When the War Came

The Acquaintances With Weapons are betrayed.

## Major Plot Points

* Vlad, Voloth, Dani, and Calypso met up with Fern and Steven, the tiger, again outside of Wymheart Mine. Fern had just returned from rehab after her very traumatizing time spent being held captive by the Sewn Sisters.
* AWW then descended into Wyrmheart Mine. In the first section, they found a Chultan, an Aarakocra, and an Albino Dwarf chained in a room. The floor was covered in dead Grungs and Vegepygmies. The three said they’d been kidnapped and forced to mine for gold, diamonds, and silver. They said the mine was filled with other slaves. No Grung or Vegepygmie slaves were still alive, however, as they couldn’t handle the intense heat from the mine inside the volcano.
* The party then discovered a temple to Imix, a goddess of fire who is worshiped in the Elemental Plane of Fire and pyromaniacs in Toriel. Inside the temple were slayed firenewts. Voloth used divination magic to see that they were killed by Merchant Prince soldiers.
* The group successfully crossed a river of lava in the mine and discovered a dozen slaves consisting of Chultan, Kobolds, Aarakocra, and Albino Dwarves. They attacked the four guards on patrol and killed all but one of them. The survivor surrendered and offered information in exchange for her life. She said that guards from the mine had been called back to Port Nyanzaru to prep for a massive strike against the city.
* AWW agreed to head back to town immediately and forgo the mine mission for now. They told Queen Maxima about the threat and that an attack was likely to happen within the week.
* The next day, Queen Maxima put her forces to work to reinforce the city. At Voloth’s suggestion, they dug a trench around the city and lit it ablaze.
* Queen Maxima hosted a bottomless brunch at the Thundering Lizard for the whole city. She wanted to give them a good time before an imminent threat.
* The party stationed themselves in the queen’s quarters. Horns blew in the city to warn of invaders. Sounds of explosions and buildings collapsing erupted all around them. The attack wasn’t coming from the jungle where the firewall was defending them. It was coming from the sea.
* A large pirate ship docked in Port Nyanzaru’s Bay and shot giant spears from ballistas and hurled large flaming boulders from catapults.
* AWW left the palace and immediately fought a group of pirates. After killing them, they discovered a father and son trapped under rubble. Dani used telekinesis to save them both by lifting up the rocks. The group successfully stopped two arrows from flying towards the city. However, two more evaded them. One struck AWW’s mansion, which is still under renovations from the last attack. And Fern’s attack simply lit the arrow on fire and it struck the Thundering Lizard, bursting the bar into flames.
* When AWW finally reached the dockyards, Captain Eurin Gayjoy used a large conch to summon a Dragon Turtle. The vicious beast’s steam breath heavily damaged Calypso and Fern. And it proved fatal to Steven. When the tide turned and the creature was almost dead, Vlad used his healing hands on the reptile to restore its health. Gayjoy blew into the conch again, signaling a retreat. Vlad rode on the Dragon Turtle’s back towards Gayjoy’s ship and escaped with the Merchant Prince of the Seas. Voloth, Dani, Fern, and Calypso were left stunned on the beach.
* The camera cut to black. Then we saw Vlad walking up a long series of steps alongside Eurin Gayjoy. They were greeted by the Merchant Princes: Highfather Zitembe, Slade Wilson, Arachne Sana, Azaka Stormfang, Xandala Bloodmoon, and Leliana Whyte. Highfather Zitembe asked him to kneel and then placed his scepter on Vlad’s shoulder. He said, “You have proven yourself worthy and shown the wisdom of Savras. Arise, First Knight of the Merchant Princes.”
* The camera panned away and faded to Queen Maxima walking around the ruin dockyard neighborhood. She was followed by AWW and her Small Council. Dust still lingered in the air. Small fires crackled between the rubble. Soldiers conducted rescue missions but found only lifeless bodies. The young queen knelt to the ground and removed a rock, revealing a buried child. She held their still hand and turned to AWW, “When you bring Vlad back, make sure he arrives in pieces.