12/14/2023 -- Operation Clarion Caution

• We pick up around 11am on the 9th of Lionnir, find Talis and Bloom being called to Cordell’s cabin. There’s an unfamiliar figure waiting outside. We see Zey (Brandon) – an elf, 5’9”, skinnier (145ish), jet-black hair, red eyes, very pale (almost white). He’s about 64, so young for an elf.
• Talisman asks if he’s here for the mission, and he says he is – they make introductions, before heading into the cabin together. Cordell greets us, the skin-book next to her, and says she put together this team hastily, but she believes with our talents, we should be effective.
  • Her eyes wander over to Bloom, who clearly had a long night – his shirt is missing a button, his hair a bit disheveled, some bags under his eyes, when normally he’s very well put-together.
• She then opens up the book and calls the spirit to come out – Charon slithers out onto the floor, and gripes about not being referred to by name again. Cordell continues on to tell us that the leadership of Bayeux is barring entrance to the town, and that our missives to begin evacuation have been refused. They want an audience with the archfey, but they don’t want that, so she’s sending us in to parlay instead. We are to convince them that their evacuation and our entrance into the town is to their benefit. Charon is being deployed just in case things go south.
  • Charon is also told she has permission to be in sight, so the people know we’re protected.
• She tells Zey he’s to keep special watch over Talisman, because he might now have some diplomatic importance – apparently a group of clerics from the church of Corania have requested our aid within the town. Before the meeting with the leadership, she advises us to ask what his church buddies want. He asks if Ovate Anahi can come along, because they’d thought they were the only two members of their church on this ring. Cordell’s surprised by that revelation, but says yes. She then dismisses us.
• Talisman goes off to find Anahi, and invites her along; she agrees. He and Zey then go to the stage, while Bloom and Charon go to Lucky Eight’s. Charon tries to talk to Zetian, but he’s away.
• The spymaster [Brandon] finds out Claudia left the camp late last night and didn’t return. She was headed south.
  • They also find out she’s originally from the Prime Ring, and departed on an astral ship from Karjakin. She’d been hunting in Gronne for 8 or 9 years before joining the Brigade.
• We spend 1 intel, find out wine is important to Bayeux’s history – vineyards are important to them, because they thrive on their wine production. When we ask for two approaches, we’re told we can go more diplomatic and try to meet Bayeux’s needs, or we can tell them to basically submit or die.
• The marshal [Athena] gets a 5 on engagement. We find Bayeux nestled snugly in some foothills, a tranquil place guarded by wooden palisades. We see rows and rows of vineyards yielding grapes. As we approach, they have a well-maintained checkpoint, and heavily-armed (+ well-trained) soldiers. They stop us to ask some questions, and when they find out we’re on a diplomatic mission, they let us through after telling us not to cause trouble.
• We see the admin building in the center of town – it seems to be the oldest building town, and very heavily guarded. They have multiple trebuchets, which is… unusual.
• Bloom asks Talis to tell them about the church – he says they worship the goddess Corania, who values building and rebuilding. They generally attempt to help those in need. The church also has different sects, though Talisman hasn’t joined any yet. Zey asks how they feel about other churches, and Talis says that he’s been under the impression that they’re very open, but that each person keeps the faith in their own way.
• Anahi also explains that the church is pretty new, manifesting within the Unclaimed Lands in the last 200 years. There are different positions of authority; archbishop, patriarch of the divine, matriarch of the material, masters of different branches… she also says everyone is appointed to their roles by Corania (in response to Zey asking if higher leadership is to death or term-based), and that each of their personal names are given by Corania for their service.
  • Charon says it would consider joining the church if its heart wasn’t already aligned elsewhere; Anahi says it’s never too late to change, but Charon disagrees.
• We decide to go to a tavern to regroup for a moment, and so Talisman can catch Anahi up on some things. We see two of them, and decide to go for the less fancy one, a wine bar called The Shouting Cheese. The walls are covered in used wineglasses in a gradient pattern, from deep violet to bright red, and people walk about with platters of food and tankards of wine.
• A satyr skips up to our table with a big smile and asks what we’d like. We go for a full sampler without asking what that is, and Zey pays the 20gp (+ tip) for it. Charon asks for the rate on full bottles, and the satyr seems a bit surprised to be talking to a spirit, but takes it in stride. We get a 500 year old Albarino for Cordell.
• Because we ordered a full sampler, they bring us literally every wine they have to taste, and we get 38 tankards of wine distributed between us. The satyrs asks for a name “for records” – Talisman gives us, and the satyr just fucking Leaves. Sure would like to know what that was about.
• Because we accidentally ordered an impossible amount of wine for us to drink, Zey stands up and tells the people that as a thanks for letting us into their town, on behalf of the Brigade, we’re sharing the food and wine we got with them. A lot of people take us up on this offer.
• Talisman pulls Anahi aside so they can talk in private, and asks about speakers. Anahi explains that they were excommunicated from the church for going against it, and that the expulsion was before her time. Talisman tells her about the body we found, and she’s pissed at him for not having Varos retrieve it, and also for not telling her about it for like two weeks.
• He tries to show her a fire rune as well, and says it just came to him – he’d been just lost in thought while hanging out one day, and when he came to, he’d been sketching it over and over again. His desk then caught fire. He’d told one of his superiors, Tatnai, about it, and they’d just told him never to do it again. Anahi vehemently agrees with the guy’s sentiment. They go back and forth, and Anahi wants to go back to camp to get some purifying herbs for him, but Talisman asks if she can do that after the mission, because they might be about to find a whole enclave of speakers. Anahi agrees, and reluctantly allows his high-five.
• When they come back, Bloom, Charon, and Zey introduce them to their new friend Dale, who runs the mill. He’s a satyr, with dreads and a septum piercing, and is pretty drunk at this point (and actively drinking more). Zey gets him to tell a story so that we can slip out, and he starts off with one about where he saw a raccoon eat an ant, and then another time he saw a bunch of clerics moving a statue of Amis from the temple. We back up and ask him about the temple, and he says you walk over there, and then it’s right near the… the red building.
  • He then says his best friend was eaten by squirrels (after Charon says it’s his best friend when he asks who we are), and Bloom asks if this was pre- or post-mortem. Dale’s like, “oh God, do you think he was still alive?” This would have been a fascinating avenue to continue down, but Zey and Talisman dragged us out to continue the mission.
• Back outside, we realize many roofs are red. Talisman walks up to a halfling fellow and asks for directions to Corania’s temple – the man points us in the complete opposite direction Dale told us, and we find a rundown and dingy-looking building. Amis’s name has been crossed out and replaced with Corania’s.
• We head inside, and there’s a gangly-looking guy sweeping, wearing the vestments of an ovate. He greets us, welcoming Talisman, and introduces himself as Ovate Tarick. He asks if Talisman was also sent by High-Zharat Howard, to which Talisman says no. He calls over Steven, and we see a large goliath come running around the corner, wearing the dull, muted colors of the nameless. He’s introduced as Nameless Steven.
• He’s told to take our coats and get us food, but as he’s offering to take our coats Steven tells him he’s scaring us and tells him to just go get the food. As he goes off, Taric tells us Steven will become an initiate once they get off the ring. He leads us into the sanctuary, and we see it’s still pretty abandoned; statues have been taken down, and no filigree remains. We see a small statue of a woman with long flowing hair, a hammer in one hand and a level-finder in the other. Talis recognizes this as Corania.
• We find out the rest of their church is in Alstride Camp, which is to the east of us. They contacted us to get the Brigade’s help in moving there, because their numbers are too few for them to go on their own – it’s just him, Steven, and Bard Yakoba (sic?). They were sent to the Primordial Ring a few months ago, following the orders of the new matriarch, Mother Opal, who wants to, apparently, spread civilization to this wild ring. He says most of the initiates should be with Corania right now, but Steven is narcoleptic, so going to the crack in the Prime Ring isn’t the safest place for him.
• Bloom asks about the crack in the Prime Ring, and gets a history lesson on the Battle of the Burning Sky from Tarick. Tarick is more than a little shocked he’s asking, but talks about how the metallic dragons were massacred, the Slaad returned, the Ringbreaker tore the Prime Ring asunder… you know how it is.
• He ends up asking for an alliance, hoping together we can pressure Mr. Crane, because right now, he’s stopping Corania’s divine will. Upon asking who Mr. Crane is, we’re told he’s a “fat Kovorovian shithead” – he came in not long before them, with a bunch of mercenaries, big weapons, and deep pockets. They offer to threaten to withhold supplies, stop the public works projects they’ve been doing, anything to help us get him to move Bayeux.
• Steven then comes back with the food, and starts to tell us about the varying items, but Tarick tells him to fuck off. Bloom yells a “thank you” after him, but Tarick says we shouldn’t acknowledge him, because he’s nameless. We start to decline the food, with Talisman suggesting they give it to the people, but Tarick’s very uninterested in that. Talisman takes some extra food.
• We leave, and Steven tries to wave goodbye at us, but falls asleep mid-action. Charon rushes over to prop him up. Talisman’s uncomfortable with those church members, but Anahi says that everyone has their own methods, and practices their faith in different ways. Talisman finds a beggar, a kobold, and gives them the extra food he took.
• We head to the admin building, and get led to the terrace. We come out on a roof filled with flowers, and lit by candlelight. Sitting amongst the flowers is a Kovorovian man, thick-bearded but bald, in a bright red uniform. He says that in his homeland, there’s always snow, but here, it seems like the weather will never turn. He expects us, though, to tell him in some way that it has.
• He introduces himself as Mace Crane, and asks for our names. We introduce ourselves, and he hesitates a moment when Bloom introduces himself, before eventually continuing on. We all take a seat, except for Charon, who stands behind us. He mentions he was in Dalekingrad for a long time, and tells us he dug in here long before he knew about the trouble to the west, but that coincidences can sometimes go in your favor. He says he has an offer, but it needs to be done soon – by tonight, if we are to have a chance to move the city before everything arrives.
• He says he wants a mutual defense pact, an Archfey by his side at all times as a professional guard, equivalent power to the Archfey within the Brigade, and after this, a commitment of at least 1k soldiers, whether Brigade or mercenary, and whatever surviving Archfey are left, to help him carry out justice against people who’ve wronged him.
  • He explains he used to be a high-ranking member in the city of Dalekingrad, keeper of the seal, and worked closely with Zorya. He was betrayed and deposed from his seat, and those traitors also destroyed Dalekingrad – they’re already hunting him down, as well. He tells us that the three he seeks vengeance on are a sorcerer named Clarion, a halfling diplomat and speechwriter named Petras, and a tiefling of darker talents named Judgment. He settled down here to create defenses for himself.
• In return, he offers us +15 scrap weapons, +2 siege weapons, +3 supplies, +5 intel, +1 morale, +1500 soldiers.
• We start trying to negotiate, but he’s pretty assured in his success either way – our army won’t be able to get into the city, so if we refuse his offer, we’ll either have to go the way we came, or we’ll be pinned against his wall and essentially be fodder for him. Bloom shows him some of his scars to impress on him how nasty Althara’s forces are, but Mace is unimpressed, and shows us his own scars from facing the Blood Legion in Dalekingrad. We try to offer him just a security detail instead of an Archfey guarding him, but he says his enemies are powerful for that to work. When we ask which Archfey he wants guarding him, he says Kynaston, and Charon accidentally lets slip that Kynaston’s on one leg now – Mace didn’t know this, and asks for Cordell instead.
• After having a brief group huddle, we decide to go along with him having Cordell as a guard, but instead of giving him equivalent power, offer him instead the position of general, and a personal spy. We pitch this, and he asks for three spies of his own choosing, instead of one. We agree, and he welcomes us (the three of us who are alive) as his spies. No one’s very happy about this, but he says he’ll meet the Archfey at the gate tomorrow to confirm our deal, and we end the session with us heading back.
  • Talisman tries to fake being incompetent by tripping on things, but unfortunately, Crane seems to think Cordell would only send capable people.
• Everyone involved levels up.

TLDR

• The gang was sent to Bayeux to find out why the city was resisting evacuation. We went to hang out with the church of Corania first, and found out a Mr. Crane had moved in and built himself his own safe haven. We met with him and made a deal to give him a position as general, as well as three spies (which ended up being Bloom, Talis, and Zey), in exchange for a shitton of soldiers and supplies. Cordell is now guarding him.