Tainya closes in on the dragon, brandishing her wrist razors, and leaps into the air, aiming a blow at the elemental beast's head. As she brings the blade down, gray tendrils imbue it with sufficient shadow energy to render the massive creature unconscious. As Tainya's feet hit the ground, the shuriken that was in her hand was already gone, replaced by her hand crossbow. A burst of shadow envelops her, rendering her invisible Aiming for the dragon's exposed neck, the drow looses a cold-infused bolt, with practically explodes with cold and shadow energy upon striking the dragon, as it rears up and unleashes an explosively powerful fiery breath on the group. Biting back blood, Tainya's magic ring glows with power and another two bolts fly from her hand crossbow, seemingly simultaneously with Kuro showing her the opening for another attack, which she also makes. With four freezing bolts fired, Tainya can only gasp and take a deep breath, still shrouded in darkness.

Move Action: Move to M-4.
Minor Action: Use cloud of darkness to create a zone that blocks line of sight, spaces within are totally obscured. Tainya is immune to these effects.
Free Action: Quick swap my magic shuriken for hand crossbow of speed.
Standard Action: Use knockout on the dragon. 40 vs. Fortitude, hit for 18 damage.
Free Action: Spend Action Point, take advantage of Kuro's warlord feature.
Action Point Standard Action: Coup de grace on the dragon w/ ranged basic attack w/ assassin's strike and sneak attack, 29 vs. AC a hit deals 108 damage, 9 of which is cold damage and the dragon is slowed until the end of my next turn. http://orokos.com/roll/150411
Free Action (Ring of Fury): Ranged basic attack, http://orokos.com/roll/150419 33 to hit for 29 damage, plus http://orokos.com/roll/150420 9 cold damage
Second ranged basic attack: Ranged basic attack, http://orokos.com/roll/150422 29 to hit for 38 damage (14 cold damage.
Free Action (Bravura Presence): Downgrade move action to minor action, use weapon of speed power to use a RBA, http://orokos.com/roll/150428 34 to hit for 40 damage (11 cold).
Total damage: 243

Tainya moves up and conceals herself in comforting shadows. From there, she jumps high up to deck the dragon with a blow to the jaw that knocks Ruuz and her apparition unconscious. A very precise crossbow bolt lodges itself in where the beast's chest cavity would be, waking it right back up with a powerful attack. Ruuz, no longer having fun after being shown up this badly, angrily orders, "Kill them!" as the beast creates another inferno with its burning breath directed at the heroes. Kuro keeps himself from the brink with a few words of encouragement, Melech's weapon lends him strength and allows him to make a vicious riposte, and Tainya fires off another volley of arrows at her target. Sophie, however, takes a full blast and crumples to the ground under the assault.

The dragon-shaped manifestation is starting to flicker, but Ruuz has decided to stop playing around, too, and all the adventurers are in pretty rough shape.

Tainya moves to M-4
Tainya uses cloud of darkness
Tainya hits Ruuz-Khyber with knockout for 18 damage and knocks it unconscious
Tainya spends an action point and takes advantage of Kuro's warlord presence! Tainya performs a coup de grace against the dragon for 108 damage, slowing it until the end of her next turn and bloodying Ruuz-Khyber; This triggers nothing can stop me!, and Ruuz-Khyber uses the greatest breath weapon ever, hitting Kuro for 46 fire damage (increased from 41), and CRITS Melech for 78 fire damage and Sophie for 73 fire damage, and 20 fire damage to Tainya and Gilgamesh; everybody is bloodied and Kuro, Melech and Sophie are dying
Kuro's inspiring reaction triggers, healing him for 33 hit points, and is no longer dying
Melech uses fragarach and spends a healing surge (no longer dying), then makes an attack that automatically crits for 54 damage
Tainya uses the trigger from her ring of fury to make two ranged basic attacks that hit for 38 and 38 damage
Tainya uses weapon of speed to make a ranged basic attack for 40 damage

Initiative
Ruuz-Khyber (Instinctive Slashing) - 33
Kuro - 24
Ruuz-Khyber (Enemy) - 23
Gilgamesh - 22
Tainya - 19
Melech - 18
Sophie - 15
Everflame Walls - 0

Players
Kuro (K-7) 33/69 HP (bloodied) +6 power bonus to damage rolls, +5 power bonus to attack rolls, +5 bonus to defenses, slowed and vulnerable 5 fire (save ends)
Melech (J-4) 17/79 HP (bloodied) +6 power bonus to damage rolls, +2 AC and Reflex, +5 power bonus to attack rolls, slowed and vulnerable 5 fire (save ends)
Sophie (I-7) -22/59 HP (DYING) +6 power bonus to damage rolls, +5 power bonus to attack rolls, slowed and vulnerable 5 fire (save ends), prone
Tainya (M-4) 31/69 HP (bloodied) +6 power bonus to damage rolls, potion of clarity, +5 power bonus to attack rolls
Gilgamesh (I-8) 30/82 HP (bloodied) +6 power bonus to damage rolls, +5 power bonus to attack rolls, resist 4 all

Enemies
Narcissistic Nihilist, Ruuz-Khyber (H/I/J/K/L/M-(-2)/-1/0/1/2/3) -467 HP (bloodied), marked, prone, can crit on roll of 17-20

Notes
-The squares marked with water are two feet deep and considered difficult terrain.
-Putting a pillar (M-5, M-11, and N-14) between yourself and an enemy grants partial cover from attacks.
-Learning more about Ruuz-Khyber and the everflame walls requires a successful arcana check.
-You don't want to stand near the everflame walls.

"Lady Sophie, hang in there!"

Melech grits his teeth, and strikes the dragon twice.

Standard: Invigorating Smite against dargon, atk: 45, dmg: 36(http://orokos.com/roll/150476)
Standard AP: Magjiestic Halows, atk: 45, dmg: 36 (http://orokos.com/roll/150477)
Free: Free attack from Kuro AP thing, atk: 34, dmg: 33 (http://orokos.com/roll/150479)
Minor: Virtue, 21+THP
Minor: Lay on Hands, heal 21 HP

Melech slashes at the dragon with his blade once, twice, three times. The first strike reinvigorates himself and his allies, bringing Sophie back from the brink. The second strike shines brilliantly and threatens punishment. But the last strike rends the dragon down the middle. Ruuz stares in shock, squeaking out "What are you?" as her protection, her power, pretty much everything she was given flashes. There's a loud sound of something breaking, and the dragon-shape disintegrates from the legs up until there's no trace of it left.
The walls of flame disappear next, like a candle being blown out, and the room is once again illuminated by the light of a torch. The rift, and the summoning circle, are gone. It's hard to say where they went, but they're not scattered around the cave in any recognizeable form.

Ruuz is still alive, but weaponless, and still in shock after being dealt such horrid damage in so short an amount of time.

Melech hits with invigorating smite for 36 damage, healing all allies for 8 hit points; Sophie is no longer dying
Melech spends an action point and uses Kuro's bravura presence! Melech hits with Majestic Halo for 36 damage
Melech hits with a melee basic attack for 31 damage, and Ruuz-Khyber is completely and utterly defeated
The everflame wall disappears

Initiative
Ruuz-Khyber (Instinctive Slashing) - 33
Kuro - 24
Ruuz-Khyber (Enemy) - 23
Gilgamesh - 22
Tainya - 19
Melech - 18
Sophie - 15

Players
Kuro (K-7) 41/69 HP +6 power bonus to damage rolls, +5 power bonus to attack rolls, +5 bonus to defenses
Melech (J-4) 46/79 HP +19 THP +6 power bonus to damage rolls, +2 AC and Reflex, +5 power bonus to attack rolls
Sophie (I-7) 8/59 HP (bloodied) +6 power bonus to damage rolls, +5 power bonus to attack rolls, prone
Tainya (M-4) 39/69 HP +6 power bonus to damage rolls, potion of clarity, +5 power bonus to attack rolls
Gilgamesh (I-8) 38/82 HP (bloodied) +6 power bonus to damage rolls, +5 power bonus to attack rolls, resist 4 all

Enemies
Narcissistic Nihilist, Ruuz-Khyber (H/I/J/K/L/M-(-2)/-1/0/1/2/3) -570 HP (bloodied), marked, prone, can crit on roll of 17-20 done and done

"We're the heroes dispatched to protect the train you just destroyed. Oh, and he dying to meet you so we let him join us too." says Kuro with a smirk, looking at Gilgamesh.
Then, he takes a pair of manacles and hands them to the treasure hunter, whispering "Would you check if she's hiding anything nasty? Maybe under the shoes?"

Finally, the warlord steps next to the wounded VIP and starts treating her.
"You did a good job for a diplomat, ya know. Good thing your guard let you come with us."
Healing word on Sophie

Tainya slowly, cautiously approaches Ruuz, keeping a sharp eye out for danger as she does so. Ignoring her companions for now, she completely focuses her gaze on her target, and replies, "Je m'appelle Tainya. Sent by ze Chateau d'Phiarlan to hunt down an assazin."

>>4569
>>4570
Gilgamesh takes ten on his perception and insight checks on Ruuz

Catching the shackles with one hand, Gilgamesh grabs the stunned girl's hands and pulls them behind her back, then slaps the shackles on her wrists. Tightening them somewhat more than necessary, the warrior then pats down Ruuz, growling, "you've got a lot to answer to, butcher." Getting frisked brings back a hint of awareness to her blank black and white eyes, just as Gilgamesh finds a suspicious bag curled up in the heel of her long pink boot.

The implications of Tainya's words have Ruuz cowering. She curls up on the ground and looks up at the executioner with terrified, teary eyes. "Mercy!" she begs, without any of the condescending snark she had earlier.

"So you knew the whole time? Ha! Ya know, you could have told us about it once you confirmed it, not like the real culprit would have gone through the hassle of cleaning the train from these sick creatures!" says Kuro, once Sophie looks better. Then standing up, he continues.

"My job here was to procure everyone's safety. I'll destroy this demon's weapon and try to bring back Sir Cidri and Lady Raki.
About her... well, I would rather seeing her punished by her crimes, but you two are free to decide."

"Ze madam 'ere contracted wit' Khyber. She is too dangerous to leave alive," the drow woman replies flatly, replacing the hand crossbow in her grip with a curved, wicked-looking blade that none have seen her utilize yet. With a quick, clean stroke, she slashes the short sword down on Ruuz's neck.

Ruuz catches on to what Tainya is about to do and attempts to protect her neck by tucking in her chin, her arms still bound behind her. It's all for naught, as Tainya cleanly slices through the exposed area. With an artery severed, blood flows freely from the wound on Ruuz's neck while she falls face forward onto the stone floor. There's a quiet cracking noise as her nose is broken, but it makes no difference : the spark of life recedes from her eyes until they're glassy and unseeing.

"And that's that," Gilgamesh announces upon the apparent death of the King in Red. By now, he's unfurled the small sack into a much bigger one, and rummages around inside it. The first thing he pulls out is a handful of bones of various sizes and shapes. All from people, all kept in the magic bag. Next was a very familiar gnomish head, which he promptly drops back into the sack. "Eugh..."

Ignoring the hubbub, Melech quickly went to Sophie's side and kneeled down.

"Lady Sophie, are you all right?"

Tainya nods at Ruuz's corpse, once she's sure the deed is done, and then says to Gilgamesh, "Ze rest I leave to 'ou." Turning to the rest of the group, the drow says, "Ahm sure ze ozer passengers will appreciate ze destruction of 'er weapon, such zat ze last members of ze conference can be resurrected. We should also search for Zorn, an' make sure ze bodies 're wit ze right parties. My task is done, ah must return to my patron an' ze Chateau d'Phiarlan." Curtseying slightly, she adds, "It was a pleasure to work wit 'ou all." With that said, she turns and walks towards where Naereka had hurriedly escorted the train's passengers.

"Oh, Melech, try as I might, I can't remember the last time I was left like this! I feel much better now, though."
Able to stand now, she turns to Kuro.
"Thank you!"

Then back to Melech, "We should be returning to the towers soon, but I'd like to see if Sir Cidri and Lady Raki can return. May we stay a while?"

"The pleasure was mine, miss Tainya."

Then, Kuro address to the young wizard.
"Well, the ritual actually takes about eight hours. I might be able to teach you so you can perform it too" saying this, Kuro leaves voidsteel on the ground and repeatedly stabs it with his spear. It takes a few hits, but it can't stand the warlord fury for long and it breaks apart.

Gilgamesh hoists the body of the deceased villain over his shoulder, leaving the sack full of bones behind. He salutes the group with his free hand, and declares, "It has been an honor." He is the first one to head back out.

As Kuro gets closer to the unattended weapon, he starts to hear whispers in his head. Promises of power. Promises of wealth. Whatever his heart desires, he could have it at his fingertips. And all he had to do, was pick up the weapon, and use it to kill everyone in the room.

Suffice to say, he doesn't fall for it, and the weapon shatters under the sustained attack.

Kuro bids farewell to his friend and silently thanks him again for the armor he gave him. Then he takes the shattered pieces of voidsteel and saves them in his bag.
"Alright, let's head back too."

The party takes the long trip back through the tunnel and reemerges from the hillside they entered earlier. Walking around to the front brings them to a gathering of guardsmen digging through the drenched wreckage of the train. Thorn is a few feet behind them, seriously injured but breathing; unlike the mangled body of Cidri and Raki's detached head, now in even worse shape, lying by the pixie and showing stark contrast between being alive and being dead. Far back towards Thaliost, the remnants of a bucket chain linger and watch curiously, still holding unused buckets of water.

Nearby, the ferry across the lake to Thronehold is getting ready to leave again.

Tainya nods, satisfied that the business with the bodies and Thorn is being taken care of, and moves to find her patron and board the ferry.

Kuro asks Sophie and Melech to accompany him for a little more. The warlord attends Thorn and makes sure he's doing good. "What will you do now?"

>>4584
The tiny pixie man regains some color and replies, "Ah'm gonna be busy fixin' that wreck o'er there."

"Haha, well that might take a while. Take it easy and say good bye to the rest of the crew for me."

Once that's done, Kuro looks for the most important looking guy around and identificates himself.
"Evening, my name's Kuro Nobunaga from the Jorasco house and I'll procure Raki D'Medani and Cidri D'Sivis's corpses, I'm in charge of resurrecting them. I could do it here, but the ritual is rather long and I would prefer to welcome them back in a better place."
Take ten on diplomacy: 21

A few of the guardsmen point at Sophie and speak in hushed whispers. One of them, a goliath, takes Kuro's papers and looks them over for a tense minute, flipping through the sheaf of papers. The other guards that aren't near the train wreck speak hushedly about something Kuro can't hear.

The goliath hands them back, nods to his fellows, and then to Kuro. Pulling out a a notebook, he scribbles something down and says, "Alroight then, I leave them in your custody, Mister Nobunaga."

"Thank you, I'll take care of them" Kuro politely nods to the Goliath and procures the VIPs corpses into some clean bags and then place them inside his magic bag.

"Very well, shall we depart now?"

The group finds that the ferry currently running is rather small and unassuming. A simple steamboat with a paddling wheel in the back, that could maybe fit 50 people.

What little crew you see moves below decks, save for the captain. He waits for everyone to board before giving the signal to depart. The engine hisses as the craft propels you across the otherwise serene waters, toward Thronehold Castle.

"Lady Sophie, once we reach Thronehold I'll ask you to get us a place to perform the ritual. I'm no good for diplomacy."
Unless something bothers him, Kuro will try to take nap on his seat.

Last edited at 13/11/28(Thu)20:23:21

Pretty soon, the vessel reaches the central island. You circle around the town of Throneport at the lip of the island, and make for the big castle on the opposite end. There you disembark from the docks and are marched up the docks by an armed entourage. You're stopped at the gates by guards bearing the symbol of House Deneth, who ask for your papers and identification, which you all provide.

With that squared away, it seems like you're ready to enter, until an inquisitive human asks, "'ere now, why weren't you with the nobs that came in earlier?"

Last edited at 13/11/29(Fri)20:34:26

"We had some sort of 'situation' down there, I thought you had been informed before.
Did they arrive safely?"

>>4593
"Oh yes, they was saying that you might be late," the guard says as though he just remembered it. "Didn't say why, though," he elaborates, an accusing stare at the party. A much older man sighs at his colleague and waves you through, and you are escorted inside, past the many people who arrived here before you.

The lavish hallways of Thronehold Castle are illuminated by wall scones, and chandeliers of brass and gold. In place of torches and candles, the lighting comes from dragonshards of many colors. It has a marked effect on the appearance of the hallways you're led down, an entire corridor bathed in a shade of light blue. The attendants bring you to a room in the east wing of the castle, and leave you in a comfortably furnished meeting hall. After pointing out the (temporary) nameplates on each door, the attendants announce your arrival to your entourage before leaving you alone.

The nobles you escorted - and Mark - file out into the big room. Parthia fails to conceal her smile upon her guardian's return, but it is Garret who voices the question on everyone's mind : "What happened out there?"

"Ze culprit of zose murders confronted us," Tainya says simply, her weapons now holstered and her fancy appearance back in order. She gestures with one hand up in the air as she elaborates, "It would appear zat she dabbled in some unsavory practices--consorting wit' Khyber, of all zings. However, she has been decisively defeated an' we recovered ze bodies of those slain, which szould now be able to be resurrected."

Noding, the warlord adds.
"If you were so kind to lend us a room I will proceed to perform it immediately. It takes some hours, but it is no problem for me." Then, thinking a little, he continues. "And if it isn't too much problem I would also like to request something to drink and a new change of clothes for Lady Raki and Sir Cidri."

Mark volunteers to grab the requested water from one of the servants. With Gardain laying on the couch in the center of the room, it doesn't seem as though the dwarf plans on going anywhere.

"Well the rooms are over there," Garret replies, pointing towards one of the rooms; one of them has a name plate on it that reads KURO NOBUNAGA, making it his.

Parthia simply nods in solemn understanding.

"Ah, that's rather convenient. Well, unless the meeting can be delayed for a day I believe it would be wise to start it now. The diplomats might feel a little tired just after being resurrected."

"So, lady Sophie. Would you give me a hand?"

>>4598
"Gladly!" says Sophie "Will you be performing it in your room?"

"Yeah, if you have something else to do you should go ahead, I'll begin the preparations"

Sophie excuses herself, going out to look for for the other diplomats. Once she's rounded them all up in the meeting hall, she explains, "Garret's escort, Kuro Nobunaga, is currently on the task of resurrecting fellow Sir Cidri and Lady Raki. This is a long process, and they may not be in their best judgment for some time after the ritual. Would it be possible to postpone the meeting for a day?"

Doubtful of her own capabilities as a speaker, Sophie turns to Melech for assurance.

Diplomacy check: http://orokos.com/roll/153958 (13)

Last edited at 13/12/08(Sun)23:59:28

Melech nods and clears his throat. "As Lady Sophie has said, this task will prove to wear them out afterwards. So, if you all could..."

Diplomacy check: http://orokos.com/roll/154110, 20

While Kuro begins laying out the necessary preparations for the ritual - using as many healing salves as he can get his hands on before resorting to residuum - Sophie confronts the rest of the nobility with her charge. The group seems... Perplexed. Not unwilling, per se, but curious. An important looking eladrin man, clothed in royal purple robes, is the first to ask, saying, "I suppose housekeeping has been overburdened by the influx of valuable personages. I believe I heard they needed another day to accommodate everyone, but until now there hasn't been a reason to do so." The man turns to the rest of the assembly and asks, "Are there any here who object to this postponement?"

They all shake their heads.

"And there you are, then. I do hope you make good use of your time, Lady of House Orien." the man says with a bow.

While the negotiating takes place, Tainya moves over to her charge to assume her low-profile role from before. With the killer taken care of, there's little left for her to do but remain at Parthia's side until the mission reaches its conclusion. She innocently returns Parthia's smile before turning back to pay attention to what's going on with the rest of the group, and awaits her charge's decision as to what action to take now.

>>4605
As Tainya takes up position, she finds Parthia has a regretful look on her face. The representative of House Phiarlan twiddles her thumbs anxiously, making a few attempts to speak but unable to form the right words. Finally, she speaks to Tainya, in Elvish, about what has been eating at her. She whispers, "I doubt anybody warned you beforehand, but your identity and personage were originally going to be exchanged with House Thuranni for valuable intelligence on their own operatives. A pawn sacrificed to grab some of their more valuable pieces, if you will."

Tainya looks thoughtful for a moment and whispers back to Parthia, "Zat iz not entirely unexpected, though ah was not informed. All ze same, it may cause me to question mah employers more zhoroughly when zey next look to hire moi."

>>4607
"I suppose they don't trust you very much. Such is commonplace in this line of work." Parthia tries to smile. "If it's any consolation, I trusted you enough to rely on you to keep me safe and deal with the infiltrator."

>>4608
"Oui, merci, madame. For 'our trust, and for informing moi," the assassin whispers in as not-as-conspiratory-tone-as-possible. "Such mistrust iz not unknown to moi."

>>4609
"In any case, I give you my sincerest gratitude for taking care of me." Parthia whispers with a more genuine smile, seemingly having nothing else to add at this point.

With that settled, Sophie heads back to Kuro's room.

"Thanks, Melech! I'm not sure they'd have agreed without your help," [i]she whispered, smiling at him.

With everyone ready, Kuro takes an adjacent room and begins preperations for the ritual. He applies special salves to the body of Cidri, using the residuum to ensure the ritual takes, while reciting mantras to whatever gods might listen. Sophie watches attentively for about two hours before understanding the gist of what needs to be done. She takes another room and does the same with the severed head of Raki.

The process goes on well into the morning for the both of them. Neither is able to sleep at this time, for pausing now would require them to start over. Still, there's no sign that what they're doing is going to work, other than not being rejected this time around.

Upon the eighth hour of Kuro's treatment, Cidri's body emits a crunching noise as bones and sinew mend and reshape themselves back where they belong. The cracking sounds intensify as as Cidri's head is formed from the neck up, the skull appearing, the skin covering it, and the important bits and pieces forming within. Color returns to the body as its deathly pallor lifts, and Cidri stirs, groaning "Got such a damned headache..." before he's mugged by the return of the jovial Gardain. Really, it's as though nothing changed at all.

A few hours after, the same process repeats with Raki. Parthia has the foresight to shut the door behind her as the representative's body reforms, leaving the women alone in the room. Her eyes remain shut when the process completes, and she seems unwilling to move. It takes a while, but finally she whispers, "Thank you. Could I trouble you for a fresh set of clothes?"

"Just a headache? Another perfect work for the list."

"Welcome back Sir. I'm ashamed we allowed that nasty girl to do this. We've taken her out of the game, so you might you rest relaxed for now."

Last edited at 13/12/22(Sun)12:30:12

Nodding, Tainya goes around to look for a spare set of clothes, leaving the room discreetly if need be.

"Rest is for the ignorant," raves Cidri, forcing himself to stand. "I still need to finish my work!" Mark shrugs in apology at the zealous gnome's outburst while the tinkerer tinkers with the same device you'd seen in his room before. The proclaimed Mister Goldsmith, meanwhile, reads things from a set of schematics, as engrossed in his work as his friend.

"They mean to say 'thank you,'" Mark explains. "But right now they're in the zone and do not wish to be disturbed."

Meanwhile, a few rooms over, Raki forces herself to sit up, adjusting her glasses on her face before opening her eyes. "So the King in Red's reign of terror has ended. I can guess that much from the fact that I am alive now. Would I be wrong to assume that you are part of the group I was to travel with?"

Finding a set of clothes, Tainya returns to the room and offers them to the newly resurrected Raki.

The half-elf graciously accepts the clothes given - attire fit for one of her status, possibly left for guests to use in emergencies - and quickly dons them. She fidgets with them for a moment as she tries to make them fit better, then takes a deep breath.

"I'm going to need a report on what happened," Raki announces, throwing open the door and singling out Narerka. "You. Escort boy. Tell me what you know," she orders, motioning toward her room - a different one - with her head. And then drags him off, slamming the door shut behind her.

After that interruption, the rest of the day is mostly spent in preparation and debate for the upcoming meeting of the bigwigs, though Cidri spends most of it frantically trying to make up for lost time with his device. Food and drink are brought to the room at regular intervals - three big meals, brunch, afternoon tea, and dessert. The meals are particularly extravagant, though not so excessive as to be presented by a giant food monster. The rooms are much more cozy than the cold ceramic tile of the dining car.

And then the big day arrives. All the nobility are forced into their fanciest suits and dresses with forced smiles. You, the escorts, with the exception of Sophie, tag behind them into the main hall. Beneath a glittering silver chandelier, the you stand a respectful distance away as all the high-ranked persons take their seats around a rosewood conference table.

The conference proceeds mostly without incident - a few treaties honored, some rumors are confirmed, borders are moved, and troops are sent to locations deemed important. Sophie successfully conveys her piece before a man introduced as the Duke of Thaliost launches into a rather pompous speech that all but lulls the court to sleep.

There are a few people that glance at Tainya and speak in hushed whispers, but neither her name nor anything indicating her involvement comes up, save for the presentation of Voidsteel's broken pieces. There wasn't any gossip like that afterwards.

Cidri looks very pleased with himself when Gardain's turn to talk comes up. Touting a wondrous invention that would "revolutionize trade," he asks the box what the price of potatoes in Sharn is right now. Through a crackle of static, a voice can be heard to say that the price has increased by 2 copper pieces since yesterday. The rest of the hall isn't sure what to make of it and applaud the two of them politely.

As dusk draws close, everyone seems to have come to a resolution, some more grudgingly than others. The eladrin man from before announces that the conference has officially ended, and transport will be provided. One by one, the nobles thank you for keeping them safe and bidding you well - except for Narerka, whom Raki insists stays with her as her sidekick/Watson. It's an interesting spectacle, at least.

That's pretty much the best that can be said about the current political situation : an interesting spectacle. And the Lord of Blades looms on the horizon, unseen but his presence still felt. People are nervous about the future. But things are better than they were, in no small part thanks to the heroes who fought to get here. For now, at least, the world is saved.

Epilogue

Tainya returned to her job as an enforcer for House Phiarlan. Her superiors were shocked by the fact, and some lobbied to have her pawned off to House Thuranni as originally intended. But those dissenting opinions and dissenters mysteriously disappeared, drowned in the mire of the bureaucracy. She also received a significant pay raise, in spite of much resistance. Parthia is enjoying her higher position of power immensely, sending her confidant all kinds of perks without leaving any trace of a paper trail.

Sophie continued travelling around the continent, in spite of her father's protests for her to come home where it's safe. Out and about in the world, she, Melech, and Kuro travel to exotic locations together and fight all manner of monsters. As long as they write back to their respective houses once a month, their adventures are unrestricted. Right now they're being offered a huge reward if they can reestablish a route for the Lightning Rail through the Mournlands...

Narerka was "promoted" into the personal enforcer for Raki, which carried a much higher salary. Their teamwork has managed to put a dozen criminals behind bars, and several more into little dirt plots. There's a lot of rumors surrounding their work dynamic, but it's unclear how much is true.

Sora survived the attention of the Blades, and dealt enough harm to their forces on her own for the Hatheril resistance to expel them entirely. Managing to avoid being put in the spotlight for her contributions, she found a thaumaturge who teleported her to her destination. The recipient of her message, a wealthy baron, did not skimp on the promised reward, particularly for keeping the contents private. After that, she started getting quite a few other high-paying deliveries...

Gardain is backing the funding of Cidri's project and attempting to get the communication devices installed in every city. Mark still follows behind diligently.

Miri found a job closer to home and stopped working for the Lightning Rail. It doesn't pay nearly as well, but she's able to spend more time with her family and less time dealing with insufferable persons. If you ask her, she says it's worth it. And so does her daughter, Mari.

Peren reconciled with the rest of his family and has started stockpiling money towards his childhood dream. With his younger brother - a baker pyromancer - and older brother - a druid pastry chef - they plan to open a magical bakery. Only a couple more years now! He still can't read the atmosphere, though.

Flint got a bonus and permanent pay raise, as did Thorn and Lance. They're sticking to what they're good at - their current jobs - for now.

Cotton was able to bring Varis "Dragonpuncher" Wilder back from eternal petrification. She delivered the supplies she promised, gave him regards from his family, his town, and herself, before returning to the Feywild. Varis himself dealt with the remaining basilisk population before returning home to run a training hall.

Kriv the stationmaster hasn't retired yet, and has no plans on doing so any time soon.

Jack Kinsington, for his role in the incident at the Terminus, was locked up with the rabble that perpetrated the attack. The guard watching over them? An untiring warforged - to the vexation of Jack and his cellmates.

The Lord of Blades withdrew his forces after several key defeats and finally having his quarry delivered to him. A frequently resurrected Ruuz is being subject to the very despair she'd hoped to inflict upon the world. Khyber has forsaken her entirely.

Gilgamesh finished his delivery, repaying his debt to the village that took him in and to the Blades themselves. Having become a free agent, Gilgamesh met up with his sidekick Enkidu and chose to travel the world. Eventually he disappeared entirely, never to be seen in Eberron again. To this day, he wanders the planes in search of great treasures, greater adventures, and the greatest companions to share both with.