ZEITGEIST Tizbiz Zeitgeist Campaign

MrsMongoose

Explorer
I was stuck with it, as the choices were Nevla (my PC, similar to yours by the sounds of it, but a weird charisma-based cleric), a dwarf kineticist, a goblin with a mech, a kobold who thought he was a dragon, (replaced by a medium which probably would have been better but was tied to Rot-replacement ), and an NPC elf(-ish) rogue.
It was like herding cats sometimes, and she also had the Hook as well...
Le Sigh...
 

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Lylandra

Adventurer
I was stuck with it, as the choices were Nevla (my PC, similar to yours by the sounds of it, but a weird charisma-based cleric), a dwarf kineticist, a goblin with a mech, a kobold who thought he was a dragon, (replaced by a medium which probably would have been better but was tied to Rot-replacement ), and an NPC elf(-ish) rogue.
It was like herding cats sometimes, and she also had the Hook as well...
Le Sigh...
You made Nevla Queen if I remember correctly? How did it affect the dynamic between your PCs?
 

Lylandra

Adventurer
Coronation

At some point during our ongoing research on the Titans, we receive an alert from Slate's City Watch that strange things are going on at a large mill and that a monster has appeared on the site. We are led to the mill district and see a grotesque formation inside said mill: a huge, semi-transparent brain which seems to have assimilated a group of demonstrators who appear to have protested against the working conditions in the mill. We are both angered that poor working conditions are a thing even in a traditional city such as Slate and shocked to see that this creature looks an eerily lot like a Gidim! The translucent brain seems to have connected the poor people's minds to some wort of mental network, so we decide to kill it rather sooner than later.

When Carlyle launches his first attack at the creature, however, he notices that the workers inside are feeling the pain as well, and we realize that there must be more sources of this network than just those entangled inside the brain. Auryn finds another group of protesters nearby and scares the hell out of them with a haunting magic, causing them to run away. This weakens the creature, and Carlyle is instantly reminded of the bakery incident and is therefore quick to find yet another cause for disruptive dissonance:

“Good workers of Slate, hear my words: I offer every second one of you 50 gold if you put down the protests!”, he shouts towards them.

Just as planned, this leads to arguments and claims of unfairness while others are quick to agree to the generous offer. Gradually, we are able to disperse the creature by removing the workers from the mental network, but we have to deal with extremely distressed workers. Carlyle promises all workers that he would enact a suitable law which would oblige employers to pay their workers according to the time they worked and which would prevent the locking of workers in their workplace. Oh, and to be fair, he makes sure that all of them are being paid 25 gold. We then ask the guards to be on the lookout for other phenomena of a similar nature, and especially to intervene if a gathering of people begins to behave in a synchronized way.

We suspect that this “mental network” phenomenon is not limited to Risur alone, and hope that the Obs will maybe now understand that the Gidim and other planar entities pose a serious threat. Carlyle especially feels confirmed in his fears about lowering the planar barrier and calls Nicodemus a fool for not being more considerate after he had been honestly warned of the Gidim.

A few days later, the ceremonial coronation of King Gabriel takes place. The ceremony itself is being conducted by the retiring King Aodhan, who passes his crown to his successor, naming him King Gabriel, defender of Risuri civilization and reciting the feats of the very first King of Risur, King Kelland.

(well yeah, now Auryn has to share the name Gabriel with the rest of Risur. Previously, the circle of people who called the man by his first name had been a pretty exclusive one... not sure if Gabriel himself was so happy about the re-naming after being "Mr. Carlyle" for centuries. but he wouldn't dare change the traditions.)


King Gabriel then turns to the public with his very first speech as monarch.

“Good people of Risur! It is with great honor that I take on the mantle of King. For all of my life, the Monarchs of Risur have guided and guarded this grand, beautiful land. And I promise to follow this tradition of royal duties, as a Risuri King is not only a ruler, but primarily a servant of his people.”

He takes a short pause in reflection and smirks lightly before he continues.

“And serving 'my people' is a task that I have fulfilled, albeit on a small scale, for centuries. In this new life, in this new, frightening world, I now promise to take on these experiences and dedicate myself to being a reliable servant and defender of Risur on a bit large scale. I see both the changes surrounding us,as well as the awakening of the Titans as a challenge and the beginning of a new era, which we will face fearlessly. Together.”

He takes a deep breath again, as the people present applaud him and his rallying call.

“Together. This includes not only Risur, but our neighbors as well. To our eastern friends in Ber: I wish to maintain and intensify the existing good relations with your free and proud nation; and to Elfaivar: You are not alone in your struggles and I believe that we have more in common than meets the eye. I am sure that we'll all find common grounds in these troubled times.”

The ceremony for the public then ends with the Hymn of Risur, which is sung by Auryn.
Just as she finishes the last notes, she gets a sudden spark of inspiration, turning song into dance as she tries to summon the light of Srasama, ignoring all facts about light magic being difficult to not possible at all. And to everyone's surprise the sky clears up and a small beam of divine light appears, lighting up the coronation site while wild flowers start blooming in the area. Encouraged, she looks up to newly appointed King Gabriel, bows down briefly and says “Remember... even in darkness, the light will never fade as long as you keep it in your heart.”

(this was basically a shot in the dark. I didn't know whether or not the Nirvana's Blossoming would still work, and so I had Auryn try it. If it didn't, it would have simply been a dance routine at the end of the Hymn, nothing too unusual for her. But boy was I happy when it turned out the way it did. And it was quite the pivotal moment for her development.

And yeah, remember what I said about Carlyle's motto as King in my previous discussion?)


Afterwards, the nobles also confirm Gabriel as King of Risur. Given the right to appoint nobles, King Gabriel in return names Aodhan Duke of Shale, in memory of his sister Ethelyn and his original place of birth.

(Another unique one to our campaign I suppose, and another heartwarming idea of Carlyle. He has really formed a bond there with Aodhan)


On the same day, Teraklir and Inatch appear to swear allegiance to the new king of Risur, renewing the Pact of Boyle, with Teraklir also speaking for her absent father. King Gabriel thanks both of the dragons for their loyalty, and he states that he accepts the vow by proxy from Gradiax. Though he'd expect to hear the words from him in person should his duties in Danor allow for a break. Inatch, however, is concerned that no other dragon has appeared, which could be due to either lack of travel options, or due to their regained flight. He states his hope that the Pact will survive even this temptation, though, even if he appears to be more wary over the absence of Gradiax than Gabriel. Ultimately, however, it is agreed that a dragon appearing in public all of a sudden could quickly become a problem for everyone present.

(Still wondering about the past relationship between Inatch and Gradiax with Inatch being constantly worried about the Steel Dragon and Gradiax not minding him at all. More info is definitely appreciated and this is something I would definitely expand upon as well)


Since King Gabriel wishes to get used to his new position and daily routine with Harkover Lee, Auryn goes directly to Bole to inquire about the problem with the Titans. She talks to several people and learns that, except for the mine near Favela (which belongs to Lord Vantrys' company), all the mines in the area have been abandoned. And since “the Granny” is known to have an interest in children, all of the children of Favela have been brought to Bole for safety, and the Minister of Fey Affairs, a druid named Ochran Eisner, has been given the task of hiding the town from the eyes of the Titans.

So far so good, but as she's about to leave the city for Favela, it occurs to Auryn that the protective symbols are pointing in the completely wrong direction and would instead draw the Titans' attention and ire. And as Eisner continues to be busy placing the symbols, she looks for him to point out his mistake. At first he denies the mistake, claiming that he knows what he's doing, being a druid and master of Titan lore.

Auryn gives him a death stare in return as she produces her mask of the Unseen.

“Who are you, trying to lecture a Fey Lady of the Unseen Court who just happens to be a expert on druidic symbols? These are wrong and you have to correct them!”, she orders Eisner with a stern expression. But as it turns out, Eisner is not simply an overconfident fool, but rather a saboteur as the druid reveals himself to be a follower of the Voice of Rot and tries to escape.

Auryn stops him and takes him to a holding cell. Just as she is about to confront him, Gabriel joins her and Auryn tells him about her findings. Of course the new King is not happy at all to hear about more cultists of the Voice. So we both agree to interrogate him together.

Eisner turns out to be a wacky conservationist who wants to destroy the industry of Bole on behalf of the interests of the Fey. We, in turn, tell him about our efforts to protect the Dreaming and nature, as well as the machinations of the Voice of Rot. We explain that some plots of the Titan even reached deeply into the politics of the Dreaming, and on top of it we believe the Voice to be responsible for some of the current problems. Just when we seem to have convinced him of his errors, however, he is suddenly murdered by the snake that had become his tongue.

(Uh yeah... that came out of nowhere)

We tell the guards of Bole about what happened to our prisoner, inform them about the problem with the druidic symbols and show them how to use them correctly. Then we head to Favela to inquire more about Granny's activities.

There, we learn that every day the miners sing songs to make their work safer and we remember that music was something Granny Allswell might react positively to. In addition we hear that a new mayor was recently elected. As we are being led to her, Auryn just happens to know that this woman is none other than Kathlyn Eisner, the sister of Ochran Eisner. She is not really sure how this knowledge came to her mind, but connects the dots that lead to the Humble Hook.

We break the bad news to her regarding the fate of her brother, slowly revealing that Ochran was a supporter of the Voice, who would have brought Bole to ruin. From her reactions, we learn that she is surprised by the death, but not by Ochran's hidden loyalty to the Death Titan. We conclude that she, too, could be a follower of the Serpent, so we tell her the same as her brother, but add that it was ultimately her own master who killed Ochran.

To save her life, we remove the snake-tongue and keep her as a prisoner in Favela. She tells us (mentally) that it was the snake's cunning that led her to reopen the old forbidden mine shaft where Granny had once been imprisoned.
She adds that they had also directed Granny's interest to the dam of Bole by using children's voices in the area on the Bole dam. We are grateful for this information and proclaim to the imprisoned mayor and all present guards that we will take care of the Granny problem for them. After all, Auryn is Baroness of Bole and thus responsible for the place's safety. Still the people are unsure what to think of this statement.

“So, you wish to protect us from Granny Allswell and her gremlins... got that. But you and what army?”

Auryn takes a deep breath in return and rolls her eyes theatrically.

“Just me. And the King of Risur.”, she says and points at King Gabriel, who shrugs with a charming grin before we set off to look for Granny in the shaft of the red-cap mine.

(People always keep underestimating her ;) well, no one will doubt that the King of Risur can take on a Titan at least)
 

“I am the people’s servant” lands differently when you’ve literally been a butler, yeah.

While other groups have had some grand moments, and some big philosophical highlights, I think your version of ZEITGEIST had some of the best understated personal connections among characters.

I'm excited to see our heroic couple handle the fey titans.
 

Lylandra

Adventurer
well, thanks. I guess this is due to our rather slow-paced two-PC-Campaign. The story also happened to fit into our chosen themes and backstories so well that we had a lot of points we could connect to. See the parallels to Kasvarina and Miller, the question of unchangeable fate and destiny vs. chaos and free will, industrialists vs. nature and clash of cultures. And yep, the Titans will play a more personal role as well :)
 

MrsMongoose

Explorer
You made Nevla Queen if I remember correctly? How did it affect the dynamic between your PCs?
Not that much: I was already having to say "No!" with a rolled-up newspaper to initially most of the goblin, and especially kobold's antics anyway... The Dwarf was probably second choice (however it was the leadership skills that were sadly lacking in the rest of the group) but ended up replacing Granny in the end I think...
And the replacement Medium although tied to replacing the Rot, was too stuck in the past, as their schtick was that they channelled the different aspects of themselves as "dead monarchs of Risur", and we weren't going to be frozen by past mistakes and actions (kind of like Nic), but instead look more to the future.
The other characters each had their own interests anyway...
 

Lylandra

Adventurer
Of canaries, coal mines, and lakes of booze

As we enter the mine, we find an old, rotten sign, written with a crude warning on it, but seemingly ignored. We see that no metal remains are to be found in this area and guess that this must have been the work of Granny's gremlins. Sp we take an elevator down, and pick up a pretty sneaky Gremlin on the way. We do not wish to kill the crazy creature, so we tie him up and leave him near the bottom of the elevator shaft. On the lower level, we stumble across four more Gremlins, two of whom (according to the Hook) were naughty children once. We negotiate with them, explaining that we are only looking for Granny, and they agree to show us the way. But it appears that “the way” is actually full of traps. When they try to drop a huge metal ball on Gabriel, he is finally fed up with the buggers and he orders them to let us go the rest of the way alone. This doesn't seem to work, however. It takes some rather harsh intimidation from Auryn to make them flee the area for good.

(well, now Gabriel understands why some Eladrin use "gremlin" as an insult).

When we are well on our way to Granny's lair, we are unexpectedly attacked by a purple worm moving in the sandy underground of the mine. Fortunately, the creature is just pretty hungry and less smart, so it does not pose too much of a threat. We follow the tracks in the mine until we reach a large hall with a huge pile of gold, inhabited by countless gremlins. And then there is Granny, the Titan of Caves and Mountains, lurking in the back of the hall. Granny herself seems to be stuck in a wall, and as we get closer, we see that the Gremlins are cooking a disgusting stew on one side, and holding a bunch of children captive in a cage on the other. What's worse than the locked up children is the fact that there appear to be explosives stored near the children's cages and Gabriel's nose confirms that these are no mere decoys.

Granny welcomes us into her “home”, explaining that she is worried about the children of Risur in these dark times and has brought them here for safety. She also offers us a deal: We are to agree with her that we will send her children on a regular basis in exchange for them working for us in the mines. When the children are old enough, they will be released with all their belongings. She also wants all the children hidden in Favela and those on the Bole dam to be brought to her.

We tell her that we will definitely not give her what she asks for, especially since there are no children in Favela or on the dam in Bole. Instead, we explain that this is just a ploy by Voice of Rot supporters to get old Granny interested in the nearby cities and their infrastructure, so she can be used as a “weapon” by her rival Titan's servants. We tell her about the two snake-tongued siblings, and Granny actually seems interested in learning more. She demands to see our surviving witness, Kathlyn, in person. A wish we are happy to grant her.

So we leave the mine, and return with Kathlyn. Granny just looks at the woman and instantly sneers, smelling the essence of Rot on her. She then turns her wrath on the Voice of Rot.

“Spoken true, King of Risur”, she says.

“Alright, let Granny offer you another deal: You shall have the children, and your miners may resume their work. Two conditions: First, bring me the tongue of the Voice of Rot within a year. I am sure Kathlyn here will find this satisfying as well. Second, I want the miners to sing while they are working in my mountains. So bring your best canaries, alright?”

King Gabriel reminds her that the mountains she are actually "Risur's mountains", but generally agrees to her demands. He asks Auryn to join the children in singing a farewell lullaby for Granny, and apologizes to the three Earth Elementals who had to collect gold for Queen Ziri when she imprisoned Granny the last time. Finally, we decide that the job of "mine singer" might not be a bad idea for penniless artists, so that the workers don't have to sing and swing hoes at the same time. And of course we take all the explosives that were left behind the children with us.

(Mine singer is again way funnier when you speak German. “Minensänger” sounds very close to “Minnesänger” - a minstrel)

When we return to Favela, we learn that most of the children we returned are orphans thanks to their Granny, who made them eat their parents. Now we know what this disgusting stew actually contained... So we propose to build an orphanage for the children in Bole.

(I guess Gabriel must have somehow known due to his keen nose and all. But he didn't flinch at all. Also, the confrontation with Granny went surprisingly smooth)

Now that our first Titan is appeased, we think it would be a good idea to report the King's first success to Slate so that it can be made public. We also ask to tell the people that we want to address the food supply problem caused by the missing herds next, and we are told that Brandyhome is one of the stations in the Weftlands where a major thunderstorm was seen. Which in turn is a decent indicator of the presence of the Father of Thunder. We conclude that this location plays much into our cards, as we have learned that the Titan of the Grasslands likes to feast on booze.

So off to Brandyhome we go! One we arrive, we already see impressive bolts of lightning in the distance with rumbling thunder following not much later. We talk to the locals about the Father of Thunder, but most of them tell us that they have been cautious due to the thunderstorms and did not dare approach its supposed source. But all of them do complain that there has been nothing buck chicken on the menu for days since the herds have all but disappeared. Oh, and also a group of riders has just arrived, so we may want to talk to them, too.

When we start looking for said group, we are very much surprised to find out that said “riders” are none else but Riffian and his Wild Hunt, who are looking for new mounts. Aruyn is at first somewhat incensed that she had not received word from Riffian and his men about Elfaivar, though this soon turns out to be a message transmission problem, as Riffian had left his report in Flint and we've been in Slate and Bole for most of the time.

The riders of the Wild Hunt explain to us that they regularly use offspring of the Father of Thunder as mounts, and demonstrates their taming skills on two beautiful foals. In turn, we explain to the Fey Knights that we urgently need to disperse the Father of Thunder's huge herd so that there will be enough food in southern Risur again, and that in order to do this we will probably have to make the Titan go to sleep again. In addition, Auryn dismisses Riffian and the rest of the group from their search for "the Fox", as there would be more important missions in the meantime, and it seems that the Fey are not entirely unhappy about this development.

Before we inquire further on how to best approach the Titan, we buy all the cheapest kegs and barrels of booze that we can find from the local farmers and place them in the Absurdist Web. Just in case.

We then discuss how to approach the Father of Thunder without getting trampled, and Riffian and his men provide us with bison hides to fool the titan. They also lend us mounts in case of this whole endeavor ending in a wild hunt (ha, ha). They also warn Auryn that the Titan is usually very lecherous, which probably explains why only men take part in the Wild Hunt.

So we sneak up on the Father of Thunder alongside with the Hunt, and take our new mounts with us as well. Then we have the King dig a hole with his connection to the Land of Risur and fill it to the brim with alcohol in front of the Titan. Just as we planned, the Father of Thunder recognizes the tasty pool and approaches it. When he empties the liquor hole in one fell swoop, Gabriel calls out to the Titan:

“Father of Thunder, see that we have brought you tribute! I do hope this it was up to your taste?!”

The Father of Thunder takes one second to notice Gabriel and the rest, belches loudly and raises his head up high, as he seems to take the whole declaration as a challenge. He then rears and gallops off.

We quickly mount our steeds and ride after him.

“Well, wild hunt it is...” Auryn says as she spurs her mount to keep up with the Titan.

“Let me confront him directly and you take his flanks.” Gabriel shouts to the others, being confident that the powers of his office make him quite able to take on the Father of Thunder full front.

He then quickens his mount with his connection to time, which is just enough acceleration to bring him to the Father's front left leg. He then confronts the Titan from the back of his horse, while the Wild Hunt takes the rear flanks. This draws enough attention from the Father of Thunder that King Gabriel is getting the front-ended attacks. And while he is getting major scratches in the process, the Titan seems unable to push or trample the King of Risur.

Meanwhile, Auryn is not that comfortable fighting on horseback, so she follows a different apporach: She carefully approaches one of the Titan's shaggy legs, then jumps on it to climb onto his back. Seeing so much unexpected opposition, the Father of Thunder becomes quite vengeful and tries to lift the King from his saddle, but fails yet again as Gabriel appears to be as much a Titan as he is. Gabriel uses the moment when the Father of Thunder finally stops for a series of teleport attacks to the Titan's forehead, which seems to slash open quite deep wounds. He then speeds up Auryn, who completes her climb, jumps onto the Father of Thunder's back and rams her rapier right between the surprised Titan's vertebrae with a precise strike.

The Father of Thunder collapses and roars loudly, admitting defeat. He then becomes much more willing to talk. The King tells him that there has been enough celebration and party for a while and that it is time to rest. He also tells him about the Voice of Rot and his schemes, but the Father of Thunder appears to knows nothing about his fellow Titan. Nor would he care about “that dumb, boring morass-dweller”.

Once his wounds start closing, The Father of Thunder recognizes Auryn, who is now standing next to Gabriel. And to both our surprise, he suddenly appears to be more interested in her instead.

“Humm, who do we have here? A female, strong and beautiful?”

He then sniffs at her with a quick inhalation.

“Smells yummy, too. Little one, why don't you join me and my herd? Be my mate and I'll promise you powerful offspring.”

Needless to say that both Gabriel and Auryn are speechless at this sudden proposal. And it seems very obvious that the Titan is really pretty horny and interested in her. But it doesn't take Auryn too long to come up with a friendly decline:

“Father of Thunder, your offer is generous and I do not doubt the potency of our offspring. But this is not why we came here, as there are more important matters to us right now. Both the Obscurati and the Danorans are knocking at Risur's doors, and they are no friend of all Risuri in both the Waking and the Dreaming. And while you don't have to mind him, we do have to inquire on the Voice of Rot and his machinations. So you see, I am really busy...”

When the Father of Thunder repeats his unequivocal offer and seems to ignore the king's very obvious indignation, Auryn looks straight at the Titan and tells him that she has chosen to be the consort of the King, the "Titan of Civilization," to whom she has promised not to have another Titan beside him. They could agree, however, to give the Titan regular feasts and liquor in return for securing the grasslands of the west.

The Titan laughs at this bold statement, and this time his mood seems to have changed from lecherous intents to heartfelt respect.

“Well spoken, lovely girl. But powerful offspring you will have nonetheless. Hear me, earth, hear me life! May the union of these two be blessed with fertility, just like the soil we all are connected to!”

Both Auryn and Gabriel are surprised by this generosity, and we get that the Father of Thunder is the Titan of fertility on top of everything else. Before he goes to sleep again, he only asks for one last feast on the same evening, which we readily grant him. He then mumbles that it was kind of refreshing to actually have a conversation with a King or Queen instead of having only the usual brawl.

King Gabriel is astonished after this negotiation that apparently no king before him has ever really talked to the Titan. And both he and Auryn seem to be more than happy about the Titan's blessing, as they both embrace each other in what must have been the best day in weeks, if not months.

(Wow, so much to say here. First, is there any connection between Rock Rackus and the Father of Thunder or is it merely a coincidence that their personalities match so well? As you probably guessed, this was quite the test for Gabriel's nerves and I am sure that he had to fight too keep his composure at the straight up request for a hook-up with Auryn. But he knew that she'd handle the situation with grace and diplomacy. Blessing them with fertility was a cute little twist.

And yeah, we both came to the conclusion that the Monarch would be the sixth Titan of Risur, and calling him "Titan of Civilization" was just fitting when it came to their domain. Not sure if this is canon though.

We also discussed whether the Father of Thunder could have been the original “creator” of the Minotaur race of Ber, as Tiz revealed that the “offspring” would have probably had the physiognomy of a Minotaur.

The Granny episode wasn't that eventful, as we feared the gremlins pretty early on and Granny didn't have that much of a connection to the PCs. She also wasn't our favorite Titan, but it went quite smoothly. Well, besides the 1 year ultimatum for the tongue of a missing Titan. That task was giving both of them quite the headache.

Regarding Auryn and her inner workings: She is on the path of healing and acceptance for what has happened during and after Starfall, and she is utterly grateful that she had Gabriel to rely on. But... there have already been tiny stabs at her ego. She's fine with it for now, as she connects this gradually “losing importance” to her own choice of giving the finger to fate and not minding that the Obs get rid of Reida. The blessing of the Father of Thunder conviced her of her choices and it was overall a very empowering moment for her and her relationship with Gabriel. I'll add in another round of her thoughts in the next interlude between sessions 58 and 59, else the post is getting overly long ;) )
 

I love a good minstrel pun.

And maybe not during the adventure path series, but by the Adventures in ZEITGEIST book in 2021, yes, it's canon to think of the monarch of Risur as the titan of civilization. I don't recall who had that idea, but I'm pretty sure it was one of the various groups running the campaign.

The Father of Thunder first showed up in a game I ran back in '08 right as 4th edition was starting. The vibe was very Conan dawn of time-y, with only stone age technology. The premise was that all the PCs were champions of various desert tribes, called together because the god of desert storms had withdrawn His people to a secret valley and begun to send rains that would last for 40 days and obliterate all who did not worship Him. The PCs had to trek to that valley to, basically, stop the Old Testament God from completing the great flood. Complete with angels as mini-bosses, and multiple arks as pseudo-dungeons.

But the Father of Thunder was much the same as he ended up being when I wrote him into ZEITGEIST: a horny drunkard spirit of the land.

And one of my players decided that yeah, her character would totally take him up on a proposal, and after the PCs saved the day, she found out she was pregnant. Which then became the origin of minotaurs in that setting.
 

Lylandra

Adventurer
Hah, sweet :)

Regarding the Titan of Civilization... I am not sure whether Tiz stumbled across that other campaign thread. I know that he read a bit of the Korrigan&co write-ups as this was still active and ongoing while he was prepping.

Also, I forgot to point out the significance of the fertility blessing of the Father of Thunder for the two PCs. Up to this point, it was common knowledge that Eladrin couldn't have children with other races. Auryn and Gabriel had first developed the hope that Deva and Eladrin could work due to their connection to Srasama, and especially Gabriel's much stronger bond with the goddess. Then he had found this cursed monkey paw that would grant him three wishes, and he promised that he would use it to help them have a family should their hopes not be fulfilled. He didn't care that each consecutive child would place another curse on him. And then came the Father of Thunder out of nowhere saying basically "screw the rules and the weird Dreaming shenanigans, I am a f***ing Titan, let them be fruitful and multiply"

Regarding the promised inner workings, here is what I noted back then (and with "back then" I mean four years ago oO):
The last few days had shown Auryn that she was truly on the path to healing. For herself and for Risur. She could accept that the pain would return whenever she thought of those she had lost. But it was no longer despair that came along with it. It just hurt. It would probably always hurt, but she would get used to it, just as she had eventually gotten used to losing Zahir.

And deep down she knew that it was this pain that reminded her that she would never be like Nicodemus. As long as she cared about the loss of life, as long as she saw her allies and friends not as tools but as precious lives, she was on the Path of Light.

What was also clear to her was that this was all much bigger than her. She might be a Matriarch, a Baroness, a Lady of the Unseen Court, but the fate of the entire world was far more than anything she had ever been prepared for. She had been chosen to be a part of the great endeavor that was the rebirth of Elfaivar. But she had fallen out of this puzzle and had changed. Elfaivar had changed. She would have to start something new while trying to preserve this fragile world.

For Elfaivar, she would be a pioneer, maybe even a beacon like Kasvarina had been. But for the world, none of that mattered. In the end, she was just a cog trying to change the course of events. She was not a goddess, nor was she a Titan. Instead, she was the one who influenced. For all her pride, she did not care. Now it was up to Gabriel to turn the wheel of fate.

And she knew which way she wanted to go. After all that had happened, she now knew exactly what was right and what was wrong. Was it the Hook that gave her this intuition? Ever since she had trusted this relic of her supposed enemy, so many things had become clear to her.

Auryn knew exactly who she was and who she wanted to be. And she didn't care if they thanked her or not. It was her decision alone. And she felt no fear, not even of the Titans.

She had to think of her father's blessing, and secretly she wondered if he hadn't tested her in her conviction, in her bond with Gabriel. Or was it perhaps a sign of respect that he had granted her wish before she could express it? In any case, she was happy, overjoyed even. She knew now that it had been wrong to wait for a sign of destiny or to look for it. Instead, it was in her power to create her own destiny.

And Auryn believed in herself and in Gabriel. She believed there could be a happy future. She believed that he would be the one to heal the world. That he had been right all along with his view of time, fate, and destiny. It had just never been his destiny to be Auryn's advisor and make her a true Matriarch. He had done that by accident. From the beginning, he had been destined to stand firm in Risur and save both their countries and the whole world. He had just always been too modest to admit it.

As for herself... she had made up her mind long ago. Made a declaration in front of a Titan. She had fallen out of the puzzle of Elfaivar and had become something new. She would not be ashamed of her feelings and she was no longer afraid of them. Fear had become completely alien to her. She loved Gabriel with all her heart and saw nothing wrong with him. She trusted him blindly and it gave her strength instead of dependence. She would protect this man with every fiber of her being, even if it was against all rules for a woman of her enclave. They both had a future. And she would ask her mother to do the same as the Titan and give them her blessing.


As you can see, she does feel the mentioned insignificance, but she's taking a pretty positive spin on it for now. She let love fill the void and is very adamant on supporting Gabriel (who, in her eyes, is still connected to fate somehow) this time. Even though she started to distance herself from her original values and needs.
 

Andrew Moreton

Adventurer
Not that much: I was already having to say "No!" with a rolled-up newspaper to initially most of the goblin, and especially kobold's antics anyway... The Dwarf was probably second choice (however it was the leadership skills that were sadly lacking in the rest of the group) but ended up replacing Granny in the end I think...
And the replacement Medium although tied to replacing the Rot, was too stuck in the past, as their schtick was that they channelled the different aspects of themselves as "dead monarchs of Risur", and we weren't going to be frozen by past mistakes and actions (kind of like Nic), but instead look more to the future.
The other characters each had their own interests anyway...
As a group the players were all happy that Nevla was the best choice to be Queen. None of them wanted the Job and all except the medium would have been terrible.
He was busy replacing the voice of Rot and the Dwarf was about to replace Granny. An awful lot of my group decisions are made by consenus and out of character advice so having one player as the monarch did not really upset the power dynamics of the group
 

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