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Orianna listens to his words, glad to find someone who might tell them about what must have been obvious. "No one has seemed trustworthy before, or at least straight, so perhaps you could assist me in understanding. What is going on with this war? Who is fighting and why? It seems there are many dangers here, but I did not expect true war."
Oh, so Mistychime was married... Well, Kor wasn't really interested in their personal affairs, so he would keep silent about it for now. They could use it for bargaining later, but it felt wrong to start blackmailing their host on the second day.
"Yeah, only thing I've heard is Reena pulling a few pranks. It doesn't sound like a reason for war".
Spoiler: AstraYou concentrate on your mental image of the key, and soon feel a tug in your mind. It's nearby! You go along a hallway... up some stairs... take a right... up again... past a few doorways... here! It's in this room.
"...here?" Jasper asks. "In this room? But this is Hector Poppyseed's room. He has no business with the key to the tunnels..." The door is closed, but it doesn't look like it's locked...
Spoiler: KyuYou wait until no one is watching and slip into the passageway. It is kind of dim, but you can see alright with the help of your Dancing Lights. After a few minutes of twists and turns, you come to a fork: you can carry on ahead, or turn upwards through a vertical shaft. It looks like someone has scratched a sign into the wall. Apparently upwards leads to 'secret rooms' and straight ahead leads to 'hidden treasure'.
Spoiler: Kor & OriHe thinks for a moment. "It's... well when I say 'war', I don't mean there's fighting all the time. Tensions rise and fall, and actual bloodshed is infrequent. Soren and Reena, they fight by proxies a lot. They undermine each other, interfere with trade and industry... most of the time my soldiers just sit around looking fierce."
There is a pause, and he takes a drink, but then continues. "That's why everyone's so tense right now. Something's different... I don't know exactly what it is, myself, but it feels like something is going to happen. I was hoping we'd get through this year without a flare-up, but..." He sighs. "As to why they fight... it goes back a long way. I heard that, once upon a time they were friends, but that must have been centuries ago. Something big must have turned them against each other, I reckon."
Spoiler: OpalCloverfield makes you a lunchtime appointment with the King.
Save for a few tight-lipped servants, you are left alone with him for the time being. He is genial, easily making small talk despite any discomfort you may have - you sense that he may be deliberately trying to put you at ease. "I hope the food is to your liking," he continues. "As cosmopolitan as my Court is, we still don't see too many oreads around here. Dryads, yes, plenty of pixies, but one gets tired of... plant-based cuisine."
You feel like enough small talk has passed now that it wouldn't be rude to bring up more serious topics.
She almost yelps in excitement when she reads the signs on the wall. This is way more than she had planned for today. Secret Rooms sounds like fun, and just the type of place where Kyu could find something to help, but there was a lot of excitement in treasure. "Eenie, meenie, minie... moe!" She pointed her finger between the two passageways until it landed on hidden treasure. With her mind set, she flew onward to adventure.
Astra says, objectively as she can, still trying to maintain her concentration, "I have no idea who that is, but the spell is telling me it's in this direction... Well, theoretically it's a straight line to the object. It could be 'through' the room, on the other side of the wall... let me see something."
Astra tries straffing to the side a bit to see just how much the direction changes. If it hardly moves much, it would probably be beyond the actual room. If it moved a lot, it was likely in there.
"Well in any case, is it also possible that there's yet another key fitting this description? Since I haven't actually seen it, the magic will only find the closest one that resembles what you said, not necessarily the one you had in mind..."
Opal tries to force herself to relax. She is partially successful.
She smiles and nods at the mention of the food. "Oh yes, it's quite wonderful. Especially so after eating mostly rations for weeks." Opal pauses to take a sip of wine. She's not used to strong wine and is trying not to drink too much, though it's probably vast quantities by tiny fairy standards. Well, here goes nothing, she thinks. "Uh, Your Highness, I'm still a bit confused. Would you mind explaining the source of the conflict between you and Queen Reena?"
Orianna stews on Daved's information for a moment, then asks, "Could the tension be related to what we encountered on our way here?" She pauses to turn to Kor, then continues, keeping her voice as low as possible. "We've encountered many dangers in the woods around here the past few days. We were attacked by creatures who were brought by Drow warriors, we encountered some kind of controlled sea creature which attacked us, and not a few days past we found a druid circle suffering under some kind of blight. And then the town we had stopped in before we came here was attacked by spiders. I fear something very sinister is afoot here."
Spoiler: Astra"There's only one copy that I know of. Hmm, I'll need a warrant to search in here. Give me a minute." He fishes a hat out of his bag and puts it on before writing out a search warrant. He then takes the hat off and opens the door. No one is in.
"Maybe it's in these drawers... yes, found it!" He brandishes the key two-handed, then frowns. "Still, I wonder how it got here... we'll have to look into that later. For now, we need to go down and reopen the mines."
It's a good 20 minute flight down to the huge stone doorway that marks the entrance to the copper mines, which are located directly below the Palace. Jasper unlocks it with the key and takes a torch into the darkness. A short way in, you encounter a hoist - or at least, a landing for one. "Well that's a good start. It... looks like the rope has snapped and dropped the hoist car to the bottom of the shaft. I don't suppose you have any tricks that could save me having to find an engineer...?"
Spoiler: Kor & Ori"Yes, that sounds like exactly the kind of thing that would heighten tensions. A town nearby was attacked by spiders? I wonder why I hadn't heard about that... the King normally sends us out to deal with that sort of thing." He lowers his voice. "Were the people alright? Did anyone get hurt?"
Spoiler: KyuThe passageway ends with a locked, rusty grate. You can see a small chamber beyond, which appears to be lined with old and dusty chests. There is also a strong mixture of smells coming from the chamber: too many for you to easily pick out what any of them are.
Spoiler: Opal"The source, hm? That's hard to say, it being so long ago. I'm not sure I even remember myself. Let's see... I recall her burning down my old palace, but... that was because I executed her envoys. Why did I do that? Did she... send someone to break into my vault? If only I still had my old diaries, but they disappeared a long time ago."
"As a matter of fact..." Astra says, beckoning Jasper to follow her down with the light. When they reach the hoist at the bottom, she uses the Levitate spell to begin slowly raising the hoist. Once they get to the top, however, they both have to struggle a bit using their own small bodies to try to shove it horrizontally, but they manage to set it above the landing before Astra lowers it safely down.
"Whew.. Well, I guess you still need some engineers to fix your rope and hook it up, but at least that'll be far more convenient..."
"Well, we got a lot of people out safe, but... There were so many spiders..."
Kor shakes his head. "But why would the king want to keep it a secret? Maybe he just didn't know about the spider attacks, maybe the village couldn't send messengers..."
"Hmmm. If you like, I could try to find your diaries, if you like. My friends could help, too. In the mean time, how about challenging Reena's court to a big contest to finally settle things once and for all. But something that doesn't kill most of your court like a full war. It would also give your nobles, officials, and unions something to do other than bicker at each other and plot conspiracies."
Frowning at the locked gate, Kyu makes a mental note of the strange smells and place. "I'll return here some time with a way to get in..." She smiles mischievously. Now she was more curious than ever to find out what was inside. Kyu backtracks and will explore the path that leads to the "secret rooms".
Spoiler: OpalThe King thinks on your proposal and allows that it is "very interesting; certainly preserving the strength of my Court is a wise idea... but I don't see how it could work. Right now, I just can't trust those southern dogs: they'd surely use a contest as cover for an attack on us."
You can almost see the cogs turning in his head. "Well, perhaps we could work something out, if they'd make a gesture of good faith. Say by giving back the humans they stole from me the year before last. If she keeps them much longer, they won't be children anymore!"
Spoiler: KyuThe other branch leads you out into a larger corridor - no longer part of the hidden way, but still very dim and quiet. A deep maroon carpet seems to suck the life out of the space, and all the doors are made from dark wood with tarnished copper numbers on them. The door closest to you is labelled 'Secret Room 2X'. You can hear whispering voices within...
Spoiler: Kor & Ori"Maybe so," he agrees, "maybe so. It is true that we haven't been sending out so many scouts lately. It feels like every year that goes by, the Court gets more and more inward-looking, you know?"
He shakes his head. "Spiders are dangerous foes. You can't get too close, or they'll pull you out of the sky with their webs. I hope the ones you encountered are not headed here..."
Spoiler: Astra"Eh, the miners can probably fit a new rope on their own. Mended ropes are never much good," Jasper shrugs. "But that was a good job! I think we can get this place up and running today, now. There's just one last thing I need some help with."
He leads you back up to the guilds' hall, to a small office. "The last thing is to decide what we should do with the copper. The smiths have been asking for material for a while, both for the King's army as well as various noble houses. I'm inclined to sit on it for a while, wait until they're really desperate but... if there really is a war coming, I can't be responsible for our soldiers not having decent equipment. Or, of course, we could make it into brass and trick some humans into thinking it's gold. We might be able to hire some mercenaries or buy some gnomish super-weapons or something. What do you think?"
Astra gives her input and says, "Well first of all, I don't think anything good can come from lying, to other fey or humans, gnomes, or otherwise. Suppose the gnomes decide to retaliate with those super-weapons, hmm? Or if we might desperately need their help later, but they still remember the time you cheated them before..."
"Still, I think you are better off supplying weapons for our army. I do believe war is coming, but not with Reena! There are drow attacking the kingdom, and they have terrible beasts and legions of spiders at their command!" she says, reiterating the obvious point (well obvious to her) that they were in real danger.
"How about this? Send adequate copper to the smiths for weapons and armor. And instead of indulging the nobles, you think some other copper might be useful for trading with gnomes and humans honestly? Raw copper or brass pieces are probably of little value, but if we could do make something unique and special out of it...."
"Or heck, sell it to the nobles, then you should have the wealth you need to trade honestly. There's a lot of ways to go about it!"
Looking around Kyu floats closer to the door ear forward trying to listen to what is being said.
Spoiler
Perception: [roll0]
Kor shudders at the memory. "Yeah, getting stuck in a web is not fun, I can tell... Someone should probably go scout the areas. Oh, and there were some kind of... Spider men controlling the spiders. Well some sort of humanoid spiders anyway".
"So what about Hefeydd? Is he going to meddle in this? He seemed like he might like meddling".
Opal brings her hand to her chin as she pauses to consider. She spends more time than she really needs to decide so as not to appear too eager.She pops in a canape and chews while thinking. After a suitably dramatic pause she responds.
"If it pleases Your Highness, my friends and I could serve as envoys and speak to Reena on your behalf. We are a delegation from Queen Lydia and have the papers to prove it, though I'd guess that Reena would still suspect us as we came here first. But that can't be helped, anyone from your court would be even less trusted. And I think a friend of mine has someone who could provide us with neutral judges respected by both parties. If you agree, we might be able to leave tomorrow."
Orianna is somber. Then she turns to Kor, a thought having occurred to her. "I remember there being some sort of fae officials there. Do you recall anything like that, Kor? It seems odd that the King wouldn't know if his soldiers were there. Or perhaps more odd if they weren't one of his." She nods in agreement with Kor's description of the spider men, though she only adds "They chased us from the town, but we lost them escaping. I think many of the people are all right. They're in a fortress not too far from here, though I'm not sure how safe they'll remain with all that's outside."
She nods at Kor's comment. "I think he would, if it weren't considered such an affront to meddle in mortal affairs. At least, that's what I can recall from what he's told me." Looking darkly at Daved, she sighs. "The Court's insular nature may be a problem given all that's occurring. We did not find a clear source, but it seemed the Drow were organizing forces for some reason. Unless Reena has allegiances with the dark elves, I suspect their activities will be bad for both courts."
Spoiler: Astra"Adequate copper for the smiths will be all we can produce, at least until the backlog is cleared," he says, "but it makes sense to prioritise them. I'll speak to the other members of the Special Department to make sure, but I suspect they will agree with you."
He takes some notes and sorts some papers, then says "Well, time is getting on. Is there anything you'd like to bring up while we're here?"
Spoiler: Opal"That would seem most prudent. Yes, you shall have my blessing as envoys. I will set aside some time tomorrow morning to brief you and send you off, so please tell your companions to be here."
Spoiler: KyuIt's kind of muffled, but you think you hear the name Applehoney mentioned - the family that Ori and Kor are currently staying with.
Then, you feel a tap on your shoulder. "Excuse me miss, but do you have leave to be here? Your behaviour seems... suspicious."
Spoiler: Kori"Yes, I do believe Hefeydd is already doing all he can get away with. With that in mind, I'll have to trust you on the spiders and drow. You have been out there in person, after all.
The question, then, is what do we do about it?"
"I uhm..." Kyu poked her fingers together as she looked for an excuse. "Actually, yes. Yes I do." She puffed out her chest to make herself seem important. "Do you understand the permissions I've been awarded? I'm sorry for acting suspicious but I am allowed to be here by his Highness' orders."
Spoiler: Kyu"And you have... proof of this?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.
Opal continues with small talk and answers whatever questions the king as. Once it's over, she thanks the king and bids good bye, saying that she doesn't want to take up any more of his time. She also mentions that she'll be sure to attend court this afternoon.
[ooc: if you there are specific questions that you want Opal to answer, fire them off. Otherwise Opal describes their trip iff the king shows interest and describes her former life if asked.]
Once out Opal returns to her room. She rests until court and and thinks how to contact her friends if they don't show up to court.
[ooc: Opal has already done 2 things; the court will be her 3rd. Her storyline can be put on hold until the others are at the same point, unless you have something else in mind.]
"Yes here it..." Kyu goes through her dresses as if searching her pockets. She gasps and puts more and more drama into it making a show of searching for something. "I think I lost it... Gosh I'm going to get into so much trouble..."
Astra ponders a bit and says, "Well I suppose not..."
She thought to ask about the whole business with warrants and how Jasper simply made one up himself, but then again, seemed to be more courtly nonsense. They were probably in the right entering to find the key anyway.
Instead she says, "Are these copper mines your only concerns? What about, say, producing spider anti-venoms? Or perhaps I could learn or share some new magic spells with others? I'm all ears."
"Oh right, there a lot of folk in the court. Yeah, you'd think he'd know about stuff. Unless he doesn't want to", Kor says to Orianna.
"I guess we could talk to all the people in the court and convince them what the real danger is. And maybe we could go catch a drow and bring it to the court. There are plenty in the wilds. And they're not all very smart"
Orianna nods to Kor's suggestion, then turns to Daved. "Are there any in the court who may be more level-headed at our news? We would not want to raise alarm unless we're sure something useful would be done in response." After a moment's thought, she adds, "And do you know who may have sent soldiers out to Pinkleaf, sometime around Greengrass?"
Spoiler: AstraJasper answers "well, anti-venom is a bit of a grey area. It's between the Arcane Chirurgeons' Association and the Alchemists' Guild -" you notice his eyes narrow as he names the latter - "but there are some ongoing disputes there so production is on hold at the moment. The Learnèd Institute of Mages would be the place to share spells... but they are notoriously jealous of their secrets. To them, 'sharing' really means you giving things to them, not the other way around."
Your business with the Special Department concluded for now, you have time to grab a quick lunch before deciding what to do next. You may take a short rest if you wish, but you do not have to.
Spoiler: KyuPlease make a Charisma (Performance) check.
Spoiler: OOCI'm calling this performance rather than deception because I get the impression that both you and the guardswoman know what's going on here, but perhaps if your acting is good enough she might take pity on you anyway. Kyu's got that sweet, moe personality that enables her to get away with this sort of thing.
Spoiler: OpalBeing as you are in the Royal Palace already, there isn't much risk that you'll be late for the holding of court. You take your time resting, but don't hear anything from the others before court.
Spoiler: OOCThe others are probably one post away from going to court. Astra is ready now, but I don't know what her plans are for the afternoon.
Spoiler: Ori-Kor"Hmm... there aren't any other standing armies in this region. Pinkleaf is a pixie village, so they don't have much in the way of militia... I doubt Reena would send anyone there... the only thing I can think is that they hired some mercenaries. It's possible, if things are as bad as you say.
I don't think there is anyone at the court who could be described as 'level-headed'. Let's see. The people from the Merchant's Council are quite pragmatic, but they're far from trustworthy. My commander, Grand Marshall Bronzeshield, is a good person, but she has fallen out with the King and doesn't attend court any more. You could talk to the King's secretary, Cloverfield... personally I find her annoying but she knows everyone and has all kinds of access. I doubt she'd dismiss such alarming news out of hand."
"Well, our friends have probably already been talking to the merchants and Cloverfield... Probably. It's not like we had much of a plan".
"But hey, Bronzeshield sounds like she's a big shot in the army. We should probably talk to her in any case. What did she do to get on the king's bad side anyway? Maybe we could talk her up. It seems like we're a big deal here".
Orianna nods to Daved's comments and then to Kor's suggestions. "I agree about Bronzeshield. At the very least, maybe she'll know how to protect the people of Pinkleaf, and it might help to have more official help in bringing a drow before the king. Maybe we should try to meet with our friends and discuss our plans? I have the feeling we're not going to get too far all asking the same people the same questions."
She adds to Daved, "Thank you for meeting with us. It has been truly helpful. Frankly I feel I would not have gotten much of a straight answer from anyone in the court. One would think I'd be used to the way of fae by now, but I spent far too much time in human lands. Was there anything I might be able to do to return the favor? And perhaps any way we might be able to discreetly bring word to you, in case we need to meet again or we find out something of your interest?"
Spoiler: AstraAfter your meeting with Jasper, you head off to find some food. It turns out that all sorts of fruits are plentiful here, apparently regardless of season. You pick up a sweet raspberry and meet a few people from different guilds. Mostly they like to talk about all the feuds and rivalries that go back and forth between different groups - it's difficult for anyone to keep track of them all, and you do have to wonder how anything gets done around here. Maybe that's why Jasper seems so exasperated all the time...?
Anyway. In the afternoon, you head over to the Alchemists' Guild. Your application here was accepted without issue and thus you are welcome to use their equipment. There are individual workspaces will all sorts of arcane apparatus, far more than you're used to carrying around with you, and the store room is well-stocked with materials and reagents. The head of the guild is an old woman wearing many layers of robes and cloaks: she has a taciturn bearing and says only "healing potions are in demand right now, I'll pay double credit for any you make."
Spoiler: Kor & Ori"Oh, it's no problem. I figure I'm duty-bound to help the Prince's Knight anyway." Daved finishes his drink and then says "well, the Grand Marshall usually stays in the barracks while the King is holding Court. Did you want to go there now?"
Spoiler: Kyu & OpalSpoiler: KyuYou see the guardswoman's face soften as she decides to let it slide. She escorts you back to the main hall, where you happen to run into Opal...
The two of you meet up in the palace as dozens of faeries gather in anticipation of the King's appearance. They cluster together in small groups, talking, whispering, arguing, making it seem that a lot of business is being conducted here. A noble faerie (you can tell by his accent) dressed in a ratty patchwork of leather and fur approaches you and asks: "you are two of those newcomers, are you not? I understand you have the King's ear... I would be most grateful if you could assist me with getting him to consider some of my proposals..."