Session 30 - Unexpected Arrivals
General Summary
Time has passed, four days go by as the party spends their time training and shopping to prepare for today, the supposed arrival of House Abraxan. Training begins swiftly after the party wakes and is far more tame than a few days prior—partly because most of the party is incredibly off of their game. After training, Alastor looks to apologize to Yara Ljonguard for the dagger attack. Despite Yara’s declaration that his apologies would be meaningless after she kills Laurent Dayne in an arena, Alastor does not back down. In the end, the situation is tense yet leads to no violent outcome—somehow a win.
The party spend some time discussing their game plan, they want to speak to Lady Abraxan and Prince Carnys about the situation at hand. Importantly, they want to try to end the war, which can only feasibly be done if they can convince Lady Abraxan to apologize for attacking Melior and face the consequences. Quite the tall task indeed.
When they walk outside to find Carnys at Castle Crimson, Calum can spot the Abraxan host led by Lady Pyrrah Abraxan herself. The host is large, the orange banners of the phoenix symbol blazing high above the heads of her troops. She’s flanked by guards and followed by a slew of knights, but no Laurent Dayne. At her flank, however, is someone unexpected.
Alecto Nevertide sits atop her horse, the gray banners of the bat flying beside the phoenix like a haunting shadow as a small host of Ashlands troops—likely teleported in as there had been no reports, at least to the party’s knowledge, of her departure. Only Calum has the sight to see a small bat attached to her armguard, who he is most certain is actually Kit in disguise.
While Alecto’s arrival is surprising enough, a sign of potential allyship, a feeling of dread sinks as Calum spots another banner flying and troops marching in from the Northern Gate. Led by Licht Gadiel, the new heir of the Everwinter following her sister’s death at the hands of Melior’s monsters, is a small gathering of Everwinterian troops. The black displacer beast banner of House Gadiel is striking among the crowd, a ferocious sign of strength.
The three leaders meet outside the courtyard, which the party slinks into to try and overhear the ongoings of the conversation. They aren’t able to hear much, but they do hear some soldiers talking about how the Ljonguards will surely submit with the strength of four Paramounts breathing down their necks.
Wait… four? Only three leaders are here…
As the party stops to question the words, Calum once more spots the little bat flying towards them. The bat lands on Violet’s boot, looking expectedly up at her waiting to be noticed. Calum points him out, leading to Violet lifting the bat up with her tail to let it hang upside down. It’s little angry face makes it very clear that it is Kithiric Nevertide, who squeaks indignantly as Violet pokes and prods at him. Asha quickly casts Tongues on him to give Kit the ability to speak to them properly.
Kit tells the party about the situation from the Nevertide’s perspective. His father, Lord Paramount Nictis Nevertide, is ever the opportunist and sees promise in this war. Alecto has been sent to negotiate it, but Kit has followed her out of concern given Alecto’s declining mental state as of recent. While Kit is unaware of the exchanges the party had with Alecto in full—it’s clear that the effects have not been well. According to Kit she keeps muttering about her “predestined end” and other prophecies which Kit would rather not give any credence too. He tells them to talk to Alecto about it, but pleads to Calum to be more careful.
Kit also informs them that the fourth leader mentioned was Lady Paramount Wrenwick Ayr who had given a written letter of dissatisfaction, but has chosen to stay in the Cordillera for her own safety. After all, she is the last of her line.
When Lady Abraxan, Lady Gadiel, and Alecto turn to head into the castle, Kit makes his departure and tells the group he’ll meet them at their barracks if they’d like to chat further. After some more teasing from Violet, he is flung into the air and flies off.
The party then follows the three leaders into the castle as demurely as they can. When they realize they’d probably not be allowed into the throne room, they decide to head into the library and use Calum’s Ring of X-Ray Vision to see through the floor and watch the exchanges that take place. However, they are quickly spotted as Szorvyr Dro’Ungul looks up and makes direct eye contact with Calum. She holds it for a few seconds to show her acknowledgment, but looks away without informing the king—a win!
For the next few minutes Calum can only see the exchange, not hearing anything, but gets a good read on all of the people involved. Rahaevor seems utterly bemused at the arrival of more paramount houses in this mix, a small disagreement has ballooned into a continent-wide war. His council is similarly intrigued, but are still more trepidatious given the expenses and humanoid cost of war.
When the meeting ends, the party rushes out of the library only to get a good look at where each of the three paramount ladies were staying. It is easy enough to figure out the rooms of each of the three women, but only one catches Celeste’s eye as she departs for her room—Lady Licht Gadiel.
Licht walks surrounded by knights of the Everwinter with the same regal appearance of her elder sister. Under one arm is a leather-bound journal with a reddish quill sticking out of it. It’s finely crafted, and very familiar to Celeste given that she has one as well. The pattern is unmistakable, and despite some memories fading she can recognize it as Robin Ayr’s feather. It’s strange… Celeste was under the impression that she had the only one of these quills, that the late Robin Ayr did not have someone else he held in his heart who compared to her.
But clearly she had been mistaken.
She could not recall for quite a while if Robin Ayr had ever spoken about the Everwinter. Once, the answer might have immediately popped in her mind. But now… it was hard to even remember the cadence of his voice. The party, seeing Celeste’s instability, retreat to Carnys’ office to comfort Celeste in their own ways. The struggle Celeste faced as a result of the passage of time had rendered many of her memories distant, something she had experienced, yes, but perhaps not so viscerally. Together, the party sit in front of Carnys’ fireplace and reminisce, taking a moment to breathe before the long night ahead of them.
The party spend some time discussing their game plan, they want to speak to Lady Abraxan and Prince Carnys about the situation at hand. Importantly, they want to try to end the war, which can only feasibly be done if they can convince Lady Abraxan to apologize for attacking Melior and face the consequences. Quite the tall task indeed.
When they walk outside to find Carnys at Castle Crimson, Calum can spot the Abraxan host led by Lady Pyrrah Abraxan herself. The host is large, the orange banners of the phoenix symbol blazing high above the heads of her troops. She’s flanked by guards and followed by a slew of knights, but no Laurent Dayne. At her flank, however, is someone unexpected.
Alecto Nevertide sits atop her horse, the gray banners of the bat flying beside the phoenix like a haunting shadow as a small host of Ashlands troops—likely teleported in as there had been no reports, at least to the party’s knowledge, of her departure. Only Calum has the sight to see a small bat attached to her armguard, who he is most certain is actually Kit in disguise.
While Alecto’s arrival is surprising enough, a sign of potential allyship, a feeling of dread sinks as Calum spots another banner flying and troops marching in from the Northern Gate. Led by Licht Gadiel, the new heir of the Everwinter following her sister’s death at the hands of Melior’s monsters, is a small gathering of Everwinterian troops. The black displacer beast banner of House Gadiel is striking among the crowd, a ferocious sign of strength.
The three leaders meet outside the courtyard, which the party slinks into to try and overhear the ongoings of the conversation. They aren’t able to hear much, but they do hear some soldiers talking about how the Ljonguards will surely submit with the strength of four Paramounts breathing down their necks.
Wait… four? Only three leaders are here…
As the party stops to question the words, Calum once more spots the little bat flying towards them. The bat lands on Violet’s boot, looking expectedly up at her waiting to be noticed. Calum points him out, leading to Violet lifting the bat up with her tail to let it hang upside down. It’s little angry face makes it very clear that it is Kithiric Nevertide, who squeaks indignantly as Violet pokes and prods at him. Asha quickly casts Tongues on him to give Kit the ability to speak to them properly.
Kit tells the party about the situation from the Nevertide’s perspective. His father, Lord Paramount Nictis Nevertide, is ever the opportunist and sees promise in this war. Alecto has been sent to negotiate it, but Kit has followed her out of concern given Alecto’s declining mental state as of recent. While Kit is unaware of the exchanges the party had with Alecto in full—it’s clear that the effects have not been well. According to Kit she keeps muttering about her “predestined end” and other prophecies which Kit would rather not give any credence too. He tells them to talk to Alecto about it, but pleads to Calum to be more careful.
Kit also informs them that the fourth leader mentioned was Lady Paramount Wrenwick Ayr who had given a written letter of dissatisfaction, but has chosen to stay in the Cordillera for her own safety. After all, she is the last of her line.
When Lady Abraxan, Lady Gadiel, and Alecto turn to head into the castle, Kit makes his departure and tells the group he’ll meet them at their barracks if they’d like to chat further. After some more teasing from Violet, he is flung into the air and flies off.
The party then follows the three leaders into the castle as demurely as they can. When they realize they’d probably not be allowed into the throne room, they decide to head into the library and use Calum’s Ring of X-Ray Vision to see through the floor and watch the exchanges that take place. However, they are quickly spotted as Szorvyr Dro’Ungul looks up and makes direct eye contact with Calum. She holds it for a few seconds to show her acknowledgment, but looks away without informing the king—a win!
For the next few minutes Calum can only see the exchange, not hearing anything, but gets a good read on all of the people involved. Rahaevor seems utterly bemused at the arrival of more paramount houses in this mix, a small disagreement has ballooned into a continent-wide war. His council is similarly intrigued, but are still more trepidatious given the expenses and humanoid cost of war.
When the meeting ends, the party rushes out of the library only to get a good look at where each of the three paramount ladies were staying. It is easy enough to figure out the rooms of each of the three women, but only one catches Celeste’s eye as she departs for her room—Lady Licht Gadiel.
Licht walks surrounded by knights of the Everwinter with the same regal appearance of her elder sister. Under one arm is a leather-bound journal with a reddish quill sticking out of it. It’s finely crafted, and very familiar to Celeste given that she has one as well. The pattern is unmistakable, and despite some memories fading she can recognize it as Robin Ayr’s feather. It’s strange… Celeste was under the impression that she had the only one of these quills, that the late Robin Ayr did not have someone else he held in his heart who compared to her.
But clearly she had been mistaken.
She could not recall for quite a while if Robin Ayr had ever spoken about the Everwinter. Once, the answer might have immediately popped in her mind. But now… it was hard to even remember the cadence of his voice. The party, seeing Celeste’s instability, retreat to Carnys’ office to comfort Celeste in their own ways. The struggle Celeste faced as a result of the passage of time had rendered many of her memories distant, something she had experienced, yes, but perhaps not so viscerally. Together, the party sit in front of Carnys’ fireplace and reminisce, taking a moment to breathe before the long night ahead of them.
