Post by Leif Tingle on Apr 7, 2019 17:38:07 GMT
Taken from "The View from the Front - the memoirs of a professional diplomat and reluctant adventurer" by Oriloki Manyvoices, Arcane Auditor - 1st Rank [retired], Emeritus member of High Council of The Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors in Waterdeep, published some 150 or so years after the founding of Daring Heights.
"....respectfully declined as per section 28b of the rules and regulations vis-à-vis gifts, presents, entitlements, boons and endowments, but that was the story behind why the dragon offered me her kingdom and 500,00 gold pieces.
I had been in Daring Heights for some months when the invitation arrived. Daring was such a quaint town back then; not the sprawling hub of society, commerce, science, and religion it is today/the smoking pile or ruin and rubble it has sadly since become1, and so the invitation stood out from the other fliers and mail I usually received for its obvious quality and station.
Initially, the source of the invitation caused some alarm in me: The Duchess being the soubriquet of Magali Khalister, the last remaining member of the vampiric Khalister family who had fled to Kantas after her family had been driven from Faerun many years ago, and who was eventually terminated by a band of adventures from Daring2. However, further investigation revealed that this Duchess was merely operating under the same name coincidentally and was a mysterious information broker operating somewhere in Daring.
It turned out, however, that the invitation wasn't merely a social request but also an entreaty for aid. It seems that information had found its way to the Duchess that during the soiree there was going to be an attempt on the life of Jean Auber, host of the Grand Ball and member of Daring's council. We were being tasked to uncover and neutralise that threat. I still have yet to have the pleasure of meeting the Duchess as we were briefed by her subordinate.
On the day of the event, I and my Simulacrum joined Sergeant Grimes, Grandmaster Varis Nailo, Daisy, Mistress Thisletop, Keriss Entheless, and Pieni. We arrived an hour before the ball was due to start and spent some time under the direction of the two military minds of the party in scoping out the terrain and keeping an eye on the staff.
The ball itself was a pleasant enough affair with excellent entertainment including quaffing competitions, fortune telling, and knife throwing. We circulated through the crowd meeting with a number of dignitaries and honoured guests. Varis and Grimes stayed close to Master Auber all evening. There had been no hints of a threat before Master Auber suddenly rush hurriedly to a side passage and disappear from view. Alerted by Varis, we gave chase, of course, but were too spread out amongst the throngs of people and so our arrival was staggered. I and Ori 2 sent our familiars ahead of us so we could at least keep a visual on proceedings.
When we had all caught up, we found two of the guests, a husband and wife, from the ball on the verge of taking something from Master Aubert's vault. Cornered, they dropped their guises and revealed themselves to be Oni. They claimed they were here take back at item stolen from a murdered member of their clan. We did not have time for further discussion and the confrontation turned violent.
Initially, we were at a loss with how to deal with them - they vanished from sight and we could not track them. Eventually, I was able to use my powers to pierce the veil and pinpoint their location. Once my Simulacrum had dispelled their cloak of invisibility, the others were able to dispatch them with aplomb, with Varis in particular doing some sizeable damage.
Once vanquished, Master Auber, a frightfully impolite man, departed the room and returned to the party without so much as a word of thanks. Civility costs nothing at the best of times - and this struck me as a particularly apposite time for him to be thankful.... After that, some of us returned to the ball and I spent most of the rest of the time pondering the connections between the Oni clan and Master Auber before retiring a couple of hours before midnight to return home to rest.
But sleep was elusive that evening. I roused myself from my bed and started on a research project. I remembered seeing a report from a long time ago mentioning Jean Auber and the Oni. After some searching, I found the scroll I was looking for. It seemed before taking a seat on the council, Jean Auber was an adventurer in Faerun. He and several others dealt with many evil threats, one of which was the Kazuko, a family of Oni that were extremely good at infiltrating as high members of society. They took pleasure in murder and cannabalism. Auber and his companions confronted and killed the Oni, including their leader; Akuran. He took the Akuran's glaive after the battle. Akuran however had children, Ibaraki and Akane. It was they who we had encountered earlier that day and killed at the ball. They mentioned there were others of their clan before they died.
However, with this job done and the report winging its way to Aurelia, I found myself thinking about why I had come to Daring and what my role here was. Being back in the familiar settings of high society had reminded me that I am here to represent my Order and build bridges. Over the last few months, I realised I had started to get too involved with the lives of the individuals of Daring. Not becoming friends, as such, but mission drift was starting to become a serious concern. It was a timely reminder of my purpose and real skills. It was then I decided to step back somewhat from the adventuring I had been undertaking of late, and return to the true battlefield: diplomacy. I confess I had enjoyed my time acting the part of adventurer, but felt no small sense of relief at my realisations and decision to focus on my ambassadorial remit.
1 Depending on the ultimate fate of Daring, there exist in the multiverse two simultaneous endings to that sentence, the magic coursing the book changing the words to reflect the outcome of history.
2 See Appendix 1 for more information on that episode.
"....respectfully declined as per section 28b of the rules and regulations vis-à-vis gifts, presents, entitlements, boons and endowments, but that was the story behind why the dragon offered me her kingdom and 500,00 gold pieces.
Chapter 4 - Daring to Dream
Initially, the source of the invitation caused some alarm in me: The Duchess being the soubriquet of Magali Khalister, the last remaining member of the vampiric Khalister family who had fled to Kantas after her family had been driven from Faerun many years ago, and who was eventually terminated by a band of adventures from Daring2. However, further investigation revealed that this Duchess was merely operating under the same name coincidentally and was a mysterious information broker operating somewhere in Daring.
It turned out, however, that the invitation wasn't merely a social request but also an entreaty for aid. It seems that information had found its way to the Duchess that during the soiree there was going to be an attempt on the life of Jean Auber, host of the Grand Ball and member of Daring's council. We were being tasked to uncover and neutralise that threat. I still have yet to have the pleasure of meeting the Duchess as we were briefed by her subordinate.
On the day of the event, I and my Simulacrum joined Sergeant Grimes, Grandmaster Varis Nailo, Daisy, Mistress Thisletop, Keriss Entheless, and Pieni. We arrived an hour before the ball was due to start and spent some time under the direction of the two military minds of the party in scoping out the terrain and keeping an eye on the staff.
The ball itself was a pleasant enough affair with excellent entertainment including quaffing competitions, fortune telling, and knife throwing. We circulated through the crowd meeting with a number of dignitaries and honoured guests. Varis and Grimes stayed close to Master Auber all evening. There had been no hints of a threat before Master Auber suddenly rush hurriedly to a side passage and disappear from view. Alerted by Varis, we gave chase, of course, but were too spread out amongst the throngs of people and so our arrival was staggered. I and Ori 2 sent our familiars ahead of us so we could at least keep a visual on proceedings.
When we had all caught up, we found two of the guests, a husband and wife, from the ball on the verge of taking something from Master Aubert's vault. Cornered, they dropped their guises and revealed themselves to be Oni. They claimed they were here take back at item stolen from a murdered member of their clan. We did not have time for further discussion and the confrontation turned violent.
Initially, we were at a loss with how to deal with them - they vanished from sight and we could not track them. Eventually, I was able to use my powers to pierce the veil and pinpoint their location. Once my Simulacrum had dispelled their cloak of invisibility, the others were able to dispatch them with aplomb, with Varis in particular doing some sizeable damage.
Once vanquished, Master Auber, a frightfully impolite man, departed the room and returned to the party without so much as a word of thanks. Civility costs nothing at the best of times - and this struck me as a particularly apposite time for him to be thankful.... After that, some of us returned to the ball and I spent most of the rest of the time pondering the connections between the Oni clan and Master Auber before retiring a couple of hours before midnight to return home to rest.
But sleep was elusive that evening. I roused myself from my bed and started on a research project. I remembered seeing a report from a long time ago mentioning Jean Auber and the Oni. After some searching, I found the scroll I was looking for. It seemed before taking a seat on the council, Jean Auber was an adventurer in Faerun. He and several others dealt with many evil threats, one of which was the Kazuko, a family of Oni that were extremely good at infiltrating as high members of society. They took pleasure in murder and cannabalism. Auber and his companions confronted and killed the Oni, including their leader; Akuran. He took the Akuran's glaive after the battle. Akuran however had children, Ibaraki and Akane. It was they who we had encountered earlier that day and killed at the ball. They mentioned there were others of their clan before they died.
However, with this job done and the report winging its way to Aurelia, I found myself thinking about why I had come to Daring and what my role here was. Being back in the familiar settings of high society had reminded me that I am here to represent my Order and build bridges. Over the last few months, I realised I had started to get too involved with the lives of the individuals of Daring. Not becoming friends, as such, but mission drift was starting to become a serious concern. It was a timely reminder of my purpose and real skills. It was then I decided to step back somewhat from the adventuring I had been undertaking of late, and return to the true battlefield: diplomacy. I confess I had enjoyed my time acting the part of adventurer, but felt no small sense of relief at my realisations and decision to focus on my ambassadorial remit.
Chapter 5 - Interlude; a few of my favourite cocktail recipes"
1 Depending on the ultimate fate of Daring, there exist in the multiverse two simultaneous endings to that sentence, the magic coursing the book changing the words to reflect the outcome of history.
2 See Appendix 1 for more information on that episode.
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