Cut short from his comrades, Acutus wanders in the city.
He is thus the first to notice how the news of Attumah's death spread to the populace, People coming out, one by one, in the streets, which slowly crowd, the merfolk reacting very differently. Some look confused, some lament somewhat, a few are angry
Roberto will wait about ten minutes to seewhat attention he has attracted. If no sign of Acutus nor any trouble, he sends up another three PoF flares.
Told you, not PoF flares, but thee are more than enugh ways to do this.
I'm a little overburdened so we can skip all this if you want, or not.
Wirth thinks that, if they're still loyal to the princess, as she said, we should stay hidden, help her with spells, let her reclaim her kingdom. Stay in the shadows. That way, there won't be a crowd attacking Attumah's murderer
These other ways do not involve Mastered spells though :mrgreen:
Not trying to cause damage, just light.
but anyway... :mrgreen:
Agreed. Let us stick to the shadows and be invisible.
"That seems a wise move," Lucas agrees. "So, is the first step to give the princess a chance to address her people? The carpet seems an excellent way to accomplish that."
Lucas, that is brilliant. Never would have thought of that myself. The carpet would make an excellent platform to address the people. Impressive posture.
What say you princess?
Soteira cracks a smile
Very good idea, my beloved. Your friend is wise, even for a mage.
Cutting short:
You find a suitable place, probably in the agora in front of the palace
You all hide nearby, save maybe roberto and/or lucas who stands with the princess?
Wirth will teleport on a rooftop, to better watch the crowd.
There, you manage to signal that something is going on (various ways for you to do it, let's dispense with the botching), and Soteira reveals herself, buffed up by Wirth's Aura of Ennobled Presence*, and wielding her father's trident.
Soon, drawn in by your signal, the crowd gathers
It's the princess!
She's alive? didn't the sorcerer kill her?
What'll we do now?
She's so majestic, much like her mother
I heard she'd been captured by the Roberto of Hermes!
What of King Attumah? I heard he was dead.
King Attumah? He wasn't king, wasn't he?
He should have been, he was the natural heir to the throne. Wasn't he?
Shhh you, let's hear the princess!
Do you think she'll rule now?
People of Herakleion!
Loyal subjects of the line of King Triton, citizens of Poseidon's realm.
You've suffered great hardships recently. We all have, with the untimely death of my parents.
It's easy to just abandon. To relinquish our faith in the realm, in our future, in each other. To just let go of our traditions, our heritage, of everything that made our people great and proud.
But, as great as our pain may be, we must go forward. We have survived for centuries, enduring the fall of atlantis, the departure of our gods, the highlord's curse, the wakandian wars... so many crises that any other people would have disappeared by then. Yet, we managed to thrive. Despite all this, despite living so close to the devil's pass, and we will thrive again.
We won't let our pain, we won't let our deaths, bring us down. We must be proud, we must be strong, we must be worthy our our ancestors and history.
This is why I came before you today. To reclaim the soul of our people. To reclaim my throne and my crown. To reclaim your trust. Today, I stand before you. Do you stand with me?**
YES!!! replies the enboldened crowd.
Soteira! Soteira!!! Long live the queen! Soteira!!!
She looks around nervously, or discreetly hold Roberto's invisible hand if he's standing with her.
And my first gesture will be one of mercy, and justice.
Some of you... Some of you feel like Attumah's death should be avenged. Some of you feel like Roberto of Flambeau, the warrior that feeled him, should be hunted down and killed.
But the fight was a fair one, waged with honor, steel and magic. Roberto challenged Attumah's right to rule, and found it lacking.
We must respect that, and forego any ill intend we may have toward the victor.
Look! She lifts her weapon. The trident of my father! Never before did it fail in battle, yet this time, it did.
She bits her lip nervously.
The mage could have made way with it, as do those of his kind, eager to strip it of its magic and power. But this one is different. This is the one who saved me from the kraken. And he returned the trident to me, because he understands and respect our history.
She strikes the trident's tip on the carpet, which doesn't work very well, but it sends waved over the crowd, which does better.
As a ruler to our people, as guardian of our pride and honor, I won't have anyone trying to harm him for what was a fair fight.
And as a woman, I have no intention of doing without the presence of a friend to our people. And even less without the one I love. And anyone who dares to challenge my decision will have to challenge me, Soteira of the line of Atlan. Does anyone dare to rise against me?***
- This was lucas idea, but only Wirth, with the help of an AC, can penetrate her MR.
** spell 3 + Pre 02 + Leadership 04 + Situationnal bonus 03 + 7 = 19 vs 09... More than enough.
*** spell 3 + Pre 02 + Leadership 04 + Situationnal bonus 03 - crap speech 03 + 4 = 13 vs 12... It flies, barely.
I just hate having to write things like that.
It was a great speech, and very well written. 
Roberto beems with pride for his beloved.
Thank you very much, Marko, I appreciate it.
Wrapping this up...
Albeit confused, the people's fidelity to Soteira wasn't affected by whatever was done to them. So she manages to take hold of these feelings to affirm her claim on the throne.
The day flies by, with her giving orders left and right, having Nera (the tatooed warrior) and her friend Tulha send to the resistance outside to warn them of Attumah's demise, ensuring all of his barbarians have either fled the city or be captured, sending search parties for Leolinus and the Crown of Nammu...
To say that the merfolk are friendly to Roberto and his friends would be far from the truth, although lucas charm helps a lot in getting him accepted (If he wants, he can help with any task). Wirth urges him to not make too many waves, lest the princess authority be tested.
Finally, light dims, and the magi feel the sunset washing away their parma. As mystical crystals and magical fishes flare up here and there, the magi perform their ritual, but it is only hours later that, at the princess behest, a servant comes for Roberto, bringing him to her chambers.
Despite soteira's fatigue, a light supper ensues, over conversation ladden with inuendo.
Things go up from there (pun intended) until, finally, their passion exhausted, both Roberto and his beloved fall prey to slumber.
Yet, in the middle of the night... A yell awakes the mage.
Roberto! Roberto, help me!
All traces of sleep vanish instantly as he sees his beloved, still naked, holding a knife high over him in her trembling hands.
[size=85](Note: this isn't me prolonging things, this was planned from the very start, should you find yourself alone with her)[/size]
Lucas remains alert throughout the day, but slowly relaxes as it becomes clear that the people are accepting Soteira as their queen. By the time evening comes, he goes to bed content that they shall all have a peaceful night.
Roberto rolls out of bed as he Fast Casts Wizard's Leap to get to the other side of the room.
(no dice or internet avaiabe, o pease rolll for me 
)
Roberto dissapears, teleporting to the other side of the room*, only to see Soteira plunge her dagger into the bed.
Soteira turns around, searching, and gets out of the bed towards Roberto, tears flowing, her body shacking
I must kill you, I feel... I don't want but I have to Roberto must die! Help me, I don't know what to do!
(Trying to get back! Yeah!)
[color=red]Look, if you're trying to say you want to break up, I get the hint! Just put the knife down.
Wonderful, I love it!
Soteira reaches Roberto, and, tentatively, raises her dagger once again. She's visibly straining and looks confused, both love and a void look of mindless obedience flashing through her face.
You wanna do something?
BTW, what do Lucas and/or Sharkman do in the few days you spend in the city, once Attumah is dead?
Under the cover of wanting to see the sites, Lucas is going to try and get to know some of the locals and get a feel for what the people really think of Soteira and how they feel about the fall of Attumuh.
Good one.
Gentle Gifted, some charm... Lucas has some trouble engaging people, but once he's through, his glib tongue helps him win people other.
It takes him some time, but the people don't really hide their feelings. THey love their princess, they always have, yet they feel that Attumah should reign, not her, even if they can't really explain why they feel so.
Should he return, they would follow him, not her: They love her, but she's but a princess, whereas he's the rightful king.
Yet, once lucas digs enough, there's something wrong with their loyalty. Although some don't really believe Attumah's dead, it seems that no one is willing to try to find him, nor are speeches of vengeance against Roberto very convincing. It's a little like they're acting the part, or maybe lacking the strenght to follow on their words and ideas.
I wanna grab her by the wrist and disarm her. Them immobilize her & try a counterspell. Dice are unavailable at the moment, so I will roll something up at home latter.
Lucas finds the behavior of Soteira's subjects quite peculiar. They seem to have conflicting beliefs, but not enough will to do any more than go with the flow, whatever that happens to be. His best guess right now is that the people were put under some kind of lingering enchantment to be loyal to Attumah. Done right, such a spell would try to avoid running up against the people's love for Soteira. Rather, it would try and deflect it into a feeling that she was loved, but unsuited to rule - that she was a princess, not a queen. That's what he'd do, anyway. And though he didn't care much for Leolinus' personality, he'd be doing them all a disservice if he underestimated the man's hermetic ability.
If there was an enchantment, then either it had faded some, so the people weren't gung ho about getting rid of Soteira as ruler, or it was never very strong to begin with. That might have been a compromise to get it to effect so many people. Attumah might want loyalty, but he could accept apathy as a fallback. In any case, whatever enchantment it was - if this was indeed the result of an enchantment - wasn't gone, that was clear. The merfolk still retained a loyalty to Attumah and a patronizing feeling about Soteira.
Then again, maybe there was some ritual of assuming command that Attumah had accomplished, but that Soteira had yet to perform. Mythically, that could keep her stuck in the 'princess' role, leaving Attumah as the latest 'ruler.' In that case, they needed to figure out that ritual and get Soteira to perform it so that she could mythically achieve the position of queen in the hearts of her subjects.
This would definitely require more thought, and perhaps some research. And it was definitely something to discuss with Roberto and Soteira. But it was late and they'd retired already. He had no desire to interfere with whatever fun they were having right now.
(Sorry for the delay, work + low morale make this a little difficult for me. Which is also why I have trouble throwing story seeds for lucas and Acutus)
Hum... Don't worry. You've got more brawl and strength than her, and she's confused enough, torn between wanting to stab you and not wanting to, that you have no real problem seizing and holding her, although she trashes somewhat.
Trogdor: spoiler
Trogdor: Mostly right 
I wanted Leolinus to try and make people believe Attumah was still alive, stir up more trouble, but he'd need to do this a little too openly for his tastes, especially now that you have the upper hand
Bumpy bump.
Marko?