Let Her Choose - 4
Promise that she will get to learn magic, but stall on the details - 1
Before you leave the wedding tent, You tell your wife that she will have options to choose from, but that laying them out to her will be a long and clinical conversation ill suited for the air of romance and lust brought about by the wedding.
As difficult as it is to get Marion alone and bring yourself talk about things other than love and physical intimacy, you do manage to have this conversation in chunks over the next few days. Considering her options, your queen decides that she will start with Druidism, the least offensive of the bunch. She does, however, imply that she understands that the principles of Divine Magic are usually at least partially transferable between faiths and traditions, and more or less states that once she is established in the realm and skilled in the mystic arts, she might start to dabble in the more subversive spells of Agusta or the Dragon Gods.
---
Leave em - 2
Send em to the De'Villes - 2
Give Phillip a Vague Warning - 1
(I wrote this before Fluffe9911 came in with a tiebreaker. Sorry.)
You wind up torn on what to do with your remaining family. As much as you'd like for Your Mother, step-father, and youngest brother to remain safe, traveling for Anne the elder and Alan the younger could be risky with the former's difficult pregnancy and the latter's self destructive tendencies.
In the end, you decide to leave it up to them. You ask Kane and Anders to work together and prepare evacuation options for your kin. Shortly before the purge of the corrupt begins, the situation will be explained to them, and they will be given the choice to remain home, travel to visit Burt De'Ville at St. Arawn, or quietly relocate across town to the large manor where the De'Ville's on your council live.
Before you leave, you have a brief conversation with your mother and Phillip, warning them that you believe something may happen while you are gone, and that Nails and Anders have been left in charge of their safety. They thank you for the warning and the consideration.
---
The extended hunt is a secret, but you leaving town is not. You and your Queen depart in the royal carriage, and everybody important in town understands that you are enjoying a brief honeymoon at some rustic ranch or homestead in the Inner Savannah. Many people also know that Kane and Andre left the other day with a small hunting party for an extended trip. The real trickery will occurs in about ten days, when the Royal Carriage conspicuously returns. That fact that nobody will be riding in it at that time will be concealed from almost everyone, and the roundup and mass execution of criminals will begin shortly thereafter. The Druid Luanda, whose homestead will serve as a meeting point for all parties and the temporary residence of your wife and in-laws, had quietly taken the carriage owned by Jasper and Clarence home with her after the wedding, so that Marion may be protected from the sun on her journey home.
Although no proper roads move east to west in New Mahallo, there are plenty of well worn wagon trails to follow across the flat savannah. Tensions are high. You are stuck in a confined space with your attractive wife for five days, and unable to shake Jasper, Clarence, Anne or the driver to catch a private moment with her. You suspect your fathers-in-law are suffering a similar situation.
Eventually the five of you decide to distract each other by playing Big Knuckles, a game of chance and daring popular among the poor folk of The Titan Canyons that as the name suggests is played with knucklebones; The game is played in teams of two, with each side using a set of 10 human knuckles, and three larger bones from a troll. You wind up alternating between Jasper and Anne as partners, as Marion has refused to play Big Knuckles with any teammate other than Clarance since she was six years old. You quickly learn why this is; Playing several hundred games over the course of your journey, you are able to count your victories on two hands. Marion comments that you must be quite talented to help Jasper get any wins whatsoever. You don't mention, but can't help to note, that more of your wins have come alongside your sister than your Father-in-Law.
---
When the carriage arrives at Luanda's homestead, you enjoy what are easily the most fun-filled few days you have experienced since you were a young child lounging around a lakeside manor in the Nameless City with few responsibilities. The others have beaten you here by several days, and have been hunting local game so that Kane might surprise you with a proper, if scaled down, wedding feast. For three days, you sleep in, spend the daylight hours alone with Marion inside, and stay up well past midnight tearing across the Savannah, getting your wife acquainted with your friends, and teaching her and Anne to ride a Dire Kangaroo Rat. Some of Luanda's neighbors are payed off by your friends to remain in a state of constant cooking, so that anyone in the party may have a warm meal whenever they please, and your host provides you with all the exotic fruit liquor you can drink from her Druid garden.
All good things must come to an end, however. Eventually Kaylee, who is to helping her father carry out the purge in your name, abandons her brother and husband to take the royal carriage back to Bride Price. You abandon your spouse as well, leaving Marion to enjoy Luanda's hospitality and perhaps begin her training in Druidism while you go off with the hunters.
---
Central Route - 2
Northern Route - 1
Southern Route - 1
The hunting party is a small but lively bunch: Yourself, Andre, Keanu, Kane, Simone, and Kane's cousin Inoke whom you met a few times growing up when his family caravan visited the nameless city. Your kid sister Anne, of course, is present as well, having somehow procured a child-sized crossbow despite having been forbidden by her parents from partaking in the hunt. Also along for the journey are two wagons which will be used to haul whatever large trophies you take from the Mega-fauna back to Bride Price. Driving these wagons are two pretty tattooed young ladies from the raider clans that Andre personally handpicked for the job. Perhaps aware that the purpose of the hunt is for you to 'force' Kane to wed Simone to protect her honor and not wanting you to look like a Hypocrite, your brother is very careful not to let you see him go off alone with either of the drivers, but you do note that the way he looks at them is not dissimilar to how you might look at Halia or Marion.
As you travel East, the only sign that you have passed from the Inner Savanna to the Land of Ruin is the appearance of the Bloodstone Plateau on the northern horizon. From this distance, the crimson rock formation almost looks like a perpetual sunset by daylight. You spot several other small parties at a distance; If they are orcblooded, they leave you alone. Inoke, who has been to the Land of Ruin several times before explains that outside of the raiding parties, the citizens of the Bloodstone Fortress are more afraid of the Mahallo than the Mahallo are of them, and even the brave halfbreeds know that it is more profitable to bother hunters returning west with full trophy wagons than those traveling east to fill them.
Eventually the grass becomes greener ruins appear on the horizon. Inoke says that your party now approaches the mighty Blood River. Within a day you stand at the crumbling walls of a ruined city. Entering town, you can tell it changed hands between human and orcish nations at least once by looking at the sizes of the doorways on the buildings that still stand. You cross town, occasionally spotting people who duck into buildings when they notice your group; Many are non human, and Andre and you wear traditional Imperial garb.
At the edge of the city you find the Blood River, which at this point is wide and shallow enough to cross in the wagons. On the far bank you see the crumpling walls of yet another ruined city. Kane tells you the city across the river is the legendary Wrotiron, the great Orcish Capital whose capture and destruction at the hands of your great-grandfather sealed the fate of the Orcs living in the lands that would become New Mahallo. Your friend explains that the dragon cult you had hoped to meet live in the remains of the palace.
It takes two hours to cross the river, and another thirty minutes to find a gap in the walls of Wrotiron large enough to fit your wagons through. The stories say the palace of Wrotiron was so large, extravagant, and beautiful that even King Geralt, whos personal mission was to 'snuff out the breath of every living orc', couldn't help but cry upon witnessing it's destruction carried out on his orders. At first you think the stories must have been blown out of proportion, as all you see is a mound of mud, about twice the size of the Molar. It is only after Inoke explains that what remains is the castle's inner most sanctum, seemingly constructed from a single piece of steel without welds by Orcish magic users. It has been covered in mud to prevent the metal walls from cooking the inhabitants alive in the sun.
Kane, himself a Dragon Priest, approaches the sanctum first and speaks with the single guard posted out front. After a few minutes, he gestures for you and the others to approach, and your group is permitted entry.
As all the windows are covered in mud, the inside of the cult's hideout is lit mostly by candlelight. Several of the larger, more important looking rooms are illuminated instead by soul candles; People who have suffered the unspeakable fate of being sacrificed to a dragon-god of radiance by soul-first immolation. Tied to stakes, the burn with a white and heatless flame, their faces contorted in agony but their mouths only capable of releasing a constant peaceful chant in a language you don't understand and at a pitch that barely amounts to background noise. Kane tells you that a soul candle can last about decade before the metaphysical fuel is burnt up, and the victim is put out of their misery as a more conventional flame consumes their flesh.
The cult itself numbers about twelve priests and sixty disciples, and it is quite the diverse group. Among their ranks you get to see your first Orc Blooded people up close; They are tall and beefy, similar in size and build to Andre. Their skins have tints of brown, grey, or green, and sometimes a smattering of all three colors in freckle-like patterns. Many have impressive underbites. The Orcblooded are about equal in number to the cult's human members, and although those two groups make up the vast majority of the members, there are yet others still. You recognize an elderly Vermant amoung the ranks of their clergy. You also spot a strangely beautiful woman with flippers for arms and a body concealed by black and white feathers everywhere except for the spots a respectable Imperial or Mahallo woman would take extra care to cover: a Polar Siren, far from home.
The leader of the cult is an elf of some kind. You can tell he isn't one of the local Moon Elves that the Mahallo raid; His skin is turquoise, and the tips of his long ears curl backwards into themselves, as if they were more fashion accessory than sensory organ. He introduces himself as Blueblaize Three-Hoards, generalist cleric of the Draconic Pantheon, supreme leader of the Children of Rust, mentor to your spymaster Nails, and
your humble servant. He bows low. This catches you off guard. He is an elf and a dragon worshiper, both identities punishable by death under Imperial Law. Even if he technically lives within the boundaries of New Mahallo, acknowledging him as a vassal would be scandalous, and protecting him as such would be impractical.
How do you respond? Do you acknowledge yourself as his rightful overlord?Blueblaize then offers to host you for a meal. As the food is brought out, you are a bit disappointed; It is the same wild game you have been feeding yourself with on your travels, but salted rather than fresh. You get the feeling that the Children of Rust don't get out to hunt much.
After the meal, Blueblaize gives a brief sermon. You learn that the chief deity of The Children of Rust is Azeelrath the Silver, one of many of her kind to ascend to godhood. Wrotiron is sacred soil to adherents of her faith, as several of her offspring diety attacking the city, and according to legend their remains were incorporated into the metal structure you are presently standing in. Like most dragon gods, Azeelrath preaches greed as a virtue and accepts the sacrifice of sentient beings, but aside from that she is generally understood to be a forgiving and benevolent deity who cares deeply for her followers, whom she accepts unconditionally regardless of their species or social standing.
"Today, goddess Azeelrath has delivered a boon to our door in the form of two just and pure Imperial Royals!" Blueblaize declares, "King Arawn, Princess Anne, the ancestors of your goddess worshiped my goddess among others, and as such Azeelrath looks upon Agusta's children with favor, even as the clerics of her faith twist her love of humanity into hatred of non-humans and their gods. It is likely our goddess would accept one or both of you as hosts through which she might celebrate with her faithful.
Would either or both of you wish to experience divinity through means of a brief possession?"
You glance first to Anne who seems entranced by the idea of experiencing divinity. She meets your gaze, wordlessly pleading for your blessing in the matter. Next you look to Kane, who seems curious and unconcerned.
Do you submit to Blueblaize's ritual? Do you permit Anne to?---
The following morning you leave the sanctum of the Children of Rust, and your party resumes their journey. As you leave town, you spot an old and ragged looking man leaning on the wall near the large gap your wagons fit through.
"That is a hell of a sling you got hanging from your waist there traveler," he states as you pass. "Giant Cave kakapo leather. Superior material that. Hard to find anywhere other than the orcblood city on the Plateau without having to cross the desert. Fancy a wager? Beat me in a contest of aim and skill with that weapon, and I'll share some of my wisdom with you."
The old man smirks. "If I win, however, I take that sling. You can pry out the diamond decorations and keep those. Got no use for em, me. Whatcha say child?"
You consider the offer. Many of the people who choose to dwell in the ruins by the Blood River are magic users. His wisdom could actually be valuable. You are confident in your skill with the sling, but if you wanted to tip the odds even further in your favor, you could convince the old man to allow Keanu to compete in your stead. Your older friend taught you everything you know about using that particular weapon, and as good as you are, he is just
that much better.
How do you respond to the challenge?
Author
Topic: (SG) Petty Kingdom of New Mahallo: Reign of King Arawn (Read 20106 times)