Though the ninjas had offered to
cover it up for her, Daisy refused their help and confessed to murdering her
grandparents in cold blood (see Conversation 8). Harold expressed approval for
her actions, if not for her messy technique. Kuarjav was not happy with the
killings, but allowed Daisy to remain with the Union Army as long as she felt
in control of her anger. All in all, the team was accepting of Daisy’s choice
to kill the pair of demons that were once her grandparents, and we were able to
move on with our explorations in Camaro.
We visited Pirate’s Point, a
boisterous city, and acquired Recipe #16 “Hamburger” between buying and selling
equipment. The town of Shogamon gave us Recipe #38 “Lobster”, and Qwieg offered
up Recipe #52 “French Fries,” our final recipe.
We had the chance to continue the
war at that point, but our collection of Unity Rune warriors didn’t feel quite
ready to start our final battles, so we put on a few stage productions first.
In our production of William Tell,
Royce played William Tell, Kuarjav was his Son, Harold was the cruel Lord, Sciath
was his Attendant, and Daisy played the entire Crowd, running back and forth
and shouting encouragement to William Tell. In Call of the Wind, Harold’s interpretation of Geddoe was gravelly
enough to hurt his throat, though he played a sensible Narrator; Daisy appropriately
took the role of Sarah; Sciath was Chris, Royce was the Flame Champion, Hugo; Kuarjav
played Sasari and, in a twist, Sasari himself played his now-dead brother Luc
(though it seems there was no love lost between the luckless brothers). Finally,
our interpretation of To Kill A Queen
allowed Harold to reprise his gravelly voice as Georg, Sciath played the
Narrator, Royce was the Archer and the Assassin, Kuarjav was Ferid, and Daisy got
to rant like a madwoman as the doomed queen Arshtat. By the end of our thespian
adventures, one could assert with confidence that the Unity Rune heroes were
the most skilled actors in the whole castle.
Caesar called us to the War Room to
get on with the Camaro assault and filled us in on his plan to send in a small
team to infiltrate Chivalry Castle and disable their magical defenses. The only
way to get close enough was to have ex-Camaro generals like Janell and Hilda
(and Gears) lead the Unity Rune heroes inside. General Gregory found and
recognized us almost immediately, but we were able to convince him to help us
with the promise that we would try to free the queen from Yuber’s influence
rather than simply kill her. He led us inside without sounding the alarm and
even allowed us to collect stray pieces of armor, runes, and the Silver Hammer
for Massa too. Royce found a switch on a statue that opened a secret wine cellar
inexplicably guarded by a rhino named Jake; we recruited the rhino and
collected some wine for the bar too. Gregory told the guards to stand down
while we continued on our way up some stairs to the queen’s bedroom, where we
took one of her fancy dresses and some potch.
Up on the rooftop, we found the
queen standing in a summoning circle, which Daisy tackled her out of before she
could react. But the queen immediately blasted Daisy off of her, and the battle
broke out while Kuarjav looked for a way to remove the Black Rune of control
that he’d spotted on her hand. We wore her down enough for Kuarjav to blast her
with a Repent!, which finally destroyed the Black Rune.
The queen fell to the ground, but
her body and mind were once again her own. She remembered everything she had
done and the harm she had caused, and her reaction was to ask to join us so she
could fight Yuber and Windy for betraying her. Kuarjav accepted Queen Dianna’s
offer, and so the queen and Gregory both joined our army, officially completing
our Tablet of Destiny. With that, Chivalry Castle and all of Camaro surrendered
to us, bringing the war one step closer to its conclusion.
“I beg to
present you as a Christmas gift the [country of Camaro].” – William Tecumseh Sherman
With the Silver Hammer, Massa was
able to upgrade our weapons to level 15 once we returned home (we bought a
rabbit named Quik on the way). On a whim, we went to the kitchens and asked Hai
Yo to summon the Ghost Chef Otani, who gladly autographed his book for us using
telekinesis. And since we had two star chefs at our disposal, the Unity Rune
heroes decided to challenge them to a friendly cooking battle!
The Queen of Cuisine, our noble
lady has noble taste buds! It’s Dianna!
This four star general loves four
star food! Give it up Gregory!
This eccentric genius loves food
from far away, brought here by his invention! It’s Gomez!
Bradenton is from Kanarkan, and that means
cooking with wine! Trust us on this!
Appetizer: Poutine (french
fries+salt): Daisy, Royce: 10,10,10,10
Main
Course: Succulent lobster (lobster+sugar): Kuarjav, Harold : 6666
Dessert: Red Velvet Cake
(cake+salt): Sciath, Sun Crystal: 10,10,10,10
Total: 104
Cheese platter 9999, lemon
chicken 5555, chocolate cream pie 8888
Total: 88
Our reward for somehow defeating
two of the top chefs in the world was Recipe #53 “Waffles”! Hai Yo learned how
valuable we really were as his assistants all this time, and we moved on to
more serious matters.
After a lengthy debate, we
settled on renaming Harmonia the Asgardian Union and declared that every
province of the AU would get one chance to leave the new country if they so
wished (either by one leader’s choice or by referendum of the residents). After
that, each province will be legally bound to the central AU authority but still
maintain a significant state authority (essentially early US-style but with
only one house of Congress; strong state powers but some central authority and
one currency).
And so the war soon draws to a
close. Before long, warriors will seek out new challenges, refugees will start
building new homes, and everyone will get on with their lives. There are those
in Liberty Castle who watch the approaching finish line with trepidation,
wondering what place there will be for them in the new world. But our army
spokesman has no such fears. “My dear sirs, when peace does come,
you may call on me for anything. Then will I share with you the last cracker,
and watch with you to shield your homes and families against danger from every
quarter.” – William Tecumseh Sherman
Recruited: Dianna, Gregory
Investigations: Dianna, Gregory,
Bradenton, Mitch, Dale
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