Adventures in Esyldien - Campaign Thread

The quartermaster takes the letter off Sora's hands and reads it over, his face wearing an odd look that seems to be a mix of annoyance and curiosity. Indeed he seems to take his time reading over the contents of the letter, as if scrutinizing it for its authenticity before folding it back up and tucking it into his robes. "I see, well we are certainly most grateful for your assistance to the citizens of this country. However I will need to ensure this request moves through proper channels. Rest assured I will see to it this matter is taken care of, though it may take some time to gather the reward amount from our treasury. Your patience would be greatly appreciated in this matter, if you don't mind remaining in town until this matter is sorted."

"You would have these heroes wait for their earned rewards? Really now, the Queen's servants certainly live up to the rumors of their ineptitude." a boisterous voice calls out loudly from down the road. Looking at the source of the voice you see a tall middle-aged man with bright brown hair and a skillful smile honed from decades of charming people. He wore an expertly tailored long coat with fine leather boots and gloves, with one of his gloved hands holding an intricately carved cane - which some of you recognize is likely hiding a rapier sword inside of it. Indeed his entire attire, which clearly functional was all made from extremely high quality, and more importantly extremely expensive, materials. Everything about him simply screams nobility, for better or worse. 

"Duke Hakon, while I appreciate your slanderous critique for what it is, this is a business matter of the Royal Court and outside the purview of a noble like yourself." The quartermaster spoke roughly to the man, clearly not enjoying this noble's company. The sense of friction between these two is immediately noticeable, and you can see the Royal guards reacting with apprehension as this Duke Hakon approaches the group.

"Ha! You take your job far too seriously old man. I merely seek to speed things along to everyone's benefit. Allow me to take care of this simple matter with my own funds then." He maintains his charming smile as he walks forward, then pulls out a burgundy embroidered coin purse and tosses it forward, causing it to land at Moira's feet. The hard clinking of coins can be heard as the bag lands, as if broadcasting its contents moments before the Duke does so himself. "A hundred gold coins for your party of heroes to disperse as you all see fit. A fitting reward I would say. But should you be interested in more, fret not. You can also consider this a down payment of sorts. This kingdom has need of capable heroes such as yourselves and I would put your skills to good use in exchange for far more adequate pay then what the Queen can offer you." His smile spreads into a full blown grin as he adds, "If I have sufficiently piqued your interest then I invite you to my estate this evening to discuss the details of my offer. You'll find it easily enough, simply look for the largest mansion in town."

With his goals accomplished the duke gives everyone a low, flourishing bow before walking off. The quartermaster for his part merely glares angrily back at the noble but doesn't say another word. Instead he would simply excuse himself once there were no more matters to attend to, and refocuses on his own work instead. Which means heading back to the castle once more, with his royal guards in tow.

Nemeia looks to the others with amusement at the Duke's antics. "Well that was something," she says with a smile. "He definitely seems friendlier than the quartermaster," she says in a tone careful not to bad mouth members of the royal court to loudly. 

Moira

A little taken a back at the display Moira quickly comes to her senses. Snatching up the purse and speaking to the quartermaster's back "We are most happy to wait for the Queen's blessing on the payment owed us. Is there an inn that you could suggest that would be convenient for the palace to locate us at?"

Bonus Notes:

Witt - As near as you can tell the entirety of the payment is indeed there in the chest. In fact Gerald would make a comment later on that it might have been a bit rude counting the gold in front of the man. They've dealt with him in the past and he's always treated the group fairly, always making sure to pay as per the agreed upon terms. Granted the man is also still a huge prick to deal with sometimes so it's not as if Gerald would mind either way.

Moira - If you pick up and open the pouch you will find 100 gold pieces in there, just as the duke claimed. Although interestingly to your trained eye you will also realize the coin-purse itself is extraordinarily well made. Very fine velvet and leather with customized fine stitched embroidery, you imagine the bag itself is probably worth a few extra gold coins just on its own. Just the sort of thing that a noble would have, and it says something about this noble that he so casually tossed it away like that.

For everyone with a passive investigation of 12 or higher: You will easily recall that just like the rest of Tyrandel, Nobility and Royalty are two very different things here. Here's a quick primer of the common knowledge between the two:

A Noble is simply anyone who owns enough land that they will have subjects living there whom they can collect taxes from. Thus anyone can become a noble simply by becoming wealthy enough to buy a large enough amount of land. Nobles are expected to take care of the people who live on their lands, and generally manage the basic day to day requirements of being a land owner, including everything from managing their census to simple infrastructure maintenance. There are very rare cases for one to be a noble without owning any land, from an exiled noble house to an honorary title given to a very wealthy merchant. 

A Royal, on the other hand, is someone who is entrusted with a position of leadership in the kingdom. While nobles have some pull in the affairs of the kingdom where their land is, they are not the true rulers within any kingdom. Only Royalty is able to rule, and only a royal can be in line for the throne of any kingdom in Tyrandel. Owning land is not a requirement of Royalty as a royal title is granted, either by birth or deed. However it is not uncommon for Royals to buy land for various means and reasons so there is often quite a bit of overlap between Royalty and Nobility. Anyone can become a royal if the king or queen bestows a title on them, though this can vary widely between different kingdoms.

In theory this division is done so as to keep greedy people away from positions  of power. Obviously in practice this isn't always the case. Regardless there is a hard line between the two, and it's not uncommon for this to create some animosity between one or the other.

Moira

Waiting for the quartermaster's answer Moira dusts the dirt off the fine velvet of the purse.

Still annoyed by the interaction with the so called Duke, the quartermaster begrudgingly turns back to Moira as he responds, "Very well. I assume you'll be taking a rest at your usual reservation in The Oxen Cart Tavern. Though if you are not staying with the rest of the caravan then I would say The Sturdy Unicorn Inn is a far more comfortable option and would make matters simpler should I need to find you."

Moira

"That sounds wonderful. I think you will be able to find us there. I don't know that I speak for all of my group but I for one have a hard time trusting folks that don't know that worth of quality work when they have it."

I heft the purse trying to indicate I am not talking about the coin with in.

 Sora watched the strange duke mouthing off as he literally tossed his wealth around. She was almost instantly getting weird vibes off the guy and made sure to observe the exchange carefully. After he left he looked over at Moira as she added to the conversation. "You make a good point. Either way I'm kinda curious about what his deal is. But if we're making plans I for one would love to check out this Sturdy Unicorn, it sounds like a fascinating place."

9‘s gaze intensity didn’t change as another man approached them. This one seemed too flamboyant and confident, where the other was too... blank and strict. She reconsidered the political situation in her head, now understanding that some nobles might have more power in the state than the state itself. Nobles. Half of the buyers were nobles. This one was even less trustworthy. 

“You wouldn’t miss out on a bar fight, would you?”, she rhetorically asks Sora, with a half smile on her face. 

9 tries to remember anything about political history of this place, and how it may relate to recent rumors.

History(?): 4 + 3

She also tries to see if there is any particularly eye catching symbols on the Duke, Perception: 13 + 3

Moira

“I’m sure we can find a tavern to fight in also but i for one would like a comfy bed to sleep in. Let’s see if we can find the Sturdy Unicorn.”  Moira heads out asking directions from folks in the streets as she goes.

Nemeia nods and says, "A nice bed would be quite welcome and the Sturdy Unicorn sounds lovely!" Her tail gives a soft sway at the thought of unicorns boarding at the inn. "An extra day in town can't hurt, right?"

Witt sighs and shakes his head sadly at the strange politics of these strange folk.  He looks over to Gerald;  I should stay with you and the caravan, I suppose.  Although... I'm not sure what to do.  If there is work to be done here, I would like to stay for a while with the others.  Are you heading back home tomorrow?  Perhaps I could pay for a guard to replace me, out of my share of the reward?

 Sora gives 9 a quick laugh in response to her comment, "Don't worry about me, I can find a bar fight anywhere." With just a smile she takes off walking to find this Sturdy Unicorn along with the others.

Seeing others leave, 9 hangs around and waits for Witt, not wanting to leave him alone in this seemingly treacherous city. 

Together the group begins to make their way through the streets of town on the way to The Sturdy Unicorn Inn. It proves to be a fairly simple matter to find as just about anyone you speak to is able to direct you to the location. Upon arriving you immediately notice a surprisingly well made fascade that stands out from other buildings around it yet remains tasteful and welcoming. The sign above the door is large displaying the full name of the inn along side a hand painted white unicorn with subtle pink highlighting. It is a unique style but a very well thought out one. 

Once you step inside you find a very comfortable feeling room with well appointed and maintain furnishings. This is clearly not a cheap inn by any measure, but it doesn't feel overly garish or expensive either. More like a well furnished home then an inn. The style of decorations are a clearly a bit on the extravagant side but tempered to prevent them from being off-putting to any guests.

"Hello darlings! Welcome to my inn, I hope to provide you all with a beautiful place to rest." The well projected words came from a man walking up to the group from the other end of the room. He was a tall human looking man with a flamboyant look that matched his decorating style. He worse purple skin tight leathers with matching thigh high boots. The upper half of the outfit had a deep v cut neck line that showed off his toned dark skin, lined with pearly white fur that contrasted perfectly with both his skin and the leather's color. He wore his blond and pink colored hair super long, it was hard to tell if he was wearing a wig or not despite seeming impossible that this would be his natural hair. He currently wore a bright smile on his face that was framed by a thinly trimmed pencil lined beard. 

"My my, I don't think I've seen the likes of you before. Is this your first time in this fine establishment?" He said as he stood by the group looking over everyone with unapologetic interest.

Nemeia loses herself looking over the decor wonder how she could incorporate similar elements into her own work. This town was turning out to be perfect for her in just about every way minus the issues with its leaders...

"Hiya. It's my first time in the city, let alone your fine paradise here. My name is Nemeia and this is Cali." She handles the introduction for herself and lets her companions handle theirs. She attempts to handle herself with similar poise as this stranger in the hopes that perhaps she may return to stay here again if the future allowed. 

Moira

"It looks lovely so far. I'm Moira and this..." Moira pokes at the red ball of fur wrapped around her neck where Rusty had decided to rest. "is Rusty." 

Witt follows with 9.  Thanks for waiting.  I never feel completely comfortable in cities, you know.  I don't remember seeing anything bigger than a village until I was 18.  It looks... okay, though.  Witt is darting around, trying to get a look down alleyways and avoid passers by.  We should try to catch up with the others, right?  They went... Oh, I think I see them.  He races over in hot pursuit, and (hopefully) he and 9 enter the tavern shortly after everyone else.