Quest results and Dilemmas
Signs of the Asrai
If there was one good thing to say about the Luccinian treasure hunter it would certainly be his caution and his methodical approach to any ruin they approached, Elena thought to herself.
They had found this cave in the side of a huge root-system after following marks in the trees that both elves -Briala and Anwen- insisted were present for those with their senses, and now they were making their way inch by inch into the bowels of it, Mr. Rosetti all but crawling as he squatted and crab-walked along with a thin reed swishing back and forth to check for subtle wires, for apparently a stick would risk breaking said wires and setting off premature traps.
"Annacarsi signora, annacarsi" He purred back as Elena stepped forwards a touch too far for his seeming comfort, speaking with a charming near-tilean accent, though Elena had swiftly come to understand that calling him a tilean instead of a luccinian was a quite serious offence. He spoke again soon, crab-stepping further "slow and steady mhmm? I have not-a lived so long in this business without-a checking for traps. Our lovely elfin signore say there are none, yet all I-a hear is that there are none set by the elves, vedi?"
Elena nodded in understanding as she continued to mark down notes on the location and seeming dimensions of this apparent asrai safety bunker, half-grown and half-carved into the earth beneath the roots fused into its superstructure. Within they found... Mostly leaves. Leaves, leather armour pieces and a few scattered arrows. Though Rosetti seemed enthused as he grabbed them all up and grinned at the points, all the more so when Anwen and Briala came in and made their own appreciative noises. Elena quirked an eyebrow and the luccinian treasure-seeker grinned out his appraisal "enchanted ithilmar, signora, common perhaps to the asrai like Anwen, but-a lovely thing to find nonetheless."
Anwen rolled her expressive almond eyes as she took possession of the enchanted arrows, though she looked with a cocked head at the rainbow of exotic plumage used for their flight-feathers, the elf speaking with a chuckle "enchanted arrows are not that common, Mr Rosetti, especially such finely plumaged starfires like these. Regardless, let's loot this place for information and whatever seems sellable."
Elena looked up to ask curiously "Should we not take more care with the heritage of your kin?"
Anwen shrugged as she used a knife to cut down an amber brooch from the wall "if something once belonged to a human, must I treat it carefully for that reason alone? My 'kin' here abandoned this stuff, so clearly they care not if we help ourselves, besides which those write-leaves shall give us information on the next lead."
Briala and Imilar seemed to both agree as they joined Rosetti in looting the 'wooded loam-palace' as Imilar named the structure, creating a significant pile of glittering silver, amber, gemstones and asrai artistry near the entrance.
---
The information on the leaves and found among the assembled treasures indeed led to hidden paths through the jungle that Anwen and Briala both took point in following, Briala newly armed with an asrai bow and a hip-quiver of non-enchanted yet still finely crafted arrows. The clues led further to a deeply hidden dark glade, one where the air was thick with humidity and even the wood-elves seemed timid as they stepped into the clearing. Elena watched with fascination as the elves spoke to glimmering things that flittered among the dark boughs, seeming satisfied with whatever got spoken back. Evidently they had found a lead and a new contact within the woods. Apparently the Asrai all left in one migration or flight some three centuries ago, by the memory of spirits, abandoning half of their material belongings to retreat to some unknown location to the south.
Rewards:
- Through their efforts the adventurers have located the Hidden Paths of the jungle -only traversible truly by those of the forest-, and with them the next section of Imilar's goal. Unlocked Quest 'Delving the Deepwood: Tracing the Asrai's Trail'.
- One of the best bits to come out of this treasure hunt into the fae weirdness of the deep-woods has been contact with woodland spirits. They are not precisely a normal faction, yet their influence is effectively everywhere in Lustria. Contact made with the 'Spirits of the Forest' Faction.
- From the hidden loam-palace of the apparently fleeing asrai your adventurers have pried, grabbed and cut out a decent chunk of change, though have other value as gifts.
[][Asrai Sale] Sell it all to the Empire Markets, Give Me the Money: +30 Money. +8 Prestige.
[][Asrai Sale] Only sell the valuable commodities and simpler art on the Empire Market, retain the rest for use as gifts, or to potentially return to their prior owners: +20 Money, Researchable treasure 'An Amber Arrow' and 2 pieces of Asrai Treasure. +4 Prestige.
Just a preview as I work on the really Meaty quest result (aka Klaus)
Clever Girls in the Jungle
Bullo had a strange and almost disconcerting focu within him ever since Klaus got taken, a sullen look that translated to his riding ram while they both walked their late afternoon patrol along the trail that Hektor had marked. The Cold Ones had been roving closer and closer to the colony's farms, driving beasts into the foresters and making more and more of a fuss until the governor clearly felt it time to handle them, Bullo's armoured ram and self acting as a trailblazer for the following Ludolf.
Things come to a head faster than either liked as Hektor lets out a yell of alarm, driving Bullo to kick Hammerhorn forward as Ludolf draws and loads his crossbow mid-run.
They find Hektor a half-dozen metres up in a tree while the cold ones swarm below in a swirl of scales, hissing and screeching while making efforts to climb up while Hektor launches arrows from a horn-composite bow down into their faces. Hektor looks up at the group lunge into the dim clearing and barks "I found the nest!" Drawing cold one attention just long enough for Bullo's ram to slam into the pack, barb-armoured horns ripping out one of the huge raptor's guts as Bullo's lance spears another beast through the head.
"FOR DINNER!" He roars, Ludolf providing covering fire from another tree as Hektor takes Bullo's arrival as the time to enter melee himself, dropping down to break skulls and legs with a heavy mace that seems almost outsized for the slim man in his long coat.
It's over before long, though not before Bullo got himself dragged off Hammerhorn for a harrowing moment that left his arm broken at the joints inside his armour, gashes from claws all over his face where they'd gotten his visor off. A search has soon found a true treasure amongst the piles of bodies in the form of eggs, still whole and seemingly healthy.
Rewards:
- The hides, meat and claws of the cold ones all sell to many people for many reasons, with cash flowing back into your coffers as Leatherworkers emerge from the civilian populace to make armour and goods which sell -with a small tax- like hot-cakes. Their proof of your adventurers at work spreads well. +8 Money, +5 Prestige.
- The true prize of this endeavour is without a doubt the eggs, whole and living eggs of a curiously rare colouring -at least according to Rapunzel's records-, each egg bearing a strange blue banding and a tiny spark of magic which hangs about them in an aura. All of your learned magic users agree it is almost like the blessing of a truly pious priest.
[][ColdOne] Send them off with the next trade-ship that pauses at your docks. The imperial zoo will pay a wealthy bounty for living eggs. +20 Money, +4 Favour, +10 Prestige.
[][ColdOne] Retain them as your prizes. Perhaps the beasts can be tamed and trained to serve the colony's needs? This will doubtless grow your Prestige, though not your pockets in the immediate future. Unlocks the 'Cold One Pen' Blueprint, a money-making building that generates prestige and aids in defence. +15 Prestige
[][ColdOne] Retain them with intent to gift. The Lizardmen would doubtless appreciate these strangely scaled beasts if you ever find the time to send them over. Gain the 'Blessed Cold One Eggs' treasure, Tradeable to any Lizardmen faction for an automatic relationship boost and a significant amount of treasure (est. 30+ Money)
For those of you wondering about Favour, Favour will be a very special kind of 'trading market' that opens up once you guys have lasted a month. It's also a currency used in certain events, and in diplomatic exchanges during expeditions.
Mega Boa in the Swamp
Consequences:
-Due to the serpent's continued presence, one of the farms has been damaged by wildlife driven out of the swamps.
- 2 colonists have gone missing this week, likely devoured by the serpent or killed by creatures driven out of the swamps.
Rescue Klaus!
Many dozens of yards from Johanna, Pandora adjusted her armoured coat as she began the treck toward the cove's semi-hidden entrance, the crack in the rock that Bullo and Arda both remembered. Behind her Alaric followed with their fancy dwarf-craft pistol dulled by soot, just like the back-spiked axe in their other hand. Meanwhile Arda, Johann and Dera would be going over the rocks and roots of the creeping jungle above, intent on coming down into the cove from above, Dera having spotted a route to climb from some decent distance away. Meanwhile Pandora and Alaric would act as foreguard and distraction, giving hopefully precious time for the climbing team to board the corsair ship and find Klaus.
She stepped onto the sand of the hidden cove and instantly Pandora knew that something had gone wrong, every instinct she had as an adventurer howling in her ears as she swivelled on her heel to point her trusty spear at the shadows just to the side, holding the tip unwavering when a smirking pale woman in a mock officer's coat and brocade emerged, faux-applauding.
"Good instincts, poppet. Always a treat to see someone with some sense, some fire in their spine~."
Pandora and the woman circled each other, the pioneer trying her damndest to keep her eyes on the red glittering irises of her opponent, even if it kept twitching at some inner feeling of her mind to do so.
"You'd be... Captain Peony?" Pandora hazarded a guess.
Her guess seemed right as the woman bowed, Peony straightening her lanyards whilst asking "You're here to ransom the little dog-man, yes? Such a fun guest to have aboard."
Pandora will never be quite sure how she managed to bluff with such conviction, keeping her gaze on Peony and giving nothing away even as she spotted Arda leaping from the cove's wall to the ship's rigging, but the Pioneer grinned as she drew out a bundle of scrolls and tossed it at the corsair's feet "The governor has seen the... Sense.. In accepting your offer. That's the deed to the soon-constructed new docks, with the right to waive inspections of your goods."
The porcelain skinned bitch grinned with teeth that seemed all too sharp in the dim light, bending down to grab the scroll as she cackled and purred "So glad to see reasonable men in power~!"
The corsair's good mood, however, evaporated like rum on a red hot skillet as she actually opened the first scroll to find not words at all, and instead an intricately drawn, shaded and proportioned rendition of a cock. Lovingly signed by Rapunzel, the artist. Every scroll had a similar theme, Flynn Ryder's dick in many styles and from many angles.
Peony looked like the very image of confused and spite-soaked rage as she tore the final artistic penis in half, whirling on Pandora only to find a spear-point snapping forward like a viper. The Corsair was forced back a step and a flinch, shrieking "what are you doing?!" Just in time to catch a chest full of shot from Alaric's gun. though this signalled the sart of her unnatural reveal, for having her chest perforated and ribs viscerally shattered only made Peony hiss like a broken kettle.
And then Johann dropped on her from the ceiling, sharpened shovel only missing Peony by an inch as her eyes smoked with dark magic and she howled in tones no human could replicate "You little Shits! I'm going to peel y-"
Captain Peony got no further into her tirade before an Arda shaped missile hit her in the back, the wizard in full amber-rage snarling like a fusion of bear, wolf and alligator as she made a decent attempt to rip off the vampire's skull with her bare clawed hands. Peony thrashed like a serpent, kicking and hurling Arda like a ragdoll, but Johann severed one leg with his shovel's sharpened edge before Pandora's axe took off the opposite foot, and an attempted casting of twisted dhar was broken by Alaric hurling a clay grenade of silver-powder and rowanwood ash.
Then her ship Exploded.
Captain Jane Peony of the 'Black Rat' died ignobly, beaten to true death by a shovel, an axe and the magical claws of an amber wizard. Her crew -what was left of it after the zombies collapsed- were slain to the last by the explosion and by the adventurers, and her skull was subsequently pissed on by Rufus before being cleaned and presented to you, fangs evident and a deliriously smug Ludolf cackling as he was regaled by the evidence of vampires discovered on Peony's wrecked vessel.
Rewards:
- Klaus Steinberger has been returned, healthy but traumatised.
- Maps of the local coast and hints toward other factions in the area. Unlocked the 'Guard the Coves' Quest and 'Purge the Caves' Military Expedition Lead. The Location of the Amazon Sacred Isle has been given, unlocking Diplomatic actions toward this Faction (Unknown Relationship). 'The Awakened' Pirate Faction has been discovered (Neutral Relationship).
- Reward bounties of Jane 'Peony' Roberts, Jack 'Blackeye' Barsum and Petyr 'Iceberg' Poritsky, plus sundry identified zombies. Plus the Imperial Bounty on the undead. +15 Money. +20 Prestige, +5 Favour.
- Treasure and Crates of smuggled goods were recovered, all with significant bounties on their return to the Imperial customs service and their proper owners.
[][PirateStuff] Follow imperial law to the letter, return every last crate and scrap of illicit gains back to the empire and thus to their lawful owners. +10 Money, +10 Prestige, +4 Favour.
[][PirateStuff] Treasure, what Treasure? Return only the bare minimum to keep the homeland happy, disperse the rest among yourself and your colony's leaders. +35 Money, -14 Prestige, -2 Favour.
Branwen, Bullo and Klaus will be unavailable as they recover for the next week.
1 hr moratorium on voting.
This is a familiar event. Use Johanna's Event Reroll?
[][Event Reroll] Yes
[][Event Reroll] No
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