For the Glories of the New Queen

[RSGAlex]

Despite the lushness of the land and abundant fishing from picturesque and defensible cliffs, Pandoram has never been considered one of the jewles of Ome-Lune's nations. Much of that is because of the lasting impact of the nature of the royal family, which outsiders often call mad. Even those raised within the boundaries of the great nation have a similar, if less dangerously worded, opinion. Many ignored the sudden rise of an unknown drow woman to the status of crown princess as it was positively mundane and harmless compared to the old king's decision to gain infernal aid in managing his entertainment or, as others would say, governance.

When King Idirum II was finally and fatally stopped from continuing his aggression in the face of overwhelming danger, most worried about how the new queen would deal with the terms of the peace. They focused on the wrong thing; the queen was more than co-operative in getting the war to stop until the great summoning seal could be undone. But in celebrating her ascension to the throne, Queen Acryll proved herself in good company among the kings and queens of Pandoram.

The great warrens were raided, one of her supernatural supervisors was sacrificed, and a grand supernatural arena was created to serve as entertainment for the great feast and even later into the year. The massive warping of space to allow for four groups to reenact, better, or worsen the deeds of heroes gone by drained the demon seal constantly. This is cold comfort for those who have died in the magical terrain, like group six who threw alchemist's fires to wipe out ghostly foes but in doing so ignited barrels of mining powder. It is also very cold comfort for the just called and gathered group twelve. Which you are a part of.

Between supernatural force and more normal force, participation was mandatory to whoever was called by the queen or her relatively unknown inner circle.

When the magical field has finished shifting, the group finds itself in a rather bucolic and ancient looking village, overrun by goblins in a very different way than most mean the phrase. The majority of these goblins have the telltale glow of stellar summoning about them and either due to poor or overly strict orders they utterly fail to use the dwarf sized clothes and tools that are all around. Otherwise they attempt to act and react as 'normal' villagers.

As the situation and aftereffects of the transportation wash over and off the group a slightly familiar pair. The halfling smith seems more comfortable playing a dwarf bodyguard than the half-giant mine owner he played for the previous group, even as he struggles with the strongman outfit; despite likely being stronger than the person it was intended for, the proportions mean that he must constantly shift it to stay comfortable and unexposed after a few steps. The goblin 'necromancer' seems quite happy to have a role that doesn't put her in front of a half-dozen blades and has her resplendant in human sized jewelry instead of a corset of bones. She is a bit less enthusiastic about the human sized dress, which even with her generous assets always threatens to trip her or come completely off.

"Here to find my sons/daughters, right?" Other than that one word, the pair speak in energetic unison, reading from a sheaf of paper that they no longer care to hide.

Knowledge

This is based off a bit of local history, so even if you don't have ranks in any of the knowledge skills I call for, you can still roll. You're just limited to the lower two tiers of knowledge.

History and Local have DCs of 5, 10, 15, and 30
Nature and Arcana have DCs of 20
The Knowledge skill Nobility and royalty has DCs of 8, 10, and 15

 

[RSGAlex]

Eventually, the pair direct the group towards the abandoned castle where their 'children' disappeared. They can't offer much more than that because the goods are being held by other probably magical actors and any rewards are likely to vanish once the 'play' is over. Still, if anyone wants to buy something, the parts they are playing does give them access to money, which can probably get a few last minute goods if the Queen or her pet demon decided to give the store any.

They also start a small discussion between themselves if that would count as an anachronism or not. Certainly, the coins they have would.

 

[ZeroSic]

Erin rubs her eyes as the effects of the teleportation wares off. She still hasn't gotten over the feelings of dismay she experienced when the queen chose her to be a part of this. She had served the old King for all her life and treated the queen like a princess when the king was still alive. To think that she'd be picked in spite of all her loyalty, it was just hard to accept. Erin looked up towards the abandoned castle. This was a reenactment of some kind. Which would mean it is based on a historical event. Erin places the tips of her fingers on the side of her head as she tries to remember what tale it was based off.

What Erin looks like:
Erin stands 6 feet tall. She The shiny metal of her breastplate is placed over black gambeson. Metal protects her chest, her arms in the form of gauntlets and her legs in the form of leg-guards. She has a Greatsword strapped to her back while a crossbow and a case for bolts hang at her waist. She is a 26 year old human girl with fair skin and brown eyes. She ties her long wavy brown hair in a pony tail.

Knowledge - Local: (1d20+0)

 

[TheAnnoyingNoob]

Lilinda frowned slightly at the other ‘actors’ breaking character but she could hardly blame them. In fact it might even be to her benefit, drawing unwanted attention away from her. Clearing her throat she hesitantly spoke, “Are we ready to press on? There’s nothing I need.”

What Lilinda looks like:
5’9” and dressed in the most unassuming traveling clothes she could manage with a sturdy tome hitched to her belt. She has brown hair pulled back in a bun and extremely pale complexion. Two small nub-like horns protrude from her temples and while she does her best to hide them, when they are noticed she does her best to pass herself off as a Tiefling.

 

[RSGAlex]

The exact design of the fortress that preceded Saltam Castle is unknown to history other than a few pages written by a disgruntled builder complaining about how exacting the new king was in his demands that the castle be as unlike the ruins while still being defensible. Due to this, and likely also the entertainment of the unseen crowds immediately upon leaving the village a great bloodstained spire looms impossibly over the group. From the size of sun symbol, the walls of this titanic structure should be less than an hour away.

From the actors words and the group's memories of geography, it should be an actual full day's worth of walking as the roads of today shouldn't even be paths now. Of course, the actual distance and time are likely to be much shorter and more dramatic than realistic. Like how two impossibly abandoned farms have just flown by in a bit of walking or how the fortress's right wall suddenly appeared close by just to crumble and give the impression that they might have done damage.

Through a small hole in those walls, a clan of goblins and a clan of kobolds can be seen skirmishing. Well, small groups of warriors defending anachronistic banners proclaiming allegiance to unknown goblin and kobold clans are fighting. From the shouts, it seems that the kobolds wish to keep anyone from entering the main spire of the fortress and also they wish to be a comedy troupe. There's no originality to be found in their jokes, but at least the situation makes it humorous as both groups are keeping their four man square formations despite all logic saying that the goblins should be forming a line to protect their archers or that one of the kobold groups should be moving around to do something. But no, they merely stay in place, perhaps waiting for a signal to end this farcical fight.