Scene: Royal Summons

The party is informed that they, along with the Yvreys, has been summoned to the capitol to meet with the Crown of Ashijan.

Royal Summons

The next time the party is in Gobriak, they receive a summons from Caeda to meet them at her office. Depending on where they are staying, she may send either of her personal guards, Dyrian or Ynari, to find them. Unless the party is actively attempting to hide from her, either succeed in finding them in 1d4x10 1d4 minutes.

Upon finding the party, Ynari or Dyrian ask the party to return to the Yvrey Office immediately, though they will concede enough time for the party to finish their current task. Should the party try to trick them into giving more time, they become firm in their insistence that "My Lady said you are to come immediately." Further resistence may result in either guard using force, though Dyrian is quicker to draw a weapon than Ynari.

Meeting with Caeda

Once the party arrives at the offices, they are escorted to Caeda's office, where she is waiting for them behind her desk. Read aloud or summarize the following text for your players and show them Figure A (right sidebar):

As you enter the familiar space, your eyes are immediately drawn to the familiar pale figure sitting behind her desk, looking over a page and an envelope with a familiar, but broken seal resting next to her. A seal you have seen just once before since your arrival in Ashijan, craved into heavy iron doors at the peak of the chevron.

Players who are already familiar with Ashijani politics will recognize the crest as belonging to House Nitale, the current ruling family of Ashijan, with Crown Lalrint Nitale currently the Head of House and Head of State.

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Background

Caeda herself or a fellow party member may be able to explain the Ashijani Prime Houses and line of succession for the Crown to other characters, as explained below.
Prime Houses

Prime Houses

Ashijan has five "Prime Houses" or the five oldest noble houses in Ashijan. These include, in order of official status: Nitale, Yvrey, Gethra, Elkas, and Kysona. Unofficially, and argument could be made for the Yvreys being the most powerful and the Gethras being at the bottom. The Head of House for each family makes up the Ashijani Alliance of Proper Nobility, started by House Elkas some 600 years prior to provide the illusion that the Houses are all united.

Line of Succession

Line of Succession

Succession for the Crown of Ashijan (not Throne) is kept mostly bloodless by the current Crown marrying a commoner outside the Prime Houses and having a single child before abdicating power to that child before they step down as Head of House.

This practice of Single Succession is practiced primarily by House Nitale and House Yvrey, which Caeda mentions is why her brother becoming a public member of House Yvrey after over a century of Caeda as the Head of House was such a major upset. She also stresses that she does not regret her decision to break from tradition, even if Nadyra is theoretically a threat to her power.

Currently, Crown Lalrint Nitale has expressed no interest in marrying or having a child, making many of the Lower Houses nervous about a potential succession crisis. Assassinations are not uncommon among the Prime Houses-- Caeda explains her own father was assassinated, but he abdicated to her early and thus the family saw a minimal impact to their status-- so a new Crown is typically quick to find a partner and produce an heir. Should Lalrint die, the Crown would likely pass to Caeda and Nadyra would take up the mantle of Head of House.

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When the party walks in, Caeda greets them without looking up from the letter and gestures for them to take a seat as she finishes looking over the page. A few moments later, Nadyra enters the room, apologizing for the delay as he moves to stand behind his sister.

Voidwalkers
If the party has already completed the scene "Infernal Promotion" (or if it occured without their knowledge) Nadyra does not apologize for being late and any insight checks against him automatically fail. See Reference: Roleplaying Voidwalkers for an overview of how to roleplay Nadyra.

If Nadyra is a Voidwalker, Caeda is considerably more guarded around him and a successful DC 17 Wisdom (Insight) check will reveal that her concern is more for him than about the letter.

Once everyone is present, Caeda begins with thanking them for coming on such short notice, and explains that not long ago, she received a summons to Shar from Crown Nitale. The reason she called the entire party is the summons specifies the Crown's desire to meet those newly employed by House Yvrey, along with the Yvreys themselves.

Caeda suspects this curiosity from the Crown stems from the fact that, while she has hired various individuals for odd jobs here and there, she has not formally employed anyone since before Nadyra joined House Yvrey over ten years ago.

Hiding from Caeda
Parties actively trying to hide from Caeda must succeed a DC 27 Dexterity (Stealth) check and must reroll the check every day they are trying to stay hidden.

Figure A

House Nitale Crest by Ynix via Armoria

Names and Aliases
This article assumes that the party believes Mavi and Nadyra are different people, however if the entire group knows about his alias, Nadyra and Caeda are quick to drop the lie in private and directly explain the plan.

Last Hired
If asked, Caeda discloses that she last hired Dyrian and Ynari a few years before she discovered Nadyra was an Yvrey.

Preparation

Meeting with the Crown is a formal affair. Characters who met with Ashijani nobility in Forging Alliances may already have formal attire, but other characters may not.

Gobriak Fashion

Characters seeking appropriate fashion in Gobriak can find a few boutques in town depending on their budget. They can also ask Caeda or Nadyra or advice or financial assistance, however they will always be pointed towards the Lavender Luxe.

Wicked Elf Clothing

The more affordable boutique in town is located in Crescent Row in Gobriak, called Wicked Elf Clothing. It specializes in mimicing Ashijani High Fashion at a fraction of the cost.