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Legends of the Heroes / Re: Army of PCs Against the Giants
« on: September 25, 2022, 12:52:22 AM »
Team Dwarf, Day 183
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To recap: Team Dwarf, which is only 50% dwarf, but it at least more dwarf than Team Elf is elf, completed their reconnaissance of the town of Hornwood, and discovered that there are a bunch of cyclops living there herding sheep, and that an unknown number of humans live there as well…and at least two of them can change into giant rats. WERE-RATS!?!? Who knows?
They were irked that you left, but you kicked a hornets nest and then ran away so that you can speak in front of the Alzak Fortress Low King’s Privy Council (who kind of rule the place cause of the lack of the king), and tell them that yes, indeed, no one is lying, the low-landers need help, and they should set aside their differences and help the lowlanders. Or not. Whatever you want to say.
Day 183, the Morning!
While the rest of you staying in the local inn next to the gate that all adventurers stay in, Erihild went off to stay at her parents’ house. Tex and Caboose ran into each other, and Tex told Salach about her interest in necromancy, and Beldren talked to Kochevnik, and you all did some shopping at the “Just Killed a bunch of Frost Giants” General Store. That group plans to teleport back to the frost giant’s Glacial Rift tomorrow, and so today is their last refit day. Kochevnik, newly reincarnated from a tiefling man to a human woman, is staying behind.
While everyone except Tex is having breakfast (as she made it quite clear she has no interest in talking to the Low King’s Privy Council about anything, plus she has spells to scribe), Erihild walks into the inn and finds everyone else, by which the DM means Beast, Tikk, and Beldren.
She looks a little nervous. “Are you guys ready to speak in front of the Privy Council? They’ll be ready for us in an hour.”
Beast nods and stands “Yah.”
Erihild- “Beldren? Tikk?”
Beldren - “Ready as I’ll ever be!” he says, in a definitely confident voice.
Tikk shrugs. “I guess, don’t think I’ll have much to add but I’ll be there if you need me.”
Erihild leads the way across town, and while doing so activates her bardic power of exposition. “Okay, so my dad asked me to tell you what is going on. The Low King’s Privy council is five people. Three of them are really old, one of the other two is my dad cause he’s a judge, and the other one is Alzak’s claimant to the low throne. My dad and one of the other councilors want to go fight the giants, while the other three want to work out the succession crisis before we help, or don’t want to help at all. What my dad and his friend (who is a professional giant-killer like you, Tikk), is to talk to the other three and try to convince them that we should be helping the lowlanders. If we can get two of them to put their egos aside, maybe we can convince the Thorrim dwarves to do so as well, and then go help out…against the giants.”
By this time you have left the commercial districts and passed into what would probably be some kind of governmental administrative type building. The guards greet you as you pass by (Erihild being well known cause of her family, and also since there’s no king, there’s a lot less bowing).
Eventually some butler-y looking person flags you down and brings you into a yet more ornate and decorated room, beyond which are a few more layers of such things, getting nicer and nicer with each set of doors. Finally, the butler-y person tells you to wait in here until the Privy Council is ready for you.
Erihild speaks to him briefly, and then turns to the party. “We’ll all go in at once, and be asked to speak in turn. They may have questions, or they may just want to hear us talk, I’m not sure. They kind of do what they want.”
Beldren looks a bit surprised, but nods.
After a few more minutes, the butler-y guy returns, and opens the double doors formally. Beyond it’s kind of what you would expect to see: a large semi-circular table, a room giving the impression of either a courtroom or of a legislative body, with a distinctly empty throne looking chair. Five dwarves, each in various stages of elderliness, regard the party with keen interest as they file in.
Butler Guy- “M’lords and lady, I present to you Erihild Naloric Fireforge, Bard and daughter of Judge Reirim Naloric, Stonelord Belden, of the Hall of Winds, Yerin Gherdzi Fireforge, Druid, and Tikkaer Gaerfen Arumbar Vanwed, Ranger and Giant Slayer
Erihild smiles nervously when she is mentioned; she gets looks of “Oh, little Erihild, all grown up!” especially from the one old lady at the table.
Beast gets “Ah, yes. Ahem” kind of looks, cause dwarven druids are uncommon.
Beldren gets polite interest, cause stonelord.
Tikk gets as much curious looks as he does considered interest, cause gnomes typically don’t go straight in for the killing and the maiming. The old lady momentarily looks like she bit into a lemon, but recovers quickly.
After a brief pause, one of the dwarf men speaks. “For Erihild’s friends: I am Judge Reirim Naloric. Erihild has told me of your travels in recent weeks, and so I cannot thank you enough for ensuring her safety. I have asked her to bring you here today to provide us some information on the goings-on in the lowlands: what the human countries are doing, whether the giants are a threat to us” you all see a pointed glance from the Judge at a couple other people “and what we should do about it. If anyone would like to volunteer to speak, please do, if not, I will begin with questions.”
Beldren clears his throat. “Thank you for inviting us. We’ve traveled over significant portions of the region, and have seen giants occupying almost every part of it, enslaving and killing any of the non-monstrous races they come across.”
The old lady speaks. As she does, Erihild, again using her bardic power of Exposition, whispers to everyone else. “That’s Thorlydd, she’s probably the oldest dwarf in the fortress. She doesn’t think that anything outside the mountains is our problem. And she really dislikes anyone not a dwarf. Sorry Tikk.”
Ancient Dwarf Thorlydd- “And why is this our concern? We have kept the giants out of our lands for these 8 years, to say nothing of the hundreds of years before.”
Beldren - “The giants we have seen include ettins, cyclops, fire giants, hill giants, and frost giants, and they have recruited many tribes of orcs and ogres.”
Beast speaks up “Pardon Madam Thorlydd, but the giants aren’t out of our lands. We met some in Fireforge land. We killed them, but where one has gone, others will go as well.”
Ancient Dwarf Thorlydd looks like she wants to a) pretend Beast isn’t there, and b) ignore facts that are inconvenient for her opinions.
Ancient Dwarf Thorlydd- “But it was just one, was it not?”
Another dwarf, whom Erihild identifies to everyone else as Bofkral, and looks like an old retired fighter kind of guy- “Thorlydd, did you miss the Stonelord’s comment? How often do you hear frost and fire giants mentioned in the same sentence? How often do giants invade in masse? We have said many times before that there is something more sinister going on here, and we should help the lowlanders against whatever it is.”
ADT again seems to ignore this, obviously cause she’s heard it like 500 times in the last eight years.
Yet another dwarf speaks up. “Stonelord, how much of a threat do you think the giants actually are to us? You are, pardon the wording, a foreigner, and so your opinion isn’t tainted by our local politics.”
Erihild identifies him as Yurgal, Clan Fireforge’s claimant to the Low Throne. “He’s not against helping, but he wants to be installed as the Low King first.”
Beldren - “We have seen, and helped liberate in some cases, a half a dozen or more human towns, many with significant fortifications. The giants and their allies seem to have moved into those towns permanently, taking the human built infrastructure and using it for themselves. I think that they are after anything of value that they can find, and you have an entire society of great value here. When they tire of feeding off the lowlanders, I’m sure they will come here. So unless your forces and fortifications are up to fending off the combined might of every giant in the lowlands, I expect that they are a great threat.”
Erihild’s dad and Bofkral give pointed “See? Told you so.” kind of looks, mostly to Yurgal and the one dwarf who hasn’t said anything yet.
Yurgal- “Let us hear from the gnome, I know our small cousins are making a kingdom for themselves to the east.”
Tikk - “A kingdom? I guess you could call it that. We hide in the basements and sewers of the crushed towns the giants have moved on from. We barely poke our heads above ground. I am disgusted by my kin hiding from the giants, just like I’m disgusted by you doing the same.” He sneers.
Three dwarves look aghast! One (Bofkral, the one actual fighter-looking guy) looks amused, and one just looks a bit stunned (Yurgal).
Regath (or so Erihild calls him)- “You insult the honor and bravery of generations of dwarves, a guest in our house!”
Tikk - “Can you even call yourselves truly dwarves if you refuse to fight giants, your clan’s mortal enemies? Maybe we should start calling you halflings instead. If you need help shaving your beards I know plenty of tinkerers who make fine razors.””
Yurgal leaps to his feet- “How DARE you!”
Bofkral- “Yurgal! Is he wrong? We hide in our holes, as I have said for years, while the humans, and elves, or so I hear, fight our enemies for us. Prove that you deserve the throne. Set your ego aside!”
Tikk - “I have personally slain a dozen giants in the last few months. Care to see if you can slay even one?” He thumbs the edge of his glaive’s blade.
Yurgal looks…. Apoplectic.
The Judge, who is trying very, very hard to not sound entertained- “Does anyone have anything else they would like to add?”
Beldren is staring wide eyed at Tikk. He shakes his head.
Beast says, mutinously “They killed my Honey Badger. They’ll do the same to the rest of us, given the chance.”
Erihild, timidly- “Er, we actually did fight with a group of elven guerillas a few weeks ago. Some of them were friends of Beldren’s, and they had a grandmother from the Thorrim clan with them. At least they’re doing a little.” She looks at her feet, embarrassed to have spoken up.
After a few moments gasping for air, Yurgal says- “Escort them out.”
The butler, who is actually also a bailiff, escorts the party out to the waiting area. He looks as gobsmacked as everyone else.
Tikk looks smug.
After a while, Beast mutters “I s’pose… if Yurgal dies of outrage, that’d simplify the succession question.”
Erihild is now aghast.
Tikk laughs. “That was more fun than I’ve had since we killed the cyclops.”
Beast shrinks his head into his shoulders at Erihild’s look.
Maybe 30 minutes later, the door to the courtroom cracks open. The Butler/Bailiff (look at him multiclassing) sticks his head in for a few minutes and then motions you all back inside. The Privy Council is clustered opposite the door. Two of them (Thorlydd and Yurgal) look distinctly unhappy, one (Regath) is kind of unreadable, and two (Bofkral and Reirim) look satisfied.
Reirim beckons the party over.
The party lines up, some looking embarrased, some looking proud, some possibly still shell-shocked.
When the party gets there, they see an ornate wooden box with an open lid. The Privy Council is taking turns applying their signet rings to hot wax at the bottom of a large-ish sheet of parchment, which other functionaries duly roll up and seal again. These scrolls are then put in the box, the box locked (with two locks), and both keys handed to Beldren.
Reirim- “I’m delighted- and amused, I must say, Tikkaer- that we have decided to tell Clan Thorrim that we want to put all talk of succession on hold until the giants are defeated. This box has two messages: one for the Thorrims, and one for Duke Owen of Geoff. Take the messages to them and return their replies as soon as you can, please.”
Yurgal has the look of someone who understands why something is happening, but really, really doesn’t like it.
Beast looks delighted, relatively speaking.
Tikk grins. “Happy to be of service.”
Beldren is surprised, but takes the keys. “Do you have a preference on which is delivered first?”
Erihild looks more relieved than anything else.
Judge Reirim- “Thorrim’s clan hall is on your way to Hochoch…but if you can teleport…no, I would say deliver to Clan Thorrim first, either way.”
There’s some grumbling of agreement at this from the other four councilors.
Bofkral- “It’s not in the message, but tell the Thorrims that we think we should appoint a regent who would rule until the giants are defeated and then step down. This dwarf would need to be a disinterested foreigner”- he glances at Beldren- “and there are only a couple of foreign dwarves in the region right now.”
Beldren swallows, and nods. “I’ll let them know.” He puts the keys in his pocket.
He looks at BB. “Can you get the box, Brother Bear?”
Beast blinks “Yah, Stonelord.” Using Beldren’s title because Serious Occasion. He goes up and ceremoniously retrieves the box with the scrolls.
Yurgal, while clearly disgruntled at all this, says - “May Moradin bless your journey.”
Ancient Dwarf Thorlydd mumbles something similar.
Reirim walks the party out of the courtroom, and grins ear to ear as soon as you pass the threshold out.
Tikk mutters, loudly, “Glad y’all found your ba–beards.”
Reirim- “Thank you for that, you know that we’re a stubborn race, and everyone needs a kick in the ass sometimes.”
Beldren - “I’m glad Tikk didn’t manage to cause an international incident.” He still looks stressed.
Reirim shakes his head. “No, Yurgal definitely needed someone to reset his priorities. Even if the Thorrims don’t send any help immediately, once we do they will be shamed into helping as well. Tikkaer did nothing but good….although he shouldn’t expect dinner invitations from Yurgal or Thorlydd any time soon.”
Tikk laughs and spins his glaive a bit as he walks.
Eventually you get to a sufficiently outside part of the citadel/government building that Reirim stops walking. “There are also a couple of scrolls of sending in the box, hand them to Thorrim and Duke Owen so they can send replies. And Erihild, bring them all over for dinner before you set off.” He gives her a fatherly hug and heads back inside.
Beldren - “So how far are we to the Thorrim stronghold again? And Hochoch?”
Brother Beast answers “Thorrim is 28 miles. There are good trails. Hochoch is farther.”
Erihild- “Yeah, lots farther. I’ve never been there. Does anyone have a map?” She sighs. “I guess we start getting ready to go then? I don’t know how long Tex needs to scribe her spells.” She pauses. “Assuming we want to bring Tex with us.”
They were irked that you left, but you kicked a hornets nest and then ran away so that you can speak in front of the Alzak Fortress Low King’s Privy Council (who kind of rule the place cause of the lack of the king), and tell them that yes, indeed, no one is lying, the low-landers need help, and they should set aside their differences and help the lowlanders. Or not. Whatever you want to say.
Day 183, the Morning!
While the rest of you staying in the local inn next to the gate that all adventurers stay in, Erihild went off to stay at her parents’ house. Tex and Caboose ran into each other, and Tex told Salach about her interest in necromancy, and Beldren talked to Kochevnik, and you all did some shopping at the “Just Killed a bunch of Frost Giants” General Store. That group plans to teleport back to the frost giant’s Glacial Rift tomorrow, and so today is their last refit day. Kochevnik, newly reincarnated from a tiefling man to a human woman, is staying behind.
While everyone except Tex is having breakfast (as she made it quite clear she has no interest in talking to the Low King’s Privy Council about anything, plus she has spells to scribe), Erihild walks into the inn and finds everyone else, by which the DM means Beast, Tikk, and Beldren.
She looks a little nervous. “Are you guys ready to speak in front of the Privy Council? They’ll be ready for us in an hour.”
Beast nods and stands “Yah.”
Erihild- “Beldren? Tikk?”
Beldren - “Ready as I’ll ever be!” he says, in a definitely confident voice.
Tikk shrugs. “I guess, don’t think I’ll have much to add but I’ll be there if you need me.”
Erihild leads the way across town, and while doing so activates her bardic power of exposition. “Okay, so my dad asked me to tell you what is going on. The Low King’s Privy council is five people. Three of them are really old, one of the other two is my dad cause he’s a judge, and the other one is Alzak’s claimant to the low throne. My dad and one of the other councilors want to go fight the giants, while the other three want to work out the succession crisis before we help, or don’t want to help at all. What my dad and his friend (who is a professional giant-killer like you, Tikk), is to talk to the other three and try to convince them that we should be helping the lowlanders. If we can get two of them to put their egos aside, maybe we can convince the Thorrim dwarves to do so as well, and then go help out…against the giants.”
By this time you have left the commercial districts and passed into what would probably be some kind of governmental administrative type building. The guards greet you as you pass by (Erihild being well known cause of her family, and also since there’s no king, there’s a lot less bowing).
Eventually some butler-y looking person flags you down and brings you into a yet more ornate and decorated room, beyond which are a few more layers of such things, getting nicer and nicer with each set of doors. Finally, the butler-y person tells you to wait in here until the Privy Council is ready for you.
Erihild speaks to him briefly, and then turns to the party. “We’ll all go in at once, and be asked to speak in turn. They may have questions, or they may just want to hear us talk, I’m not sure. They kind of do what they want.”
Beldren looks a bit surprised, but nods.
After a few more minutes, the butler-y guy returns, and opens the double doors formally. Beyond it’s kind of what you would expect to see: a large semi-circular table, a room giving the impression of either a courtroom or of a legislative body, with a distinctly empty throne looking chair. Five dwarves, each in various stages of elderliness, regard the party with keen interest as they file in.
Butler Guy- “M’lords and lady, I present to you Erihild Naloric Fireforge, Bard and daughter of Judge Reirim Naloric, Stonelord Belden, of the Hall of Winds, Yerin Gherdzi Fireforge, Druid, and Tikkaer Gaerfen Arumbar Vanwed, Ranger and Giant Slayer
Erihild smiles nervously when she is mentioned; she gets looks of “Oh, little Erihild, all grown up!” especially from the one old lady at the table.
Beast gets “Ah, yes. Ahem” kind of looks, cause dwarven druids are uncommon.
Beldren gets polite interest, cause stonelord.
Tikk gets as much curious looks as he does considered interest, cause gnomes typically don’t go straight in for the killing and the maiming. The old lady momentarily looks like she bit into a lemon, but recovers quickly.
After a brief pause, one of the dwarf men speaks. “For Erihild’s friends: I am Judge Reirim Naloric. Erihild has told me of your travels in recent weeks, and so I cannot thank you enough for ensuring her safety. I have asked her to bring you here today to provide us some information on the goings-on in the lowlands: what the human countries are doing, whether the giants are a threat to us” you all see a pointed glance from the Judge at a couple other people “and what we should do about it. If anyone would like to volunteer to speak, please do, if not, I will begin with questions.”
Beldren clears his throat. “Thank you for inviting us. We’ve traveled over significant portions of the region, and have seen giants occupying almost every part of it, enslaving and killing any of the non-monstrous races they come across.”
The old lady speaks. As she does, Erihild, again using her bardic power of Exposition, whispers to everyone else. “That’s Thorlydd, she’s probably the oldest dwarf in the fortress. She doesn’t think that anything outside the mountains is our problem. And she really dislikes anyone not a dwarf. Sorry Tikk.”
Ancient Dwarf Thorlydd- “And why is this our concern? We have kept the giants out of our lands for these 8 years, to say nothing of the hundreds of years before.”
Beldren - “The giants we have seen include ettins, cyclops, fire giants, hill giants, and frost giants, and they have recruited many tribes of orcs and ogres.”
Beast speaks up “Pardon Madam Thorlydd, but the giants aren’t out of our lands. We met some in Fireforge land. We killed them, but where one has gone, others will go as well.”
Ancient Dwarf Thorlydd looks like she wants to a) pretend Beast isn’t there, and b) ignore facts that are inconvenient for her opinions.
Ancient Dwarf Thorlydd- “But it was just one, was it not?”
Another dwarf, whom Erihild identifies to everyone else as Bofkral, and looks like an old retired fighter kind of guy- “Thorlydd, did you miss the Stonelord’s comment? How often do you hear frost and fire giants mentioned in the same sentence? How often do giants invade in masse? We have said many times before that there is something more sinister going on here, and we should help the lowlanders against whatever it is.”
ADT again seems to ignore this, obviously cause she’s heard it like 500 times in the last eight years.
Yet another dwarf speaks up. “Stonelord, how much of a threat do you think the giants actually are to us? You are, pardon the wording, a foreigner, and so your opinion isn’t tainted by our local politics.”
Erihild identifies him as Yurgal, Clan Fireforge’s claimant to the Low Throne. “He’s not against helping, but he wants to be installed as the Low King first.”
Beldren - “We have seen, and helped liberate in some cases, a half a dozen or more human towns, many with significant fortifications. The giants and their allies seem to have moved into those towns permanently, taking the human built infrastructure and using it for themselves. I think that they are after anything of value that they can find, and you have an entire society of great value here. When they tire of feeding off the lowlanders, I’m sure they will come here. So unless your forces and fortifications are up to fending off the combined might of every giant in the lowlands, I expect that they are a great threat.”
Erihild’s dad and Bofkral give pointed “See? Told you so.” kind of looks, mostly to Yurgal and the one dwarf who hasn’t said anything yet.
Yurgal- “Let us hear from the gnome, I know our small cousins are making a kingdom for themselves to the east.”
Tikk - “A kingdom? I guess you could call it that. We hide in the basements and sewers of the crushed towns the giants have moved on from. We barely poke our heads above ground. I am disgusted by my kin hiding from the giants, just like I’m disgusted by you doing the same.” He sneers.
Three dwarves look aghast! One (Bofkral, the one actual fighter-looking guy) looks amused, and one just looks a bit stunned (Yurgal).
Regath (or so Erihild calls him)- “You insult the honor and bravery of generations of dwarves, a guest in our house!”
Tikk - “Can you even call yourselves truly dwarves if you refuse to fight giants, your clan’s mortal enemies? Maybe we should start calling you halflings instead. If you need help shaving your beards I know plenty of tinkerers who make fine razors.””
Yurgal leaps to his feet- “How DARE you!”
Bofkral- “Yurgal! Is he wrong? We hide in our holes, as I have said for years, while the humans, and elves, or so I hear, fight our enemies for us. Prove that you deserve the throne. Set your ego aside!”
Tikk - “I have personally slain a dozen giants in the last few months. Care to see if you can slay even one?” He thumbs the edge of his glaive’s blade.
Yurgal looks…. Apoplectic.
The Judge, who is trying very, very hard to not sound entertained- “Does anyone have anything else they would like to add?”
Beldren is staring wide eyed at Tikk. He shakes his head.
Beast says, mutinously “They killed my Honey Badger. They’ll do the same to the rest of us, given the chance.”
Erihild, timidly- “Er, we actually did fight with a group of elven guerillas a few weeks ago. Some of them were friends of Beldren’s, and they had a grandmother from the Thorrim clan with them. At least they’re doing a little.” She looks at her feet, embarrassed to have spoken up.
After a few moments gasping for air, Yurgal says- “Escort them out.”
The butler, who is actually also a bailiff, escorts the party out to the waiting area. He looks as gobsmacked as everyone else.
Tikk looks smug.
After a while, Beast mutters “I s’pose… if Yurgal dies of outrage, that’d simplify the succession question.”
Erihild is now aghast.
Tikk laughs. “That was more fun than I’ve had since we killed the cyclops.”
Beast shrinks his head into his shoulders at Erihild’s look.
Maybe 30 minutes later, the door to the courtroom cracks open. The Butler/Bailiff (look at him multiclassing) sticks his head in for a few minutes and then motions you all back inside. The Privy Council is clustered opposite the door. Two of them (Thorlydd and Yurgal) look distinctly unhappy, one (Regath) is kind of unreadable, and two (Bofkral and Reirim) look satisfied.
Reirim beckons the party over.
The party lines up, some looking embarrased, some looking proud, some possibly still shell-shocked.
When the party gets there, they see an ornate wooden box with an open lid. The Privy Council is taking turns applying their signet rings to hot wax at the bottom of a large-ish sheet of parchment, which other functionaries duly roll up and seal again. These scrolls are then put in the box, the box locked (with two locks), and both keys handed to Beldren.
Reirim- “I’m delighted- and amused, I must say, Tikkaer- that we have decided to tell Clan Thorrim that we want to put all talk of succession on hold until the giants are defeated. This box has two messages: one for the Thorrims, and one for Duke Owen of Geoff. Take the messages to them and return their replies as soon as you can, please.”
Yurgal has the look of someone who understands why something is happening, but really, really doesn’t like it.
Beast looks delighted, relatively speaking.
Tikk grins. “Happy to be of service.”
Beldren is surprised, but takes the keys. “Do you have a preference on which is delivered first?”
Erihild looks more relieved than anything else.
Judge Reirim- “Thorrim’s clan hall is on your way to Hochoch…but if you can teleport…no, I would say deliver to Clan Thorrim first, either way.”
There’s some grumbling of agreement at this from the other four councilors.
Bofkral- “It’s not in the message, but tell the Thorrims that we think we should appoint a regent who would rule until the giants are defeated and then step down. This dwarf would need to be a disinterested foreigner”- he glances at Beldren- “and there are only a couple of foreign dwarves in the region right now.”
Beldren swallows, and nods. “I’ll let them know.” He puts the keys in his pocket.
He looks at BB. “Can you get the box, Brother Bear?”
Beast blinks “Yah, Stonelord.” Using Beldren’s title because Serious Occasion. He goes up and ceremoniously retrieves the box with the scrolls.
Yurgal, while clearly disgruntled at all this, says - “May Moradin bless your journey.”
Ancient Dwarf Thorlydd mumbles something similar.
Reirim walks the party out of the courtroom, and grins ear to ear as soon as you pass the threshold out.
Tikk mutters, loudly, “Glad y’all found your ba–beards.”
Reirim- “Thank you for that, you know that we’re a stubborn race, and everyone needs a kick in the ass sometimes.”
Beldren - “I’m glad Tikk didn’t manage to cause an international incident.” He still looks stressed.
Reirim shakes his head. “No, Yurgal definitely needed someone to reset his priorities. Even if the Thorrims don’t send any help immediately, once we do they will be shamed into helping as well. Tikkaer did nothing but good….although he shouldn’t expect dinner invitations from Yurgal or Thorlydd any time soon.”
Tikk laughs and spins his glaive a bit as he walks.
Eventually you get to a sufficiently outside part of the citadel/government building that Reirim stops walking. “There are also a couple of scrolls of sending in the box, hand them to Thorrim and Duke Owen so they can send replies. And Erihild, bring them all over for dinner before you set off.” He gives her a fatherly hug and heads back inside.
Beldren - “So how far are we to the Thorrim stronghold again? And Hochoch?”
Brother Beast answers “Thorrim is 28 miles. There are good trails. Hochoch is farther.”
Erihild- “Yeah, lots farther. I’ve never been there. Does anyone have a map?” She sighs. “I guess we start getting ready to go then? I don’t know how long Tex needs to scribe her spells.” She pauses. “Assuming we want to bring Tex with us.”