Trolls and Trinkets 2e

As the sun rose over the city, trumpets and hooves beats could be heard, coming from a huge caravan of people escorting the King to the city [did we ever name the city?]. Somewhere in the middle, an older man dressed in golden armor and carrying a crown rode upon his majestic horse. Doubtlessly he was King Ealdwine. He was riding next to the Queen and was surrounded by an escort of spellweavers and champions who would give their life to protect the King.

The caravan was approaching the city gates and David as the captain of the guard was ready to accept the royal couple.

"Rest in peace, Chrysanthos, even though I never knew you." Octavion says as he places the last rock on the pile that covered Chrysanthos' corpse. He gets up and looks at the rest of the party. "Shall we go?" he asks.

Anastasia nods, and moves next to Octavion. She kneels down next to the make-shift tomb and whispers, "Good-bye, Chrysanthos. I'll see you in Elysium."

Back in the city, Julios snaps to attention.

Dezenn muttered darkly, counting out a sum of copper coins that she most likely hadn't had before the burial...but who can prove that?

"Formation!" David orders the city guard. The guards line up along the street, creating a path through the city for the King. David stands at the gate with Sir Edmund right in front of him "Knight! Get out of the way, this is the captains spot."

"I know. However, I think the King would be happier if a knight greeted him" replied Sir Edmund whereupon he was pulled back by David.

"A rust-bucket like you? No, the fearless, heroic, and handsome captain of the guard is going to greet the fair and mighty King" David said "not some knight off the street."

[I swear, Luft, the interaction between David and Sir Edmund could have been lifted straight from a Discworld novel...you didn't do that, right?]

[I don't even know what that is...]

"My liege," Julios greets the King, getting tired of the banter between the two and deciding to just take the initiative. After all, he was David's second-in-command, so he could take matters into his own hands. He bows down. "Welcome to our great city of Bale."

Meanwhile, Octavion says, "Let's get going. Oh, and Dezenn..."

"Yes?"

"If I find out that you stole what few possessions this man has had on him when he died, you are going to be in a world of pain." Octavion says, letting the threat hang in the air. "Follow me." he says as he and Anastasia head in the direction they saw the Judge leave earlier.

Dezenn waved the threat aside. "I think not. I'm a member of the local thieves' guild, Spartan. I wager I can make you and yours more sorry than you can make me."

"Well, unlike those idiot guards back in that city, I'm not a fool. I was trained to pay attention to my surroundings and be ready in case any coward tries to sneak up on me and assassinate me. So I'm pretty sure you would be dead if you tried to mess with me." Octavion says as he continued to walk through the cave's tunnel.

There is a fork in the tunnels in front of the party. One goes left, and one goes right. Anastasia turns around and says, "So, which tunnel shall we take?"

Dezenn entirely ignored the insult and the second threat. "Who said anything about assassination?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

"Just answer the damn question!" Anastasia says. "Which way shall we go?"

"Alright, alright, calm yourself." Dezenn said. "I vote left."

The King greeted Julios and then went over to David to greet him. That done the King looked in Sir Edmunds direction and smiled "well, if it isn't my dear old friends son! What a pleasure to meet you. Will you lead us to the city hall?"

"Naturally" said Sir Edmund, who led the way, followed by David, who was trying desperately not to strangle someone.
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At city hall, the mayor and Ophela were sitting together in a room to discuss the final preparations for the royal visit. Ophela who normally didn't smile had a little smile on her lip "Alright, after the king has given his speech, there is going to be a party. During the party, I'll get the queen to follow me over to my mansion which shouldn't be a problem because she thinks she is a god friend of mine. Over at my house I play a little with necromancy and ultimately take her bodily shape and replace her as queen. In a few days the king will...fall of the roof and I'll rule the country."

"Yes, and I'll distract the king and anyone who is suspicious" the mayor replied.

"To a new regime" said Ophela, holding up her glass of wine.

"cheers" the mayor replied with a smile.

"Well, I say left as well!" Octavion says.

Meanwhile, in the city hall, a strange young man disguised as a guard (who happens to be part of the Thieves Guild) overhears the plot to kill the king and decides to try and assassinate the judge while at the party (mostly due to the fact that the judge had already imprisoned Dezenn, who happened to be a good friend of his.)

On the way to the city hall, Julios decides to ask, "So how goes running the kingdom, Your Majesty?"

"It is quite a lot of work. To the north there may or may not be some sort of dark force, with conflicting stories on both sides. There is always trouble with one of our neighbors, usually the ogres and of course the nobles want this or that. In other words, a lot of issues to sift through" the king replies with a laugh "that must be the mayor... 'scuse me."

Ophela and the mayor have exited their meeting and were making their way to greet the royal couple.

"Greetings, Judge Ophela!" Julios says, snapping to attention. "How goes business?"

The young man walks into a staircase, shutting the door behind him and locking it. He then ascends the staircase up to a vantage point where he could oversee the party, but the opening was so small one would barely notice him there. He readies his crossbow and waits for the opportune time to kill the judge.

David tells Julios to come over to the main entrance and then goes on to scold Julios for talking to the upper class. The nobles talk to the person of lower class first, not the other way around.

The Mayor and the Judge were talking to the King and Queen, while the last sun rays bathed the party in a red glow. The feast started for real and was expected to last till midnight.

After a while of aimless walking...."How much longer?"

Jude is getting slightly irritated T the lack of gin in the area.

"I don't know." Octavion says, also walking along.

Julios, meanwhile, proceeds to tell David that, since he (David) and Sir Edmund were arguing, he would just go ahead and greet the King so he wouldn't kill or fire them.

David retorted by saying that he could manage Sir Edmund just fine.
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Meanwhile Ophela and the Queen sit in the Mayors office for private conversation. Ophela stood in front of the fireplace, warming herself "Your highness, for years I have upheld unfair laws in my courtroom. I have tried all sorts of scum and from my experience, criminals remain criminals. Why don we chuck them in jail? They won't do us any good there."

"They have a right to live like anybody else you know. That is why we make sure criminals are punished justly, not our of spite." the queen replied.

"You humans don't understand how to rule. You never will! Lucky for you I shall be the new Queen soon" Ophela said, her mouth forming a wicked smile "Too bad you won't be there to see it"

Dezenn was just about ready to give up hope as the group arrived at what appeared to be an entrance...a trapdoor in the ceiling. Unfortunately there seemed to be no way to get up.

The young man has found a secret passage to the Mayor's office. He sees the Judge talking to the Queen through a small hole in the wall and readies his crossbow at the judge and fires...