Re: Theranin
It seemed that their work in Hartstower Square was done for the time being so each person set about their own business, now free to roam the city where they would please though the general consensus was that they would meet up at the ceremony later that night. Gren might not have received the memo had Delana, Erasmus being dragged along to the inn, not mentioned it in passing as they overtook the half-ogre. Seeing the two head into the Salty Seawife, Gren pauses in the street, debating whether or not he wanted to deal with what was likely going to be happening in the room adjacent to his. Deciding against the probable "distraction," he decides to make his way back to Dale where the two do some research with the severed arm while the rune still exists as it seems to be fading quickly. After it vanishes a couple hours later and a dozen comparisons, translations, and references to various spellbooks, dialects, and meat pie recipes later, as well as reexamining the ceremonial robes and map they retrieved from Arudal, their combined intellect is able to divine three things; the rune itself is not a summoning glyph unto itself, there is a rune in the Dwarven language that resembles it who's meaning translates roughly to "deep earth," and as far as they, and Kassadria as well for that matter, were able to find, the rune does not seem to be demonic in origin. In addition, while studying the map, thanks to the curiosity of a Dwarf who had been the one to mention the resemblance of the rune to the Dwarven language, they were able to learn that the rune on the map marked Azul Irkul is a Dwarven city that had once been a volcano long ago before it went dormant. Now it was a thriving center for craftsmanship, mining operations, and weapon training.
As the rest of the day wore on, Lorelei helped tend to the wounded with the priestesses and Ikani, the latter complaining that Delana was missing and her tone suggesting she knew exactly where she was about now, Strange found his perch on the building once again and spent what the gargoyle saw as an acceptable amount of time examining every inch of his new trophy in every angle of the sunlight as the day passed, and Kassadria wandered from place to place, helping Dale and Gren, offering to move the wounded to which the priestesses offered her uneasy smiles and assured her that they could handle it with Lorelei, and even joining Strange on the rooftop though he largely ignored her over his ring. It seemed the brief camaraderie shown to the tiefling during combat wasn't something she should be getting used to as of yet. It's not like it should bother her though; she had been treated like this her entire life, why should this time be any different, right?
As the sun begins to enter the final minutes of its cycle, streetlights are illuminated automatically by the magic that sustains them and a crowd begins to gather, understandably a little hesitantly at first but as more and more enter the square, misgivings seem to fade enough for people to open up and begin talking with their neighbors. The entire group save Erasmus and Delana present, Ikani takes to the balcony, with the group waiting in the wings, and begins her blessing of the city. The ceremony is filled with flowery but passionate and strong language and you can almost feel the words setting a protective film over the city as they are spoken. During the blessing, Erasmus and Delana, hand-in-hand, arrive panting and only slightly disheveled from their run over from The Salty Seawife and during their apology to the others, the blessing finishes and Ikani calls for the "heroes responsible for the freedom of the people" to come forward and receive thanks. Introducing each as they come out, every member, even the somewhat putout Kassadria is greeted with roaring applause, cheers, and whistles for their deeds. As the last of them come to stand at the balcony, Ikani quickly goes through the trials and tribulations the group went through in order to serve Theranin and her people to much more applause and voiced astonishment.
At the end of the honoring, Degrin comes forward from the back room and says a few words of his own, the mantle of office conspicuously draped around his shoulders. It seems His Eminence deigned to grant him the seat on the council for his "service" and it seems that nobody in the crowd is displeased with the appointment. "Friends! Without you I am sure I would not be here today," he begins, echoing his words from earlier in the day, mostly for pomp and circumstance no doubt, "It is my great pleasure to award you with commendation for your valiant acts and initiative to prove yourselves to the city!" Motioning to the back room, six guardsmen, three of them rather familiar to the group, walk out onto the balcony, shock plain on their faces, each carrying a thin wooden case with a glass top. Inside, resting on top of a plush pillow, is a folded cloak, blue like the colors of the city with two gray stripes down the middle and the gold embroidered raven-in-flight, the symbol of the city, set in the middle. "These are tokens so that all who meet you will know that you have done a great service for Theranin and her people and that all who meet you will know that men and women of moral fiber stand in front of them!" The crowd erupts into cheering and a chant of 'Heroes of the Bay' goes up to their honor.
From there, the ceremony ends and the celebrating begins. It isn't until the sun is high in the sky the next day that any member of the group finds their eyes cracking open as if they had slept as long as one of Strange's rook-mates. The next few days see vistors and well-wishers aplenty seeing themselves to The Salty Seawife, buying the heroes drinks, meals, and begging to hear the story of their exploits just once more. By the end of the week, the hype seems to have settled down and though the stream of visitors had stopped, there was still no end to the people in the streets tipping their hats in passing or saluting any time one of them passed by.
It was a Sunday morning when Degrin's messenger finally brought news to them of Vyncent and Arudal's ultimate fate; both were to be hung by the neck until dead on the following day. Unfortunately, it seemed whatever method Vyncent had used to begin his summoning in the fight the week before was still lost to him as the man refused to break, even under the most ruthless tactics. Arudal, however, was a different matter. While he still hung stringently to his story about fearing his masters more than whatever the city could do to him, they were able to gleam that it was, in fact, himself who had been the mastermind behind the events of the previous week, and was him installing Vyncent as a politician to further his and his master's own ends though any leads to who his master could be were met with silence and an impenetrable defense. The messenger also brought news of the dismantling of the thieves guild and the cleansing of the sewers of the goblin tribe and the traps laid there within.
It was Toilday morning, the day after Vyncent and Arudal's hangings, that the group now found themselves waking to the first light of the sun. Each makes their own way down to the common room of The Salty Seawife, with the exception of Erasmus and Delana who had taken to sharing a room, as had seemingly become their morning tradition since The Holy Day of the Inheritor. Mistress Urna brings out breakfast to the group and after the meal of pork sausages, oatmeal and honey, fresh eggs, and freshly squeezed orange juice, everyone seems ready for something to happen, they're just not sure what...
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:55, Tue 20 Nov 2012.