After leaving the Lava Forest, Tess was getting very ambiguous guidance from the Crown. She could not sense the location of any more gems at all, and only had a vague feeling that she was supposed to return to the excavation site where they had first found the Crown. This was on their way to Caer Cyflen, so they stopped in on the way back. Unfortunately upon their arrival they got no further guidance whatsoever, and found nothing of note at the site that they had not already examined. They still had three gems left to find. This would not be good news for the Council.
Upon reporting back to the Council, the reaction was even worse than they feared. Without the potential benefits of fully restoring the Crown, the Council saw little benefit in continuing to send it out into the field and risk it being taken by the Soraks. Dean Fasich outright demanded it be claimed by the Council and placed in safe-keeping. When reminded of Tess’s connection to it and what happened last time it was taken from her, he replied that “That was a sacrifice that must be made for the greater safety of us all.”. It was all Roland could do not outright assault the man then and there. Since the discussion was getting heated Grandmaster Danantar suggested they adjourn for the evening, consider their options, and then vote the next day.When they left the Council chamber, they were met by Heddlon Surespell, the Arcaneum’s contact for adventurers in the Badlands. They had dealt little with him to this point, preferring to deal primarily with Tess’s Antiquarians and the Circle of Danantar. But he gave them a cryptic warning to be wary of staying at the Princess’s residence in the Palace. They were not at all sure whether to take that as a warning or a threat. But given the situation they found themselves in opting to stay the night in a public tavern rather than the Palace seemed foolish.Nevertheless, they took turns keeping watch that night as if they were in the Badlands. Just in case. And this proved quite necessary, as they were assaulted in their quarters by Soraks that very evening! A contingent of Sorak assassins backed up by an albino sorcerer and their first encounter with an elite Shikkath – the unholy anti-paladins of Sorr-Tarr! Thanks to the warning the tables were turned on the ambush,The Shikkath proved a very powerful adversary, and they almost lost Falcon before they could bring it down.They confronted Heddlon the next morning, asking how he could possibly have known of an imminent Sorak attack without being outright in league with them. He would only say he was a “concerned ally” whose contacts had warned him the Palace had been compromised.When they returned to the Council, it seems a decision had already been reached. Despite Roland’s pleas, Chancellor Gormsdottir – the head of Tess’s own Antiquarian guild – introduced a motion to take the Crown away from her and commit it to safekeeping in a secure location. And she had the support of both Dean Fasich and Grandmaster Danantar! The Council took a formal vote, but only allowed “senior representatives” to participate. This left out among others the Princess – as she had no formal position in the Council. The only votes against the measure were Marshal Sunblaze… and Master Airgetine of the elven Arcaneum. They had never entirely trusted the Arcaneum due to its ties to the New Empire, but here he was standing up for them where almost all others voting against! The Council offered to pay them in recompense, but Roland scoffed at this. Taking payment for being ordered to surrender the Crown – knowingly sacrificing Tess to the “Greater Good” seemed outright offensive.
Roland pointed out that the safehouses could not be considered all that safe either, given that they had just been assaulted by Soraks in the Palace itself! This ignited another firestorm of argument. Councillor Danantar angrily asked where the Paladins of Einar had been during this intrusion, while Marshal Sunblaze pointedly asked when the fore-warnings from the Circle’s Diviners would arrive. The Council quickly turned to the matter of *where* to secure the Crown. Grandmaster Danantar wished to secure it at the church of Einar – an organization full of paladins explicitly trained to battle the Soraks. Dean Fasich vehemently objected, arguing that as the church was headquartered in Caer Cyflen this merely strengthened the Council’s bias toward Masgarth. But he was over-ruled. Marshal Sunblaze offered the Churches help in dealing with Tess’s “attunement issue”, and Clerics did what they could to protect Tess from the effects of separation from the Crown. She didn’t pass out this time. She walked out with head held high. But they had no idea how long this would last, and the Clerics could given them no long term assurances. As they left the Council Chambers Tess faltered, but Roland caught her and helped her regain her stride. Falcon glared daggers at Dean Fasich and Chancellor Gormsdottir. None of them were pleased.Outside they were met by Halman Summer, the adventurers’ representative for the Antiquarian’s Guild. They were in no mood for his excuses given the Antiquarians’ betrayal in the Council. But Halman offered them a lead. He said that some of his scouts had reported travellers with the tattoo of Arrivad – just as they had seen on the workers at the site where they had discovered the Crown – gathering in the village of Earcorn. With no other leads to go on, and little idea how much time Tess had left, they decided they had little choice but to follow the lead.As they prepared to leave town they were approached by the ranger Arwen Merton. They had had some dealings with him before, as he was the first to report Soraks in the Badlands and had turned to drink when none believed him. He offered to join them on the mission – noting that he had sensed a change in the air. He believed that the Sorkas had already infiltrated the Council itself, as well as the Palace. He wasn’t sure what was coming next, but he didn’t at all trust that the Council could see it through. So he was throwing his lot in with Roland.
3 responses to “Solasta: Losing the Way”
atcDave
Wow, the council sure seems like a cesspool! I don’t know enough about the setting to know hoe viable just going your own way would be, but it seems like a heavy handed plot device.
I do like the images of the Sorak fight. They are a fascinating foe, and you are getting consistently exciting renders with them.
Not really an option unfortunately. They are a council of all the major powers in the region. And it’s sort of similar to how Sarevok uses Baldirs Gate against you with the doppelgängers. It’s just Sorak infiltrators instead and you don’t really know who’s pulling the strings. It makes everyone paranoid – the Council included – because they’ve all just realized anyone could be a Sorak in disguise.
I try not to read ahead, but I things are about to get really wild and woolly.
One of the fun/creepy things about them is that the Solasta engine supports true 3D fights and lighting is important. Soraks both all can cling to walls and all regenerate in the dark, so they double down on both. Of course that can work for us to. Kat is sporting fully-functional boots of spider climbing – so she can easily find hiding/sniper spots or follow the Soraks right up the walls. And Tess can outright levitate or fly with spells.
And there’s few things more fun than smacking a flying Sorak sorcerer hard enough to break their concentration so they lose they spell and have a prompt reintroduction to the ground.
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