Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Session #23: The Arrogance of the Strangers

Lanamelk led the party through the bustling streets of Dar Reinoth to the Palace of the Three, the Inspired god-queens of the Reidra. As they walked, the party kept their eyes and ears sharp for the news of Khorvaire that was circulating. They learned that just a day or two ago, House Deneith had learned of Zelian's death in Droaam. They'd tried to keep in quiet, but within 24 hours everyone knew, and now tensions were escalating extremely rapidly. Everyone was blaming Droaam for the assassination, thinking this land of monsters was trying to undermine the Five Kingdoms. Breland, Droaam's neighbor, was especially incensed and on the warpath. Meanwhile, House Deneith itself has been thrown into turmoil, as Zelian had deliberately hoarded power and not groomed any heir, so now his lieutenants were squabbling amongst themselves, trying to gain control.

With these matters weighing heavily on their minds, the party entered the Palace of the Three. They had a lot of time to mull them over, as there were a lot of formality and ceremonies that they were required to pass through before they were admitted into the presence of the Three.

In the grand throne room, the Three sat impassive on their dais, while an Inspired male stood at the foot of the dais, announcing himself as the Voice of the Three, and translating between Common and Quori (which was all the Three would speak, and never directly to the party, which they couldn't understand anyway). The Voice relayed a message of great arrogance and condescension, and a order. The Three wanted the party to return to Khorvaire and persuade the king of New Galifar (part of the nation of Q'barra) to use the current turmoil as a platform to expand his influence, particularly over the neighboring Talenta Plains. Their stated reason was that this would bring greater stability and civilization to Khorvaire - privately, the party was aware that Redira had significant ties to Q'barra that were certainly driving this course of action.

The party had questions, and reservations, but it quickly became apparent they were not being asked. Unwilling to get into a fight at this time, they decided to accept, believing they could slip away from the Three's influence once they were back home. They then retired to the chambers that the Three had provided for them. The night passed uneventfully. (Taumir sent along a question about the Thirteenth Moon, and got a curt brush-off the next morning.)

The next morning, 13 Dravago, Lanamelk and some of her fellow Inspired Guardians came and escorted the party down to the docks, where they promptly set sail for Khorvaire! The trip was long, five days in the making. In their boredom, the party considered going to Xen'dirk instead, and seeking fame and fortune there, but decided they'd rather get home instead.

It was evening on 18 Dravago when they docked at Newthrone. Almost as soon as they disembarked, Lizardfolk began to swarm out of the sea around them and attacked! A huge crowd of them rushed the party, pinning them down in a swamp of bodies. Little did the lizardfolk know that this just made it easier for the party to hit more of them at once!

Rewards
XP and GP will be awarded when the battle is over.

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