Yesterday's Enemy

General Summary

Azim continued his efforts to set himself up as the new Ruler of Tetrodora by seeking out each council leader individually in order to reason with them. He brought along Covak, Bombo (in disguise) and Duurk. One never knows when backup is needed.
Azim considered that his easiest sway would be Bradfort Holt, the council Treasurer. Bradfort is known, unofficially, to be accepting of most things for the right price. Azim offered Bradfort 10,000gp to step down from his council position, thereby posing no opposition to Azim. However, Bradfort must have seen value in his position because 10,000gp was not enough and he certainly wasn't willing to step down. Bradfort suggested that Azim add one more zero to the end of his offer. A lengthy conversation ensued, with Duurk providing certain intimidation at the door, until the two came to an agreement. Bradfort would take the 10,000gp but would keep his position as Treasurer. Satisfied for the moment, Azim moved on to the next council member on his list.
Finding Mish Goretongue was fairly easy given that she was drinking and carousing rather loudly, atop a table, at the local guildhall. Any attempt to speak calmly with her failed before it started. Yelling something about "stealing my bloodlust!" and "no more slaves!" Azim learned that Mish had no intention of supporting his as leader. Thinking that if he bested her in combat, she would change her mind, he engaged her. Not wanting to cause her harm, he dealt only non-lethal damage. Once Mish went down, Azim used a heal spell to bring her back. His assumption that she would now be reasonable was unrealistic. Instead of seeing Azim as a strong leader she saw him as a weak warrior. Eventually, Azim stepped aside and let Duurk take Mish on in a dual. One swing of his axe and she was dead. Azim paid the barkeep for the mess and moved on...
...but not too far because Durn was sitting alone near the back wall of the bar area. His vote was simple to gain: make an exchange for him. Wary of what he may be getting into, Azim asked what the exchange was but Durn denied him any answers. Trusting his history with Durn, Azim proceeded. He and the party made their way along the road from Traders Cusp to Kishdanhar, meeting up with a cloaked fellow at the point where the plains meet the desert. Azim, once again trying to ascertain what he was getting himself into, asked the cloaked fellow what was in the bag he handed over. The man indicated that he would provide no answer and would cut off all communication with Durn if Azim refused to complete the exchange. Still unsure but putting his faith in Durn, Azim handed over the pouch and received a bag of holding containing a significant amount of gold. Upon returning to Durn, Azim once again attempted to ask but was denied any information. He did, however, gain Durn's vote.
Denryx Tor was a quick conversation. The centaur confirmed that he would still hold his position if Azim was in charge and then agreed to back up Azim's plan to reinforce and equip Tetrodora to defend itself against any enemies. Azim and party were in and out of the jail in a handful of minutes.
Finding and talking to Kevin was a much longer conversation. Azim was the only one who could even see the invisible hill giant, and for Covak, Bombo, and Duurk it seemed that Azim was talking to the air for a while. Azim eventually explained that Kevin was invisible and his friends no longer thought he was going crazy. Kevin, it seems, struggled to remember things. He lost time. He babbled. He attempted to attack Azim and then himself. Back and forth Kevin's coherency faded. Azim tried everything he could think of in terms of spells to figure out what was going on. Eventually, Kevin was able to communicate enough that Azim thought to call over one of his followers who was an alchemist. After some light questioning and inspection of Kevin the alchemist was confident that Kevin's invisibility was due to an alchemical process resulting in heavy confusion. Unfortunately, he wasn't aware of a cure. Glad to hear that Kevin wasn't being possessed or controlled by an outside force, Azim quickly jumped to making a bid for leader of Tetrodora. In between bouts of confusion Kevin assured Azim he would have his vote. Azim and the party escorted Kevin back to Azim's castle where Kevin was given the ninth floor all to himself in an effort to prevent him from wandering around harming citizens for no reason.
An end of a long day, the party decided a night's rest was in order before they attempted to meet up with Lloyd Falkner, current Ruler of Tetrodora. And rest they would need as Lloyd was not to be easily convinced. Although he wasn't particuarly excited to take on the role of Ruler when Weston Riddle was removed, Lloyd also wasn't dumb enough to hand his seat over to just anyone who wanted it. He questioned Azim heavily on his values and characteristics as they compared to the constitution of the Merchant Republic of Tetrodora. Lloyd expressed his intense desatisfaction with Azim's wish to add military defense to the nation but recognized that he might find support for that among the other council members. Lloyd agreed to support Azim as the new leader under the condition that Lloyd be re-seated back as Magister, Azim build him the caster's tower that was promised, and that Lloyd be able to fully express his opinions, however contrary they may be, in future council meetings. Not seeing eye to eye with Lloyd on everything but holding the man in great respect, Azim agreed. Lloyd determined that a public event should be held to faciliate and recognize the change of leadership before the next council meeting.
Elated at his success, Azim invited his friends back to the guildhall to celebrate. He was one step away from becoming rule of the Merchant Republic of Tetrodora.

Rewards Granted

Loot:
Coins: 198gp
[17,650 gp] +4 full plate
[4,500 gp] wand of bull's strength (CL 3)
[2,330 gp] +1 shortbow [no light or external clues]
[750 gp] potion/oil of tongues (CL 5)
Experience:
Azim(ECL 13), Bombo(ECL 13): 1423 xp = 122 (Bradfort Holt) + 325 (Mish Goretongue) +163 (Durn) +325 (Denryx Tor) + 244 (Kevin) + 244 (Lloyd Falkner)
Covak(ECL 11), Duurk(ECL 11): 2407 xp = 206 + 550 + 275 + 550 + 413 + 413

Related Reports

Merchant Republic of Tetrodora Shareholder Conclave 1376

Report Date

09 Jul 2022

Primary Location

The Havens

Secondary Location

Traders Cusp

Related Characters

• Azim
• Bombo
• Covak
• Duurk

Dungeon Master

Runa (ECL 14): 6300xp/9759gp/5dt