WitW - Session 34
The competition was over, and Lungen the orc had won. Lady Zira immediately walked over to Lungen to apologize. Meanwhile, Yuron had Gunnel taken away and locked up by the Solarian, and he threatened Almyre when she tried to explain the magical effects as a prank.
The party helped Lungen prepare the feast, deciding to pose as guests of Zira—except for Horace, who posed as a chef thanks to Almyre’s successful outfit search.
They boarded the rowboats, which were propelled by clerics using water magic. As they approached, they saw the absolutely massive Royal Host, the personal warship of the God-King Melchior. The ship houses only the king’s highest advisors—in this case, High Priest Odegaard, who had come to mediate the dispute between Lady Zira and Lord Yuron.
Upon boarding the ship, Horace attended to the main table, serving food and refilling wine. Jeatz and Almyre socialized with the Solarian officers on board but quickly found their disdain for the relocated races off-putting. Jeatz then decided to explore the lower decks while invisible. He initially found rows of cannons and eventually stumbled upon a prisoner in the brig and a large cache of black powder, likely meant to fuel the massive artillery. Horace asked Glitter to go below deck and cause a disturbance to distract some of the sailors and bring them below deck.
Suddenly, an altercation broke out between Lungen and a Solarian. Lungen shouted that he was ashamed to have ever been a Solarian, but before the Solarian could subdue him, Odegaard intervened. Almyre spoke with Lungen, who confided that he felt like "dogmeat" for being kicked out of the Solarian. King Melchior's judgment had been a cruel blow to people like him.
The mediation began, with Odegaard laying out the history of the conflict. The decree for the relocated races had led them to settle in the west, while the humans remained in the east. This created a rift where the western part of the city suffered mistreatment, denied participation in the town guard, and was drip-fed resources.
At one point, Lady Zira nearly launched a firebolt at Yuron, but Odegaard warned her that she would be sent to a refocusing camp if she acted out. Meanwhile, below deck, Glitter successfully cast Phantasmal Force on a sailor, making him scream of fire. Several Solarian officers moved below deck to deal with the "emergency," giving Jeatz an opportunity to reappear on the top deck.
Odegaard's final decision was that the trade route to Last Hearth would reopen, tax-free, and that non-human soldiers would be allowed to join the town guard. He took no questions and retreated to the captain’s quarters.
Suddenly, Jeatz was struck by a vision from the entity in the blood pool of the Blood Moon druids. The beast from his vision was charging straight for the western city wall of Duvos.
