09/06/2020 - Tenting with Terrance, Halfling histories and Horden's a racist piece of shit

## TL:DR

* The group made their way from Rocksend to Branxom, agreeing as they walked, much to Kunai’s  frustration, that they would attempt to negotiate with Horden before getting the weapons.
* Before speaking to Horden they met with some halflings who outlined their history on the Island and explained that what they desired most was the freedom to trade and set their own fate.
* Negotiations with Horden were a disaster. She was a racist piece of shit who refused to admit that what the ATC  were doing was anything other than “good business”. Even Rocky  could not get through to her.
* Blagden  and Elyan  attempted to talk with the priest of Tyr, but he was a racist charlatan who was also not to be convinced. They did however at least succeed in stealing his money.
* With the negotiations in tatters everyone returned to the ship only to find that Kunai  had bribed Trimaeus  to make him sail straight back to Ilbidor  without getting the weapons. Furious, the rest explained the situation to Trimaeus  and persuaded him to help them deliver the weapons.
* As such, it was decided that the group would deliver the weapons. Then, those who wished to help the revolution could remain on Cypropa , and those who wished to look for a more peaceful solution could sail back to Ilbidor .

## Walking and talking

After an uneventful night spent outside the Rocksend slum, the group made an early start back towards Branxom. As the group travelled, they discussed their plan of action for the next few days. Everyone was more or less agreed that they should at least attempt to negotiate with Horden.  Ash  offered to lead these negotiations, potentially with Rocky’s  aid, and made it clear he wanted to keep the discussion peaceful and above-board. He would simply point out to Horden that the ATC  were clearly breaking the spirit, if not the letter, of the law and would make clear the political ramifications that would follow if the group raised the issue with the Trifecta government and/or wider public. Always keen for sneakiness, Blagden  added that it might be worth having a more underhand option as a backup for if this failed. He proposed that Tamsin  could forge some documents, purporting to be from the Trifecta government, that implied the ATC  were under investigation for *“being naughty”*. Most of the group weren’t particular convinced such a blatant lie would work, but Tamsin  agreed to forge something just in case.

With a negotiating strategy agreed, discussion turned to what should happen when they inevitably failed. With the exception of Kunai  and Tamsin , the group were agreed that they should honour their agreement with Finian and deliver the weapons. With a growl of frustration, Kunai  pointed out that bringing their ship back through the Copper Bay as suggested by Finnian would be suicide. There was no way they’d slip through undetected and last time they entered the bay they were immediately accosted by galleons bristling with canons! Even Khrom  conceded that this was probably true, at which point Blagden  excitedly suggested that they could just fly the weapons over instead! Azurial  could fly and the druids could transform into animals. Why couldn’t they just zoom the weapons over in the bag of holding!? Unfortunately, Blagden’s  excitement was short lived, as Elyan  reminded him that Azurial  could only fly for one minute and Kelda and Scribbulus  couldn’t transform into animals that could fly. As everyone briefly wished that the wayward Birdperson  was back, Tamsin  dejectedly offered that Ellie could carry one sword at a time... Wisely realising that the flying plan was a dud, Kelda pragmatically stated that they could always try and take the weapons onshore somewhere far from Branxom in their small boats, then transport them to the meeting place by foot. No one had any better ideas, and night was fast approaching, so with this vague plan agreed the group stopped their chatter and set up camp.

## Tenting with Terrance

As Ash  and Scribbulus  settled into the first watch, Khrom’s  subconscious began to be accosted by a strange dream in which he was being pulled and pushed by violent winds. Hearing scuffling noises, Ash  went to investigate and found Khrom  writhing around in his sleep, with a very confused looking 3ft troll stood above him. Sighing with exasperation, Ash  gave Khrom  a sharp kick to wake him up. Pointing to Terrance, Ash  grumbled:

*“This is your problem, you insisted on carrying this thing around, now deal with it!”*

*“Fair enough”* mumbled Khrom  politely, as Ash  angrily stomped back over to explain the situation to Scribbulus . Concerned, Scribbulus  immediately headed over to assist Khrom . However, before he could get there the panicked Terrance began wailing and shrieking, clearly both terrified, confuzzled and angry. Khrom  tried to grab Terrance, but the troll nimbly scuttled out of his grasp. Khrom  then tried to calm him with food, but this didn’t work either. Realising that the wails were not stopping, Ash  focused her psionic powers and telepathically asked Terrance what was up. In reply she got nothing but a string of confused emotions. Exasperated by the whole situation, Ash  marched back over to Khrom  and explained in no uncertain terms that he really wanted a good night’s rest for once, so could Khrom  please deal with it! Khrom  queried whether that was just a polite way of Ash  telling him to kill him, but Ash  was already gone. Still not keen to kill Terrance, Khrom  decided to try and catch him again, this time aided by a cheeky bull strength enhancement by Scribbulus . However, as Khrom  crept in for the grab, he tripped, spooking Terrance and causing him to run screaming into the forest. As Ash  sighed in relief that Terrace was gone, Khrom  wished him God-speed and then headed back to sleep. Much to his campmate’s misery, he spent much of the night snoring like a bull. The rest of the night went without incident, though the group got a bit of a shock when they awoke the next morning to find Scribbulus  bathing naked in the river.

## Halfling chat

The next day was spent travelling back to Branxom and they arrived just as dusk was beginning to settle. As the city came into sight Scribbulus  called a group huddle to finalise the plan. As Ash  practiced his negotiation lines, Blagden  and Tamsin  set about sorting their forgery plan, but unfortunately Tamsin’s  paper was wet and she was unable to forge anything decent. The group also discussed whether to try and involve the priest they had seen with Horden previously. As a follower of Tyr, the God of Justice, surely he of all people would agree with the group that things had to change… (spoiler alert, he didn’t). Elyan  then suggested that it might be useful to get a list of demands from the halflings themselves before they entered negotiations. Ash  agreed and added that he would like to know more of the halflings history too.

As such, the group headed into the Branxom slum to talk to some halflings. On entry, they ran into one of the halflings that they spoke to when they first arrived.  Scribbulus  explained to him that they were going to try and negotiate a better deal for the halflings with Horden, but that they first wanted to know more about the halflings history as well as any specific demands the halflings might have. Looking incredulous and highly sceptical at Scribbulus’s  words, the halfling explained that the ATC  arrived about 60 years ago shortly after the Iysgarth Empire left. At first things were peaceful between the ATC  and the halflings. The ATC  just used the island as a minor outpost and left the halflings well alone. However, this changed about 18 years ago when the ATC  discovered the copper-ore deposits. Keen to extract this resource at any cost, the ATC  slowly began to choke out the halflings way of life. They strictly started controlling all trade in and out of the island and eventually made it impossible for the halflings to sustain their previous agricultural lifestyle. Eventually, as one by one their farms failed, the halflings had no other option but to work the mines as indentured slaves.

Scribbulus  then asked what he would say to the ATC  if he could speak with them right now…

*“Fuck off!”* came the angry reply.

## History with Harbo

Elyan  then asked the halfling whether the halflings had any council or eldership that they could speak to. The halfling explained that the nearest they had was “old Harbo”, their keeper of traditions. The halfling led the group to Harbo, who was an extremely old, wrinkly man covered in blankets as if perpetually cold. Scribbulus  once again explained why they were there, and asked Harbo how they could make things better…

In a gravelly voice, Harbo plainly stated that things would be better if the Halflings could go back to how life was before. He then digressed into a fascinating, if not strictly relevant, story about how the island was created by their God, Yondalla, who raised the island from the sea in the form of a giant turtle upon which the halflings had lived happily ever since. As Scribbulus’s  eyes widened in amazement at the mention of giant turtles, Elyan  steered the conversation back to what specific concessions the group could try and negotiate from Horden. With a weary sigh, Harbo explained that to regain control of their own fate they needed to be able to trade freely again, to *“remove the air from the turtles back”*. Seeing that Elyan  was clearly confused by the latter statement, Harbo clarified that the halflings are smothered, if they could trade independently of the ATC , they could work as they pleased and not be forced into a choice between starvation and slavery.

Scribbulus  then asked what Harbo thought of the fighters and whether it was a good idea to arm them. Harbo replied that it was a difficult one, that they had fought before and lost, but had been disorganised, under resourced and under trained. Perhaps with weapons and training things would be different…

With a meaningful glance at Khrom , Scribbulus  told Harbo he was worried that even if an initial revolution was successful the ATC  would just return in force and take it back. However, Harbo explained that from a political perspective the ATC  would get a lot more backlash from the Trifecta if they tried to reconquest the island. And that even if they come back, they’d have to kill many halflings which they would be loathed to do as they needed them for labour (hearing this, Khrom  shot a meaningful and slightly sassy glance back at Scribbulus ). With all their questions asked, Scribbulus  ran over to Harbo and gave him a big old hug, which was warmly reciprocated. The group then bed Harbo farewell and began making their way into Branxom proper.

## Khrom and Scribbulus

As they walked into Branxom, Khrom  pulled Scribbulus  aside and asked him where he was from. Looking more uncertain than he should at such a basic question, Scribbulus  replied that he was from Ostaria. Khrom  continued:

*“Look, I understand your reluctance to engage in violence, but these people have had everything forcibly taken from them. In an ideal world, of course they would get it back peacefully, but negotiations will do nothing. Even if we did negotiate some vague promises of better conditions, they still wouldn’t have control over their homeland”*

With a tired sigh, Scribbulus  replied: *“I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for the people here. I respect your willingness to stay and help these people, but if they’ve been oppressed for 18 years now. Surely spending a few extra weeks or months to come up with a definitely peaceful strategy would be worth it?”*

Sadly, shaking his head, Khrom  went on: *“for much of my life I was on the other side of this. My clan would sometimes subjugate other settlements instead of just killing them, and the longer we had that power and control, the harder it to give it up”*

Realising that neither of them were going to change their minds, Scribbulus  drew the conversation to a close: *“I think both of us have valid points. Your heart is in the right place. We just have to uphold our promises, and each do what we think is best”*

## Konn and Kunai

Before seeing Horden the group went to drop off their horses with Konn. On their arrival Konn angrily stomped out waving some papers, shouting something about them being late… *“you are seven days, papers say 6 days!”*. With a suspiciously honest-looking face, Blagden  countered that they’d definitely only been 6 days. Looking briefly confused, Konn surprisingly seemed to take Blagden  at his word and began leading Baxter into the stables. Impressed with Blagden’s  deception, Elyan  gave him a respectful tap on the shoulder and slipped him a gold piece.

With the horses delivered, Kunai  told the group that he wanted no further part in the negotiations. He would take the findy-stick to the ship, tell Ves to message Dr, and get the ship ready for departure. Elyan  passed Kunai  the findy-stick and the hellsword. *“Keep the sword human, you might need it”*. Looking pleased, Elyan  took another look at the blade before re-sheathing it, somehow noticing nothing other than his own reflection in the sparkling metal. At this point, Tamsin  suggested that Blagden  should go back with Kunai , but this suggestion was not well received by the insolent young goblin, “what! No way!”. Ash  also pointed out that for his own safety perhaps Scribbulus  should go back too. But Scribbulus  was not keen on this, making it clear he wanted to give Horden a piece of his mind. He also promised Tamsin  that if things went south, he would carry Blagden  out as a speedy dinosaur. Blagden  liked this idea, *“yup, from now one I will assume every dinosaur I see is just Scribbulus  helping me!”*

## The negotiations part 1, Horden’s a racist piece of shit

As Kunai  stalked back to the ship, the rest headed to Horden’s office, agreeing as they walked that Ash  and Elyan  would take the lead. Just before they entered, Scribbulus  helped Ash  by bestowing upon him the eagles splendour. Then, seeing no sign of Rocky , he ran off to find him. Thankfully, despite Rocky’s  unpredictability, it did not take Scribbulus  too long to locate him:

*“Rocky ! Rocky ! Thank goodness I found you. Come quick. We need you to speak to Horden for us, you need to persuade her to stop treating the halflings badly. Come on, come on, come on!”*

Rocky , clearly very confused: *“Scribbles , what are you talking about. The tiny child I’ve been talking to all week has been lovely and happy. He brought me drinks and everything”*

Scribbulus , pulling the bemused Rocky  along the corridor: *“No Rocky , you don’t understand. It’s like you back in Ilbidor . Horden is doing what Krieg Venusto was doing to you. She’s keeping the halflings in bad conditions to make her money”*

Rocky , a look of slight concern crossing his face: *“Hmmm, I did try to give my halfling friend a hug, but he said his side hurt so I shouldn’t touch him…”*

Scribbulus : *“Yes, he didn’t want you to touch him because he’s sad here. All of the halflings on this island are sad.”*

Rocky : *“I don’t like it when people are sad”*

Scribbulus : *“Yes yes, come quickly then!”*

As Scribbulus  was collecting Rocky , the others exchanged pleasantries with Horden before Elyan  raised the subject of the halflings:

*“Excuse me Horden, but on our travels, we couldn’t help but notice that the halflings living conditions are terrible. They are not happy and are clearly being forced into indentured slavery”*

Horden, grinning like a particularly rancid version of Nigel Farage: *“no no my friend, they are not slaves. They have a choice. They can farm if they wish!”*

Ash , indignantly: *“Actually they can’t, because you control all the trade”*

Elyan : *“Things need to change here, or we’ll expose you to the Trifecta for what you are, slavers!”*

Horden, laughing like the piece of shit racist she is: *“No no no, we are not slavers, just good business people. The Trifecta don’t care about anything else”*

Ash , angrily: *“No, you reply on public goodwill too. And when they find out about the conditions of the camps you force them into, they won’t like it”.*

Horden, now chuckling like a massive bell-end *“They choose to live in those camps. As long as they don’t live in our towns they can live anywhere”*

Khrom , shaking with rage: *“What gives you the right to do this!”*

Horden, still chuckling infuriatingly: *“What do you mean right! It is just good business. If they were better and more successful, they’d be able to live somewhere else”*

Hearing her say this, Khrom  stood up intimidatingly to his full height as Ash  shook with barely controlled rage. In response, the still smirking Horden leant back on her chair and put her feet up on her desk as slovenly as Jacob Rees-Mogg during an important debate. Keen to deescalate the conversation, Elyan  tried a different tact:

*“Think of it from a business perspective, if they were happier and had better conditions, they would work harder”*

Horden, now clearly beginning to grow frustrated: *“Look, the conditions are what the conditions are - we give them a wage which should be enough for what they need, if it isn’t, that’s on them”*

Ash , still simmering with fury: *“But they are forced into all of this! If they could trade openly they wouldn’t be forced to work for your pathetic wage”*

Horden: *“Ha. Nonsense. They didn’t have ships when we arrived and don’t have ships now. They couldn’t trade with other islands even if they wanted to! Look. The ATC  export our goods everywhere. Without us, people from the Trifecta to Iysgarth would be unable to make sustain the wonders of modern civilisation. We work hard to…”*

Ash , furiously cutting Horden off: *“Work hard! Pah, no you don’t. The halflings work har…”*

Horden, now cutting Ash  off: *“Yes we do. We had to set this all up. We are the organisers ad overseers. Trust me it takes worse”*

Elyan , again trying to steer the conversation back to sturdier ground: *“So back to what you were saying about boats and trade. If we gave the halflings boats would you allow them to trade independently then?”*

Horden, now clearly done with the conversation: *“Ha, of course not! They would need documents and permissions for the tariffs. Complicated things you and they wouldn’t understand music man! Now, I assume you found this stick thing you were after, in which case I assume you’ll be off?”*

Ash , angrily: *“Yes. We’re going. I cannot talk to you anymore. We know where we’re heading next, don’t you worry”*

And with that, Ash , Khrom  and Kelda all furiously exited the room. Tamsin  then stepped forward and, in an attempt to give them an excuse to come back with the weapons, explained to Horden that they couldn’t fit their dinosaur through the tunnels so would return tomorrow further up the bay to get him. However, a clearly pissed-off Horden was having none of it:

*“No. No one apart from us sails further up the bay. You got your dinosaur through once; you can do it again. I’ll give you papers to allow the person that shrunk him before to come into the town”*

Realising Horden was not to be persuaded, Tamsin  took the papers off Horden and followed after the others, leaving just Blagden  and Elyan  with Horden. Remembering about the priest, Blagden  shot Elyan  a cheeky message to ask if they should try speaking to him instead. Deciding that they had nothing to lose at this point, Elyan  asked Horden if they could ask the priest some questions. With a wry smile she sent a servant off to summon him. A few minutes later, Pamros, the high-elf priest, entered:

*“So, what can I do for you?”*

Elyan , gesturing to Blagden : *“My young friend and I are curious about your God, perhaps you could show us your place of worship?”*

Pamros: *“Ahh yes, Tyr the just, I can of course show you our temple, please, follow me.”*

## The negotiations part 2, Horden’s still a racist piece of shit

As Pamros led Blagden  and Elyan  out of the room under the still smirking gaze of Horden, Scribbulus  and Rocky  appeared at the door. Seeing them, Horden’s smirk turned into a smile:

*“Ah Rocky , nice of you to join us. It seems your friends have a bee in their bonnet. Perhaps you can talk some sense into them?”*

Rocky , looking extremely muddled: *“I’m very confused, why is everyone in such a panic”*

Scribbulus , clearly frustrated: *“Look Rocky , like I said before. Horden is the Krieg Venusto of this entire island and we want to free the halflings like we freed you”*

Rocky , still uncertain: *“So you’re telling me that Horden is keeping the tiny children in small boxes all over the island to make her money!”*

Horden, trying to look sincere: *“Come now Rocky , can’t you see this is nonsense. Tell me, have you actually seen any mistreated halflings?”*

Rocky : *“Well no, but I believe my friends. They told me Krieg was bad and he was! Can you tell me with complete and honest truth that there are no miserable tiny children on this island?”*

Horden, sighing deeply: *“I won’t lie to Rocky , yes there are, but believe me, it is of their own doing. It is simply the hand they were dealt.”*

Rocky , now looking somewhat angry: *“But that makes no sense! I had a bad hand once, I was miserable, but then my friends helped me and gave me a flying hammer. Things changed for me and now I’m happy, why can’t things change for these people too?”*

Horden, growing frustrated again: *“Look Rocky , I like you, but there are some hard truths you need to learn. Unlike the halflings you were dealt a good hand, it just took a while for it to play out. You’ll just need to reflect on this”*

Rocky , still confused: *“But if they had hammers and magic boats that they were definitely captains of then they would be happy like me. If you gave them hammers and boats they could smash fish and make fish pies. Do not underestimate the power of fish digging. If you gave the tiny children more choices they would be happier”*

Horden: *“Yes Rocky , but nothing would get done. And anyway, they do have a choice. If they don’t like the mines, they can work on the mega farms”*

Scribbulus , piping up with a mixture of sarcasm and raw rage*: “Ha, mega farms sound amazing, but we all know they’re not! Look Rocky , the way these halflings have to live is bad, very bad”*. Jabbing his fingers at Horden he continued: *“if it’s so easy for them, why don’t you go and work the mines yourself. In fact, what on earth do you even do!”*

Horden, smiling mockingly: *“Oh little one, I organise, I maintain the pea…”*

Scribbulus , furiously cutting her off, looking as close to violent anger as Rocky  had ever seen him: *“You might maintain your peace, but not the peace of this Island. You are really pushing me to the edge right now!”*

Rocky , turning directly to Horden: *“Of all my friends, Scribbulus  is the last one I’d expect to lie. If he says this is true, I believe him. Though, honestly, everyone I’ve see here in Branxom has been happy and amazing, so I just don’t know what to think”*

Scribbulus , now extremely exasperated: *“But that’s exactly how they do it Rocky ! They keep their tiny bubbles of niceness, but literally just outside, just out of view of here, there are people that are super sad. Honestly, after what I’ve seen over the last few days, I don’t know what to say anymore”*

Rocky , finally looking convinced: *“Well, what does Gimble  think about this, he’s a tiny child too and I trust what he says?”*

Hearing Gimble’s  name, and just generally overwhelmed with emotion, Scribbulus  burst into tears. In an offensively mocking voice, Horden went on:

*“Rocky , you friend is hysterical, please take him out of here.”*

Rocky , ignoring Horden: *“Scribbulus  what’s the matter, where is Gimble !”*

Scribbulus , barely understandable through his cries: *“He’s gone. Like gone gone. Never coming back! A hag sort of ate him!!”*

Rocky , a look of horror passing across his face: *“What, Gimble  got eaten by an old lady!?”*

Scribbulus , his crying intensifying: *“Yes, we have his remains in a jar. We should go now”*

Rocky , now hyperventilating as tears streamed down his face: *“I’m sorry Horden, I don’t know what’s going on. But we must go. Maybe I’ll see you again.”*

And with that, Rocky  grabbed Scribbulus  in both arms and charged headlong out of the room. Both of them crying as the grief of loosing Gimble  overtook them.

## Temple tantrums

As Scribbulus  and Rocky  ran back to the ship, Elyan  and Blagden  arrived into the Temple of Tyr , a beautiful stone carved building.

Pamros: *“It’s quite lovely, don’t you think? So, you wanted to know about my God. Well, Tyr  is the Greater God of law, justice and even handedness”*

Elyan , raising his eyebrows: *“Interesting you say that. Looks to me like there’s an awful lot of injustice on this island. How can it be fair and even-handed to force the halflings to work like this? You have taken their homelands from them!”*

Pamros, shaking his head: *“No no, you don’t…”*

However, Pamros got no further, for at this moment he noticed that Blagden  had crept over to the Altar and picked up a beautifully carved sceptre engraved with the sigil of Tyr . Seeing this, Pamros was immediately furious:

*“Hey! Goblin! What on earth are you doing. How dare you desecrate our temple. That belongs to us!”*

Blagden , with a look that was somehow both mischievous and deadly serious: *“Hmm, seems to me like it used to belong to you. But now I’ve taken it from you, so it belongs to me….”*

As Pamros shook with rage, Elyan  walked over to Blagden  with a wry smile, bent down, and whispered:

*“I see what you’re trying to do, but perhaps best not to steal from a temple. Though stealing from the priest himself would be another matter….”*

Catching Elyan’s  drift, Blagden  insolently poked his tongue out at Pamros and angrily threw the sceptre across the room. As Pamros ran to pick it up and Elyan  distracted him with sarcastic apologies, Blagden  quickly summoned his invisible mage hand and sent it darting into the priest’s pockets. Blagden  watched gleefully as the hand deftly retrieved the priest’s entire money bag and dropped it silently into his pocket. Seeing this, and realising that they should probably make a move before the priest called in the guards, Elyan  apologised once more for Blagden’s  behaviour and then shepherded the goblin back to the ship. As they travelled, Blagden  found a quiet spot to count what was in the priest’s bag, finding a very satisfying 20 GP and 30 SP, half of which he handed to Elyan , saying:

*“That priest was a stupid. I didn’t like him. Here, this is your half. This is what me and Tamsin  often do. She distracts whilst I take and then we split”*

Smiling, Elyan  replied: *“Thanks, I think we made a good team!”*

## Bribes and arguments

Eventually, everyone arrived back on the ship and discussion turned to what should happen now the negotiations had failed so spectacularly. As Khrom  began outlining the plan to pick up the weapons, an unusually shifty-looking Captain Trimaeus  explained that they couldn’t do that as he’d had a message saying they were all needed back at Ilbidor  on urgent business. However, noting that the Captain seemed a bit off, Khrom  challenged him:

*“Look Trimaeus , you are a fantastic Captain, but a terrible liar, what’s going on?”*

Realising he was rumbled, Trimaeus  confessed: *“Alright fine! I can see I’m razzled. When Kunai  returned, he explained the situation to me. I’ll be honest. He put the fear in me. Said that you lot had bitten off more than you could chew and were going to put me and the crew in danger. And, well, he gave me some gold to pretend that the guild needed us back urgently…”*

Hearing this damning revelation, most of the group shot angry glares up to the deck where Kunai  was standing, apart from Tamsin  and Blagden , the latter of whom shot him a silent message instead:

*“Ha, you sneaky sneaky little briber! I knew the Captain was a magpie!!”*

*“Hmm, I learnt some tricks from you it seems”*

Khrom  and Ash  then explained to the Captain that Kunai  had overstated the danger (*“actually, I don’t think he has!”,* protested Tamsin ), and that whilst they appreciated the concern he had for his crew, what was happening on the island was wrong. Khrom  continued that most of the group were agreed that they should at least deliver the weapons before heading back, and that they would be grateful if the Captain could at least sail them to the meeting point. With a nod, Trimaeus  replied that he was “On board” with this, and was pretty sure his men would be too. At this point, knowing from Blagden  that he was rumbled, an unrepentant-looking Kunai  approached the group. Ash  immediately berated Kunai  for his attempts at bribery, but Kunai  was having none of it:

*“I was simply trying to save you all from a terrible decision. We’ve discussed this issue for five days; we need to get off this stinking island and do the job the guild sent us to do. We are in no position to help these people. If we get them weapons, we’ll just send them to their deaths. Then later it will be harder to deal with because the guards will be emboldened and ready”*

This statement briefly reignited the argument about whether arming the halflings was a good idea. Kunai  and Tamsin  were firmly of the opinion that arming them would only lead to more death, whilst Khrom  was adamant that if he stayed to train them then he could make sure they didn’t all die. The rest of the group were at least agreed that they should honour their contract with Finnian, so it was decided that they would sail to the meeting place and try to transfer the weapons to shore using the small boats. Then, those who wanted to stay with Khrom  to help with the revolution could do so, and those who preferred to engage with a potentially more peaceful but certainly less immediate approach could return to Ilbidor  with Trimaeus  and Kunai .

With this agreed, Trimaeus  returned to Branxom to shrink and collect Wilbur, before setting sail for the place where they were to pick up the weapons: a remote island to the south of Cypropa .