(IC) Festival of Heroes - Fenris Howls - Main

[Wolfykins]

William regarded Aurix over the top of his wineglass as he paused to drink from it.
"You know, perhaps you, as a fellow mortal human, might be able to understand where I'm coming from. The Princess has ruled for nearly four generations, by human counting," the Baron said, "and neither she nor Lady Hervir produced any heirs. These aasimar... they always think they have all the time in the world for such matters! I think they lose sense of time, nearly as badly as elves do. And, begging your pardon if this next part seems harsh, but..." the Baron took another sip of wine before continuing.
"They have so much time to produce an heir that it is of little consequence if their heir dies in a war like this one. I mean that purely politically!" he added hastily, "Of course they would mourn. But the consequences to even a royal aasimar losing a child is no more than the consequences the peasantry faces when losing a child. For those like me, a mere mortal human, if my son died tomorrow, my line would die with him! I know we men like to act like we could produce heirs even as ancient old men, but you and I both know that's not true. My window to produce another child is not as wide open as it used to be, you know? My wife always hoped to have a daughter to carry her name, but we were unable to have additional children. If I remarried, and lost Peter, then even if I do have more children, there's a strong chance of producing daughters instead, meaning no one to carry my name, or take up my legacy. If I lost Peter, I... I don't know that I could forgive whoever cost him his life," the Baron said seriously.
"I am not the only human noble, and the human nobles aren't the only ones whose lives are comparatively short and stand to lose centuries of family legacies if we or our children die, trapped under this bubble. I understand why the Court Mage did it. But that doesn't make it feel any more fair. If I'd had more warning, some notion that this was a possibility, I could've been prepared! I saw Lord Tristan's family Gated out right before the barrier prevented such things. I could've prepared equally, and sent Peter and his betrothed out of the country!" The Baron pulled anxiously on his beard, looking anguished for a moment.
"What could you do to make things better?" he asked Aurix seriously. "Even if you fight and win fast enough that there are no more deaths, it doesn't really change that the aasimar royal family kept secrets from even the Noble Council. How do you heal that broken trust, Champion? In time, perhaps, we will be able to, if things all turn out well in the end. But if we lose our children, our legacies, when we didn't have to, because secrets were kept... How do you heal that broken trust?" William asked, searching Aurix's face for answers.



Aistriú's eyes narrowed angrily. The danthienne stood up on Markas' shoulder and said loudly, "SEE MARKAS? I KNEW THE DUCHESS WOULDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SUCH AN OBSCURE NOBLE! LET'S GO FIND SOMEONE WHO'S MORE CONNECTED TO THE SOCIAL NEXUS!"

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbears eyes narrowed as he saw the trip wire. Umbear looked at Catalina.

"Catalina. There is a Trap here. I need you to Stay. Stay Catalina. You can stand there and watch. but I need you to stay. "

(1d20+2)[9] Handle Animal

Umbear moved forward and stepped over the trip wire and deeper into the temple.

"I am Umbear. Ogre of the Ebon Flame. I have come to the Temple Seeking Healing, and Guidence. Are there Priests Available?"

[Wolfykins]

Catalina looked at Umbear with a bored expression and shifted back into her natural form.
When Umbear went into the temple, she followed him. She sat down just before the tripwire and looked down at it. She tilted her head one direction, gaze following the line of the string in that direction. Then she tilted her head the other way, gaze following the string in the other direction. She lifted her armored head and looked up at the dark ceiling. Then finally, Cuddles looked at Umbear. Without breaking eye-contact, she reached out one massive paw, very slowly reaching for the string. She paused, hovering over the string, still looking at Umbear. Then finally, she batted at the string. There was a pop and the string broke free and she batted it between her paws.

Soon after, there was a shuffle and a whooshing sound, and a slow cascade of little pieces of fabric began raining from the ceiling, landing on and around both Cuddles and Umbear. Closer inspection revealed the bits of cloth to be handkerchiefs and bandannas. They'd all been rolled up, knotted in the middle, and knotted again at the ends, so they formed little rings with knots in the middle.
Hushed tittering and giggling broke out from the rafters, followed by hissed shushing.

[Andrew Markham]

Aurix listens without interruption as the Baron speaks, nodding sympathetically. Halfway through, he crosses his arms over his chest. Aurix's mood is somber as he considers his answer.

"You...make many valid points, as I had figured you would. You seem like the kind of man to think through your position thoroughly. I appreciate that you were willing to share it with me." Aurix pauses, searching for words. Then he shakes his head in dismay. "I don't know that I can give you a good answer. I'd like to be able to defend My Lady and her sister by default, but you make a very solid point. Clearly Lady Hervir knew more than the rest of us, though I don't know how yet. I've been looking into it."

"But let's be fair and play devil's advocate for a moment. Assume that they both knew about the barrier in advance, and that it would definitely need to be used. They're now engaged in an unseen battle with an unknown foe. Let's say they allowed the nobles to choose whether they stay or go. If too many nobles choose to leave, the common folk will notice, and they'll want to know what the nobles know that they don't. That could potentially start a panic amongst the entire populace. Not to mention how the unseen enemies might react if they know they've been found out. We still know so little about them, there's no way to predict how they might have reacted. And also, as we discussed in the last court, those who stay to fight will need normalcy. They need weapons and food and a place to sleep. A mass exodus out of the city would have denied our forces those supplies, or lessened them."

Aurix holds up his hands. "Don't get me wrong- I think that if you had found out, and advocated for a small, subtle evacuation of noble heirs, that could have played. But then there's another question- would your son have gone? If he had time to think about it, and had to choose between fleeing to safety or serving his country, which would he choose? I don't know him well enough to say, but I do wonder how many might have stayed. Juvelnord has strength in its blood."

"Would it help ease your mind if there were diamonds available for resurrection? I know it's a horrible thing to think of, but it's the only substantial thing I can think of to help. I will, of course, work to end this as soon as possible, but you're right. I can't guarantee it will happen soon, or that your son will be safe in the meantime."

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear chuckles as cuddles does cat things. The chattering and laughter makes umbear smile.

"That's a cute prank. Though I may have come from a different angle than the knots."

[EdgeGrinder]

"I'll think on it. My sons are the biggest reason I am here right now." Owlbanok replied.

---

Helen whipped her head around to glare at the fae. She sighed. Damned fae... fine. Lord Glanduil is an Elven noble from Alfheim who has an estate in Fjallheim which is east of Thursland." She explained, begrudgingly. She turned up her nose and walked away.

[Jgraves]

"fair enough, but fer now, what's say we see where these tracks lead us then?" The captain says standing up to head off

[paladin_artea]

"Thanks for the tip duchess!" Markas called out pleasantly to Helen as she walked away with a huff, "By the way, love the new hair! Hope it lasts!" When she was out of earshot, he turned to Ais and let out his barely contained laughter, "Oh Ais, that was beautiful! I'm glad you stuck with me tonight. You've been a big help," he said, giving the Danthienne a small kiss on the top of their head. "Now we have something to go on. Can you think of anyone else we should ask about this or should we go back to the party and let this stew until morning?"

[Wolfykins]

William sighed and shook his head as he set down his now-empty wineglass.
"No need to play devil's advocate; as I said, I do understand why the Court Mage did what she did. However, there are two problems. Firstly, if Geiravor didn't know about this, which seems to have been the case, then Lady Hervir committed an act tantamount to treason. She hid something from her monarch about a grave threat to national security."
"But if she did tell the Princess, and the Princess withheld such information from the Noble Council, then the Council is not totally out of bounds to declare her unfit to rule. Deciding the course of action for dealing with such threats to our nation is precisely the purpose of the Noble Council. Princess Geiravor may rule, but her rule is by no means absolute. The longevity of aasimar is precisely why the Council has the power to force the ruling Prince or Princess to step down. The blood of angels does not guarantee and angelic temperament, and Juvelnord lost patience with centuries-long tyranny two aasimar rulers ago," the baron said seriously.
"At this time, I am inclined to believe the Princess was kept in the dark, and so far, she maintains enough supporters who also believe that, that the Council abstains from action against her."
"I am aware that Lady Helen wishes to take the Princess down. The Duchess is many things, but well-versed in Council bylaws is not one of them. You should hope she remains so ignorant, lest she begin trying to prove Geiravor knew this was coming and withheld it from the Noble Council. Even if Princess Geiravor was vindicated in the trial, it would still divide the Council and deal a grave blow to the peoples' confidence in her rule," he said solemnly.
"As for diamonds and resurrection..." his hand absently clutched at a sizable, uncut diamond mounted on the chain at the end of his pocket watch, and gazed out to sea.
"Juvelnord is not short on diamonds. But they don't always help," he said very quietly.

---

"Not knots, not knots," cawing voices chanted in unison from the rafters, amidst a flurry of more giggles.
"Step forward!" a different voice urged.


Cuddles' nose twitched and ears swiveled as she looked for the source of the voices.
"Smell bird. Smell fox. Smell rat. Smell gnome," she said, pausing to lick her lips. "Smell flowers and wood."
"See nothing. Thick rafter beams. Hiding behind?"

---

"Thank you Duchess, I stand corrected! You truly are the life of the party with all the social connections a climber could ever want!" Aistriú called after the Duchess in a sugary, syrupy tone.

The danthienne chuckled at Markas' reaction.
"Seems we balance the scales pretty well together, Markas. You're good at the things I'm not, and I'm good at the things you're not!"
The fey thought about the monk's question for a moment.
"Well, he's an Alfheim noble, not a Juvelnord noble. It's curious then, that the people we spoke to talked as if the child was due to join Juvelnord's court. Is the kid an Alfheim noble or a Juvelnord noble? Or maybe both? Seems like the best person to ask would be Tristan, but he went home already. We probably shouldn't bother him now... he needs his rest," Aistriú mused.
"Say, can you think of anyone else that might have connections to both places? Or maybe we can find some kind of records about the nobles. Like a census? You got any thoughts?" Aistriú asked.
"We can keep asking around, or you can just go get hammered and have a good time. I'll make sure you make it home," the danthienne chuckled.

[FalkatheMage]

Spoiler: DM ONLY

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Osha grimaced, invisibly annoyed at the situation. She honestly should have expected this turn of events. Glancing around the room, she saw little environmental aides. She clenched her fist around the kusarigama and nodded to herself. Springing silently from her spot on the floor, she scaled the wall nearest to her and stopped just short of the ceiling. She looked down into the darkness and dangled the end of her chain down towards the ground. She let it clink very softly against the floor below her, whispering, "Damn!" as she did so. Holding her breath, she pulled the chain back to her position and waited to see if her opponent would take the bait. If she had any luck at all, they'd end up just beneath her, and visible to boot.

Spoiler: Rolls and shtuff

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( Bluff roll - (1d20+26)(1d20+26)[46])
(stealth roll - (12d20+70)(1d20+70)[87])
(Wall Climber ability used)

[Erealyn]

Jaylyn sat on a log looking at her second book. "79... 80... 81... 82... 83... 84... and a half pages full of great stories. I hope Geiravor will enjoy these stories, and her kids when it's time to pass them down." She said to herself, "Including the two pages for the table of contents in each book that leaves 12 pages blank..." Jaylyn sighed, standing up and dusting her butt off, finally giving her tails a shake to knock any sand off of them. She looked down at her outfit and chuckled. 'Glad this outfit is illusion, with these socks on I'd be dumping a mountain of sand out of them.' Jaylyn thought looking around, "Guess I'll go to the heroes and see if they'd like to have any stories recorded."

She spotted Aurora, Markas with Ais on his shoulder, and Aurix without Gieravor... the last one made her pause for a moment, then Jaylyn spotted Helen walking away from Markas, she quickly opened her book and looked though the table of contents for the names of all the other Nobles she'd talk to prior... When Jaylyn couldn't find Helen's name she got excited and made her way over to intercept her.

"Lady Helen, May I take a moment of your time?" Jaylyn said when she caught up to Helen, bowing respectfully. "I'm gathering up stories from all the Nobles bout Lady Hervir. I was wondering if you'd be willing to tell me a positive, truthful, story bout Lady Hervir for the records?" Jaylyn asked pulling the Lily from behind her left ear and opening the book to a blank page.

[paladin_artea]

Markas looked away in thought a moment, "hmm...other than the Valentines, the only ones I could think of that might be of help would be either Warrick or Camille. They're high ranking, but then again, they're military experts, not sure how well versed with they are with the nobility. If we can't find them I'm good for going for more drinks," he grinned.

[STDM Grizzly Ad]

Gorrun danced with Gondul until she had to depart. It made him feel young again. Order and responsibly have a way of aging you beyond your years, and Gorrun had no shortage of years by most standards, though 80 years young would still make him an upstart in his father's eye. He enjoyed being free, if only for a moment. And when Gondul left him he returned to the hardened General he was expected to be. He called out to Malaika I'm going back to the capital, sunrise comes early. Share a cab?

[EdgeGrinder]

Owlbanok stood up and dusted himself off."Aye, Captain, just let me put meh armor back on." It took a few minutes, but he was full equipped.

"Alright, lead the way." The Paladin said.

---

Spoiler: Osha

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Spoiler: Second warning

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"Nice try!" The assassin taunted.

Stealth 59

---

Helen stopped and looked Jaylyn up and down. "Ah, Jaylyn the Master Shapeshifter, sure, I have a story." The Duchess smiled.

"When I was a child, my father would bring me to work, hoping I'd follow in his foot steps and enter law. He would have business with Hervir and the Princess on a regular basis. So they'd be talking politics and I'd try to listen but I was still just a child so I got bored. So Hervir would take us all outside and would summon her favorite dog or pony for me to play with. My father valued the break and so did the Princess. Sometimes, the Princess and Hervir would play with me." Helen explained.

She was silent for a bit. "I haven't thought about those times in a while. She sighed. "How was that? Okay?" She asked.

[Andrew Markham]

Aurix nods slowly. "Too true. I understand that your son and Umbear are well acquainted; if I know him, he will do everything he can to keep Peter alive."

Aurix's expression tightens, his lips compressing to a thin line. "I can not express adequately my...distaste at the Duchess's poor timing. I have heard that the village leaders are coming to town soon; it seems like the pieces will be in place should she wish to move them. But as I hope this evening made clear, both the military and the heroes strongly support the Princess. I suspect restructuring the military and administration during a time of war would be most troublesome and a boon for our enemies. Not to mention the blow to morale it would be for such a transition to take place. To be clear, I'm not implying there would be unlawful resistance, but without a stronger case to gain their favor, it seems wiser to allow Geiravor to remain for now."

"That said, I appreciate your counsel and will take it strongly to heart. If there should be any future issues I can aid you with, you have my ear." Aurix bows again and catches the Baron's eye, hoping the subtext is clear.

Diplomacy: (1d20+54)[55]

Spoiler: If botch, Second Chance

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(1d20+54)[66]

[Erealyn]

Jaylyn finished writing, took the lily and put it back behind her ear then looked back up at Helen, "Lady Helen, that was a very beautiful story." Jaylyn said bowing respectfully. "I thank you for your valuable time, I hope you enjoy the rest of the night." Jaylyn made sure the ink was dry and closed up the book. "It make me kinda envious, and being honest here a little jealous, that you all got to send so much time with Lady Hervir." Jaylyn said putting the book away for now. "I've heard and recorded so MANY nice stories from so many people. It makes me happy that I was able to spend some time with her myself." Jaylyn finished before trying and failing to stifle a yawn. "Oh my, a thousand apologizes I've been up since one this morning with only a four hour nap before the funeral... I think it's beginning to catch up with me now. If you'll excuse me."

[EdgeGrinder]

Helen smiled and shrugged. "You too." The Duchess walked elsewhere.

[Wolfykins]

Aistriú shrugged. "I think I saw Warrick talking to Aurix and Geiravor while you were dancing, but he hasn't been seen out of the training grounds for days otherwise. So chances are, he already left to get some much-needed sleep. Camille might be around. I suppose you could get something more to drink while wandering around the beach looking for her," Aistriú suggested.



Malaika shook her head and smiled at Gorrun.
"I think I'll hang around and see how many ships sink tonight," she said, brushing her finger across her lips a few times, hoping Gorrun would get the joke.



The Baron nodded. "As long as things continue as they have been, it will be relatively easy to maintain the current status quo, strained though it might be. But if things get much worse, morale will plummet no matter who is in charge, and opportunists will take advantage of it. That is why I called for a return to normalcy as much as possible."
The Baron paused to scratch his beard, brown eyes narrowed in thought.
"I suspect you will do well as Prince Consort, someday. I'm sure you and the Princess have grand plans for when this mess is all cleared up, but since you have impressed me, I will tell you this... Remember that your personal feelings don't always matter, and no matter how much you want it all to be purely out of love and happen when you're done with the demons... you have to keep in mind it may not work out that way. If the time comes that the Princess' political position looks truly at risk, a royal wedding can both raise morale, and boost confidence in her ability to rule if she shows good judgement picking her Prince Consort. If you lose this war, you may miss your window of opportunity entirely."
"Spend more time with your loved ones than you think you need to. Time is always shorter than you think," he said, absently touching the diamond at the end of his pocket watch chain again.

[Darius Vibrtrar]

umbear looks up before looking back to Cuddles.

"You are such a Cat.... like.... puuuurfect"

Umbear looks up again hearing the command. He steps forward as requested.

"Knock Knock vs Knot Knot, good pun"

[Wolfykins]

The laughter in the rafters picked up again. "He still doesn't get it!"

When Umbear stepped forward, the tile he stepped on sank under his weight. There was a click, and the floor dropped down about 10', so Umbear was just standing in a neck-deep hole.

The laughter from above became howling belly laughs. There was the sound of feathers, and about half a dozen tengu spiraled down from the ceiling, laughing.
"Looks like he fell for it!" one said.
"But he still came out ahead of the game!" another said.
"Too bad he didn't get the first gag though!" another said.
"Let's give him the thyme of his life!" one of them said, upending a bag of dried herb leaves as he flew over Umbear.

A few giggling ratfolk opened panels in the wall and scurried out to watch the things happening.

The rafters began lighting up a little bit, dancing lights and faerie fire tantalizingly briefly revealing a variety of little grinning faces.

A white, 3-tailed kitsune in a pipefox mask and black robes pushed open the door from the inner temple to the foyer.
"So we have a guest?" he asked, merriment clear in his voice.

[paladin_artea]

"Sounds like a plan then," Markas smiled at Ais. He went back to the beach, getting more to drink from Sharra, offering one to Ais, then casually walked the beach in search of Camille, waving greetings at various people who did so to him.

[Wolfykins]

"Oh, hey Markas, what's up?" Camille asked when the monk approached her. The flagon in her hand was nearly empty, and it was obviously not her first, but she seemed pretty coherent, still.

[paladin_artea]

Markas smiled when he found his friend, "I'm doing better than I thought I would be, all things considering. I'm had a great time with the music and dancing, seeing everyone happy, sharing pleasant memories. I do have something serious to ask though. Have you ever heard of a noble from Alfheim by the name of Glanduil? I saw someone suspicious earlier tonight and after asking around, it might have been their son."

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear slowly hovered out of the hole to stand himself up and smirked to the emerging priests and acolytes. Counting among them he notices the races.

"Cuddles... where are the bird and Gnome?"

Umbear looked back to the priestly looking Kitsune.

"Yes. My... soul has been injured and I seek cleansing of the detriment. Also..."

Umbear pulls out a stack of 1 Free Divination Coupons.

"What are these good for? Yes, No, Questions? more? Less?"

[Wolfykins]

"Uhhh, I've heard the name," Camille said. "I think he's a duke? But I've never met the guy. Warrick and I haven't had much cause to go to Alfheim since our mom died," she said.

---

The warcat slitted her eyes and gave Umbear a look of feline superiority.
"Bird," she said, looking at the circling tengu.


The masked kitsune inspected the coupons. "A casting of 'Divination'," he explained. "So you may ask a question concerning a goal, event or activity to occur within one week. We will consult with Loki for ten minutes and get back to you with his answer. We can fix you up with 'Restoration' while you wait. The fee is 100 gold for lesser, 1000 gold for regular, and 5000 gold for greater. Which do you need?"

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear glanced up and saw the tengu more clearly now that cuddles pointed them out.

"And the gnome? Cuddles?"

Umbear looked back to the priest.

"I will need the Greater."

Umbear pulled out 5,000 gold peices and laid them out for the priest. Umbear scribbles down some questions for the Priest to ask Loki.

Spoiler: Questions for Loki

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"Should Umbear persue a more personal relationship with Qetesh?"

"Should Umbear have Queue explore under the Tower?"

"Should The heroes inspect the underground tunnels of the city for Demon's escaping the Tower."

Umbear looked to the Priest.

"And... While Im not... a favored of loki... I would seek his... advise, if the priests of his temple would know what to say."

[paladin_artea]

Markas nodded, "Thanks anyway, didn't hurt to ask," he said, "I'll worry about it tomorrow then. Meanwhile, your drink is looking low. Would you like to get some more and we can catch each other up on what's been happening? Haven't had the chance to talk with you in a while."

[Wolfykins]

Camille chuckled. "Sure," she said, "let's head up towards the boardwalk where the barrels are."
"I made sure to stick around long enough for the funeral, but tomorrow I gotta head back out on circuit. Viscount Valentine asked me to check that the outposts are following the procedures in his letters and not just ignoring them once the official messenger has left."
"What about you? What did you want to catch me up on?"

---

Cuddles yawned and looked up at the rafters.
"Gnome. Flowers, wood. Up there."


The kitsune accepted the payment, counting to make sure the amounts were correct. He divided the questions up and handed one each to a different ratfolk.
"Take these to the divination chambers in the back, and bring back the answers from the priests."
The three ratfolk nodded and disappeared behind wall panels.
"Follow me, and I'll take you to a resting chamber wher you can relax after I restore you while you wait the ten minutes for our priests to get answers," he said, pushing open tge doors he'd come in from and leading Umbear into the main altar room and down a hallway on the right-hand side.
"I will be back momentarily with the necessary materials for 'Restoration'," he said, gesturing at the room full of pillows to which he'd led the ogre.


Cuddles continued to follow Umbear.

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Umbear gave cuddles some scratches and pats against the rib cage before following the Kitsune.

Once sitting down umbear pats the pillows beside him for Cuddles to set down on with him. He nods to the kitsune when they say to wait.

"So Cuddles. What is the very best Treat, the best food?"

[paladin_artea]

Markas walked alongside Camille towards the boardwalk, listening intently, "sounds like you're going to be away for a while. I'll hope for a safe journey and a safe return. Those people at the outposts better listen to you if they know what's good for them!" he joked. When they finally arrived and refilled their mugs, he continued, "As for me, well after dealing with a demon incursion, I went with a group of us to help deal with the anarchists harassing people on their way to and from the mines. If you were there, you would have laughed as we used the illusion of beaurocrats to frighten them into submission. It was hysterical!" he laughed. "on the way back from that mission we ran across a group of Goblin refugees and managed to convince them to set up camp outside the city to avoid confrontations with the townsfolk. While that was going on, the strangest thing showed up, a rabbit, but one who was weilding a blade. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it myself. Said he was on a quest to avenge the death of his brother. I knew I could understand any spoken language, but didn't think I could talk with animals. It worked on an alley cat earlier tonight too."