Conversation 6: Daisy and Ardith/Serena

Green: Daisy

GM: Black

 

As you walk out of the dungeon where your grandparents lay, you run into Xander on the way up. "Hey there, Daisy. Have a minute?"

Daisy scratched her head and shook out her shaggy hair, putting the encounter with her grandparents out of her mind. "Sure thing, Xander. What's up? Please don't tell me you dug up some of my cousins or something, because I've had enough 'touching' family reunions for one day."

"Actually, I have done just that, and found out a bit about your Ardith guy, too. But if you don't want to hear about some of your not so crazy relative, it's your call..." he trails off, letting you decide.

"Eh... sure, tell me what you know about my relatives, but looking for Ardith comes first," she said after a moment. "All right, lay it on me."

"Alright, here it is. First off, your Ardith guy? Got a tip from a friend of mine, and it seems he's working for the government of Falena now as some high ranking official. "Official envoy to the Queen" as it's called, which basically means he's a royal adviser with the queen's personnel backing. From what I can gather, he's spending a lot of time in the palace, and researching the Sindar, and the abundance of Sindar ruins in the Falena area. To what end, I don't know. It might be a royal job, as they do a lot of that, or it could be personal."

He takes a breath.

"As for your uncle, his name was Simon, and yeah, from what I can tell, your grandparents ate the poor bastard. Found some human bones with bite marks the kind I've never seen... so yea, he's a goner. Still, you do have an aunt, technically. A woman named Fiona. Simon married her in secret behind his parents' back, and from what I can gather they didn't approve when they found out. You may have actually already met her, as she runs the Rune shop in Delon. Quite the pretty lady, but not high enough on the social standing list for your parents' taste. They had two kids too, a daughter named Penelope, and a son named Paul. Penelope's about 18, and Paul's 16. None of them know what happened to Simon yet, and I didn't know if you'd want me to break the news to them, or if you'd like to do the deed yourself."

"Crap... Nah, I might as well tell them," Daisy sighed. "How long ago was Simon killed? Maybe I should have some good news to give them when I deliver the bad..." She glanced back down the stairs and flexed her fingers. 

"I wonder why Ardith is studying the Sindar. I'll have to ask him myself. You do good work, Xander."

"I do what I can. It's not easy getting sources all the way from Falena, or finding a single family in a war zone. But once I take a case, I always finish it. Well, see ya round, Daisy," he says, and walks off.

Daisy waved goodbye as the detective walked away, and shook her head. "Falena, huh? This is gonna be a long trip."

"A long trip, my child?" You will hear the voice of Leknaat, and realize that you have walked straight to her without planning it. "I will be more than happy to assist you, of course. Where do you need to go? I shall guide you."

"Oh, hi Leknaat," Daisy said, glad that she had chosen this particular route. "I need to go to Falena for a bit. Right to the royal palace, I guess. I'll have to take the Blinking Mirror to get back, too. Would you mind? Please?"

"Not at all. I shall teleport you outside the gates. Teleporting into the building might surprise the guards, and we couldn't stand to lose one of our shining stars."

She smiles, and then teleports you. You arrive in Falena at the capitol, and find it to be a huge city, worthy of being a capitol. The palace looms before you...

Daisy looked around curiously, this being her first time in Falena, but she didn't want to waste too much time. She strolled up to the gates of the palace and addressed one of the guards. 

"Hi! I wonder if you could help me," she said in a friendly tone. "I heard my friend Ardith works here, as a royal advisor? I'd really like to speak with him."

"Hm?" "You're that Eresh woman he was expecting? Not quite what I was expecting, but I was told to let you through. Master Ardith is on the third floor, fifth room on the right. Don't get lost now." The guard says, and waves you through.

"Thanks very much," Daisy said with a jaunty wave, and followed his directions inside. She counted off the doors and knocked, wondering what sort of person she was about to find. She had to remember that he had a True Rune as well...

"Is that you, Eresh? Come on in," You hear a voice say. He sounds young, but firm. As you enter you see a young man, mid twenties, dressed in black and white robes, the colors of the royal Falena family. 

"Who are you? You're not Eresh. How did you get in here?" the man asks.

Daisy shrugged and closed the door behind her. "I walked. Your guards were really helpful when I asked to speak with you. Your castle seems almost as friendly as mine! So you're Ardith, right? I've been looking for you for a while, but I'm not trying to fight you or anything, no worries. I'm a friend of Serena's."

As you start talking, Ardith looks like he might be ready to defend himself, or possibly attack. When you mention the name 'Serena' he drops his guard, and you can see you've caught him off guard.

"Serena? You know Serena? I haven't heard of her since... I mean... is she... ok?" he asks.

Daisy blinked, not expecting such a reaction. "Is she all right? She's had a pretty miserable time of it with only one leg, you know. She's got a job now with us, but it's not easy for an adventurer who can barely walk. I came here to hear about you, though. What happened to you after you got the True Rune? Why would you run off like that?"

"If you've truly seen Serena, you know what happened. I lost control of the Rune, and it cost her a leg. I...I couldn't stand to be around Serena anymore. Seeing that hurt betrayal in her eyes...knowing I had hurt the woman I loved... I couldn't bear it. I left her in the care of a skilled doctor, and took my leave. Now answer me this. Who are you? What do you mean she has a job with you? What has happened to her?" Ardith asks.

"I'm Daisy, and what happened to her was that she was left alone to deal with a disability and abandoned by her dearest friend," Daisy said severely. "That hurt in her eyes you thought you saw? What happened with the Rune was an accident that could be forgiven. But you chose to leave without a word and let her face a dangerous new world alone. When my friends and I found her, she was being tormented by thugs who saw only a helpless victim."

Ardith nearly jumps out of his skin. "What did you say? She was attacked?! Why wasn't she armed?! Is she alright?!? Answer me!" he yells, nearly panicking.

Daisy folded her arms, watching him critically. "She was attacked, but we drove them off. She's fine now, or as well as someone in her condition can be. She's working in our castle now as an appraiser since adventuring is out of her reach now. Do you really care?" she said bluntly. "Does she still matter to you?"

"Of course she matters to me! Who the hell do you think you are, coming in here and asking if I still care? It's why I'm doing everything I can to seal this cursed rune, so I can be free of this power that hurt her!"

"Cursed rune?" Daisy echoed in surprise. "That thing's not cursed. Luc might've gone a little off the deep end before he died, but I hope Leknaat would have let me know before I came here if the Wind Rune had some kind of Soul Eater thing going on.

"It's a curse that you left your good friend for the sake of it, though. When she told me about you, I know Serena just wanted to see you again, even just once." Daisy moved a little closer towards him. "I still think you're kind of a jerk, but she obviously still cares about you too. Why don't you put everything on hold here for a little bit and come to the castle with me?"

Ardith goes a little pale, and the anger drains out of him. "She wants to see me? Impossible. Not after what I did. She couldn't possibly want to see me..." he says, looking quite shocked.

Daisy took another step closer and folded her arms. "Well, she does. She cares about you, and she wants things sorted out between you. It's one of the worst things in the world to be stuck in uncertainty; until I tracked you down all the way out here, no one even knew if you were dead or alive. I promised her I would find you and bring you back."

"I see," he says simply. "Well then, which way do we go? Which 'castle' did you come from, exactly?" Ardith asks, as he scribbles a note down on his desk.

"Liberty Castle, in what used to be called Harmonia," Daisy answered, holding out a hand to him. "I don't know what kind of news you get out here, but our army has had a pretty interesting time of it lately. I can take you there fast."

"Harmonia? I doubt it will be that fast, as that's quite the long way. I've heard of the wars up there, but I've not paid close attention to the full details. How long will this trip take? I will need to leave notice of my absence, is all."

Daisy said, a tad impatiently, "Just tell them you'll be back tomorrow. Let's not waste time; there are wars to fight. Just take my hand before I decide to tell Serena I never found you, okay?"

Ardith will quickly follow after you. "Tomorrow? And how do you propose we travel thousands of miles and back by tomorrow?"

"Like this," Daisy said simply, and she took him by the arm before activating the blinking mirror.

You appear by the shops, and Ardith looks around, amazed. "Incredible! Such skill with teleportation magic... you don't seem like a mage, and yet you have such an artifact? That's not normal. Just who are you, really now?" he asks, wondering how you have such power and connections.

Daisy started for Serena's shop. "I told you, I'm Daisy. What more do you want? Daisy Saint-Anicet, daughter of Viktor, chief ass-kicker of the Union Army. When you're ready to go, I'll introduce you to Leknaat, and she can send you anywhere you'd like to go; I don't know a thing about rune magic stuff. Hey, Serena!" she called out without pause.

Ardith follows you as you talk, not wanting to get left behind. When you call out for Serena, you hear him gasp as he sees her. Serena looks up from the counter, and her jaw nearly drops when shes sees him.

"Ardith?"

"Serena?" The two ask, nearly in unison.

They stare at each other, neither sure what to say, the tension being thick enough you could cut it with your sword.

Daisy grinned. "Don't you both get so shy that you clam up, now. Serena, I kept my promise. I found him in Falena. Ardith, you were chatty enough just a minute ago -- why don't you start with an apology?"

"Ardith... it's really you," Serena says, trying to break the ice.

"Yeah... Serena, I'm so sorry. I can never apologize enough for what I did. I couldn't control the rune and..."

"Oh hush, I know what happened. I was there, remember? I'm not so mad about that as you leaving. How could you do that to me, Ardith?"

"I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't think you'd want me around, since I cost you your leg."

"Now if that's not the stupidest thing I've ever heard, I don't know what is," Serena says. "I needed your help so much then, and you weren't there. Where have you been?"

"Falena," he says. "I've been looking for a way to destroy these true runes like the past owner of this rune, but everything I find leads to mass death. That's not a price I'm willing to pay."

"You want to destroy them...?"

"Yes, but that's another story. We have so much catching up to do, thanks to your friend here," he points to you.

"Yes, I can't thank you enough Daisy. I don't know how you did but, but you kept your promise. Thank you."

Daisy gave a little salute and headed for the door. "You got it, Serena. This guy's got a lot to answer for, if you ask me. If you need any help dealing with him, just say the word," she added, glaring meaningfully at Ardith. "And Ardith, there are plenty of people here who knew Luc before he died -- you have a chat with them before you do anything drastic with that rune, ok? Catch you two later."

Conversation 1: Daisy and Serena

Green: Daisy

Black: GM

I want to talk to Serena about her friend who had/has the True Wind Rune.

She'll get a little apprehensive and you can see her tense up as soon as you ask. She immediately asks "What makes you think I know anything about that?" clearly uneasy.

Daisy's not used to hiding anything, and she says without preamble, "Xander's been investigating everyone around here, and he said you knew someone who had the True Wind Rune. Is it Luc? My dad's had a couple of fights with Luc on his side, and he sounds like a pretty reliable guy, even if he has a bad attitude sometimes. I always wanted to meet that guy."

Serena shakes her head. "I'm afraid I don't know of any Luc. My....friend.... with the Run was named Ardith. We found it on an adventure about 3 years ago. We had dreamed of finding one of those runes, filled with so much power and history... I never expected Ardith to try to claim it. But he did, and in the blast of power that came from him, I...well, you know what happened, I suppose," she points to her missing leg. "He disappeared shortly afterwards. I've not seen or heard from him since."

"Huh... Where did you find the rune? Did Ardith manage to keep it? I wonder how Luc lost it... Maybe I'll ask Sasari, I think those two knew each other a while back. What was Ardith gonna do with it?" Daisy asked without pausing, obviously bursting with questions.

Serena shakes her head. "To be honest, I don't know much about it. We found the Rune in an old Ruin on Mirgo Island, far to the west of here, between the Eastern and Western Continents. We had heard rumors of a strange light descending on the island, and how the island had become possessed of fierce storms, destroying most any ship that grew near. We figured something was there, either it be treasure of just a story to tell, so we went there looking for answers. Our ship was wrecked, of course, but we made it ashore. We found the rune atop a mountain ruin, creating massive wind storms around the whole island, nearly out of control with what felt like....well, rage. We tried to get in close, see if we could somehow destroy the rune, not knowing what it was. As we approached, Ardith started talking, whether to himself or the rune, I don't know. But then suddenly, the rune stopped it's assault on us, and flew into Ardith's right hand. An explosion of pure power sprang forth from them, and I was knocked back, unconscious. When I came to, I had been brought back to the local village, and found myself missing my leg. Ardith told me he had attained the power of the rune, and called it the True Wind Rune. We stayed there for a few days, me learning how to walk with crutches, and Ardith learning to control his new power. After about a month of this, we were getting ready to leave the island, when Ardith suddenly vanihsed one night. I don't know how or why he left, just that he did. I looked all over for him as best as I could, but he was gone. I left the island, and I've never gone back. I've started my life over as an appraiser, and tried to forget Ardith and that damned rune....but it still haunts me..."

"Wow," Daisy whistled. "This guy sounds like a real jerk to up and leave when he just made you lose your leg. I hate thoughtless guys. Do you have any idea how many jerks I've had to "talk to" for April? Sheesh. I'll find this guy for you, Serena. We'll get to the bottom of this, and then I'll make him apologize. You're one of us now, after all." Daisy will ask for a description of him, where he's from and been, etc.

Serena laughs at your offer of violence. "I don't think thats' needed Daisy. But if you do find him, let him know I'm looking for him. I'm dying to know what happened, why he left and all. There was a time I thought we'd be together forever, but...well, things change. I just want to know what changed, if that makes sense."

"Don't you worry, Serena, I'll get to the bottom of this," Daisy said firmly. "No rune is an excuse to just leave a friend without even saying goodbye. Just tell me everything you know about him, and I'll track him down. I might have another job for Xander, too."

Serena nods. "Ok, I'll tell you what I know. He would be about 41 now. He had long brown hair, and brown eyes. He had a notable scar across his forehead, from a sword fight years back. He tended to wear light armor, like leathers and such, liking the freedom of movement. He also carried a two handed spear, which he could use at great speeds. I don't know if that's enough to find him, but that's who he is...or was, at least."

"That's a good start," Daisy said, nodding sagely. "Do you know where he was born? Where did you guys meet?"

"I don't know where he was born. We didn't meet until we were in our 20's, fighting in the war on the western continent. He saved my life in a tough spot, and we stuck together from then on. After the war, we decided to travel together as adventurers. We traveled for nearly 20 years, right until the incident with the rune. We were partners, you know?"

Daisy nodded. "There are lots of people here with special skills, for finding people and runes both, I think. I'll find this guy and drag him back here. You can count on me!" Daisy declared, marching out on that parting note. She will bring this problem to Xander's attention to add to his workload, if you want it to come up at a later point in the game :) I know I have a library now and other resources, but I don't know that any of those will be of use here.

Sure, I can add it to Xander's workload to look for this guy. Same deal with Felicia. I can make them 'unofficial' investigations, and write something out if those are people you want to investigate. As long as I get a little time, I can work out anybody you want to check out :)

Session 14 Recap: Routin' Reuben and Recuitin'

We jumped right into battle this time, following another of Caesar’s ambitious schemes. He ordered some of Reynaldo’s architects to sneak into Fort Elbridge in Greydell and sabotage the construction going on there, causing massive flooding in the castle. Once that was done, a group of dwarves served as decoys to draw all of General Reuben’s forces out of the castle so we could ambush them. The plan went just as expected, and we cut off their retreat. Royce’s rival Felicia was defeated once again, and Harold’s brother Henry fled when Reuben surrendered after Daisy’s attack (many thanks to Harold’s battle advice and everyone’s combined spells and skills). Marcus came with us to help convince his old mentor to defect, and eventually join us he did, albeit reluctantly. Reuben was a major Harmonian strategist who trained half the current Priest Generals, so this should come as a major blow to our enemies.

We discovered upon our return to Liberty castle that many of the major construction projects had been completed during our mission, and the place was starting to shape up into headquarters we could be proud of (i.e. Castle Level 2). With so much extra space to work with, we knew it was time to look for more people and launch another recruitment drive to liven up the place. We returned to Westhollow and found that Farmer Zelda had finally finished her chores, so she agreed to join us (she seemed surprised at our enthusiastic recruitment efforts, clearly not realizing how much we truly love our vegetables). With our farmer recruited, we turned next to Gloria’s request that we find her old crew. Our search began and ended on Dreidred mountain, where we first met Gloria during our short-lived partnership with poor Miles. Gloria’s #2, a fancypants-turned-bandit named Byron, was still there along with a few dozen bandit soldiers from Gloria’s old gang, and they all happily joined our army for Gloria’s sake.

To our surprise, a female Winger was waiting for us back at Liberty Castle. She introduced herself as a traveling saleswoman named May and asked to know who was in charge of this magnificent castle. Daisy took the credit (with much protesting from Royce) and invited May to set up shop at Liberty Castle. She readily agreed and mentioned that she was traveling in order to make a name for herself far away from her annoying brother… right before Daisy and Harold, both from Dunan like her, asked if she knew Chaco. Poor May appeared a bit disgruntled that even way up in Harmonia she can’t get out from under her brother’s wing.

Acting on a tip from Ramza, we teleported up to Prymount city and stepped into an explosion of color. Harold spotted his fancypants friend Roxie, who we ran into a while back in Coldwall castle harassing some soldiers for their fashion sense, being dragged away by the city guards for her graffiti. Her bail was 5000 potch. Royce tried without success to bribe the guards with a free dragonback ride, so we just paid the bail and took Roxie away from there. Never one to pass up recruiting a fellow fancypants, Harold offered to pay her to decorate our castle for us. Overjoyed that someone actually wanted to pay her to decorate as opposed to paying her to go away, Roxie rushed straight to the castle.

We happened to stop by Snowview on our travels and heard some commotion coming from the village of the dwarves. A human man was ejected bodily from the blacksmith’s to shouts of “You’re the worst blacksmith I’ve ever seen! Get out!” Poor Massa explained that he tried very hard to be a good blacksmith but had a tendency to get clumsy and make mistakes (in this case, he “accidentally” broke a sword over a dwarf’s back). Daisy suggested that he might not be cut out for this blacksmith thing, but he insisted that he had to do it because his father did it, and his grandfather, and his great-grandfather… Taking pity on him, we offered him the chance to work at our castle and gave him the Brass Hammer to help get him started.

Since we were in the area, we decided to finally check out the mountain path near the dwarf village. The team stumbled across a few nice treasures and, strangely enough, a penguin (with a face!). Daisy patted it on the head and then hugged it, followed by Sciath and most of the party. With no way to communicate with it, though, we had to say goodbye and continue exploring. At the end of another path was a lone dwarf fighting a group of goblins and losing, so we jumped in and saved the day. Miner Marco explained that he was been checking out the dwarven guardian statue at the end of the path. It was apparent from his surprise at our story that he’d been in the away from the dwarven village for some time, so he left to join his fellows back at Liberty Castle.

A sad scene was playing out over in Lorin village, where a crippled woman was being harassed by a group of bullies. As we watched, one of the bullies kicked her crutch out from under her and we saw that she had only one leg. Royce came roaring to her rescue with his fire-breath and spear (we still don’t know what he did to those bullies). Serena thanked us for our help and said that she was once a first-class citizen and an adventurer, but the loss of her leg reduced her to less than nothing in Harmonian society. Daisy pointed out that (with the possible exception of Harold) no one among us was exactly a good fit for Harmonia’s idea of first class society either, and she accepted our invitation to go to the castle. Since she could no longer be an adventurer (though we hope the healing springs and bath house will do her some good), she opted to open an appraisal shop instead.

Finally, another rumor led us back to Merridwell castle, where Daisy led the way to the bar. A woman named June was running a game of Chichorin and attracting a crowd of gamblers. A woman back in the small village of Marid once told us to keep an eye out for her missing daughter June, so we asked if it was she. June agreed to tell us anything we wanted to know and even go set up shop in our castle if we could win 5000 potch from her. Harold lost some and won it back, and Royce lost a few potch too, but Daisy got lucky and won the required amount. June went to our castle as promised, but she still doesn’t want to go see her mother.

The party returned to the castle to finish up a long day of recruitment. Massa upgraded the weapons for Sciath and Kuarjav, since the Brass Hammer lets him go to Level 5. We dropped off our seed collection with Farmer Zelda and Royce made sure to stock up Rosalita’s bar with Dwarven Ale. Daisy found she’d developed a taste for gambling and won another 18,000 potch from June on a lucky streak.

Caesar had important news for us as well. Spies reported that some sort of peace deal was apparently struck between Harmonia and the Grasslands and allowed Harmonia to reallocate their troops, but even that wasn’t enough to win against Camaro. The knights of Camaro were in serious danger of crushing Harmonia’s forces and taking over the Crystal Valley in the near future, which wouldn’t give the Union Army enough time to grow and gain support from the people. Caesar proposed that a small unit disguised as Harmonian soldiers go cut off the Camaro supply line to buy us more time, and though Daisy wasn’t happy with the idea of turning on people who once helped us, everyone agreed to the plan in the end. Next time, we will be undercover agents on a secret mission. Better brush up on those acting skills!

Recruited: Reuben, Zelda, Byron, Roxie, Massa, June, Serena, May

Investigations: Reuben, Massa, Roxie, May