Session 55: We've Committed Atrocities For Far Less
General Summary
Meta Recap: Joint Operations LLC finds themselves on a diplomatic mission within the Gu'us Empire on behalf of King Jorip of the Fisk Empire. While very suspicious of the King and his motives after he announced the Crown's Partnering with the previously hidden Oasis Society, they accepted the mission along with the Absolute Majesty III, its crew, and Adivsor Sil'a. On their mission, they are to meet with the Elder and Court of the Gu'us Empire, secure favorable trading conditions, and eventually sign 500M GP worth of contracts for the crown throughout the Gu'us Empire. Rodan Spice has taken his father's role as Ambassador following his father's imprisonment for high crimes (namely the ordering of the genocide of the Sand Druids and the murdering of a noble family in Skormp). They had an additional task in secret as well, to kill the mage Miz for the King. While the completed this task and sent proof back to the King for great reward, they secretly resurrected Miz, the former chief the Sand Druids, Chief Mizandil. She agreed to stop harnessing the blight so long as they were to help her avenge the destruction of the Doresak Desert into an oasis. With her fleeing as a drow, and knowing they still needed to to stop the blight affecting Wren's homeland in part by seeking out the Ship of Secrets hidden beneath the waves to the West, for now they prepare for their first real forray into international diplomacy.The session began as the players began to stir on DeepFrost 19, 2597 as they began to prepare for their meeting with Elder Je’Son and the Court of the Gu'us Empire. Cleaning themselves up, they made their way to the Absolute Majesty I (their rowboat) and traveled to the grotto underneath the court in Foun. They discussed how they should approach this meeting on their way over but remained unsure of their entire approach until they got a feel for Elder Je’Son.
Within the deep grotto underneath the Court, they were greeted by a Half-Orc steward with fine robes, jewlry, and a gold tusk. He lead them from the underground grotto port through winding carved tunnels into a guardsroom where magical weapons and weapons generally were stored before venturing into the complex. From there they went into nicely furnished tunnels that continuted upwards towards the top of the island and an antechamber where they waited for 45 minutes, sitting in the round room with the weeping willow cat's paw emblem on the ground. Finally, they were summoned by a middle aged man with a bald spot, a bit lanky, and graying hair who led them into the magnificent structure of the Court itself. They ascended stairs into a magnificent room, several hundred feet in diameter. There was a central dias raised roughly 20' and with a 20' diameter as well as a 200' roof. Hundreds of seats lined the outer wall on semi-raised circles though all below the central dais.
Members of the Inner Court were present on the dias and the man who led them in was revealed to be Elder Je’Son himself. It was evident the dais was covered in an antimagic field to those in the party with magical abilities. Refreshments were summoned at the behest of Joint Operations LLC while they began to converse with and meet some of the Inner Court. Notably this included General Sassagonara, Lord Ulila, Lady Marinal, Father Alintar, Yunil, and Zass. Conversations began in earnest, with information being shared on the background of the Elder, how he got the role, how the government is setup within the Gu'us Empire and who nobility is. Beyond this conversation also floated into how morality is decided within the empire and the current golden age it was experiencing.
When conversation shifted to discussing trade deals, the Elder made it clear that the Gu'us Empire was worried about the change in the state of the Doresak Desert and how it would no longer serve as a buffer zone between major populations of the Fisk Empire and themselves. It was proposed that naval inspections of opposite shorelines be allowed to maintain good relations. It was further suggested by the Elder that it was worisome even more that the change had been brought about by violence that had not significantly had justice applied to it, leading to the impression that the Crown itself was responsible. This created some tension at first when he suggested Roland Spice should be publicly executed for his crimes until Rodan Spice threw himself aboard 100%. With this and some other things to think about, they took a recess for the day and agreed to meet in a smaller and more secluded space the next day.
Back on the Absolute Majesty III it was discussed how they might be able to leverage the Bow of Artemis to build good will with Lady Marinal and the Inner Court. Further, they reviewed their experiences with the people of Foun and determined that thus far, the people seem happier in Foun than Skormp, but people do feel the bureaucracy is corrupt (taking more taxes than needed) and found themselves struggling. Along with these reflections, many ideas were thrown around such as making Rodan's brother Cesantar Spice their puppet king or perhaps Jandar King? They also discussed if they as Joint Operations LLC should align with the Gu'us Empire and/or take up a 30 year plan to make Rodan Elder?
Having a plan to be simply honest with the Elder, they headed back the next morning on DeepFrost 20, 2597 to meet once again the the Half-Orc Steward with Fine Robes, Jewlry, and a Gold Tusk in the underground grotto of The Court. This time they requested to keep Alena Birch's Bow of Artemis and were granted permission so long as she was not the one carrying it to the meeting. Arriving at the antechamber from the day earlier, they found it setup with an ovular table with plentiful food and the Inner Court (and pineapples for Tork). After ordering a pizza that would never make it back, the party told about their backstory together and each of them on their own. They shared how they moreso drifted their way into the diplomatic core opposed to attempting to climb the ranks within it. They made certain to show Lady Marinal the Bow of Artemis which she was grateful to see but did not elicit the same response they expected as she had previously served with it.
With this the actual negotiations began again with Rodan Spice communicating that the death of Roland Spice is always on the table as an option but they do not believe Roland Spice committed the atrocities in the Doresak Desert. They then proceeded to share all the information they knew as honestly as they could about the The Oasis Society, King Jorip, the state of the Fisk Empire, and their travels and discoveries in the Doresak Desert. Following this information, Elder Je’Son put up an antimagic field and spoke frankly that the Inner Court was aware of the Oasis Society and true perpetrators of the genocide in the Doresak Desert. It was decided that together, the Inner Court of The Court of the Gu'us Empire and Joint Operations LLC would together seek to topple the government of King Jorip. A contract was laid out as follows to keep up impressions on the outside:
The Gu'us Empire agrees to open trade ties more widely with the Fisk Empire in exchange for mutual naval observation of one anothers coastlines and the public execution of Roland Spice by Rodan Spice.It was also discussed how they would assure compliance to one another - Joint Operations LLC assured their compliance by plotting to overthrow the government they were currently working for while Elder Je’Son let them know that if this information about an upcoming planned coup came to light before the election, it would almost certainly garuntee another Elder was elected for a war time (likely General Sassagonara who told how it was stupid and he did not want to be trapped in a building away from the action during a war). Elder Je’Son also promised to send a list of places they should stop and pretend to negotiate contracts towards their 500M GP goal for King Jorip as well as the amounts that should be arranged (on paper, while in fact ships from those locations would be used as Trojan horses for overthrowing the ruling powers in Skormp). Before leaving, Atticus did ask about the symbol of two pieces of flame interwoven but was not able to get anything from this inquiry. With this, the party picked up their items and made their way on their boat back towards the Absolute Majesty III around midday on DeepFrost 20, 2597. This is where the session ended.
Rejected Session Names
Report Date
29 Feb 2024
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