During the ball, Elenion spoke to her father, he mentioned he was proud
of her, and that he trusts her and has confidence in her.
Zannan did the addressing of the peace talks, with each party member’s
title. He also brought up the concern of addressing Nidhogg’s agenda, and the
importance of figuring out what she wants.
The formal dinner began – a very opulent meal was served. The Council
members (including the Twilight Wings) ate at the table, while guards and
guests mingled all around the ball room. There were always 6 drow guards
standing behind the drow council, while the other 12 drow guards mingled around
the room. They seemed to be taking rotations in these tasks.
The Peace Talks began.
The first addressing was done by Drow Prime Sentinel Isilru Zeignat, who
said the following:
“Our Empress once had an alliance with the dragon Nidhogg, but that
alliance has fallen, and we no longer see the dragon as an ally, as she
threatens our empire as much as yours. We also have learned of a threatening
individual, who is a shapeshifter, and seeks to sow chaos in all of Arvandor.
We believe they once took the persona of an Ascal Olovalur, and that this
individual has also on occasion infiltrated our midst and caused irreparable
harm. We do not know who this person is, or what their real name is. We call
them “the Betrayer”. We do not know their motives or objectives, but we do know
they have started gathering an army composed of some deserter drow, vampires,
and a number of engineers and their creations – true abominations built only
for destruction and pain. Our Empress Nokshei Dyvnek proposed this meeting so
that we may find common ground to form an alliance and neutralize these enemies
of Arvandor, who threaten all of its people, regardless of their origin. We
would also like to request that the barrier between planes be removed, so that
our civilians may also have a world to go to for asylum, should the conflicts
here increase in severity.”
The Seldarine council replied with their own concerns and requests,
mostly concerns about corruption and vampires being out of control.
Regarding the corruption, the Drow said the following:
“What you refer to as “corruption” has been our Goddess Ganassis’
blessing and protective embrace. Just like your goddess Celeste blesses you with
sunlight, which as you well know, weakens us, our Goddess blessed us with this
protection, because it weakens our enemies. We do not have control over it, or
how it spreads, just like you cannot control the sun itself.”
This triggered some further negotiations regarding the term used to
address the corruption as not “Blessing of Ganassis”. Another suggestion by the
party was to agree on a cease fire between factions, in an attempt to see it
perhaps the corruption would recede. Additionally, having cities open at night could
allow for Drow to still work at night.
The group mentioned a semi-cure for vampirism, but did not disclose the
ingredient used for the potion.
Both factions decided to take these suggestions to their leaders, and
seemed favourable to the cease fire, as well as interested in the semi-cure for
vampirism. They also seemed agreeable to the idea of joining forces and
providing soldiers and ships to help fight Nidhogg. However, getting feedback from
the Empresses will take some time.
At this point, Elenion noticed one of the guards whisper something in
Evgenia’s ear. Hazel communicates with Evgenia to ask what was happening, to
which Evgenia replied: “Talabrina, one of my guards, has been missing for the
past 10 minutes, the other guards are still looking for her”.
At the same time, dessert was about to be served - a pastry chef (human
female – Lynne Crawford) brought in a procession with a cart that held her most
elaborate cake yet, in celebration of this momentous occasion. The cake was covered
in a veil. When the veil dropped to reveal the cake, the room fell silent. All
gasped in awe, and Lynne couldn’t help but smile, confident her masterpiece was
being admired. What Lynne couldn’t see was what had been revealed on the cart
behind her. Her face dropped as a symphony of piercing screams cut through the
room.
There was no cake – but the corpse of a drow instead. With a dagger of
Eladrin military design planted on her chest, and a note written in blood that
read (in sylvan): “Take your filth back to Carantharas”. The victim was
immediately recognized as Talabrina, the guard Evgenia was missing from her
party. She was wearing her sleeping gown (instead of the official ball garb).
This event triggered the doors to the ballroom to be shut. Nobody enters
or leaves, until cleared by thorough investigations. The party also
successfully defused the situation, avoiding further attrition between factions
– go group!
Arelel, the Seldarine Chief of Diplomacy, urged everyone to stay calm in
the face of this great tragedy, and that this is a matter that requires cooperation
and thorough and careful investigation. Any attempt by anyone to flee this
place before providing a thorough interview will be seen as an active attempt
of fleeing the scene of a crime, and treated as a criminal act. He proposed
that the Twilight Wings, as the neutral party, investigate this incident.
Investigating the body, the party noticed that Talabrina’s throat was slashed.
Elenion also could tell that she has been dead for a while, since late this
morning.
Hazel detected the presence of what could be the betrayer somewhere to
the south, possibly by the docks. Brandybuck and Zannan rushed to the docks and
noticed a person who looked like a sailor, but acting strangely, out of place.
They then saw the halfling that they immediately recognized as Tin Can
extending a hand to this mysterious person. Before Brandybuck or Zannan could
do anything, Tin Can teleported them both out of there.
Hazel sent disturbing crying sounds to the Mayor of Multruvia
(Darastrix).
A very curious woman at the ball was trying to get as much information
as possible (Sybill Blackbriar). She is a reporter for the Arvandor Gazette,
and very interested in gossip.
The group told both the Seelie and Unseelie courts about the halfling
automaton known as Tin Can, and that the Betrayer is most likely responsible
for the murder.
The group also decided on the codeword Omelette.
Hazel made a mental note that a bag of colding would be good to have to
transport dragon blood.
