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Age of Ice and Blood: A Pathfinder System Heroic Fantasy Quest

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[X] Say your farewells and seek your own bed, on the morrow you speak with a king

I prefer the interlude.
 
[X] Mention the magic that was said to cling to the Marcella.
-[X] Speak of encounter with Stout Folk and ask if he might speak with Antonio about it since it is his ship later
 
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Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Aug 31, 2021 at 2:22 AM, finished with 24 posts and 13 votes.
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Arc 2 Post 14: In the Hall of the Young King
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    • In the Hall of the Young King ​

    The Twenty Third of Elnu-hamba [Elnu Descendent], Year Unknown

    As morning's light creeps over the roofs and boughs of Apuku you bathe and dress in as respectable a manner as you can manage under the circumstances, which is to say in steel and surcoat, for you can polish the former with palm oil and the latter had not seen any use since you had embarked upon this strange journey. It feels strange to be wearing white again without the sun beating down on you like a hammer, but at least you shall be going into the court of a foreign king with the crest of your fathers proudly displayed upon your chest.

    [] Write in the coat of Arms of Verley

    Deep drums echo in halls of stone, not the trumpets of King Henry's court, while at the door stand grim-faced men bearing long leaf-shaped spears and armor of a sort you have not seen before, a coat of sturdy dark leather worked into fantastical knotwork in the eyes of which you can see the gleam of bronze. At first you are confused as to the use for surely even the coats of scales you had taken from the Spear Islands would be a better guard against a foe, but then you see the simple fastenings that a man might pull swiftly apart at need. It is not to account for a lack of bronze that this armor was made, but a lack of time. This is an armor meant for the narrow decks of Anwa ships, to be cast off in an instant at need so that the wearer might stay afloat.

    "Your sword may not pass beyond these gates, anik," the guard to the left says. The word carries many meanings, and not all of them complementary. Wandering warrior and hire-sword, captain of landless folk looking for hearth and seed. Still, you can hardly blame the man for keeping to his oaths to lord and land. You lay down your sword still in its sheath by the door, then with a nod pass through.

    The chamber beyond is long and low, feast hall and throne room all in one by the tables set along its length. Flames burn low in a firepit, barely seen in the light that flows in through high thin windows that could serve archers at need. At the other end of the hall there stands a throne of some reddish wood polished to a shine such that it almost seems dipped in fresh blood, an image not helped by the fact that it has the scaled legs of some sea beast and the wings of a dragon carved into its backrest.

    Yet the man... boy really, upon the throne does not bear out his fearsome seating. He cannot be much older than fifteen or sixteen, his long gold-bound braids framing a face still too young to grow a beard worth the name, though his eyes are watchful as they are dark. The royal vestments are of the same make as those of his folk, kilt and tunic, though you note the latter is fine linen and not wool. Most remarkable of all is the cloak set about his shoulders, made from the pelt of some great scaled beast that glimmers and shifts like a silver stream.

    You do not kneel before a foreign king, but you bow low and wait to be called.

    In the long moment that follows the court is filled with the sound of whispers that flow into each other like the rustling of the leaves in shifting branches. Some wonder at the land you had sprung from, others at the shine of your armor and most quietly of all some question your intentions.

    "It is said that the guest unlooked for is oft the most courteous," King Ansefu replies. "I am glad to see that play out before mine eyes. Arise now and tell me of yourself. That you are a warrior is clear for any with eyes to see and that you are fair of word clear to any with ears to hear, but you bring many strange things to Lirman; horses of the north lands tamed as the agbor of the Straw Heads, weapons and arms of sky-metal and I have heard many spices and goods, some familiar to my halls and many not."

    You shift slightly in place, feeling the questions to come like arrows set to a drawn bow.

    "I would know more of your lands and your people should we find them on the wide sea," the young king continues with a smile. "Rare is the day when a new thing sails to the Anwa and not we to it go searching."

    What do you reply?

    [] Describe the lands of Verley and their people

    [] Tell something of this history of Normany, its dukes and its kings

    [] Speak of the war you have returned from and of the strange storm in which you were lost

    [] Write in

    OOC: The coat of arms does not have to be strictly historical, but try to keep things reasonable, nothing that is so out there stylistically.
     
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    • I tried a couple different coat of arms generators, but figured we might as well just use the Verley coat of arms that already exists.

    As for what we talk about, I think we should start off with Verley itself. It's a place Roland misses and wishes to return to, and the audience is likely to pick up on that. It should help to humanize him in their eyes and to reinforce the idea that he is not any sort of invader. Later, we might segue into speaking of the strange storm that deposited us so far from home.

    [X] Verley Coat of Arms
    [X] Describe the lands of Verley and their people
     
    Saying "We're alone and unable to return home or find more of our resources" doesn't sound like it'll go well, so no storm talk. Horses are known of at least, even if their domestication isn't widespread.
     
    Also, Straw Heads? Are these some Rohirrim expy? I've heard the Rohirrim called that, mostly by their enemies.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Deep drums echo in halls of stone, not the trumpets of King Henry's court, while at the door stand grim-faced men bearing long leaf-shaped spears and armor of a sort you have not seen before, a coat of sturdy dark leather worked into fantastical knotwork in the eyes of which you can see the gleam of bronze. At first you are confused as to the use for surely even the coats of scales you had taken from the Spear Islands would be a better guard against a foe, but then you see the simple fastenings that a man might pull swiftly apart at need. It is not to account for a lack of bronze that this armor was made, but a lack of time. This is an armor meant for the narrow decks of Anwa ships, to be cast off in an instant at need so that the wearer might stay afloat.
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    Spears are in interesting weapon in that context.

    I'm by no means an expert, but I think for boarding smaller weapons were more common, like hatchets, knives, cleavers, etc...

    I don't think these ships are big enough to have seperate units for guarding the captain and attacking the foe. So there might be a difference in boarding-tactics between these people and most medival pirates we know of.

    [X] Goldfish
     
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