"Thank you for coming here.  I know the king has little enough to spare at this time, with everything else that needs his attention, and I appreciate that you are able to come to my aid."

You are in Lady Meridian Theel's council chamber.  She sits at the head of the table.  Seated to her right is General Osmund Wilders, commander of Lady Meridian's army, and on the table in front of them is a map of her territory within the kingdom.  They both point out relevant locations on it as Lady Meridian continues to speak.

"As you know, the Children of the Sea have been quiet for some time.  The business with their Megapod was a significant setback, and they have been taking their time to regroup.  Of course the quiet since then was only temporary, hardly a return to peace.  It seems we are reaching the end of that little reprieve."

She glances to Wilders, who continues "The Children have been launching raids against some of our communities.  Nothing serious, our soldiers are able to repel them with only minor losses at most; we suspect that they are just testing us now while they prepare whatever they actually have in mind.  But the point is that they are coming out again, and attacking civilian locations no less.  We've sent scouting parties to search the area where we think the Children are based, but we've had no luck so far.  It's that bloody magic of theirs, I suspect.  We just can't figure out what they are doing or how to break through it, and we can't commit more of our own men to the task because we need them to keep the people safe from the raids."

Lady Meridian then resumes speaking.  "And this is where you come in.  We need you to find their outpost, or fortress, or whatever it is.  We can provide soldiers for an assault on the place once we know how to get to it.  Any questions?"

It was a full day of riding from the capital to Lady Meridian's manor - how did you interact with each other along the way?  Did anything noteworthy happen?

And now that the expository mission briefing is done, what do you do?

The journey to the palace was fraught with whiskey colas and pool games… none of which seemed to slow them down, strangely.  It was as though the road existed in its own time dimension which their various watering holes couldn’t interfere with.  Music was their constant companion, on the road and off.  It resonated in their bones.

Geezer bows formally, causing his slightly greasy long hair to flop forward.  A grin alights on his ragged face.  “An honor to serve as always, m’lady.  Will any heavy weaponry be available to us for the final countdown?”
This message was last edited by the player at 15:16, Sun 19 Feb 2023.

She nods in response to your bow, and replies "When the time comes, we shall provide what we can.  But let's find out exactly what we are up against before we roll out the big guns."

"If we take the fight to them, hopefully that sends all the signal they need."

Wilders nods and says "Hah, that should teach them, sure enough!  But any decisive action does require that we know where the action is to take place.  How do you think you'll start?"

“Maybe we should start with the location of their last raid.  They may have left a clue behind unintentionally.”

There seems to be general agreement with Geezer's suggestion, and so you are given the location, but no escort (since it is unlikely that they would be able to keep up, or that you would slow down enough for them).

A couple hours later, you ride into Pernarutto, a small town along the Killing Road.  A scout patrol on horseback spots you on the road as you approach and shows you into town.  One of them rides ahead, and when you get to the impromptu barricade at the edge of the town proper, she is waiting there together with Yan Scotus, the captain of the soldiers who are currently stationed here.  He salutes as you ride up, and calls out "Knights, what can I do for ya?"