Session 10

General Summary

Mrek, Feng, and Slint emerged from Jory Hammett's head just as Ludwig emerged from the shower. Aside from a headache, Jory seemed whole and healthy, and Princess Chesten expressed her immense gratitude. She promised to speak on the party's behalf at the Congress the next day.
Morning came and the party prepared for their big moment. Mrek and Ludwig readied a multimedia presentation that extolled the bravery of the Gakhai Tsereg at the Battle of Forked Crossings and spoke on behalf of the unrepresented peoples of Midavel. Feng considered his part in the matter, and realized that he was more concerned with the big picture of understanding and stopping the gargantua than with questions of borders and territory. Slint went to work.
After lunch, the party climbed the stairs to Prince Jaren's palace, where they were met by Coveri. He led them to the council chamber, where they met Slint outside, then entered. The chamber was carved directly into the gray rock of the cliffside, with a huge obsidian table in the center and eleven seats for the delegates.
The party noted the four delegates they hadn't met yet: Patience Hardby of Exonia, Ayberk Mazhar of Cercimon, Nicodemus Agonistes of Ardatril, and Radislav White Falcon of Quedra. Most of the party had heard of "Gunpowder Nick," a famous naval captain and notorious rogue who led Ardatril's navy once the tieflings joined the great war against Aniara, but only Mrek recognized that Mazhar was wearing the gold piping of an old, pre-Ardatril Cercimoni captain on his fez.
The party made their presentation; Ludwig gave a great performance, which impressed Captain Agonistes, Chancellor White Falcon, Queen Agort, and Guildmaster Hardby. Mrek's words didn't seem to have much effect. During his song, Ludwig surreptitiously cast read thoughts, and noted that Mazhar was thinking "That damned tiefling seems to be enjoying this rot!" Ludwig slipped in a few words about breaking free of the tiefling empire, which earned a spark of pleasure from the old man. Next, Feng spoke up, also extolling the orcish cavalry and telling the Congress that he spoke from a place of neutrality regarding political matters, but that the true threat was the gargantua, and all nations needed to come together against it.
Edward the Wolf noted that the orcs had been paid to fight at Forked Crossings, and said he did not doubt their bravery, but the threat from Aniara had to be contained. Lady Tiberia took offense to this and supported the party, saying that her country was insulted to be treated like a rabid dog that had to be caged up. Sigrid of Thorpe and Princess Chesten spoke in favor of the party.
Then Mazhar opined as to how adventurers never did anything without a profit motive, and wondered what they stood to gain. Mrek tried to make an argument on behalf of freedom based on his knowledge that Mazhar's hat suggested an affinity for the Cercimoni captains of old, but accidentally insulted the old ambassador by implying that he supported piracy. Mrek also noted that any attempt to take land from the orcs would lead to resistance, violence, and a distraction from the battle against the gargantua.
Gunpowder Nick was quick to jump on this opening, saying "I think he's calling you a pirate!" The tiefling asked the party their thoughts on piracy. These were a bit muddled, but eventually they conveyed that ultimately, piracy was a symptom of desperation; this tack seemed to earn approval from Mazhar.
Finally Prince Jaren asked for any final arguments and suggested a vote. The motion was to award the west coast of the Orkhon to Doria for development and the building of defenses against Aniara. Sigrid, Chesten, and Tiberia promptly voted no, and Edward voted yes. Annite Bashir, Nicodemus Agonistes, and Gort Agort voted yes as well, but the rest of the Congress voted in favor of the party and the Orkhon, and the motion was defeated.

Delegate	Nation	Vote
Annite Bashir	The Sand Isles	Yes
Captain Ayberk Mazhar	Cercimon	No
Princess Chesten Trenowden	Midmare	No
Regent Edward "The Wolf" Tully	Doria	Yes
Queen Gort Agort	The Blackmere	Yes
Prince Jaren Deyne	Caleria	No
Captain Nicodemus "Gunpowder Nick" Agonistes	Ardatril	Yes
Guildmaster Patience Hardby	Exonia	No
Chancellor Radislav White Falcon	Quedra	No
Queen Sigrid of Thorpe	Lygrany	No
Lady Tiberia Londes	Aniara	No

On their way out, Prince Jaren reminded the party that they had promised that the orcs of the Orkhon could be organized and civilized and induced to defend against Aniara if necessary. Radislav White Falcon got the door, and invited the party for drinks later on.
They met Radislav for drinks at the Well-Founded Sailor; Ludwig wore an excellent disguise but the bartender who hated him wasn't working that night anyway. Between taking petitions from parents and students hoping to attend Crothe and academics hoping to teach there, Radislav explained to the party that he was looking for help with an internal matter. He'd heard rumors that the alchemists of Harkness, the university of magic, were researching dark things such as poisons that he considered unfitting for academics. He thought the party might be able to do some clandestine investigation into the matter. In return, he would be happy to study the samples Slint took from the Living Island, and secure access to the archives and artifacts at Stagmount for the party to look into the matter of the gargantua and the namzaqu (which Feng told all he knew about to his partymates). They discussed elven technology a bit, and Radislav opined that the elves were more advanced, but clearly had some dark method of powering their inventions that was powerful but unwholesome.
Ultimately, a decision was made: despite their promises to look into matters in Brymrad (for both Midmare and Caleria!) and the missing Lygranti soldiers in Aniara, the most pressing matter was the gargantua. The party would attend the Ambassadors' Ball on Friday, then join Radislav on his return trip to Quedra on Monday. There they would look into the Harkness issue and do their research, then probably book passage via the northern shipping route to Davenport and continue by land to the Orkhon, Lygrany, and Aniara.

Report Date

17 Jun 2019