Captain Farsig left the group behind while they were finishing their breakfast. Erleothir asked Jalfeera about Altrek and if he already returned, but she explained him that this will probably take some more time and there is no need to worry about him yet. After she finished her breakfast, Rameldin was eager to go shopping and get a nice dress for the party that evening. She asked Yesnarel, but he did not feel like spending an afternoon in the clothing shops of Kitaezi. Draug offered to join Rameldin, but she was not to eager to spend the afternoon with Draug alone. Erleothir thought it would be better to join his 2 companions into the city. Mulchanor shrugged at it, ordered another beer and he stayed at the inn with Yesnarel
Even though it was very crowded in the center of town, Rameldin quickly found a store with elegant dresses. Inside the store, Erleothir saw 2 men sitting on a stool in the corner. One looked at the floor, the other towards the ceiling and both were visibly bored. The dressing rooms at the back were occupied and Draug decided to flex in front of them. Of course the curtains were still closed, but he would be ready for the ladies. While Rameldin tried on a dress, Draug was suddenly tapped on his shoulders by one of the men. “Are you trying to seduce my wife?”, he spoke in a dark low voice. Draug looked at the man and saw he was about the same size of him. Nothing he could not handle, but Erleothir interrupted Draug before he could answer anything and guided him outside. After that, Rameldin was eager to show her new dress to Erleothir. The dress did put the accent on the right places of Rameldin and while she obviously showed the good knight her curves, Erleothir felt his knees trembling a bit. “This will be my new dress. It seems to me that you like it as well. You can look for Draug while I pay for this dress”.
Erleothir quickly went outside looking for Draug. The streets were so crowdy however that it was not easy to find him so quickly. After a while, he suddenly saw Draug amidst a group of exotic dancers who were dancing around him and filling him up with drinks. Draug looked very happy and was not eager to leave the girls. Erleothir pulled him away and while walking away, a voice was heard from behind: “What about payment?” The knights turned around. “You drank a lot little knight, so don’t think we let you leave without proper compensation.” Even though they were not as big as the men in the store, they appeared more frightening to Draug. “Well, I don’t have any money on me, but ….” SLAP, the sound of a hand on Draug’s face could be heard. “ouch, let me finish….but I’m sure Erleothir will pay for me.” Erleothir was just baffled when he heard Draug saying this. “So much for a knight’s codex”, however Rameldin was kind enough to pay the bill for Draug. Being a woman, she even managed a small discount.
The group continued walking back towards the inn, while suddenly Rameldin disappeared in the crowd. Erleothir quickly followed her and saw her going inside a post office. He followed her inside; “What are you doing here?” he asked. Rameldin just answered: “Why are you following me? You should look after Draug. Did you leave him outside?”. Erleothir felt bad about following Rameldin and went outside fast only to find Draug standing in front of a fruit stall. “Nice melons you have there, young woman!”. “I hope you’re talking about the fruit we sell!”, a dark voice was heard from the back and a big man appeared. Erleothir ran towards the stall, but when he reached Draug, he was already standing with 2 melons in his hand. “Erleothir, you know that I have no money, but can you maybe….?” Erleothir just sighed and paid the price for leaving Draug alone. The rest of the way back followed without incidents and the group arrived at the inn with plenty of time left.
Rameldin went into her room with her new dress, while Erleothir took Draug to the bar. Draug started: “Why hello dear Jalfeera, how about a …..” “NO”, interrupted Erleothir, “No alcohol for you anymore Draug.” He turned towards Jalfeera: “Can you make some special recipe to get him sober again?” After a while, Erleothir got a bottle with “Salad Bowl”. “Give that to him, that should work.” and gave a shot to Draug. He drank it up all at once and fell on the floor…unconscious.
“Let me help!”, the group suddenly heard from above the stairs. And there they saw Rameldin. She came down from her room in her new dress and attracted all eyes on her. She went to Jalfeera, asked some ingredients and brewed a potion, which she provided to Draug. Soon after that, he was on his legs, feeling splendid again. Rameldin asked: “What are you planning to do with these melons actually?” and only after that Draug realized he still had them in his hands. He gave them to Jalfeera, but she was not really impressed. Then Yesnarel came down the stairs, he was dressed in a fine cloak worthy of a prince and had a sable at his side. Rameldin tangled her arm in his and were ready to go to the central plaza to meet with Captain Farsig.
Mulchanor walked up front, followed by Rameldin and Yesnarel. Draug and Erleothir walked a bit behind them and so it looked as an official expedition of Rameldin and Yesnarel towards the central plaza. At the city gate they were stopped by a female guard. “Absolutely no weapons beyond this point!” she said while looking at Yesnarel’s sable. He answered: “I’m a prince. I do not intend to use this sable as this is just a cosmetic item to my outfit” in a high charismatic way. They were allowed to continue and soon arrived at the meeting point in town.
At the sight of Captain Farsig, Rameldin waved frantically towards him. “Juhu, Captain Farsig. Here we are. Look at my dress. Do you like it? It was a special prize, only 45 gold. Do you see the little details at chest? Do you like it?”. Captain Farsig was astonished to see the dress on Rameldin, but mostly because she clearly paid too much for this dress. “Do not get me wrong, Miss Rameldin. It looks very good on you, but I think you deserve something better.” He turned towards the group: “My dear friends, today is a day of festivities. Please, go around. Feel free to enjoy the party in town. Buy some presents from the stalls and afterwards come towards the spa. You will get a bath, massage and new clothes. I will see you at the reception tonight.” He bowed and went his own way mingling with the crowd.
After the group finished shopping and bought some nice souvenirs, they went to the spa and started relaxing. Each male adventurer was afterwards dressed in noble’s outfit in the colours of their home country. The outfit was completed with a sash and a sable. Being a dwarf, Mulchanor received a quiver with 3 throwing axes. Even though they were only cosmetic items, the dwarf saw the exquisite craftsmanship of the weapons. Rameldin got another dress and looked even more astonishing as she already did with the dress she bought earlier this morning.
At around 8 pm the group went towards the palace. Around them they saw many guests in magnificent outfits. The palace now rose up in front of them. Even though it was not very high and only had a few towers, it was still a very impressive building standing on its rock. Between the palace and the rest of the town was a cliff of around 70 meters deep and the palace was only reachable by a drawbridge. In times of war, the cliff would form a natural defense system against unwanted intruders. The adventurers arrived at the gate before the drawbridge and showed their passes allowing them to enter the palace. While walking over the bridge, they could see another little bridge on their right side below them. From that bridge, they saw the entertainers of the evening, consisting of bards, jugglers, a dancing bear and a magician. Furthermore there was a larger gate at water level where a ship might easily enter and leave the building.
The company crossed the bridge and went inside the palace. They were guided through some corridors and arrived in one of the patio of the palace. From there they entered a huge double door and into a ballroom, which was decorated for the festivities of the evening. Many guests already arrived inside and among them they also saw several palace guards. Most in white/grey outfits, but also some wearing either blue, red or green armor. On the east side of the room, you could see through the windows a very large balcony with a beautiful view of the city from above. A large table was built up in front of it with all kinds of foods and beverages. Also there was an ice sculpture representing a ship. Yesnarel checked the details of the ship and could see there were neither masts nor sails. It looked very sleek and aerodynamic. The only thing that did not quite fit was a small hut at the stern of the ship.
Captain Farsig joined the group: “Ah, I see you have made it inside and if I may say so; you look splendid tonight and perfect for the occasion. And my dear Rameldin, you look splendid in your new outfit. Please allow a dance with me later this evening.” Rameldin happily accepted the offer. Mulchanor then asked: “We were admiring the ship on the buffet. Can you tell us some more about it?” Rameldin added: “Yes, for example, what’s the name of the ship?” “It’s a prototype for the new battle ship for Kitaezi.” was the answer of Captain Farsig. “It’s details are currently very secret and only on a need-to-know-basis and you don’t need to know. In case you want more information, you should ask the Commanders. But they will talk about it during the evening, I guess” He slipped a little note to one of the servants in the room, who then knocked on the floor with a big staff. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I kindly ask for your attention. May I introduce to you … Journeyman Prince Yesnarel of Valerion accompanied by the beautiful Miss Rameldin. Also we have more visitors from abroad. Knight-Aspirant Draug Ohtar from the republic of Palmyrion, Knight-Warrior Erleothir, son of Leobard from the Sommerlund realm and Mercenary-Sergeant Mulchanor from the dwarven kingdom of Bor.” All listeners were in awe and the group greeted each of them in their own way.
Rameldin asked Yesnarel for a dance, but he was not very willing to stay with her and refused her offer, much to the confusion of some people present in the room. However Captain Farsig still had some time available and was happy to dance with her. Draug took the opportunity to flirt with the attendees and Mulchanor enjoyed the food and beer of the buffet. Then suddenly a man walked up towards Yesnarel and Erleothir and talked softly, making sure nobody else could hear it. “Good evening Prince Yesnarel. I know you’re not here only to enjoy the party” and he added a much-saying glance to him. “My name is Counselor Sitrik. I see you have been admiring the prototype of the ship at the buffet. As you know, this ship is a threat to our cause. Long have we managed to delay its accomplishment, but now they have found the last piece of the puzzle. We may not allow this ship to sail out tomorrow. You MUST make sure the prototype of the ship fails and secure the plans of the ship to the Crystal Star Guild of Toran.” Before anyone could answer, the Counselor already walked away. Yesnarel and Erleothir looked at each other with a questioning face. Rameldin, who saw this happening walked towards the two with Captain Farsig at her side. “Ah, I see you have met one of the Summerlund Ambassadors. You must excuse him, he is rather ... peculiar.” He continued: “Anyway, where is the rest of your group? I think it is time I introduce you to the Commanders and Magistrate.” Mulchanor was quickly found at the buffet, having another beer and enjoying some meat. To find Draug was more difficult, until Erleothir heard a familiar sound. SLAP, another female hand made contact with Draug’s face in a rather unfortunate way for the knight. Erleothir guided Draug to the rest of the group and with Captain Farsig they went towards the table with the officials on the west side of the room.
The first Commander sitting at the left side of the table was Commander Shanxi, the person for whom this whole event has been organized. He was sitting in front of a yellow flag with a book symbol. He looked very old and counted even more years, he appeared rather senile and some mucus dropped out of his mouth. When he was introduced to the group, Erleothir sensed there was something odd about him, but he could not tell what it was. The second Commander was Qwidas, sitting in front of a green flag with dunes and camels. He was in his 50s, had a darker skin than the rest and looked very jovial. His face was round and he was in a very good mood, especially when he saw Rameldin. The third person on the table was introduced as Commander Sintar, sitting in front of a blue flag with a ship. Draug immediately recognized the flag, as he bought a handkerchief with the same motive while he was on the market before. Sintar was in his 40s, clean shaved, perfectly dressed and acting very straight-forward. The last person on the table was magistrate Barif of Kitaezi. He looked totally transparent, a face you would easily forget and absolutely no charisma. A painful silence fell during his introduction.
After the Commanders were introduced, Rameldin took Erleothir by her side. “We must talk with them separately and see what information about the ship we can get from each other.” Erleothir nodded: “They will surely not talk as long as they are together.” After some discussion, they decided that Draug and Yesnarel would talk with Sintar. Since Draug picked a handkerchief with the same symbol as the flag of Sintar, he would maybe find a way to ease him up a bit. Rameldin would use her female talents and dance with Qwidas, hoping to get more info. And since Erleothir sensed that something’s peculiar about Shanxi, he and Mulchanor would have a chat with him. However before they had the chance return to the table, Barif stood up and asked for everybody’s attention.
“Dear ..euh… inhabitants of our .. quite nice empire of … Shadaki!” he started. It was immediately clear that he was not a great speaker. “I have some things, euh, presents I would like to show you, because today, Friday, is a special day. It’s the 13th, hehe, let’s hope nothing bad happens, knock on wood everybody, haha.” A long silence was heard and in the background was somebody coughing. “Euhh…to continue, ahum, on the drinks-table is a statue of ice-cream, no, just ice, hehe….anyway, it represents a new prototype of an even newer ship. This is so aerodynamic and sleek as a katana. You might say, if this katana was our ship, it would be….. ah euh…a very good katana.” Commander Shanxi started talking: “Thank you for your kind words”. While he slowly stood up, the attendees were visibly glad that the Magistrate was interrupted. “Today is indeed a special day. My work has finally come to finish. This ship will represent the power and strength of Shadaki. Long did it take to accomplish my plans, but thanks to Commander Qwidas, who found the last missing piece of the puzzle and thanks to Commander Sintar overseeing the construction of the Prototype in the Shipyard. I also want to congratulate Captain Farsig, as he is chosen to steer this new prototype tomorrow. Now we will very soon be able to ….”
While Shanxi was talking, Yesnarel and Draug felt quite odd and uncomfortable, but also captivated by the words of the Commander. Erleothir suddenly sensed what he suspected earlier at the introduction of Shanxi. This Commander is not senile, he is far from it. As a matter of fact, even though his speech was of questionable ethical and political content, he seemed to be using some kind of spell to keep his audience captivated by his speech. Erleothir whispered to Yesnarel to make him aware of this, but he was too much under his spell and did not have ears for Erleothir’s words. Erleothir could not convince him, but luckily for the knight, there was no need to do that. The Commanders Qwidas and Sintar saw what was happening and interrupted Shanxi. “Thank you for your kind words, Commander Shanxi. We could not have managed without you. Please take your seat and enjoy the rest of the party”.
After the speech of Shanxi, the other two Commanders walked up front of the table and faced Shanxi. Their gestures were wild. Clearly they were not too happy with all the information that the old man provided. During this talk, Captain Farsig came back to the adventurers. “Oh Captain Farsig” Rameldin started, “I think congratulations are appropriate on your position to steer the prototype.” “Well, thank you Miss Rameldin” he answered. She then continued: “Can you show us the new ship you will be piloting? I’m eager to see the magnificent craftsmanship of Shadaki since I was a little girl. I’m sure a man in your position can make this possible.” “Sorry, but no can do”, denied Captain Farsig. “This is a state secret military project and nobody is allowed to see it yet. Anyway, I actually came to you because I wanted to bring one of you to the prisons and look for Alast. Wasn’t that the whole purpose of tonight?” Erleothir answered: “Indeed that was our original intention. Please allow me to go down with you.” and Captain Farsig and Erleothir went to the prisons. While Erleothir was gone with Captain Farsig, Yesnarel surprisingly asked Rameldin to dance. Mulchanor went back to the buffet and Draug was on his way mingling with the ladies in the room.
Downstairs at the prisons, Captain Farsig showed his bracelet to one of the guards, who provided him access subsequently. They spoke with the supervisor and asked about Alast. “Alast, you say? Hmm…young fellow, likes to backstab his food? Yes, I remember him. He has been brought to the shipyards.” Erleothir then asked if it is possible to see him. “I’m sorry, but nobody is allowed to go to the shipyards unless access has been granted by one of the commanders. But this might interest you; because of the festivities we have transferred all prisoners to the shipyards. But this fellow, Alast, has been transferred one day before the rest. I’m sorry, but that is all I can do for you.”
Erleothir was rather disappointed not to meet with Alast and not even to get more information about his whereabouts. He went heavy-headed in the palace ballroom again to meet with the rest of the group. Yesnarel just finished dancing with Rameldin and Mulchanor joined them as well, well fed and with a glass of ale in his hand. “Has anybody seen Draug?”, Captain Farsig wanted to know. Erleothir expected to hear a SLAP somewhere in the room, but to his surprise he saw Draug coming towards them with an up-pace walk. “Ah Draug, there you are again. Any luck with the ladies?” Yesnarel wanted to know. “Please, you have to help me!” Draug started rather embarrassed, “All night I was asking some women for a dance, but without much luck. Then I did find a lady and she was quite eager to join me on the dance floor. All went well and we danced the stars from heaven. Then we went to the balcony and enjoyed the view over the city. And just before we kissed, I suddenly see this huge Adam’s apple!” The rest could not help, but laughed out loud at Draug’s luck. Captain Farsig was most amused by the knight. “Is that the way of the Palmyrion?” he asked in an ironic way.
He then continued: “I’m sorry I could not be of more help to find your friend Alast. I do hope your ways will cross soon. Maybe you might have luck asking the authorisation to go to the shipyard to one of the commanders.” he nodded at the group at the other end of the room and they were still obviously having an agitated discussion. For some reason the magistrate had stood up and was joining the three commanders and it was obvious that he was as welcome as a hair on a bowl of soup. Farsig sighed at this view and turned back to the company with the look of someone who is about to ask an embarrassing and maybe not politically well-seen question. “There is one other question I would like to ask all of you. What exactly do you think of Commander……” he was suddenly interrupted by a loud GROOOWWLLLL. Everybody turned towards the entertainers section. The dancing bear broke loose and was running wildly towards the table with the officials. Yesnarel used a slow-motion spell on the bear, but it was too late. The bear was already too close to the table. Barif looked shocked, stumbled some more words: “Oh, a .. euhm … bear”. The bear jumped towards the Magistrate, grabbing his claws around him and they both fell through the window and into the 70 meter deep chasm. After that, everything went very fast. Commander Shanxi jumped up and kicked the table forward providing him with cover. Clearly he was stronger and more agile than he appeared and not at all senile as he pretended to be. Qwidas took his 2 handed axe and Sintar picked up his sword. The three commanders were standing in front of each other threatening with their weapons. At the same time, all the guards who were dressed in the colors blue, red or green in the room unsheathed their swords ready to attack.