Session 30 Recap: To Quell a Queen

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

Session 4 Recap: Battling Brothers

Session Four was a smorgasbord of battle. Our first plate was handed to us by Harold’s brother (Harry?), who challenged us to a fight the moment we stepped out of the bar that night. It was a bloody struggle, but we prevailed in the end and (Harry?) fled screaming into the bar for his guards. We took the chance to escape and led our band of escapees to the next town over from Belhurst, Norbank to the north. We spent the night there in the inn (Harold slept for free, courtesy of the enamored innkeeper). As we discussed our plans the next morning, we were overheard by a Camaro Knight General named Gregory, who informed us that they had already taken over Norbank, the Orbel mines and even Belhurst. Sadly, Captain Windamier had managed to flee, leaving his captured troops behind. Gregory put two and two together and guessed that we were the prisoners missing from Orbel; assuming we would therefore harbor ill will against Harmonia, the general asked if we would join forces with the Camaro knights and help them in their next offensive in the vicinity of Sorrowyn Prison. We agreed, on the condition that the prisoners who could not fight would still be protected and harbored by the Camaro forces.

The PCs and the NPCs with faces headed back to Belhurst to resupply. They had a smith, item store, tutor, etc., but nothing that we needed, so we just met up with Gregory and set off for the battle. The meat of our session was an army battle in the fields near Sorrowyn prison: 8,000 Harmonians vs. 15,000 Camaro Knights. But since we were still level 10 nobodies with no titles or power, we commanded no forces and simply fought the Harmonians one by one (or rather, nine by nine). We fought two back-to-back battles of nine Harmonian soldiers each: three fighters, three archers, and three mages. By the end of the second one, only Royce, Daisy and Harold were still standing, and we are promised that we face yet another wave next week. I think we may be in over our heads here.