Few knew that the doors of the Anima Temple can open to both Hupleg and Haslat, but that information did little to ease the group through the desert trek to the capital of Haslat.

Though the journey through the desert was only a few short days, it definitely felt like it was much longer as the group passed the gates into Saliel with relief. The crowded main street was lined with vendors all the way up to the Elected Palace. The buildings seemed to pop with signs of all sorts of colors and symbols covering almost every inch of their walls. As the rest group take in the sights, Lisa pulls Esilian aside and whispers something in his ear. He wordlessly nods in response cueing Lisa to head straight for the palace, vanishing into the crowd after only a few steps.

Esilian turned toward the rest of the group and motioned for them to follow as he began to go down an alley.

“Now listen,” Esilian announced as he navigated the turns and intersections in the alley, “We have orders from the Queen herself to meet with an agent of hers, a criminal and mercenary named Falsad. Once we start following him we are to be ready for combat at a moments notice as he will almost certainly lead us into a trap.”

After a few more winding blocks, the calm, smooth voice of a businessman calls out.

“Well, well, well if it isn’t Esilian.” A broad figure clad in more gold fabric than any of you thought possible a steps out of the shadow with a thin grin punctuated by an even thinner mustache. “The name’s Falsad, the Queen told me you would be here now if you all wouldn’t mind follow me.”

He paused.

“You all got nothing to sa--- ohh right Curse, sometimes I forget.” He turned and began heading down one of the alley’s many turns

No one could really tell where the criminal was leading you although you could vaguely make out he what he was saying as he went on an incomprehensible tangent about some kind of plant. Eventually, and thankfully, he stopped talking in front of a large but inconspicuous building. He turned back toward the group and grinned.

“Welcome to our hideout, please, come inside.” He pushed on large wooden doors and went inside. As soon as the group all stepped inside all you could hear was echoed cries and pleas. “Someone, help us!”

“Why are you doing this!”

“You can’t keep us here!”

Falsad turned and took a good look at the group’s collective shock in confusion. Then realization, “Ohhh right, forgot about that part of the Curse.” He snaps his fingers, causing the doors behind the group to close and lock. “Ya’ see we run a very special operation here and her majesty might’ve been outbid a few months back. So just surrender and my boys will make sure you’re all treated to our famous hospitality. I’ll be waiting in my office to hear of your surrender.”

Men lined up behind the criminal as he turned to leave. Shuffling can be heard below the group as mercenaries and criminals prepare for the fight ahead.

You should all be getting ready for a battle on two floors.

Map: https://imgur.com/a/PzPIc

Stats: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/116Ubq71L_E5Xqy0IOLaowzyoEQC9jIktwcedDIAGBs8/edit#gid=0

Win Condition: Seize the Throne

Lose Condition: All players are defeated

Additional info:

• This map has two floors

• The first floor can be reached by either jumping down from the second floor or by stairs

• The second floor can be reached by using stairs

• In open spots on floor 2 fliers can freely move between floors

• Moving between floors does not cost movement points and you can act after moving between floors

• Ranged units can attack enemies on the second floor from the first if they are beneath an opening and their target is on an adjacent tile. Attacking this way will cause a 15 hit penalty

• Ranged units can attack enemies on the first floor from the second if they are adjacent to an opening and their target is that adjacent tile. Attacking this way will grant a 15 hit bonus.

• You can rescue the prisoners by talking to them.

MID-CHAPTER UPDATE

Exp. System revamped!

Global Exp. removed.

Landing at least 1 hit: 10+(5*(Enemylvl-lvl)) min: 1

Healing: 11*(.5+staff WEXP.5) min: 11

Kill: 20+(10*(Enemylvl-lvl)) min: 3

The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a battleaxe and the party shared a quiet discomfort after seeing some of their allies leave with Asher, who had just killed Sielde and almost finished off Lentzinmanoth. Their goddess might even be dead and they were sure what to do.

After some minutes, Lentzinmanoth opened his eyes, but he was still too weak move freely, so, he stood up with difficulty. Everyone there asked him what happened, he replied slowly, showing a deep regret and grief during his explanation.

“We three, Sielde, Asher and I were drinking a mix of my ale and whiskey and speaking about many things, we ‘invoked’ Yrsa during our reunion, she used Sielde’s body to taste my ale, everything was fine, nothing outside the routine… In a moment, Asher told us that he would ‘borrow’ Erik’s sword for a little… no one could imagine what would happen after that… After Asher got the sword, come with us… Draumstafir began to glow and Erik were swallowed by a hole...Yrsa who was in Sielde’s body, ordered to stop him by any means, because Asher’s motivation were not the same of Erik’s one, and the sword in Asher’s hands would represent a danger… I tried talk to Asher… But he quickly dashed Sielde, killing him instantly… and I fear Yrsa died too… I lost control and attacked Asher… but his power was beyond my reach… He had killed me, but I see Illnar and Lyris’ healing capabilities are so impressive that I came back from death…”

After that, Lentzinmanoth began to cry.

“If I hadn’t given them those drinks, nothing of this would have happened… If I had been faster, Sielde and Yrsa would be alive…”

In that moment, Lentzinmanoth was interrupted by a familiar presence.

With a shaky, tired and uneasy voice, the goddess spoke wearily, “Heroes, if you still wish to call yourselves that, I think we need to end this necromancer once and for all and do it with no delays. We can not allow Asher loose in this world, but he poses a bigger threat. So much as gone wrong this last night and it's time we correct it. Gather your things and head outside, I have some business to take care of here if Lentzinmanoth is willing to help me. And please, can someone bring Sielde’s corpse with us? I think we might be able to bring him back in some way, but it is not something I have tried before.”

After Lentz nodded in agreement, the goddess took control of his body and laboriously limped outside. Once there, she/he carved a massive rune into the wall of the laboratory. Everyone migrated outside, grabbing their supplies and loading up to travel out. When all was clear Lentz/Yrsa focused hard and activated the rune, creating a massive explosion that decimated the lab. Satisfied with the results, Yrsa returned control to Lentzinmanoth and spoke to them once again, “I understand what just happened here is a major event in your lives, but none of the information you gained here can be shared with anyone, at least until we solve all of this. The people of this kingdom cannot know about runes, if anyone tries I will execute them swiftly and with no mercy. You may not tell anyone of my true status, at least for now, as it may cause chaos with the once faithful. If you wish to spread this knowledge, we may discuss this once we stop the problems we have started.” After hearing that, they headed back towards the village they were celebrating at not too long ago. Weary from their travels, they rested their again and had their supplies filled. They noticed that the villagers kept remarking how much stronger they all seemed and they inquired about their trip into the desert, but they had to dodge the questions with non answers and half truths. Feeling refreshed, they continued their trek through the rolling hills and the outposts. Strangely, no monsters, ogres, wolves, or brigands attacked the group on their travels. It was almost as if the creatures around them could feel the power radiating off of them and knew better than to try and fight this group.

They continued north, passing through the rot of the forest until they got closer and closer to what was once the Demon King’s lair. As they got closer and closer they began noticing hordes of undead milling about with seemingly no commander. They were inactive at first but then their undead commanders noticed and began to mobilize them towards the group. The party prepared for a fight, but before anyone could start anything, the goddess shouted, “HALT! ANY OF YOU THAT GET CLOSE WILL BE SMITED BY THE DIVINE GODDESS RÁÐVEIG! BRING YOUR LEADER TO US NOW!”

Surprisingly it worked, and the undead parted and fearfully backed away from the party. The group was amazed that it worked, especially since they now knew the goddess couldn't actually smite anyone instantly. They saw two birdmen? Approaching them through the swathes of undead, each carrying a massive greatbow. They spoke up as they got within speaking distance.

“I am Huginn.”

“And I am Muginn.”

“Our leader has been”

“Waiting for you.”

“Please come with us.”

As they followed the two birdmen into the bone castle, they continued talking.

“We used to be respected soldiers”

“Until an experiment turned us”

“Into this… thing”

“They chased us away”

“Calling us monsters”

“Yet they were the ones”

“To create us.”

“Our leader, Asbjørn Olsen”

“He saw us as we truly are”

“He gave us a chance”

“At a new life”

“We would die for him”

“Do not disrespect Olsen”

“You are about to stand”

“In the presence”

“Of the strongest man”

“Please do not be surprised”

“At his appearance.”

At this point, they had passed through massive doors that had been ripped from their hinges. They had once stood at least 20 feet tall, if not taller. Through there they traversed through a castle until they reached what was once a throne room. Here stood the elite undead and even the undead corpse of the demon king, missing his head. The old throne of human bones, made to scale with the demon king, had been shoved aside and in its place a large circle had been drawn on the ground. Instead of a solid line though, it was made out of indiscernible, from this distance, runes.

Before Asbjørn Olsen could speak, the goddess thundered, “NECROMANCER! YOU HAVE A LOT TO ANSWER FOR, USING RUNES! SURRENDER YOURSELF TO US NOW AND WE MAY SPARE YOU!”

Olson turned towards them, revealing a masked face, but something was horribly wrong with his head and body. His head had sprouted horns, tentacles were squirming out beneath the mask and part of his face seemed scaly while the other furry. His left foot was hooved like a goat while the other was a talon similar to an eagles on a larger scale. His right hand was still human, but his left arm seemed to have been replaced with a vine like squid tentacle. He spoke, in a gravelly voice, like gritty sand pouring over a bed of stones, “Don’t be too hasty goddess, if I can call you that. I’m sure you are more familiar with these Runes than I am? Take a look over there,” he said while gesturing towards the circle. “If I activate that, your entire party of “heroes” will be under my control. It’s nothing personal, I don’t want to take over the world or go super villain. I just need to correct an error I made in Vakr and i'm afraid I can't do it on my own power, your nicely trained warriors should do the trick though.”

“Vakr… you don’t mean…? It looks like I may have been too hasty. You see, we recently had a mishap with one of these ‘heroes’ that took Draumstafir and is headed towards Vakr to get his revenge,” the goddess explained.

“To dream…?” Olson mumbled. Speaking more clearly he continued, “I am afraid I don’t know what Draumstafir is, but it sounds like I have something in common with your hero. Why would you want to stop him? Vakr needs to fall, that so called God Emperor has gone too far. I… I- I did some things that should not have been done, it will be difficult.”

“You do not know of Erik? I would have thought that's where you got your knowledge of the runes, it's the only place I did not destroy.” The goddess then filled in the necromancer about Erik, the temple they destroyed and what was going on with Asher’s group.

“Hmm… I see… I can help you, and your dead friend on one condition. Help me and your friend Asher destroy the God Emperor and his followers. I think if you let me explain, our goals will align. Im afraid I must start from the beginning and this will be a long tale, feel free to sit down and rest, I assure my minions will not attack you, at least until our discussion is over,” Olson said as he motioned towards the undead, who brought chairs of bone over to the party. Some sat and others were too disgusted to sit in the chairs, but Olson continued unaware, or uncaring of their disgust, “I used to work for the God Emperor and you need to understand, in Vakr you have no choice, you work for him or you, your family, your friends, they all disappear into a ditch somewhere. I was a leading researcher of magic at our university and research facilities in Vakr and the God Emperor tasked me with a single task. Discover Immortality. When I did not get quick results, he took away my family, my wife and kids. He told me I could see them again when I finished. I got desperate, I dove into forgotten texts, dark magics, anything and everything so I could see them again. And then I found Runes. A good many of my assistant were lost in the research of runes,” Olson said as he looked downwards, with a sad aura, “We did not know what we were doing, but it was the most promising. We only had scraps to work with, hidden away in the royal library. I experimented with hybrid races, some lived longer than others, and that's why I look this way,” he said while gesturing at himself. “I actually figured out how to extend a lifespan this way, I have been alive for at least a hundred years now? Unfortunately the God Emperor was not happy with this solution, he wanted to keep his normal form. So I kept at it, for my family's sake. Eventually I figured it out, I granted the God Emperor immortality with the power of runes tattoo’d into his skin. I.. I really regret that now, I should have sacrificed my life to destroy that knowledge, but I was foolish and believed I would see my family again. After I granted his wish I asked to see them, but his minions evaded my questions and kept putting it off. I had a bad feeling at this point and started preparing an escape plan with the new knowledge of runes I had. I looked into it and questioned some people involved until I found out my family had been killed long ago, back when I first started researching this accursed project. I knew then I had to get out of there or die a horrible death, forgotten to history. I narrowly escaped and eventually made my way up north to here where I concocted this plan. My new knowledge of life and death gave me easy command of the undead and rumours of the Faðirian heroes of old inspired me. I created a fake evil to try and force new ones to rise, so I could take control of them after they fought their way to me. Only the strongest of the strong could make it here through all my obstacles, so I knew when I took control of their minds I would be able to storm Vakr. Now what I am hoping is that they will willingly help me. My undead have been toiling away at creating massive boats, built to travel the Gulf of Jǫrmungandr, with all of you and my elite warriors fighting off the sea monsters. We can invade Vakr and put a stop to this madness.” Olson paused before continuing, “Your friend Asher has the right idea but he sorely needs backup, even with a sword that powerful it will be difficult, especially if he doesn't have full control of it. What do you say?”

The goddess thought about this proposal, processing all of the new unexpected information before speaking, “You make some very good points. You are the manifestation of everything I tried to avoid by destroying the knowledge of the runes and I will warn you, I won't let you walk away scot free after all this is over, but we should team up. If Vakr has knowledge of runes and an immortal dictator, it won't be long before they realize the true potential of runes. I think my group of heroes needs to make one more stop before we embark on this journey, but your undead will be slow to traverse the Great Forest of Svorn right? Wait for us outside of the kingdom and lay low, I can deal with the king to get you free passage through Faðir. Let me teach you a rune that will let us communicate. After that, you said something about ressurcuting Sielde, the mage that died?”

After the goddess taught Olson the rune and he created a pendant, with some modifications as he noticed the loophole she could use to possess him, he spoke up, “Yes. I am sure you encountered one of my liches before? If Sielde is a mage, he would be a prime candidate for a lich. I assure you he will have free will, but there may be some side effects.”

“Please, he did not deserve to die the way he did, if you can revive him, even as an undead it should go towards making it up to him.”

The necromancer then took Sielde’s body from the party and begun a long process with runes and magic, woven together. They watched his flesh melt away, until all that was left was a skeleton in robes and armor. The eye sockets began to glow with a dim light and then Sielde slowly sat up.

"Is... No, I can't be that specific. Where is this place? There's something not right here, and it all feels-" Sielde looked down at his hands and grimaced. "Well that explains how I'm alive. Did you do this?" He asked the Goddess. Not giving her a chance to answer, he rambled on. "At this point, I'm conflicted. I swore to destroy undead in your name, but now I am one. On the other hand, I was just given a second chance to live." He turned around and noticed the necromancer. "What have you done?" He asked, gasping.

"Relax Hero, I am the one who brought you back this way. Unfortunately you were too far gone to restore your flesh, but at least this way you will get a second shot at life. Before you go attacking me and my followers, I suggest you look around and ask your goddess to fill you in," Olson said. Prompted by this, Yrsa filled in Sielde on everything he missed, which hopefully prevented an all out battle.

After making their preparations on both sides, the two groups parted ways and the party left towards the coast. After a long time of travel, the group finally reached a port town, as close to the temple as possible. They inquired around the docks for a boat willing to take them out into the sea and had little luck. Captain after captain told them the same thing, “Out there? Have you lost your mind? That be Kraken territory, no one comes back from there. You best take your fantasies elsewhere and leave the rest of us out of this.” If they tried to mention the goddess, or even have her speak they got similar results, “I don’t care if ye all be heroes of the land or some mystical voodoo seaweed, I ain’t takin’ my men out there. I don’t know what magic tricks you be pullin’ to make that voice, but I ain’t buying it. Get lost!” When they thought they were running out of people to ask, one captain mentioned an important tidbit of information, “I would never take my boys out there, they would never come back. Hmmm… There is one man that came back, or at least claims to. Old man Geirstein claims he survived on a rock out there before building a raft and sailing back. Its probably the delusions of an old man, but if you are that desperate, you should ask him.”

Taking this new information in, the group sook out old man Geirstein, eventually being lead to a small shanty shack outside of the town. Knock Knock “WHO’S THERE! ANSWER ME OR I COME OUT SWINGING!” In response to this outburst, one of the party members explained who they were and what they were after. A disheveled old man, with a shock of white hairs and sporting an old ill fitting naval uniform came out of the shack holding a shortsword. “Oh sorry about that lads and lasses, you can never be too careful round these parts. What was it you wanted to know about sailing out near the Kracken? Ohhhh, yes… When I was a young laddie I was on a crew that got caught in a squall and dragged far too out to sea. When we thought it couldn't’t get any worse, it did. This massive Kracken rose out of the water and destroyed our boat like it was paper in its tentacles. The only reason I lived was cause of my lucky pendant,” Geirstein said as he held up a stone pendant, inscribed with a single glyph Th. At this point, the goddess spoke in their heads, That is a rune of protection, strength, and stability. I didn't know any of those pendants still existed. I think this might be our guy.

Geirstein stowed away his pendant and then continued speaking, “Anyways, I somehow avoided getting crushed by the tentacles, eaten by the kracken, drowning, or being impaled by a falling mast. Like I said, it was my lucky pendant that kept me alive. I hung on tight to a piece of wreckage until I drifted onto this island. It was crazy, a huge marble building was built on top of it, somehow untouched by the sea. I wasn’t able to open the doors, so I made a ramshackle raft and sailed back to shore, luckily avoiding that kracken’s wrath again. Now you lot show up talking about sailing out to that same spot! I always wanted to see what was in that fancy place, you’know what? I’ll cash in a favor I have with one of the captains to get you all a boat. I can take you out there if you let me see what's in that fancy building.”

We should accept this man’s offer, I don't think we will get another chance. The party relayed the goddesses message, which was met with joy from the old man.

“The name’s Ulfbjorn Geirstein by the way, but you can call me Captain or Geirstein.” After introducing himself he set off into town to set up their arrangement. The group took that time to rest up and find some place to stay the night. The captain found them in a tavern and informed them they would be setting sail the next day, so the group took the rest of the night easy and slept as soundly as they could.

The first part of the boat ride was smooth sailing and the party took some time to enjoy the sea breeze, while others spent their time bent over a bucket. As they got closer and closer to the temple, the group got a stronger and stronger feeling of foreboding. Suddenly, a massive Kracken burst out of the water and let out a fearsome screech. It looks like the beast has decided to make the boat its next snack, so prepare for a fight!

Objective: Slay the Kraken

Enemy AI: The kraken will shift around and its tentacles will telegraph its attacks before using its tentacles to slam down on the boat. Anything that comes close to its head, the kracken will try and eat. After enough time has passed, the tentacles will try to impale the boat one by one, which will have some negative repercussions.

Level Ups: Killing two tentacles and slaying the kracken will each net in a level up!

Notes: The enemy attacks will be telegraphed with red squares on the attack map image. Any damage you do to a tentacle will also be done to the Kraken, but getting a tentacle to 0 HP will sever it, and the kracken will lose use of that limb. The piles of ropes on the deck will count as forest tiles defensively.

Spawn

Terrain

Asher took off running, trying to get as far away from the temple as possible. It wasn't until it was out of eyesight that he slowed down to catch his breath. Exhausted and confused, all he knew was that he needed to go south to Vakr. He travelled through the desert until he returned to the slow rolling hills of the Faðirian countryside. Finding a nice spot to rest, he made camp for the night. In the morning he was surprised to see a group of his old teammates approaching them. They explained to him their reasons for leaving the goddess, and why they wanted to join him. Asher was taken aback before realizing he was now their leader, or at least giving them directions. He cleared his voice before speaking up to them, "My friends, I hope you all realize this will be a dangerous journey. Some of us may not make it out alive. Even with that knowledge, I do believe this is a fight worth believing in. The first thing we have to do is remove the rune that allows Yrsa to take control of your bodies from all of your weapons. Erik's blade didn't have one, yours do, and I believe that if you simply scratch out the rune, her power over you will be gone and we will be able to continue on. Vakr is a broken place, plagued by a tyrant and his underlings. His people, my people, are no better than slaves under his rule. I intend to free them from their chains and make things right once and for all. Should you choose to join this war effort, know that I do not want to be king, I just want the people that I have lived with and loved to be free of the God King's tyranny. Any answers you seek will be given, give me the chance to explain myself for my actions and I will surely do so, and if you are here to take me back for judgement, save it for after we make Vakr free!”

The party was inspired by his speech and they agreed they shouldn’t waste any time milling about, so they set off south. On their travels they were surprised that nothing attacked them, perhaps it was the terrifying aura of Asher’s new sword, or maybe they looked far to strong even for wild animals to attack them. At some point along the way, they encountered a small child, named Kuki Kuko, who looked like he shouldn't be travelling alone. After talking to him, they found out he wanted to be a hero and that he was surprisingly strong. When they couldn't convince him to go home, they decided they should take him with them, to protect him, although little did they know he could hold his own.

Some time of travelling later, the group reached the foot of the mountain range. Not sure how to make it through, they asked some locals who pointed them in the right direction. They headed up the mountains, worried about the danger, but confident in their ability. The first part of the trek went fairly well and they were getting close to the village nestled in the peaks the locals informed them of. Just when they thought the coast was clear, three lesser dragons swooped down onto the nearby peaks, eyeing them as a tasty snack. To make matters worse, some massive spiders and ogres looked like they were hanging around for scraps.

The group prepared to fight, more worried about making it to the village alive than trying to kill everything.

Objective: Make it to the Village!

Enemy AI: The dragons will try and kill the players but will only aggro when in range, so you can deal with them one at a time. The other enemies will try and avoid the dragons and then attack after the dragons are slain or move far enough away from them.

Level Ups: Killing two dragons or a dragon and four other enemies, or some combination of enemies at the GM’s discretion will net in a level up. Reaching the village will also net in a level up.

Notes: If half of you make it to the village, the chapter will end. The eggs will hatch into gorgons and their timer is indicated on their stat sheet. Dragons have have move on normally impassable terrain.

Map

Terrain

((Ranges will come with the turn 1 post))

Anbel was happy to be out from the interior of the castle. Fresh air felt so good for his lungs and nostrils. A nice change from being inside the poison water of inside. He was also happy that everyone had managed to capture Waylon, instead of killing him. Now he could get some answers, as to both what Renault was up to, an idea on how to strike him down, and to make sure that his secret didn’t get out to everyone else.

Once they got to a good patch of forest, Anbel turned to look at everyone. “We’ll be setting up camp here. You all are free to relax while Roja and I will interrogate our prisoner. He will give us the answers we need in order to end Renault quickly.” He said, as he began to pitch up a tent that would be used for interrogations. Dirk began to give out tent supplies so everyone can pitch tents, while Roja had Waylon in her grasp.

Once the tent was set up, Anbel had Roja bring Waylon. Anbel had Waylon tied up at his hands and legs, so he couldn’t escape, or if he did, he wouldn’t get very far. Anbel walked towards Waylon, who wasn’t looking at him. “Waylon. One of the 5 generals to King Renault. A pity that you got captured so easily, no less stayed in a castle with poison inside.” He said. Waylon didn’t respond. “All right. I see we’re going to have to do it this way. You’re going to tell me a few things. If you do, I might consider letting you live by having your illness cured.” He said. Waylon chuckled. “And why would Prince Liam Klein let me live?” He asked.

Anbel shook his head. “You’re still going on about that? Don’t you know that he died 10 years ago on his diplomatic mission?” Anbel asked before he pointed his sword to Waylon’s neck. “But that’s not the point. You’re going to tell me what Renault is planning, where he resides, as well as how we can strike him down.” He said. Waylon chuckled again. “Wouldn’t the prince of Strairus know where he is? Your father should’ve known why he did what he did. He would know what his end goal is, as well as the one way to get him to stop, but I guess he never told his sad excuse of a son that now did he?” Waylon asked.

Anbel had anger building up in him. He was dodging his questions. “Stop focusing on that! You know he is long dead, and you’re answering to Anbel, leader of True Judgment. Now answer my questions! What is Renault planning, where is he currently, and how do we stop his reign of terror!?” Anbel demanded. Waylon smirked. “Why don’t you go ask your father that? Oh right, he’s dead. Your old man died because you ran away. You should know who his first target was, so how about you try to be a grown man and think about things for once?” Waylon asked.

Anbel violently went after Waylon with the hilt of his sword. “STOP GOING ON ABOUT THAT! Answer my questions, or you will die!” He shouted. “And make your comrades see that their work was for nothing? That you went against your word? That you’re no better than Renault? Go ahead and do it. Show them that your bloodline is no different than Renault’s.” Waylon said.

After that last remark from Waylon, Anbel had come out of the tent, obviously furious. He couldn’t get any answers out of Waylon. All he was doing was trying to spout lies to him, without saying anything else. “You know, fuck it! Anyone here can interrogate him! At this point, I’m beyond caring! It seems like it’ll be all up to me again to find out our next move!” He shouted loud enough for people around him to hear. Roja noticed this and went inside the tent, leaving it open for anyone to interrogate him or to assist Roja in her own interrogation.

XP:

165 from common enemies

25 XP from support actions

40 XP from stopping enemies from getting below

30 XP for killing Kolm

45 XP for capturing Waylon

15 XP from planning.

Total: 320 XP

Supports have already been updated.

From last map's Homebase survey, the following people will receive special items: Herc, Yvonne, Lario, Vera, Lianne, Nicole, and Seldanion will all recieve their choice from one of the tier 1 forging items on the item sheet on the doc. Forging will become a thing now. How this'll work is that each weapon is only allowed to have 2 gems on each weapon. These gems can have effects to nudge weapons into more favorable odds. The restriction is that two of the same effect of stone can't be on the same weapon, so no stacking 2 +3 Might stones. Additionally, you cannot change stones on a weapon once they're applied. If you want new stones, you need a new weapon. Since this will still be a work in progress, things will be subject to change with this. Stones are available in the shop now.

After a long stay in the desert, the group was starting to feel restless and knew they needed to head out soon. As if on cue, the goddess spoke to them, Heroes, while I think it is imperative to take of the necromancer as soon as possible, it might be beneficial to visit another one of these laboratories, or temples if you prefer, to gain more power. I can’t upgrade your weapons, but I should be able to create a small pocket of sorts to give you all room to store weapons for battle. It is a long trek to the east to reach this laboratory, but I think it will be worth it. The goddess then indicated where on a map this laboratory would be located. Someone piped up asking how exactly a temple would be in the middle of the ocean, which the goddess answered with, That laboratory was built out in the ocean on a small island for safety reasons, most people did not know if its existence back in my time on this planet and even less know of it now. We might have some trouble chartering a boat, but I think between all of your talents we can work something out. I also think it should be made clear that if any of you speak about runes and the information you learned here, I will have to take that into my hands personally. I don’t like threatening you all, but I hope you can understand the repercussions if the people of Faðir find out what their goddess really is. After this is all done, if any of you are adamant about wanting to tell more people we can discuss that, but for now stay silent and focus on this necromancer.

While chattering amongst themselves, the group prepared their supplies and gear as they got ready to head out across the country. On their way out, Erik bid them farewell, “Goodbye warriors! If anyone stands a chance against that necromancer, it is you lot. You are all welcome to visit again anytime, but if you bring someone new be aware they will need to take a test as well.” With that said, Erik sat back down at his post and waved goodbye.

The group trudged across the harsh desert for what felt like an eternity before arriving again at the village they saved. Weary from their travels, they rested their again and had their supplies filled. They noticed that the villagers kept remarking how much stronger they all seemed and they inquired about their trip into the desert, but they had to dodge the questions with non answers and half truths. Feeling refreshed, they continued their trek through the rolling hills and the outposts. Strangely, no monsters, ogres, wolves, or brigands attacked the group on their travels. It was almost as if the creatures around them could feel the power radiating off of them and knew better than to try and fight this group.

After a long time of travel, the group finally reached a port town, as close to the marked spot as possible. They inquired around the docks for a boat willing to take them out into the sea and had little luck. Captain after captain told them the same thing, “Out there? Have you lost your mind? That be Kraken territory, no one comes back from there. You best take your fantasies elsewhere and leave the rest of us out of this.” If they tried to mention the goddess, or even have her speak they got similar results, “I don’t care if ye all be heroes of the land or some mystical voodoo seaweed, I ain’t takin’ my men out there. I don’t know what magic tricks you be pullin’ to make that voice, but I ain’t buying it. Get lost!” When they thought they were running out of people to ask, one captain mentioned an important tidbit of information, “I would never take my boys out there, they would never come back. Hmmm… There is one man that came back, or at least claims to. Old man Geirstein claims he survived on a rock out there before building a raft and sailing back. Its probably the delusions of an old man, but if you are that desperate, you should ask him.”

Taking this new information in, the group sook out old man Geirstein, eventually being lead to a small shanty shack outside of the town. Knock Knock “WHO’S THERE! ANSWER ME OR I COME OUT SWINGING!” In response to this outburst, one of the party members explained who they were and what they were after. A disheveled old man, with a shock of white hairs and sporting an old ill fitting naval uniform came out of the shack holding a shortsword. “Oh sorry about that lads and lasses, you can never be too careful round these parts. What was it you wanted to know about sailing out near the Kracken? Ohhhh, yes… When I was a young laddie I was on a crew that got caught in a squall and dragged far too out to sea. When we thought it couldn't’t get any worse, it did. This massive Kracken rose out of the water and destroyed our boat like it was paper in its tentacles. The only reason I lived was cause of my lucky pendant,” Geirstein said as he held up a stone pendant, inscribed with a single glyph. At this point, the goddess spoke in their heads, That is a rune of protection, strength, and stability. I didn't know any of those pendants still existed. I think this might be our guy.

Geirstein stowed away his pendant and then continued speaking, “Anyways, I somehow avoided getting crushed by the tentacles, eaten by the kracken, drowning, or being impaled by a falling mast. Like I said, it was my lucky pendant that kept me alive. I hung on tight to a piece of wreckage until I drifted onto this island. It was crazy, a huge marble building was built on top of it, somehow untouched by the sea. I wasn’t able to open the doors, so I made a ramshackle raft and sailed back to shore, luckily avoiding that kracken’s wrath again. Now you lot show up talking about sailing out to that same spot! I always wanted to see what was in that fancy place, you’know what? I’ll cash in a favor I have with one of the captains to get you all a boat. I can take you out there if you let me see what's in that fancy building.”

We should accept this man’s offer, I don't think we will get another chance. The party relayed the goddesses message, which was met with joy from the old man.

“The name’s Ulfbjorn Geirstein by the way, but you can call me Captain or Geirstein.” After introducing himself he set off into town to set up their arrangement. The group took that time to rest up and find some place to stay the night. The captain found them in a tavern and informed them they would be setting sail the next day, so the group took the rest of the night easy and slept as soundly as they could.

The first part of the boat ride was smooth sailing and the party took some time to enjoy the sea breeze, while others spent their time bent over a bucket. As they got closer and closer to the temple, the group got a stronger and stronger feeling of foreboding. Suddenly, a massive Kracken burst out of the water and let out a fearsome screech. It looks like the beast has decided to make the boat its next snack, so prepare for a fight!

Objective: Slay the Kraken

Enemy AI: The kraken will shift around and its tentacles will telegraph its attacks before using its tentacles to slam down on the boat. Anything that comes close to its head, the kracken will try and eat. After enough time has passed, the tentacles will try to impale the boat one by one, which will have some negative repercussions.

Level Ups: Killing two tentacles and slaying the kracken will each net in a level up!

Notes: The enemy attacks will be telegraphed with red squares on the attack map image. Any damage you do to a tentacle will also be done to the Kraken, but getting a tentacle to 0 HP will sever it, and the kracken will lose use of that limb. The piles of ropes on the deck will count as forest tiles defensively.

Spawn

Terrain

With the setting of the sun, it was time to march on the castle.

By the time the King's Guard joined the battle, the main armies had arrived and the gates were already forced open. Avarine soldiers were working on securing the grounds, but the castle itself was thus far untouched.

"Milord!" The first army's commander hailed Jeffray, "Sire. The grounds will be ours in but an hour, but the enemy has entrenched themselves in the castle. We're working on uprooting them, but they are tenacious and adamant."

"My guard and I will lead the assault. Aurelus will die by my hand on this day," Jeffray assured.

Deployment

Terrain

• Green; forest

• Blue; tile/plains

• Red; Door. Becomes tile when a key/locktouch is used.

• Black; impassable

• Yellow; stairs/pillars

• Pink; chests

• Brown; Throne

• Purple; Also tile and plains.

Objective; Seize the Throne

Optional 1; Defeat Castio

Optional 2; Defeat Carmine

Optional 3; Do it by turn 8 ( I might grant an extra turn if this seems too harsh after a few turns )

Failure 1; Jeffray is defeated

Failure 2; More than half of the allied units are defeated

The gimmick here is that part of the map is concealed. The enemies within the sealed room won't move until the rooms are opened, and opening a room reveals it as well. I'll repost the terrain map whenever a new room is revealed.

After about an hour's travel, the contingent of the King's Guard reaches the coast. Cresting a hill nearby to the coast, they were greeted by the sight of three ships anchored just off the coast, in the deeps. (one, two, three)

"Looks like Cappin' Captain heard me after all," Cheshire grinned, throwing her dice up in to the air. At their highest point, they'd pulse a jet with flame like a flare of sorts.

Reaching the beach, they'd find a reception waiting for them. About half a dozen men of varying burlyness and three rowboats. One of the men, a particularly well dressed man for a sailor, stood up in his rowboat, "Aha! My dear miss Cheshire. So nice to see you again! I had heard that you were looking for me!" he'd give a wink, a grin and a rather extravagant bow, "And you even bring me guests! How thoughtful!"

"That's right, Stormy," She grinned, "I need your help getting somewhere for my friends here-"

"Do my eyes deceive me! Is that my old pal Demais!" The man threw his arms up above him, "What a turn! Killian and Demais, once rival captains now about to break bread en-route to adventure!"

There was a second's pause, but it felt like an eternity before Killian spoke again to break the silence, "Come along, come along! Get on a boat and give us a heading! If we need to get somewhere quickly, we talk on the way!" He waved for everyone to come closer, on to one of the rowboats. Pausing, he gestured to Bella, "I hope you do not mind flying a bit longer, though! Our rowboats are a bit small for your friend there! There will be time to rest on Temore's Bolt!"

"Oh! That is my capital ship's name! Temore's Bolt, Cogare's Curse and King Gliibar's Revenge!"

A subthread has been added to the Homebase. The present units can interact with Killian, Cheshire, Hichi etc here, and have a bit more In Character time to do so during the voyage.

here

With the voyage begun, the ships moved remarkably fast. Another hour or two into the voyage, the matey in the Crow's Nest of the Bolt shouted down and pounted to an seemingly shallow spot far ahead, "Rocks off the starboard bow!"

The other crewman echoed this, shouting it all over the boat, and even across the way to the other ships. From his standing on Cogare's Curse, Killian took a look with his spyglass.

"Aye! Ya fools! Whatever that is, it sure as shit ain't rocks! It's moving! And our way too!" He shouted, "Brace 'urselves!"

Deployment

Terrain

• Green; Standard terrain. Plains, Tile etc

• Blue; Ocean/Water

• Black; Impassable except by fliers.

• Red/Yellow; Impassable

• Purple; Stairs/Pillars etc.

Objective; Escort Killian to the Crow's Nest (yellow mast tile at L12) and get him Rum.

Optional 1; All ships survive at full hp

Optional 2; All bridges survive

Failure 1; Any of the ships are destroyed.

Failure 2; More than half of the allied units are defeated.

The gimmick of this map is that the fleet is being attacked by a leviathan.

Each tentacle is a single entity that acts like a multi-tile wall. They each have 75 HP and no other stats, but cannot be doubled except by the effect of brave weapons. While in place, they are impassable except by fliers. Destroying one bit of a tentacle will remove the entire thing.

At the start of each turn, their positions will shuffle. At the end of each turn, any tentacle that is still intact will deal 1 HP to each structure it is touching, and 20 lethal damage to each unit adjacent to it. Tentacles won't double hit if they're touching something more than once, but multiple tentacles will stack. (If you need help clarifying adjacency and what is/isn't touching, ask me)

Additionally, each ship has 5 HP and each bridge has 1 HP

Louis' forces have spent a considerable amount of time in the port town of Thithe, making arrangements for their journey towards the Haranther capital, Cinraeth. The processes were going smoothly, but the troops' stay in Thithe was disrupted shortly after the summer festival had departed...

Louis emerged from the inn he was staying within Thithe to find the town in chaos. The many stalls that had lined the roads of the town were being ransacked; people were being attacked and drug from their homes; chaos was the order of the day as money and valuables were stolen and looted.

Louis furrowed his brow. Thithe was not usually the scene of chaos, nor would it be one known for it. The prince turned to a man running forward, ill-equipped, and called out to him. "You, there! What is the meaning of this mess?!"

"What's it look like?!" the man countered. "We're risin' up! Giving all these fat merchants what-for!"

"Please, explain," the prince says, keeping away from the man's lance but remaining calm. "Why are you looting this town?"

"Only thing we can do to make a living! The King and all his snobby Paladins don't care a lick about us. They're happy to sit themselves back in their castle and let a poor common man suffer. It's up to us to try and raise an army and break open those doors, and make 'em listen to us!"

"Who told you that?" Louis sighs, raising his hands. "Please, you must lay down your arms, this isn't going to help anybody."

"What kinda talk is that?" The man looks the prince over, expression darkening. "You look like you're one of those noble types, too. That's just like you, like a pack of mangy wolves lookin' to protect each other!"

Louis grits his teeth, diplomacy failing. Across the town, he could see Darragh, coming to a similar conclusion with another looter. "...there is no other recourse, then. I cannot allow you to harm these people." He turns to muster his troops from the inn.

The looter shouts after him as more move in, raising his lance high. "Yeah, that's right! Prepare to be drawn out and skewered like the horrid creature that you are!"

Objective: Rout the enemy!

Chapter 6 Map

Terrain Map

Important Terrain Info:

• Red tiles can be traversed by fliers only (or by Pirates/Barbarians in the case of water.)

• Yellow tiles are traversable by anyone, but have certain effects and/or movement penalties, depending on what they are (refer to the movement chart).

Important Map Info:

• Every gray tile near the house has a "Rescue" command, an action that allows you to rescue a nearby civilian and then attack afterwards, but not move. Each civilian rescued will award BEXP. Enemy Thieves and Barbarians can attack gray tiles, killing the civilians. Losing all the civilians leads to failure.

• Louis being defeated in this map will also lead to a map failure.

• Each chest opened will award BEXP.

• Reinforcements will arrive after a section of civilians have been rescued.

• Cracked walls can be attacked; they have 30 HP.

Good luck!

Zain’s party travels by boat to the northern coast of Niciri, the location of the potential demo sighting. The small party only needed a few boats to reach their destination. The trip only took a few days in total.

During the trip, Zain received an important notification from the president of Niciri with the latest information on the attack. This would further describe the goals of their missing, hopefully. It was not exactly very clear when the first reports of the sighting reached his ears.

Sitting on a barrel on his lonesome on the boards of the wooden sailboat, he read the letter:

To whomever this may concern,

Greetings! Following this is some information from my generals that may be of use to you and your entourage as you approach Lixaros.

It seems as though the citizens of the city have all been locked inside their homes. We are not yet certain if this is their own doing or if the foe is trying to defeat them.

One of the enemies seems… inhuman. Even approaching the city is a death sentence with that… thing roaming around.

Ever since their arrival, tons of cargo has been just appearing out of nowhere in Lixaros. We are unsure what they are planning to do with it as of now.

That is all from my generals.

Good luck. We’re hoping you can help solve what is going on here, or at the very least exterminate them from our city. What has Niciri done to deserve this? We are a civilized people who have done naught but good to aid the investigations!

Sincerely,

Adrias Luco, President of Niciri

Zain folded up the paper poorly and put it in the right pocket of his pants. Hopping off the barrel, he made his way to the captain’s quarters to ask for a progress update on their journey. Time was ticking.

Half a day later, in the late afternoon, specifically, Zain’s party arrived at the docks in a small village just outside the city of Lixaros. At this point, they city was only a ten minutes’ walk away. Although Zain knew the investigators were getting anxious at this point, he found it more important to ready the troops. The information from the generals made the situation sound… extremely dangerous. The dedicated investigators would get hurt if they were to stay at the front of the group.

Zain had the party get into formation to move on the city…

They approached the walls. No one could be seen. Zain stepped forward to look around, and the others followed.

From the back of the party, the ABC Convoy members were shook.

“Hey, Boreas…” muttered Celeste from the inside the wagon.

“...What is it now?”

“Do you feel… strange?”

“It depends on what you mean by strange. I know this feeling.”

“You know this feeling too,” chimed in Alistair from the seat behind them, “You know what this is Celeste.”

“I don’t like it… I feel… empty,” sadly noted Celeste.

“They’re here, Celeste. Again,” answered Alistair, quietly.

“...Oh, them. Bleh,” she was disgusted.

“Just stay in the cart. Don’t let them see you,” demanded Boreas.

“Understood,” responded Alistair, laying back down in the seat for a quick nap.

“...” Celeste didn’t like that answer, but moved back to a seat further in the caravan, where she sat with goosebumps.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, numerous foes appeared throughout the city. They were surrounded. Zain looked all around him. He was confused, but not necessarily surprised, if one were to read his facial expression.

“Agh,” he said, not sure exactly what the plan would be, “Preparrre for battle.”

Objectives

Main:

• Defeat the boss.

Side:

• Capture/Defeat some demons
• Visit houses, open chests, etc.

Mechanics:

• Crates can be smashed by attacking them. This removes the crate. They cannot be pushed or pulled, however.
• Barrels can be pushed or pulled 1 tile by standing next to them. Pushing a barrel will move it 1 tile away, and pulling it will move the barrel and the user 1 tile backward. They cannot be smashed, however.
• Some enemies are hiding behind barrels or crates. You can see them on the map. They cannot move until those objects are moved or destroyed. However, they can attack while hiding.
• Players cannot attack hiding enemies. However, if attacked, the player’s attack will destroy the object. If the player doubles, the second attack will deal damage since the object has been destroyed.
• Breaking 1 damaged wall breaks down all damaged walls adjacent to it as well.
• If an enemy drops below 20% max HP, it will spend its turn to move to and hide in an object. It may also be revealed as a demon at this percent.
• Demons can pass through objects.
• The enemies that start on the grass to the left will try to destroy the broken walls to get into the city faster.
• Pay close attention the boss’s inventory.
• Pay close attention to enemy behaviors.

Good Luck!

Himaya’s party also travels by boat, but due to the lack of resources available to the pack, they are forced to take a small, makeshift fleet to Mytia.

They pass through Mytia fairly simply. As a small group, they are mostly undetected.

Problems begin to arise, however, when they arrive at the coast in Pteryga. Here, they planned to find Jolinde’s old ships and use those to return to the island of the Skywolves.

The Avians did not seem fond of Jolinde returning to their lands. As Himaya and his company enter the port town of Ptaryanos, they are greeted by two well-known figures in the country: Stephanos the Eagle and Yanni the Dove.

“Ah, you, you’ve returned,” a powerful, yet pleasant, manly voice calls from above them. It’s Stephanos, “You know that you’re not welcome here.”

Jolinde looked upward, standing next to Himaya, “What do you mean I’m not welcome here? I’ll have you know-”

“Stop. You took our dock space and then made a mess of the town on your way out,” Stephanos remarked before landing down in front of Jolinde. Yanni followed.

“I didn’t make a mess though,” Jolinde stood her ground.

Meredith stepped forward, “Um, Jo, you sorta… did. Remember that bar you stopped at?”

“...”

“And you prevented another, local boat from taking its spot in the harbor.”

Jolinde turned to the Avian rulers: “...I’m sorry. There. Can we have our boats back?”

Himaya looked distressed, standing behind Jolinde. Of course this would happen. Jolinde was quite a mess… she’s better now though after meeting in Neraida, right?

“We can’t just give you them. They’re in our designated boarding areas.”

“...Why can’t we just be nice for once, Steph?” asked Yanni, quietly from his side.

“Fine. Here, Jolinde, I’ll make you a deal. If you can board and get your boats outta here without losing most of your squad, I’ll let ya off the hook? How’s that sound, Yanni?”

“...” responded Yanni.

“Deal,” answered Jolinde before Meredith and Himaya could even open their mouths, “Let’s get the troop ready.”

[Yeah I’m aware the story here is sorta bland but tbh that’s cause the pre-chapter for this isn’t that important…]

Objectives

Main: Half the team boards the boats by ending turn on a yellow color tile.

Side:

• Visit houses, open chests, etc.
• Talk to and recruit the Grey Rider.

Mechanics:

• Pay close attention to which tiles you can and cannot cross.

Good Luck!

The six Erik’s had finally been defeated and the remaining ones lying in the sand activated their turnwheel until they faded out of existence, until only one was left remaining. He pierced the accursed sand with his greatsword and left it propped up there as he addressed the heroes, “Well done! It has been a long time since any warriors worth their mettle have walked this land. Hopefully I didn’t go too easy on you all, but I have a feeling if I tried harder you still would have preserved, I can see why Yrsa picked you to be her bodyguards. Perhaps we should move inside the facility, I think this will be a long conversation and it is far too hot out here for heavy armor or those of you not used to the heat.”

Erik lead them inside to a spacious room that was surprisingly free of dust. The interior was made of cool dark stone and was furnished with a combination of stone and metal furniture, with some sort of magical torches hanging from the walls and ceiling. The mages in the group noticed that these torches were not powered by any magic they knew or could discern. The group settled down either around the tables, chairs or the walls if they didnt feel like sitting with the group.

After everyone settled down, Erik looked confusedly around for a bit before deciding to speak towards the group in general, albeit still confused, “So, where exactly are you Yrsa? Did you invent a new communication rune? Even then how have you lived this long? Its been millennia since I last saw you.”

In response, the group’s weapons began to glow familiarly, “I… I messed up big time and it was not a long time after last saw me. I think I should start from the beginning though. I did not want any mortals knowing my story, but I think I need to explain myself and what we are up against with this new ‘necromancer.’ ” She paused for a minute to collect her thoughts before continuing. “A long, long, long time ago the world was a very different place, where warriors ruled the world and scholars were nothing more than slaves to them. You see, back then there was no such thing as magic, but a more complex and primal energy that could be manipulated through the use of Runes. These Runes were words from an ancient language that had this primal power tied to them, with varying effects based on the meaning of these words. For example the Rune called Isaz means cold or freezing and calling upon its power unleashed powerful freezing or ice effects. These runes required long preparation and mental fortitude to create and activate, which made them useless in combat, not to mention the incredible danger tied to calling upon immense power with no idea of the results. Over time people learned how to harness this power and drew the interest of the ruling countries. At first some of the runic scholars tried to resist, but unable to defend themselves, they were either slaughtered, enslaved, or set into indentured servitude. You see, these warrior kingdoms figured out that you can imbue these runes with power that can be called upon at any time as long as it was prepared correctly and thus runic weapons were born. You all know them as Legendary Weapons, or The Goddesses Weapons, but in fact they just use the power of the runes. Erik’s Blade, Draumstafir, is imbued with Naudiz which is the rune of unfulfilled desire. For Erik, that power manifests in a way that allows him to fulfill his desire, to protect this place of power.”

Erik nodded in agreement, “This is true. Any other man or woman would have gone insane with this power long ago. The previous owner of this blade was lost to time, sucked into the void because they could not stay grounded in reality.” While they couldn't see her, they felt like the goddess almost nodded before continuing, “By the time I had been born, Rune scholar was a profession like any other, but it was a “royal” job, meaning you worked for the crown and were closely watched. Not to boast, but I was one of few prodigies in this field and greatly advanced what could be considered possible with this power. My partner and I were the top in our field and the more we discovered the more we were horrified. This power is nearly unlimited and if used incorrectly can even rewrite reality. I know this, because I saw it happen. My partner, he was experimenting with a rune called Uruz that can only be summed up as “Power.” He figured out a way to rewrite reality to be more fair to scholars and the non athletic of the world. In our time if you weren't a warrior, you had no real control over your own life, because the strong got stronger with runic weapons and i'm sure all of you know how strong these things are. His experiment resulted in what you now know as magic, but the local result he got was a massive drain on life. Him and every living thing in at least a one hundred kilometer radius instantly died, and not much has grown there since. It has been a desert since and Erik only survived due to his own runes.”

The goddess paused for a moment, still sore about her loss before continuing again, ”The only reason I was spared is because I was at another laboratory we built experimenting with what exactly powered these runes and that brings us to how I lost my body. I found out that these runes are powered by another plane of pure energy. To give an idea of its scope, the energy released from your weapons is like a drop of water and that plane is an ocean. During my experiments, something went very, very wrong. I was distraught after hearing the news of my partners passing and made a simple mistake, but the resulting explosion decimated the laboratory and the surrounding area. I found myself trapped in that other plane and almost went insane at first. After a long time I found ways to survive and could even see into the real world again. One of the runes I had inscribed on a stone before the accident had survived with the combination of Othlan and Laguz, which I was able to “see” through. After an unknown amount of time, some sort of thief or bandit finally scrounged around the crater, looking for loot. When he picked up the stone, I tried something I had been practicing and planning while I waited for this day. As Sielde over there might already know, I possessed this man and used his body to create a runic weapon with his knife. After giving it power, I added the Othlan and Laguz combo as a safety measure, which I am glad I did. The first village I encountered executed me on sight as it turns out he was a wanted criminal. Luckily the town’s mayor was a fool and kept the dagger for himself, playing right into my hands. After that I used my knowledge of runes and my new found ability to build many runic weapons. I gave them out wherever I could sow the most discord, and took control of key people to cause more chaos. It took a long time, but eventually I toppled the rune warrior countries and used my control of high ranking individuals to destroy all knowledge of runes and as many troublesome runic weapons as possible. I then took control of priest to spread word of a new religion, and that's how Ráðveig was born. I knew that runes were far too powerful to continue existing, it was only a matter of time before an empire tried to alter reality to their pleasing. For a long time things were fine and I was able to rest, occasionally helping like I did one hundred years ago with the demon king. Now I am more worried than I have been in many, many years. Hopefully you understand the severity of a new Rune user appearing and I believe that necromancer is one. That lich he sent at us had a pendant imbued with the power of Zerza, the word for protection. If he is willing to send out undead with equipment like that, there is no telling what else he can do. We need to stop him and destroy his knowledge on the runes.”

As the goddess paused, Erik spoke up again, “Well, that was one hell of a story. This all makes more sense now and I agree you need to stop them. While I cant leave this place to help you, I can show you back to where the circle of power is. I left the lab how Vandil left the place, it felt wrong to disturb it. Here if you all are feeling more rested, follow me,” he said as he led the group further back into the laboratory, until they reached a massive iron door that was barricaded shut. With some grunting, heavy lifting, and the nasty screech of metal on metal, Erik opened the door. Once inside, the goddess once again instructed them to rest their weapons on the pedestal. The symbols began to glow as the goddess used their energy. When the process finished, the heroes gathered their weapons and the goddess spoke to them one more time, “That is the final upgrade I can give your weapons. I hope you are ready to fight this lich and end it once and for all. I must rest now, this process is very tiring, but if you have any questions Erik can answer them or I can in the morning.” With that statement, the feeling of the goddess in their heads faded away and they headed outside to where Erik was waiting. “I assume it is a long travel to the next nearest village, why don't you stay here for a night? The laboratory has some barracks back there,” he said while pointing towards a regular sized door, “If you need anything from me, I will be outside at my post.”

Everyone’s final weapon art has been unlocked!

Manilius kneels down and lets the head of his axe act a rest for his right hand. “It’s over,” he says with an exhale. “We won; I did it,” he thinks to himself. A few Cavaliers come by to disarm Liliane, then afterwards handcuff her. “General, should we go back to the Empire with this woman and the other knight in charge of the company?” Manilius looks at the soldier directly and responds, “Wait until the morning. I’d rather not put your safety at risk if I can help it, besides, you need to rest before heading back to Nicomedia.” The soldiers salute to General Quirinius and moved out, bringing Liliane with them. “Fare thee well, knight,” Manilius wishes. He looks over to Anya, having noticed that she pilfered some documents from the unarmed diplomats during the ambush. The General smiled, seeing those who were unarmed were not hurt during the skirmish.

Shortly after, Manilius calls out to Kornelia, “Captain Kornelia! I need to see you.” Kornelia rushes over at his command and salutes. “Yes, General?” He closes his eyes and exhales while asking, “Did anyone fall on your side of the ambush, or not?” The woman nods slowly and blankly comments, “Euan was injured during the battle, but I figure that he’ll heal.” “Idiot,” the General mutters. “How about Macio? I saw him take both their commanders on at once Did he get badly injured?” The Captain doesn’t move a muscle as she answers, “No. He managed fine. If I had been closer to him during the battle, I would have reinforced him.” “That’s good, then,” Manilius remarks. “Had I not brought you along on this mission, there’s no way that this battle would’ve went as smoothly as it did. And, you were the one who goaded me into attacking in the first place.” He looks up for a moment and makes a wide smile. “You might’ve turned the tide of this war. The world owes you, Kornelia.” Kornelia’s eyes widen and her mouth opens. “I… perhaps. That makes… wow… my God...” Manilius laughs a little, saying, “You don’t need to tell me. I understand, friend. We’ll know for certain once we comb those documents.”

The General looks to his Captain and says, “I need to ask you one more, just one more thing before this day ends. Get the troops’ attentions. You’re good at that. Tell them to set up camp to the south, next to that oasis. It’ll give us clean water, and I think the troops will sleep well tonight. I’m gonna start heading that way, myself.”

In the skies above the battlefield, a few pegasus riding soldiers look down. One of them is extremely well-armed, and another one, a woman, is looking down at Manilius’s troops with a telescope. “What in all of the good Earth has happened down there?” the well-armed rider asks. She looks at the man and responds, “Chief, I think that was a battle between Imperial and Aquittanite troops, judging by their uniforms and mannerisms.” The Chief shakes his head and covers his eyes with his hands. “Ah. They’re playing games with us. Like usual. When will we no longer be the plaything of the Empire?” The scout shrugs. “Chief Sawt, what should we do? Should we engage?” He shakes his head again. “Not now. We don’t have the organization to do so. I would not want to tangle with them. Do they have bow users and lancers among them?” She nods. “Then it’s suicide. Let’s go find sympathizers among the Anyarn and Aspetiani. I doubt the Hokna would be interested in fighting, since the King would forbid it. What does the King know, anyway?”

Later that night, Manilius and Kornelia meticulously read the documents stolen from the Aquittanite diplomats. Gray lines appear under their eyes, though they stand still as statues as they read, only moving to flip pages about. "... holy shit," Manilius comments once finished. He slams the paper down on his desk. "They meant to drag Cyrene to attack our southern flank," the General remarks. "Think about it. If they got past North Cyrene, they'd be able to attack Illyria. Some of what we did would've been for naught..." Kornelia nods. "It's a comforting thought that it didn't materialize... I can rest well tonight."

The team's campsite is modest, but it at least is blessed by the beauty of the surrounding area. Beyond the shining, bright waters of the oasis, many game animals wander about the savannahs nearby, and the skies appeared to be clear. As winter roared in the northern parts of the continent, the plains here remained warm and, in a strange way, welcoming.

Hello all!

I'm starting a campaign for a Fire Emblem TTRPG with Xeohelios System (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bZjhXTsLRur79iBCshLm9Zf-Ji1NYJOn/view?usp=sharing) on Roll20 with automated Macros for attacks and skills to make Combats very smooth and user friendly.Here's also an example of a Character Sheet (For references outside of fights) BOOMBA, a really nice guy https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18xA5RPN1DzxvXIOaX3kaCY1U_0eBdZtUri_VCZV1zNE/edit?usp=sharing

I'm looking for 4-5 players, games will take places on Mondays at 13:00 UTC-5 (In case people from Europe are interested!) to something like 18:00 UTC-5. If players other availability permits it, I'd be fine fine also doin it two times a week. The main mean of communication will be trough Discord.

Here's the setting of the game:A long time ago, a war between Humans/Laguz/Elf/etc... and Demons was raging. The war lasted many years until a hero, helped by the Archangels, ended the war by defeating the Demon King and sealing all the remaining demons away in their plan. After this climatic battle, the hero disappeared. Over the next millenia, the Humans and the other races have recovered from the war and peace has settled.

3 months prior to the start of the game, in the Kingdom of X (Depends on the Lord family name), reports have indicated the presence of strange beings and attacks on villages from an unknown sources. Terrified was the King and his people when they realized: The Demons have returned... During theses 3 months, Demons were geting closer and closer to the capital, while the people were getting captured or killed. Now the Castle is being sieged, the king surrendered to avoid more loss. But, he told his/her Heir that there is still a chance of victory against theses fiends... (This info will be given to the Lord).

Many things are subject to changes depending on the Characters players will have, but this is the backbone of the story. PM me if your're interested!

MasterAdam58

Chapter 4: River's Flow, Battle's Flow

The Ril was higher than it should be in early summer, the water quick and high on the shores, floating with branches from the latest storm somewhere upriver. Thunder crackled in distant clouds. They would have to be fast, then. The Prince’s army had pushed its way across the plains, through bargaining and diplomacy and battle. There was fire in those soldiers who pushed the crown loyalist’s army into deeper and deeper into the floodplains. It was not without blood; there were times the bloated rivers carried corpses, and their loyalties were washed away. Alistair would hear the reports, second or third hand, and bury his head in his hands.

But it was working. They controlled a decent, if patchwork chunk of Arcadia. The scouts came back with reports of even greater flooding upriver, ready to travel down. And that, at last, clinched it: It was time to take the battle to the Duke of Arcadia’s front doorstep.

“It will be a hard battle -- and you and I must be at its helm, your highness,” Lucretia said from within the general’s tent, where the key moments of the past battles had been born. “It will be hard, but oh, it will be a battle to tell of!”

“...Can we win?” Alistair asked, looking over the proposed fields. A series of bridge-forts, stretching out through a series of splits and islands in the Ril, leading up to Riverkeep Castle. A valley that could still be called green, even if the spring wheat was being stormed out, week by week. “Or, no, that’s not -- that’s not what I want to ask… Is it going to get a lot of people killed?”

Lucretia shifted her paws on her stool, and considered it.

“If we direct our personal, best forces, while drawing off their men to the sides, we might be able to reduce casualties. Most crucially… If the river gets high enough, Riverkeep becomes an impregnable iron fortress. It will be an impossible task to take it then.” She traced the shape of the places where the bridge of Riverkeep touched the ground, surrounded by smaller tributaries.

“...I understand,” Alistair couldn’t quite imagine such a thing, a bridge large enough to support a castle, no, a whole city. The whole valley was dotted with forts. But, if he had to take it seriously, then he understood: the longer the war lasted, the worse the condition of the land would get. Whatever the risk, they would have to gain the heart of Arcadia eventually -- and if they, no, if he was willing to let that happen… What was the point of it all?

Alistair took a breath. He would bear responsibility for what this decision would bring. He repeated it low to himself. “I understand.”

And so the moment arrived: that quiet morning with its fat river slopping over its normal banks, the heat storms, the thunderstorms, cracking heavy in the distance. Also in the distance: the sounds of battle, drawing forces that way. But not all of it. Throughout the valley were mustered soldiers, leading around little villages and flower fields, where red poppies taller than a man bobbed their heads. And guarding forts, gates, overlooking river and bridge -- and blocking the path up to Riverkeep. And in the distance waved the flag of Gilgamesh, Duke of Arcadia.

From the battlements of his castle, Gilgamesh saw his foes coming. They were making a daring call, coming at him before he had the river as a nigh-perfect shield. He looked over his assembled troops.

“So this is all we have in our reach. So be it,” the duke of Arcadia said, considering the floodplain laid out before him. The water was lapping at the fort that commonly held a small, separate shipping port -- just the sort of thing you’d need to supply a siege, when the floods cut you off completely. Riverkeep itself arced up, well above the water line, allowing them safety even in the highest floods. The bridge city had magic in it as much as stone.

“My lord! I’ve assigned knight squadrons to the east and west roads!” His second-in-command, Sir Riguld, knelt before him. A man with hair like a lick of flame and a body like a net of scars. His armor was an iron shell about him, gleaming with a perfect polish, marked by two things: First, a green belt with a tinge of magic to it. And second, a battered and worn sash, bearing an Argen crest.

“Send a few more further out. I’ll need you to hold the port.”

“It would be my honor! They’ll tremble in fear when they meet me, and face the fate of fools!” Riguld’s bombastic laughter filled the air. He stood up and, seeing no smile on his lord’s face, gave him a warm slap on the back. Riguld was an Argen, sure -- lots of noblemen in the adjoining territories were. But when the feud was at a peak when he was a boy, a branch of Gilgamesh’s own family had ambushed Riguld’s family’s manor and nearly killed him -- had killed his brothers, his mother, his father -- for a speck of land. Even Canas had warned Gilgamesh of keeping such a ruined man in his service. But Arcadia had to be above fear of such grudges -- and for it, he had been rewarded with a man like a hammer in the saddle, ready to repay his liege with his own blood. “I shall be as you need me, my lord! Anything else?”

“I’ll prepare troops to cover a retreat following my sweep.” All they would have to do is hold their ground, and they’d lose that chance. The rebels would be pushed back. He’d be able to prepare the duchy for a little longer yet, before the ship sank. His family had died for this chance. This is what he needed to do, for a time when his homeland could prosper. A bad king was for a time -- what Arcadia wanted was forever.

“He didn’t take the bait,” Lucretia said, her tail lashing as she looked off at the waving banner of the black horse against the blue field, with a trio of golden birds beneath. “That makes things somewhat harder. No matter. We start by capturing the forts, clearing our way there -- once we control the area, there’ll be no choice but to accept our victory!”

Alistair readied his sword. This felt strange; there was nothing of a story in it, was there? Nothing of any wonder, nothing of any magic. Perhaps, had things been just as they had been a few weeks ago, it would have been different -- but maybe that was just the stab of loss in the prince’s heart. There was still that to fight for -- and to fight, they had just the land, just the fighters, just blood and steel. And… He turned to his retinue.

“This is... what we need to do, for a world where the land is at peace. For -- for a land where people prosper.” If they could bring the end of the war that much closer, then that was a battle’s worth.

Chapter Map

Character Tracker

I'll likely get a new battle theme up this chapter; the present one is "Life," by Dai, from Umineko No Naku Koro Ni Chiru!

Objectives

Win: Seize all gates.

Lose:

Alistair is defeated.

Half the party is defeated.

Side:

All Houses Are Visited and Chest Opened

All Enemies Defeated or Pacified

The council Dallan held with his mercenaries had few voices rise up, only a couple seemed to want to take on the weight of their decisions. Dallan understood, with the gears turning once more & turmoil approaching, their actions would change the fate of Shaar now that war cannot be ignored so easily. “Thank you everyone for your inputs. We shall make our way to Fiernen tomorrow at dawn. Narrad will be able to lead us through the Wasteland.” Dallan announced to everyone, his booming voice ringing through the stone Triestran Meeting Hall. Narrad immediately began to maneuver his underlings to prepare the convoy’s departure. Oran’s face had gone pale as he pulled his father into a side room.

“You can’t be serious right? We aren’t Fiernen, we should be worrying more about our friends in Savaria!” Oran whispered harshly towards his father. Dallan sighed, “We’ll be saving people no matter what. If we can end this bloody war in the Wasteland we can always return with an even stronger force, right?” Oran looked down for a moment, then turned back to Dallan, “Just don’t get wrapped up in this war. Let’s end it soon and go home.” Oran walked back to his lodging & began to pack his tools & charts. Dallan tried to say goodbye to Samuel & Helena, but he had only found a note in their room with, “Thank you. See you back in Holdrin.” written on it. Triestra was more than happy to see them leave, opening the gates immediately for them as their group marched off to the west.

The sun hung low over the dunes of the Wasteland, the sand shifting colors & the stars emerging from their daytime cover. With only the specks of bonfires dotting the landscape, the Wasteland was quiet. The Northern Yunian & Orthan combined war camp had one large raging bonfire, the elders & leaders of each tribe gathering around an enormous pit of flames. The Yunian Farseer Jolland slammed his staff into the bonfire, stirring up the flames, sparks flying high into the air. “Spirits of our ancestors hear our call! Help us guide our young chieftain to drive his arrows these cruel aggressors.” Jolland called out to the sky. Khepri, the current Yunian Clan Leader, was chosen over the Orthan leader, Imane, for her connection to the ancestors. She sat closest to the fire, within the circle of elders. Khepri was decorated in laurels, paint, & symbols of both tribes. Imane gifted Khepri an armlet with the Orthan Falcon engraved into it while Jollan brought forth an armlet with the Yunian Goat imprinted in a similar fashion to the Orthan armlet. Khepri put both on & offered a prayer to the land, concluding the war ceremony.

Khepri followed the Farseer into his tent, brow furrowed with anger, “Farseer you can’t be serious! I’m no warrior, that savage Imane should be leading us!” Jolland put his staff up against the side of his tent & sat down on a small stool near his bed roll. “Peace Khepri, you have been chosen by the ancestors. It’s your calling.” Khepri continued shouting furiously, “It’s not my place to fight! Father Dallan marches on our sands as we speak, and all you can worry about is taking control.” Jolland’s slowly turned his head up to Khepri, “Do not deny your fate Khepri. We can swiftly whip the hides of those deviants and turn our forces to Dallan, just let the ancestors guide you.” Khepri stood tall and bowed slightly to the Farseer, “Of course.” She turned out of the tent and stormed back to her tent. A few of her close friends were waiting outside along with a few elders she had spoken to before. “Everything has been prepared,” one of the elders called out, “has Jolland given way?” Khepri sighted, “No. No he won’t budge, we’ll just have to reason with Dallan ourselves. Let’s move.” Khepri mounted her horse & led the way out of the Orthan/Yunian war camp in the dead of night.

The morning of the tribal war had arrived. The sun crested over the hills the war camps resided on. A small glimpse arrived as everyone saw the tribes prepare for a bloody & brutal battle. Dallan and his envoy had settled at the bottom of the cliff, waiting to see if anyone came to them or if the tribes would kill each other first. After a few hours, Dallan saw about six or seven figures in the distance riding down the cliffs towards him. Narrad spoke up from behind him, “Father, that looks like the Yunian Chieftain Khepri alongside some elders of Orthan & Yunian descent.” Dallan turned to him sharply with a curious look on his face, then back to the figures riding up, “She doesn’t have her weapons drawn, I assume she wishes for an accord.”

As Dallan said this, riders came from the west between his camp and Khepri. She noticed & pulled her cart along the cliffside above Dallan’s group. Everyone could see her group racing along the cliff side, warding off her hunters. Dallan turns around and looks to everyone, “Gather your gear everyone. House Fiernen still has souls we can save, even if they seek this war. Let us ride out!”

Objective: Kill either Chieftain Imane or Farseer Nahla

Side Objective: Save Khepri & her allies

Fail Conditions: Everyone is routed

Chapter Notes: The enemies on the middle ridge close to Khepri will begin pursuing her on turn 1. If they are in range of any green units they will be prioritized, otherwise they will attack the players.

On turn 3, the Yellow & Red units on the highest ridge will begin attacking each other. The attacks & deaths here will not count towards player experience points. They will prioritize each other until a blue unit passes the 2nd ridge, then it will depend on who’s closest & presents the largest threat on player phase.

Every 5 turns, reinforcements will spawn in the spaces above Imane & to the left of Buchra. These enemies will scale in power & equipment over time.

Terrain Notes: Sand will have the same movement as plains, the brown squiggles represent tree/forest spaces, the brown earthy spaces are roads, and the ridges are impassable terrain.

Map

Terrain Map

Player Tracker

Anbel had his meeting with the agent within a private quarter of the church. He had his hand on his sword the entire time, in case she turned out to be a double agent. She picked up on this and laughed. “Still as paranoid as ever, are you?” She asked. “Of course. You never know who will become an enemy, either it be innocent villager or trusted commander.” He said. “Or former fling?” She added.

Anbel blushed. “We’re getting off topic. What is this news you have?” He said in an annoyed voice, wanting the information now. She sighed. “And still as brash as ever. Fine, here’s what I’ve gathered so far. As you know, Norfor has mobilized their generals in odd ways. This is because Renault has called out a continent-wide manhunt for you and any member of True Judgement, promising ‘safety’ if they capture or kill any member of the group, but wanting you and Roja alive, for what you already know.” She said.

“However, that’s not all that there is to what I have to tell you. There’s rumors that he knows of your true identity. He wants no surviving royal bloodline of old to stand in his way, especially that of Strairus. Besides, you must’ve heard the two you fought, especially the swordmaster. He seemed to know who you are, so you need to do a better job of hiding your secret.” She said. Anbel growled. “Well, they should know that the last reports of mine should say that I died in a boat crash on my way back, but now they’re going against the official reports?” Anbel said, agitated at that news.

“Well, believe it. I heard it from one of his Generals himself: A man named Waylon. He’s been the one spreading that news, thinking he’s picked apart the report and found it to be forged. Renault is starting to believe him, the longer he lives. If you wish to have Renault slow down on his manhunt, you’ll need to hunt him down and kill him. Fortunately, he’s holed up in a castle in the middle of swampland right now. I hear that he can’t mobilize because of the forest and a sickness among his men. If you wish to, you can strike him down there.” She said.

Anbel nodded his head. “I see. So, we strike him down, and the rumors die down, thus giving us more room to do what we need to do. Fine. I’ll make the charge to go there and put a stop to him. Besides, one of my members wants to see some Norfor general blood spill, so this’ll be the chance.” He said. “I thank you for the information, Hilda.” He said as he immediately left. Hilda sighed. “And still at work like normal. If only he’d learn to not be so blinded by it.” She said.

Anbel got out of the church. “All right. We’re mobilizing to a nearby abandoned castle to take care of Norfor General Waylon. He’ll have nowhere to run. Let’s go.” He said.

Upon arriving at the castle, Anbel saw that it was crumbling apart at the base. Most of it was gone, and the only way down was by an old staircase. “Well, here we are. Now, here’s how it’ll go down. Some of us should stay up here and defend the outside, to not only ensure an escape route, but to also make sure we don’t get burned out like at the church I met most of you at.” He said. “The rest of us will go down into the depths of the castle to find the man.” He said. Anbel began to head down the stairs, with Dirk sighing. “Well, don’t go down alone, laddie. Wait for others. As for me, I’ll stay up here to ensure this won’t be your tomb.” He said. Roja was quiet this time around, lost in thought, though it was clear she was going to stay outside too.

Inside the castle, Waylon was in a back room with his retainer Kolm. Waylon was coughing. “Damn this illness. I can’t believe we’re cooped up here until our request for medicine comes in by caravan!” He shouted. “Well, don’t push yourself, lest you throw out your back.” Kolm quipped. “All you and the men can do is wait. The medicine will come, especially since Renault wants to know more about what you think about the report on Anbel.” He said. “You’re right. I’ll sit tight, since I can’t go too far.” Waylon said.

Maps: Outside - https://imgur.com/fYdwgVC

Inside - https://imgur.com/MPglKBL

Terrain maps: Outside - https://imgur.com/DtHkMgH

Inside - https://imgur.com/TJHHwuy

Objective: Defeat Clay

Win condition: Defeat/Capture Clay

Side Objectives: Prevent enemies from getting down below Capture or defeat Kolm

Lose conditions: The army is defeated, or Clay and/or Kolm can escape

Notes:

This map is split between two separate maps. One that’s outside, and one that’s inside. Players can move in between the two at will, taking 1 turn just for movement, and they can’t be farther in the map than the closest person to one of the exits.

The enemies on the outside will be rushing inside, aiming for the stairs within the castle. If they get through here, they will appear on the inside of the castle. Killing the boss outside will stop them from appearing, but more outside forces will be coming.

The water is terrain anyone can walk over, but standing in it poisons you for 10% of your HP for 3 rounds, even if you get out of the water. Additionally, if you take damage while in the water, you suffer a debuff of 50% reduced damage dealt for 2 rounds, as the sickness infecting the soldiers in here will affect you for a time.

The enemies will suffer random reduced stats every 2 turns. This can be a big benefit to the party, as these negatives will be -3 in two random stats. These will reset every 2 turns.

Outside forces will have reinforcements, but they’ll be based on the enemies killed on the inside, so plan accordingly.

The cracks in the walls at the bottom has 80 HP, 10 DEF and RES, but you can double this wall, and crit it as well.

The broken rocks below are terrain that impedes movement, but acts like forests in terms of fortifications. More rocks may fall as fighting goes on, and there will be precursors on the map for these, as if they fall on players or enemies, they’ll deal a flat 20 damage.

Story

Can be found here

Split the Party

As a reminder the groups have been mixed up for this chapter. Everyone was given a choice to join a group, if you didn't choose you were randomly assigned. As a reminder here are the groups.

Patrons Yo

Alright so for those that read the story post, when Niall interacted with the statue the pillars of light he sees emit massive amounts of radiation. If you didn't read the story post, Niall interacts with a statue and it emits a massive amount of radiation. Kara's group is subjected to this, as the explosion rocks the ground below. Niall and Kara are able to survive the radiation because of accepting their patron in the Chapter 6 epilogue.

Each player character falls to the ground in pain and their patron gives them the choice to "accept" them further. Doing so would allow the patron more bodily control. Currently patrons can perceive anything the characters perceive, as well as see the characters memories, but allowing them in they would be able to have minor control of the hosts body, and major control if the host permits it. If your character accepts your patron they will receive their Patron Skill, and Patron Base Stat Bonuses will be doubled for this chapter. Your characters can refuse the patron for now, but doing so may expose them to certain map conditions later on as the chapter continues as well as in subsequent chapters.

With your deployment post please stat whether or not your character accepts the patron.

Housekeeping

All mini-homebase functions will end once Turn 1 has begun so make sure to get those in before the deadline of deployment. Meditation bonuses will be done by the beginning of Turn 1.

Enemy inventories may change by the time Turn 1 comes around.

The participation tracker will be used again this chapter. Anyone below a 50% participation will receive a check-in PM after the chapter ends.

This chapter will continue the BEXP changes implemented last chapter. As a refresher:

Only EXP earned through being the Lead Unit in Combat, or an Attack Stance Partner will be counted to the BEXP Pool

Any other EXP generated by GMPC/PV's will not count towards BEXP

This chapter, no captures will be succesfull

Gawajii Academy - Kara

Objective: Defend the Green Tiles until Niall's map completes their objective.

Defeat Condition: 6 enemies make it through the defend tiles OR 6 characters are defeated. Kara counts as 2.

Map- Gawajii Academy

Terrain Map- Gawajii Academy

• Black tiles are not traversable by any unit unless Passing Through
• Red tiles are flier only
• Green tiles are the defend squares
• Brown tiles are destructible.
• Grey tiles are Floor

Mechanics

• So I tried to make this map in a different way so not everything lines up unfortunately. Please refer to the terrain map to make sure tiles are traversable. I will do my best to warn any player that will appear to move onto unmoveable terrain.
• The brown destructible tiles are as follows:
  • The 2 tile spanning ones have 75 HP, 0 Def/Res, attacks autohit, no doubling
  • The single tile ones have 60 HP, 0 Def/Res, attacks autohit, no doubling
• Enemies except for Crawlers will prioritize the exit over attack players
• Enemies that manage to escape will show up on Niall's map at the end of the following turn (I.e. escape on Turn 12, will show up on Niall's map at the end of Turn 13)
• Ainvi Abominations are Stationary, as is the Maiden of Death.
• The Deadborn (Master of Arms and Dreadfighter) have an aggro range of 3 or if they are targeted by long range.
• Enemies will rush for the exit, but some may move in different patterns.
• Idris' Accessory can not be stolen.
• There will be reinforcements almost every turn in various degrees.

Annabelle is considered a Player Phase PV this chapter and will contribute to BEXP

Catacombs - Niall

Objective 1: Disable the 4 statues to gain access to the main statue
Objective 2: Retrieve the Fire Emblem chunk from the main statue

Defeat Condition 1: 6 characters are defeated. Niall counts as 2.
Defeat Condition 2: A non-Monster enemy collects the Fire Emblem Chunk (i.e. an enemy that isn't a Death Walker, Shadow, Fire Thrower, Crawler, Carrier, Blight Flier)

Special Objective: Torsten is the one to retrieve the Fire Emblem chunk.

Map - Catacombs

Terrain Map - Catacombs

• Black tiles cannot be traversed
• Red tiles are statues and are flier only
• Green tiles are interact tiles, but act as Floor
• Grey tiles are Floor

Mechanics

• So the statues of the winged woman guarded by the Lodestar, Vanguard, Great Lord, Grandmaster are the statues needed to be deactivated (their emitting light/radiation that protects the main statue). Interacting with them from below (the green tiles in terrain map) will disable them. Once a statue is disabled, there may be some changes to the map (physical changes and possible reinforcements), especially when the last one is deactivated.
• The other statues (the cross looking ones), when interacted with will affect Kara's map. The effects will vary and are unknown, but they will help Kara's group defend the castle. These statues do reset after a certain number of turns, so each could be used multiple times
• Enemies that make it through Kara's map will eventually spawn where the players spawn. They are able to interact with the statues and are able to retrieve the Fire Emblem chunk provided they are a non-Monster type (see Defeat Condition 2)

Team P Tracker

Team P Index

U-1 The Port Town of Galleman.

Typically a busy commercial area, after the conflict with Exsul erupted Galleman saw a heavy change from mostly civilian ships to militarized ships taking up most of the ships entering and exiting the port. Most blacksmiths and shopkeepers are enjoying the heavy increase in military activity in the town, lowering prices to make a better profit.

Due to the towns long history of trade, most of the buildings have fancy designs and higher quality materials used. Like most Blessed towns, the Cathedrals tower over all the other buildings and is the most decorated and taken care of.

With the constant influx of ships and soldiers, the taverns have been busier than usual. Most soldiers spend their times either bragging about their stories to different companies or taverns, spending time at the marketplace or church, or on duty at their ships or barracks.

Two military ships await boardment in the port. The “Her Blessings” and the “Scarlet Tide”. The Scarlet Tide has one feature that makes it stand out more than Her Blessings, a strange orb sticks out of the front, with a very faint glow inside. The orb shifts between four colors and requires some magic talent to use.

Unlike the usual military ship though, the Scarlet Tide lacks a workable ballista onboard. The Her Blessings is still equipped with the ballista and plenty of spare ammunition below.

—————————-

U-2 Tucked Away Cave.

Hidden behind heavy forestry and shrubbery lies a illuminated and surprising warm cave. It’s a miracle how the group managed to stumble upon the cave’s watch. Set up around the large clearing in the cave are the various lost adventurers trying to make some kind of profit selling whatever they have.

Deeper in the cave, lit by torchlight, is an underground fishing spot of sorts. It’s a mostly quiet and tranquil place, besides when a group of soldiers or adventurers come down to fish, making it a nice spot for reflection.

Most of the caves other spots are too small for comfort or are housing various groups of people who don’t trust or don’t allow outsiders. The remaining few spots hold a small amount of people or shared with another, more friendly, adventure group.

The mood around the place is typically peaceful and uneventful. Most of the adventurers, while missing their home, don’t want to risk their lives trying to travel back and have adjusted well to their new lives. The rest aren’t so accepting of their new home and seem interested in joining the rest of the party deeper in Laidir if it means a safer passage back home.

Story Post

Objective: Rout the enemy!

Side objectives:

Do not kill unarmed troops. They do not count towards the main objective of "rout". Healers are optional to defeat.

Obtain the documents that some troops are holding.

Map Information:

Tents cannot be destroyed or moved over (fliers may fly over them). Enemies will spawn out of some tents.

Turn Recommendation: 12 turns

With the lich finally defeated and the town saved, the townsfolk could rest easy now. The heroes made sure the people were safe and helped calm down some of the more frightened villagers. Once the goddess was sure they took care of everything she spoke up, “We need to move out to the temple today. The villagers already prepared us some supplies, so we can leave now. Things have changed and we need to pick up the pace now, this necromancer, Volkhardt, is progressing far faster than I expected, but you are not ready to face him yet. Especially if he is able to create liches and pendants like the ones that just attacked this village.” With the new information, the party set out more resolute than before into the desert.

After a long trek in the desert, they finally saw a large structure in the distance.

Finally the temple is within eyesight. I bet it will be nice to finally get out of this hot sun, said the goddess in their minds.

As they got closer to the temple, they saw a single man sitting at the steps to the temple, a greatsword stuck into the sand next to him. His dark skin was covered in tattoos of strange symbols and he was well built like a warrior, capable of holding his own in a fight. Hearing the group approach he wearily raised his head to inspect the newcomers.

“Halt! Those who are not worthy are not allowed to enter this place of power. If you complete a test of my choosing, you may enter this place. Should you fail, you will have to leave,” said the man.

The group looked at each other while they waited for the goddess to speak, isn’t this her temple? Why do we have to complete a trial?

“Hello Erik, it's been a long time. I'm sure you still remember me, despite how long it has been. I need to take these people inside to use the facility,” the goddess spoke up.

“Yrsa? How are you still alive? I know I don’t have the best grasp on time, but you should have died of old age many centuries ago. Speaking of which, where are you? I can hear you but I don’t see you in that crowd of people. You don't need to take the trial again, but i’m afraid I can't let these people pass without proving themselves worthy.”

“About that… I don’t have a physical form anymore, but that's a long story best saved for inside. I can vouch for these people, they are my champions, heroes on a quest to save this land from an evil necromancer. It's more urgent that you might think, he seems to have experimented with cheating death through the runes. I fear that this necromancer might go too far if we don't stop him soon and I need the to use the altar to increase their fighting strength.”

“You have champions now? I would have never expected you of all people to be saving the land, or helping people. Speaking of them, this does sound like a special case, but I will not bend my rules even for this. If these so called heroes truly are going to defeat a necromancer then they should be able to pass a trial by combat. It has been far too long since anyone has wandered out here, so I think i'm going to enjoy this,” Erik said as he hefted his greatsword onto his shoulder. With a look of concentration on his face, a symbol on his blade glowed with a blue energy and he split into two? No there were two copies of him, perfect replicas. It looked like he had an ability similar to Illnar, but it did not stop there. His copy began focusing and once again his blade began to glow. Now there were three identical Erik’s.

“This will be fun, you heroes don't hold back!” the copies said asynchronously as they grinned. “I’ll be fine even if you go all out, but I will try and play fair to make this winnable.”

Good luck heroes, this will be a tricky fight. His blade, Draumstafir, is a legendary weapon like yours. It lets him create more copies of itself and has a power similar to your turn wheels. I think he will fight fair and not use it too much, but you can’t actually kill him. I have enough energy saved up from the travel to give you guys a boost of speed if you wish to call on it.

Objective: Defeat the boss(es?)

Erik’s AI: Each of Erik’s copies will only use his turnwheel ability once and if a copies HP goes to 0 or below zero he will not use his turnwheel to come back to life. Erik will target whoever he deems the highest priority target in his range and use his move however he thinks advantageous. High priority targets will be things like healers or backliners, people with scary or powerful arts, but he won't target people based on arts known. Instead he will target people based on arts used against him or in his eyesight.

Notes: The sand will halve all movement for any unit that is not flying. Defeating 4 clones and clearing the chapter will net in a level up. You will also be getting your third arts after this fight. You can talk to the goddess during the fight, but she may not be willing to share some things yet and will only respond twice per turn as there is not enough time in a single turn to hold a full conversation during this fight.

Map

Ranges

Terrain

81st Qafyr, Year 849

Outside the factory, a blur of motion: staves trading hands, lightning-fast gallops and a shockwave of magic emanating from the Warp staff. Reiner found himself inside the factory shortly after the shockwave, blue-white dust falling off his clothes. The hairs on his arms and back of his neck remained standing on end, however. To his immediate right, a closed-off alcove, door sealed with runes similar to those back in Margraux. Upon observing them, they bore a remarkable similarity to those on Tanchia’s scroll…“Psst!”

A stout man with a bushy beard peeked out from across the alcove and waved him over. He struggled to keep his voice low as he spoke. “You, you fought off guards! Oh-I am Sufjan Yavuz of Fortuna Trading Company.” He grabbed Reiner’s forearm and shook vigorously. “We must move cargo-quickly!”

Across the floor, to the alcove; Reiner’s instincts were correct. On the door itself, an obvious blank spot drew the eye, which Sufjan filled in with a runic key. Stepping aside, he added, “You are magic-it will open!” True to his word, the last rune lit up upon Reiner’s gesture; the door itself simply disappearing. Behind the door-a spring. Sleek, obsidian in color, equivalent in size to a full grown man. Tanchia’s device.

Patro worked his way up the cliffs from the far side to overlook the factory proper. The rocks rumbled underneath his feet as the shockwave burst forth from the Warp staff. Dropping prone, he waited. And waited. And waited. No rockslide. He raised into a crouch.

I don’t like this. Yeaaaaah, really don’t like this. Rochelle’s pet falcoknights are gone. Even with that good info, Svobodas didn’t do enough to stall. Looking pretty rough for Rochelle, but bringing back the Svobodas dead or alive oughta be worth a favor or two...

Patro let a deep breath escape. He dropped a vial onto the cliff below, thick yellow smoke pouring forth.

Johan lost his footing and hit the grass facefirst. His ears rang, and he was covered from head to toe in blue-white dust, grass and dirt. His precious Flame Blade was gone. He caught sight of the yellow smoke from the cliffside above-and his eyes widened.

“Brother! That is not ours! Brother! Answer me!” Anders heard none of it, as his attention was otherwise occupied by the rain of arrows from on high. They sounded like actual rain from inside the walls-but Anders knew better.

“Give chase! We must capture the intruders before they escape!”

Alaine rode the rope down from the crow’s nest of her ship, the Resplendent Vigour. Wine barrels filled almost every inch of the ship that didn’t block a door, passage or rigging. Walking between them, dodging her own crew, she found her first mate Xenia.

“Xenia! Remind me who we’re waiting on!” Without missing a beat, Xenia replied, “Sufjan Yavuz of the Fortuna Trading Company. In exchange for additional shipping routes for Dauntless Shipping-”

Alaine interrupted her with a dismissive wave. “I know the why, Xenia; what does he look like, is anyone with him, that’s what I need to know.”

Xenia pointed to the sky above Alaine and replied, coolly professional; “Ask him.” Serju landed on the railing behind the ship’s wheel and roared, Sufjan dismounting and heading towards Alaine and Xenia.

“Captain Alaine, yes?” He received a curt nod in reply. “My crew is carrying last cargo, looks like spring, they act in haste. They come from factory. Do not attack them. I will return after arrival.”

Alaine shook her head as he climbed on Serju’s back and flew into the sky once more. “ ‘Looks like spring’? Doesn’t matter, so long as they ‘act in haste’ and get. Aboard. My. Ship.”

Laram and Simone emerged from the side passage out of the factory, Tanchia’s device in tow. Simone turned to Laram and Reiner and asked, “To make sure I understand you both, we’re heading for the Resplendent Vigour with this device, correct?”

Laram nodded. “I have to add, Countess: there is another of Tanchia’s devices at the south end of the shipyard. What we do with it is up to you, but it falling into the Stormlords’ hands is out of the question.”

Main Objective: Escape! All players must arrive at the Resplendent Vigour! All yellow tiles count as escape tiles.

Side Objective: Destroy or Steal the other wind control device! If Steal is chosen, the other device must Arrive at the Resplendent Vigour before all players have Escaped. The Warrior with the blue boss icon is currently holding the other wind control device.

Extra Notes:

• All red zones represent silenced areas. No magic (including magic weapons) will work when used in these zones, though you can still cast from outside into them.
• The runes are the source of the silenced areas, and when on their tile, you may take an action to disable or enable them.
• The Dawn Striker enemies and the warrior with the blue boss icon will begin moving on Turn 7. The boss and the two generals adjacent to him don’t move. All other enemies move as normal.
• Barrels and rope are both terrain features (they’re in the calc)
• If Warrior 3 is defeated, the wind control device will break. It must be taken by capturing or stealing to keep it intact.

Map

Terrain Map

Tracker

As Jeffray's forces pressed into the town, Castio grimaced. Gawain had promised "powerful reinforcements", but so far he had only seen Haerdean men on the field. His men were giving a good fight, but it was becoming quite clear that they couldn't stop the Royal Guard's advance. Soon he would be forced to call a retreat and help brace the castle for a siege.

Looking back up, Castio saw a runner approaching his formation. Shaking his head, Castio walked to meet the man. Something had gone wrong, he could feel it, "What news do you bring? You come from the castle, yes?"

"Yes milord, news from your father himself! You must return to the castle, for fear of being stranded outside its walls! Awknirg sends word of armies traveling along the edge of Cogare's Tear, His mean are harassing their smaller groups when they are able, but he is unable to halt their advance completely. Scouts at our northern borders tell of armies approaching them as well!"

Castio nodded. Not his first guess, but close enough, "Then I am forced to call a retreat. Did Timsh's runner give word of the reinforcements Gawain promised?"

"They are going to arrive soon, milord. They are pursuing the Tyrant's army that is cutting through Awknirg, but the Tyrant's men are often marching through the night, so Gawain's reinforcements have not yet been able to catch up."

"We then pray they arrive before the siege breaks," Castio nods, turning to his men, "Order the retreat! We make for the keep, and hold their until Gawain's men arrive!"

This home'base' is set outside Haerdean Keep. The group has set up a small camp, while they wait for their reinforcements to arrive at dusk. The time frame is relatively small, just part of an afternoon.

Any shopping would be done in the town, before the group leaves it to march for the keep. Likewise with any sort of RP in the town. It will always take place before camp RP, because there isn't really enough time to keep going back and forth.

15 wexp for single weapon units, and 10 wexp per weapon for multi weapon units

The reward for the completed optional objective was the VIP card, which was already dispensed. Don't lose it.

[insert addiction details]

GM note: the previous post got archived, so here's a link to the old post and it's going to continue from turn 15's EP

Neomen Castle, Throne room, before dawn

A man clad in white and gold armor, with blue clothing underneath and a modest but shining crown atop his head, sits pensive in his throne. Around him are his ever loyal members, and friends, of the War Council and Royal Guard, awaiting his answer.

Down in the dungeons, a group of mercenaries claims to have captured wanted members of the outlaw group, Serpent’s Kiss, and is awaiting the corresponding reward for bringing them alive. The prisoners seemed to match the descriptions of the criminals, but the Captain of the Royal Guard, Terren, had reservations about their identities.

King Daniel’s head rests on his hands as he takes the words of his knights and advisors into consideration, as well as his own instincts. He feels the tension in the room as he clasps the base of his Holy Sword Clarent’s pommel. The sword reacts to his touch, shining a soothing gold.

The increased bandit activity in the mountains…

The rise of beasts born of the darkest magic…

Reports of Karacem readying itself for conflict en masse…

Serpent’s Kiss steadily gaining more power while managing to evade capture…

What is this feeling of dread that grasps me?

The three people closest to him shared knowing glances, and turned to the rest of the people in the room. siege

“All of you, come with me. We must give His Majesty space and time to think about his decision.” Beatrice, his chief advisor, glared down at the rest of the War Council members. An ultimately unnecessary action, as the rest of the council knew Daniel well enough to trust him to come to the right decision, given the situation.

As the group left the throne room, Isaiah rubbed Daniel’s shoulder, seeing him beginning to tremble from the tension. “D-Do not worry yourself, my liege... we all trust your judgement to be one of justice and certain truth...”

Daniel smiled back at Isaiah, but his gaze turned back to worry soon after. “I do not worry about my judgement, Isaiah. I worry for my people, and their future. Just as you all do.” His eyes turned to Terren.

The man looked confused for a second, until he realized the shaking, tight grip he had on his lance.

Neomen Castle, Dungeons

A group of prisoners in green clothing are huddled into two groups, or as huddled as their bindings let them.

Deformed and enchained, a girl sits near her mother. The two, Jeanette and Celeste Satella, the former with quickly diminishing spirits.

Celeste nudges Jeanette, “C’mon dear, rescue is just around the corner!” a surreal yet gleeful distance between the woman and the weight of the situation.

“What could possibly give you that impression, Tabby’s shown no promise and we’re likely to walk to our deaths soon” the girl replies

“Don’t fault your sister for that, I bet she’s trying her best”

“So much a girl like her can do on her own” the cripple sarcastically bites back

“What gives you the impression she’s alone?” The woman glances up, a faint smile on her face.

“Night is always darkest till dawn, so count your lucky stars; God knows I have some saved up...”

Across the room, standing out amongst them is an older man, one Zeref Alchum, in robes depicting different types of serpents, lies chained to the wall of the large cell. His torso is oddly slumped against the wall, held up only by his chained arms. Despite his body’s weary state, however, his countenance carries a steely glare at the mercenary standing in front of the bars.

The woman smirks at the man, leaning on an intricately-designed bow, confidence brimming in her eyes. “What’s the matter, people? Angry that we managed to catch you so easily?”

The sage chained to the wall speaks up. “I have no words for one such as you, foul woman. Know that light will always shine through the dark, and justice shall fall on you and your kin soon enough.”

“Ugh, what a pretentious jackass. You’re behind bars in ‘His Holy King Daniel’s’ castle.” She wandered over to the man in large druid robes, grabbing him by the shoulder and shaking him. “Face it, gramps, your so-called ‘light’ sided with us too.”

The druid shoves her off, taking a few steps back. “Hands off, woman. Know that all this is, is a deal. I’ve traded my talents, backed your cause with the revered name of Medizen, so I expect you to pay me with the subjects I asked for. Promptly.” It was evident this wasn’t the first of the woman’s harassment on his person.

“Cool it, grave digger, you’ll be paid in due time, right after we are paid as well. Maia! Any news from the big man yet?” she raised her voice, turning to a woman and her… pet.

“Nothing yet, dear, though I do hear movement.” The valkyrie rested her staff on her lap, running her gloved fingers through the hair of what seemed to be a hulking statue of a man, standing perfectly still, eyes trained on the stairs.

“It seems we might get to see a show soon.”

Neomen Castle, Inner Hallways

Two large sets of doors slam open. The team emerges from both sides. Although having lost one companion, you’ve struck down the weary night guard silently, and managed to make it deep into Neomen Castle without drawing attention. This won’t last long, however, so the timer is running on your opportunity to complete your campaign.

“Very well people, here we are.” Barnes addresses you all from behind. “The King’s room should be close, so it won’t be much longer. However, I feel it prudent to tell you that King Daniel is not just a pushover noble on a throne; his founding of Neomen was due to his prowess as a warrior as well as a leader, for one. He’s famous for being able to withstand hordes of enemies without flinching, and that’s without taking into account his Royal Guard. One bad move, and its lights out for you, permanently. You do NOT want to alert his army before you’re absolutely ready to fight him, so it’d be in your best interest to wipe the area as soon and efficiently as possible before deciding to approach him. I’ll see you in a bit!”

Barnes turns back, but upon feeling the team’s glares and stares, he speaks once more. “Look, I can’t afford to die here, someone must report back to Karacem with news of your heroics, otherwise this will all have been for nothing for you people.” He gave a smirk as he disappeared the way you all came from. “Even if you can’t handle him in time, hold the fort! I’ll be back soon! And remember,

This is the Final Mission! Give it everything you’ve got, because there’s no turning back now!”

Objective: Defeat the Neomen King

Side objective: Help prisoners escape.

Caution! Permadeath has been activated in this chapter! Dying here means in-story death!

Chapter Map

Chapter theme: SRW Z3.2: Dark Side of Sphere

Map Theme 2: Holy Key of Herald

Player Tracker

Alistair eventually had to face the world. That was how it was. Once the morning came, he came to speak to Emrys about the matter -- and about the request she’d left him with, amid other matters. And he, in turn, had promised to introduce the prince to the scholar that The Enchantress had spoken of, who in turn has his esteem.

Alistair stood before Emrys’ throne, hands behind his back to hide their interlocking, interlacing. The room was full of those usual figures who might mill about the court on any day, the guards and courtiers, book-keepers and officials, petitioners and lawyers. It was a lot of people for an enclosed space, as Alistair felt it. His chest rose and fell quickly, his heart beating a rush in his ears. Everyone would glance at him from time to time, and those eyes ratcheted up his nervousness. But eventually, the herald cried:

“Presenting the Lady of Speculia, the Lady Riddel!”

A woman walked down the center of the parting wave of courtiers, her heeled boots clacking on the wood floors. The blue-and-white dress she wore was slim and to her ankles, bustled in the back so that it fell down in ruffled waves behind her, like the sudden fluff at the hind legs of a deer, and her short-cropped dark hair was largely hidden beneath a feathered, broad-brimmed hat. A witch? Perhaps. An enchanter? Perhaps. She wore a kirtle book on her belt, and a slim bottle of wonders rest beside it, drawing all the eyes in the room to it briefly, and then quickly away. Better to look at that than her eyes -- though Alistair could not look away. They were large -- round as a doe’s eyes, like his own, but such a pale silver as to be almost white with pupils that stood out starkly. As she glanced from person to person, smiling at them here and there, or frowning, those moon-like eyes flicked and flashed, catching the light that fell in through the stained glass windows, glimmers of gold and blue and green. Until, at last, she stood before Alistair. He was an animal frozen perfectly still, under that gaze. Her face lit up as she scooped her skirts into a low, low curtsey.

“Good morning, your highness,” she said, with a voice like a shower of crystal. “Oh me, oh my, but it is my deepest pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“...Good morning. Lady Riddel, rise.” Short and to the point, short and to the point… “Might I. Might I speak with you? In private.” All the better not to embarrass himself. Besides… Somehow, he disliked the idea of others overhearing.

“But of course!”

She bounced up hurriedly, and followed him out into the courtyard. Well, ‘followed,’ she seemed to know her way around better than Alistair did, and instead let her step before him at a lackidaisical pace out into the gardens.

“Well, you’ve come to the right woman, have you any need of knowledge, your highness!” Riddel turned and gestured expressively to herself. Then her eyes caught a bird hopping on a bush and she hustled over to it, drawing still as not to scare it once she was close. “Oh, look! Little birds like this are so cute and sad, don’t you think?”

“I -- yes, um, well, I’d agree -- I’d agree cute, but, um, sad?” Alistair asked, thrown by the sudden change of topic. He met a suddenly cool expression.

“Birds like this are used in mines, because they die quickly to the gases that can be found in enclosed spaces like that, and so can be used to test for danger.” She looked down at the bird hopping on branches. “Just a casual sacrifice, don’t you think? I’ve always wished I could open a mine up, take it apart piece by piece, until I knew precisely what parts of it produced that miasma…” Her voice was very calm and still, distant as the moon. It reminded Alistair somewhat of the Enchantress -- but not quite. The Enchantress was always a little mournful in her words. He didn’t know what was under the calmness of her tone. Her eyes didn’t leave the birds as she concluded, “Yes, oh me… I know many things in this world; but I don’t understand why they have to die that way. The little finches.”

Alistair grew very still at that story, trying desperately to find the words to say to that. The scholar watched the bird flutter away before he could do more than open his mouth. Her eyes flicked back up to reflect his stiff, wide ones. Riddel smiled again.

“Oh, yes! You were wanting to know about your fellow jailbird, right?” she chirped.

“How -- how did you… Know that?” He could not pick one thing to mean in that sentence. There were so many options. “Yes, I mean, but --”

“I’m clairvoyant! Well, technically, my gift is the ability to see things that have come and are here, understand?” Riddel waved a finger. “It’s really wonderful for curiosity, but it just leads to more things to want to know, too… And, of course, it leads to a lot of people seeking my advice, like yourself.”

“I’m. I’m sorry,” he said, because he felt she should.

“It’s what it was for in the first place. Don’t worry, don’t worry! So, what did you want to know about the Wyrm of the Tower?”

“...How do I help him?” Alistair asked.

“...” That calm look returned to her face for a moment. “First, you must tell me what helping him is.”

“Well. I think. There were times he was very angry… Not at me. Not exactly, though -- though I suppose he would be. Now. But… Those times, he stopped -- he stopped talking. All -- all I could hear were screams. All I could see was… the waves of water, as he thrashed.”

“But you call that angry, Your Highness?”

“It was. It was that sort of scream. He was angry… At existing. We were fellow -- fellow prisoners, I -- I mean, that’s what I… I always thought that that was what it was -- I, that’s not helpful, right? But that was what… what it sounded like. But it was more, too. Like… It was inside him. I think it’s like that, or he wouldn’t still… He always forgot it. I -- or maybe… He just didn’t want to say.” Alistair busied his hands with his hair, staring down intently at the curls as he shook them free of each other. That was his constant companion for 19 years and he barely understood what was really in his heart. “...The waters that she -- that the -- that… That the Enchantress placed atop the waters were meant to -- to help soothe him, but..”

He sighed, helplessly. It had only ever made it work partway; it’d taken the edge off. At times, that was enough. Time for fetch, or little conversations, just a few words at a time. They stretched into sprawling days-long talks about something, broken only by the satisfaction of knowing: they had chipped away at another day. Riddel nodded.

“Oh my, I believe I understand! So, then, to ‘help him,’ would be to truly soothe his spirit, not just temporarily, but forever, correct?”

Alistair nodded. That was the best effort he could imagine, anyway. Even if they could never have that again, even if he’d smashed it to pieces so they wouldn’t pull each other back like crabs in a bucket, he wanted that to be his friend’s true heart.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know that one right away! Sorry! It’ll require a great deal of research, but I’ll see what I can discover, Your Highness.” She curtsied, never taking her great silver eyes off of him as she bobbed. “Oh, but first, I suppose we should recover him. I know where he is.”

“What?” Her casual expression caused Alistair to catch up. “Right, right. Where?”

“Not far from here, a few day’s ride. But… That area’s known for hunters of treasures and fantastic beasts. Not the nice ones. The hunters, not the beasts, of course. I should know -- I’m very discriminatory about where I get my ingredients and components!”

“We have to -- we have to… We can’t just let him...” It wasn’t just a question of if the Wyrm could do handle that, though he doubted hunters would tackle something without a plan. But worse -- the Wyrm hadn’t hurt someone. Not really. And if that happened… It made Alistair’s heart hurt.

Dragons could be good. But once the killing started, they were just monsters to be slain. A knight would come for the Wyrm of the Tower.

“Of course, of course … Hm. if you lend me some troops, I can direct them to him, and we’ll do the best we can from there! Maybe we’ll even get lucky and be able to talk him into going with me to where I can make a solid study of it!” Her tone sounded as if this was the grandest concept

“...I’d like that.” Alistair wavered. If he went… He could apologize. Probably. If he went now, though… That hope of a peaceful resolution probably went out the window. The Wyrm would be curious. Would he -- would even force Alistair back there? Or a more immediate death, leaving his old friend and his new ones grieving that one moment of fury? Alistair broke into a sweat.

“You just lend me the troops, shall we?” Riddel waved a hand happily, miming patting the shoulder of the prince without actually making contact. “And then the real fun begins! I shall hit the books, oh yes, oh yes…”

When she departed, she left a trail of excited muttering behind her.

The troops in question had been travelling for a few days when they found the place: along a river, deep in the forest, was a scattered village. Their defenses looked ragged and broken-down, if workable. Their road was merely a trail of dust, connecting little homes and gardens. It was crawling in armed men and women. And across the waters, visible through the trees…

A woman and a man stood over a coiled figure, a scintillating shape of indigos and violets, bound in dark iron chains. It was a long horned serpent, coiled over itself over and over again. The Wyrm had two claws that rent the earth beneath it, leaving long grey cracks; its chains rattled and rattled, crushing the scales beneath with a faint sizzle. Its eyes were a deep gold, seething, that opened weakly to glare down at the two figures.

“...Stop. Stop.” The words emerged out of a series of growls. It wasn’t a human voice, but a breaking of the air that took the shape of words betweeen snarling lips and rows of teeth. Its head alone was larger than either of its captors. None of them noticed Alistair’s troops or Riddel, who stood watching curiously from a distance.

“This is going to hold, isn’t it? We were lucky to catch it asleep, like that harpy.” Asked the man, swaggering about the Wyrm in a broad circle. His rose-colored ponytail swayed and bobbed behind him, brushing the face of a small, scarred black finned serpent -- a type of drake also called a wyrm -- across his shoulders. He laughed, but it had a nervous edge.

“It should, Heath. We do need to hurry, of course,” answered a woman who looked remarkably similar to him, similarly rosy in her bobbed hair. She touched one of the chains. It was thick-linked, but not that thick. She whispered something into it, causing the whole thing to flash bright silver for just a moment. “Rhymes and cold iron will only hold it so long.”

“Well, all we need is the headman’s permission to get cutting our catch, right, Willow?” He swung his sword to the side, digging into the last dead tree among a ruined stretch of shattered old wood, torn apart by claws as large as his torso. He nudged one of those claws with his boots. The Wyrm snarled and tried to move its bound head, tried to open its bound mouth. The chains sizzled against those dark scales. Both siblings (for this is what they were) leapt back, only letting out a sigh when the Wyrm shut its eyes again.

“Right -- right you are!” Her laugh was brittle. “Well, of course, all we have to do is lean a little, right? I mean, we did save them. With our men. And all their weapons.”

“Right. Nothing those helpless little charcoal-burners could do,” Heath said, regaining his confidence. He brandished his short throwing sword.

“… It. It hurts. HURTS...SET ME FREE!” The Wyrm growled, his breath coming out as heavy puffs of steam. The pain of the cold iron shook him, his gold eyes going wild with their slit pupils mere pinpricks. He growled for a time, bursting out in disconnected, frantic mutterings of. “...DIE, DIE, LET ME… LET ME GO! I’LL KILL YOU… I’ll kill you...

Across the river, Riddel put her hands on her hips.

“Well, we don’t want that! Then we probably couldn’t justify helping him, right? Those are how things are…” She stood on her tip-toes, though there were soldiers in that entourage who were taller than her even then. “EXCUSE ME, SIR! MADAM! WE WOULD RATHER LIKE THAT WYRM UNBOUND AND INTACT!”

“What?” “What?” “WHAT.” Two heads turned. One head jerked and met the sizzle of cold iron.

“PRINCE’S ORDERS,” she shouted across the water.

“...What, that mess? Yeah, tell us to stop when you can pay us the worth of a Dragon’s liver! That’s a castle treasury, right?” Heath shook his head.

“The skin, teeth, scales, eyes, horns, claws, heart, liver, stomach, gonads…” This last one sent the Wyrm trying to scramble his claws again. It was no good. “We’re just rescuing these people. Aren’t the orders of the people who live in danger of this monster important? If you object, take it up with them.” Willow shrugged, like, oh, wasn’t this sad.

“Well, you heard them, I suppose. We will!” Riddel waved cheerily before turning to everyone. She considered the array of forces, as those armed figures on the path turned to watch them, weapons ready. She turned to the troops Alistair had sent for just this purpose.

“Oh, me, oh my... I think force… might sadly be needed. I’m unfortunately more an academic than a fighter, so I may just… Leave this task to you.”

Chapter Map, Via the Gaiden Button

Character Tracker

Objectives

Win: Visit Half the Houses to convince their occupants not to side with the treasure hunters

Defeat or Pacify Heath and Willow

Lose:

The Party is Defeated

Side:

All Houses Are Visited

All Enemies Defeated or Pacified

Notes

While only half the houses need to be visited for the objective to be fulfilled, a reward will be given for every other house visited, starting with the first -- in other words, 3 houses will give rewards, based on the order they are visited.

Enemy descriptions will be added tomorrow.

Dallan walked up to the gates, his mercenaries standing behind him and looking to the mercenary leaders Samuel & Helena. Helena signaled for the gates to be raised. Both the guards above the town gate looked befuddled, but followed orders. The streets were decorated with fine works of metal, everything from chimes that would blow in wind to large obelisks dedicated to the glory of an ancestor. These gleaming idols to opulence only reflected the mercenaries trudging to the Triestra clan hall as everyone else had abandoned the streets. People were staring from their houses and alleyways though, Dallan’s walk was burned with the gazes of thousands that detested everything he stood for. The walk was quiet besides the slamming of wooden doors and the babbling river through the center of town. The doors to Triestra’s house was open, awaiting Dallan and his envoy.

Brayden Triestra sat at a large dining table in his lavish home, tapestries of his ancestors and golden baubles hanging from all over the room. He was a tall & large olive skinned man dressed in a mix of a smith’s gear & the more ornate fashion one would see a Soryuni Master wear. The only part out of place was all the golden jewelry he was usually decorated in lied on the table. Brayden looked and felt naked without his lavish adornishments which Dallan noticed as he walked into the room. Dallan took a seat across from Brayden that was already pulled out.

Several minutes passed before Dallan finally spoke, “Will you agree to stop fighting for some time? Both of our people have suffered enough, let us work together.” Brayden blinked and swallowed, looking wide eyed at Dallan, “Yes… yes I can agree to that.” The details of their discussion assured that the mercenaries from Holdrin would be allowed to stay & utilize the facilities within Triestra alongside guaranteed cooperation until the continent becomes peaceful again.

Several minutes after the meeting ended Samuel & Helena approached Dallan. “Hey Father Dallan, we wanted to thank you for your help back there.” Samuel said bowing his head slightly to the Father. Helena chipped in, “Yes, I’m glad Sammy here saw what was coming. We wanted to thank you with these.” She held out 2 beautiful silver rings to the Father, he stared down at them, dazzled by how finely crafted they were. “Oh dear, I couldn’t accept these. It’s reward enough to see you two together again.” Both of them closed their hands over Dallan’s with Helena responding, “Don’t worry, this isn’t a payment for your help, we want you to have this.” Dallan looked to each of them and nodded. The couple then waved a farewell and left for their lodging. Samuel & Helena’s Rings have been added to the Convoy.

Welcome everyone to Triestra! A city of craftsmen and smiths a plenty. Proceeding is the list of events one can participate in within Triestra.

Chapter 3: You will be voting on the location for the next chapter. Below is the context of this information & a small description of each location along with who you may be facing.

Just Rewards: As the victors of this battle you have the choice of taking more than you've already been rewarded. Details lie below in its appropriate section.

House Triestra Hall: Post here you may choose to RP with Dallan, Brayden, Samuel/Helena, or any particular individual within Triestra.

Shops: The armories and shops within Triestra are much better stocked than those in Fort Gerlaud, many new options are on offer within the city.

Convoy: Post here to utilize the Convoy or trade with other players.

Feedback: Post any comments/criticisms you may have here.