War for the Crown Gameplay Part 1

"Yes, Corey, I think your presence here was greatly appreciated by many, particularly our friend Kalbio," Martella lets out a light laugh. "Actually, I do have one more request of you, if you don't mind." She procures a small envelope, sealed only by a wax heart. "It's a letter for Kalbio from his parents. It's of an emotional and sensitive nature, so they asked that it not be delivered until after his exaltation, would you mind delivering it to him after Stavian's speech?"

"Ah'd be delighted," Corey nods, taking the letter. "Deliverin' messages is what ya brought me here for after all."

”Perfect,” Martella hums thoughtfully. ”Stavian’s speech is ostensibly to exalt Kalbio, but he’ll be in a sour mood that will cloud the whole thing. It’ll be good for Kalbio to get a personal message from his parents.”

With that and a few words of farewell, Martella heads to take her seat before Stavian's speech. Around the senate floor, hundreds of dignitaries, senators, and visitors cram in close. A dozen hulking members of the Ulfen Guard, personal bodyguards of the grand prince, stand arrayed around a podium atop the central, circular stage of the chamber. A mix of senatorial staffers and Ulfen Guard assign people to positions within the chamber based on rank and influence, placing the small group of them toward the outer wall of the room, well over 80 feet away from the grand prince’s podium. Martella Lotheed stands 20 feet closer, while Princess Eutropia and several prominent nobles stand at the podium’s edge. Grand Prince Stavian III ascends to the tall stage that overlooks the hall from its center. He raises a single hand to calm the murmurs of the assembled crowd. A member of the prince’s Ulfen Guard escorts a thrilled and overwhelmed-looking young man in noble attire—the soon-to-be elevated commoner, Kalbio—to stand several paces behind the prince.

“Quite the assembly we have here today,” the grand prince says. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the senate building packed so full; especially not for any of my previous speeches. Even my lovely daughter, now a woman, sits among the players of Oppara’s greatest game. Of course, none of you are here for me. No, today is about something else entirely. Today is about elevation. It is no secret that today is about exalting others to a new status in life."

“I’m sure many of you have had the opportunity to meet Kalbio here. He is a man of the people, elevated at the urging of all the ladies, lords, senators, and aides present in this chamber. I think we should all give him a rousing applause, to commemorate this momentous change in his life.” The room erupts into cheers as Stavian pauses in his proclamation. The grand prince of Taldor smiles widely as he takes in the adulation of the crowd.

As she applauds, Josie notices that the guards at all the doors have been replaced by hooded, armed, black-clad figures. Alarmed, she hurriedly clutches her badge and hisses in a rushed whisper, "Why are there thugs at the doors?"

"What?" Martella's voice hisses back, and then an added, "Can't see from my spot. Coming back to check." Nothing more after that, however, because Stavian's amplified tones ring through the chamber once more as the applause abates. A hulking Ulfen Guard pushes Kalbio forward, almost knocking the commoner down as he awkwardly regains his balance beside Grand Prince Stavian. The leader of Taldor maintains his calm, placing a hand on Kalbio’s shoulder without ever taking his eyes off the crowd.

“I understand your parents sacrificed everything to help you reach this day, my boy. Saving up for your apprenticeship and the tools you needed to achieve greatness. And today you are a grateful son, no doubt making them proud. I too understand what it is to sacrifice; I have given so much for the people of this nation: a brother, a son, a lifetime of service. Even my own daughter’s loyalty.” He pauses, licking his lips and pulling the awkward Kalbio closer to his side. “But unlike you, Lord Kalbio, these Taldans—my children, truly—are not grateful. They scheme and plot, dream of hanging their dutiful father and placing a woman—a woman, sir!—on the Lion Throne! And they have seen fit this very day to induct you into their conspiratorial ranks. And that is why here, now, you, Lord Kalbio, will be the first among them to die.”

And with that, the Emperor of Taldor plunges a jeweled dagger between the ribs of the astonished man in his clutches. While Stavian’s accusations stun the crowd, Kalbio’s blood showers the front row of the senate floor. Kalbio mouths “Ma...ma...pa...” before he collapses to the stage in a heap. A red-stained Princess Eutropia defiantly stands among the nobility, starring up at her father in disbelief while Baron Okerra unbinds his sword and roars in fury at the emperor. Casting aside cloaks to reveal armor, the growing group of mysterious figures at the doors. the attending masses in a wholesale slaughter. A total of 50 armed soldiers surround the room.

After a moment’s confusion from most of the Ulfen Guard, the viking warriors attempt to close ranks around their emperor, cutting down anyone—black-clad warrior and panicked senator alike—who approaches. Masked soldiers stay at the doors and make wide-arc slashes with their swords to keep the crowds at bay. Within mere seconds, the senate floor becomes a killing field, as Stavian III looks around in deranged wonder at the butchery.

Other members of the crowd pull hidden weapons from their clothing and engage the Stavian agents, with Princess Eutropia dueling three at once, a number which quickly becomes two when a dart flies from Martella's wrist at one and drops them immediately. Some nobles fling spells, but are cautious to use anything without pinpoint targeting for fear of hitting their friends and colleagues. Count Zespire and Baron Okerra move to surround Duke Centimus, preventing the wheelchair bound man from being struck, while Landgrave Jarlbjorn and Lord Kastner carve a bloody path to move to protect the children, with the latter's body glowing with holy light as he cuts through the assassins. Some of the servants even cast off their garb to reveal weapons and armour, just as the guard that let the party in earlier cries out, "Lion Blades! To your duties! Defend the senate! Defend Taldor!"

Somehow, when Adelaide had considered the potential consequences of tonight's vote going well, the idea that Stavian III might simply begin a civil war right then and there was not in her thoughts.

She's stunned as the action begins, mind completely blank with horror for a moment as her eyes take in the scene. A heartbeat later, it occurs to her she has no idea where Lady Gloriana Morilla is, in the midst of all this. Adelaide hisses, and yanks out the vial she had prepared earlier. She wasn't sure what good having a clear mind would do here, but in her case, it was almost certain to be a higher priority than having her rapier ready. That said, she certainly intended to have both. The young woman gulps the concoction down, and then starts pulling at the handle of her blade.

Corey looks around frantically and wildly before his brain reverts to a more default state in an attempt to calm down. Battle happening. Fight. He quickly unbinds his glaive, glancing around trying to identify ally from enemy.

Josie gasps as the violence begins to erupt around her, and nearly stumbles as she reaches for her dagger. Fumbling with the binding, she takes a deep breath and repeats to herself, Focus. Find the target. Hit the target.

Sarina gasps as the room explodes into violence. 'No no no no no, it can't end like this!' she thinks frantically, her eyes racing around the room. Landing on a thug currently threatening a group of nobles, she quickly casts a spell at him, sighing with relief as she feels the magic take hold, bewitching his mind. Her relief is cut short when she notices another thug approaching her and her companions. She calls out to the man she has charmed, shouting "Save me! Don't let him kill me or my friends!"

"Hey! Hey, you can't just do this!" Momo objects, her voice quickly lost in the din. She hurriedly steps forwards before her eyes spot the wound. It's clean, a blade delivered through the side and cleanly soaring through the side, through the rib cage, up to the heart. At the very least, she was sure his death was quick, but this was quite an affront to good sense.

She fumbles for her badge and sighs, before opening it and communicating, "Kalbio is certainly dead. At the very least, it was likely a quick death. For now, all we can do is prove we're more than pretty faces." Momo snaps the ID shut and prepares herself. She quickly weaves a lattice of healing magic and blesses Corey, connecting their vitality.

The opportunity to prove more, however, is swiftly cut short, when one of the black-clad agents rushes forwards at Corey and hacks at him in a deadly, precise arc. As the mercenary raises a gore-soaked sword and begins to swing, there is a blinding flash of light from all the senate aide badges and when it fades, only blackness and the smell of cold earth remain. Wherever they are now, the group cannot hear the din of battle anymore.

”I love this!” Momo snaps, a few moments after blinking and taking in the new surroundings. ”Wherever we are, if your weapons are peacebound, now’s the time to undo it,” she grumbles, messing with her own dagger. She takes a look around the new area, and sighs, mulling on something for a while before continuing her task.

"Gah!" Corey stumbles back, trying to evade the blade, and when the light flashes the loss of bearings mid-motion cause him to fall back on top of Adelaide, who had been directly behind him.

"Give me a second, this should help," Sarina says, a bit disoriented by the sudden change. With an incantation and a flourish of her hands, four glowing orbs of light appear to illuminate the surroundings.

Faded wallpaper lines the walls of this thirty-five-foot-by-thirty-five-foot room, peeling up at the seams. Six beds line the western wall, each pristinely made but caked in a thick layer of dust. Eight closed wooden lockers line the northeastern corner of the room. Two doors exit the room: one to the north and one to the east.

Adelaide is surprised by the flash of light, and again by turning into a cushion. ”Corey,” she hisses, not able to get a full breath for much else.

Corey blushes, pushing himself off of Adelaide. "Sorry 'bout that."

Adelaide stands back up and brushes off her dress. "It was unintentional and you're up now, so it's fine." She surveys the room while breaking the peacebond on her rapier, as Momo suggested doing, but sees nothing out of the ordinary. "Does anyone know what just happened?" she asks, as she walks to examine the lockers in particular.

Sarina stops her step towards Corey, intended to offer a hand to help him off Adelaide, now that that's no longer necessary. She thinks for a moment, then says another incanation to confirm her theory. "I can confirm it was magic that brought us here, though how exactly, I'm not sure."

One locker contains a grooming kit, a moth-eaten change of clothes, and a simple hand mirror, but the rest are empty. The items and lockers are devoid of any identifying material. Adelaide closes these, and moving to the two exits, notices no noise. ”Well, it looks like our options are to wait here, not knowing where we are or why we’re here, or to go out and see what we can learn. Personally, I’d prefer to investigate.” She looks back to the others, other thoughts on her mind besides that suggestion. ”Did anyone spot what happened with different allies in all that? Lady Martella, Baron Okerra, Lord Kastner, and the Princess were easily identifiable in the chaos as engaging the fight. I didn’t see my aunt,” she acknowledges, not bothering to keep worry out of her voice.

"We do have a third option," Sarina notes, producing Derea. "Send Derea here out to see if there's any danger just outside these doors. She's quite good at staying unspotted. I didn't see your aunt either. Sorry," Sarina says with sympathy in her tone.

”If you feel comfortable sending your familiar out first, by all means,” Adelaide answers. She frowns slightly, but waves her hand at Sarina’s sympathy. ”Lady Morilla is quite capable, I just wasn’t sure if someone saw something I missed.”

"Ah didn't really see nobody," Corey admits. "Nobody except..." he trails off, the fact that his new friend is dead finally sinking in.

Adelaide gives him a sympathetic look. ”What happened to Kalbio was tremendously unfair in every way,” she comments, crossing her arms. ”I still can’t believe the grand prince would do something like that, even having seen it with my own eyes.”

"He seemed to be coming unhinged," Sarina points out. "Madmen are capable of anything, even atrocities like what we just saw."

”Well, yes, that much was apparent once he began speaking,” Adelaide answers, frowning again. ”The rumor before this, though, was that his reduced volume of protest meant he was slowly accepting the princess’s role. That would have been a much kinder story if true.”