Previously...
Theros returned to the caravan he'd been traveling with to collect his belongings and gather information. Yaral saw something strange in the water, but other than that little new information was learned. The tabari conferred Norslandian caravels started firing from the harbor, and then all Hell broke loose as several forces invaded. The caravan elder, Nen, rued the humans' craving for war and ultimately gave Theros a magic ring as he left to find his new allies. Tabari were survivors, she assured him. Kinn was the only one not to say goodbye, still offended over some perceived slight during a hunt...
Meanwhile, Aleksi and Benjim had a thoughtful conversation on the party's next move while overlooking the contested capital. Despite the fall of Edmark transpiring below, Benjim was resolute. A city did not constitute a nation, and a nation did not constitute an idea. The Spirit of Avencia would endure, so long as those who believed it endured. They examined a crude map of the republic scrawled in the dirt, eventually picking Godswon as a place to reconvene what was left of the free Congress and summon forth General Warrish and the continental army.
On that note, Aleksi had his doubts Belarion would push any deeper into Avencia. It would be a complete strategic blunder, forcing Belarion to defend against two countries on two fronts. Congress had likely been their aim all along. Control Congress, and with a little misinformation control Avencia. And to the general public and the world stage, it still appeared as if Norsland invaded. Maia had all but confirmed otherwise, noting elves crewing the caravels. If Benjim and the other free delegates couldn't assemble and set forth a declaration against elven interference, Avencia could be falsely drawn into the war within days. The fires of purpose lit, they loaded up and went to collect the others.
Seeking further insight into the elven involvement, Vivianna, Maia, and Donatella assembled a nearby hilltop to perform a ritual of clairvoyance. The power of the three was more than any single woman expected and created an aura that could be felt and even seen on high. The hill became a beacon which drew Aleksi's scolding for its obviousness firstly, then a wing of one-man flying machines known as ornithopters. Truly the wonders of the artificing Empress Bela never ceased...
They fired using pedal-powered crossbows, swooping in and out among the gathering party. Theros managed to scale a tree in only a few bounds, leap from a high bough, and tackle one of the ornithopterists. While he crashed the unfortunate, Vivianna's magic turned one on the other. Aleksi conjured a bolt of lightning so sudden and forceful it killed the woman pilot before she even hit the ground. Delegates Benjim, Karina, and Lambert cheered from within the safety of the hut, but celebration was short-lived as yet another wing of ornithopters approached.
As an undead dire boar and a druidic storm-in-an-acorn provided interference for the second wave (courtesy of Donatella and Aleksi), the Dancing Hut with Viv's wagon in tow raced down the hillsides for the western shore. Deceivingly large, the journey across the island took several hours into night. During that time, Aleksi and Maia, with Theros as go-for, prepared a considerable ritual harnessing the wolf-girl's Ray of Frost spell. The idea was to create an iceberg large enough to sit the hut and wagon, then use a collection of bed sheets as a sail which the tabari, strongest among them, could steer from the roof.
Vivianna and Donatella spent the meanwhile interrogating Theros's downed pilot, Selm Ekkian, though for all the tools at their disposal he was rather compliant, if impassioned. Even specialized Belarion soldiers like the ornithopterists believed themselves in the right and had no knowledge of the elves or Belarion's possible deception. Secondly, Selm had been dispatched from one of two zeppelins hovering in artificial cloud banks over the Edema river, suggesting Belarion had been poised for such an invasion (or anticipating an attack). There was also the timing. Selm mentioned receiving orders to descend on the city just -before- the caravels fired, so that the ornithopters arrived in the same moment as the attack. Selm imagined the information came from some skilled Belarion agent in the nick of time, but it could have just as easily been a coordinated strike. A plan of this scope required time, precision, and strong leader like Princess Jubilee, perhaps, or that elven commander with the silvery lattice. The hows or whys aside, the most damning piece of evidence against Belarion lied in the simple fact the elves joined and were cooperating with their forces in the city.
It should be noted, the Norslandian caravels themselves showed signs of battle and wear, and had been repaired, suggesting these elves might have claimed them in a prior battle. It was still something of a mystery how they just appeared in the harbor without warning.
Maia made a startling transformation into something born of the deepest fey winters, channeling the Winter Court to unleash the ritual alongside Aleksi. The iceberg formed beautifully and, with Theros at the 'helm', the Dancing Hut, wagon, and crew made their way across the Valent River. Under the cover of darkness, without a ship in sight (who would approach the capital in such a state), they nearly made it to the opposite shore. Unfortunately, Yaral's words were heeded only after something rammed them from below, accidentally misfiring Vivianna's pistol and blowing Selm's brains out.
Then it surfaced, a giant, mechanical apparatus like an iron fish. Inside, two Belarion sailors controlled the device with a series of pedals and levers. Aiming torpedoes toward the iceberg, threatening to blow them up or sink them (it was understood the hut could not swim), Maia reacted. A Fireball spell flew from her claws, but in such a state it became an ice-ball, breached the hull, and froze it solid. Water flooded the interior and sank the apparatus like a gravestone.
On the Avencian mainland around dawn, the hut plopped down on the relatively secluded shore to rest. The party did likewise, although Theros gave Vivianna grief over Selm's senseless death. Godswon was another day or two, then the great task of saving the republic.
Notable NPCs
Nen, Iben and Abesos, Kinn, Yaral, and Libra
Unnamed Male Elf with the Silvery Lattice
Ornithopterist Selm Ekkian (dead)
Opposing the Ornithopters
Battle 2
Against the Apparatus
Treasure (Theros, gift from Nen)
Skin of Your Teeth (recharge 6+): When an enemy attacks you while wearing this ring, subtract 1 from the natural attack roll after seeing it.
Quirk: Regularly finds copper pieces and other minor valuables on the ground.
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