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firelight-tales-of-exandria · 6 years

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Firelight Tales of Exandria, Ch.14 - “Wine, Women, and Song”

Thank you for coming, now let’s tell some stories...

“When last we left our heroes, Song had laid bare the circumstances of his past, which from he has spent the better part of a decade running. The rest of the party tried to reassure him that things weren’t as dire as he believes, only to be cornered in their favorite tavern by a squad of Shields interrogating Aeden, the owner of the Sloppy Satyr. The group hatched an escape plan to spirit Nakiya away, believing her to be the target of the investigation as a possible witness to murder, only to discover that it may have been Song the Shields were looking for the whole time.

“Thanks to some quick thinking and spell-slinging on the part of Shadow, the party made it out of the tavern without being detained, but was forced to temporarily split up. Leaf, Cezika, Ladryssa, and Shadow met up with Dren, the local high priest of the Platinum Dragon, to inquire about the apparent strife between he and Aeden. Dren bared the emotional scars of his past, but was comforted by the party and some potent medicinal tea. Meanwhile, Song and Nakiya escaped to the Underwalk Ward, where they patched up the tension from earlier that day. Nakiya bid Song farewell before heading back to the Garrison, leaving the Bard alone once more in the dark, desolate vaults and tunnels beneath Westruun.”

Nakiya returns to the Westruun Garrison barracks on full alert. Expecting to be detained for escaping, she is merely confined to quarters until the current situation with the murder investigation is under control.

With Leaf, Ladryssa, and Dren subdued by the TranquiliTea, Cezika and Shadow attempt to track down Zeal for a heart-to-heart while waiting for their friends to sober up.

Cezika and Shadow wander through the temple domicile for a bit, before being directed to the kitchen by the clergy. They eventually find her at work, absentmindedly lost in her chores for the day.

Cezika asks to talk in private, and Zeal eagerly blows off her duties to go drink in the courtyard garden with her friends, much to the annoyance and disapproval of her fellow Scales.

Zeal and Cezika sit under a tree while Shadow pokes about the garden. Cezika admits to reading Song’s letter to Zeal, which immediately embarrasses the tiefling who immediately hits the bottle of wine Cezika brought as a peace offering.

Cezika and Zeal spend a bit of time bonding over their mutual gripes about authority, fashion, and social expectations. While the other Scales would dismiss it as frivolous “girl talk”, Cezika could easily pick up on Zeal’s subtext; the young tiefling woman’s frustration with the lifestyle of her order, their attempts to stymie her individuality, and her deep-seated resentment towards having to live with her heritage.

Zeal confesses that, in spite of not knowing Song for long, his saying goodbye in such an impersonal manner shook her deeply, hitting upon deep abandonment issues.

Cezika reveals that she was abandoned too: found on a beach about the age of two or three.

Cezika: “The way that I always figured is if our parents were worth a shit they wouldn’t have abandoned us, so we are better off without them. Obviously they were terrible people.

Zeal: “Well, you didn’t need them whoever they were.”

Cezika: “Family is more than blood. Family is an ever-changing garden: sometimes plants die, new ones are grown, ones are brought in from far away, you tend to it, you treasure it, but it changes. It’s what you make of it.”

Zeal: “You know, for a second there, I thought you were going to say something pretentiously pious and attempting to be deep, like Dren does, but then you went with ‘gardening’ and then you kept my interest. So I will give you points for that.”

The girls bond over their shared disdain for bland cooking. Cezika promises to send spices from Marquet.

Cezika admits to baring her soul to the group in private and then bullying Song into sharing his. She says that in spite of the result of the letter, his intentions were honorable.

Cezika: “I don’t think [Song] knows how to be earnest with people that he actually cares about. I think he’s used to being a performer; showing a version of himself that he thinks people will accept without trusting himself that who he is is what we actually want to see. So he puts on this front. He’s trying to be who he thinks he should be-- who we want him to be. He needs to be himself. When he is honest he is quite likable, but it’s hard to lean into that sincerity.”

Zeal: “Y’know, for as much as I don’t want to give that insufferable little twink any credit... THAT I can completely relate with.”

Zeal is completely blindsided by the fact that Cezika thinks she and Song would make “ridiculously attractive babies.”

The hard truth of the life Zeal lives (a child of demonic blood, raised in a militant religious order, often sent off to fight and die against grave threats) meant that she thinks that she could never have a deep, long-term relationship.

Cezika and Shadow explain that Song is afraid the scrutiny of the Margrave’s investigation would reveal a dark secret he has been running from.

Cezika: “He’s worried about something that could be made public: the Margrave releases his identity, people who are after him find out and they come for him, and it’s a whole bunch of murder.”

Zeal: “Oh gods, I was right; he is a creeper.”

Shadow: “He is noble.”

Zeal: “He’s a noble?!”

Shadow: “What he did was a noble thing.”

Zeal: “Oh!”

Shadow unintentionally guilts Zeal into fully admitting her feelings for Song and how much that vulnerability and loss of control frightens her.

Shadow: “You are scared that you cannot control his actions?”

Zeal: “Pretty sure he’d let me control his actions if I wanted to, but...”

Cezika: “I mean, that is an entirely different conversation.”

Shadow: “I am confused.”

Zeal: “You’ll find out when you’re older.”

Shadow: “What does that mean?”

Zeal: “I don’t know, it’s just something Dren says.”

Shadow and Cezika explain that even though Song is in hiding he still refuses to leave the city. After recalling the confrontation with the Shields at the Satyr, Zeal becomes suddenly concerned. She explains that when the Shields start pulling at threads, their facade has to be iron-clad.

According to Zeal, whatever Song is running from may not be something the Shields could arrest him for unless they are absolutely sure he is guilty, but lying to the inquisitors investigating the party is absolutely a crime. As hard as it may be, she suggests they talk to Song and get him to come in to clear everything up.

Cezika offers to show Zeal Dren high on TranquiliTea, which Zeal jumps at and berates Cezika for not telling her sooner and delaying her with “personal bullshit.”

Cezika: “Sometimes it is worth going through the emotional bullshit. It hurts, but all wounds heal.”

Zeal: “...You have very pretty eyes.”

Cezika: “I know, everyone keeps telling me this.”

Cezika, Shadow, and Zeal come back to the rectory to find Dren and Leaf exploring the mystery of bees and Ladryssa is trying to talk to her pseudodragon in pidgin Draconic. Cezika, attempting to be the responsible one, tries to rouse the group to face their challenges and put their plan into action.

Cezika: “Aile, we need to get back.”

Leaf: “Noooooooo...”

Zeal promises to look after Dren (pocketing the TranquiliTea) and the group makes their way back to the Garrison.

On the way, the party notices several patrols-in-force about the city streets, as though Westruun is now on high alter, but are not stopped by any of them.

Upon reaching the barracks, the rest of the party is confined to quarters, meeting up again with Nakiya. The party tries to figure out how to salvage this situation and whether trying to convince Song to come clean is the best course of action. The group remains confined to quarters through the night and into the next day.

Shadow and Nakiya are summoned to speak before the inquiry board, under close guard. The group trying making the best of their confinement. Leaf requests time outside, and they are escorted around the parade grounds for ten hours.

After Shadow and Nakiya are escorted back, the group is delivered their meal by a Shield in a special uniform, who sits with the group and cheerily introduces himself as Warrant Officer Regnault du Gaultier, the special investigator assigned to the group.

#firelight tales of exandria #dungeons and dragons #the heart wants what the heart wants #everybody pile on the bard #also I don't think anyone will like Regnault and it makes me happy #campaign journal #oc: regnault du gaultier

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