SoSS 1.1

***This Won't Get Confusing Later*** is the first episode of the first book of *Stories on the Subjugated Straits*, and the first overall.

## Plot

As a man is walking towards the city of Reo in the Commonwealth of the Wornor Straits, he comes across a dying half-elf woman in ornate armor. In some shock and with no means to heal her, he stays with her in her final moments as she entrusts him with her sword; she dies before she can explain its importance. With the sword, the man continues on toward Reo.

Elsewhere, on a boat traveling from Scainamina to Reo, a tall tiefling passenger is startled by a loud thump in the cargo hold below deck. He investigates and finds a young, blue-skinned elven woman who introduces herself as Nati; the man introduces himself as Kaseos. Nati claims to be from the moon; Kaseos notices that she has little understanding of the world around her, such as how she got on a boat or even what a boat is. Nati then runs off to greet another passenger, Dr. Voy Graves. He repeatedly attempts to end the conversation and return to reading, until hearing Nati's claimed lunar origin and pressing her about it.

When the boat docks in Reo, Kaseos unboards with Nati, feeling responsible for her; Voy trails them from a distance. Secretly following all three is a human woman, observing the trio from afar. In the town square, Nati spots a tabaxi woman on a rooftop, who leaps down in front of them. This startles Voy and the other woman into bumping into each other; the woman then goads Voy into following her into the chaos. The tabaxi woman introduces herself as Cassandra Dunewatcher, and the human as Lynx. With a mutual destination of the nearest tavern, they proceed as a group in that direction.

Strange noises and colorful sparkles draw Nati toward the tavern's stables, where she opens a door to find a large, blue and pink alicorn. The alicorn, able to speak, quickly strikes up a conversation with Nati, and follows her into the tavern to prevent the other horses from hearing their gossip. She introduces herself as Detonia and sits down with the rest of the group, to Voy's distress.

The man with the sword enters the tavern shortly after, spurring an older robed patron to leave immediately. Nati, once again, is the one to approach the man; he gives his name as Silence. As the travelers sit down and start to eat, the robed man returns, interrupting Silence just before Cassandra can confront him over their food bills. He summons Silence, and "any companions he may have", to speak with the Earl of Reo. Cassandra urges the others to come along as his companions, and the now-group of seven departs to the town's palace.

The robed man, Reo's Sage Wilfred Lyonary, leads them into the palace's throne room to meet Earl Amelda Mito. Wilfred identifies Silence's sword as the legendary blade Yowuli, despite the Earl's skepticism. Silence fails to lie convincingly that he simply found the sword, and admits to finding the dying woman outside the city. Connecting the dots to Yowuli's legends, Voy assumes the woman to have been a Kensei Knight. Now convinced of the blade's authenticity, Amelda reluctantly agrees to follow the ancient text's decree and take Silence, the sword, and the others to the local oracle shrine.

Led by Amelda and Wilfred, the group travels to the shrine in the center of another town square. With some help, Silence inserts Yowuli into a slot on the shrine, and the shrine projects a large apparition of Saint Ellen the Generous, an oracle who lived centuries ago during the time of the Divine Flux. In front of a large crowd, Ellen names all seven travelers in a prophecy to dethrone the Commonwealth's King Donathan Rasp, whom she labels a false king and a tyrant. With everyone present shocked by the prophecy, Amelda recommends the group return to the tavern to sleep for the night.

Before they can do so, however, Reo's walls are fired upon by the Commonwealth Marines, and its guards shot down. A panicked Wilfred acknowledges that the city is soon to be conquered and occupied by Rasp, with Earl Amelda already opposing him even before the shrine prophesied his downfall. He urges the group to leave for the town of Devo, near which another oracle shrine awaits. Amidst the chaos, the seven travelers regroup, and escape to a dense wooded area to the south of the city.

The travelers, now an adventuring party, even if not by choice, set up camp in a secluded area. During the night's watches, Lynx extensively questions Nati about her time on the moon; Nati claims her survival was made possible by Vi, the moon herself. Detonia and Silence talk eating habits, then avoid discussing their origins by agreeing to return to sleep early. Kaseos and Cassandra discuss weapons, stealth, and the latter's disdain for magic. Voy teaches Nati about tally marks, Nati introduces Voy to her favorite book, and the two discuss the gods, with Voy's god Axedite being the reason he came to Reo.

In the morning, Voy and Cassandra agree that Nati's naivete puts her in danger, but disagree on how and whether to help her. The party packs up camp, and sets out toward Devo in search of the next shrine.

## Characters

### Main

* Cassandra Dunewatcher (debut)
* Detonia (debut)
* Kaseos (debut)
* Lynx (debut)
* Nati (debut)
* Silence (debut)
* Voy Graves (debut)

### Supporting

* Unnamed Kensei oracle (deceased; debut)
* Grey (debut)
* Sage Wilfred Lyonary (debut)
* Earl Amelda Mito (debut)
* Saint Ellen the Generous (apparition; debut)
* Commonwealth Marines (debut)

## Trivia

* The episode's title echoes a line spoken by Nati after learning Kaseos's nickname, Kas; foreshadowing Cass's later joining of the group.
* Nati's favorite book, *Ahsha*, shares the name of a *Savage Worlds* campaign previously played by the same players. The plot details she spoils to Voy indicate that it is a novelization of the campaign's story.
	+ This continues the story-within-a-story pattern started in *Ahsha*, in which *Episodes on the Disni Channel* was a fictional book series enjoyed by several main characters.