Chapter 3, Part V: Peace and Poison

Rix

   Written by MC

We are in Fayble.

We had a talk with the Brio temple guys and they're going to close the door to the mysterious evil.

Now we're updating Aurifar. He tells us the same thing as last time (that Rix doesn't remember), that he remembers that same dark evil possibly existing in the Keepers temple in Centra, where the other party found the medallions.

The ORC is able to hide things from Aurifar.

Aurifar agrees with Morgan that Emperor of Tyr is just an asshole. He has tried to attack Wiltspar before. He gets obsessed with things and is probably obsessed with killing us now.

How did the ORC know who we were before we did? Tyr is a TITAN. And can recognize us because of that?! We can just be wearing t-shirts now. Maybe we should tell DOJO tonight?

Chauncey waves and lets us know that we need to assign people to run the buildings in town.

To Platinum City! There are stars at night, which is cool. The palace is like, boarded up and shut down. And there are no Sentinels! Doing okay, Louie? No. No he is not.

Flyers on the wall. Campaign posters for Chancellor election. Kelvin Bigby is one. But majority are for Verona Velacour for Chancellor. ORC for Chancellor.

Rix buys armor. Ford starts using the Repulsion Shield.

Another Minotaur is beelining for Ford. "What is the nature of this interaction?" It's Crete, from the Coliseum. Sentinels were decommissioned. Coliseum is being renovated for the global fight thing. Faraday Lawson. Crete tells us Election Day is the day after tomorrow.

DOJO is taking this news really well. The FPC has been aware of the ORC being assholes for a long time, so this is just a new layer of that. We also tell him about the election in PC. Did Adriana recall the Sentinels on our advice? Possibly.

Princess is 27 year old human. We don't know if she is actively on the Archon's son's side or if she's being manipulated. She was sheltered, but she and the queen did charity work. Very protected by her family.

They probably would have met at the Warden's Festival in PC at some point. Theo thinks Morgan and Rix should try to have some "girl talk" with the Princess. I'm going to assume "girl talk" does not include kidnapping.

Evervale is in the position to benefit the most from a ceasefire, because they are losing the most people and also Typhon was their ally and he is gone now. The King is proud but reasonable, and cares deeply about the people. He can be informal compared to other royalty. The Archon finds that informality aggravating and disrespectful. Breaching that cultural barrier can be helpful. Queen is a talented mage/healer. Princess Cordelia raised to be a diplomat.

Archon Slade is in a terrible situation with her son having been kidnapped by her other son. She might be more prickly than usual. She is defensive and more vulnerable than usual. So, do NOT talk about Aurelius at the peace talks. The Archon would shut down completely. Maybe negotiate a ceasefire until her son is back?

War began as a territorial dispute. Northreach Glades is physically connected to Evervale but temps are low enough that it by charter qualifies as part of Crystalia. The Archon's father started this conflict, and he died in the war.

No swearing at the dignitaries. Don't be disruptive or get drunk.

Evervale has levied very high tariffs for Crystalia, so Crystalia just started stealing goods and blockaded the seas, etc.

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Escorted to Hymore* Manor. Streets super empty, besides guards from both sides. Stone manor at the top of the hill, big iron gate, two guards.

Young woman with honey blonde hair and a silver tiara. Princess Cordelia.

We can all sit. Theo sits next to the Archon. Ford sits near the Hymores.

DOJO is our MC, and starts us off with thanks for everybody showing up.

Archon stands up and says someone she trusted kidnapped her son. Y'all are welcome for releasing your innocent diplomat from custody.

Archon already upset that Hymore asked about her son, but Rix and DOJO smooth it out. Theo messages that he thinks they weren't being rude, just being morons.

Rix tries out girl talk with Cordelia and I think gains her trust a bit. Cordelia admits to sending letters and being friends with Aurelius.

Louie talks to the Archon and tries to calm her down a little bit. He is successful. Thanks Korzo.

Ford charms the king with war talk, and when asked, suggests making the Northreach Glades a neutral territory.

Archon says that it's time to address the mammoth in the room and talk about the NG. "That's just what a continent is."

Archon and Hymore are coming to a possible agreement about "sharing" the land of the NG. Theo tells everyone that the end is nigh, and explains why. Archon says, I support going after the ORC-- no matter who that entails. Hymore is more like, sure whatever.

Rix is like, by the way, the ORC will probably try to kill us or convince you that we've done something awful. The Archon assures us that we have earned her utmost trust. Then we toast to the ceasefire.

FUCK we're being poisoned. FUCK the princess is dead. We have the pool of hit points per Rix's ability. Good thing Rix is a rule follower.

Theo tried to Dispel Magic on the Archon and it didn't do anything.

Ford tries to heal the Queen and it failed. Ford heals the King of poison. Rix heals the Queen's poison and heals her some. The Queen heals the Archon of poison.

Theo casts haste on Louie! And gives me a diamond to cast Revivify! On the Archon first, but if she doesn't need it, the princess. Archon is up so Cordelia gets Revivified.

The guards don't answer to the Archon, and seem to be wearing ORC cloaks. Bastards!

DOJO has lightning brass knuckles!! Holy shit.

Archon jumps out a window and runs after Aurelius. Now we're all going to try to follow.

Louie is down and sinking into the water. Ford summons Terri the dog. Terri heals Louie. THAT BASTARD DDed to the ship.

_{*DM adjustment}

Louie Dahlia

    Written by Sean

Hey, Punk. Had a lot to do in terms of dealing with that room. Had to talk to the priests of Brio and get them to close off that room. I needed time, I barely spoke, I still needed time. We spoke to Deputy Officer Junior Officer (Dojo) and basically told him everything. Told him about the room in the church, told him about us being blessed, and convinced him that the O.R.C. was bad news. We took some time to get ready for the peace talks, I had nearly forgotten about that. Headed back home to PC to pick up a few things and found out that the Queen bitch of the O.R.C. is running for chancellor of PC, all that means is that we have to get this done if we ever want to go home...

It was finally time for the peace talks... In moments like that, I think about us alone in the streets when it was raining and cold and we were hungry and now, here I am, some kid from Platinum City in the same room as actual world leaders. Fuckin' insane. It was good to see the Archon again, I want you to meet her, she's tough as nails, and I think you'd like her a lot. The talks started tense, the Archon was angry, I could see it right away, when I had a chance to do it, I talked to her and helped her get herself under control and more focused. Much to my surprise, we did really well. Rix absolutely crushed it in there, even Theo and I spoke up here and there.

After some time, the King and the Archon finally came to an agreement. They worked out terms and were able to find common ground which I didn't expect. Another thing I didn't expect was the Archon's fuckface of a son, Aurelius poisoning the wine at the peace talks, bursting the doors open and blaming us for it. We managed to recover, saved the King, Queen, Princess, and Archon then when Aurelius ran like the little bitch that he is, we all took off after him, his own mother included.

We tried to take him down but he slipped outta our hands. We will catch him and I will end him.

Theodore

    Written by Justin

We re-tell the Brioic Temple priests that the darkness room in the basement has to be off limits, they seem agreeable to that

We go to Wiltpsar and tell Aurifer about what happened again, all of us are a little bit older than we were except for Rix

He reiterates that there is a piece of this dark power at the old base on Centra

Emperor of Tyrrus is not an ORC member as far as Aurifer knows but he is aligned with them

Tyr is a Titan, can sense Blessed

We go to Platinum City to get Rix some armor

Lots of election posters all around. Velacour is running for Chancellor as well as a Kelvin Bigby

We buy some stuff

Another minotaur runs up on Ford

It's the guy who was organizing the fights on our first day here

Election is the day after tomorrow

We meet up with DOJO and give him the tea on our deal

The peace talks will consist of diplomats from both sides, bodyguards, King, Queen, Princess (who was the one exchanging letters with the Archon's son), and the Archon

Ford knows the Princess has been sheltered for much of her life

Evervale is in the position to benefit the most from a ceasefire

The King is a very proud person but he is reasonable, cares deeply about his people. He was a member of the army

Archon is in a very defensive place. Do NOT bring up Aurelius

High tariffs have been levied by Evervale on Crystalia, Crystalia has responded by stealing ships, embargos, blockades, etc.

Long rest

Portent are 3 and 14

We go to the peace talks, Morgan casts See Inivsibility, I leave my new Raven outside in the trees

The Princess greets us and welcomes us in. I take my seat near the Archon

The Archon acknowledge that the kidnapping of her son was an inside job and she released Wisket as a show of good faith

We actually get through the peace talks and get things on the right track? Tentative peace and cooperation?

Surprise, Aurelius, number one piece of shit all-time, is here and has somehow poisoned everyone?

We rock his guards and give chase, reaching him before he gets to his ship

Morgan fireballs his sails and crew, severely (we hope) slowing his shit down

Big combat

Fuckface dimension doors onto his ship and we give chase