Chapter One: The Enemy Within
Spoiler: Blue
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After completing his last mission, the fourth, for the Dragonmarks Elite, Blue was promoted to be officially a member of the Elites, one of the few Warforged able to reach past the level of ‘Affiliate’. Not that it meant anything: after all, ranks in the group are only a badge of valour to show between companions, and none of the agents has ever considered the chain of command something to follow strictly (or even loosely). It took some time for Blue to adapt to this concept of giving ranks without really using them, but Aaren programming was really well done, and as he used to say: “few warforged can show Blue’s ability to change and adapt to new situations”.
The warforged was invited on the moving fortress to meet with commander d’Phiarlan, and heard of new recruits. Now, it is time to meet them.
Spoiler: Inuurasha
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It was difficult for Dekland to convince you to join this trip with a bunch of dragonmarked fanatics. “Look, I know what you think of the houses, and you know you are often right! But this time… this time they are trying to do something good! I’ve seen them in action in the outskirt of the Eldeen reaches last year! They stopped an agent of the Lords of Dust and were even able to broker a peace between to druidic sects that were rivaling themselves for almost a century! You must go and see for yourself! Please, if not for yourself, at least do it for the Flame! You must heed its calling!”
Whether it was the Flame, Dekland, or the fact that a voyage like this was a novelty, you accepted the invitation, and there you are, waiting to meet one so called commander of those Phiarlan spies.
Spoiler: Jack
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When traveling from Thrane to the next known stop of the moving fortress, Jack had the time to recall Tzandra words. “The Flame calls you there, something big is going happen, and you will find more things that lie burning beneath the surface.” Somewhat cryptic, especially from a Templar and not from a prophet, but words worth remembering. Meeting the Dragonmarks Elite the last year was almost a casualty, even if Jarlaxle never seem to act randomly; now, after that mission against the Lord of Dust pawns seemed more a defeat, at least in the eyes of some of the less accepting in the Church hierarchy, knowing that his work was appreciated by someone was a good news for Jack. Maybe what for Jack looked like a stop in his tracks, was actually a new beginning? After all, the Flame burns in mysterious ways...
Spoiler: Sidara
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A free week of travel in the most expensive (and slow) ship ever built was an interesting offer; at least that’s what said Gerad d’Medani, Master Inquisitive and agent of the Twelve who contacted you for the third time in less than a year. This time you accepted his offer: “Consider it a pleasure cruise, and maybe you’ll find that the work proposal of our commander is not as bad as you thought”. After all, looking at the Mournland from the windows of the fortress seemed safer than being out there. Now the week is passed, and it is time to meet this famous ‘commander’
Argonth, the moving fortress, known in all Breland as a glorious relic of times that nobody really wants to live again.
The constant grind of metal gears and clockwork components creates a slow, steady, humming noise that somehow is not annoying as it should be; it even seem to disappear whenever you walk on the golden tiles covering the Great Hall’s floor. Surely king Boranel did not restrain himself in throwing money to transform this would-be fortress in an attraction and a manifest to Breland power.
Eera ir’Jalon, Argonth master of magic, told you to wait for her in the Great Hall, an immense room covered with paintings on the walls, depicting various scenes of the Last War, some stylized, some more realistic; all of them picture soldiers of Breland winning a fight or protecting innocent people. The eight columns sustaining the ceiling, which looks way higher in the inside than on the outside, are covered with purple drapes, while banners of the Bear, Breland national symbol, hang from the ceiling every two columns. All the place is clearly meant to impress its visitors, as few as they may be. Every voice echoes in the room, as if all of those who speak were empowered by some arcane manipulation.
It is only a matter of time before Eera comes back, but now only four figures stand in the Hall, and the humming gears feel more distant every second they wait, while the fortress seems to be still in place, even if the clockwork mechanisms are clearly declaring the opposite: from the distance, you perceive that they are turning faster.
Dragonmarks Elite: Golden Stream of Silver (IC)
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