CAMPAIGN: Queen Arkwyn's Crown (D&D5e)

"It hungers..? What do you mean by that?" His brows furrow when one of the voices tries to stop her from explaining, "Why is this supposed to be classified information? Did Fran know about this all along?"

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

"Because we still don't know who you are!" says Tancred, exasperated.

"Fran only knows part of it" says the princess.

"But Arkwyn--" says Tancred.

"I want to trust him. Somehow he sensed the evil in it." says the princess

Tancred makes a noise of frustration, but stops interrupting.

Princess Arkwyn continues. "Fran knows the crown is dangerous, and she knows I don't want it in falling into the wrong hands"

"But I don't want to wear it. I've never wanted to wear it... and it WANTS me to wear it."

Then after a pause, "Your words make me doubt that you plan to wear it yourself."

"If I decided to wear it, I'd only end up like.." He stops what he says immediately.

He quickly shifts what he is saying as quickly as humanly possible. "Who I am isn't important. Just call me 'Jarrod'," he blurts out, deciding to take up false alias to obscure himself even for just an extra moment, "But I'm no oracle, I don't know how to sense evil within these worthless trinkets- I just see acts of war with my own eyes."

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

Oxnar raises his eyebrows, surprised and curious.

"Trust your eyes, Jarrod. My father was evil to wage war with our neighbors. I may never know how much of that was himself, and how much was the crown. What do you intend to do with it?"

Tancred breaks in "Arkwyn! We need to examine it first, then we will know. And if we decide to dispose of it we shouldn't just give it to a stranger."

In the background, Hyne can see that the guards have lit a makeshift funeral pyre around the wyrmling and the dead Jenn warrior. This blaze has attracted the attention of all the other bystanders, so only Oxnar is paying attention to Hyne'es conversation.

"I intend to try to stop this war before it continues," he simply answers knowing that Arkwyn stands along somebody that sounds more interested in having the crown for the sake of it. "Until then, you'll get to see your father one last time at the funeral."

As Hyne looks around it becomes apparent that he can't keep up this conversation for much longer, and the need to speak to Oxnar grows, "Be strong."

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

"I will be." says the princess. "Destroy it if you can, take it far, far away if you can't"

Tancred remains silent.

The sound of the shell begins to fade.

"And tell Fran to come home." Arkwyn adds. "Her mission is done."

And then there is just the sound of the sea in Hyne's ear.

Oxnar waits expectantly, still grinning.

The guards are getting the King's wagon moving again, and the other carriages and wagons that had not already turned back or rushed ahead are falling in quickly.

The roadside pyre burns

Fran is already very far away, having finally gotten her tired horse up to a canter.

The circling hippogriffs are still circling. There are now a lot of birds in the air over the town.

Hyne wraps the sea shell into the small sack then wears it just as the previous Jarrod had done.

He asks Oxnar, "Did you hear any of that? The royal headwear is cursed.. 'might explain why the King would align himself with the Umbarlee priests."

He glances to the guards, "The moment Duke Borgain finds out about this, every single one of these men here will be ordered to kill me, so I am going to have to leave with great haste, and on my own. I only ask of any other cities I can go to in order to find information about destroying the crown."

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

"I guess old King Ark was full of secrets!" exclaims Oxnar.

"A city to flee too... Now you might not like this suggestion, but the Capitol is the closest city of any serious size. It may seem like going into the dragons den, but its the last place any of them will suspect, and its a city built by an for pirates and outlaws, so security is as leaky as a dire-sponge. The head of my order, Marglov the Bright, would definitely help you get secret passage on a ship elsewhere."

"If you don't like that, the next nearest big city is Jenna's trade-center Midnight. or failing that, you could strike out that way" He points south-west. The first few days will be easy going, if you stick to the river, but after that its desert dunes all the way to Kac-Arash.

Hyne is quick to bring up complications, "It won't be as simple as living the rogue life- the Duke wants those same pirates to take the crown from me. All he has to do is tell them what I look like and I'm cheese in the rat's nest."

"I could hide in Jenna a lot more easily, but I'd rather they only think I did that, and I would be a sitting duck in a desert if the Jenna flying troops decide to look that way.."

From the look on his face, he hasn't decided which course of action is best yet.

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

Oxnar laughs. "Never in all my days have I heard someone so greatly overestimate the unity and obedience of pirates."

"Go where you please, I promise I won't even tell anyone what I've suggested. Those lot probably don't even understand you really have it" he jerks his thumb at the wagon with Goduvna and Jasputin in it. It is already rolling away, although the coachwoman is looking back to see if Hyne is going to follow.

"And that Jerrold-or-Fran or whatever her name is, I don't think she cares where you go, as long as you take it away."

"What I am saying is you have a very good chance at a good head start in any direction you choose to go."

Hyne isn't sure how Oxnar is so sure a head start is so certain, but asks, "Say I decide to head to the city. Where would your priest's ferry be able to take me to find answers to destroying the magic artifact?"

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

"I don't know exactly, but the sea is big, and there are a lot of ports that you can reach by sea in a lot less time than it would take to travel overland."

"As for how to destroy it, you have to find someone who knows a lot about magic artifacts. Or maybe just smash it, I don't know."

"Alright. I suppose I'll make it to the city and go on my own once it is within walking distance and find out more."

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

"Alright then. I won't tell anybody anything if they ask. Any other way I can help?" Oxnar looks towards Erato's wagon. He'll have to run if he wants to catch it.

The King's wagon has crested the ridge of the hill, and most of the other wagons are headed that way towards the capitol.

Back towards the town, something is coming down the mountain, shaking and breaking some of the trees as it goes. It is moving towards the keep that the hippogriffs circle over.

Before Hyne catches his wagon, he bangs on the pauldron of Oxnar's armor and points over to the rustling of trees in the distance, "What is going on now?"

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb