The group is led into Mayor Paulina Madsden's office, which is decorated with Victorian-era furniture, including an oversized mahogany desk, where she is seated. She rises to shake hands and greet everyone, "Pleased to finally have Delphi Council agents come to our town! I heard from Major Nielsen that you were here on a mission, but I would be honored to discuss other matters if you have the time."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:17, Sat 23 Apr 2022.

Case looks to the others a bit nervously, pauses a moment and then shrugs before speaking, "Uh...Thank you for meeting with us Mayor.  We were sent to track down a cyberpapacy Techquisitor by the name of Brother Pierre Laplace that was in your city at least a day ago and stop them.  So if you have any leads on cyberpapacy activity that would probably be helpful."

The young man rubs his head a moment in thought, "We heard a prop plane came in yesterday.  I think the cyberpapacy doesn't use propellers much so do you know who was on that plane and what they came for?  And if you have problems of your own, we'd be happy to look into them while we're here."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:11, Sun 24 Apr 2022.

"The Cyberpapal agents were last seen in Frederiksberg, where the elves currently live. The security gate is not far from here, but I should warn you that they are very distrustful of humans.

"I am not familiar with any of the other realities other than Core Earth and Aysle. But I do know a bit about war history. Propeller planes were popular during the First and Second World Wars, so I would suggest starting there.

"But I do have a mission that I think you would be ideally suited for. One of the things Core Earth excels at is governmental structure, especially representative democracy. Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, which means the Queen still holds power but has delegated most of it to city and provincial councils. And part of the wisdom of these councils is that they are made up of representatives of all the people. All the people.

"I have extended offers of representation to the elves, and Eruvel Cathfaine has expressed approval. The Vikings have been less cooperative, but I suspect they will eventually come around. I have not heard of them raiding recently, so that's a good start.

"Where I need you is that I would like to extend an invitation to the troll leader, Tongue Lasher Frold. None of my city officials are willing to approach them with the invitation, but they don't have your unique talents. Will you take this invitation to her?" She produces a parchment envelope with a wax seal.

Remembering some of the things he learned from the crystal spire and since, Case nods, "I think we can do that and hopefully do more besides to help out."  He looks to the others to see if they agree.  "Maybe we can find something to inspire Copenhagen as well to help them hold out longer from transforming."

"I agree. We should help." Johnny's tone and expression say there is much more behind his simple words; and that it WILL remain unsaid.

Ivan shrugged. Talking was not his strong point, but he could see where they were coming from. "Okay."

In reply to Mayor Madsden (msg # 3):

"Those planes sound like what we use in the Nile Empire." Jacob points out. "Do you know anyone around here which would also come from there?"

The Mayor thinks for a bit. "Nile Empire? Oh, I remember there was a news story with some guy walking around in a knockoff of Yul Brenner's Ramses costume from The Ten Commandments! Why he had the hideous black mask with the infinity symbol on it I'll never guess. I'm guessing he has something to do with this Nile Empire you're talking about. No, I haven't seen anyone like that here."

You can continue talking with the Mayor if you wish. As of now, you have two options for how to proceed afterward: Present the invitation to Tongue Lasher Frold or head to Frederiksberg to investigate the last known whereabouts of Brother Laplace. Good thing you got here early in the day.

"Let's deliver the invitation to Tongue Lasher Frold first."

If someone wants to continue the interaction with the Mayor, go ahead. If not, I can advance to taking the message to the troll leader.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:55, Fri 29 Apr 2022.

OOC: I'm advancing to the gate of the troll enclave.

After exchanging farewells, the group gets back into the van. Johnny puts the address given into the GPS and a course is set for the local sports complex.

Two blocks before the destination, an iron gate blocks the path. A crude sign on it reads, GO HOM. Several trolls are on the other side, watching you approach while four others wearing ill-fitting leather jerkins hold spears and stand behind the gate menacingly.

Urk and his buddies see you approach. They point at you and shout, "Dat's dem!! Dey drove da land board!" Other trolls cheer and give both them and you thumbs-up gestures.

The four in leather jerkins straighten up as you approach. One of them barks at you, "What you want?"

In reply to Troll (msg # 11):

"Hey! You got a...Murk in there? Murk the troll? Tell him Jacob's here." Jacob called out.

Murk was actually Mustafa El-Amad once upon a time. Jacob...the old Jacob...knew the man had taken a job before the war. He also had heard about his transformation.

Ooc:
Cosm Card
Title: Call the Banners

Void returned the thumbs-up the trolls gave them, seemingly fading back into observation and existence as she did so.

"What does that mean?" She asked Case. She smiled at the trolls, not sure of the significance of either gesture but wanting to learn more. Humanity and human existence were abstracts, things she had witnessed but had very personal experience with.

"Am I doing it correctly?"

The four trolls in leather brandish their spears. The one who spoke last time grunts at Jacob. "You no belong here. Go home. Me no here to give messages."

A loud whistle from another troll with crossing scars under his left eye draws your attention. He waves Jacob over to the fence about 10 meters from the gate.

In reply to Troll (msg # 14):

Jacob headed over to the troll calling to him. "Mustafa? Is that you? Its me... Jacob. I know we both are...diffent."

"Jacob? I thought I had it bad, but you seem to have the worse end of the deal. What happened to you?"

In reply to Murk (msg # 16):

"I...I was brought back. From...from the other side. To fight this war." Of course, he left out was really happened. "Are you...you fully 'gone native'?" He asked the man. His memories of the man Mustafa had been where intact, largely because he was a storm knight.

For the man Mustafa, Jacob had no idea how much transferred over after being turned into a troll. He was fairly certain 'Murk' was an ord, but he clearly still knew Jacob as he had been when Jacob was alive.

The troll spoke slowly, wincing every few words, as though speaking was causing a headache. "The monsters came out from the ground, and my rage built up as it had in the past. Then suddenly my body changed and became stronger, and I found myself looking like these others. It wasn't until a month later that I realized these trolls were fighting for the enemy. I was able to convince the trolls to rebel, and once they agreed, I found Eruvel Cathfaine and proved our separation from the Darkness. What brings you here?"

In reply to Murk (msg # 18):

"Secert mission, but we are here to fight the High Lords. Any chance you can convince your friends to stand down and let us by?"

It was not like he did not trust Murk, but truth be told the less he knew the better. He should be safe among a group of trolls. Not to mention Jacob could reach out to the Delphi Council and recruit him as an asset for the war.

"I have an idea. Go up to the gate and play along." Murk walks up to the other side where the "guards" are, and says to the talkative one, "Shuluf! This Storm Knight is a visitor here to see Tongue Lasher." As Shuluf snaps to attention, he orders another troll named Furg to open the gate.