A Faerie Affair - IC III: In the Court of the Faerie King

[tgva8889]

Orianna shakes her head at what Opal has brought. "I have no idea what that could possibly mean."

Noting Astra's verses, Orianna nods. "If you wouldn't mind, I can incorporate your ideas into my own. Perhaps we can make something greater with both our work." She admires the work Kyu and Kor have done, though she had watched them do some of the work already.

After that she seems prepared to leave.

[WindStruck]

Astra grinned. She had thought she'd come up with a humorous poem, making fun of King Soren and flattering Reena with baseless compliments.

As for the code. Hmm. There obviously was some secondary meaning to it, probably predefined in advance?

[Stan]

"Hmmm. I think Hill Giant, Storm, and Cloudsky are all code names. But for whom? Who do we know? Cloverfield, Bronzeshield, the King? The only thing enclosed was the green stone. I don't know how it's kindling, maybe knowledge of it will spread like fire? It's too hard for me to think right now? There might be some rhyming or alliterative slang going on. Maybe it'll click later. We should get going soon. Before we go, though, we should plan a bit on what to say to the Queen and who will say it. How about Orianna as our representative talker?"

[Majin]

"Hmm, it's pretty mysterious. Rhona is really careful with this letter. It was already ciphered, and now it's a riddle? Well I guess she had reason to be paranoid, we did try to find out what it means after all"

"Yeah, I think Ori's a good representative. She's good with words, and towers over a lot of folk, so she's hard to ignore!"

[WindStruck]

Astra agrees. "Ori was actually the one put in charge of this mission by Queen Lydia, after all..."

[tgva8889]

Orianna nods. "I can accept that responsibility. The question is, of course, what shall we start with?"

[Stan]

Opal is glad that she will be able to fade into the background. Then she starts pondering on the opening tactic.

"Umm, I think gifts are a good start. She might be uncertain towards strangers, especially as we'll be coming from here. When I went back to ask the King about gifts, I thought he might contribute something."

Opal pauses for a big shrug with a slightly twisted face.

"But gifts might set her more at ease. We'll have to make demands at some point, but we have to ask for the humans back. If that's an all out no, we can get the golem password or something as a compromise. But maybe we should issue a game challenge first, get her intrigued? Then ask for the kids as a sign of her acceptance. I really dunno, this is out of my domain."

[tgva8889]

Orianna nods. "I believe I can introduce us as representatives of Queen Lydia. That might help. Our gift would be a good opening to our negotiations." She things for a moment, then says "Starting with what we have to offer before we begin to try and get what we want might be good as well. We have peace to offer between them, and the opportunity for Reena to gain an advantage. That might be a good place to start."

[Majin]

"I think we should first ask if the kids want to come back here anyway. I mean, they could just left of their own free will", Kor says, and adds in a quieter voice. "Reena sounds more fun than Soren, to be honest".

[Stan]

Opal nods. "Perhaps you're right, my good dragon. We'll see soon enough. Lets get back the king."

[Ninja_Prawn]

Your preparations made, it doesn't take long to find Cloverfield, who takes you to a ritual chamber somewhere in the palace where Goldfeather is waiting.

"This is it, then," he says, taking up a stick of chalk that appears to contain powdered gemstones of several colours, "I hope you're ready."

The wizard then proceeds to draw a circle on the stone tiles in the centre of the room. "I am going to open a portal to the... other enclave: it'll only be open for a few seconds so please don't tarry. I don't know what kind of reception you'll get, but... expect 'hostile'."

Cloverfield adds: "good luck!" Moments later, the portal opens and you hustle through. Everything goes white...

...but only for a second. You are now standing/fluttering in another dimly-lit stone chamber with a magic circle, not unlike the one you just left, except the runes of this circle are made of shining gold and set permanently into the floor. Also, this room is lined with a good dozen faeries in identical black robes. The instant you arrive, they all draw wands and begin to cast!

Roll initiative!

[Majin]

Kor lets out a surprised shriek and hisses at the robed figures.

Spoiler: OOC

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initiative: (d20+3)[22]

[tgva8889]

Orianna immediately shouts "Wait, we mean no harm!" Of course, she says this while holding up her shield and flail, so she doesn't really expect much response.

Initiative: (1d20-1)[19]

[WindStruck]

Astra floats in... (1d20+2)[3]

[Stan]

Opal states loudly, without yelling, "We come with Gifts for Her Majesty Queen Reena."


initiative (1d20)[6]

[Pyon]

"Eeep!" Kyu raises her hands trying to seem the least threatening possible. (1d20+4)[8]

[Ninja_Prawn]

A white-haired woman with a silver wand barks back: "yeah, yeah, that's what they all say. Now hold still for inspection." It seems they intend to Hold you, whether you like it or not.

Spoiler: Faerie initiative

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Abby: (1d20)[12]
Andros: (1d20+7)[24]
Brent: (1d20)[4]
Cosmo: (1d20)[10]
Dai: (1d20)[11]
Daisy: (1d20+1)[15]
Emerald: (1d20)[12]
Fiona: (1d20)[20]
Jakob: (1d20+1)[2]
Merten: (1d20+2)[20]
Reena*: (1d20+2)[17]
Tamsin: (1d20+1)[14]

*Not the queen; just someone with the same name.

Initiative:
24 Andros
22 Kor
20 Fiona, Merten
19 Ori
17 Reena
15 Daisy
14 Tamsin
12 Abby, Emerald
11 Dai
10 Cosmo
8 Kyu
6 Opal
4 Brent
3 Astra
2 Jakob

A faerie with bright tattoos all over his face and hands reacts first. "Lower your weapons, strangers. This will only take a moment." He then summons up arcane energies to conjure a mass of sticky webs all around you, suspended between the floor and the ceiling. At the start of your turns, each of you will have to make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained.

Kor's turn.

[Majin]

Kor forced himself to relax. The wizard who'd sent them had warned about hostile greeting.

"Yeah, that's right!", Kor says and points to Opal. "We've got gifts, and we just wanna talk... Oh, and we also sorta represent queen Lydia, you know, from the south".

Kor looks at the assembled faeries with a critical eye. They obviously didn't trust anyone coming through this portal, but did their assurances affect them at all? Kor tries to gauge their reactions.

Spoiler: OOC

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Dex save: (d20+3)[16]

Insight: (d20+4)[8]

[Ninja_Prawn]

Kor looks at the assembled faeries with a critical eye. They obviously didn't trust anyone coming through this portal, but did their assurances affect them at all? Kor tries to gauge their reactions.

Faced with twelve perfectly blank expressions, Kor can glean very little. You don't think you'd be able to tell, even if your words had made some impression. On the positive side, he does avoid getting tangled in the webs.

The oldest-looking faerie, wearing a sharp, grey goatee, flicks his wand imperiously. His eyes begin to glow. "It's just the five of them," he says to the girl on his right, "check them against the records would you, Lilyflower?"

She flutters up to get a closer look at your faces, then studies some papers. "They're not in here, sir." He grunts.

Orianna goes next.

[tgva8889]

Orianna speaks clearly. "We come from Queen Lydia's domain, seeking an audience with Her Majesty Queen Reena to discuss the danger we have discovered on our journey here. There are a great many threats in the woods outside this domain and we humbly request to present what we have found to Her Majesty so that she may decide on a course of action with full knowledge. We also bring gifts for Her Majesty, tokens of our goodwill."

Spoiler: OOC

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Persuasion: (1d20+3)[23]
If that counts as my "one action per round" and I can't roll the save, then ignore below and assume Orianna is restrained "willingly."
Dexterity save: (1d20-1)[9]

[Ninja_Prawn]

"Her Magnificence, Queen Reena," the white-haired faerie (the one that spoke first) corrects, idly. Despite the chilly reception, Ori figures she must be making some headway. That was your very best smile (though it did cost you getting stuck in the webs)!

Another says: "indeed. And I'm afraid the Queen is very busy; I assure you she is going nowhere."

Spoiler: Rolls

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Reena Insight check: (1d20+4)[24]
Daisy Deception check: (1d20+5)[25]

A woman with a mistletoe wand asks, "in the meantime, what can we call you?" Her apprentice readies a sheet of parchment to transcribe what you say.

At the same time, one of the younger faeries casts Detect Magic and whispers something to Miss White-hair.

"I'll check their bags!" Offers a shaven-headed fellow, who promptly conjures a spectral hand and sends it over to Orianna's pack.

The tenth faerie... what was he doing again? You can't see him, but he sure is making a lot of noise.

Spoiler: Roll

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Cosmo Stealth check: (1d20)[3]

Kyu and Opal's turns.

[Stan]

(I was waiting on Kyu to go first but I'm going to go ahead and go.)

Opal is careful not to make a move towards her weapons. She's so much bigger than the fairies that she's afraid that jumping around to avoid the web could cause her tosmack into someone and appear aggressive so she lets it come. Besides, agility isn't her strong suit.

Opal doesn't seem phased by their caution or their responses. Of course the queen is busy. she is a ruler after all.

"It's regretful that her Magnificence is busy but not unexpected. I mean, what kind of ruler has big time slots open in the unlikely occurrence of diplomats teleporting in unannounced? We would be happy to wait until it is convenient, wherever is reasonable for us to wait."

Opal attempts to bow but doesn't get far with the webbing so it's mostly a head nod and the appearance of doing a crunch while standing.

"If it pleases you, you may call me Lady Stone."

[Pyon]

"You may call me Kyu." Kyu says putting on her most adorable smile and hopefully not getting too caught up in the webs. "I'm sure that her Magnificence won't be able to wait to hear what we have to say though. After all it's such an exciting matter."

Spoiler

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Dex save:
(1d20+4)[18]

[Ninja_Prawn]

More notes are scribbled down. It seems like the more you talk, the less tense the faeries get.

One of the men puts away his wand and asks in a nasal voice: "shall I...?"

"Yes, we've got this well in hand," comes the reply. He flies out through a tiny hole in the ceiling.

Astra's turn.

[WindStruck]

When the Faeries tell everyone to stay still and spray webs at everyone, Astra can't help but want to comply but is frightened nonetheless. She covers her eyes with her hands as the webs come.

Spoiler: randomness

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Will not make a dex roll, but a 1d20 all the same in case a natural 20. If that happens I guess they just miss.

(1d20)[9]

The whole situation was troubling. "Did - didn't someone tell you we were coming?? I mean, of course they did! All of you were already here waiting for us!"

[Ninja_Prawn]

Top of Round 2

The tattooed faerie's mouth splits into a wicked grin. "Ah, you pixies are so naïve. We weren't waiting for you, we just happen to believe in securing our borders." He flies forward so that his face is level with Astra's, and the webbing seems to shrink and twist away, giving him free passage but keeping Astra tightly bound. He searches her pockets...

Spoiler: Roll

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Intelligence (Investigation): (1d20+2)[19]

...and pulls out the Wand of Web you took from the monsters that were attacking Pinkleaf.

"Interesting," he sneers, tossing the wand to another faerie. "Hey, Dreampearl, what do you make of this?"

Kor goes next!

[Majin]

Kor tries to hover in place, not wanting to upset the other faeries. "Oh, and I'm Korialstrasz. You know, we're kind of heroes. We saved Kyu's village, Pinkleaf. Or the residents anyway".

One faerie skulking around catches Kor's eye. Was he up to something?

Spoiler: OOC

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Perception: (d20+6)[16]

[Ninja_Prawn]

One faerie skulking around catches Kor's eye. Was he up to something?

Yes, probably. From where you are, you are able to discern that he is hiding behind some kind of illusion. It's kind of crude, but it might have given him a momentary advantage if this encounter had turned violent (or more violent, depending on how you would define that).

Spoiler: Rolls

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Fiona History: (1d20+2)[13]
Merten Arcana: (1d20+6)[26]

"Pinkleaf... Pinkleaf... I think that's in the North..." says Miss Lilyflower.

Mr. Dreampearl strokes his beard. "Yes, it does ring a bell. Yet this wand is clearly drow-made, and everyone knows that drow incursions are coming from down Darkwatch way. Tell me strangers, where did you get this?"

Now it's Ori!

[WindStruck]

Astra's eyes go wide when they mention the wand was crafted by Drow. Like, actual Drow. It wasn't even some ettercap thing since they apparently like spiders or something.

"That - that's not mine! I mean, I guess it is now! Well, uh, you see, one of those monsters was using that wand, and it dropped it, and so then we took it from them, but come to find out it isn't really effective at all on them, so.." she stuttered and rambled before realizing she'd probably said enough.

[tgva8889]

Orianna bows her head. "Her Magnificence. I apologize wholeheartedly for my failure of decorum. You may call me Lady Blossomheart for the time being."

As Astra speaks, Orianna nods in response. "My friend speaks the truth. We have encountered drow twice on our way, and we believe we have encountered their agents as well. That wand was left behind when we defended a group of fey in Pinkleaf from a spider infestation sometime around Greengrass. I believe they took shelter in an abandoned fort some distance from the town."

Spoiler: OOC

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If necessary:
Persuasion: (1d20+3)[18]