Session 33
Picking up where they had left off, our heroes decided to head to a different tavern to discuss how they were going to approach the peace summit. They deliberated on what the main threats to the summit were, and who they thought would fit that description. After deliberating on where had the best booze, They decided on a smaller pub by the name of 'The Hounded Horse.'
When they entered, they saw three Morris Cove knights sitting and enjoying a drink at a table. They ignored the party, choosing to keep to themselves as the party discussed their plans. Sierra and Kalydin were more interested in the selection of alcohols, while Victor Gibbet and Sam Calas started to discuss the important job of taking down Rohan.
The group came to a collective understanding that Rohan was not to be trusted, and if anyone spelled disaster for the peace summit, it would be him. A folk hero, a secret cultist and a man known to be Sam's murderer, he had the power, the means and likely would soon have the opportunity. Just before the party could make any more substantive plans; the door to the bar opened, and in walked a crusader of Hydenbur.
The mood in the Hounded Horse went sour, with the Morrisian knights eyeing the crusader and his squire with suspicion. The crusader muttered something to his squire in Hyden, the native language of Hydenbur, before turning to leave. One of the knights, clearly quite inebriated and new to his position called the crusader out, claiming him to be a coward for walking away. The crusader turned, and in a thick accent, responded in common, reminding the knight they were in a foreign land, and that they should keep themselves from being too uncouth.
As the crusader and his squire departed the bar, the other knights scolded the one who spoke out. They claimed that they would need to report the behaviour and he would likely get court marshalled. The peace summit was still a week away, and the delegates would not tolerate any actions that would likely jeopardise the discussions. Seeing this as an opportunity to get some information on Rohan and his known faith in The Tower; The party left and split up, going to the two other taverns near their location.
Sam, Kalydin and Sierra all went to a smaller pub where they found the crusader drinking and singing loudly in his home language. They identified him as a champion of The Fool, due to his lilac tabard and genuinely friendly disposition. The party plied the champion with drinks, to which he was deeply grateful. He introduced himself as Theodoric, and his squire Norcott. He and Sam had a lengthy chat about faith and what it meant to be a champion of different gods. They dicussed the nature of faith in gods that were known to be evil, like The Devil and The Tower. Theodoric informed the three of them that the evil would exist without belief, so offerings are given to them in hopes that evil may pass those who make those offerings by. But there are some who fall into the faith through happenstance, and then some who are decieved into belief.
Sam, attempting to bridge the gap in their knowledge asked about angels without alignment. Theodoric seemed confused. To his knowledge, all angels had a diety they were bound to. Sam and Kalydin pressed that this was untrue, and that they knew of one that walked with them. Theodoric was unable to comment further, as hi knew little of it. Sam, recognising this as a dead end, asked of The Beast. Theodoric's yes narrowed and he grew guarded. He asked why Sam was so interested in such niche questions of faith, and why he wanted to know of the Beast. He grew cold and short in his responses, cutting the conversational tone with the group. Sam and the others agreed that they would get little else out of Theodoric, as he seemed quite tight lipped about the nature of The Beast. Not from a place of malice, but of distrust.
Meanwhile, Victor had gone elsewhere. He had found himself outside the door to the Priceless Pot, a boutique tavern known for serving upper echelon clientele. He scanned the room, seeing not the crusader and squire, but instead seeing a well dressed man with now house insignia speaking to several suited men at his table. Victor, clocked this man as Edward Canter, the head of House Canter. He took a seat at the bar, and attempted to read the man's lips in the refection of his glass.
The barman handed a glass of red wine to Victor, claiming it was compliments of the gentleman at the table. Edward Canter raised his glass in greeting before dismissing his men and offering Victor to sit across from him. The two conversed in a coded manner, discussing the peculiarities of the processions as well as recent events. While, historically, these two have never seen eye to eye, they agreed for the time being to put the needs of their country first and work together. Victor offered up some information first, informing Edward of the events that took place earlier, to which Edward filled Victor in on some of the information they had procured in the lead up to the summit.
Edward concluded their conversation by warning Victor. He told him to pay attention to the narrative that was being woven around them, and that any dissidents would likely try to use this event as a means to further their end game. This had already occurred to Victor, who had hired one of the chambermaids at the parliament building to be his informant. The two shook hands and parted ways. Victor returned to the Hounded Horse to meet up with the others as they shared what they had learned.
The party noticed that the knights from before had secured lodging at this bar for the time being, and decided that they would do the same with hopes of spying on them and their activities. Positioning themselves strategically, Sierra cast a spell that allowed her to hear what was taking place inside the knights' room and rellayed their conversation to the party.
The knight who had spoken out, Alex, was being court marshalled tomorrow morning outside the parliament building. The other knights in the trio were also to be spoken to and punished for their role in the disrespectful act. Thus our heroes decided to tail them in the morning to see the full extent of their punishment.
As the sun broke over the horizon and bathed the city of Darholm in the early morning glow, the knights and our heroes rose from their slumber. The knights set out on horseback, a slow trot through the city streets along the main thoroufare. Tailing at a safe distance were the party, watching in eerie silence as the city began to wake up. Victor, curious with whether or not the Canters would be following up on this cast his sight around and founf that they too were being followed. Victor, thinking quickly whispered to the group, telling them he'd be right back and slipped into an alleyway. As the party trudged on, their pursuer also walked past the alley, unaware of Victor's presence. The man whispered something into a bracelet on his wrist before continuing on.
As the knights arrived at the city centre, dismounting their steeds in the cobbled courtyard outside the parliament building, it was clear that this dressing down was a display to the rest of the city and to the delegate from Hydenbur. A small crowd began to gather at the edge of the courtyard as Osmer, Commander of the Morris Cove millitary handed down the sentence to the young knight.
As the dressing down began, Victor cornered the robed pursuer and confronted him about getting in the way. Victor was not pleased by the Canter's interest in their group. He shoulder checked the robed man as he left, gruffly. This pursuer, wasting his time when he could have instead bore witness to the entirety of the court marshalling.
Meanwhile, Osmer continued. Alex was stripped of rank and dishonorably discharged from the Morris Cove military. He was shackled and walked out of town through the main thoroughfare, where everyone could see. This public display drew the attention of many, as the crowd continued to grow. As they payed attenion to Alex's humiliation, Osmer called the other two knights into the parliament building to dicuss their punishment.
Seeing this as the best possible opportunity to decide whether Osmer was in on the conspiracy, Victor and Sierra followed them in, citing their contract with Thast Istode as their means of entry. They followed the Morrisian party to their offices before continuing around the corner. Sierra, using the same spell as before, listened in to the conversations Osmer had with the knights. He conducted each interview one after another. Each one a private hearing. The eldest knight, the leader of the trio, was sentenced to be Rohan's right hand man. Osmer didn't trust Rohan and needed someone close enough to keep an eye on him and act as an informant. The other knight was one that was hand picked by Rohan himself. and was reassigned to be Osmer's personal bodyguard and assistant.
The final interview was with Rohan himself. Osmer scolded him for selecting such underperforming knights and soldiers without honour. Rohan had apparently done so despite Osmer's suggestions of who should be brought. This whole endeavour intended to be a learning excercise for Rohan to one day take command. Osmer and Rohan continued back and forth, before Osmer explained that peace was the only way to ensure that both countries could prosper. War would end them both, and Mitlind would be caught in the middle once more.
This is where Sierra's spell ended, as they made their way out of parliament building in hopes of catching up with the others who had followed Alex through the street to find out what was going to happen to him. Alex was left thrown in the mud outside of town, his discharge papers thrown over him. His arms were unshackled and he was told to find his own way home. Defeated, dejected and furious, he stromed off towards the Hounded Horse to collect his belongings.
When they entered, they saw three Morris Cove knights sitting and enjoying a drink at a table. They ignored the party, choosing to keep to themselves as the party discussed their plans. Sierra and Kalydin were more interested in the selection of alcohols, while Victor Gibbet and Sam Calas started to discuss the important job of taking down Rohan.
The group came to a collective understanding that Rohan was not to be trusted, and if anyone spelled disaster for the peace summit, it would be him. A folk hero, a secret cultist and a man known to be Sam's murderer, he had the power, the means and likely would soon have the opportunity. Just before the party could make any more substantive plans; the door to the bar opened, and in walked a crusader of Hydenbur.
The mood in the Hounded Horse went sour, with the Morrisian knights eyeing the crusader and his squire with suspicion. The crusader muttered something to his squire in Hyden, the native language of Hydenbur, before turning to leave. One of the knights, clearly quite inebriated and new to his position called the crusader out, claiming him to be a coward for walking away. The crusader turned, and in a thick accent, responded in common, reminding the knight they were in a foreign land, and that they should keep themselves from being too uncouth.
As the crusader and his squire departed the bar, the other knights scolded the one who spoke out. They claimed that they would need to report the behaviour and he would likely get court marshalled. The peace summit was still a week away, and the delegates would not tolerate any actions that would likely jeopardise the discussions. Seeing this as an opportunity to get some information on Rohan and his known faith in The Tower; The party left and split up, going to the two other taverns near their location.
Sam, Kalydin and Sierra all went to a smaller pub where they found the crusader drinking and singing loudly in his home language. They identified him as a champion of The Fool, due to his lilac tabard and genuinely friendly disposition. The party plied the champion with drinks, to which he was deeply grateful. He introduced himself as Theodoric, and his squire Norcott. He and Sam had a lengthy chat about faith and what it meant to be a champion of different gods. They dicussed the nature of faith in gods that were known to be evil, like The Devil and The Tower. Theodoric informed the three of them that the evil would exist without belief, so offerings are given to them in hopes that evil may pass those who make those offerings by. But there are some who fall into the faith through happenstance, and then some who are decieved into belief.
Sam, attempting to bridge the gap in their knowledge asked about angels without alignment. Theodoric seemed confused. To his knowledge, all angels had a diety they were bound to. Sam and Kalydin pressed that this was untrue, and that they knew of one that walked with them. Theodoric was unable to comment further, as hi knew little of it. Sam, recognising this as a dead end, asked of The Beast. Theodoric's yes narrowed and he grew guarded. He asked why Sam was so interested in such niche questions of faith, and why he wanted to know of the Beast. He grew cold and short in his responses, cutting the conversational tone with the group. Sam and the others agreed that they would get little else out of Theodoric, as he seemed quite tight lipped about the nature of The Beast. Not from a place of malice, but of distrust.
Meanwhile, Victor had gone elsewhere. He had found himself outside the door to the Priceless Pot, a boutique tavern known for serving upper echelon clientele. He scanned the room, seeing not the crusader and squire, but instead seeing a well dressed man with now house insignia speaking to several suited men at his table. Victor, clocked this man as Edward Canter, the head of House Canter. He took a seat at the bar, and attempted to read the man's lips in the refection of his glass.
The barman handed a glass of red wine to Victor, claiming it was compliments of the gentleman at the table. Edward Canter raised his glass in greeting before dismissing his men and offering Victor to sit across from him. The two conversed in a coded manner, discussing the peculiarities of the processions as well as recent events. While, historically, these two have never seen eye to eye, they agreed for the time being to put the needs of their country first and work together. Victor offered up some information first, informing Edward of the events that took place earlier, to which Edward filled Victor in on some of the information they had procured in the lead up to the summit.
Edward concluded their conversation by warning Victor. He told him to pay attention to the narrative that was being woven around them, and that any dissidents would likely try to use this event as a means to further their end game. This had already occurred to Victor, who had hired one of the chambermaids at the parliament building to be his informant. The two shook hands and parted ways. Victor returned to the Hounded Horse to meet up with the others as they shared what they had learned.
The party noticed that the knights from before had secured lodging at this bar for the time being, and decided that they would do the same with hopes of spying on them and their activities. Positioning themselves strategically, Sierra cast a spell that allowed her to hear what was taking place inside the knights' room and rellayed their conversation to the party.
The knight who had spoken out, Alex, was being court marshalled tomorrow morning outside the parliament building. The other knights in the trio were also to be spoken to and punished for their role in the disrespectful act. Thus our heroes decided to tail them in the morning to see the full extent of their punishment.
As the sun broke over the horizon and bathed the city of Darholm in the early morning glow, the knights and our heroes rose from their slumber. The knights set out on horseback, a slow trot through the city streets along the main thoroufare. Tailing at a safe distance were the party, watching in eerie silence as the city began to wake up. Victor, curious with whether or not the Canters would be following up on this cast his sight around and founf that they too were being followed. Victor, thinking quickly whispered to the group, telling them he'd be right back and slipped into an alleyway. As the party trudged on, their pursuer also walked past the alley, unaware of Victor's presence. The man whispered something into a bracelet on his wrist before continuing on.
As the knights arrived at the city centre, dismounting their steeds in the cobbled courtyard outside the parliament building, it was clear that this dressing down was a display to the rest of the city and to the delegate from Hydenbur. A small crowd began to gather at the edge of the courtyard as Osmer, Commander of the Morris Cove millitary handed down the sentence to the young knight.
As the dressing down began, Victor cornered the robed pursuer and confronted him about getting in the way. Victor was not pleased by the Canter's interest in their group. He shoulder checked the robed man as he left, gruffly. This pursuer, wasting his time when he could have instead bore witness to the entirety of the court marshalling.
Meanwhile, Osmer continued. Alex was stripped of rank and dishonorably discharged from the Morris Cove military. He was shackled and walked out of town through the main thoroughfare, where everyone could see. This public display drew the attention of many, as the crowd continued to grow. As they payed attenion to Alex's humiliation, Osmer called the other two knights into the parliament building to dicuss their punishment.
Seeing this as the best possible opportunity to decide whether Osmer was in on the conspiracy, Victor and Sierra followed them in, citing their contract with Thast Istode as their means of entry. They followed the Morrisian party to their offices before continuing around the corner. Sierra, using the same spell as before, listened in to the conversations Osmer had with the knights. He conducted each interview one after another. Each one a private hearing. The eldest knight, the leader of the trio, was sentenced to be Rohan's right hand man. Osmer didn't trust Rohan and needed someone close enough to keep an eye on him and act as an informant. The other knight was one that was hand picked by Rohan himself. and was reassigned to be Osmer's personal bodyguard and assistant.
The final interview was with Rohan himself. Osmer scolded him for selecting such underperforming knights and soldiers without honour. Rohan had apparently done so despite Osmer's suggestions of who should be brought. This whole endeavour intended to be a learning excercise for Rohan to one day take command. Osmer and Rohan continued back and forth, before Osmer explained that peace was the only way to ensure that both countries could prosper. War would end them both, and Mitlind would be caught in the middle once more.
This is where Sierra's spell ended, as they made their way out of parliament building in hopes of catching up with the others who had followed Alex through the street to find out what was going to happen to him. Alex was left thrown in the mud outside of town, his discharge papers thrown over him. His arms were unshackled and he was told to find his own way home. Defeated, dejected and furious, he stromed off towards the Hounded Horse to collect his belongings.
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