Game - 'Peace and Fireworks'

[Ensou]

It is that time of the season.

The Bane Blossom Festival.

Your citystate, Tidus Eve, has the honor of hosting the Continental Sovereign Congress this time. Every five years, the major kingdoms and minor territories send envoys to represent them in this august and highly celebrated event that lasts for weeks. Be it resolving disputes, declaring war, cementing trade pacts, or announcing successions, the representatives carry the full weight of their people's mandates, eager to vie for their outcomes and seek alliances.

It is also a favorite time for kidnappers and rebels.

While each envoy have an allowed number of bodyguards, the host kingdom is expected to provide the best resources in the protection of these key figures.

The Sovereign Service, your organization, has kept safe for generations the heads of states and dignitaries that grace the halls of Tidus Eve Castle. The massive Chamber of Gathering connected to the royal castle will begin the first day of seating the arriving guests as your Queen bestows the opening address.

Tidus Eve situates on the main bank of a river confluence, rising out of the mud flats and magically-reclaimed land to become a hub of trade and academy. A singular city with its towers and paved streets, it receives numerous carriages and riverboats in the course of a week, ever guarded by the Sovereign Sentries at the gates, and scrutinized over by the Sovereign Sentinels watching over the innermost circle of the kingdom where the castles and diplomatic quarters reside.

But the Service, as coined by the members themselves, hold a different function.

Their role is to serve and protect, defend and destroy, with precision and information. Working deep in far territories, or under disguises, and even in total arcana silence from support, the Operatives of the SS take the unbeaten path, seeking any signs of danger towards their kingdom and the Royal Household.

Today, as the convoy horses trot through the Ambassador Gate, Sentries line either side of the cobblestone path leading into the heart of the Castle Compound. Citizens crowd behind the barriers of the path, cheering and spectating on this rare occassion. Many businesses either close for the day, or taking advantage of the celebration, offer limited wares and promotions. Funfairs, fireworks, parades on smaller streets and academic conferences taking advantage of the arrival of esteemed mages, complete the event.

While the populace treat it with the upbeat sense of wonder, security forces take measures to prepare for any incursions. Command towers have been erected on various roofs by the Sentinels to catch any stray enemy arcana signatures. Sentries roam the alleyways and sewers. Skywardens soar with their partnered rocs.

And Section 9 carries out its multifacet duty package.

The next arrival is Commandant Sentasi, Warrior Consort of the militaristic Sanction Dominion. His entourage of combatants serve double as secretaries, entertainers, riders and translators, have just crossed the wall gate, and will be passing by the Arcana Terraces, to be met by the reception council in the Royal Carnival first before heading towards the Chamber of Gathering.

Unaware that they will be the first act on a regional stage of drama and intrigue.
 

- End of Prologue -

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Tairis blinks, wiping away the dust brought up by the train of carriages.

The Sanction bodyguards observe him with wary eyes as they jog beside Sentasi's open carriage. The slender man, breaking convention from the more muscular members of his kingdom, is swallowed up by his armor as he waves at the spectators. Sentasi's rise to power comes more from his intellect and strategy than pure might, and makes for the perfect envoy to play the game of intrigue in the Congress.

Across on the other side of the carriage is Kim, walking stately with a face that shows little care to the world. Tairis recognizes the ruse of his partner, as the swordsage likely already has assessed any person within his zone of control, even above or below him.

And anyone who gets past Kim will meet his own axe in the face.

The crowd cheers on.
 

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Xadath's efforts paid off this time. A mutual acquaintance has told him a contact knows more about what he is looking for.

The contact is waiting for him in a candy store near the carnival.

The half-drow enters the store to see the owner behind the counter, speaking with a mother who is holding a child eating a candy floss. His female assistant is packing away some sweets near the storeroom.

A man is looking at some candy in the corner furthest from the door.

A family just came into the store, the bell ringing above the entrance.

The owner turns to the family and smiles, 'Will be right with you.'

'Excuse me, good sir. Find anything interesting?' The assistant sees Xadath and comes over, standing nearby with a smile and her hands politely clasped.
 

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'Oh sorry about that.'

A spectator apologises as he drops a part of his sandwich close by Elspeth and kicks it away. The jostling crowd scares him off to finish his meal in another spot.

Elspeth surveys the rest of the people around, strolling an easy distance from Sentasi's carriage as it plods forward. She somehow winnows through the milling spectators easily as she covers a radius around ahead and behind the carriage, keeping an eye about for attackers in disguise.
 

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Mal keeps in pace with the patrol he is attached to, stepping over the trash left behind by the spectators.

They took shortcuts through alleys and lanes that only locals would know living in the city for a long time, covering large chunks of space to intercept any possible belligerents. The paperwork to insert him into this patrol was quick, with the sudden reassignment of a member to somewhere else treated as another administrative hiccup.

In the meantime, Mal, along with his team, tune into the arcana cloud, a network of communication using the arcana energies that have been modified to provide a stable means of exchanging information. Sentries and the rare Sentinel chime into a main channel, reporting their positions and findings. The operatives of the Service are users of the cloud as well, though for this channel they are listening in discreetly.

Sentasi is codenamed as Centaur, and the teams assigned for this guest call in. Amidst the chatter of his fellow patrollers, Mal keeps one ear to the cloud while not losing his situational awareness as they enter another alleyway.

'Eva 7, this is Eva 2. Centaur has passed the red flag, advancing to purple.'

'Confirm that, Eva 7. This is Eva 5, sighting Centaur on assigned route.'

'This is Eva 1, we're clear at the gate. Standing by.'

'Eva 1, this is Eva 7, remain on site for arcana surveillance. Eva 2, pack up and merge with Eva 12 by the black flag. Eva 5, maintain sight range of Centaur.'

'Eva 7, this is Eva 4, we detect movement in the crowd bearing north by north east, beeline towards Centaur.'

'Ignore that, Eva 4. The weaponeers will take care of that.'

'Understood, Eva 7.'

'Eva 3.'

'We're clear.'

'Eva 6.'

'No activity.'

'Eva 8.'

'Got a reading several roofs away. We're triangulating it.'

'Understood. Get on the cloud if you have to.'

'Soft and silent, Eva 7. It's near cyan flag. We're on the move.'

[bloodsprite]

Xadath

As Xadath enters the store, he appears focused and determined, anticipating his meeting with the contact.

"Thank you, anything you would recommend for a first date?"

Is this my contact or is it the man in the corner? Kids seem like a disguise too far.

He looks at the store clerk evaluating if he should use the code phrase with them.

Stat BlockXadath Ssear
Male CN Deepwyrm Half-Drow ( Dragon Magic, p. 6) 5th Spellthief, 5th Unseen Seer, Level 10, Init 3, HP 46/46, Speed 30
AC 19, Touch 13, Flat-footed 16, Fort 3, Ref 5, Will 8, Base Attack Bonus 6
Crossbow, Repeating Light 10 (1d8, 19–20/×2)
Spell Storing +1 Dagger 10 (1d4, 19–20/×2)
Spell Storing +1 Dagger 10 (1d4, 19–20/×2)
Spell Storage, Cantrips/Orisons +1 Mithral Chain Shirt, Darkwood Buckler (+5 Armor, +1 Shield, +3 Dex)
Abilities Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 22
Condition None
Spells
Detect Magic 9/9
disguise self 1/1
Cantrips/Orisons as druid from Item Familiar 6/6
Cantrips/Orisons from Magical Training 4/4
1st Level Spells 3/3
2nd Level Spells 3/3  ActionsFree:
Swift:
Immediate:
Move:
Standard: Tries to Sense Motive of the store clerk
Fullround:
Attack of Opportunity:
Downtime Action:

Edited August 1, 2023 by bloodsprite (see edit history)

[Ensou]

 Alhallor:

Kim manages to stay somber while traversing the crowd. It had become almost meditative how he measured the people around him, wholy skimming some, while giving others a more thorough look, both certain in his own abilities and in his companions should someone or something slip under his care.

With a glance he assures himself if Tairis is still there and then continues his meditative walk.

 

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 Gamemaster Jeff:

His life would have been better if he was ever able to blend in, Mal mused. Like always, he lived in a small gap in the crowd. Four feet, nine and a fraction inches was the amount of space people unwittingly gave the gnome. Was there some psychic residue left over from his etheric tinkering? Or just an odd quirk of his heritage? Regardless, people gave him space and he stalked the crowd in an invisible bubble, a random eddy parting the crowd like a swirling stream. His job was to be seen although he seriously doubted the efficacy of deterrence. The prey he stalked was never deterred, but just maybe he could funnel them into a trap.

He idly munched a slowly drying pies trying not to focus on the slimy texture. Food was fuel. He glanced up, making sure Sunny was a mere speck acting just like any one of hundreds of other birds. He'd lost track of Shadow hours ago, but knew the Filcher was within eyesight, should his senses be an order of magnitude more keen. "Sunny, get an eyeball on that rooftop, will ya? But remember, your primary duty is watching the birds. Find out how many are familiars reporting to someone on the ground. You can see them subvocalizing if you look carefully, plus they'll be watching the people, not the food."

"Affirmative Mal. It'll take a minute to shift without breaking cover." Sunny was a mechanical bird, indistinguishable from the real thing at ten foot distance. At fifty feet, Sunny could both elude eyes from the ground as well as keep her distance of the no doubt myriad other sentient birds in the air. The only real question was which of them belonged to the enemy, and which to innocent bystanders?

"Are you going to teach me how to do my job too, Mal?" Shadow was sarcastic where Sunny was serious. But he was very good at his job, which was to stand by without being seen. The last assassin who tried to stab their target had jumped into perfect position only to find their favorite poisoned dagger missing from the sheath. Minus the poison, the dagger made a fin trophy back at HQ.

"You know I'd never dream of that, Shadow", Mal thought, glad he hadn't finished the mental command he was preparing that would have done exactly that. "I'll tell you what, though. If you make it past the inner sentries again without being spotted, I'll take you to that tavern to listen to that bard perform. You know, the one with the large... Mal never finished the thought.

"If it's anything, he mentally sent to both minions, "It'll be a diversion. Check the area around that candlemaker. The back of that building opens onto an alley and a separate court. It's a perfect location for a quick getaway, and teleportation gives three other options from either back door."

 

 

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Madadh:

 

Tairis maintained his silence as they moved, keeping an eye on partner and principal as they moved through the streets. Festivities were always a dangerous time. Guards were dropped and chaos was accepted rather than avoided. Making it easy for merriment to turn into tragedy.

He kept his express as neutral as possible despite his less than pleasant inner monologue playing through potential dangers and risks. A scowling man at a party stuck out like a sore thumb. The half-elf instead focused on making sure no one else stood out.
 

[Ensou]

The clerk blushes ever so slightly, charmed by Xadath's response, though not meant for her. She clearly has no hidden agenda with the half-drow, other than a sudden consideration of romance.

'Well, the rose-tinged chocolate rolls are in the season now, from what I heard--'

The man surveying the candy turns at this point and makes a straight line towards Xadath.

'Honey, wait!' The mother chastises.

The child runs away from the mother's hand, laughing merrily.

As the man close in on Xadath...

...he passes him by, stepping up to the counter to face the owner.

'Anything laced with liquor? It's for a business associate.'

'Well,' the owner rubs his hands with a smile, 'they aren't cheap, but I have just the items you may need.' He bends down behind his counter to rummage through the storage.

In the meantime, the child bumps into the store clerk, smearing some of the candy floss on both Xadath and the clerk, who brings a palm to her mouth with an inhaled shock.

The child stares at the grownups, and start to cry.
 

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As Kim continues his languid stride alongside the entourage, he can hear a far-off forlorn horn, the signature call of the arcane-powered trains that cross this land on railways peppered throughout the region. Be it transporting passengers or cargo, the trains form a major instrument of economic stability next to the skyships that ply their trades above the clouds.

Meeting his sire may be the ultimate confrontation of his life, even if not a single sword is drawn. And an unknown outcome makes for an uncertain journey.

The horn starts to fade as the train in the distance continues its journey, passing by the citystate. To where it heads to, Kim knows not.

Even as he is with his own journey.
 

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Commandant Sentasi glances at Kim and turns to Tairis's direction.

'You are Tairis.' The leader makes a statement rather than a question. 'Will your compatriot be able to react in a single notice to danger if he is engrossed so deeply in thought? He seems like a man on a stroll at the park.'

At the same time, Tairis's scanning eyes comes across three men, one among the crowd behind barrier on Kim's side, and two among the crowd on his own side. They appear clad in simple commoner garb, but including a traveler cloak about them down to their waist. They may have made sure to wear different colors, but their cutting are not just similar, they are identical in stitching according to his sharp eyes.

What is most interesting, is that while the rest of the crowd cheers and looks on at the leader, these three men have their eyes float loosely over the escorts, running their gaze across the armor and weaponry.

Not as eyes marveling at possessions, but of practiced assessment.

The man on Kim's side, so quick as to have Tairis almost miss it, cast a side glance ahead of the entourage, towards something, then back again--

--he notices Tairis staring right at him, and flicks his eyes away.
 

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Sunny observes no communication among the flock of birds at the rooftop other than the natural caws and calls. From that vantage point, the entourage can be seen, with Kim and Tairis flanking the carriage. Sentasi can be seen leaning towards Tairis, likely a conversation.

Shadow as well encountered nothing untoward as it glides quietly through the alleyway, though as it reaches the other side of the alley, something about the landscape, however mundane, seems off.

Mal's patrol group has already turned at a corner and disappeared, their mirthful chatter audible but getting softer as they continued their route. Amidst the crowd, munching on his pie, one particular exchange on the arcana cloud flits by Mal's attention.

'Eva 7, this is Eva 6. We have not received commcheck by Eva 8 at our designated time interval.'

'This is Eva 4. Confirming cloud silence by Eva 8.'

'Eva 3 here, we have no eyes on them, but there was a blip on the cloud earlier. We thought it might have just been nothing.'

'This is Eva 7, who is the closest to cyan flag?'

[Ensou]

 Madadh:

"He'll notice more when not being distracted with questions," Tairis said brusquely, moving his attention to describing the three men. "Three targets, commoner grab in traveling cloaks. Move into position to provide active protection."

As he spoke the half-elf moved closer to their principal and felt the lines of his mark burn under his skin as power channeled through it. Unseen force sprang to life around him even while his hand came to rest of the neck of his axe.

 

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 Alhallor:

Kim sees Tairis falling back more to they're charge and he slowly strides a bit slower that he also is near him. Near enough to interfere should it be necessary. He makes an effort to not really change his stroll and his eyes wander the same as before, but now trying to locate a more pressing problem.

 

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 bloodsprite:

Xadath tries not to be too flustered by the kid, looking around for a parent to direct the child to. Paranoid that it may be a 'pickpockets distraction'? With a mumble and a wave, he uses Prestidigitation to clean the sticky mess on himself, the clerk, and the child, casting defensively.

With a smile, "Always the Hazard, the more delicious a food, the more likely it is to be messy."

Xadath brings his power of observation onto the man passing him by, wary of being distracted by the child.

[Ensou]

The entourage bodyguards notice Tairis move to their leader, in active stance. Several close in with swift preparation, while the rest fan out, some very close to the edge of the crowd line, scaring some of the spectators. The entourage, however, continues on.

One of the fringe guards looks at Tairis. 'There are commoners everywhere. Can you point them out?'

At the same time, the movements have alerted the person Tairis stared at, and he whispers something to his two compatriots. They are oblivious to Kim and his stance, but they are currently outside of his strike range. No clear weapons are seen on their persons from Kim's distance.
 

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The child's mother rushes up to Xadath and the clerk, apologizing.

The owner gives an indulgent smile at the antic, and looks back at the man, who has peered into the box that the owner brought out. Chocolate wrapped in egg shapes of dazzling wrappers shine on his face. The owner winks at the clerk, and she takes the signal to join him in this prospective big job.

She bows at Xadath and the mother and glides over to join in the conversation by the counter.

The child sniffles and hugs the hem of the mother's dress. She pats the child's head and bows again at Xadath.

'You have been very gracious about it, good sir.' She pulls out a homely handkerchief and offers to him. 'I am no magician and I can see you have cleaned up everyone, but please take this as a token of thanks.'

In your state of heightened awareness, while the man did not pose a threat, you suddenly felt that it was very important to take the handkerchief from the mother. Her face shows nothing except maternal gratitude, but you cannot shake off the feeling that this is the contact you have been waiting for.
 

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Mal notes that unusual exchange in the arcana cloud, and contemplate checking it out. But first that alley...

He goes closer, and each step he takes, he feels a strong foreboding, a sense of fear and distaste, like he wants to get away as far as possible...

Mal knows he is on to something.

Because that just smelt like a ward spell.

He stands at the alley entrance, deciding his next move.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Ensou (see edit history)

[bloodsprite]

Xadath

As Xadath bows back to the mother, and graciously takes the handkerchief.

"You are welcome madam."

Apparently Kids are not a disguise too far; lesson learned.

Xadath tucks the handkerchief in a pocket, and selects an item at random to purchase, something more hard than sticky, and awaits for the clerk to attend to him, before exiting. Walking quickly but not running, he purposefully makes abrupt random turns like he knows a shortcut through the alleyways perpendicular to his true destination, and while alone in a short alley flips around his cloak to show the inside that is a different color, while putting up his hair in a quick messy man bun with a bit of rawhide twine, and stowing the garish candy bag in a pocket. Before doubling back to his true destination, Checking for tails, and awaiting privacy before inspecting the handkerchief.

Stat BlockXadath Ssear
Male CN Deepwyrm Half-Drow ( Dragon Magic, p. 6) 5th Spellthief, 5th Unseen Seer, Level 10, Init 3, HP 46/46, Speed 30
AC 19, Touch 13, Flat-footed 16, Fort 3, Ref 5, Will 8, Base Attack Bonus 6
Crossbow, Repeating Light 10 (1d8, 19–20/×2)
Spell Storing +1 Dagger 10 (1d4, 19–20/×2)
Spell Storing +1 Dagger 10 (1d4, 19–20/×2)
Spell Storage, Cantrips/Orisons +1 Mithral Chain Shirt, Darkwood Buckler (+5 Armor, +1 Shield, +3 Dex)
Abilities Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 22
Condition None
Spells
Detect Magic 9/9
disguise self 1/1
Cantrips/Orisons as druid from Item Familiar 6/6
Cantrips/Orisons from Magical Training 4/4
1st Level Spells 3/3
2nd Level Spells 3/3 ActionsFree:
Swift:
Immediate:
Move:
Standard:
Fullround:
Attack of Opportunity:
Downtime Action:

[Alhallor]

Kim didn't wanted to just attack some villagers that may be innocent, he just readied himself for an attack should one come.

Edited August 14, 2023 by Alhallor (see edit history)

[Ensou]

 

Xadath unfurls the handkerchief to see minute scribbles at the perimeter of the cloth, needing to turn it around every so often to read the full message. His efforts only garnered two somewhat vague phrases.

 

'They set up to bring down the clouds.'

'Beware the arcana express.'

 

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The three bystanders whispered something inaudible among each other, and giving Tairis and Kim one last look, they melt into the crowd.

 

Except that even from this distance, Kim's keen senses noticed two very important details.

 

He heard the clink of armor under their clothes and the telltale bulge of concealed weapons among their slightly baggy attire. And, even from this distance and cacophony he picks up the presence of intent to do harm, almost as easily as a seasoned angler will notice the breaks in the water surface that distinguishes a fish from other creatures.

 

They are seen heading in the direction ahead of the entourage as they distanced themselves from the bodyguards. Kim has to make a decision to stay with Tairis, or, trusting his partner, follow his hunch and see what those three are doing.

[Alhallor]

Kim takes a glance at Tairis. You can take care of things here right? I need to check something out.

 

One hand at his hat and one casually at his blade Kim strodes forward to where the three suspicious individuals where going. These definitely weren't you're usual festivity enjoying peasants, not with the murderous glares they were throwing around.

[Ensou]

 

Kim trails after them easily enough, a seasoned combatant who knows how to move through crowds. The trio eventually reached a quieter part of the working class district residence just a few blocks away from the cordoned route.

They glanced around, and seeing nothing, entered the front door. The building itself seems unoccupied, and Kim hears no further sound from the outside.

[Alhallor]

Kim looks at the suspicious building and waits a moment. That these guys are getting him here may have been a trap after all. His abilities were mainly protective of others after all and going after these three guys may be exactly what they wanted.

 

On the other hand he was already pretty far away, he could still retreat if necessary.

 

Kim enters the building.