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Session Fifty-Two | The Black Sovereign
Chapter 5, Session 52 | Palace of Fallen Stars
Characters Present: Silka, Shaw, Kaya, Alcyone, Aa'ida
XP Earned This Session: 8,400xp
Tek Makul 6400xp
RP Bonus 1200xp
Session Notes 800xp
Total XP: 334,555xp
Next Level: 445,000xp (Level 14)
Loot Acquired: None...
Summary: To be submitted as a comment below
Characters Present: Silka, Shaw, Kaya, Alcyone, Aa'ida
XP Earned This Session: 8,400xp
Tek Makul 6400xp
RP Bonus 1200xp
Session Notes 800xp
Total XP: 334,555xp
Next Level: 445,000xp (Level 14)
Loot Acquired: None...
Summary: To be submitted as a comment below
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everyone notices guards walking around and putting up posters describing our party. silka notices this in progress. the posters offer a reward of 10 silverdisks to anyone who can provide information leading to our capture.
alcyone: well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of our own actions
shaw casts disguise self
silka: we're worth way more than 10 silverdisks
silka, shaw, and aziza were definitely recognizable by our TL friend.
koll inkit is the consort and second-in-command, so she's poised to take over, doesn't spend time with king. gartogne is in the basement dungeon, and sanvil wants to kill him; so is a path into the TL headquarters.
alcyone hides herself with a scarf like thor and it actually works?? ? kaya uses her umbrella to hide her face perpetually. silka has the bartender buzz her head. sanvil looks like parnassus from SNL. he peels off his wig when they come inside the inn.
silka has bad dreams about giant robots hunting her down. kaya dreams of mozzarella sticks and dress shopping. shaw has an unfortunate dream about her tragic past. her dad is haunting her. alcyone's dreams are vaguely unpleasant but unmemorable.
the palace of fallen stars is the largest building in starfall, dominating the skyline. we head in that direction in disguise. the central structure is capped by an immense metal dome, and towers circle it. guards greet people. the stone is reinforced. palace guards are all over the grounds.
shaw: i can cast a spell to make us less suspicious
alcyone: what makes us look suspicious?
shaw: there are posters of us all over the city
alcyone: i'm wearing this scarf??? ?
shaw: of course, a lovely scarf.
kaya: i can't do my umbrella trick inside.
shaw: i'll just ... cast the spell ... just in case.
shaw casts aura of unremarkable. the guards have giant tuning fork or fondue stick polearms. when they strike, they're plasma weapons, and a button consumes charges to deal a secondary attack.
shaw: do we want to walk in the front door or sneak around and pretend we're staff?
alcyone: I WANT TO WALK IN THE FRONT DOOR
kaya: don't people walk in the front door all the time?
shaw: that's what we were told, yes.
we follow in behind a big group, averting people's gazes from us. inside is a long hall that leads up into the palace, lined with columns. statues made of old robots in thick iron chains. shaw recognizes them as symbols of the conquest over the technic league. the barbarian king is very proud of these trophies.
the main hall is a pillar-lined promenade reeking of animals and rancid meat. two people hang from chains attached to the pillars, one of whom looks dead and rotting. scattered throughout the hallway are a bunch of hounds gnawing at the feet of the dead servant hanging there, and trying to gnaw at the feet of the living. four hill giants also roam around. two fight over food.
kaya: i thought this was a fancy city place
a bunch of doors line the walls on either side, and at the far end are stairs leading up beside a big stone statue of the king.
shaw: should we just follow the pictures?
kaya: i guess. i don't have any better ideas
silka: we can try to ask one of the giants
shaw: i don't think they'll be much for talking to us. i say we go upstairs.
the group we went with are also heading upstairs.
silka: yeah, let's stick with the group, i guess.
alcyone: actually if they're about to get killed or hung from pillars and have their feet eaten, maybe we should hang like ... back. in a separate group.
kaya: and we can run if they get murdered.
shaw listens at the doors, but can't hear anything on the way past. silka uses mage hand to knock on a door but nobody answers.
alcyone: what if the king appoints a champion and it's the hill giant and silka has to fight a hill giant alone?
silka: honestly i don't know what's worse
shaw: don't forget i'll possess the opponent as long as you all protect my body.
the giants pay us no mind. the dogs snap in our direction, but none come at us or anything.
alcyone: i miss torch. you know where people didn't get eaten by dogs? torch.
silka: "barbarian country," but it didn't have this nonsense.
the group continues up to the third floor, but the second has more giants (6) and more doors. the group of people appears to be a collective of barbarians. the second floor runs parallel over the other hallway, an upper court. war banners and trophies decorate the somber stone walls. two white alcoves down the hall are obscured by giants, but we can hear running water from that way.
silka grabs a person at the back, and when he turns around, realizes he is a 14-year-old boy. problematically, no one thinks it odd when silka starts flirting with him because of the aura of unremarkable.
silka: hey baby, come here often?
she rolled one point of diplomacy for every year he walked this earth, and he's really into it. he gets the goofiest smile on his face.
child: are you talking to me?
silka: it's my first time in the city. i came from a long way away.
child: us too.
silka: where are you from?
child: we're just traveling merchants.
silka: you guys seem real focused. where you going?
child: hoping we can sell some stuff, you know. get a lot of money from ...
silka: you want to sell directly to THE black sovereign?
child: we're hoping we can like ... announce we're in town, and also avail him of our goods.
they're carrying a chest between them. two grown men that silka could have hit on are carrying the chest.
child: what are you doing here?
silka: checking it out. looking to sell or buy things. never seen the BS in person and was hoping i could maybe ... you know ... wave hi.
a'iida rolls up like chris hansen the minute silka starts hitting on a child. she has been busy floating around town because no one told her to stop looking like the TL contact.
a'iida: whatcha doin
(we update her)
JB and his group head upstairs. alcy decides to check out the alcoves.
shaw: you have to stay within 30 feet to stay unremarkable, you can't keep running off
alcyone: it's fine?? i have my scarf!!!!
alcyone opens the doors at the end of the hall. it's a hall of history filled with statues of previous black sovereigns, but time has damaged some of them, or others are defaced purposely. alcyone starts trying to loot shit, but shaw convinces her that we have a focus and need to leave.
shaw starts nosing around the other doors and alcyone reminds her that WE HAVE STUFF TO DO YOU SAID, so they go upstairs after JB.
the curved walls of the throne room are 80 ft high. great smoking torches sputter on the walls amidst hanging skulls, weapons, furs, and other trophies from humans and robots alike. feasting tables fill the hall. on a dais is the sovereign's throne of black pitted metal, surrounded by more trophies and mounds of tribute. on the throne is the black sovereign himself.
everyone notices the gearsmen in here. some notice the animals in the room too, the pets that alcyone tried to adopt in the woods. eight palace guards, two lieutenants. aa'ida and kaya notice an additional barbarian with a fancy looking axe. the tables are of course packed, and there are many servants coming in and out.
the merchants step aside to strategize before speaking to the sovereign. the gang plots how silka should challenge the sovereign. they walk up together so that silka remains unremarkable. silka steps out of the aura to challenge him. no one seems to notice our approach.
silka pulls out her axe and points it at him. the palace guards next to her turn towards her with a look of surprise. it draws the attention of the sovereign.
sovereign: who do you think you are so important to interrupt my face?
silka: i'm silka cinderborn, and i'm here to kick your ass.
he sits up straighter, looking impressed and amused. big axe man's attention slants over there.
sovereign: well, isn't this entertaining? what's your name?
silka: i ... i just said it. it's silka cinderborn.
sovereign: would you prove your mettle, silka cinderborn?
silka: it's why i'm here. let's do this.
he looks past her.
sovereign: TEK MAKUL, COME FORTH.
the guy beside shaw looks so put out. he starts forward down the aisle.
sovereign: i wish for you to fight my cousin, tek makul, for my amusement. can you do this, silka cinderborn?
silka: i came here to fight the black sovereign, not tek whatever.
sovereign: if you cannot fight tek makul, you do not deserve to fight the black sovereign.
silka: ugh, fine.
sovereign: CLEAR THE WAY FOR A FIGHT.
guards clear us away from the center alley. sanvil grabs alcy's sleeve and pulls her out of there, which is necessary because she's like that's ... that's my sister.
silka: what are the rules?
sovereign: win or die.
shaw casts possession on tek makul, so he spots shaw trying to cast the spell.
tek makul: must you resort to black magic to win in a fight?
silka: i literally just asked what the rules were, and the black sovereign said to win. it's not my fault that i have other tools at my disposal.
tek makul drinks a potion from his belt, and his skin starts growing bark.
silka: must you resort to potions that enhance your skin?
alcyone casts haste on silka, but shaw's possession fails. the crowd throws food at us, demanding a fair fight.
alcyone: HE CAST A SPELL TOO!!!
tek makul takes a stance and shouts BEGIN
silka casts leech life but tek doesn't know shit about spells so he just yeets for some vibro-axe nonsense. silka absolutely demolishes him, but he doesn't back down. his next hit hurts them both again.
tek: call off your tricks.
silka: no. get good. literally asked what are the rules at the beginning of the fight, so DON'T DIE.
the fight continues, with tek injuring himself when he injures silka, and shaw tries to possess the black sovereign and fails. the sovereign stands. silka and tek both look like shit at this point. tek gasps and rasps trying to lift up his axe.
tek: guards! she means to kill the sovereign! to us!
the guards close in on them, and tek runs. alcyone goes for him. guards close in around her, while others go for silka, knocking her out. the remaining guards target the party. aa'ida heals silka. kaya bombs tek.
sovereign: HALT!
aa'ida helps silka up. the sovereign calls everyone up, looking at silka and kaya.
sovereign: you say you came to fight the black sovereign
silka: yeah, are we gonna do that?
sovereign (laughs): i agree. i'll give you a choice — either single combat against one champion of your choice or a brawl against the lot of you.
alcyone: who else is on your team in the brawl?
sovereign: my pets
silka: i came here to test my strength against the greatest barbarian that has ever lived.
sovereign: i said you can choose a one-on-one fight. i assume you are the champion they will put forward?
silka: yeah.
the party casts a whole bunch of buffs on silka to prep her.
sovereign: come and fight if you are ready to die!
he springs off the dais to begin the fight. he shatters silka's weapon, and in turn, she steals his weapon back and uses it against him. however, the sovereign gets his sword back and fells her. the crowd roars, chanting his name as silka goes down.
alcyone screams.
shaw tries to diplomacy for the body, and the sovereign invites a secondary duel. alcyone looks ready to charge, but sanvil starts trying to walk up past them. shaw stops him.
sanvil: i have the least to lose.
shaw: he'll destroy all of your weapons. i think we should brawl or someone else goes.
alcyone: i'll do it.
shaw: brawl. we should brawl.
FEEL FREE TO REPLY HERE WITH THE SPELLS YOU USED FOR REFERENCE NEXT TIME:
Alcy used Haste, Bull's Strength, Mage Armor
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plus expended a couple level one spell slots and a heal spell
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silka continued to go at the barbarian king, but sanvil stole her kill and became the new barbarian king.
shaw and alcyone started casting fireballs that injured the audience seated at the dining tables. guards start fleeing. people are hiding under tables.
aziza showed up, done with scouring the castle for guns she could still.
sanvil did a weird vampire life drain thing and shaw experienced some performance issues with her spells.
kaya and silka get freed from cat-grapple, but kaya gets almost immediately re-grappled.
a robot comes in and hulk smashes silka.
aa'ida goes down, and kaya heals her with a healing bomb that splashes and also raises silka. alcyone cuts down a gargoyle going for sanvil and absolutely destroys the robot that downed silka.
the last remaining cat thing almost kills sanvil, but aa'ida pukes up some more positive energy and we clean up it and the remaining gargoyles, who are still hassling kaya.