Visions of Middlesea

Vidan

Accidentally unread for a year

A message from Minister Dae

“Father Vidan. You are not in the Bureaucracy. You are not required to take my advice. I am not required to examine actions you propose to undertake.”

She smiles wryly. “But I am in the Bureaucracy, and responsible if I do not follow my own advice, even if I do not see the purpose of it. So I have some things to tell you.

“First, you should know that the outcome of this Conclave is less clear than anything I have previously encountered. In my experience, this lack of clarity implies the exercise of a great deal of Divine power in the immediate future of the Conclave. I expect you have more experience with that than I.

“Second, you have no doubt heard of the increase in the probability that the Sword that was Lost may be found, and the line of the Orcslayer returned to the throne. That is not a good thing.

“There are currently three possible candidates to sit the throne of the Empire. The first would merely be a bad king - damaging, but survivable. The second would be Terrible - there would be civil war and parts of the Empire would fall back into the Broken Lands. The third would be… Catastrophic. If you do not find at least one of the first or the second by tomorrow, they will be dead by the day after, and either the third will take the Throne, or the throne and the empire will be destroyed. Understand that is better than the third taking the Throne.

“I do not understand how, but there is in fact a strong possibility you will find one or both of the first two by tomorrow. Perhaps your Goddess can provide assistance that the Twins have not provided to the Bureaucracy. I believe if you find the second, you will not choose to put him on the throne, but you must know you need to protect him until the third is dealt with. If you find the first… I urge you not to place him on the throne, and simply to ensure that the bloodline continues for another day, but recognize that your Goddess may disagree with that determination.

“Third, you should know there is a traitor among the Ministers here. The fourth ranked ones. If you can identify the traitor before tomorrow, tomorrow will go better than it would otherwise. That is less pressing than the preservation of the line, but not insignificant.”

A message from Minister Julan

“Ah, Vidan. I have not spoken to you previously,” [was there an odd strain on the word ‘you’?], “but I believe it is time. I am the Minister of Lions. You are, and will be, a Lion Hunter.” He waives your notes in your general direction. “It doesn’t look like you’ve met any of your companions yet, although I think there are some close encounters here. The Yellow Centaur with Red, the Orange Priestess - Goddess, not Rush - both seem promising. And you should take Luigi up on his offer to speak with Ritasi as soon as possible, although obviously not tonight. You do need to start gathering the rest of the Hunters tonight, though.” He stands up from your desk, dropping your notes, and comes towards you, where you are standing stunned by the door. One arm on your shoulder, he turns you and walks you both back into the hall. Shutting the door behind you, he gestures back down the corridor towards the common area. “Off you go. There’s no time to waste, the Lions will be here soon, if they’re not here already.” He turns and walks up the corridor towards his room.

Gale

First Vision

After her speech, Cara came back and sat with you and the rest of the Captains.

"Well, what did you think?"

Federico was first to respond, as befits her First Mage - "They were listening and nodding at all the right places. It went as well as could be hoped for."

Captain Drake, that ass, was next. "Well, I for one still don't see how we're going to make a profit off this. Even if they sign on to this 'everyone fights the Breaker' plan, this party alone is costing you months of tribute, if not a full year. You're never going to make that all back. And furthermore"

"ENOUGH, Drake." Cara cut him off. "It's my tribute I'm spending, not yours. You're not losing a pence on this party, and I'm tired of hearing about it."

Brightwall piped up with "Well, I for one will be grateful to have some help from the bigger powers if a squad of Sirens rolls out of the Broken Lands into our waters. That's certainly worth some work to acquire. As long as the price doesn't involve us heading out of the Inland Sea anywhere. The Silver Gull's not going to be any help to anyone on land."

"Oh, I don't know," Captain Jane added. "I think a trip elsewhere could be fun, and if we're ever going to get a chance at it, this is the time." She waved out over the crowds, a couple hundred delegates from every country. "This room is full of mages, priests, money... more than the whole Rainbow Isles could pull together. If you can't figure out how to make a profit off that, Drake, you're not trying."

Cara smiled. "Thank you Jane. I'm glad someone is open to the possibilities here, not just the problems." Turning to you, she added "And you, Gale? What do you think?"

You looked out over the room. "What do I think? Obviously, I think we have just started on a Grand Adventure." Cara laughed, and someone (Brightwall?) threw a roll at you.

"Of course you do." Federico said, with a grin. "Enough. We're just repeating what we've all said before. Captain's set the course, and we're heading out. Let's eat, before the storms start rolling in."