April 1-2, T.A. 1355

Gilda Revealed to be Princess Thalia

Nils has just learned that Gilda is none other than the Princess Thalia.  She reveals that she has studies magic and has some illusionist powers. She had some time ago fallen into a coma and then was revived by the Amulet of Shinkara which had been retrieved by Vyrus and a few other companions. Upon being revived she could not remember the events that led to her coma. However, she had a bad feeling about Hadrianus after the coma. She told her suspicions to her mother the queen but she had no evidence of any wrongdoing. She took it upon herself to investate mysteries she was seeing in Redmark. Taking the illusionary form of the woman Gilda, Princess Thalia formed the MMM.

Earlier in the Day

After Dolena had returned, Thalia met with her mother, Queen Sophia and confessed her secret labors through the MMM and revealed the intelligence Dolena had gathered: the Western Reach was indeed on the verge of insurrection.  The Queen sent for Hadrianus to explain himself but he was not in the palace grounds.

Thalia then left, not content with the glacial pace at which her mother was taking action. In the palace library, from a secret room containing certain magic items locked away, she took a crystal ball.

Thalia’s Memory Returns

In this process, the remainder of Thalia’s memory returned. Weeks before, from a secret passageway, Thalia had been listening in on Hadrianus and overheard his plot. Hadrianus was speaking to his son Marcellus. Hadrianus said he wanted to rule the world. Hadrianus was a noble from the Western Reach who was an advisor in the Citystate of Redmark’s court. He aspired to marry his son Marcellus to Anastasia, the eldest daughter of Queen Sophia and King Consort Ghost Dancer. To pave the way for the marriage, he planned to foment various threats and unrest in order to make the case for marrying his son to the princess, for in return he will marshall his troops in support of the Queen and general safety. Once the marriage takes place, he plans to assassinate the Queen and elevate his son’s power, thereby displacing Sophia’s family’s control.

Thalia gasps upon hearing these revelations. Hadrianus discovers her and produces a wand and with a spell cast a hex that left Thalia in a coma and without her short-term memory.

The Crystal Ball

Pondering these new-found memories, Thalia returns to the MMM, and uses the crystal ball to spy upon Hardrianus whom she found to be a day north of Redmark meeting with an invading army from the Western Reach.

It was at this point she used the crystal ball to find out where Nils was: he was right behind her supposedly ‘asleep’.

Nils Returns to His Companions

Nils agrees to find his companions so they might all return to meet with the Queen. The heroes were en route to the castle when they were attacked by another group of cultists, this time accompanied by an evil priest. A fight ensues, and the cultists are defeated. One cultist is kept alive and charmed to reveal information. The cultists are part of the worship of the Chaos gods from the first age and are part of a plot to return the old dark gods to rule the world.

The Audience with the Queen

Arriving to meet with the queen, the heroes are shown to a war room where Thalia and the heroes give updates on events.

The situation is dire. The Redmark army is mostly gone, sailing with the Redmarkian fleet. They are two days away, and the sending stone which they use to communicate can be used at most once per day, so it will be a day before the fleet is alerted. Having been recently used, this means the fleet could not return until four days hence. The Roman army is one day away.

The Heroes’ Plans

The heroes think there is insurrection afoot in the city, possibly tied to the chaos cultists. They plan to use the trappings from the slain chaos cultist to infiltrate the chaos cult temple and find out what is going on. After that, the heroes are considering using Thalia’s power of illusion and their chaos cultist clothes to sneak into the Roman army’s camp and get access to Hadrianus.

LOOT

  • No money, but some really sick looking skull-adorned chaos cultist attire.