Session 18, The Council of Etonia

I think out figured out a new trick. My bond with Ember is stronger now. Of course, you remember Ember, my wildfire spirit. You see, now anytime I cast a spell with fire or healing—which is pretty much all of my spells—they are more powerful when Ember is summoned. Now, the problem is, someday I will run into a creature that is not affected by fire damage. I need to figure out what to do in that case.
 
After Eowyn’s and my adventurer (see Session 16.5 The Escape of Acgozluk) to defeat a demon, we reunited with Will, Julia, and Vardai back in Etonia. We had a few days to rest, practice, and shop. I bought a diamond as a spell component for the Revivify spell (see Session 4, I Might Just Set Him on Fire), and I bought a forgery kit. Since I needed to reseal the letter that I opened from my father to the miners’ guild, I learned a little bit about forgery. OK, I had already known a little from my days as a courtier. Prior to that point, I could already forge scripts, but I really didn’t know how to forge the wax seal. I might have had to forge a few scripts in my days as a courtier.
 
Enjoying a few days of not getting bitten or stabbed by undead, we did do some relaxing. Will and I spent a few nights in the tavern trying various ales and meads… none of which were nearly as good as moonshine.
 
A midday later, we are all at the tavern enjoying lunch, sans Julia. Eowyn informed us that we were to talk to the Etonia town council this afternoon. Into the tavern walks a person wearing a scarf and jewelry. I study that person for a minute, and realize it is Julia in disguise. Not a bad disguise, I’m sure others would have failed to recognize her. Julia sits with us and asks us in a hushed tone if we will go to the docks with her tonight. Of course, we will, but she can’t go into details at this time.
 
Not long after, we walk over to the town hall. Four knights are guarding the doors to the council chamber. Two of them are half-orcs. Vardai recognizes one as Gorn, who is an expert on half-orc civilization. After a moment of pleasantries, we enter the chambers.
 
There are three aids in the chambers. The only council member currently present is Ranon, a famed bard and the older sister of Signal. Other council members start to enter: High Priest Edwards; Avast, the head mage of the library; Duncan, the head of the Miners’ Guild; Marcus, another Guildmaster; Aryo, a Captain of the militia; and Savannah, a representative of the Half-orc population. Since the haff-orcs are recent arrivals as refuges to Etonia, Savannah’s spot on the council is new. Missing from the council is Devin, who was imprisoned and recently freed (see Session 16, What a Cute Little Dragon!). Devin had been missing for a few years, but the council held his seat vacant hoping his return.
 
It is strange that Duncan is representing the Miners’ guild. Last I knew, Clay Achatri was the guildmaster. If you recall, Clay was the corrupt guildmaster whom my father dealt with to try to have me bonded into indentured servitude (see Session 4, I Might Just Set Him on Fire). With Duncan filling in, perhaps Clay has been removed.
 
The council opens business. Ranon states that the first agenda item is to formally instate Savannah as a new council member. Immediately, tensions rise as the two Guildmasters clearly do not want ther on the council. Although no one votes “nay”, Duncan abstains. Ranon slams her drinking cup down in reaction to Duncan abstaining. After a brief stare off, Ranon regains her composure and continues the meeting. Savannah is now a formal member of the council, and I conclude that this “Duncan” character is no better than Clay Achatri.
 
As the second order of business, High Priest Edwards moves to recognize we adventurers. He monologues for a bit, talking about some of our adventures, including resolving the goblin attacks, defeating a dragon, and stopping the demon Acgozluk. We are given 500 gold each and free room and board at the Red Stirge Inn.
 
Moving on, the council calls out Eowyn as the third order of business. They formally bestow upon Eowyn the title of Master Sage. I am excited for her, until I see her face. Eowyn is clearly suppressing some emotions, and she may not be happy about the promotion. I don’t fully understand what is going on, but there is clearly some tension between Eowyn and the council. Quickly, Eowyn changes her composure and gracefully accepts the title.
 
Now that the easy points of order are addressed, Ranon moves the council into the topic of Coral Gate. Duncan, clearly the asshat of the council, insists that Savannah be dismissed before discussing this topic. Ranon addresses his demand as absurd and declares that Savannah will stay.
 
Returning to the discussion on Coral Gate… apparently Coral Gate is threatening war with Etonia. Coral Gate has established a naval blockade and will not relent until Etonia turns over Fassad, a master mage. Fassad had followed a demon into Coral Gate, and a tower might have been destroyed. Assuming it was the same tower we fought the demon in, it kind of needed to be destroyed. However, a destroyed tower seems an unreasonable thing to go to war over, although Coral Gate has most likely been planning these actions for a while. The tower incident is just an excuse. I don’t suppose Etonia could just pay to repair the tower?
 
They begin arguing. Ranon’s side is refusing to turn Fassad over. Duncan’s side is happy to turn Fassad over. After a bit, Ranon definitively states, “We are not going to bargain with people’s lives, and we are not going to chop off their ears.” Duncan storms out. The “ear” comment is a reference to the bounties placed on collecting goblin ears as a way to defeat the goblin uprisings. Of course, we solved that issue by returning the goblins to their homes by defeating bugbear usurpers (Sessions 9 & 10).
 
After some more arguing, Ranon asks us adventurers if we have anything to add. Julia says that she does. She states that by Coral Gate demanding Etonia turn over Fassad, that might be trying to remove Fassad’s ability to defend Etonia… which makes Etonia more vulnerable. She is absolutely right. It is like starting a game of chess, but agreeing to play with only one rook.
 
Marcus, the other guildmaster then walks out. Throughout the deliberations, I realized that he is the guildmaster of the construction guild. I wonder if the two guildmasters are secretly siding with Coral Gate. Or maybe they are desperate to have the blockade lifted, as the guilds rely on mercantilism for their profits.
 
Eowyn then addresses the council, now absent its two guildmasters. She talks about the half-orc civil war and how the two brothers’ infighting brought that civilization to calamity. It’s a very long (very) and impassioned speech.
 
After Eowyn winds down, I get a chance to speak. Let’s get more practical. War is upon Etonia, whether they want it or not. I ask about the strength of the Etonian navy. Uncomfortably, they only have one ship they can call upon, and it is far away at the grace of an ally. Coral Gate has three ships. I ask about defenses. They have a few wizards to block incoming spells in the Etonia Wizards Network.
 
I do state they could call on Augustin Citadel to mediate the conflict, but then dismiss that possibility as unfavorable… Coral Gate most likely does not accept the jurisdiction of the Lord of Augustin Citadel. I also mention that if they do accept mediation, then they must accept the mediated settlement or it will be considered an act of treachery. I quickly conclude that reaching out to Augustin Citadel is not a wise move.
 
My brain is now spinning, I am wondering if there is a way to sneak up on the Coral Gate ships and disable them. I wonder if the three goblins that we helped find a ship would be willing to sail us to the blockade so that we could disable the ships (see Session 5, Cleaning Up Loose Ends). Regardless, Etonia needs to invest in some ships and build a Navy… not that that is going to help them today.
 
The council breaks up with little resolution. Each member of our party talks to individual council members. I talk to Ranon.
 
I tell her that we found Devin, alive and well in Montsilt. I have a sending stone from Lavani, the mayor of Montsilt. I offer to let her send a message. Ranon gladly accepts. She composes a message for Devin, in some bard prose with clearly a hidden message in it. We send the message.
 
Julia spends some time talking to Captain Aryo. I think Julia might have more information about Coral gate. That might be related to tonight’s mission at the docks.
 
Speaking of the docks, we head there this evening. Umbra, Julia’s owl familiar, scouts out the area before we enter. We enter the warehouse that Julia was supposed to meet her contact in. It is empty. Eowyn casts Detect Magic to see if there is anything hidden here. She finds some abjuration magic in the next warehouse over. Julia is now worried for the safety of her contact.
 
I walk over to between the warehouses and casts Dispel Magic with Eowyn guiding me. Eowyn tells me I’ve successfully made that magical aura go away.
 
Julia links us with Psychic Whispers and enters the second warehouse. Eowyn goes in with her, Will, Vardai, and I stay outside. I can’t really tell what is going on, but Julia relays through the psychic link that she found her contact, Chrystos, and he is an imposter. Interesting.
 
Eowyn casts Suggestion of the imposter. Suggestion is a spell that requires careful thought. If you “suggest” to someone to do something contrary to their interests, then the subject is much more likely to resist the spell. Contrary, if you tell the subject to do something they want to do anyway, it is much more likely to succeed. It was easy as a courtier, as drunkards always wanted to brag to us escorts about their exploits. The Master of Secrets would “suggest’ to them that they should impress us with how cunning they are, and… almost always… I would walk away having learned many things I should never have learned. Had the Master of Secrets told them to tell us their secrets, rather than “impress” of with their cunning, I am sure we would have learned much less. As a sidenote, if you ever go into the court at Augustin Citadel, don’t be surprised if you are subject to a charm.
 
For now, Eowyn suggests, “For today, you will be obedient to us.” We will see how that works.
 
• Thank you to George Sanders, his Anhult Campaign, and World Anvil.