Session 67: Rebellion pt 2 Report

General Summary

On the morning of the 25th of Clan-Time, the party convenes in the old church, Delmirev and Fireborn together. Fireborn is tied up, they are in the tower. Mystan casts Divination, sacrificing 25 gp worth of coins to Raan's heavenly hoard. Mystan asks of the Spirit of Raan's Philosophy: "Would it be beneficial in the long run to have Granny Nightshade as an ally against the Empire?"

"The Grandmother would usher out an age of Nightmares into an age of Dreams; she is a symptom and an ally--destroy the disease, destroy the symptom."

Shan'tie helps interpet that with Mystan; Granny Nightshade is a manifestation of the trauma and corruption the empire has exhibited onto the Tenas Palach. Have her help destroy the empire, and she will wither away.

Shan'tie prepares to cast Sending to her estranged wife, which Mystan is now on board with. Menace is cool with this, but Virion is still unsure... Shan'tie explains its like the empire went stomping and shouting around in the mountains and got an avalanche. The part Menace is concerned about is Shan'tie casting Sending to Lillian.

Delmirev offers that perhaps in healing the spirit world Shan'tie can heal her broken bond with Lillian, but Shan'tie shuts him down. "I lied to her, and she left me."

Virion chimes in, "we were trying to stop a murder-death cult, I think it was acceptable."

Menace: "Sometimes you join a murder-death cult, sometimes you make mistakes!"

"I wouldn't contact you unless it was important. I need an audience with Granny Nightshade to fight against the Empire." - Shan'tie.

Lillian responds, "Sleep, and your audience will be assured."

Shan'tie casts Hallucinatory Terrain to make it look like a bramble, and with Virion's casting of Private Sanctum the chapel is all but hidden.

Shan'tie then approaches Captain Fireborn, and she apologizes for how she treated him when she captured him. Fireborn, rather sardonically, accepts her apology.

"It's been a lot recently, and I don't hate you, I don't want to kill you, I just can't let you kill me."

"I did try to give you a way out."

"I can't leave while others need me."

"You're a soldier, and you have a duty, and I can respect that."

"When this is over, Eliander, can you try to just exist with us? Peacefully?"

"We'll discuss when it's over when it's over."

"Alright," Shan'tie says.

Eliander has been gagged the whole time so he can't respond. He did have a sending stone, and Commander Ana Fireborn has repeatedly asked for him to come in. By the morning of the 25th, she stopped addressing him as Captain Fireborn and said "Dad, are you alive? If we don't hear from you we will assume you were killed in action, per standard protocol."

The party bickers about the ethics of responding, as from a strategic standpoint they should let the empire assume Eliander is dead, but from a moral one it feels really wrong to let Ana think she's an orphan.

The Sheild Guardian is in Saltmarsh under imperial watch but the party has the amulet, btw.

Menace tells Shan'tie that they are taking down an empire--they have to make concessions. Risking their safety for Ana's feelings is a terrible idea.

Shan'tie is silent; but she eventually concedes and hands Menace the sending stone.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Nothing, that's the point," Mystan says. While this is happening, Virion steps inside to speak with Captain Fireborn.

Virion approaches with a bottle of fine wine from his bag. Eliander looks up, bound and gagged, with a curious look in his eye. Virion sets the wine on a table and pulls Eliander up, dropping him into a chair. Virion then produces two clean cups, shows Eliander the cups, pours two glasses, and ties Eliander to the chair while freeing his hands. He apologizes for the circumstances, and ungags him. Finally, Virion sits down.

Eliander is surprised, and says "So you're going to butter me up with alcohol, huh?"

"No, I thought i would be a way to recollect the old times."

"Ah, the Old Tines."

Virion takes a sip from his cup, and Eliander takes a cautious sip, and the wine is good and safe.

"Thank you, that's good wine."

"See, we... I see a new, strong respect for duty to the empire for which you serve. And for that I respect you fully. After all, we've seen much of life together."

"Aye. What duty is it that you have here? Melody seems to think she has a duty to the people here--not the empire's people, but her people. What duties do you have?"

"I have a duty to the ideals the empire thinks it upholds."

"Which would be?"

"A commitment to honesty-"

"I'm honest! Why I still offered you that boat ride once we were on opposite sides of the war!"

Virion points out that a single member is not the whole, and goes on to explain that he was branded a traitor for believing the empire ought to uphold a treaty it signed. "You see, the moment we start to reneg on negotiations written in black and white... it's the moment we start to lose a major part of our country, our dignity, and our trustworthiness. And so, for me, trying to uphold the character of the empire to be the best it can be, am suddenly against them."

Eliander deflects by appealing to the Emperor's authority and superiority as the lord. Virion points out the empire is weak.

"Are you saying that necromancy cult is still in charge?"

"I'm saying its underlying ideology is."

"Which would be?"

Virion explains Fascism, and Eliander--in not so many words--asks if that's a bad thing. Rule of law is not by the consent of the governed by the divine authority of the emperor to weild military power. If he must weild such power when client states fail to uphold their duties, so be it; that is the strong's right.

Virion admits that violece is sometimes needed to enforce rules but now it is arbitary and weilded by megalomianical leaders, which naturally would lead to an uprising when people realize the state only upholds itself.

Eliander says that they are at an impass, and then thanks Virion for the wine and finishes his cup.

Virion and Eliander then have a more friendly conversation, trying to get some info out of him. He doesn't get much beyond Eliander complaining about Marik Feldren.

Menace gets sit of sitting around, and goes in to strongarm information out of Eliander. They walk in and casually summon the flame tongue, lit, into their hand. Eliander shouts "woah!"

"Listen. Virion here? He's a gentleman, he likes niceties. I've been a vary patient person, and you really like talking in cricles and using so many words to say so little

"Hey, hey, hey no need to threaten me--just ask away."

"You are the captain of the guard, correct? You know all your guardsmen and their locations."

Menace threatens to perform surgery with an axe on the town, and if he hands over names it will be with a scalpel. Eliander capitulates, and Virion is uncomfortable.

Eliander gives the names and ranks of all 100 members, and then explains the structure of Alliance Tower's 50 soldiers and 420 sailors and marines with 9 ships. Menace asks if Ana is single, Fireborn is racist, Virion slaps him and Menace is more threatening. Fireborn misses a clue Menace is Faeryn. Menace then asks about Feldren.

Fireborn explains that Feldren is a young hothead and war hawk, and he desperately needs a wife. Moving onto Burle, it houses 450 soldiers, mostly rangers, 2/3rds imperials and 1/3rd silverstand. Kiara Shadowbreaker is neurotic.

Moving on to the dream scene.

The ghosts of saltmarsh all go to sleep but Menace stays awake to keep watch. They awake in a twisted thicket, the awful visage of Granny Nightshade before them.

"You wished to speak with me?"

"Yes. We are wishing to remove Keoland from the region and want your help."

Nightshade introduces them to the Owlbear who ate Eliander's leg, and then says it isn't her who needs convincing--it's Lilian. Nightshade disappears into mist and Lillian appears, and there's the civillian casualities arguement again. Lillian describes the Dreadwood as a fever; the body has to die a little to get rid of the sickness, the limb be amputed before necrosis spreads.

Virion thinks this is a waste of time, Shan'tie wants to limit civillian casualities, but Mystan is trusthing in Raan--he has faith. They have a common goal.

Shan'tie surmizes that the Silverstand and Burle have only be containing the Dreadwood. If they take Burle out and the Silverstand disengages, the Dreadwood would be able to pretty quickly assault the empire with literal and metaphorical nightmares.

Lillian requests Shadowbreaker be dealt with before the Equinox, so they can attack under cover of Ringshadow, while Virion begs for his parents--Lillian is out for the Sylvennes, and warns Virion only to get Rodrigo and Maria out of Seaton by the Equniox, then.

Virion is stressed, tugging at his color, while Mystan is calm.

Shan'tie says this is buisness, and Lillian says for sure. She asks if Lillian is staying in the Dreadwood, and she says she likes it here. Shan'tie says she isn't the woman she once loved, and Lillian says neither is Shan'tie. The dream ends with laughter, and the reminder of the Equinox.

Come the morning of the 26th, Virion is awake far earlier and takes up watch while Menace meditates--but first they discuss Virion's family, and Menace reminds him that they are part of the empire.

Menace and Virion discuss how Virion would even be able to get his parents out of Seaton. Mystan brings up Sending but Virion argues that direct contact is necessary--he needs to be there to ensure they don't snitch on him and can be gotten out.

>Insert "He's a notable figure" joke

Menace would prefer to polymorph Virion into a rat (again) and sneak the pair in via their cloak. Menace and Mystan throw around ideas of meeting with the parents outside of town, or how to come up with a reason for them to leave town. Maria and Rodrigo are in their 400s; they're a bit set in their ways.

Mystan and Menace brainstorm how to kidnap the Sylvennes. They realize that with Menace's Polymorph and Mystan's Word of Recall, as long as Maria fails to Counterspell then the Sending risk would sound like a kidnapping, not a warning of an impending attack.

"I just, I don't want to see them terrified or hurt."

"We won't hurt them. Assuming things go smoothly, it would not be long, and we would bring them here."

Virion agrees. End session.