Another Dragon, Another Court

It is time for week 3, the last full week of Asalay and the last big week for Makar to do things before moving towards wrap-up. It is time to escalate to the big-leagues: NPCs have spent much of this month getting ready for Makar's arrival in court, and now it is time to use that influence. 

Getting In Gear

Before heading in, Makar assigned their NPCs to tasks for the week:

• Dailio would help Makar with court
• Zofara would keep an eye on Lastrow, avoiding full entanglement
• Ezia would try her hand at wizardry in earnest
• Yago and Kebri would investigate Commander Evett in Wyrmgarden
• Uyazi and Kamatu would investigate the cat situation with selkie organized crime

Next, before court, it was time to talk to Haru. Makar went with Dailio to the Templetown Ayshan Banot, where they met with Clarity, Priestess of Aysha. Clarity performed the Divine Contact for them, and it was off to the races.
Haru and Makar talked; Makar warned Haru not to pursue the Empress deeper into the central tropics, and to not try and ambush/redeem the solar, Perfection, that had seemingly joined her. Haru insisted that Makar "stop and smell the roses" and approach the world as just another mortal, while Makar said that responsibility to saving the world came first. 
Makar asked Haru if Haru and Aysha's consort was in fact the "Fifth", the essence of the Nemeses' cooperation. He admitted as much indirectly, but asked Makar to approach them not as an enemy but just as a person. Haru also called them "Oba", and said that they were probably going to be mildly antagonistic but shouldn't be violent. Haru offered to introduce the Architects and Aysha in a less-hostile way, which Makar accepted. Haru also said that, after the Nemeses were defeated, he and his group had agreed to oppose them returning to power (Haru preferred a nonviolent resolution afterwards and said he wanted a general re-assessment after everything). In the mean time, though, they would be allies.
As a show of goodwill, Haru provided Makar with a connection to his paladins - notably Justice, his strongest paladin in Asalay, who gave Makar a sending stone for long-distance communication with him. 

Court Introductions

Gaining an audience with King Akelan II was a lengthy process, requiring five days of introductions and court meetings. Dailio acted as Makar's handler and guide, helping them navigate the space. Dailio directed Makar towards their favorite patron, the de-facto head of Otterhome, Admiral Walamaka. Admiral Walamaka wanted more quiet, internal handling of any political corruption that might be selkie-related, to try and nip any anti-selkie sentiment in the bud. 
Makar prospered in the courtier environment - their court training back at Etekamo paid off, as they effortlessly extracted information and nudged opinions. Their top priority was judging why the King was struggling with legitimacy problems; their secondary priority was to nudge opinion towards stability and monarchy; their third priority was to investigate the slaughterhouse situation. 
They discovered that the King was considered illegitimate for a variety of reasons: they were young, they had made their traitorous sister their heir against all public opinion, they were eccentric and reckless, they were overly trusting of new voices and too quick to give power to political outsiders, and they were inconsiderate of local rights and voices when they worked on big infrastructure plans. They wielded their monarchical power like a blunt instrument, with a certain naivety that reflected court rhetoric more than reality. And Akelan had inherited a major problem from his parents: an organized and militant faction of industrially-interested nobles who wanted to monopolize state power and harness the wealth of the city for local elites. 
As for the slaughterhouse, Makar learned that it was owned by a noble in that faction named Zeneb Mawahl. They talked with Zeneb, and found him to be a nasty (if polite) little man who had a few red flags going on. Makar subtly threatened him; Zeneb subtly threatened back; their exchange was loaded and ambiguous, but increasingly hostile. 
After that, it was on to Kavinara, Crown Princess and Steward of the city. Kavinara didn't immediately seem traitorous and seemed in search of redemption; she also had a clear ruthlessness to her. Makar and her got along, and they talked about the circumstances of Kavinara's attempted coup - Kavinara found Makar's nonjudgmental directness refreshing. Kavinara talked of her old mentor, Dorina, a paladin of Theia who killed the royal patriarch and wounded the Queen matriarch during the failed coup attempt. Dorina was supposedly spotted leaving the tropics recently, and with strange companions. A sign of dark times. Makar told Kavinara about the threats to the city, so the city guard could move to suppress them.

The Dragon King

After a week of court activities, Makar finally got their audience with Akelan II, King of Asalay. After a display of reverence to the state, Akelan offered Makar a private audience with him and his advisors - he was aware of the apocalypse and knew that Makar was a kind of apocalypse advisor. Akelan was excited to have a young magic outside adventurer as an advisor, and immediately offered Makar a position on a committee to help fix the city; Makar found Akelan's willingness to bring them into government disturbing. Akelan made it clear that he didn't trust his own government and wanted to rule unilaterally as an adventurer-king of legend. Makar told him to instead work more closely with his sister to rule more realistically, and to put his adventurer dreams to rest. 
Akelan, not incompetent, had verified Makar's legitimacy with a number of paladin groups during his investigation of this foreigner trying to suddenly accumulate court influence - but his sudden support for Makar over local experts was brash, vulnerable to the False Chimera, and sure to cause problems with locals who felt passed over. Akelan tried insisting that Makar and their companions make a home in Asalay - Akelan would offer resources to allow them to teleport out and use the city as a home base - but Makar was unwilling to take that offer just yet. Makar had a minor dispute with one of the advisors involving Makar mind-reading them looking for spies. 
Akelan ultimately slipped a state secret to Makar: that a massive silver dragon in the Dungeon had validated the Temple of Ishkibal the Dragon's belief that Ishkibal was a manifestation of a supreme dragon god. Makar was immediately suspicious, and learned from the city's Eminence (head priest) that the dragon had recently been let loose in the city in human form (but had returned to the Dungeon, disgusted with the city). 

Rescue Mission 01

Returning to the boat after a long week of courtier business, Makar found that only Zofara and Ezia had returned from their missions; both the two-person groups of NPCs had vanished. Uh oh. 
First, Makar and Zofara went to check in on the Yago-Kebri group in Wyrmgarden. After a brush-in with the Neighborhood Watch, the two were welcomed into Lord Evett's decaying old-money manor. Things seemed fishy; the lord's supposedly sickly child was nowhere to be seen or heard, and signs of strangeness were everywhere. Makar pressured Evett into revealing that his manor was built on a secret dungeon-entrance, and he led them down the secret passage into the dungeon, with only his magic sword as light.
It was a trap, the same trap that had captured the first group. The dungeon had been corrupted by the Empress, and horrible monsters crawled out of the walls. The sword had enchanted Evett and was making him stronger than he should have been. Makar and Zofara ran through the lair, ignoring the enemies, to free their companions as well as Evett's tormented child. The group fled, wounded, back into the manor, and Evett followed. They just barely managed to overpower Evett together and cut his arm off to remove the sword from his grasp. They sealed the dungeon the best they could and dragged the unconscious people back to Makar's boat. 
Apparently, the strange Empress monster was planting "seeds" of corruption in the dungeon, and had bribed Evett with a magic sword to sell - but said sword had proved to be more cursed than expected, and had ensnared him upon touching it. He had fed the sword on his child's own blood and tended to the corrupted dungeon as a gardener. Even after his restoration by the clerics of Aysha and Haru, Evett was a bastard about it and blamed his son (a hemophiliac) for driving him to desperation. The group turned him in to Kavinara's office and sent his son to Evett's ex-wife, who had moved away after the divorce. 
After that day, the group was in no state to take on organized crime. The next morning, Dailio returned with news: he had tracked down where Kamatu and Uyazi had dissapeared, but he also had seen Uyazi walking around - a doppelganger was afoot! 
How will Makar handle this dangerous group? What secrets await in Otterhome? What is going on with these face-takers? Is the dragon actually evil? Find out next time on, Makar's sessions!

Components

Goals

QUEST GOALS

• Leave for Samvara
• Investigate the broader fallout from the arrival of the Rot
• Collect allies for the coming struggle
• Meet up with Potha
• Investigate Kasmir's background
• Investigate the threats in Asalay

Relations

Allies

Ally List: Zofara, Yago, Uyazi, Kamatu, Dailio, Ezia, Kebri, Fastfin
Justice, Paladin of Haru: A paladin of Haru of some fame in Asalay, part of an adventuring group. Has a sending stone connected to Makar's.

Neutrals/Bystanders

King-Sovereign Akelan II: King of Asalay. A young, enthusiastic idealist of a king desperate to live up to his pious parent's ideals. Has a complicated relationship with his city, his sister, and his government. Wants to be a maverick, but has little understanding of how bad his situation is. Craves the fame and "freedom" of an idealized adventuring life.
Crown Princess and Royal Steward Kavinara: Heir of Asalay, older sister of Akelan, disgraced but recently redeemed. An angry cynic and pessimist who seems to have found some Ishkibite religion during her exile, and who craves redemption in the eyes of God and her brother. When she was young, got involved in the adventurer scene and learned how abusive the city is to its heroes, and became wildly disillusioned; was cut out of the line of succession for her erratic behavior, then tried to coup the government in response. The attempt killed her dad and injured her mom (and set her mom down a path where she died voluntarily crusading at Kenahai). 
Draconic Eminence Mathri the Pious: An older priest and paladin, a mystic enthusiastic about Ishkibal the Dragon.
Clarity, Ayshan Cleric: A solar cleric and priest of Aysha, friendly and all about knowledge. 
Admiral Walamaka: A shrewd and careful selkie who just wants stability and to keep selkies neutral in Asalay. 
Akari Evett: Son of lord Evett, a 10-12 year old human kid. Hemophiliac and now very traumatized.

Competitors

Zeneb Mahawl: A polite bastard who wants to industrialize Asalay like the [Suneka, but more Ishkibite. Owns the slaughterhouse the Seruvians have been using; opposes Akelan II. Doesn't seem to be pro-Orthodox, and would be willing to support the destruction of their banot for more obedient workers. Seems to think that only hiring pious Ishkibites for managerial positions will make the factories work fine. Might be aligned with the False Chimera, might not be; definitely nasty either way.

Adversaries

Lord Evett: A cruel and bitter man of an old, withered noble family. Seduced by the Empress's temptations to restore his family's greatness into becoming her thrall.

Plot type

QUEST

Parent Plot

The Meat Grinder

Subplots

• Skin In the Game

Related Characters

• Aysha
• Haru

Related Organizations

• Ayshanism
• Kingdom of Asalay

Related Locations

• Asalay