Dominique squints at Elena's coy admission, not sure of what she might be hinting at or hiding, but lets her keep her secrets as he speaks on the change in attire, "It seems I'll be joining you, encased in steel, in the future. Apparently part of bringing the light of Abadar to the wilds and establishing a bastion of civilization is looking the part. My role is no longer that of a hunter, but of a beacon." He shakes his head at her question regarding the priestess of Sarenrae and admits, "Aside from time with Mister Vindarn and others of the clergy, I've been ... cloistered."

Dominique joins Elena in speaking with the priestess, chiming in after her question, "Abadar teaches that accepting punishment and making amends is how one changes. Anything less is an empty claim." He pauses, giving the woman the time to share her views, before touching on another topic, "I was also hoping to get your thoughts on the matter of kobolds. Our lands are rife with them, and we have brokered a tentative treaty with their chief, but I am concerned whether they could ever become productive members of a just society and accept our authority."

21:24, Today: Dominique Telvari rolled 23 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 12.  Sense Motive for Artanix's Secret.

Caramip looked about the assemblage. Nobles, Commoners, Mercenaries, an Aasassin, she'd dreamed of being at events like this. Now she was here and she was part of one of those great historical events. Those that arose once a few generations. Here a great nation was about to be born, and she was going to be part of it.

She looked over the crowd and was informed about the representative of Pitax. Eager to speak to a fellow bard and minstrel she decided that while Elena and Dom were talking with the representative of religions she might make the first attempts to speak to the neighbors. Good relations were essential part of any nation and being good neighbors was part of good relations.

She approached Grandlord Ulfric Divretto of Pitax and bowed slightly to him as she presented herself and introduced herself with words of honey and milk, "Caramip Scheppen, graduate of the Whizzelben Academy, professional raconteuse, and Court Minstrel of Lord Borric d'Tor. It's a pleasure to meet you, what tales to you bring from that famed city from which you hail?"

She had heard the Pitax was on the outs with Numeria and Brevoy. Still it didn't hurt to reach out with an olive branch and talk between two bards telling tales might give more insight into. She'd share the adventures against Tartucchio. She thought it odd he laid nothing on the table though, that seemed off.

OOC:

23:28, Today: Caramip Scheppen rolled 11 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 1.  Bluff, Pitax Motivations.

:(
This message was last edited by the player at 04:29, Sat 07 Aug 2021.

Still vividly remembering their last run in with Daggermark guild right here at the Aldori estate, Kael decides to keep his eyes on the Daggermak representative and spends some time stealthy shadowing the man. It's unlikely that an experienced agent would let himself get caught so easily, but there might be other guild agents among the guests and servants. It would be interesting to see who the "ambassador" talks to.

13:07, Today: Kael Valleni rolled 31 using 1d20+14 with rolls of 17.  Stealth (Daggermark, Secret).

Borric watched as several eyes stared back at him. He stood straighter and tried to relax, but he almost felt naked without his armor. He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword and bowed when he was introduced.

Afterwards, he turned and looked for a cup of wine. He scanned the room and saw that his companions were already working the room. He gave a nod when he saw that Orin and Fenna Nesterov were headed in his direction. "Thank you for coming." They exchange pleasantries, "I wanted to let you know that we stumbled upon a temple of the Stag Lord. There was a foul beast inside that was stricken by some affliction. Have you heard of such a thing? Do you think that this was a sign that Erastil turned away from the people?"

---

rolled 25 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 18.  Survival for Erastil (Motivation)

Elena and Artanix talk over the next hour or so about the concept of redemption. Artanix reveals that because of her tiefling heritage she is used to people prematurely judging her and from her own past she knows that putting someone in a box like that puts a lot of pressure on them to act a certain way. Treat someone like a criminal or a monster and they are far more likely to fit into that role than fight against it.

She says the key is to see what happens when a new path is taken. Don't condemn them for the path they were forced down but instead give them a free choice towards a better life of goodly service and then see how they act. That is how you separate the victims of circumstance from the real monsters.

Elena gets the impression that Artanix is less concerned about her religion as she is finding a safe space for misfits like herself. If their deals with Artanix focused on that aspect and less on the trappings of faith they would find the tiefling more pliable for making new arrangements.

Motivation passed! Bonus to future interactions with her

Dominique and Artanix talk over the next hour, or more accurately Dominique listens in and studies Artanix while she mostly speaks with Elena. As Elena draws out Artanix's true motivations Dominique thinks he discovers something. Based on how she talks about being treated like a monster makes one act like a monster he suspects that she has a terrible dark past. Something beyond petty criminal activities or banditry. She did something dark based on the body language he saw. Perhaps she was a dark cultist or an assassin or something. It's impossible to know what but whatever it is, she is both deeply guilty and deeply afraid it will come out.

Secret success!

Cara and Divretto engage in some idle banter and Cara quickly discovers about a million reasons why she should hate Divretto's guts. He is absolutely charming, always quick with a witty joke and oozing charm so that in a crowd he has everyone wrapped around his finger. Then he proceeds to wield that crowd like a weapon whenever Cara tries to steer the conversation. Anything she says gets instantly twisted and interpreted like it is some kind of hidden slight or backhanded comment against him and Cara quickly notices the frowns and glares that start coming her way.

The crowd of party goers shifts and Cara finds herself unceremoniously shunted to the back of the crowd as the ambassador from Pitax launches into yet another witty and amusing anecdote.

Determine motivations: failed

Blithe and Kael don't actually interact at all, at least not knowingly. Kael silently stalks Blithe and after an hours observation comes to a chilling discovery. Blithe isn't just here to schmooze with other nobles in the area, he is here on the job. At first it is just a few odd occurrences. Blithe would be walking along and then suddenly he would seem to disappear. A few minutes later he would appear on the other side of the room like nothing was amiss. The first couple of times might have just been a coincidence but then Kael starts to put the pieces together. Shortly after one of Blithe's disappearances he hears one of the butlers be berated for losing a set of keys to the guest quarters. Then another disappearance and now Kael hears of a washerwoman being docked pay due to a missing uniform. A guard cannot find a map of patrol routes...and then he an find it again right there on the table.

Kael doesn't have any idea who the actual target is but just knowing that Blithe here is in the middle of a contract is a considerable amount of leverage...assuming the assassin doesn't decide to just silence him too!

Success!

The Nesterovs and Borric chat for quite some time about the temple and he discovers he hit the mark dead center for these two. It is quite clear that the Stag Lord temple was not just a passion for Jhod but for the whole church in the region. Finding out that it had been found and at least partially cleansed was a huge relief from both Orin and Fenna and they begin eagerly discussing potential plans for how to turn the temple into a major site of worship in the area. The brother and sister priests did not even realize the giant carrot they had given over to Borric and the others with their naked interest in the ruins.

Motivation discovered!

As the hour draws to a close it is time for the ceremony to begin. Everyone takes their appointed seats and what follows is an agonizingly long speech from the King-Regent. It almost all covers what is already known. The King-Regent Noleskiis taking full credit for the expedition to the Stolen Lands and giving almost no credit to the Swordlords proceeds on to the knighting ceremony.

As Baron Drelev already has a noble title he is just formally giving King-Regent Noleski's (and thus all of Brevoy's) blessings on turning his area of the stolen lands into a new holding under his family's name. Borric and Varn are then brought up to kneel before the King-Regent who places his sword tip on their shoulders to uplift them into the ranks of nobility. Varn doesn't seem to react but Borric notes that for a honorary ceremony the blade is quite sharp and the King-Regent lands it quite heavily on Borric's shoulders. If it wasn't for the thick cape and stuffy collar it was likely the King-Regent would have cut the side of Borric's neck!

Finally the King-Regent looks expectantly at Jamarka Aldori who shrugs in return.

"I'm sorry, King-Regent Noleski. Jacab Bardeg hasn't arrived yet."

Noleski begins to open his mouth to scold either Jamarka or perhaps just curse the missing expedition leader when from the back a butter smooth voice clears his throat and addresses the crowd.


The Pitax Ambassadord, Divretto, is standing up with a giant grin on his face. Next to him two of his bodyguards are carrying a large chest gilded with shining gold.

"Ah yes, perhaps I can help shed some light on the mystery. I believe you are looking for the Iron Wraiths, correct? Sent to the lands bordering Pitax to tame them and seize them as a puppet for Brevoy? I came here to discuss that matter with you directly, Noleski."

The King-Regent starts turning beat red at the impudence and audacitiy of interrupting the ceremony and addressing the king-regent in such a familiar way. Before Noleski can react though Divretto smiles and puts a hand in mock shame to his mouth.

"Oh I do apologize. I meant no offense. Perhaps I can shed some light on things King-Regent Noleski. But first what kind of guest would I be without a presenting a gift to my esteemed hosts."

He steps aside and the two guards step forward with the chest. Noleski's guards all tighten their grips and shift but the Pitax men-at-arms seem to pay no mind to the danger. They take a few steps forward and then swiftly spill the chest forward. The unlatched lid swings over and a dozen heads roll down the carpet to stop at the bottom of the raised platform where Noleski and the others are standing for the ceremony.

The heads are badly decayed and unless someone decides to step forward and examine them closely it is hard to make out the details but it does not take a genius to put the clues together to suggest that this is the fate of the missing Iron Wraith expedition. A shock of disgust ripples through the crowd.

King Castruccio Irovetti..."

Divretto puts extreme emphasis on the "king" part, noticably omitting any kind of qualifier on that like "-Regent".

... sends his regards and this warning that any attempt by Brevoy to advance upon the borders of Pitax will be seen as a sign of aggression and we will respond accordingly. Let your puppets create their false kingdoms somewhere else."

Noleski seems to have finally found his tongue.

"You  dare to..."

And once again Divretto stuns the crowd by interrupting.

"Yes yes, I have no manners, I am in no position to be making threats, I am pond scum unfit to darken your presence. I have heard it all before and don't worry I believe every word of the threat you were about to lay upon me but we both know that Brevoy is in no position to be making new enemies so how about I leave now and we can all go about our day?"

Noleski is stunned by the continued boldness of Divretto. It had probably been decades or more since someone hadn't shrunk down before the angry wrath of the King-Regent.

"My message has been sent. Now I am leaving so you don't have to worry about kicking me out. Please understand though that if I am detained or harmed in anyway the next message Pitax sends will not be contained in a small chest like this."

And with that the Pitax delegation swiftly exits. Despite his bravado he seemed to be heavily relying on the fact that the whole court was stunned to make his escape. Chances are if he had stuck around long enough for Noleski to gather his wits about him then Divretto would be spending his remaining time in jail and then a hangman's noose, war with Pitax be damned.

By making his escape swiftly he capitalized on the shock of it all to put some distance between himself and a quite irate King!




Diplomacy Tracker

This message was last edited by the GM at 04:19, Thu 19 Aug 2021.

Caramip feared what might be in the chest, oh she feared it for a moment. She was still reeling from her lack of learning anything about Pitax. Then when the contents were spilled out, and hopefully someone would clean that up soon, it was clear what path Pitax was on.

Pitax was claiming the Stolen Lands for itself. That was what this move was towards, a prelude to war. If they weren't already at war. She thought back to the assassin's attack the first time they were here. Then to the many troubles Tartucchio had caused in the past. She'd learned at the Whizzelben Academy that there were no such things as coincidences. Coincidences were merely the works of the gods or works of men. But suspicion was not proof. Lord Borric would have a bit of time, as there was one other land between them and Pitax, but it wouldn't gain them much time if Pitax was planning to attack.

Caramip looked over at the heads, stories that would not be told. She wished they could still speak, tell her what had happened. There was magic powerful enough for that but it was beyond her ability. Jhod might have that ability. It would be useful to know what happened, stories always showed the path, they always had.

Pitax would have other eyes here, they'd want to know how everyone was responding. They'd want to be prepared if the sword lords were gathering. They had already had a call to arms to sweep the green belt before this it might not take much more to call up the men if they were already preparing, but to start a kingdom under the boots of soldiers from another land would be a terrible start for Tuskwater. Caramip tried to use all her senses to figure out who might be a plant for Pitax remaining behind while their "Ambassador" retreated.

OOC 12:13, Today: Caramip Scheppen rolled 21 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 14.  Perception.

The second the Pitaxian "delegate" stood up, Elena knew what he was going to say.  Even so, she couldn't help but be shocked into silence by the WAY he said it.  Not only was the sheer, ugly rudeness of it stunning, she couldn't understand why he would even want to be so insulting.  No matter what the official story was, everyone knew these expeditions were a slap in the face to the King-Regent's authority.  Divretto had walked into the summit with a box full of Noleski Surtova's dead enemies, and managed to turn it into an act of war.

By the time Divretto was half-finished, Elena was on her feet with her sword half-drawn.  Violence was inevitable after an insult like that.  As unpleasant as it was, Elena figured the best way to keep everyone safe in the ensuing battle would be to make sure the Pitaxians went down hard.  She tensed, and waited for someone to give the command to seize Divretto and his goons.

And waited.  And waited, while she watched the arrogant fop casually walk out the front door, leaving a dozen severed heads oozing rot all over the carpets.  Slowly, Elena returned her blade to it's scabbard, staring at the King-Regent with a mixture of bafflement and contempt.  What kind of king just stands there for something like that?  No wonder the Swordlords were making a move for independence, with that worm running the country!

---

Once the commotion had died down and the heads been cleaned up, Elena returned to the party.  Finding the Abadaran priest, Thalnoros Vindarn, she gestured somewhat grimly towards the servants still working to clean up the stain left where human remains were dumped on the floor. "What an uncivilized thing to do," She declared sadly.  "It goes to show how often fancy clothes and practiced manners can surround a truly ugly person.  I was glad to hear that you have much the same goals that we do; making sure people can live and work in the Stolen Lands without fearing the arbitrary brutality of someone like Irovetti."

As she talked, Elena did her best to get a feel for the man.  Abadarans often held secondary jobs as bankers or barristers or merchants.  She wondered if there was any way to figure out what Vindarn's actual duties involved, and how it might effect striking a deal with the portly priest.

11:38, Today: Elena Sazikova rolled 27 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 18.  Craft to learn Vindarn's secret.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:29, Thu 12 Aug 2021.

Borric stood as the ambassador from Pitax stood up. He stepped forward as the grisly display of heads rolled on the chamber floor. Borric hissed as his hand reached for his sword. He had enough of this "delegate". He looked toward his companions, but they were separated and scattered throughout the room. There was little he could do as Divretto quickly made his escape.

-----------------------

Later, Borric approached Mayor Sellmeius. "Speaking of the Pitax ambassador. Did you get a chance to learn more about the assassins that attacked us? It was a surprise to learn that Tartucchio was working against us the entire time. Too bad he killed himself before we could question him." Borric studied the good mayor, "People are a bit anxious with all the posturing this evening. What of Restov... how have things been since we've left for Oleg's post? Has things worked out as you hoped?"

---

rolled 15 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 9.  Bluff for Restov

Kael weighs his options carefully and decides that he can't risk the assassin completing his mission when he could prevent it. He just does not wish that on his conscience. And besides, the problem with using what he knows to blackmail a professional killer is that the assassin might start to wonder if it would be easier to just add another target to his list rather than rolling over.

So he goes in search of Jamandi or the Aldori representative to warn them of the problem, somewhere private and out of sight and hearing of others. He makes sure to list everything - the Amabassador's disappearing acts, the missing keys to the guest quarters, the missing uniform, the misplaced map of patrol routes. He proposes that additional guards are posted in the quest quarters, that the patrol routes are altered a bit and that the guards are on a lookout for new faces in the missing uniform, as well as illusion magics. And finally he asks that they keep quiet on how and from whom they learned all this. After that he can only hope the hosts will take the matter seriously.


OOC: Maybe we can get some brownie points from the Aldori for this, but if not that's also fine by me. Oh, and if that would take my current action I'll leave the following for my next action:


With that done Kael heads for the Mivoni ambassador. The attractive duelist would surely be a far more congenial company that the hired killer he was following around. He is not quite sure on how to approach her, but decides to play on her reputation as a duelist to break the ice.

"Lady Gisvet? Your reputation as a duelist precedes you. I was often curious of the Mivoni swordsmanship and how it evolved from traditional Aldori style. Perhaps I could interest you in a brief sparring duel at your convenience?"

Should Lady Gisvet agree, Kael finds someplace quiet they can spar for a time. He plans on dazzling his opponent with his reflexes as he dances around her blade, all the while keeping a small talk about the current events going. And hopefully not embarrassing himself too much.

14:00, Today: Kael Valleni rolled 22 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 13.  Acrobatics (Mivon, Motivation).
This message was last edited by the player at 12:13, Thu 19 Aug 2021.

"You speak as if from experience, having been down a dark path yourself and choosing redemption. But the path to redemption is not so easy as turning down a crossroads or putting forward a new face--it takes repentance, accepting consequences, and making amends." Dominique observes and explains, a knowing look in his eyes as he looks past Artanix's noble facade. As the awareness of what he's seen in her sinks in, the inquisitor continues, "Now, I don't mean to force worship on anyone, especially not in a fledgling country bordering the River Kingdoms, so I would never seek to drive out worshipers of a goodly goddess such as Sarenrae, but in a land once ruled by bandits and overrun with Kobolds, gremlins, and other ... misfits ... I expect there will be troubles in assimilating, working together, and building community. If the Church of Sarenrae could take a more active role in reforming criminals, misfits, kobolds, and the like and reintegrating them into the community as productive members of society and citizens of the state, I believe it would be of great benefit to all."

Looking to milk this deal for all bonuses he can get for the nation. And, secondarily, either drop the co-religion limit or expand it to 3 others.
19:45, Today: Dominique Telvari rolled 24 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 14.  Diplomacy, seal deal w/ Artanix.

Cara thought that all of Pitax had left, she was a bit surprised she thought they probably had left a spy, but they could have other allies though. It might be good to learn the motivations of others, still she had done so poorly with Pitax she wasn't sure what to do.

With the danger of Pitax it would be necessary to have ore and materials so she decided to concentrate on House Garess. They'd need iron and other materials to fight any war. A war so soon would not allow them time to develop their own.


"Ah it's a pleasure to meet you Anton Garess, I am Caramip, Court Minstrel of Lord d'Tor. I was wondering if we could discuss your plans to provide ore and in particular your interest in a missing dwarven clan," she asked.


OOC: 12:12, Today: Caramip Scheppen rolled 22 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 12.  Motivation, House Garess.

Elena and Vindarn have a few rough starts as he clearly recognizes her as an agent of Shelyn. While Abadarians aren't opposed to followers of Shelyn their most common reason for interaction: selling art is also a huge source of tension. Many within the church of Shelyn believe that art should be available to all to beautify the world while the banks of Abadar clearly want to put a price and control production.

That being said it seemed this particular priest was interested in having a sculpture commissioned and given Elena's specialty the two quickly find common ground and the hour passes swiftly. It seems he is trying to decide between two sculptors and is eager to have an expert like Elena weigh in on which he should choose. It turns out she is aware of both of their work but to make an informed decision she needs to know more about the subject to be sculpted to see which potential artist had skills the complimented the subjected better.

Vindarn begins to describe the subject and Elena believes she has discovered something interesting. A quick consultation with friendly agents reveals that the subject that Vindarn so lovingly (and in quite intimate detail) was definitely not his husband in the eyes of the Church of Abadar. It didn't seem a reach to consider that Vindarn was engaging on a little...side business. Ordinarily for a man as influential as him to have strayed beyond the bounds of his marriage wouldn't be something too scandalous however for a cleric of Abadar to violate the terms of his marraige contract could provide some useful leverage in bringing the Church of Abadar to the table on friendlier terms.


Vindarn secret discovered
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:05, Wed 25 Aug 2021.

Mayor Seellmeius eyes Borric and then shakes his head and it quickly becomes apparent that nobody believes more in Restov than its current Mayor. He ends up half conversing and half ranting at Borric that the matter was entirely under control and that Restove was an ancient city with hard inhabitants. Borric is treated to a history of the city overcoming adversity, one which he can barely get a word in edge wise and unfortunately Borric has to quickly beat a hasty retreat for fear of the hour long history lesson stretching out even longer.


Borric fails to learn a secret about the Mayor.

Kael reaches out to the head of Jamarka's security, one that he recognizes from their interactions after the assassins from before. The security guard wastes little time and soon it seems back up has been called for. Conversations stop as the guards begin searching the whole area for the Daggermark ambassador but he is nowhere to be found. It seems that Kael has successfully prevented the assassin from completing his mission but in the process has also likely removed the Daggermark deal from the table. The rest of his delegation are taken into custody by the guard and soon conversations and deal makings continue as they were.

Unfortunately given Jamarka's very recent assassination attempt the security at the Aldori mansion are not interested in playing elaborate games of cat and mouse and are more interested in driving him away rather than trying to apprehend him. Instead the security chief explains that they are just there to protect the Aldori. If the assassins have a target, they just don't want it to occur in the Aldori mansion.

The Daggermark ambassador and his delegation are no longer present.

---

<b>Kael and Lady Gisvet<b> find a corner to do a little demonstration and a small crowd forms. With their first lockup Kael realizes that he has both badly underestimated his opponent. He had hope to dance around her while having a fun and sociable time while Lady Gisvet took her dueling extremely serious and, more troubling, was extremely good at it. Kael was able to dodge two strikes before the third cut his cheek. With almost blinding speed Lady Gisvet had flicked the blood off her blade and sheathed her sword. With a dismissive glance she turned and the crowd swept over her. Minor nobility and ambassadors of other countries were all tripping over themselves congratulating her on her swift victory and Kael realizes that if he wants to get in another word with her he was now at the back of a sizable crowd and would have to wait some time to get her attention again.

Kael failed to learn the Mivonese motivations

As Dominque drops hints about her past she seems a bit unsettled and distracted. Even as they talk she seems to be studying and Dominique can only speculate why. Perhaps she is trying to figure out if she knows him from her previous life, or possibly try to read him and figure out what exactly he knows. Whatever it is, it must have been really bad as she starts making concessions left and right.

The deal is adjusted so that as long as the Church of Sarenrae can have an estate built (at their own expense of course) somewhere in the new kingdom that could provide asylum to outcasts and misfits she is willing to reduce the presence of the Church in major urban centers in order to avoid coming into conflict with the locals. In exchange for a fair degree of autonomy she would promise that the clergy would be in close contact with the spymaster in case any of the refugees can provide warnings about potential dangers to the kingdom.


New Deal:
Espionage: +3 (+1 to original deal)
Operations: +1
Diplomacy: -1
Resolve: -1

+ Is not a major religion at all. Will no longer conflict with other major religions. They will exist but their clergy will have no special ties to the government.

- Allowed to build small refugee and rehabilitation camps that would operate with autonomy so long as the inhabitants learn to control their monstrous nature and do not violate any of the laws of the land. We can discuss this in more detail in OOC.

Anton Garess and Cara talk at length about the missing dwarven clan and she quickly learns how deeply the loss of the Golka clan has impacted the noble house.

Cara learns more about the Vanishing, an event that happened two years ago when every member of the ruling noble family, House Rogarvia, mysteriously disappeared. The resulting vacuum threw the entire country of Brevoy into chaos until House Surtova was able to use its political connections to take on the mental of King-Regent, presumably until the rightful Rogarvia heirs could be found. This event has deeply fractured the country and is a major contributing factor to the likely upcoming civil war the country seems to be heading towards.

This much is well known to everyone in the area, especially a learned bard like Cara. What isn't as well known is that the Vanishing also claimed the Golka clan of dwarves. The same night the Rogarvia family vanished, the Golka forges went cold and their mines fell silent.

The only known survivor was Tolva Golka, son of the clan chief who had been visiting House Gareess at the time. Meanwhile the House Garess heir was visiting the Golka mines and also disappeared. Since then the patriarch of House Garess has named Tolva Golka his adoptive heir and the Garess family believes that finding the missing dwarves will not only lead them to the missing Garess heir but might also lead them to the missing Rogarvia house and that might be enough to stop the civil war from unfolding.

Ultimately as interesting as this news is Cara finds herselves noting that it seems the Garess family overall is fairly neutral in terms of the upcoming civil war. They are stuck in the past hoping that House Rogarvia will come riding back in and quash all talks of civil war and rebellion. Appealing to his sense of history, his nostalgia, as well as making vague promises about devoting assets and resources towards searching for the missing dwarves will go a long way towards winning over House Garess.

passed

Diplomacy Tracker

"Oh. Ohhh." Elena's eyes widened as she suddenly understood the intent behind Vindarn's taste in statuary.  "Aww, that's so sweet! Well, for an erotic figure like that, you'll definitely want to commission Aksena.  Balenius is an excellent sculptor if you want precise, true-life detail, but he just can't match the way Aksena expresses vitality and passion in her work.  I'm sure it will make the perfect gift for your lover."

Her face fell when she saw Vindarn's reaction to being caught out.  As he frantically shushed her and looked around to make sure nobody else had heard, Elena put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in close. "Listen, I'm a Shelynite.  I get it."  She confided, quietly.  "Falling in love just happens sometimes, and to refuse that love is...well, a betrayal of yourself.  Y'know, as long as it's with a consenting adult and all that.  But doing it in secret like that is going to get everyone hurt.  It'll hurt your spouse, it'll hurt your lover, and in the end it'll hurt you, too."

Stepping away from the (no doubt flustered) priest of Abadar, Elena raised her voice back to a normal, businesslike tone. "But then, it's not really any of my business.  Let's just...let's get this agreement signed and we can go our separate ways and enjoy the party."

Leaning over the written agreement Vindarn had brought, Elena raised a quill.  "First off, let's nix this exclusivity deal.  You can be an official religion of our kingdom, but you don't get to be THE official religion."  She scratched off the offending part of the deal with her pen, before even waiting for a response.  "Secondly, if the Church of Abadar is going to take up their usual role as bankers and justices of the peace, that makes them a part of the state.  Meaning they will have to ACT as part of the state.  That means NO public criticism towards any laws and decisions passed by Lord Boric or the rest of the council.  If they have a problem, they can take it to Dominique privately, and he can bring it to the rest of us.  Here, I'll let you write that part in, you're better at the technical wording than I am."  She held the quill out to Vindarn, expectantly.

OOC: Removing the exclusivity clause, and negating the penalty to Resolve by limiting the Church's independence.  23 On diplomacy, and using the secret as additional pressure.

---

Finding Kael alone and bleeding after his duel, Elena clapped an encouraging hand on his shoulder.  Healing energy flowed through her touch, closing the cut until it was just a thin scar over the half-elf's cheek.  "Good fight," she said, approvingly.  "Surviving even one strike from an Aldori dueling master is impressive, and it took her three tries to even land a touch.  Lady Gisvet is playing stoic for all the bystanders, but I'm sure she was impressed.  If she wasn't impressed she'd have taken an ear off, instead of gifting you that handsome dueling scar.  Maybe give her some time to calm down, then try to engage her in something a little less...overtly competitive."

Nodding to the slight commotion as most of the Daggermark group was herded into the backrooms by the guards, Elena raised an eyebrow.  "Does that mean what I think it means?  They didn't invite ANOTHER assassin to have dinner with us, did they?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:29, Wed 25 Aug 2021.

"Thank you." Kael examines the scratch on his face with his hand and looks at the blood on his fingers. "I fear my pride will take a little longer to heal though. Shame the Ambassador interpreted my offer of friendly sparring as duel to first blood. Ah, Mivoni."

"And speaking of complete lack of subtlety, yes, it appears the Daggermark Ambassador was an actual assassin on a mission. Shocking, I know. Someone noticed what was happening and informed our hosts, who, instead of capturing him or at least finding out who he was after, simply chased him off. And now the assassin is free to strike somewhere else, with his target none the wiser. But as long as it does not happen here, the Aldori don't care. Bah!" Kael exclaims in disgust as he wipes the blood on a piece of cloth.

He courteously nods to Elena. "Thank you once again Lady Elena, both for healing and your kind words. I better go rejoin the party to save what can be saved of this evening."

I'll probably try another target next. I fear those were all of my really good skills, so things will only get harder from here.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:15, Wed 25 Aug 2021.

Kael next approaches Vaylen Goldfield, the Galt ambassador. Kael may not pursue arcane knowledge to exclusion of all else, but he was reasonably diligent in his studies at the Academy and has always appreciated company of other scholars. "It is good that someone at least is interested in the knowledge buried under the Stolen Lands. One thing that place does not lack are burial mounds, tombs and ruins - human, elven, cyclopean, you name it, it's likely buried there. But tell me ser, is there anything in particular you are interested in? Where would you wish to focus your attention on first?"

Using Knowledge: Arcana to try to find the Galt Secret from the Ambassador by getting him to talk about his goals and interests regarding arcane stuff. I have no idea if this is the right approach or not. Would this be more of a Spellcraft roll for Optional Objective? The only other use of Knowledge: Arcana that comes to my mind here is to examine him for magics.

Eh, probably failed it anyway. DM, if you think this should be Spellcraft (Optional Objective) instead, you can use the same roll as far as I'm concerned.
13:31, Today: Kael Valleni rolled 19 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 13.  Know: Arcana (Galt, Secret).