Session 25 Recap: Snagging Another Silverberg

Continuing our tour of ravaged towns, we came to Adosi village, which seemed to have been hit worst of all. Fire scarred every building, and the place was far too empty; one of the surviving villagers told of hundreds being force-marched into the mayor’s house and never coming out again. After buying a quail from a starving villager, we demanded that the Union soldier guarding the mayor’s house let us in to investigate. When he didn’t recognize Kuarjav or any of us and refused, Daisy went bear and scared him into passing out, leaving our way clear. The only oddity we found was a coin Royce called a “quarter”, which he pocketed. But then someone suggested that the fate of the villagers might be even worse than we’d feared. Considering what Yuber had done to Pearl and almost done to Daisy and Royce, there was good reason to think that he could transform whoever he wished into a demonic slave. And with huge swaths of his forces banished by Leknaat, and more melted into goo in the last battle… Yuber had to have holes in his ranks that he was itching to fill.

“I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation.” – William Tecumseh Sherman

Aeltion Castle, to our surprise, still flew a Harmonian flag, probably the last one in the country. Daisy waved at a guard on the walls as we swooped in, who got slapped by his commander for waving back. We asked to be let inside, but the soldiers refused, saying they were commanded by Albert Silverberg to open for no one but Harmonian forces (though Priest General Sasari apparently did not fit the bill). Caesar considered what he knew about his brother and said we should sneak in through the castle sewers to make a grand entrance on Albert’s doorstep.

The Aeltion sewers had to be the strangest tunnels in all of Harmonia, complete with giant living peeps and gummy bears, ninjas, ducks, and evil pandas (seems like Albert was on acid when he hired his staff). We even stumbled across an enormous snake in the depths that seemed uninterested in fighting us, so we took note to come back later with Gabi. A young man of 15 or so crouched shivering in a corner near the exit, babbling about Albert’s mad training program, and threw off his strategist robe in defeat. Daisy put Youngster Joey back on his feet and took him with us, not willing to abandon a child to the sewers of madness.

Finally, inside the castle, the party marched up to Albert’s office and demanded his help. He refused, and set his lieutenants to fight us one by one. Royce jumped on the first duel and won handily against Diego; Harold defeated Clint with a flourish; and Daisy beat down Ash in single combat. Albert revealed that he had always intended to join us, but that his lieutenants had doubts about the Union Army that could only be silenced by being bested by our top fighters. That was enough for us; Albert Silverberg joined our ranks. Before we left, Albert’s assistant gave us the Play Script “King Lear”, and we acquired Recipe #41 “Bacon” and a Corruption Cloak. (Meanwhile, the players decided that Kuarjav was running a t-shirt empire based on sweatshop labor.)

There was only one city left to explore then, and that was Aria castle in the southeast. We purchased a cow from a starving vegetarian; taking pity on the man’s plight, Royce abducted him and dragged him back to Liberty Castle for a good meal. Meanwhile, the rest of us bought a recipe for Mac & Cheese and swung by the inn, where we heard a girl named Erica singing her heart out. Sciath approached the girl and invited her to sing for the troops. Erica did not see what she could do to help, but Sciath reminded her of the importance of keeping up morale, and that “War is too serious a matter to leave to soldiers” – William Tecumseh Sherman. Seeing that her talents would be appreciated at our castle, Erica happily accepted.

Back at Liberty Castle, in Hai Yo’s kitchen, we found him challenged by Arakawa, an apprentice of Gyokuran’s.

Nash quickly learned that his favorite type of food was he wife’s favorite foods!

Geddoe here is a hero among heroes! He’s traveled far and wide to find his favorite food is Chinese!

The architect of your home and mine, it’s Reynaldo! He loves his pasta with red sauce!

This refined noble lady has refined taste! Maybe French food? It’s Juliet!

Eggrolls (eggrolls, no spice): Harold, Hai Yo: 10,10,10,10

Spaghetti with Meatballs (spaghetti+sugar): Kuarjav, Royce: 10,10,10,10

Nutella Crepe (sandwich+chocolate sauce): Daisy, Sciath: 999,10

Total: 117

Arakawa: Fancy Caviar 5555, Dynamo Ribs 5555, Chocolate Cake 1111

Total: 44

His confidence crushed beyond all reason, Arakawa left us with Recipe #28 “Caviar”, and left to go pick up the pieces.

Recruited: Albert, Erica

(non-star recruits: Diego, Ash, Clint, Youngster Joey)

Investigations: Albert, Erica, Aila, Joyce, Gomez