Session 23 Recap: Failing a Friend, and Collecting the Countries

The battle against the demon that used to be our leader was quick and brutal. It changed its shape once to try and gain an advantage, but our combined efforts felled it, with Daisy landing the finishing blow. As soon as their hands were free Daisy and Royce charged Yuber, who had been standing and watching with his lieutenants the whole time. But the pair never got close to touching them. Yuber froze them where they stood and sent them into fits of excruciating pain, threatening to do to them what he’d done to Pearl. Daisy switched to her bear form to try and power out of his hold, but to no avail.

Just as it seemed the reckless pair were doomed, Yuber succumbed to a surprise attack of arrows, fireballs and lightning, falling for the same trick as in Crystal Valley. Six people charged in, several of whom were familiar to Harold. We joined the fray with gusto, seizing our advantage; Daisy knocked out Grant almost immediately, and all of the enemies were almost overpowered. But Windy showed up, furious at the invasion of her new castle, and teleported her allies away.

The six human warriors lined up before us to introduce themselves, pointing out that we’d all had the same idea to attack here. They gave their names as Geddoe (the leader), Joker, Jacques, Queen, Ace, and Aila, the “Southern Frontier Defense Force.”

With the fighting over, the Unity Rune heroes gathered around the fallen demon. They were relieved to see that their combined power was enough to restore Pearl to her human form, though she was obviously dying. Kuarjav, who knew a hopeless cause when he saw one, bowed his head, but Daisy rounded on him with angry accusations. She even said that if he hadn’t given up so easily throughout his life, he wouldn’t have spent so much of it in prison (Harold chastised her immediately, but Daisy has yet to apologize). Pearl, on the other hand, understood the inevitability of her death, and used her finals breaths to warn the party that Yuber had just stolen the True Demon Rune from Harmonia. This he held in addition to his True Eightfold Rune, which was difficult for everyone to believe; no one is supposed to be able to support two True Runes within a single body.

And so Pearl passed away. Daisy murmured, “I won’t forgive you,” but whether to Yuber, Kuarjav, Pearl, or even herself, none can say. Cradling Pearl’s body, Daisy led the others and the six new allies to the castle. They proceeded slowly up to the war room, earning gasps and cries from everyone who recognized the body of their former leader. The grief felt by Dexter, Damien and Jonah, who had joined up with Pearl long before any of us had met, was especially deep.

Harold quickly arranged a state funeral for Pearl, with speeches, PR statements, and a viewing of Pearl’s body as she lay in state. All of her good friends and the leaders of the Union Army had something to say, finally ending with Kuarjav. Even our official army spokesman made a pithy, if rather gloomy, statement: “I think I understand what military fame is; to be killed on the field of battle and have your name misspelled in the newspapers.” –William Tecumseh Sherman. Meanwhile, Caesar sought out Harold, who he recognized as a fellow cool-headed thinker in times of crisis, and they discussed their concerns over how far Camaro might be willing to go to win. Harold suggested that they start trying to recruit other nations to the Union Army’s aid, and Caesar agreed.

Later, we all got together for a more lighthearted activity and finally had Roxie build our Guardian Statue for the castle. We gave her the four Squirrel Plans, and as soon as she was finished, an oversized flying squirrel in a red cape appeared from out of nowhere! Veterans recognized him as Mukumuku, and though the poor creature was very confused, Daisy hugged him and he was quickly adopted as the castle mascot.

At Royce’s suggestion, our first target for recruitment was the Dragon’s Den (Leknaat teleported us all the way there). Royce’s presence allowed us to walk in and explore wherever we liked, much like our trip to the Howling Voice Tower with Clive. The party was shown in to speak with Futch, who listened with interest to our story; he was especially furious to hear that Windy had returned, she who murdered his first dragon, Black, many years ago. Futch agreed to lend us his help, though he had to remain at the Dragon’s Den for the moment. While we were in the area, we explored a bit more and found a dragonrider training his partner by fighting a tiger. The big cat was not aggressive enough by his standards, however, so he gave him to us for our zoo. Afterwards, we had beer and steak with Royce’s parents and heard embarrassing baby stories.

The party went straight to Harold’s cousin Klaus’ mansion in Muse, Dunan after that (stopping off at Liberty castle to release the tiger). The startled guards informed us that Klaus was not home, so we marched to City Hall instead to try and see the president. To the surprise of those who had journeyed to Harmonia from Dunan, we discovered that Klaus himself was now president, thanks to his investigation of Teresa’s clandestine deals with Harmonia. The former president was now confined to the dungeons, though she was still treated with courtesy and kept as comfortable as possible for the old woman. Harold found and popped a bottle of wine, made introductions, and gave his cousin a recap of our war efforts. A formal alliance between Dunan and the Union Army was quickly drawn up. Harold introduced his sister Anna to Klaus, as it was the first time those two cousins had ever met. Klaus thoughtfully gave us access to his treasury to help supply our travels.

Eventually, Harold and Klaus kicked the others out so the cousins could spend the night drinking and catching up. Daisy and Sciath ditched the guys and went out partying with some of Daisy’s old friends, leaving the rest to their own devices for the night. We did some shopping the next day and took advantage of Klaus’ discounts to upgrade some of our weapons.

We wrapped up our business in Dunan and returned to Liberty Castle to start our third cooking battle. Hai Yo was confronted by a small child named Wakai, maybe 12 years old, who challenged him to the most adorable duel ever.

The judges:

“The big bad Kobold warrior loves his protein to grow even bigger! It’s Wayne!”

“This investigative reporter will report you success or failure to all the food critics, so be sure to please her! It’s Lynn!”

“This former noble man loves the high lifestyle he once had! It’s Byron!”

“This noble lady is a tough to please! Give it up for Bernadette!”

The dishes:

Appetizer by Sciath and Hai Yo: Creamy Grain (gratin+sugar): 10, 10, 10, 10

Main course by Daisy and Royce: Filet Mignon (Steak+salt): 10, 10, 10, 10

Dessert by Harold and Kuarjav: Apple Pie (pie+sugar): 6666

Total: 104

Wakai made Fancy caviar 7788, sushi 6666, and pudding 4455

Total: 72

As a reward for our victory, we got Recipe #19 “Sushi” from Wakai. Daisy offered him some pie and a place at the castle, as per usual, but her offer was refused. Maybe one day we’ll find a worthy apprentice for Hai Yo!

Recruited: Geddoe, Joker, Jacques, Queen, Ace, Aila, Mukumuku, Hauser

Investigations: Mukumuku, Rosalita, Geddoe, Ace, Hauser