Tolamaker
Adventurer
Session 35: Dasseni Diplomacy
The next morning, Balan gathers the party in the common room, and lays out what he knows. “I’ve found where the proxies for each of the duchies are staying, but time is even shorter than I anticipated. Apparently, King Steppengard intends to open court tomorrow, and we only have a short while to meet with him while his forces gather information regarding the assassination. He’s already not held court for a week, so we should meet with him as soon as possible. That means, we need to decide which proxies to meet with, and which matter to prioritize.”
The party agrees that while it would be nice to gain allies, the most important thing is to ensure Seauen’s survival, and halt the Ragesian’s attempt to march through Dassen. As they’re deciding who each person will meet, Balan sends Jineer down to gather some food. When Jineer’s footsteps have disappeared, he turns to the others. “There is one other thing. None of us will be meeting with Duke Gallo’s proxy, as I have learned that Jinis is one of the supposed assassins. He was riding with the Queen when she died, and he has been placed in the dungeon. I have not told Jineer yet, as I do not want to worry the boy. But something must be done.”
Eluriah muses that she could sneak into the dungeon to speak with the proxy, but Balan begs her to not jeopardize the diplomatic mission. Jineer returns, and the party goes out to get dressed for diplomatic duty. While they’re out, they discuss strategy with Jineer, and plan for their meetings. Balan also explains that while in Bresk, proxies are referred to as their lords’ name, without honorifics. They set up their meetings, leaving out Namin as a lost cause, especially after Balan metnions that Namin arrived here as soon as news of Queen Izabella’s death was known.
Eluriah purchases a flowing robe and laurel wreath for her head. She meats with Magda, the proxy immediately dissuades her of the notion, and insists on being called Uzala. Uzala is a tattooed dwarf woman, with a short stubbly beard. Eluriah wanted to meet somewhere the proxy would be comfortable, so they meet in a bar. During their talk, Eluriah emphasizes the work she’s done to build up Seaquens agriculture, and mentions that it will lessen their reliance on the fishing grounds of Gradis Reef. Uzala is very brusque, and the evening ends with no headway.
Mishka purchases a military uniform in the style of Gate Pass, and meets with Dashgoban in a museum. Mishka strikes upa conversation in dwarvish, and butters up the proxy with talk of the Pyromancer’s tomb. She is able to gain favor in the Ragesian pact, but Dashgoban says that it is not an opportune time to announce an alliance.
Aripose wears a sleek gown, and meets Iztorun in a bar. The proxy appears to be ex-military, clean cut, but comfortable in a bar. Aripose plies him with alcohol all night, and soon the two are fast friends. “Ragesia’s naughty word,” the dwarf shouts as he pledges to stop their advance, as well as fight for an alliance with Seaquen. He cuts his hand on a broken glass, and offers to become blood brothers with Aripose, who gladly accepts.
Gruz dresses in a Dasseni cavalry uniform, and meets with Rego. He invites Rego’s proxy to the old quarters of the Moonlit Blades. There, he stonewalls Rego, ignoring his forays for some time, and then begins to intimidate him with stories of Ragesia’s crimes, and attempts to explain that Seaquen is Churnett’s only hope. He successfully convinces Rego of the foolishness of a pact with Ragesia, but is unable to secure an alliance.
Orwin wears a mage’s scholar’s robes, and sews a patch from Gabal’s school into it. He meets with Timor in a restaurant, and they hold a ver reserved conversation as Orwin carefully lays out his case for why Ragesia’s entry into Dassen would be a disaster. Timor agrees, but once again, does not find it prudent at this time to ally with Seaquen.
The party meets back at the Golden Griffon to tell how the meetings went. Aripose enters with Dashgoban, who immediately falls asleep on a couch. Balan relays his meeting with Dene’s proxy, where he also was able to convince them to not let Ragesia enter. “With the support we’ve gathered today, we should be able to present a strong case to the king.”
Post-Session Thoughts:
This session was a lot of fun, with a kind of half-baked plan for how it would work. The way I ran it, basically the players had free rein to lay out the meeting with their proxy as they saw fit. They each got to pick the meeting place, and the different tacks they would take. Besides the basic information I had given to Gruz's player about each land, they didn't get the full scoop on what each land wanted. That meant I let the players really just talk about whatever they wanted, with whatever strategy they wanted, with a final persuasion check to decide how it went. And it worked really well? It was a solid 40 some minutes of each player essentially just playing DM, with me popping in to describe the proxy's responses and reactions to the rolls. The shopping was also fun, and our Discord is now full of fashion inspiration. Its funny, I would say the vibe of this session was similar to the lore-heavy sessions before, but it was with pretty minimal input from me, and instead the players were building things up.
Changes to the Module:
The book lays out the DCs for speaking with proxies to gain favor, but I'll admit I was a little confused as to if it meant convincing people completely to be helpful, or if it just moved them up one level (neutral to friendly, hostile to neutral). So I kind of changed things up. I didn't want to spend the entire session having the players talk to Balan to get the inside scoop on the absolutely best avenue to take with each proxy, so I let each of them make a single skill check of their choice to give themselves an edge (a -2 to the persuasion DCs). As long as they could explain how the skill applied to the diplomacy, it would work. Mishka rolled Survival to explain the ecological devastation of trespassing army. Aripose used Deception to get Iztorun drunker than planned. Gruz Intimidated his proxy, Eluriah used perception to learn about Magda, and Orwin used History to build up his case of closeness between Seaquen and Timor.
Then, they each got to make two Persuasion checks, one for the Ragesian pact, and another for an alliance with Seaquen. Whichever they made second was at disadvantage, to represent which deal was more important. Everyone chose stopping Ragesia, and almost everyone succeeded at that. The most surprising was Aripose rolling 20+ even at disadvantage.
I think the way this will work out involves spoilers for later
Next session: an Audience with the king!
The next morning, Balan gathers the party in the common room, and lays out what he knows. “I’ve found where the proxies for each of the duchies are staying, but time is even shorter than I anticipated. Apparently, King Steppengard intends to open court tomorrow, and we only have a short while to meet with him while his forces gather information regarding the assassination. He’s already not held court for a week, so we should meet with him as soon as possible. That means, we need to decide which proxies to meet with, and which matter to prioritize.”
The party agrees that while it would be nice to gain allies, the most important thing is to ensure Seauen’s survival, and halt the Ragesian’s attempt to march through Dassen. As they’re deciding who each person will meet, Balan sends Jineer down to gather some food. When Jineer’s footsteps have disappeared, he turns to the others. “There is one other thing. None of us will be meeting with Duke Gallo’s proxy, as I have learned that Jinis is one of the supposed assassins. He was riding with the Queen when she died, and he has been placed in the dungeon. I have not told Jineer yet, as I do not want to worry the boy. But something must be done.”
Eluriah muses that she could sneak into the dungeon to speak with the proxy, but Balan begs her to not jeopardize the diplomatic mission. Jineer returns, and the party goes out to get dressed for diplomatic duty. While they’re out, they discuss strategy with Jineer, and plan for their meetings. Balan also explains that while in Bresk, proxies are referred to as their lords’ name, without honorifics. They set up their meetings, leaving out Namin as a lost cause, especially after Balan metnions that Namin arrived here as soon as news of Queen Izabella’s death was known.
Eluriah purchases a flowing robe and laurel wreath for her head. She meats with Magda, the proxy immediately dissuades her of the notion, and insists on being called Uzala. Uzala is a tattooed dwarf woman, with a short stubbly beard. Eluriah wanted to meet somewhere the proxy would be comfortable, so they meet in a bar. During their talk, Eluriah emphasizes the work she’s done to build up Seaquens agriculture, and mentions that it will lessen their reliance on the fishing grounds of Gradis Reef. Uzala is very brusque, and the evening ends with no headway.
Mishka purchases a military uniform in the style of Gate Pass, and meets with Dashgoban in a museum. Mishka strikes upa conversation in dwarvish, and butters up the proxy with talk of the Pyromancer’s tomb. She is able to gain favor in the Ragesian pact, but Dashgoban says that it is not an opportune time to announce an alliance.
Aripose wears a sleek gown, and meets Iztorun in a bar. The proxy appears to be ex-military, clean cut, but comfortable in a bar. Aripose plies him with alcohol all night, and soon the two are fast friends. “Ragesia’s naughty word,” the dwarf shouts as he pledges to stop their advance, as well as fight for an alliance with Seaquen. He cuts his hand on a broken glass, and offers to become blood brothers with Aripose, who gladly accepts.
Gruz dresses in a Dasseni cavalry uniform, and meets with Rego. He invites Rego’s proxy to the old quarters of the Moonlit Blades. There, he stonewalls Rego, ignoring his forays for some time, and then begins to intimidate him with stories of Ragesia’s crimes, and attempts to explain that Seaquen is Churnett’s only hope. He successfully convinces Rego of the foolishness of a pact with Ragesia, but is unable to secure an alliance.
Orwin wears a mage’s scholar’s robes, and sews a patch from Gabal’s school into it. He meets with Timor in a restaurant, and they hold a ver reserved conversation as Orwin carefully lays out his case for why Ragesia’s entry into Dassen would be a disaster. Timor agrees, but once again, does not find it prudent at this time to ally with Seaquen.
The party meets back at the Golden Griffon to tell how the meetings went. Aripose enters with Dashgoban, who immediately falls asleep on a couch. Balan relays his meeting with Dene’s proxy, where he also was able to convince them to not let Ragesia enter. “With the support we’ve gathered today, we should be able to present a strong case to the king.”
Post-Session Thoughts:
This session was a lot of fun, with a kind of half-baked plan for how it would work. The way I ran it, basically the players had free rein to lay out the meeting with their proxy as they saw fit. They each got to pick the meeting place, and the different tacks they would take. Besides the basic information I had given to Gruz's player about each land, they didn't get the full scoop on what each land wanted. That meant I let the players really just talk about whatever they wanted, with whatever strategy they wanted, with a final persuasion check to decide how it went. And it worked really well? It was a solid 40 some minutes of each player essentially just playing DM, with me popping in to describe the proxy's responses and reactions to the rolls. The shopping was also fun, and our Discord is now full of fashion inspiration. Its funny, I would say the vibe of this session was similar to the lore-heavy sessions before, but it was with pretty minimal input from me, and instead the players were building things up.
Changes to the Module:
The book lays out the DCs for speaking with proxies to gain favor, but I'll admit I was a little confused as to if it meant convincing people completely to be helpful, or if it just moved them up one level (neutral to friendly, hostile to neutral). So I kind of changed things up. I didn't want to spend the entire session having the players talk to Balan to get the inside scoop on the absolutely best avenue to take with each proxy, so I let each of them make a single skill check of their choice to give themselves an edge (a -2 to the persuasion DCs). As long as they could explain how the skill applied to the diplomacy, it would work. Mishka rolled Survival to explain the ecological devastation of trespassing army. Aripose used Deception to get Iztorun drunker than planned. Gruz Intimidated his proxy, Eluriah used perception to learn about Magda, and Orwin used History to build up his case of closeness between Seaquen and Timor.
Then, they each got to make two Persuasion checks, one for the Ragesian pact, and another for an alliance with Seaquen. Whichever they made second was at disadvantage, to represent which deal was more important. Everyone chose stopping Ragesia, and almost everyone succeeded at that. The most surprising was Aripose rolling 20+ even at disadvantage.
I think the way this will work out involves spoilers for later
Because Steppengard is completely unreasonable due to the death of his family, "Stopping the Ragesians" instead will apply to how soon he can leave, and the alliance will give a bonus at Gallo's Fend. I haven't decided how. Honestly, this session here might replace one of the later ones in terms of shoring up defenses, or one of the Tipping the Scales scenarios. We'll see how it plays out.
Next session: an Audience with the king!
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