CHAPTER XX
in which the Silver Foxes test the patience of many merchants and Krom beds a wealthy Brenthian...
Previously (07/29)
The group:
Successfully completed their mission:
Navigated the Husker tunnels, fighting Goobers along the way.
Dug their way under the Centaur army and delivered Haas where she needed to be.
Learned of LeShrac's plans and portable Equinos pillar.
Hauled ass successfully back to Brenthia with the aid of the Sovelus and Cadence.
Rest and Relaxation
After their recent harrowing ordeal in the Husker caverns and against the Centaur army, the Silver Foxes take some much needed time off. After resting up in mostly deserted inn on the Brenthian outskirts occupied by other Felsparian forces. Upon waking, Sovelus mentions that Tova looks shaken up and so Haas goes to check on him. When Tova joins the group, he has all his possessions packed. It turns out that the suppression attempt on Tova was more in depth than on everyone else. LeShrac learned of his Westerner heritage and pulled undetermined portions of time from his memories. Tova can't quite tell what was taken and what he's forgotten, but he's worried none the less that his people are now potentially under threat by LeShrac. Some suggest joining him on his journey but Tova declines and leaves the group warmly.
The Silver Foxes go their separate ways on various errands while Prixus and Elias stay in the encampment given the current inter-species tensions. Glad heads to the brothel while Haas and Krom find a shop in which to recharge Haas' magical items. By chance, Ra'jira also wanders into the shop whereupon he befriends an elderly Brenthian. The two of them mischievously check out the shops more pricey wears including, notably, a set of armor that turns invisible when hit in a specific location and buffs the wearer's strength. Glad also wonders into the shop in search of books on various occult topics, but instead chances upon another Brenthian shopper that he flirts with and persuades to meet up with him later.
Everyone reunites after Haas gets her recharge and Krom enchants his shield with a combustion effect. Haas then assists Ra'jira in buying some new clothes and a bow suitable to his size. Then she assists him in practicing his archery. The elderly Brenthian points Glad in the direction of a bookstore. He heads there in an attempt to find ancient books on suppression, theories of quasith, and blood magic, though he doesn't mention why. Afterwards, Glad meets up with his date (partially witnessed by a curious Haas and Ra'jira), wines and dines her, and eventually beds her. Pleased to discover that she's wealthy and lives in a mansion, he considers spinning the encounter into something stable and profitable until he realizes that he seduced her with a fake name (Krom) and back story (Serac Desert Feudal Lord).
Dances with Dragons
Back at the encampment, the Felspar soldiers are practicing combat against centaur tactics. All the Silver Foxes present and not getting laid join in on the training. When Glad returns, Sovelus and the group discuss LeShrac's motivations and possible ties into other recent occurrences. Though not proven, the Silver Foxes believe in the Western threat and the hidden/converted temples that they were told about from the suppressed bandit they captured before heading to Serosan.
Glad mentions that LeShrac seemed amenable to allying with Vulsh and floats the theory that LeShrac is a piece in a longer war between Shul and Mercayen...a war that's similar to a mythologized story of the dragons in one of his books. In it, none of the dragons have names. Instead, they're identified by their colors. The books speaks of a terrifying red dragon (Shul) who largely went unchallenged. Most other dragons fled from his territory and thus the red dragon considered them weak. A silver dragon (Mercayen) did briefly rise against him, but it too fled. Only the green dragon could stand against them and the two fought continually in their never ending game, with neither able to best the other.
The discussion about dragon colors causes Haas to remember and relate one of her own adventures. She pulls out a rainbow map of the continent with colors weaved over the land like threads...
Haas explains that the map is a copy of one she found in an old Azzuite ruin many years ago. It is several hundred years old at the very least, and seems to show the history of Azzur's influence and interaction with other pillars (including several unknown ones) up to that point. She also describes her interaction with an Azzuite scholar, and several journals she uncovered in the same ruin that seem to speak of a plot by Dionastrans to take over or push back Azzur--something that quite possibly resulted in the death of the Azzur Archon of the time, whose remains Haas (and apparently the Azzur scholar) are sure she discovered.
Eventually, it's decided the further intel is needed on just what exactly LeShrac has done to Equinos. Sovelus gives the Silver Foxes a new mission: sneak into the Jhora Plains and figure out report back on what they find at the pillar. To do this, they'll take Brenthian airships as near the coast as they dare go and then complete the rest of the journey by Griffyn.
Post Game Summary
The group:
Got some R&R in town and restocked on needed items.
Accepted a new mission, to scout the Equinos pillar and gather intel about what remains.
Tova said goodbye to the group.
Important information learned:
There's a possible replacement for Tzolton to help with countering suppression: Esra of Attria
He was booted out of the First
Haas' has a quasith color map that theoretically matches the mythologized history of the dragons and their pillars in one of Glad's newly acquired book.