The Long Road of the Mage King (Game Thread)

Dawn arrives early in the comfortable suite that the party rented for the night. It arrived especially early considering Martin, Althus, and Bulwark shared the western facing room and thus should not have been subjected to a bright light waking them from their slumber.

Sitting up and shielding their eyes, the trio find a 5 beings have appeared in their suite. A stunning elfin woman dressed mostly in autumn leaves sits behind the small writing desk. To her side, wielding a notepad and quill is a gnomish scribe. Viviora and Axonia stand to the woman's right, their heads hanging slightly. To the left of the scribe is a handsome devil, looking as prideful as devils are said to be.

"Althus Pelivar," says the woman-in-leaves. "You have been subpoenaed to testify on the events of your encounter with the deva Axonia last night. The charge against her is a breach of the accords. Please rise and state your full name."

Dawn arrives slowly, restfully. This is somewhat surprising, considering Dog, Gash, and Tock took the east-facing room. The thick burgundy curtains block the light well. The trio awake having had the best night of sleep they have felt in a long, long time. They pack their things and  breakfast in the dining room downstairs before they make their way to Ol' Whistle's to see if he is home. Dog has adopted his new look in advance of knocking on the door.

DM shield: 9

The retired stable-hand answers the door in a bathrobe, but clearly awake. "Ah! You're back. What did your master decide, lad? You've brought some friends, so that must be good news."

Althus sits up groggily, rubbing his eyes. He looks up, eyes opening wide as he sees that there are many more people in the room than there were the previous night. He stands, "Uh, Althus Pelivar." 

"Thank you," says the woman-in-leaves. "Last night, you encountered the deva Axonia, representative of the realm of Knowledge and negotiator for the Heavens on the Accords, about which this inquiry has commenced."

She proceeds to ask Althus several questions about the previous night.

"How did you come to find yourself in the presence of Axonia?"

"Describe the events of the entire incident."

"Please paraphrase or quote your verbal exchange with Axonia, including what  she said to you."

"And what did you do after this exchange?"

Althus starts to sweat under the barrage of questions, "Well, uh, my friend, Gash, teleported us into the Lady's room.

We appeared out of nowhere and she was, er, reasonably displeased, but we were interrupted by an assassin shooting a crossbow bolt into the room. While Lady Axonia hid, we defended ourselves and slayed the assassin.

We didn't get too much of a chance to talk, due to the, uh, shooter. She, er,-"

He pauses, licking his lips and glancing at Axonia nervously, "She berated us for suddenly appearing in her room without warning, but that's about it.

Afterwards my companions inspected the body of the assassin and we left after the city watch was alerted and were confident there would be no more damage."

The woman-in-leaves frowns. "My accounts of the incident are somewhat more...complete than that. After the...assassin...fired into the room, Axonia and her assistant fled into another room. Do you recall addressing Axonia through the door to the bedroom and her response to you?"

Althus continues sweating profusely, "Oh! Uh, well it slipped my mind because the assassin was so distracting and all," he lets out a forced laugh, "But now that you mention it... I asked the Lady if she was alright and she replied in the positive." 

"And did she also say, and I quote, 'Take care of the assassin'?"

Regardless of Althus' answer, the following question is: "And what did you do following this conversation?"

Althus thinks very hard, "Uh, yes.

I, er, I didn't really do much of anything. My companions took care of the assassin. I just kind of... stood there. He was too far away for me to get."

"Hmm..." says the lady in leaves. "So you did not act on the suggestion of the representative of the heavens."

At this, Axonia and then Viviora lift their heads, their sad expressions melting away. The smug devil, on the other hand begins to tense as if a pressure cooker about to explode.

"Your honor," says the devil in a smooth, oily voice. "Passalwyck, Axonia was clearly addressing all of the protectors."

"Is that how you took her...suggestion, Althus Pelivar?" says the woman-in-leaves. "As directed to everyone in your group?"

She turns to Martin, still sitting in his bed, and then Bulwark, standing in the corner. "And did you, Martin and Bulwark, hear this exchange initiated by Althus?"

"Well, speak up!" says Ol' Whistle, beginning to look a little nervously at the goblin and the kenku next to Dog. "D'ya want them or not?"

Althus looks wide-eyed at the lady in leaves, "Oh! Uh, well, I was the only one who went over to them. Everyone else was focused on the assassin as soon as he shot, so it probably would have only been applying to me! I was the only one who talked to Lady Axonia after the assassin revealed himself and before my companions finished him off."

Dog in his new form blinks, coming back to reality. "Yes! We will take them. Do you know a place nearby where we might find another riding or draft horse and a cart for sale? And a good place to stock up on provisions for a long journey?"

He hands over the 170 gold and awkwardly meets the new horses, ponies, and mules. He thanks Ol' Whistle and departs, and follows instructions he either got last night from the night-clerk or suggestions from Ol' Whistle to buy a cart and either a riding or draft horse, and then buys enough provisions for a week for the group. 

"No!" says the devil. "She yelled it loud enough for the others to hear as well!"

Passalwyck looks pensive as she awaits Martin and/or Bulwark's response.

"Don't know nuthin' about carts. The horse dealers I trust are Dalsus and Gindri. Dalsus is inside the walls on the north side of town. Gindri is northwest of town, a bit farther than Dalsus' place. Pleasure doin' business with ya' Take good care o' them." 

At Dalsus place, where the barkeep at the Bounty also referred the party, Dog, Gash, and Tock find their pick of riding horses, draft horses, ponies, and even one warhorse. When asked about carts, carriages, or wagons, Dalsus says (Roll(DC 14): 8, 18, 13; He is charging 110% of the prices listed in the guide: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/equipment#MountsandVehicles), "Sorry, not my trade. Fergus the Wagoner is your man, though."

(Fergus is also selling carts, wagons, and carriages for 110% of the listed price.)

“I don’t remember what was said, exactly. We were tracking the assassin when we came upon a hit list that included Viviora. We found her and when we saw the assassin, killed him. I killed him.”

"Of your own volition?" Passalwyck says to Martin and Bulwark. "Did you engage with him before Axonia's conversation with Althus?"

Martin gives a flat look. “Does it matter? We were already after him.“