he's already treated in the best way he knows. But he does recommend to close the hot spring baths for now as these waters are most likely the source of the infections. And he also offers that we may take a closer look at the Lago Fuego area.</p><p></p><p>The of them also talk about the railway and her stance towards Bruse Shantus. Carlyle stresses out that the railway will improve Cavallo's financial situation on the long run, even if he has to make a one-time investment in the Bruses' project. He explains that the wine he tasted yesterday was quite exquisite and that he believes that it may sell quite well in foreign countries like Risur. Especially if Bruse Shantus agrees to construct a second railway which connects Risur and Ber, which will reduce the risks of bandit raids and allow for much cheaper exports. And should her father be interested in good relations with Risur, we might just help negotiate importing good risuri steel to Ber. </p><p></p><p>Regarding the Bruse, Corta explains that she knows that Shantus hasn't always been this indifferent towards his people's needs. When he asks her what could have happened to the Bruse to change his attitude that much, she just shrugs and answers “The tribes happened to the Bruse. The tribes can wear down the even sturdiest of minds and the greatest of warriors.”</p><p></p><p>Carlyle nods calmly at her statement and then says that being a good, patient and diplomatic politician is a much different task than being a good warrior.</p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">(So we basically try to do what we're best at: helping people, gaining their trust and establishing good relationships. We also enjoyed our verbal sparring with Lya Jierre who's just as sassy and clever as we thought her to be. She made more than a worthy opponent during this challenge, even if she got the “bad guy” task and basically had to start playing dirty after we outed her intentions during the banquet. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">Oh and we instantly loved Corta Nariz for being the one who holds everything together in Cavallo's fortress. She's just serious business. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">And as this is the end of session 35 and there were a lot of “Auryn's thoughts” on this episode, I'd share a few of them especially as they will come up again in session 36 and 37. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">All in all she had been quite surprised that she'd been so much in control during our talk with him. She got the impression that she had finally been able to meet him on equal footing and to verbally “dance” with him. Auryn also believes that he's going to honor their agreement despite the fact that he cannot let her go either. They are still in this weird power struggle which both of them took from a personal to a more philosophical level.</span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">So she strongly believes that her true power depends on having allies she can trust and people who believe in her. Kind of like the power of the King of Risur depends on the trust of his people, but in a less metaphysical way. Fordren, on the other hand, believes that raw power is power and Auryn thinks that he'd love to regain his power over her. Despite the fact that he'd never broken her will and all of her submission had been an act. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">She also knows that she has to actively put aside her urges to take revenge on Fordren. After all he might be a powerful ally against the Obs and she wishes to follow the true path of Vekesh. So exacting revenge on Fordren would only cement her being weak, too weak to let go and change. On top of that, she started to believe that maybe even Fordren could change in time, even if it wouldn't matter much to her. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">Seeing Fordren showing true emotions also changed her view a bit. What if he desired power so much because he had been hurt or rendered powerless in the past? But even if she had these thoughts, she wouldn't bring herself to feel sympathy for him. And that is where her troubles with Carlyle began. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">Rationally, she totally understands his “sympathy” and his rather positive view on the man as Fordren honestly and believably swore to act against the Obs. As an agent of Risur, bringing the organization down has to have priority over personal feelings and he's her fellow agent. On the other hand, she felt as if Carlyle wasn't able to understand what Fordren had done to her. That he had brought her very close to breaking down, to the edge of the abyss. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">Yes, Carlyle had been there, too, but he had been able to eliminate the one who brought him there while Fordren lived and she had to live with him. Which is why she really needed his unconditional support. And also why any kind of positive emotion towards Fordren felt like betrayal, especially as, in her society, the husbands would be the last and strongest line of defense. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">And of course she knew that she could rely on Carlyle no matter what. She just thought that he'd never understand her or feel the same way she did. Which is... also true for Auryn's attempts to show her affection. She really didn't understand why Carlyle would be so reserved towards her when he stated that he'd been more direct when it came to other women. In her opinion, this could only be either because he was only doing her a favor and wasn't really interested in her or because he felt so much for her that he was afraid to repeat the situation he had with that Vantrys daughter. </span></p><p><span style="color: #008000"></span></p><p><span style="color: #008000">So yeah, it's complicated <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> )</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lylandra, post: 7600916, member: 6816692"] [b]orcish diplomacy[/b] Now I'm curious. But no spoilers ;) Any yep, we're currently chasing Kasvarina's memories with Cherage and Methia being the last two missing stops on our list. --- Brakken soon leaves the tavern as well to wish us a good night. He casually mentions that this chat turned quite weird indeed and that he also sensed that there had been a lot of tension he couldn't lay his finger on, especially as he couldn't sense Fordren's emotions and thoughts at all. “I have never seen such a secluded mind. Well, the sovereign of Danor came close, of course.” The minotaur then turns to Auryn and looks her straight in the eye. “But you...” “What about me?” “You appear to really hate this man. That fire inside of you is so hot, yet your words were precise and cold. I wonder what happened between the two of you.” “Yes, I do. But we came to an agreement, so unless he breaks his vow I wouldn't either.” “The price of peace. I see.” Then Brakken leaves as well and soon it is only the two of us standing at the beach in a moonlit night. After he's gone, Carlyle expresses his astonishment about Fordren's open statements and his stance regarding the Obscurati. He stresses out that, of course, he has different reasons to go after them than we have, still knowing that he's basically on the same side as we are is quite the relief. Carlyle then states that he'll never forget what Fordren had done in the past, even if he found the man he saw today to be quite sympathetic. Auryn is understandably more hesitant to agree, but she gets what he's trying to say. Even if she's going to need time to get the thought sorted that Fordren may be a potentially on their side against the Obs. [COLOR="#008000"] (Needless to say that she felt very uneasy despite the rationale telling her that it'd be better for Risur this way. From her point of view she just had fought a mock battle against her enemy. Even if she knew that his bitterness had been no bluff at all)[/COLOR] After this short exchange, we take the fastest route to Citada de Cavallo. We arrive very late and get rebuffed at first as the guards of Cavallo de Guerra aren't really keen on upsetting their lord by letting the hoof-lickers of Bruse Shantus into his castle. We react pretty much dismayed by the impolite treatment and return that we deemed Cavallo to be more honorable than to berate risuri ambassadors who are also Knights of King Aodhan. Acting royally pissed seem to do the trick and so we're soon allowed to enter the castle. Our guide, an impressive half-giant woman named Alonsa Folián even invites us to sit at Lord Cavallo's banquet table and explains that of course we'll be given a room for the night. If we don't mind sleing in the room next to Lya Jierre's who arrived earlier that day, she says. So it seems like the competitors didn't wait to make their moves either. Before we enter the banquet hall, we spot one young orc who's looking sickly and who seems to have an injured leg. The child is quickly shoved aside though and we remember that being sick is said to be a sign of weakness or corruption in this part of Ber. Alonsa also mentions the banquet being part of a series of festivities being held after a large abandoned dragon hoard had been discovered recently. We're then being introduced to Cavallo de Guerra who's both annoyed and amused by the fact that Bruse Shantus sent not one but two foreign entourages to go on his nerves. Both we and Lya insist that this wasn't our idea of fun or diplomacy either. We stress out that Risur, being Ber's closest neighbor, tries to keep good relations with this country which is why we are ready to help find a way to end the strife between Shantus and Cavallo. We then mention the bond between our two nation, especially in terms of freedom, but also in to their combined effort against the Dragon Tyrants in the past. Lya takes this as an opportunity to claim that this kind of approach is so typical for the Risuri... clinging to the past, hiding behind the accomplishments of old Kings who are long dead and trying to derive an ancient debt from something that happened 200 years ago all while they are only interested in benefiting their own nation. “Isn't it funny how the danoran ambassador speaks of benefiting Risur when her own nation is so keen on benefiting from this whole situation that she'd try to convince the honorable Cavallo de Guerra to attack their neighbors? Only to lure him into a trap laid out by Bruse Shantus? And that said ambassador doesn't appear to think twice about the possible result of what could very well be the start of a war between our two nations. A war that would benefit neither Risur, nor Ber, but only Danor.” Auryn throws in confidentially as if she'd only waited for this opportunity. Lya appears to not take any offense by Auryn's statement and we get that she's politician enough to separate her job from her personal feelings. She replies that Risur does look down on the “barbaric” tribes of Ber for sure which is why they'd always try to patronize their neighbor. “Enough of this bickering!” Cavallo finally shouts after he's already been silent for quite a while. “A banquet is meant to be enjoyable! Bring in the food! Let the music play!” As neither Lya nor we wish to upset our host, we cease the purely political animosities and feast on fine beran food and wine. During the banquet, Cavallo de Guerra confirms that his people have indeed stumbled across a dragon lair near Lago Fuego, including a large hoard with quite the amount of treasure. He mentions that the treasure was brought to his castle to be secured and appraised, and even hints that he may allow his honored guests to take a look at a true dragon's fortunes. From his chat with his sea chieftains, we also get that Cavallo's navy seems to be troubled by either fey or sea monsters as his ships got attacked recently by unknown entities. He also doesn't get why he should pay for these damn tracks that Shantus would like to see connect citada de Cavallo with the rest of Ber. After all, he could find some workers who'd ram these “sticks” into the ground, but alas, he lacks the steel to forge said metal sticks. We use this as an opportunity to mention that Cavallo's wine is of a pretty good quality and add that growing decent wine in Risur is no easy feat. So we might be able to negotiate trading wine for risuri steel. As evening turns to night, Cavallo's four sea chieftains grow tired of faked etiquette and wine, so they turn to stronger spirits and reminisce about their past plundering. Some of them don't seem to be too fond of peace, Risur and having peace with Risur, so Auryn decides to do what she does best and starts singing beran shanties. The chieftains are positively surprised to hear that fresh take on their traditional songs, so they chime in and invite her to share a few spirits with them. Needless to say that she's getting heavily drunk in no time. Which doesn't keep her from singing though. Carlyle takes this as an opportunity to keep an eye on Lya Jierre. The tiefling doesn't seem to be too keen on listening to shanties all night long, so she withdraws to her room. Once she realizes that Carlyle does follow her, she turns around and greets him with a disarming smile. “Not what I'd expected from a man Bruse Shantus calls 'his rival'. But then, I don't know what I should have expected either.” Lya says casually and then turns to a window to gaze at the night sky. Carlyle isn't in the mood for small-talk so he just says that he believes Cavallo de Guerra to be a wiser man than Shantus. He then tries to talk Lya out of following that Man Hill plan again as Auryn just put her cards on the table and Cavallo will be wise enough to avoid such an obvious trap. Lya agrees on his wisdom, but adds that this old warrior surely has much of his fighting spirit left. She then deflects any further attempts to read her true intentions and wishes Carlyle a good night. As Lya does enter her room afterward, he uses the opportunity to take a sneaky stroll through the castle. This way, he does get a peek at the dragon's hoard and stumbles across a pair of orcish teens who are being worries about the girl's brother's condition as it appears that the young boy is infected by something malicious. Carlyle, knowing quite a bit about diseases and infections, remembers the sight of the young orc's leg and combines this image with the girl's description of his symptoms. He then realizes that the boy might just be infected with dragon worms, dangerous parasites which are immune to all sorts of fire, even a dragon's. When he tries to share this news with his partner, he finds her utterly intoxicated but still humming while the other sea chieftains seem both drunk and drowsy. “Din'now that senorita could take so much. An' I always thought Risuri to have sticks in their arses...” one of them mumbles before his head drops on a wooden table. Carlyle picks Auryn up after making sure that she isn't really poisoned or anything. Which means that he basically has to drag her to their room as she cannot walk straight. She doesn't mind though as she takes this as an opportunity to get closer than necessary. “You smell sooo good” she babbles while completely ignoring her surroundings. “I know” “You look good, too. Why do you have to be so handsome?” “These are matters we should discuss on the morrow. Now you need to rest.” Carlyle then brings her to bed and, after making sure that Auryn is asleep, decides to finally get some sleep as well. Only to realize that Lya Jierre (who's sleeping in the room next to us) is just as an uneasy sleeper as Auryn (at least when she's not passed out from drinking too much). [COLOR="#008000"] (Auryn being drunk made her lower her restraint in terms of showing her affection for Carlyle and yes, she totally got the hots for him. As I mentioned earlier, her emotions during that time were quite a complicated mess and Fordren added another layer of complexity. But it seems like Carlyle didn't wish to complicate the situation even more. Either that or it would have just felt wrong for him to even take the least bit of advantage of someone who couldn't think straight.)[/COLOR] The next morning, Auryn has one of the worst hangovers in her entire life. And as Cavallo's castle is pretty close to the sea, we're both being woken up early by squawking seagulls. “Now I know why you hate these birds...” Auryn mumbles, hiding her head underneath her pillow. Fortunately, Carlyle is very much used to help other people sober up in the morning, so he prepares an antitoxin and orders smoked fish for breakfast. After consuming both medicines, she's quite well again (even if she's still pretty tired). But to Carlyle's surprise, she does remember everything she said the evening before, so she reminds him with a chuckle that she still got to discuss a certain someone's smell. Before the situation turns too awkward, Auryn explains that she's still attracted to Carlyle no matter what, but adds that she can usually restrain herself from acting inappropriately. Which, she confesses, isn't easy, but manageable. Carlyle seems a bit surprised by her need to distance herself from her attraction and asks her why she'd feel the need to do so. “I just don't wish to overpower or harass you. Yes, I am attracted to you and yes, I'd love being close to you. But I got the impression that you don't really feel the same for me, despite our strong bond and our mutual trust.” “But that's not... I am just reserved and you know that. Showing affection wasn't appropriate in my past life, and I'm still not used to it.” “So you've never been interested in any woman for four centuries?” “Oh, I have been. More than once.” “And you've never shown them any sign of your affection?” “I have.” “Huh.” “These were different times and different women. But I'd like to make a suggestion: After we finish our work here, we should spend an evening in one of these cozy tango bars. We both love dancing, don't we?” Now this lightens up Auryn's mood quite a bit and she says that she'd love to do so. After this is kind of settled, we then talk more about this mysterious infection and whether curing Cavallo's grandchild could help us getting the old orc's ear. Carlyle says he's quite sure that the boy got the dragon worms and extracting them is usually a painful and slow procedure. When he mentions the parasite, Auryn remembers that these worms lay their eggs in warm waters and are often caught while bathing in places where dragons lived and bathed. Which is really odd as the boy seemed to young to be part of an expedition to Lago Fuego. We also discuss helping Cavallo to get rid of these “sea monsters”, especially if they turn out to be fey. But then, we need more infos, so we decide to go looking for the sick child first. Before we can get that far, we stumble into a messenger who delivers a mysterious message from a certain Elias who writes very eloquently that he's been captured by a tribe of goblins who he had tried to help. He asks to be freed and gives a rough description on how to find him. We're quite surprised to get this letter by sheer coincidence, but agree that Dr. Recklinghausen – who we're quite sure is the true identity of said Elias – might just be the one we need to help the sick orc boy. Seems as if fate smiles on us today. After breakfast, we first wish to take a look at the grandchildren of Cavallo de Guerra to see if more of them got infected with dragon worms. We find them playing in the courtyard while being watched by Corta Nariz who's both Cavallo's daughter and the mother of the infected child. Auryn takes it on herself to make a good first impression on Corta Nariz and asks her whether she may play with the kids. The orc woman doesn't mind and Carlyle invites her to a game of chess in the mean time. Carlyle takes the opportunity to chat with Corta and is being told that Cavallo's scouts drained Lago Fuego, which had been some sort of sacred place of the local goblin tribes. They later found the abandoned hoard in a nearby cave. Carlyle explains that these goblins might just be the cause of her child's infection as goblins often catch the dragon worms and they may be transmitted by swallowing contaminated water. Corta understands this reasoning, but she insists that her child never bathed in Lago Fuego. She adds that there have been more cases of these parasite infections lately with sailors who enjoyed the hot springs near the harbor. Now that Carlyle has the full picture, he guesses that there has to be a subterranean connection between the reservoir of the waters of Lago Fuego and said hot springs. He adds that he cannot do much more for the boy as these worms are immune to magic and he's already treated in the best way he knows. But he does recommend to close the hot spring baths for now as these waters are most likely the source of the infections. And he also offers that we may take a closer look at the Lago Fuego area. The of them also talk about the railway and her stance towards Bruse Shantus. Carlyle stresses out that the railway will improve Cavallo's financial situation on the long run, even if he has to make a one-time investment in the Bruses' project. He explains that the wine he tasted yesterday was quite exquisite and that he believes that it may sell quite well in foreign countries like Risur. Especially if Bruse Shantus agrees to construct a second railway which connects Risur and Ber, which will reduce the risks of bandit raids and allow for much cheaper exports. And should her father be interested in good relations with Risur, we might just help negotiate importing good risuri steel to Ber. Regarding the Bruse, Corta explains that she knows that Shantus hasn't always been this indifferent towards his people's needs. When he asks her what could have happened to the Bruse to change his attitude that much, she just shrugs and answers “The tribes happened to the Bruse. The tribes can wear down the even sturdiest of minds and the greatest of warriors.” Carlyle nods calmly at her statement and then says that being a good, patient and diplomatic politician is a much different task than being a good warrior. [COLOR="#008000"] (So we basically try to do what we're best at: helping people, gaining their trust and establishing good relationships. We also enjoyed our verbal sparring with Lya Jierre who's just as sassy and clever as we thought her to be. She made more than a worthy opponent during this challenge, even if she got the “bad guy” task and basically had to start playing dirty after we outed her intentions during the banquet. Oh and we instantly loved Corta Nariz for being the one who holds everything together in Cavallo's fortress. She's just serious business. And as this is the end of session 35 and there were a lot of “Auryn's thoughts” on this episode, I'd share a few of them especially as they will come up again in session 36 and 37. All in all she had been quite surprised that she'd been so much in control during our talk with him. She got the impression that she had finally been able to meet him on equal footing and to verbally “dance” with him. Auryn also believes that he's going to honor their agreement despite the fact that he cannot let her go either. They are still in this weird power struggle which both of them took from a personal to a more philosophical level. So she strongly believes that her true power depends on having allies she can trust and people who believe in her. Kind of like the power of the King of Risur depends on the trust of his people, but in a less metaphysical way. Fordren, on the other hand, believes that raw power is power and Auryn thinks that he'd love to regain his power over her. Despite the fact that he'd never broken her will and all of her submission had been an act. She also knows that she has to actively put aside her urges to take revenge on Fordren. After all he might be a powerful ally against the Obs and she wishes to follow the true path of Vekesh. So exacting revenge on Fordren would only cement her being weak, too weak to let go and change. On top of that, she started to believe that maybe even Fordren could change in time, even if it wouldn't matter much to her. Seeing Fordren showing true emotions also changed her view a bit. What if he desired power so much because he had been hurt or rendered powerless in the past? But even if she had these thoughts, she wouldn't bring herself to feel sympathy for him. And that is where her troubles with Carlyle began. Rationally, she totally understands his “sympathy” and his rather positive view on the man as Fordren honestly and believably swore to act against the Obs. As an agent of Risur, bringing the organization down has to have priority over personal feelings and he's her fellow agent. On the other hand, she felt as if Carlyle wasn't able to understand what Fordren had done to her. That he had brought her very close to breaking down, to the edge of the abyss. Yes, Carlyle had been there, too, but he had been able to eliminate the one who brought him there while Fordren lived and she had to live with him. Which is why she really needed his unconditional support. And also why any kind of positive emotion towards Fordren felt like betrayal, especially as, in her society, the husbands would be the last and strongest line of defense. And of course she knew that she could rely on Carlyle no matter what. She just thought that he'd never understand her or feel the same way she did. Which is... also true for Auryn's attempts to show her affection. She really didn't understand why Carlyle would be so reserved towards her when he stated that he'd been more direct when it came to other women. In her opinion, this could only be either because he was only doing her a favor and wasn't really interested in her or because he felt so much for her that he was afraid to repeat the situation he had with that Vantrys daughter. So yeah, it's complicated :) )[/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
EN Publishing
Tizbiz Zeitgeist Campaign
Top