Jade Stage IRC - Battle of Brithen - Events of the Game

[Lmns Crn]

[ooc]This thread is for posting summaries of what happens in the IRC game, for our own reference and entertainment, and for the benefit of those of you who aren't playing but have expressed an interest anyway.

If you are interested in keeping any sort of in-character journal, that can go in this thread. If you want to talk about the events of the game in an out-of-character fashion, that can also go in this thread.

Please keep all issues of scheduling, rules and mechanics questions, questions about the setting, and other mundane concerns in the game organization thread. Save this thread for telling the story!

And have fun. I know I am.[/ooc]

Session - Monday, December 4
Imperial agents Escrist, Sarenin, and Morek Vesselm arrive by ship in Sen Gaal, under orders to report to High Commander Dascien, leader of the Empire's presence in that city. Our agents are tasked with restoring order to a province torn by violence, restoring peace to the area. Upon their arrival, they are met by an unusually jumpy military escort, which takes them to the Imperial headquarters, a converted city hall, and informs them of the recent assassination death of High Commander Dascien. They are informed that they are now the ranking officers in Sen Gaal, and the Imperial forces look to them for direction.

The commanders spend the afternoon getting their bearings, learning the layout of the city, the composition of the forces under their command, and what little is known about their enemy: a shadowy organization known as the Red Oath, which has been doing its best to disrupt the Empire's operations in Ghara. Escrist, Sarenin, and Morek decide to go into the city in plainclothes to look for one of their officers, a dwarf named Nelo who has made undercover intelligence gathering concerning Red Oath his specialty. Nelo has been investigating the crowded Saba market area lately, so the three Commanders head that way to start their search.

Passing an alleyway on the way to Saba market, they hear suspicious noise! A simoc beset by three goblin thieves! Though wounded, the simoc kills one of the goblins and injures the other two, causing them to run. Morek chases them into Saba market, where they elude pursuit. For reasons not fully explained, the three undercover Commanders and the wearied simoc continue traveling together, for now. The Imperials have still not revealed to the simoc their military allegiance, and the simoc, in turn, has been carefully guarded about his own past, merely grumbling about a keepsake the thugs stole from him.

Saba market proves crowded. Imperial guards are in plain sight, but none seem to belong to the intelligence-gathering Oakspear Arm, which Nelo commands. The group decides to leave the market and find Nelo later, but before they leave, a mysterious liriss is seen watching them from across the crowd.

Sarenin leads the way to the dockside district, in search of "contacts" whose nature he leaves quite vague. The group heads into a bar, watching, listening to, and conversing with the patrons in a continued effort to get their bearings. Morek discoveres that few people really feel safe in Sen Gaal, and public opinion regarding both Red Oath and the Imperial forces seems generally low. Sarenin has left the group at a table to converse with other om-beh-ral, for reasons of his own.

[ooc]Did I miss anything important? Feel free to add stuff, comment on stuff, et cetera.[/ooc]

[Túrin]

[spoiler=Question][ooc]For the record, is the simoc they encountered Ishmayl's Kor Dalj?

Túrin

Edit: I take it spoilers are preferred here?[/ooc][/spoiler]

[Poseptune]

[spoiler=Turin][ooc]

For the record, is the simoc they encountered Ishmayl's Kor Dalj?

Túrin

Yes
[/ooc][/spoiler]

[Lmns Crn]

For the record, is the simoc they encountered Ishmayl's Kor Dalj?

In the (scarred and wounded) flesh! Didn't name him in the summary, because has hasn't formally introduced himself to the characters, and is currently somewhat of a mysterious figure!

[Lmns Crn]

Session - Monday, December 11
The barroom meeting was standoffish. Sarenin got very little information from his om-beh-ral companions, save that asking around about Red Oath in Sen Gaal is a rather dangerous pastime. One of the elves made several discrete hand signals to some apparent contact elsewhere in the bar, and the three of them leave. Meanwhile, Morek, Escrist, and Kor Dalj talk casual politics at a table of their own. After expressing concern that the simoc might be in danger of targeting by Red Oath because of his association with them, the three Agents leave the bar at twilight, and Kor Dalj follows them.

As they make their way toward city hall, they notice a small figure following them, one street to the side. Moving to outmaneuver their shadow, Morek and Escrist are spotted, and a standoff ensues! While Kor Dalj and Sarenin stay hidden in case of something unexpected, Morek and Escrist negotiate with their tracker at the point of a knife. He is a rather brave gnome, as Morek points out, face lined with worry.

The gnome claims to be following Sarenin because of his questions about Red Oath, and demands to know whether Morek and Escrist are "with the greenblood" or not. When Escrist promises to talk peaceably and Morek points out the apparent hypocracy of using deceit to secure truthful information, the gnome gives them directions for contacting Red Oath. To talk to his contact, they are to meet at the Pelican's Perch inn the following night, and ask the inkeep to talk to Rachel's brother. He vanishes into the night, and is not pursued.

The agents decide to take Kor Dalj into their confidence, and lead him back to city hall, exposing their identity as Imperial forces in the process. Upon arrival at their headquarters, they are informed that the Lawbearers in the city, the leaders of the four Arms of soldiers under their command, have been assembled while they were away. These officers are waiting upstairs for questioning.

[Lmns Crn]

Session: Wednesday, January 24
The three Imperial Commanders in Sen Gaal have their first tactical meeting with their immediate underlings. In the command center of city hall, Lawbringer Sergeant Gillin, and Lawbringers Falssa, Paulus, and Nelo, are waiting for their arrival. These are the individuals who oversee the day to day operation and tactical deployment of the Imperial presence in Sen Gaal.

Lawbringer Sassor is not present: he was called away to deal with a "minor altercation" on the north side of Sen Gaal, a protest over Imperial presence that turned into a scuffle when rocks were thrown at guards.

Morek, Sarenin, and Escrist disclose their secret plan to their Lawbringers: they intend to join Red Oath, infiltrate the organization, and deal with its leaders from the inside.  It is a risky plan, and one that requires absolute secrecy: discovery by Red Oath would mean death, and discovery by Imperial forces would cause enormous problems of morale, perhaps even a coup.

The covert commanders set up standing orders for the Lawbearers, and methods of secret communication with the Imperial forces via undercover contacts in Oakspear Arm. They take their leave of city hall under cover of darkness, establishing lodgings at Mori's Place, a large boarding house on Silver Street where new faces should draw no questions.

Tomorrow, their meeting with Red Oath takes place.