Archepex and most of his Generation skips the majority of the celebration. Every once in a while, when the flow of the conversation and partying ebbs particularly low, one can just hear the funerary songs drifting on the breeze and painting a beautiful picture of who Wildsong was to them soured by the ugly streak of what he came to be.
The Remembering lasts until the sky is greying with the first whispers of dawn. Then Archepex and the test join the revel. Their faces are painted with the sap of the high branches mixed with pollen giving them a fierce look in honor of their fallen.
Check your bonds and alignment for XP!
Did we learn something new and important about the world?
Did we overcome a notable monster or enemy?
Did we loot a memorable treasure?Level up if you can!
Yes: It sounds like the Major Domo was a big-time player for the Skaven. His removal will be devastating to their war efforts
Yes: The Major Domo dropped his magic ring (when we cut his hand off)
I leapt into danger without a plan.
I need bonds, though! I'll make them in the discussion thread
Before making camp for the evening, Grigor intends to check in with remaining loyalist guard that is not yet drunk.
"Emma, could you please join me in ensuring that the remaining Skaven are rooted out and don't make it back to report the loss of their leverage over the Elven realm?"
Imposing a 90% discount on the Carouse move for this evening since you're local heroes and all that. Hero discount is standardized at 90% across the lands. 10% is considered the "friendly tip" as a way of supporting the establishment you're patronizing.
Well how can I turn that deal down? I'll spend 30 gold.
During our revelry, we aren't entangled, ensorcelled, or tricked. (I'm assuming I can share my success.)
I gain a useful ally, hear useful rumors, and I'm not entangled and all that. If grigor can share that entangled success then I hear useful info too.
Dhice is very enthusiastic about the party, and a lot of his insecurities melt away through a few drinks of the fine elven spirits. He ends the night penniless but happy.
I befriend a useful NPC.
I hear rumors of an opportunity.
I gain useful information (hopefully about the Pit Lord's "finger sleeve device" that I'm still carrying around)
Of course, Dhice takes it a little too far and ends up entangled, ensorcelled, or tricked somehow. Crazy kids.
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Lyntel ends up entangled. Hirohim ends up ensorcelled.
Levelling up:
New Bond: Milo may be a useful ally. So long as he is used for the greater good. I'll be the judge of that.
Three questions: Firmly answered
Alignment: Casualties? Pah
"Carousing"
You hear rumors of an opportunity.
You gain useful information.
You are not entangled, ensorcelled, or tricked.
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Dhice: one other trait that some elves possess that hearkens back to their Faerie heritage is mischievous pranks that involve their inborn magical talents. Though you meet a stablemaster named Harthinen that promises to equip your entire party with mounts, you celebrate by getting so drunk you don't notice when some sneaky elf or other drops a little something in your brew. The following morning, until about noon or so, every word that comes out of your mouth is spoken backwards.
Another success you discover that night is that the strange fingerguard that you found confers the abilities of a shapeshifter onto your finger. As long as it is the same mass your finger and the ring together originally were, you can transform your finger and the ring on it into any shape while wearing it. While not concentrating, the ring and the finger will return to its original form.
At some point in the night, you stumble across Emma. The antipaladin has a scarily impressive amount of honeywine stacked up on the bar around her, and a ring of admirers that are staying at a healthy distance from her. Eventually, you get to talking with her, and an Elven mercenary captain joins you. You three swap stories from your past - unless you don't, Emma, I'd understand if you stayed silent - and eventually he shares two different opportunities with you two.
The first was a report from the elf that he had chosen not to share with the Majordomo, but would be happy to share with the Queen's liberators. "There's been a Luck Dragon sighted in the northern tip of the Shatterspine Mountain Ridge on the eastern border of the Sea of Leaves," he mutters to Dhice. "Capture a Luck Dragon and they'll bless you with unfailing luck for a week. Imagine what you could do with that..."
He turns to Emma. "The scout who reported the Luck Dragon to me said he had to flee the Shatterspine Ridge region after sighting it, because it was flying close to a nexus of some kind of demonic energy. I figured if I reported it to the Majordomo, he'd order us to investigate it. I was in no rush to sacrifice my men advancing that elf's plots."
The captain narrows his eyes as he stares at the antipaladin. "If you decide to investigate it yourselves, beware of the main path leading up the mountain. It may look like the fastest route, but we've trapped nearly every turn and double-back on it. Take the goat-path through the brushes to the right-hand side and climb up from there."
Archepex, through your night of mourning, you gain the two siblings as Hirelings. They have Loyalty 2, and starting stats of:
Hireling Skills Reference
Sibling 1 (Your name choice)
Loyalty 2
Tracker 2
Burglar 1
Cost: Thrill of Victory
Sibling 2 (Your name choice)
Loyalty 2
Warrior 2
Protector 1
You hear rumors of a place that Skaven collaborators are thought to retreat to in this forest in times of need. Any survivors of the battle here after the Queen was liberated will probably flee there. It's hidden in a tree and activated by pressing a cunningly hidden button.
Lyntel, Hirohim provides you with coffee grown by Colombian dwarves to help you stay awake. With his careful help, you're able to stay up all night and only feel a little bit shaky in the morning.
Milo did not have enough gold to properly party, and instead just had a night of drinks with no reward.
The twins that now act as a substitute for Archepex's shadow are Amarr and Minmatar. Amarr is a recently retired soldier and Minmatar a known sneak. Thankfully, the two are nowhere near identical. Amarr is much larger and Minmatar more agile.
At the start of the night, Emma says basically nothing other than pleasantries. As the honeywine starts piling up, she begins telling old war lies to anyone who cares to listen, mixed with a few tidbits from her childhood. The actual memories sound like the unrealistic exaggerations.
Then she starts smiling.
Then she passes out.
It takes a lot (and I mean a lot) of honeywine to do that to a paladin, but she wakes up with seemingly no side effects. Really, did you expect a crippling hangover to deter a paladin from her morning calisthenics? For shame.
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Dhice:The following morning, until about noon or so, every word that comes out of your mouth is spoken backwards.
Dhice is amazingly spry the following morning, despite his massive over-indulgence. It seems that the hardiness that has built up through years of channeling elemental forces through this body has some other beneficial side effects.
He's less capable of managing the whimsical curse, though. "?olleH ?syuG ?gniyas m'I gnihtyna dnatsrednu uoy nac ,syug yeH"
He wonders if this is the kind of thing that will bubble up once in a while in the future, like a bad mushroom trip...
As the sun rises, Lyntel spends an hour in deep concentration with her mother's spellbook. When satisfied, she says goodbye to Hirohim and seeks out her companions at the tavern.
At the start of the night, Emma says basically nothing other than pleasantries. As the honeywine starts piling up, she begins telling old war lies to anyone who cares to listen, mixed with a few tidbits from her childhood. The actual memories sound like the unrealistic exaggerations.
Then she starts smiling.
Then she passes out.
It takes a lot (and I mean a lot) of honeywine to do that to a paladin, but she wakes up with seemingly no side effects. Really, did you expect a crippling hangover to deter a paladin from her morning calisthenics? For shame.
Looks like I am rooting out Skaven insurgents without PC backup.
Looks like I am rooting out Skaven insurgents without PC backup.
Sorry Grigor, when you decided to spend gold carousing I assumed you were using that action to overwrite your expressed desire to hunt down Skaven. Still, you and Emma did find useful information about a Skaven bolt-hole in the Sea of Trees, so that is available to you.
The next day dawns on a celebratory city of elves in the trees. Emma is stretching on her own when she's approached by a small group of elves wearing light clothing. Though apparent age is very difficult to discern with elves, the attitude and bearing of this group speaks to you of relative youth.
"We noticed you doing a morning exercise here, hero," the spokes-elf woman says, approaching you ahead of her four friends. "Can we join you?" If Emma acquiesces, they will begin doing Vinyasa yoga stretches all around her, giving her enough space to do her exercises. Milo and Grigor, nearby, get some unintentional eyefuls as they go through their motions.
None of the rest of you, besides Dhice, feel any ill effects from the elves' wine. Elves are clever brewsters, and even their alcoholic drinks will rehydrate you, preventing the hangover effects felt by alcohol brewed by other races.
Lyntel runs into Archepex and the twins, Minmatar and Ammar, as she's leaving Hirohim's residence.
It's early; still about sunrise. The Queen has not called her Court yet, though she indicated that she plans to this morning, to discuss the remaining Skaven problem. Everyone feels well rested except Lyntel. What do you all do?
Lyntel smiles at Archepex as she approaches and looks approvingly at his new companions.
I am Lyntel. Would you all join me for breakfast before the Queen convenes her court?
She begins peppering the two elves with questions about themselves and about Archepex. It isn't everyday that you meet the childhood friends of the subject of your magnum opus.
They all gladly join Lyntel and it doesn't take long before the stories and good-natured ribbing starts. Apparently Archepex was always a leader, but not by choice. He is among the eldest of his Generation and he has been thrust into leadership several times. He dropped it as soon as he could each time. He became a Ranger to avoid it. Then he joined the Mousetrap company and comes back to become the biggest hero in recent memory. It's all very ironic.
Oh, and he was afraid of heights as a child.
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Emma nods, and watches the sun rise with both feet behind her head.
As you walk through the city, you note that many of the revelers simply fell asleep in the city's "streets." But given that the streets are all grassy, it's a comfortable place to lie down.
Minmatar is just launching into a story about a time when Archepex got stuck at the top of a Wishing Tree during the Silverleaf Festival when they come upon the Antipaladin Emma, who is casually getting her body limbered up for a day of action surrounded by yoga elves. These elves are, in turn, surrounded by a looser ring of elven adolescent boys, who are trying not to make it obvious that they're staring. Whether it's in hero worship of Emma or simple admiration of the young elf maidens' flexibility, it's hard to say.
Archepex chuckles and joins Emma. He sits cross legged beside the folded warrior and takes a few centering breaths.
Good morning, Emma. I must say I'm surprised to find you conscious. You downed enough honeymead to kill a horse.
Lyntel is agape at the scene and pulls out a notepad. She begins furiously sketching the absurdity of it all.
"Yes, it certainly was enough to kill a horse. Your point?"
Emma unfolds from a sitting position to balanced entirely on one hand, then two fingers. She doesn't quite manage to get to a single finger, which annoys her greatly.
That most humans would be struggling to stand right now, yet here you are. I am impressed.
Archepex didn't move externally except to close his eyes. Mentally he is focusing on his connection to the world and making sure his spells are ready to go.
After watching the elves do yoga a bit, Milo shyly moves to join the group once Archepex arrives.
Mr. Archepex, sir...I, gosh, I don't even know how to ask this, but...well...I mean, you turn invisible sometimes. How...how do you do that?
Archepex smiles at Milo's hesitantcy. Something I found while clearing out a Skaven warren. He reaches up and pulls his mask down, then promptly fades from view. But I can't move quickly while invisible, so it's not perfect.
He then re-appears with the mask removed.
Milo scrunches his face a bit. Have you ever heard of something like this before? Any idea where the Skaven could have gotten something like it? You can imagine that something like this could significantly benefit my efforts
The skaven are scavengers. They almost certainly didn't make it. If we could find out more shout it, perhaps we could aquire a second.
As the two discuss, the city continues opening to the morning like a flower. Every elf remaining in the city is still "riding the high" of their Queen being restored to safety and their hidden Skaven oppressors being driven out, and business owners are emerging into the streets, proving that it wasn't just the bartenders whose business had suffered under occupation. Now, shutters on homes are flung open, carts are repaired and put back into use, and activity can be heard and seen everywhere.
For those needing breakfast, a pittance will buy you nearly any Elven food you can imagine to fill your bellies. Eat well while you can, for the Queen's Court will be called to order this morning soon.
Grigor gets his fill of biscuits and such, then starts looking for a way to get the vial of purple viscous fluid identified. I have been carrying it around since the beginning of the game.
At breakfast, Grigor mentions an odd vial. Can I see that for a minute?
Hmm... Dhice have you seen something like this before?
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. I think so yes. A dark elf we captured one time... . Dhice tells a tale of a prisoner of war that jogs Lyntels memory, but he is unaware of the social faux pas he's just committed in front of all the elves.
Emma is going to take a poke around, looking for a moneylender or changer. Of all the possible problems to have, bags of gold being almost too heavy to carry isn't that high on her priorities, but the bulky stolen loot was getting ridiculous.
Dhice jogs Lyntel's memory, and within moments, the two of them are sharing a story that they had told each other on the roads leading into the Sea of Trees. A dark elf was said to have invented a potion that had all the qualities of this one - the color, the viscous consistency, the residue left behind on the inside of the bottle - it all fits. This is a potion of Oozekin. The imbiber of such a potion can become a formless blob at will, for 24 hours. This ooze can be squeezed into a minimum volume of 10 ounces, the size of a potion bottle, and can mold itself to fit any shape. Use this ooze form to get past impassible barriers or vigilant guards. Anything you envelop completely while in ooze form takes your class damage every 6 seconds. You can take HP damage while in ooze form, but it's very difficult - hard to harm a puddle of ooze.
Emma, you convert your 400 gold pieces to 40 platinum pieces at the Elven bank - one of the only institutions that was left unsullied by the Skaven occupation. The rats must have assumed that bankers were already corrupted and on their side, so they didn't interfere with their operations much. The elves in the bank scowl at you unpleasantly but serve your needs professionally.
Just as you're finishing, a mighty blowing of horns rises up into the morning air. The Queen is calling all elves in the city to her Court.
The public Court is out back behind the Courthouse, in a larger area where more elves can be gathered in one place. You see elves all over the city stopping what they're doing and closing up shop to go attend. Some of your fans are gathering around you to escort you all there.
Lyntel marches towards the courthouse with unbridled enthusiasm, somewhat tempered by physical fatigue.
Easy, you are not 75 anymore.
Archepex also moves towards the assembly area, but not on the ground. He takes to the trees followed by the twins and other tree runners. The limbs have been worn flat by generations of tree runners and the limbs are easily spaced, so it's not as grand as his Sasquatch chase, but it's still not exactly boring to watch.
Grigor sashays to the courthouse, his enthusiasm thoroughly bridled.
Milo bounds to the courthouse with so much enthusiasm that even Lyntel would be a little overwhelmed. He's so excited for a quest, you don't even know.
Dhice heads for the gathering, also full of enthusiasm, until he starts noticing the dark glances from those elves he offended with his retelling of the POW story involving the dark elf. That dampens his spirit significantly.
You arrive along with a huge crowd of elves. All ages and professions are represented here; whereas yesterday, most of the celebrations were conducted by the military caste, now that it's been proven safe and free of Skaven, the rest of the elven city is braving the outside again.
You find yourselves in a huge crowd of elves, all anxiously awaiting their Queen outside of the towering tree stump that serves as the Courthouse. A window and balcony have been carved from the wood near the top of the stump, with violet drapes drawn over them.
You don't have to wait long. Without an announcement, the Queen emerges from behind the purple drapes, with a flourish. The crowd cheers wildly and enthusiastically at her healthy appearance. Gone is the weakness of yesterday; she seems more like herself again, more like some of you may remember of happier years in the past. She laughs as she raises both arms high overhead, exulting in the crowd's adulating cries. You note that the railing of the balcony is shorter and further down than it would be in an analogous human building; built to the Queen's smaller specifications.
The Queen begins speaking after letting the crowd get the vast majority of their cheers out. Her words, like a magic spell in themselves, float over the heads of those present and fill them with a sense of determination, or joy, or both. You all are acknowledged for the daring rescue you performed on the Queen, and her voice becomes somber when she informs the city of the fate of Faldren, the Majordomo, who had been a major public figure. There's no risk of the city missing him too much though; when his name is mentioned by the Queen, she immediately has to raise and lower her hands to quiet the crowd's boos and jeers.
At the end of the Queen's speech, which had been motivational and inspiring, the Queen's tone turns darker; she brings up the Skaven that are still out there, plotting against them, and the wrath of the crowd is a sight to see.
Her attempts to quiet the crowd don't initially work - so infuriated by the Skaven's actions are the elves present that they don't allow their voices to be calmed.
"WAR! WAR! WAR! WAR!" comes a chant from somewhere in the crowd. It's quickly taken up by more voices, and then more, and more, until it seems that almost the entire city is chanting the word, stomping their feet for emphasis until the trees around them tremble.
Archepex stands with his feet on two separate branches several dozen feet above the throng. He didn't join the cheer. He's been at war with the shaken for years. Most elves saw the skaven like a human saw a forest fire. Dangerous, yes, but not to be confronted directly. It was about time they saw the threat for what it was.
Still, a confident, almost excited smile creeps it's way onto his face. This war just changed. His people have been on the defensive for a long time. Their lands have remained mostly unmolested. Now, a powerful force has awakened. The Skaven won't know what hit them.
(Image of Amidala watching Palpatine being made Chancellor.)
Milo isn't as affected by the queen's words. He has no love lost for the Skaven, but he's seen a mob before. Mobs scare him...
The Queen allows the chanting to continue on for some time before she raises both hands and gestures with a pushing motion outward. A wave of magical force emanates from her hand and washes quickly over the crowd - not enough to harm anyone, but it definitely puts a damper on the wild chanting and roaring.
A few moments of silence pass by as the childlike Elfqueen stands before her people, her arms upraised, like a monument. Finally she speaks, and her words are filled with sorrow.
"We will have war," she assents, her subdued tones nonetheless reaching every gathered ear. She points upward, at the sky over the crowd.
Out of nowhere, a demon's face appears - a simulacra created by the Queen's magic. It is a horrible face- crisscrossed with scars like looking at a road map from above, and wreathed in blue fire with black eyes like pits staring down at the assembly.
The Queen speaks again. "But we will not war on the Skaven alone! This must be understood by EVERY ELF! I learned much of the Skaven while in their captivity under Faldren, whom I thought my friend. Faldren, and his Skaven allies that subdued me, were operating under the orders of the FEL!"
Screams of terror and shouts of alarm ripple through the crowd as this revelation strikes them. Demons were a fantasy to most, existing only in old tales and legends of heroism. Now that they are active players in the war, the enthusiasm of the crowd for revenge is moderated by raw fear.
His eyes widened. The Fel? Few had even believed his story, and now a queen was declaring war on them? Might Milo finally have revenge?
Emma, the crowds have ceased their chanting and cheering when the demonic face manifested before them. The intrusion of this storybook villain into their real lives have shocked them into temporary silence. If there was ever a time to make a grand gesture in front of the whole city of assembled elves, this is it.
In a high, clear magically-projected voice Lyntel begins singing an ancient Elven song of courage and triumph over the Fel. While most believe it to be nothing more than an allegory, Lyntel knows that the story of Hedoun the Second Born is all too real. Hedoun led the Elves against a Fel invasion tens of thousands of years before. It is a story of Elven triumph, but the crowd is hesitant to join in. She looks to Archepex to join his Generation in the song.
As the verse begins where Hedoun swears his life to the First Queen, Lyntel gestures for Emma to approach the Queen.