Navigating Speranza

## Magic Dance

House Speranza has declared itself the winner of the Season of War, for reasons that it will apparently announce when it finances and hosts the first ever Grand Masque on its home turf! Does this mean that the mysterious, isolationist Forteressa Speranza will be open to outsiders? So far, only select guests have received fancy magical invitations, and of those few, some were disappointed to find their invitations wilted when opened. Whatever can it mean?

Invitees include: Etienne Clavier from the Ministry of Affairs, Itria and Dedalera, Seianthi Wolfmother the Kindly One and Marcus Neandros, Moonfire of the Pines; Ser Elek Kontos And Party, Alcolyte Maria, Aelaf Elsson, Dukessa Juana de Carros, Laerzio Otranto but NOT Clodoveo his brother, DomNa Adenor Vilaverde, Sabeo Francisco de la Plata, Carabosse and Pomeranius (the last two are surprising indeed, given Speranza's plot to kill Carabosse!). There are also invites going out to many Ningalu, Morning and Janjarri delegates as well as to a few select Y'd and Goblin representatives.

### Travel from Piedamonte

Itria, Etienne and Dedalera are likely to take a boat downriver to Cachou, and either sail through the Western Basin or continue overland using the Cachou Causeway. The party could accompany them, but then would need to work out how to obtain mounts at the other end: or they could send someone ahead wth the Roquette's Roadies wagon (and Shaw the dino) and meet up at Rook's Rest.

The tall forests and swampy bayous of Cachot territory give way to massive tall pampas, and then a savannah-like biome with shorter grass and little bushes. You're told to watch out for large water snakes in the canals, as they will be migrating towards the bayou at this time of year.

The pampas area's tall grass is so high that it's hard to see over, and has white and pale orange tufts. Raptors prey on lttle marsh deer and herbivorous dinosaurs here; and they are known to pick off kin who wander away from the roads. There are also lots of little songbirds that feed off the grass seeds and flower tufts. The party spot a family of capybara, taking shelter in the shade of a sinkhole around a small billabong.

On the way through the tall grasslands, the party will run into a gaggle of rogue mages, led by Sette and Otto (a classic fire and ice teamup). They wear a motley of tattered robes and light armour robbed from dead soldiers and the odd victim of Spring War. A bit of searching will indicate that they used to run with House Speranza but appear to have gone totally rogue. They target anyone wearing an Invitation Bloom, including Maria (who might recognise them). It seems not everyone likes Speranza's decision to welcome guests to the Forteressa.

The savannah area is scrubby with short, prickly grass and the odd aloe, cactus or bristly bushes with thorns and squat trunks. Interesting mostly for its geography and archaeology. It's baking hot in high summer, cratered and marked with fissures. Much of the good topsoil washed away in massive flooding 200 ish years ago, and since then, the land has baked in summer and soaked in winter. The dirt feels sandy, there's a fair amount of silt and muddy dunes out to sea. By the ocean, a flock of pinkish wading birds are gathering to dance and breed.

The whole savannah area is littered with signs of an impressive urban and suburban civilisation, on a scale that almost doesn't seem to make sense. Everywhere the party looks they can see ditches laid out in grid patterns, includng curves to mark where the corners of buildings or cisterns would have been. There are numerous sinkholes that would have once been the basements of lower floors of Desh and goblin buildings. And there are impressive roads, overgrown with bristly, rust-coloured grass. There are anteaters, porcupines, armadillos, birds with amazing long tails that flit above the desert. There are a lot of carrion animals but few large predators.

Before the party reached the city proper, they'll be hassled on the road by a gang of mercenaries who try to shake them down for a road toll, but who can easily be bullied or beaten into submission. This is the party's first taste of Speranza's hiring practices. The closer they get to Speranza and its lower city, the more evidnece they'll see that a lawless mob of adventurers and hired thugs calls this place their home.

## How the city works

The lower city sprawls out along a couple of old roadways, forming two 'legs'. The southernmost 'leg' forms the Swords quarter and the northern 'leg' is the Staves quarter.

Since our party's coming from the North, they'll experience a glimpse of life in the Staves. It's designed to cater to the needs of adventurers for the most part. The main roadway is lined with funny looking lamp posts that have little orbs on top, about the size and shape of a pomegranate. During the day they don't look special but at night they illuminate with a sort of grungy reddish light. Most of the main buildings have signage or frescoes featuring magic wands or other phallic imagery. There's also a lot of interesting looking fungus growing out of the buildings here, in areas that don't get a lot of sunshine. The main road was once an impressive two way highway with some sort of intriguing raised section in between the lanes (function not currently clear). Sparse tufts of vegetation peek out of some of the gutters, and the odd alarming sinkhole gives way into the drains below, but the road has stood up to what looks like centuries, maybe millenia of wear. The cart ruts are VERY well worn.

### Les Pompiers

The least grotty watering hole in this area is Theo's Taverna, which is not actually run by Theo but by Amara, his grumpy niece. Apparently uncle Theo is a sailor (read, Kubernetes) who spends months at a time off on voyages and leaves Amara to run things. Amara has an impressive amount of both hair and temper, she is about Yiuri's height and surprsingly strong for a human. She and les Pompiers can give the party a quick overview of how Speranza is run.

Among the Taverna's patrons are four oddly dressed types, all in heavy blue uniforms with an iridescent yellow stripe. Amara says they have a map of the district. The foursome wave the party over and they all seem keen to drink and swap stories. The smallest human, Ballake, is a hotlander mage in what looks suspiciously like a padded blue dressing gown. The other three kin, Matilde, Egon and Raphael are more heavily muscled and wear blue overalls with a yellow stripe up each side. They also have funny looking yellow helmets slung over their backs. Beside Egon is a large clunky backpack with a tube coming out of it, sitting on the floor.

Matilde is a Vestfalian Objector, Raphael was born in central Ladinh and has served Speranza as a mage for most of his life. They bicker and kvetch like they've been together for ages. It seems Matilde did her probation under Raphael; after a nasty encounter with an anti-magic trap threatened Raphael with early retirement, he and Matilde decided that voluntary exile to the lower city was preferable to being separated. They knew Ballake from an old archaeology mission in the Hot Lands, and they "just kind of picked up Egon" later. Ballake is weathered, insouciant and chaotic. He loves chewing betel-nut, which has stained his teeth a funky reddish colour, and his Linguafranca is spiced with whatever random phrases or Ladinh words he thinks are fun at the time. He's very different from Thierry the Hermit and his serious, introverted ways. Ballake also flirts constantly with Amara despite being at least twice her age, and she shoots him down mercilessly to their mutual delight (this has been a routine between them for some time).

Egon is a Batavian name: Elek recognises his culture as one from the old Motherland, also one of the few human nations that let Roma (aka the drow elves) stay on their lands. Well, under their lands. Egon doesn't seem to have any elven blood in him; he knows a few phrases in a passable Undercommon but he's only ever met one or two grey elves in his life. Honestly, he's probably a bit of an Elek fanboy. Egon is also a Scientist: that is, he has no magical abilities in the traditional sense but he seems to have a mechanical and analytic talent that surpasses most Craft that Yiuri has seen. Egon will ramble about thaumaturgical first principles and elemental imbalances at the slightest encouragement.

A bell starts ringing and the Pompiers' map starts glowing green in one small section. Ballake yells out "Avanti, mes amis!" and the Pompiers spring into action, dragging the party along for a night's work. Down the street, Sorenson's, one of the magic shops, has smoke billowing from the upper floor. A section of the uppermost roof caves in with a -cromp- sound and green flames start rising up, as various street bums and drunk wanderers scatter. Ballake rides in a rickshaw pulled by Matilde: Egon grabs his backpack and tube; and Raphael hauls a small handcart behind him that appears to have a couple of barrels in it. Ballake casts a Haste spell that is potent enough that as the quartet passes, everyone nearby gets a second hand hit of adrenaline.

The fat old proprietor Soren Sorenson is stuck in his shop and the party can help rescue him, his dog Benito (a curly haired retrieving dog and Very Good Boy), Theresa (a dropout mage who was dossing down inside) and possibly various magical supplies. It is a magic fire, boosted by the power of an ifreeta; which means that Elek is going to have to make a Wisdom save if he wants to actually douse it. Elek can, however, pass through the fire and handle the blazing timber without suffering more than superficial scorching. Ballake will ask the party to help him heal any survivors (this involves chanting and applying smelly cactus tinctures). Matilde does Alteration magic on herself to become large, strong and fire resistant, but she can't boost others. Egon will attempt to contain the ifreeta in his backpack: Raphael has various alchemical options to counteract the fire (an intelligence check can help here, water will just make the fire sticky like phosphorus but removing the air will quench it).

The Pompiers are down for a bit of a celebrate afterwards. The party also gets to wtness them make the rounds of the locals, soliciting donations. The local coin features some fun imagery: on the Tails side is an image of a double-tiered fortress with 3 towers jutting out of each tier of fortifications. On the Heads side is either a rather handsome tusked profile, facing to the right: or, for older coins, an older looking tusky gentleman with a turban and beard, facing to the left. The writing on the coin is a funny cursive script that doesn't look much like anything the party has encountered so far. The numbers look like Ladinh numbers, though. The edges of the coins are marked with little bumps, that Yiuri can discern is an attempt to avoid trimming coins down for the precious metal. There's a decent proportion of silver in the coinage at least - good for paying adventurers.

### Exploring Staves some more

After the business with the shop fire and information gathering, the party can finally get a short sleep and explore further into the Staves and head towards the upper city. It's both a misnomer and not. The road here leads towards the seashore, at a diagonal angle: however there is a kind of stacking effect, with mostly single storey dwellings in the lower city giving way to outlandish mage towers and constructions that challenge physics. Cups District seems to be built on a sort of raised section, maybe an earth rampart. It's easily spotted from a distance. The party can even glimpse the odd balloon or floating platform, tethered and wafting about near the seaside. It's also possible to see just the tips of three spires off to the East, round topped looking things in an Y'd style. That's probably the Dwarven quarter.

A few guildhalls poke up out of the sprawling scenery with outlandish banners, watchtowers or trophies tacked onto the walls or rooftops. Taverns and breweries line the main drag, and mounts of all species are hitched up outside. Further back from Staves Way, various training houses, sparring lists, an archery range and a small makeshift arena are visible.

The party gets to experience a bustling farmers market which is rich with various sights and smells. Aside from the inevitable pickpocket and scam attempts, they will get to meet lots of interesting customers and sellers. Among them are a couple of Red Elves from New Albion, both very tall and spindly even by elven standards. Their sign reads, in Elven and Linguafranca. "Amhlaoibh Dreamcrafters [pron. Auliffe]" The taller one introduces himself as Cian and the shorter on is Padraig. They are more somber than mad Belenos from Piedamonte, and are leaning right into the noble savage vibe, including wearing sharkskin and bone decorations. However, when they're not doing their sales pitch their accent vanishes and they can squabble in Linguafranca like Ladinhos. They sell javelins and dart-throwers, plus some interesting 'scian dhu' which appear to be daggers fashioned out of dark volcanic glass - but there's an iridescence to it that doesn't look like obsidian. It will take an expert to identify what these weapons are - they are Scian dhu of Gloaming (the wielder can make them either absorb light or radiate it - good for stealth, or for dazzling underground creatures). They've also got some very pretty polished opals - it's a stone only found in New Albion and quite exotic. The pair won't accept coin but do barter for most anything else that's non metallic.

The food at the market is incredibly diverse and includes monster parts - lots of tentacles, testicles, claws and dried feet, as well as concoctions from powdered bone. There are also a couple of smithies and three magic shops (aside from the one that burned down) all specialsing in castoffs relating to different magic schools. The Pompiers will advise the party that "it's mostly trash here" though.

The party might notice that there are relatively few goblins or elves, even this far away from the city. One or two well to do looking Y'd are out shopping or training. They're all armed to the teeth and wearing nice armour under flashy street clothes, which is a bit startling compared with how the Y'd dress in Piedamonte. It looks like nobody cares about regulations forbidding dwarves from carrying martial weapons in this neighbourhood.

### The Cups District and Vella

The Cups District forms a semicircle that stretches from seashore to seashore. Vella is a securely-walled, multi storey 'hub' at the centre. Vella also cuts off the rest of the lower city from the Great Causeway that links Forteressa Speranza with the mainland. The Forteressa is colossal: it is, in itself, large enough to rival any of Ladinh's largest cities. It sits against the horizon, squat, square, dark grey and forbidding.

The architecture and town planning in Cups gets Seussian. At the entrance to the district, the Speranza family motto is spelled out in very shiny brass letters: I GRAN DOLORI SONO MVTI - and the family crest, a large gold chalice against a vibrant painted mural of cobalt blue.

The party goes past a little toll booth tucked into an alcove inside the main gateway. It's painted with candy coloured barber-stripes, and the gate attendant Pieta is distributing maps for visitors to use. Pieta greets the party with a cheery "Namaste!" and offers advice for "the visiting dignitaries". She suggests that if Elek and Marcus prefer not to attract attention they should probably wear hoods until they are safely checked in to Vella. Peta assures them that the Lictors will recognise their invitations so they will be "protected" and treated with all civility while in the district.

The Cups district maps resemble a London Underground-style schematic diagram, with the names of street entrances and landmarks connected by lines and dots. The party also gets a few warnings about some corners of the district: reconstruction in the Upper Gardens, the shortcut to Luxy Lounge via Small Fountain is roped off this evening for a private function, gravitational anomalies on Red Street so wear a hard hat and stay close to the walls.

On the back of the map, three town rules are written in magical text that changes from Linguafrancan, to the local cursive, to the reader's native language:

* No use of sentients' blood, soul or body parts without informed consent
* Powered flight is PROHIBITED BY ORDER OF THE PROCTOR
* Please dispose of mundane and magical trash in the correct public receptacles

Visitors are instructed to keep their invitations (the flower) displayed on their persons at all times, and to report to Vella via the Customshouse when they are ready to join the Summer Celebration ceremonies. In the meantime - enjoy the town.

Cups is a riot of colour and tasteless, non-Euclidean excess. There are Escher-esque stairways leading at odd angles into apartment doorways, there are overhanging buttresses with glass garrets that hang down like barnacles from the hull of a ship, there's one tower that sprouts puffball-like stucco rooms from its central pillar.

The Chimaera - a local gang that deal n black market magical goods - have a distinctive home base that looks like a courtier's fancy high heeled boot, with the canopy of a large tree growing up where the ankle would come out of the shoe. Thierry the Tavern has heard of these people.

The Y'd quarter is quite prominent, and there are a lot of well-heeled dwarves strutting around in the north eastern part of the dsitrict. The Great Vault and the Banco's chunk of territory is not so spatially distorted, once the party portals in at Banco Landing. There's also good access to the sea and the port district from here. The Vault's double-tiered, triple towered structure sticks out even among all the wacky architecture, like a large, dusty wedding cake topper. Three gates mark entryways to the Banco for three distinct social groups. Swords services the leaders of mercenary companies and the Praetor's battlemagi, Staves is here adventuring companes go to submit receipts and claim expense payments, and Cups, the biggest gate, services the local Y'd and receives covered palanquins from Forterezza Speranza itself. The guards here are - if Yiuri passes his check - identifiable as the Fratres, the Banco's local gang of dwarven enforcers. The most decorative guards wear round-headed sallet helms with three plain white feathers in. Subtler Y'd lackeys with billy clubs at their belts loiter close by, chewing betel or drinking mint tea.

In the Red Loop sections of the district, the streetlamps are striped like barbershop poles and don't just line the streets, they also jut out from walls or wherever's convenient. An unusually tall mage with curly-toed shoes and the pointiest hat you have ever seen goes walking an ostrich down the street, and greets Roquette by singing a jazzy variation on the Mama Minuit tune. He refuses to communicate in any language other than scat.

In the Expressway section (the area on the map parked in yellow), the cobblestones have been glamoured to an ugly shade of yellow that's presumably meant to look like gold from a distance. This feels like the 'tourist trap' part of town, it's cleaner than the rest but also a bit overly gentrified and not as interesting. Apparently the various descendents of House Speranza's petty nobility have residences here. Local colour includes beggars glamoured with fake boils, fancy ladies walking past on enormous chopines, a little boy riding on a small hovering platform that's being pulled by a large golden-haired dog in a harness.

Luxy appears to denote a sort of red light district but also extends to name various dodgy corners of the town (the purple line). There are signs advertising tantric massages to replenish your magical energy. There are noxious fumes, familiars fetching groceries, an old man with a third arm just hanging out feeding pigeons, and a proliferation of magical freakery. There are also a lot of craters, acid stains and signs of magical wear and tear on the local infrastructure. The weirdos must go here to do experiments.

Around Garden Mile, everything is just a massive trip. Alleyways are bigger on the inside, and bristling with aggressively lush plant life that doesn't match the local climate at all. Along the sections marked by the Green line on the map, little kids, tiny versions of the ifreeta and retired mages in plain overalls lazily singe pathways through the leaves, preventing the plants from smothering the roadways. Large colourful butterflies flap and phase in and out of sight. The walls are covered in cute little chameleons and hairy blue spiders. A marble archway at Pleasance junction offers a tantalising glimpse of giggling dryads waving at the party through the archway entrance. If you walk round to the other side of the arch, you see a different view, this time pointing towards a toy railway and shallow pond, where mages' kids paddle.

Among all the chaos, there is the constant vigilant presence of the Proctor's police force, the Lictors. These magical enforcers wear shiny, almost rubbery long robes and elbow length gloves in sombre colours, either tan, grey or black depending on rank, and carry a wand and an axe at their belt. They also have simple, short haircuts and everything about them feels efficient compared to the overall aesthetic of Cups.

### Getting In

#### Party Central

Vella Grand Gate is the big checkpoint that leads onto the Great Causeway. It looks even chunkier and more imposing up close - though its pueblo-like exterior cladding painted in jaunty saffron and burgundy, lots of funky geometric designs with the odd stick figure that might depict kin of different species. Some of the figures have lots of limbs, some have animal heads or are cavorting wth little stylised animal friends. The other main motif in this area is a lotus and palmette repeating frieze that shows up at about shoulder height around most of the buildings.

A bightly-attired honour guard of bettlemagi, reminiscent of the Swiss guards in Vatican City, is there to salute the parties of visiting dignitaries. Various human functionaries in colour-coded robes, made of similar rubbery stuff to the Lictors' outfits, scuttle about with clipboards and check the Invitations, spritzing them with a light dusting of magic infused liquid to freshen them up as needed. Some cute androgynous humans offer bowls of fresh water, An especially short chamberlain wearing platform boots and a small orange turban takes everyone's names and dietary preferences, and introduces himself as Aiudo. He also inquires where people would prefer to stay: there are separate guest quarters for male, female and other-identifying visitors. The little chamberlain comments something about renovating the old eunuchs' quarters" to create an area for the summer party.

Looks like there is a bit of a velvet rope in play, even between Vella and the Forterezza. On this side of the rope are quite a plethora of fun guests, as well as the more ostentatious locals. After having a truly magnificent spa day and a nap, the guests will be ready for a big party. It's apparently going to last for several days.

The party can chat with whichever honoured guests are in the appropriate guest quarters for their gender of choice. Etienne Clavier from the Ministry of Affairs, and Itria and Dedalera LeLouche, are all going to be around. Itria will be most keen on a spa and spritz - she had to leave her favourite pet cat in Cups District and she's still cross about it. Dedalera can send Elek a flower bud to his spa bath, through the soil. Inside the bud is a short message from her, a proverb about not mistaking fireflies for lanterns.

#### Familiar faces:

* Aelaf Elsson is happy to see the party again after the Torno. He seems considerably better dressed than the last time you saw him, wearing a blue brocade doublet with frogging and ivory buttons and a cute gold bow on his tail; apparently he's got himself a position as some sort of ambassador for New Albion.
* Laerzio Otranto is here too, but he looks sad without his twin brother.
* You also know DomNa Adenor Vilaverde from the Spring Games - they're your potential captain for organising a trip to the jungle. Dependng on whether Elek mentions Propsero, that could be a fun convo. Adenor is hustling pretty hard for funding at this party.

* Sabeo Francisco de la Plata who you met at the siege of Lago. He gives Yiuri the cut direct.
* Carabosse and Pomeranius are also here! Carabosse is abusing the heck out of the buffet, presumably to make up for the failed attempt on his life by revenge-eating House Speranza out of house and home. They boast to the party that they made Speranza pay for their party finery (which features abundant runes and a lot of gold braid). They occasionally stop to feed a tiny sample of the feast to Pomeranius, who chews thoughtfully, gives a thumbs up, and then politely disgorges the mouthful into a napkin. Pomeranius's actual sustenance of choice appears to be a vino-lke drink that a little attendant periodically comes to top up for him. A second, tall attendant follows Pomeranius around with a cute white lace parasol. The lich seems quite happy about being "out" as undead. He'll probably make fun of Etienne Clavier at some point for having 'less life in him than this foolish human'. Etienne will just snarl from behind his silk fan.

#### Visiting people you haven't met yet:

* Baronesza Chiara "Alba" di Venere and Baronesza Pellegrina "Nera" di Venere - rivals uneasily sharing the Matriarchy of House Venere. They are dressed in their eponymous colour schemes, in wide-hipped rococo court gowns that are cut out in front to show off thigh high boots. Rico de la Vega is the House's consultant mage on the mainland (known as a Lar) - and he's also here. He's an older half-elf in traditional wizard robes, who starts out very reserved but gets increasingly durgged-up as the party wears on.
* Juana de Carros, the Dukessa of Cartel Cimmaron - a stately elf with an impressively straight posture wearing a sleeveless green court gown that shows off some toned upper arms.
* The celebrated Ningalu tenor Maroochy Barambah. He's in a shimmering blue-green frock coat, has a long eel like tail and sings a lovely aria to start the party, before he joins the guests to mingle.
* Other Morning, Ningalu and Janjarri delegates. The Morning wear belted plaids, stacked strings of glass beads and bone earrings, with sigils of white body paint against their red skin. They have been issued opera gloves to protect them from accidental contact with metalware, and they've been given drinking horns and nice lacquer dishes to eat from. The Janjarri wear a chaotic assortment of whatever they feel like; attendants run around making sure they don't touch any metal items - a situation that feels a bit like daycare workers herding toddlers. The Ningalu all wear similar amulets featuring a very large shark tooth as the centrepiece: one of them wears a tapa-like sarong, another has a bodysuit on in a form fitting weave that lets their gill slits breathe freely. They've got all different skin colours, some silvery grey, others almost rainbow-like. They have attendants like Pomeranus does, hydrating them with salty mist sprays and keeping the sun off with parasols.
* a couple of Y'd who must be from up north in Venere based on their attire (more modest versions of the court gown). One of them is called Leonella - a nickname because her hair looks like a lion's mane - she's a pretty famous itinerant trader who does a lot of business up north.

#### Local faces:

Minor Speranza nobles: Siro Ottorino di Speranza, and Fra. Benevole di Speranza and Sora Citadina di Speranza (clerical advisors). None of them has a position in the Inner Court, but they can chat a bit about how sponsorship for the field-mages and adventurers works. If the party tries to quiz them about the Inner Court, they'll get the reply "..you know, it's the damndest thing.." and their conversation partner will just ellide the conversation on to another topic. They can say that there is an inner court and a sovereign and a head mage but any specific descriptions are just beyond them.

There are no goblins or elves present among the locals. Yiuri will spot a couple of Banco representatives though, making the most of the open bar. Let's call them Yehudeh and Shoshana Abundantia. They're both dripping with tasteless bougie finery. Abril Abundantia, their daughter, has tamed her black hair in a loose bun and wears an unusually severe salwar kameez, navy blue with triple banker stripes. She's busy networking and even stops to sign off on bits of paperwork right in the middle of the party. Lots of silk-clad officials sidle up to her and trade whispered bits of advice. If one of the party tries to approach her for a chat, she'll barely get into introductions before something in her purse vibrates urgently. "I'm SO sorry - Court stuff - I have to take this!" yep, it's a magical pager. Abril will scuttle out of the pleasure garden to follow the summons.

### The Night Before

The party should all roll WIS to see if they remembered their missing companion Maria.

She'll eventually make an appearance in Roquette's guestroom, asking to learn Mama Minuit's song. Maria is terrified of what House Speranza might be about to make her do. She has some understanding of the compulsion magic that the House can place on itinerant mages and anyone who risks leaving their control. She really didn't want to respond to the invitation to come back here, but something has *made* her take the journey nonetheless.

She doesn't want to get an "NDA" type binding, and is especially scared that Speranza might force her to kill for their agenda. Maria is racking up bargains with as many supernatural powers as she can to try and interfere or pre-empt Speranza's ritual magic. Kind of like how the cult of Lene overwrote their "Deal" by swearing an oath to protect the country of Ladinh - a consensual oath on something big will hopefully overrun something non-consensual and specific. Mama Minuit's song would - Maria hopes - protect her power of speech, and let her use her magic freely where the Speranzan NDA might otherwise interfere. She's happy to make any deals on the proviso that nobody or nothing forces her to kill another sentient being.

If Roquette says no, Maria will attempt to break into the mens' quarters and ask Elek to grant her Dajbog/Mitras/Bramma's blessing, for similar results.

Bonus discovery: on Maria's wrist, in the location where the Pompiers' NDA 'bracelet' spells were written, Maria will have something tattooed in the same untranslatable old script you've seen in the Trasgu/goblin contracts. And on her chest (beneath the left collar bone) is a mix of markings - a very faint marking like fine white scars, two letters in the same flowing script the party's seen round Cups district - interrupted by a larger, raw patch of scar tissue with a small motherwort sprig growing out of it. This implies Maria's done deals with both the Swampmother and Seianthi during her time in Delemont.

### Party Day 1

The party zone has a lot of colonnaded walkways connecting four big rooms, with an open garden area in the centre. The decoration here is very pretty if you like mosaics - the sublime geometry and tasteful patterns are overlaid with enormous magical holograms that have been cast in different sections of the venue. Illusions of giant gryphon-like beasts flap around the ceiling space, dolphins and Ningalu cavort in ocean spray round the walls and swaying palm fronds mark each of the doorways.

Some of the dryad people the party saw earlier in Cups district are wandering around in the loudest room, offering little mushrooms off their bodies as pick-me-ups while an Y'd band plays dance music with driving, chaotic rhythms. In the Dining Room, exotic finger food including extremely fresh seafood is served on small low tables, on large leaves, little silver trays or in pretty blue glass dishes. Guests can either sit or recline on chaises or cushions for dinner: a string trio plays in the background while half-naked human attendants fan the diners with terror bird-feather fans. You overhear a few murmurs from some of the guests: "Is the Praetor going to be here?"

The quiet zone of the party is in the centre of the pleasure garden - a very pretty fountain with a base of Desh stone, that's been redecorated in a modern style with sculptures of cavorting janjarri and fauns. A few peacocks wander around or perch on the topiaries. There are lots of corners for secluded chats or liaisons, and the air is cloyingly sweet with honeysuckle and jasmine. Maria and Dedalera are both going to spend quite a bit of time here.

At a time in the evening when most of the guests are getting good and tipsy, a troupe of harem-pant-clad entertainers come out to supposedly enact a reenactment of an ancient Desh dance routine. Aiudo will materialise behnd one of the party to comment "That's sensationalist rubbish! Bring your friends and come with me. The real party is this way." And he'll hold out a smaller, more vibrant flower similar to your invitations, that luminesces with purple markings on its petals. "The Inner Court has called for you. We should prepare."

### Sanitation and an NDA

Between the Pleasure Garden and the Causeway is a smaller but well appointed office: signs in Linguafranca and the local script call it the Sanitarium. Aiudo ushers the party discreeetly in this direction. It's staffed by druids, healers and a couple of Y'd cantors. This group calls themselves the Keepers. There's even an elf here - most unusual. The elf introduces themselves as La Paz. They're apparently only one of two elves in this part of the city - the other goes by El Fuego and trains the battlemagi. Each visitor gets a quck and courteous checkup in the hands of a healer of their species, where possible, and religious preference, also where possible. La Paz is very apologetic towards Marcus that there is no goblin to look after him.

Once the party have had their check-ups, they will get to meet the following family members of House Speranza:

* Paterfamilias: Colpo-di-Canon (Duco Lombardo Speranza)
* Matriarch: Auto-da-Fe (Sira Cristina Speranza)
* Ur-Magus: Boccalupo (Two)
* Praetor: Forza-del-Destino (f)
* Proctor: Habeas-Corpus (m)

These are core family members, and in any other House or Cartel they would represent the ruling powers. However, they are here, and the Fortress is... still on the other side of the Causeway, where there are apparently still more hosts for you to meet.

A bespectacled court official will now receive the party into a small study, where Pomeranius and Carabosse and hanging out, and introduce himself as Nithin, Censore and liaison for the Inner Court. Nithin explains the basic protocols around visiting the Inner Court, most of which are hygiene based.

As guests, most of the party aren't subject to kinds of intrusive NDA spells that someone like Maria was terrified of. Nithin will demonstrate the limits of the NDA spell. Guests - and all servants of the Inner Court - are not free to discuss certain details about the Sovereign or their immediate circle. Nithin explains that this is a measure to protect their sensitive identity, and to help "protect the Inner Court from assassination attempts and libel". Guests are free to talk about opinions, politics, personality and "Things that are in a person's control" such as fashion choices. Any specific attempt by Nithin to describe the physcal traits of the Sovereign or ruling bodies just.... turns to strange elisions of speech or the old classic "you know, it's just the damndest thing..."

Carabosse and Pomeranius - along with several other experienced mages - are present and can assure the party they have vetted the limits of the spell. Nithin also warmly invites Elek to take a look inside his psyche using Burning Gaze - and he does indeed appear to be entirely honest.

Guests without an invitation are welcome to take the NDA and attend the Inner Court briefing, or they can stay and enjoy the festivities. There's a bit of hum' and ha' ing over Maria, if she's managed to get herself in hock to either Mama Minuit or Dajbog. Eventually, Carabosse will step forward and offer to be Maria's sponsor and guarantor, effectively making her the only person in the party who can actually, uh, describe what you see in the inner court to anyone who isn't also in the Inner Council!

#### Inner Council Chats ahead!

There's a very formalised procession along the Causeway - which is a fully enclosed passage, much plainer in style than the local architecture and lit up with the familiar white magic bricks at regular intervals. Imagine a sort of motorway tunnel, that's the kind of vibe. Travel along the Causeway is done by a sort of magical travelator. Guests alight on large floating slabs, with a low railing around the edge and a flat, marble-like surface. Mages at each end of the causeway imbue sections of both the slabs' undersides and the floor of the causeway with magic. The magic users in the party can recognise that this is quite a tiring and extravagant use of magic, several mages' full time jobs most likely. The slabs then float at the speed of a gentle canter. It's a funicular arrangement of mass transfer, so as one slab heads out, another slab of corresponding size travels back to the start. If you send three out, three come back in the opposing lane. Quite interesting, if you're a magic nerd.

Out of the Causeway and through the heavy outer wall of the Forterezza, and the visiting guests get a change of scene, back to the Alhambra-esque colonnades and surprisingly lush gardens of a summer palace. There is no open sky overhead - instead there is a massive, high ceiling. So high in fact, that small clouds can form near the roof of this Cyclopean, magnificent enclosure. Everything bursts with clashing colour - including tapestries picked out in purples and blues that the party have never seen before. Enormous geometric mosaics run three storeys high in tall, narrow bands and shimmer with the familiar colours of Ningalu scales and skin. Closer inspection reveals that this is exactly what the mosaics are made of, along with other, larger scales and segments of heavier leather in brassier shades. Ornate multi-storeyed silk canopies, filigree-like structures and delicate arrangements of stained glass illuminate sections of the massive enclosed paradise like a dancing kaleidoscope. Heavily robed human alcolytes scuttle to and fro under coloured parasols and attended by throngs of clerks and attendants. Nothing in Ladinh compares to the architectural design - the opulence, the sheer SCALE of such a place.

Based on the party's adventures so far, the ravings of their former travelling companion Massimo and the sheer alien prettiness of it all scream one word to the party, even before they start to see figurative art among the mosaics, even before they meet the first true member of the Inner Court: DESH.

Nithin - Censor and liaison

* Paterfamilias: Colpo-di-Canon (Duco Lombardo Speranza)
* Matriarch: Auto-da-Fe (Sira Cristina Speranza)
* Ur-Magus: Boccalupo (Two)
* Praetor: Forza-del-Destino (f)
* Proctor: Habeas-Corpus (m)

Minor Speranza family members:

Siro Ottorino di Speranza

Fra. Benevole di Speranza and Sora Citadina di Speranza (clerical advisors)

## Return to Speranza

What's changed in the city since the party last visited?

### Introducing the kobolds

Two ships full of kobolds has docked at Speranza city, and its crew are causing havoc with the city's portal system - plus they are here to party.

The kobold ships are called The Happy Ending and the Flying Dragon. The Flying Dragon got in first -it's a clipper ship, nearly 60m long, light and very fast. The Happy Ending came after - small, squat and bristling with cannons. The Flying Dragon docked at Banco's Landing and The Happy Ending docked at the Viaduct. Its crew pretty much immediately began 'storming' the various bars and watering holes of Luxy District (the purple line on the Cups District city map). It appears that the official ambassadorial party has a 'hanger-on' vessel looking for an excuse to trade, drink and get up to mischief after a long embargo away from Ladinh.

#### Basic physiology

Kobolds themselves are clearly related to goblins - they have the distinctive red hair, larger hands, prominent noses and brow ridges and of course the pointy ears. Kobold physiology is way more varied, however.

* Some are Janjarri sized with very skinny limbs, and hair that's extra frizzy.
* Some are the height of a Desh, with lots of bristling red body hair including furred backs and manes.
* The medium sized kobolds stand a little taller and straighter than their Ladinho counterparts, have long braided hair and distinctive scaled patterns where their eyebrows would be, and they also have larger eyeteeth, like fangs.

All the kobolds have a vague mineral tint to their skin, tough, metallic fingernails and strange grey teeth. There's a lot of variation in their eye colour, ranging from almost a Janjarri intensity of blue to a deep red. The longer a goblin family's spent in service to a Grand Dragon, the more extensive their transformation. It's pretty unusual to get a kobold who's also a Two - and the Grand Dragons keep these individuals confined to their brood nests.

#### Ranks and types of kobold

**Klabautermann:** Shipwrights, scouts and sailor-goblins. Kobold vessels can operate as galleys in an emergency. The smallest kobolds clamber in the rigging, the medium ones navigate by the sun, star and tides and the big ones man the capstan and deploy oars when there isn't a fair wind.

**Heinzelmann:** Chamberlains and attendants for the Grand Dragons and their households of lesser drakes. The smallest kobolds do menial tasks like feeding and caring for baby drakes or cleaning up after the Grand Dragons. The medium ones are advisors, scribes and go-betweens with Ros traders and other outside influences. The big ones guard the hatchlings and maintain infrastructure.

**Hoedekin:** literally means 'the ones wth the hats' in Goblin. Hoedekin can be scryers, mathematicians, test subjects or good luck charms. Hoedekin specialise in probability magic and illusion magic. They tend to have short and chaotic lifespans. The smallest can be ship mascots or magical cannon fodder; the medium sized ones are commonly used as spies or field scouts, usually under direct patronage from a Grand Dragon. The big ones can be beefed up to become extra terrifying soldiers - or suicide troops, usually charging into an enemy's position and then imploding in a storm of bad luck that affects everything in the vicinity.

#### Kobold names

Noting here tha kobold names are a real mix - the dragons have picked up various stray bands of goblins over the millennia and adopted them, incuding some recent 'boat people' out of Vestfal. Vestfalian goblin names will sound Danish or German: older names will sound Latvian, Rumansch or Latin-ish.

**Older examples:** Artyoms, Bendiks, Emils, Maksims, Miervaldis, Modris, Teodors, Valrys, Vilis / Alina, Ausma, Beate, Dzintara, Evgenia, Irusya, Lazda, Salvia, Solveig

**Newer examples:** Hanspeter, Helmuth, Joerg, Karol, Oliver, Ralf, Rihard, Sigismund / Alise, Anne-Lena, Esther, Greta, Guthrun, Irma

#### Meeting the kobold delegation

The captain of this particular delegation is called Goldemar (M). His official Dragon title is Aurum; he's a medium sized but tall kobold with reddish skin and bold red facial scales, and his eyes glow golden, with a goat-like hourglass pupil. Goldemar prefers to dress very neatly in deceptively expensive, but understated layered tunics. He also wears neat black fingerless gloves at all times. Goldemar's apprentice, titled Pyrite, is named Staschia (F) - she's a bit shorter, with brassy tones and wears her hair in pigtail braids that are just a tiny bit asymmetrical. Staschia has the bright, almost Janjarri-like blue to her eyes. She has a tendency to 'hoard' clothes and will wear an eclectic mix of garments with lots of cute accessories.

This particular delegation represents the Grand Dragon Esfandiar Otesh-Theshanni. Esfandiar is one of a few Grand Dragons who are based out of Spitzbergen (Otesh-Theshann being its rather complicated draconic name), but they apparently have enough authority to speak on behalf of the Spitzbergen broods. Esfandiar was around for the original signing of the Desh Armistice, and they're interested in renegotiating the terms of the agreement. Due to the ban on dragon travel around Ladinh, Esfandiar has thought of a possible neutral place where negotiations could take place. This is the disputed archipelago of Cheri - currently in a three way diplomatic deadlock between Ningalu, del Flor and Vilaverde, so currently in an existential loophole as regards being/not being part of Ladinh. It also has a handsome active volcano, which the Grand Dragons rather enjoy. It's likely that Esfandiar plans to refuel there and enjoy a bit of tropical sightseeing. The kobolds are here to deliver this invitation to talk terms.