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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 9018393" data-attributes="member: 6816692">A game of thrones          So we all agree that we don't have any time to waste and ride straight to Slate. Once we arrive at Torfield Palace, we are stopped rather gruffly by Dame Jillian, who first needs to check our identities. So we immediately understand that there must have been some breeches of security or at least a very high level of alert. We are still a bit stingy regarding the Green Knight, so we remind her of the embarrassment she faced when she was acting as "mayor" of the Nettles,and while she does remember the incident, she still continues to insist on the appropriate exchange of secret codes.(So she is still both stingy and properly buttoned up. Oh how we missed her <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> )We, on our side, are glad to see her return the favor by telling us her codes of identification. After all, this is the one way we can be sure that she is not actually a doppelgänger who just wanted to get a hold on our codes....Of course, Andrei, Riffian and the others cannot provide any code, but both Auryn and Carlyle as RHC agents are of sufficient authority to vouch for the unusual party. Jillian guides the Wild Hunt to the stables and finally leads us through the palace to the throne room.We are a bit surprised to see that a wedding is about to take place, and it appears as though King Aodhan is trying to at least give the servants a sense of normality. Asked about the King being supposedly in a bunker, and telling her what happened in the Golden Lion Inn, Gillian explains that yes, there is a bunker underneath the royal gallery, and that King Aodhan has inspected it, but that would be far off from the contents of our message. She expresses open concern about the possibility of intercepting magical messages and leaving a false reply. Dame Gillian sighs in worry and then reveals that she doesn't like this development at all as there was also this incident this morning where the royal Skyseer took his own life, having seen no future after this very day.(now this is really bleak...)“Worry not, Dame Jillian. One does not simply end tomorrow, or the future in general. Especially as we seem to have arrived just in time”, Carlyle says in return.“And even if it was fate, or prophecy, that would determine the end of times, then we will do anything to change it.”, Auryn adds, even though she cannot stop thinking about the vision of the “far future” where everything seemed to break apart and the world was overrun by fiends. Still she is determined to prevent this part of “their fate” from happening.We then ask Dame Jillian to take us to King Aodhan to provide him with all the information on what happened in both Danor and the Dreaming. The King seems to be still be in the  process of marrying his two servants in his role as “Titan of Risur”, and we see that the bride is very obviously still mourning Ethelyn. Just as the ceremony is over, and we move towards the King, the light suddenly dampens and changes to a dark purple glow.“Watch out, the Obscurati have arrived!”, we yell as we realise that the attack must have just begun.King Aodhan stays calm and it appears as though he is not as unprepared as we first feared. He states that he is glad we made it and briefly explains that the Danorans accuse us of killing thousands of their soldiers in Methia by toppling a tower. He then adds with a quick smirk that we seem to have a habit of appearing whenever the country is on the brink of the abyss. A trait he both appreciates and considers disturbing at the same time.(Now a “toppling tower” has to be the most ludicrous weapon of mass destruction in history)We have a quick laugh in disbelief about this whole “toppling a tower” story and briefly explain to him that the "tower" was actually the reforged Spire of Triegenes, which can to be credited to Kasvarina's artifact. It crumbling down once the magic wore off when we all were catapulted to the Dreaming was in no way intentional. We also report that we were stuck in the Dreaming for quite a while as all portals shut down, that we assume this phenomenon to be a side-effect of some weird Obs experiments on Axis Island, and that we are now also sending help on behalf of the Unseen Court and the Hedgehog Courts who had quite the conflict going on, which we managed to at least stall, with Auryn returning as the envoy of the Dreaming. Last but not least, we also offer our condolences for his sister.King Aodhan seems to understand and would be much more amused about the tower accusation, would this not have been sufficient for the whole Danoran nation to declare war on Risur.Next we tell the king about Thisraldion's dark visions of the shadows that surround the palace. In sum, the King takes the news calmly.“So it has come to this. I see. But as you returned, and after all that you just said, I am now more certain than before about my decision. Come closer to me, Gabriel Carlyle”, Aodhan states with all of his usual gentleness, and apparently without any fear.He then touches Carlyles forehead and seems to imbue him with some of his essence to "mark" him as his successor. Carlyle is suitably perplexed, never having expected such a position. Before he can ask Aodhan about his motives, however, we are interrupted by cannon blasts and the door to the throne room swings open wide.(So yep, Thisraldion knew. First, Tiz told us that he was inspired to this method as “marking the successor” by Gideonpepys' King Baldrey Korrigan. Second, we had a very long debate on who should be appointed successor behind the scenes. Tiz originally wanted to have Auryn be Queen, but Carlyle's player and I agreed that while this would be a reasonable choice - her being the charismatic “people” person – she would still be a fairly new immigrated Risuri who also had very much Elfaivar in her heart and would be torn by her new role. Meanwhile, Carlyle had somehow lingering 500 years of knowledge about Risur, and especially Flint and knew more than anyone else what it meant to serve. Also, considering the fact that a royal wedding would be imminent ( we didn't know about what would happen after this), Auryn would have a far better spot as Queen consort to connect the Dreaming, Elfaivar and Risur, while Carlyle as King Consort would have little agenda of his own. So yeah, I kind of argued against my own character's coronation <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />And yep, the fallout would be pretty bleak for Auryn at several occasions. But more of this in later chapters.)In comes a ghostly Catherine Romana, accompanied by several other spirits. She states that she is referring to the Rites of Rulership and - being the only Noble present on this plane - unanimously denies the King the Power of the Land, as only the King prevents her from bringing the true civilization of the Obscurati to the Risuri.(She had been executed as a traitor in our absence... which resulted in a double facepalm from both players. Considering the obviously still intact ability of the Obs of raising fallen comrades a Ghosts, we should seriously consider suspending the death penalty)Carlyle directly understands where this is heading and forges a telepathic link to King Aodhan.“As you are still King of Risur on this plane, can't you just appoint the two of us as nobles to restore the balance in your favor?”, he asks.“Already working on it. No worries.”, Aodhan replies mentally as he apparently had just the same idea in this very moment.(Carlyle's player beat Tiz by a few seconds and we were surprised to see that the “script” had the same plan in mind. Not the last time, I promise.) King Aodhan rolls his eyes and, almost with the voice of a pitiful father, tells Romana that she has apparently not done her homework correctly. He then elevates both Dame Auryn Galadin and Sir Gabriel Carlyle to the rank of baron before the takes away her title and her right of inheritance.He then asks if any present nobles would have any objection to his rule, and we agree with the King's decision, smiling gleefully at the clever move.(Can I just say that I love that guy? I have seldom seen a clever King/noble done right who both needed the party's help and was a badass in his own right)The King then asks us to take care of Romana and her ghostly friends, before he turns to Harkover Lee. “Oh,and before I forget: Harkover, you have my permission to fight with all means necessary”We gladly comply with the King's order, and turn to Romana while we also ask Andrei to bring the civilians to safety. Carlyle first dashes to and then disassemblies some of the spirits before looking after the also present Conglomerate, while Auryn magically reinforces the assembled allies and goes after Romana personally.“You know what I cannot comprehend, dear Lady Catherine? That you'd call your own people “backward” and prefer to chase after these technology fanatics in blind obedience. What makes Risur strong and progressive is that it is a home for people of all backgrounds, who have completely different views. I would choose the open arms of Risur before any Obs rationality, but this is a lesson you will soon learn.”With these words, Auryn releases a barrage of stabs at the Ghost that once was Catherine Romana.Romana, however, is healed by the ghostly Conglomerate, which is still being pressured by Carlyle's blows. Romana in return orders the spirits to focus Auryn, which puts her in a more defensive position. She nonetheless stays close on her primary target.Andrei, meanwhile, is busy escorting the civilians towards the bunker where he is stumbles across a young woman who is surprisingly heading the other way. He asks her if everything would be alright, but she just answers that the bunker is safe, and that she has to hurry to the throne room and help the King. Oh, and also that her name is Shealis.(did not see this coming. For those who forgot by this point: Shealis is the elven disguise of Teraklir, who studied magic in Pardwright while we were on our mission with Kasvarina)As Carlyle dismantles the conglomerate bit by bit and more and more “component parts”, of the amalgamation fall off, we realise that this thing consists of mainly dead Risuri. Some of these spirits merge with Carlyle after being release from the spiritual construct. Upon seeing this,  Romana's expression (while still ghostly) pales even more for some reason. Auryn uses this brief distraction to out an end to her for the time being, after landing a few well-aimed blows. Carlyle and Harkover Lee in turn protect the King from the remaining spirits, the latter primarily resorting to fireballs.When all the attackers are finally frayed, Shealis reaches the throne room and all of us (except Harkover Lee and King Aodhan) look at her in surprise.“I know I should keep a low profile, but I've never been fond of orders. You obviously need me and I, as the daughter of Gradiax, promise to protect King Aodhan”We welcome her into our ranks as defenders of Torfield Palace and realize that her help comes just at the right moment as the Palace is shaken heavily by several explosions from above. We express our need to take care of the shelling first, as it threatens to reduce the palace to rubble. So we take the next exit to the north to have a closer look at the situation outside the Palace, while Lee, Dame Jillian and Shealis stay with the King. As we leave, we see that Dame Jillian tries to urge Aodhan to leave the throne room and get to safety, but he stubbornly refuses, wishing to protect his citizens.(sooo, this was part one of the attack on the Palace. Just want to leave this gem here as part of my "Zeitgeist OST/openings" musical ideas, which is just perfect from this section of the caampaign to all that comes afterward [MEDIA=youtube]4uK5J0zTErQ[/MEDIA] )</blockquote>

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