Cradle – Chapter 5

“Well. The twerp’s dead.
Never a happy occasion when a company member kicks it but I must confess, this one confuses me some. Reckon there was more happenin’ inside the siege engineers that anyone of us rightly figured.
That’s gonna cost me.
Question that remains is how the Commander’s Tent’ll deal with this. Can’t say as we’ve been terribly consistent with mutiny, murder and all manner of other insubordinations in the past. Sure it’s in the contract someplace but I suppose you’d have to, you know, read one to find out. Can’t recall the last time I were obliged to do that.
Regardless of what the protocols say, something like this’s always a question of morale. It’s one thing to say ‘this’s what the paper says’ but it’s another thing entirely to say that ‘that’s what we’re gonnd do to him and maybe someday to you’.
Power don’t flow from her to us; it flows from us to her. Company don’t like the rules, they ain’t gonna follow much longer.”
 – Beholder's Log, 55th of Gnoson, Year 68 of Ondûn's Second Age

Thanks to intelligence from the pirates and Girallon, Yazram Bracebow is dragged before the Commander's Tent and forced to explain himself. He did a credible job at first, claiming self-defense, and many members of the Commander's inner circle recalled the elaborate lies Dredgar spun back on Disaster. Under the pressure of interrogation, however, Yazram began to crack and eventually confessed his plot to poison Dûnya Dragonbane over political grievance. Once the interrogation was over, Griffon dragged Yazram away, under guard, while the rest of the officers discussed what to do.
The Commander's Tent was deeply uncertain how to proceed. The contracts each mercenary signed did not account for such a bizarre scenario and, for this reason, Umber wished to consult the company about this. Chimera was about to address them but, drunk on wine and Unicorn's homemade brew, it was deemed not quite the right time for such a scene. While Umber retired to Dûnya, Remorhaz confronted the Commander about how difficult these decisions were but the meeting did not go well, angering and aggravating her.
The following morning, as rain pattered Fort Yarakir, the Menagerie gathered to hear Umber's words. He laid out the situation for them all and, given time to discuss, each of the company's four current units gave the following votes. The infantry, under Basilisk, voted to execute, based on wording in the contracts. The artillery, under Willow, voted to execute, based on their leader's hunch about Yazram's true intentions. The clergy, under Vulture, voted for banishment, which the nûnramali view as worth than death. The siege engineers were deeply divided and their leader – Khosava Bracebow – was heart-broken, both at the death of her nephew and at the betrayal of her second-in-command.
This proved still thornier for the Commander's Tent to unpack. While both Griffon and Umber advocated for following the company's vote and executing Yazram, Remorhaz and Unicorn favored banishment, fearing that it would splinter and fracture the siege engineer unit into uselessness. Each front made their case to the Commander and, while it was close, it eventually came down to Unicorn's argument, persuading Chimera. She mentioned to Umber that she wanted to be perfect for this next contract and didn't want to disappoint "him" or "his" expectations.
She emerged from her tent to deliver the verdict and, while some among the company scoffed, most accepted the reality – the siege engineers were too valuable to be jeopardized, particularly when the contract was so murky in that area. Like it or not, Yazram would live and would be left here on Fort Yarakir, to either seek employment from the pirates or some means back to Khûm.

Campaign: The Menagerie
Game Date: Gnoson 55 – 56, 68 2A
Starting Point: Fort Yarakir
Characters Present:

• Remorhaz
• Umber
• Unicorn