Kingston
Simon sequesters himself to read the Manual of Gainful Exercise. The rest of us train in some languages, Undercommon for Bale, Codex and Berdyn, and Celestial for Maud.
Afterwards, Berdyn and I go down to resurrect the body we found, and Maud, Simon and Bale go to meet with Crown Prince Edmund.
Bale’s meeting with the Crown Prince is a little stiff, but the Prince is grateful for our efforts to save his wife from his children. Edmund says he will put the country and it’s people first, above even his own family, which was emphasized.
The dead man’s name is Jackson, and Codex attempts to bring him back to life. He does, and his name is Jackson Dowey. He is grateful to be resurrected, but his recovering from the ordeal.
We hand him over to Coletta so that he can find his wife, and recover.
Bale and company return and we talk about the conversation between Edmund and Bale. There is some concern that he might let his kids get away with their murder attempt of the entire family, sweeping everything under the rug.
Bale then goes to meet Morys. Morys asks Bale why he has a right to vote. Bale explains that because he has lived in squalor as a commoner he has a unique eye regarding the perspective of the common man. This annoys Morys, he attacks this point of view, making plain that there simply isn’t enough food, enough water, enough fuel, enough of anything for everyone. It isn’t that the Royal family does not care about the people, it is that they have to make terrible decisions regarding allocating their insufficient resources. Morys is passionate, and is insulted by Bale’s declaration that he knows best. It is a poor meeting.
When they return we talk about what happened. The clash of pride and hurt was apparent. Morys is trying to do the best he can, and he knows that this isn’t enough to save everyone, and his frustration led to the outburst.
We discuss an interesting thing, who bankrolled Cinnabar Epiphany’s expedition? Was it the royal family? Was it Pyrrhos?
Bale then meets with his father. He talks about who to vote for in the Royal Succession, and also asks his father about what the Northern Kingdom did about the cold that has descended upon the world. It turns out that Pyyrhos did fund the expedition that Epiphany led, and the investigation into the origins. The royal historian would know more, there were two messages sent before the Expedition stopped responding.
We then head to the Morys and Cecily’s estate, in preparation for Bale to speak to Cecily. We take some time to talk to Niclas, who is worn down and absolutely done with this whole thing. Bale talks to Niclas about how they are the kingmakers. They talk briefly about who they would vote for, and Niclas is torn between his parents.
Codex then speaks to Thalanil and asks about Cinnabar Epiphany’s Expedition. It turns out the elves sent guards and food supplies with the Expedition, and that the Queen was involved in communications with the Expedition. She may have had direct contact with the expedition, and the two messages that were sent by the expedition will likely be “purer” from the Queen rather than the 2nd hand written record held by the Royal Historian.
Bale then leaves to speak to Cecily. Cecily believes that she is the best choice, and gives some interesting insight about the trade between the Southern and Northern Kingdoms. It ended about 10 years ago, and the roads became “unsafe” due to the Duregar in the mountain range between the two kingdoms. This doesn’t seem true as the Duregar are underdark dwellers. The south didn’t care too much, but the north suffered.
We return to Gilbert and Emma’s place and speak to Jacquette, who is out at night doing some target practice. She is very good. We talk to her about her experience so far above ground, her difficulty with soft beds and the light. We then turn in for the night.