As for
Caernak (and Arcus), we need to get them moving. Here I will proceed assuming that you go
see Raus directly once word comes to you that Pavis has fallen, Raus has ejected
many Lunars from his lands, The One came to Pavis, etc. At Sa'ar's urging thru his messenger,
you gather some trusted Mru from the Pool of Kinope area and head downriver to
Raus. Sun County patrols along the
river are very, very tight at key checkpoints but you pass through
unabetted. No signs of nomads now;
you hear that they have passed west from Pavis toward Moonbroth and
Sartar. But there are plenty of
signs of them having been thru recently; trails, battlegrounds, and burnt
steads or farms, and a solid presence of very active Sun Domer patrols and
milita guards. The Mru said that
there were many raids in these lands lately on riverfolk, newtling, merchant,
and Sun Domer alike, and it is good that the nomads are gone. People were suffering.
As an example of this
suffering, it is now known that every grantlanders stead south of Sun County
was burnt to the ground or otherwise destroyed; only Raus Fort remains. What few Lunar/other settler refugees
survived either went to Raus or Corflu, it seems. Remarkably, with Arcus along your trip
is no different. The patrols pay
him no special attention; their minds are elsewhere. Danger still worries them.
Sad news comes to Arcus
along the way, though. He inquires
about the town of Goldbreath and his friends there. Word has it that the town was razed by
bison riders and not a survivor remains; it was so remote that it could not be
saved.
Arcus's family,
however, is reported alive and well downriver (in Corflu, if I recall). Caernak may want to fill Arcus in on
some news he has.
In brief, your mission:
you are being sent as emissaries from the river cult, by the urging of Sa'ar,
with the urgent mission to conduct diplomacy with Duke Raus, who ejected many
Lunars from his domain recently.
Your goal is not so much to make a final deal as to feel things out, and
maybe spend a good amount of time with him. Caernak may tell Arcus about other
things afoot around there/downriver if he so wishes (see previous e-mails
Chris).
The
few riverfolk you meet along the way have little news except that they are glad
that their lives are getting better.
They say that although all the beastrider nomads are gone (phew), there
are still Morokanth in the hills nearby Raus (west of the river) and Agimori (Pachala's Fireblood clan) further
south. Neither of these groups participated
much in the recent events in Pavis, so they remain in good strength, unlike the
other nomads who rumor has it took heavy losses and head for more battling in
Sartar.
The
Great Bog that used to be Muriah's haunt is now again much as it used to
be. No more broo totems, spirits,
or signs of chaos taint. Instead, clear skies and waters, and proud banners of
Ronegarth flapping in the distance over the clifftop fortress. Quiet here now, without nomads or other
folks. Soon you run into the Duke's newtling fishermen about their normal
business, and they hail you with much excitement. You've always had fans among the duke's
newtlings, they are a peaceful and pious sort who have endured decades of
raiding from the fiercer Five Eyes tribe.
You are
announced to Ronegarth and a formal guard of Raus's mercenaries meets you at
the shoreline village, parting a crowd of onlooker newtlings making signs of
river blessings. The commander
greets you warmly and says that Raus has eagerly been expecting you since Sa'ar
sent a message that you were his chosen envoy to Raus. They escort you with much respect up the
cliff to Ronegarth, asking questions along the way about your past exploits,
particularly Wyrmsjaw fort and The Black, and more pressingly asking about news
from upriver. They say that they've
heard of the slaughter up north and are glad to have moved down here recently
and spared the experience. They
seem happy about life here and as usual think highly of their lord.
At Ronegarth, you are
ushered hurriedly to the Duke's council chamber where you previously met to
discuss Jezra's rescue from the tusk riders, etc. Duke Raus is there in full formal garb,
glowing with a radiance you have never seen before in him. He is not gloomy over his wife's death
from the plague of Muriah, nor his daughter's troubles or other grief. He is proud, standing tall and
confident, with a welcoming smile.
At his side hangs a silver scimitar that draws your eyes to it, you can
feel the power waves emanating from this sword. It is one you have never seen before.
"Sit, rest,
friends. And welcome friends you
are, Caernak Riverborn and Arcus the sureshot. I personally requested you as
emissaries, Caernak in particular although your presence is timely Arcus, as I will
explain later. Drink if you are
thirsty, eat if you are hungry; my new slaves will bring you what you
need." He waves his hand and a
fine-looking man and woman in silk slave's clothes bring fresh wine, water,
fruits and meats in for you, and cold clothes to wash your faces and hands of
the valley dust and grime.
"My priest Daryli
Godspeaker returned recently from an amazing voyage into the mountains to Gonn
Orta's Giant's Castle, in seek of this [he motions to his scimitar], The Rone
Sword, my family's legacy and vessel of my ancestors' most powerful
spirits. My family is with me now,
a lineage of seven of the greatest nobles of Rone is at my side. And Daryli spoke
to me of your friends whom he met along the way not once but twice, and spoke
well of their courageous adventures.
It did not surprise me. I
have watched you all for years and kept careful records of your
accomplishments, and corresponded much with some of you. I've long wished that some of you would
join me here permanently, and that offer remains open to all of you if you
would swear your fealty to me."
"Of that we can
speak another time. The urgent
matter is the immense changes that fate has thrust upon our valley. I know why you come here and you know
where I stand. I no longer work for
or with the Lunar Empire, although my faith still resides in the Seven Mothers frontier
cult, which has protected Ronegarth.
I pray to the moon every night that she will change her bloody ways and
follow more in the path of Deezola the Binder, or repent her evil ways like
Danfive Xaron did. But I live in a
new world where many of my enemies are gone, and I want to be a part of this
community we call the river valley.
I am tired of war, politics, and strife from my battles with the Five
Eyes, Sor-Eel, and Muriah. I want
to settle down, tend my lands, gather my people in happiness, and worship our
gods in peace."
I'll abstract the rest
of the conversation, which is lengthy and lasts well into the night:
1. Raus has just signed
a mutual defense pact with Count Solanthos of Sun County. They will protect each other against any
foes, and no longer trust the Lunar Empire. [An emissary from Arrowsands, Magnus Pike's
old village, is now here and may stay for good!]
2. The Duke really
badly wants peace with everyone and will make concessions to arrange it. But he also has the might of the Rone Sword
and his Sun Domer allies now, so he can and will fight mightily if he
must. He is in a position of
renewed strength, unfettered by Lunar politics.
3. He wants emissaries
from anyone seeking truce or allegiance with him to come to reside in Raus
Fort, which he wishes to become a base for neutral relations and diplomacy in
the valley. Kind of like Geneva.
4. Raus was all set up
to become the next Lunar governor of Prax and had been fighting with Sor-eel
about it for years. The Coders came
partly on Raus's urging, and Raus had hoped that they came to take Sor-eel away
in chains, but instead they worked with him to change policies. Raus feels very
mixed about their absence now; they shared a lot of beliefs with him.
5. Raus foreswears the
tolerance of chaos of any kind in his land, but insists that any Lunar or other
person he grants sanctuary to herewwll be under his complete protection. He expects Lunar visitors now and again,
and if they are welcomed by him then he will fight for them!
6. Raus is supportive
of any new settlers coming down to this region, regardless of faith, although
he still is not trustful of Orlanthi.
7. Raus will trade some
slaves with the local Morokanth and is establishing trade with them for other
goods and services. Same for the
Agimori down south. He uses few
slaves and tries to respect them but makes no apologies for his practices, it's
the way he was brought up. He only
uses Wareran (white) human slaves and employees, never non-human (except
newtlings). There is a little blue-blooded
racism in Raus, but not so extreme as in his brutal bodyguard, cruel Daine the
Scimitar of Yanafel Tarnils.
8. Among those Raus
wants peace with the most is the Five Eyes. He wants to end this now. This is the main reason he wants to
speak to you.
9. Raus knows that a
Lunar force is gathered at Corflu, regrouping. They are a problem. Some of them were a special unit
involved with breeding special broo warriors to combat Wolf Pirates and other
foes. Raus drops the info that Lunar scholars and magicians lately had abandoned
breeding giant nomad beast-broo (like the ones you fought earlier at Corflu),
and switched to making obscene swamp things from toads, newtlings, traskars,
and other aquatic things. Clearly
to fight Wolf Pirates without fear of drowning. Broos make great warriors in the swamps
because they are immune to poison and disease! This practice disgusts Raus to
no end and he wants it destroyed.
10. Raus will grant
your band exploring rights in his domain if you ask. Dyskund, the Pola lands, the Stone
Tower, any of it you are welcome to explore and cleanse of chaos or other
evils. Daine will be conducting his
own cleansing of the area, but could use your help when/if you are interested.
11. Daine will be starting a warrior's
school here to teach martial tactics and others may come from all over the
valley to learn from the greatest swordsman in Prax. Raus is excited to be rebuilding Ronegarth
to its glory, and plans other additions.
Perhaps even one day Weis village may be resettled, once Muriah's curses
are cleansed.
Now,
what do you say to Raus?
Here is Arcus' response:
Arcus waits for Caernak to respond to Duke Raus, and
throws in his comments at appropriate times.
"You do well to ally yourself with Sun County, the
forces of chaos and darkness are sure to wreak havoc now that the Lunar Empire is
losing it's grip. I applaud your
wish for peace and your desire for community, it has long been my feeling that
if all the peoples in the River valley worked together, we could eliminate
chaos from our lands. Our disunity
only allows chaos to thrive in the cracks between peoples."
About the slavery thing: since it doesn't seem to be a big issue
among the river peoples, Arcus will simply scowl when he sees the slaves.
Arcus makes the following argument:
"Think how many men and resources you've lost to your
conflict with the 5 eyes newtlings, while chaos lingers in and around your
lands. Think instead of how much
energy you could devote to destroying the true enemy, chaos, if you could have
peace with your neighbors. It is
the conflict among ourselves which allows chaos to flourish. If you would like something specific,
consider this: Before I joined my friends the River Voices to fight againstchaos,
I thought that there was no better way to fight than in a phalanx of
spearmen. A phalanx is a
great way to fight a raging horde of nomads, but can it fight the Krarshtkids, who
can tunnel underneath your very feet? Or gorp, which dissolve your
weapons once you hit them? Once I
joined the River Voices, the weakness of the phalanx becomes evident -- all
members use the same weapons, and very often the same magics to fight their
battles. With a disparate group such
as the River Voices, however, our strength comes from our diversity -- the
mighty Caernak represents the harmony and purity of the River, the ever-curious
Tison provides the knowledge of Lankor Mhy and the blessings of Pavis, the
Storm Bulls Pachala and Dorgon give us our strength
and our rage against chaos, the hell-vixen Elohwyn give us the
deceit and the warrior magics of Vinga, and the golden light of the Mountain
Sun guides our way through the dark.
It was only through our diverse powers that we were able to survive our
forays into the Dark, the destruction of the Thanatari temples, the multitude
of broo and gorp that we have destroyed.
So my proposal is this: make peace with your neighbors first, then
create teams of chaos hunters composed of both your people and that of your
neighbors, and drive chaos from the river valley. Only when chaos is gone can
we truly live and prosper."
If
Arcus isn't killed from overstepping his bounds, he'll talk to Morrah
afterwards, explaining his history, and will talk about his recent expulsion
[he does not seek to hide that fact, says to Morrah that he will understand if
he doesn't want to associate with Arcus] from Sun County as a failure in
judgement, that he only meant to do what he thought would help the homeland,
not cause political embarrassment. "I'm no good at that silly politics
stuff anyway", he'll say.