16: Spoils of War

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## Summary

### **Is that Your Final Offer?**

Just after dawn, as Mujie and Luca slay the last of the seafaring undead, the ghost ship itself starts to bow and sway. The wood of the deck creaks and splinters and begins to give out beneath the party, as bits of timber and coral break off the hull and fall away into the south sea. But the ship, now returning to depths from which it came, seems intent on taking the party with it, and Mahi, Mujie, and Tira all disappear under the foam and wreckage. The rest of the party manages to stay afloat on the surface, and so they set to rescuing their friends. Luca wild shapes into a crocodile and Cat casts locate object on Tira’s plumb of the elements, and Mujie locates Mahi’s earring. After a brief dip, the gang manages to get back on Molucca’s paddleboat, and he rows them to shore.

By mid morning, the party makes it back to the city proper, and they find Decco and Bosco right where they left them: bickering at the Cannery. Cat and Mujie hatch a plan to leave Ashta with both the Moonsilver Glaive and the Moonstone, but Bosco puts the brakes on negotiations with a little history lesson. He explains to the party that K’nafay and Ashta were once twin capitals of the Kingdom of Helwa, generally understood to have fallen to civil war centuries prior. But now, in an era of reconstruction for the whole realm, K’nafay has amassed a military again, while Ashta still struggles to rebuild. Bosco warns the party that the Glaive has been Ashta’s trump card over K’nafay in their skirmishes since the fall of the kingdom, and if word gets out that the Glaive is gone, they may face conquest.

His memory seemingly jogged from the morning’s events, Mahi suddenly recalls his childhood lessons in the Lanikai Kingdom: the great war that tore the realm apart wasn’t centuries but a millennium ago, and it was called The Cataclysm. Having sealed their Arksprings for reasons yet unknown, the four mainland nations fell to ruin, and the realm experienced a centuries-long Ark drought that wiped out its populations. Now, a mere few hundred years into the Restoration, the Glaive is all that remains of the Kingdom of Helwa’s former glory, and without it, Bosco fears Ashta will fall to her sister city.

Still, the party is reluctant to leave without this ancient relic. Decco is easily sweet-talked, but Bosco remains a tougher sell. In the end, it takes assurances that they’ll return to Ashta to defend the city should need arise, but the party gets its way.

To celebrate, they gather the gladiator girls for another night on the town, and go to the old Schoolhouse in the Southside. Tira and her old colleagues play the longest-ever game of meade pong, the rest of the gang dresses up and has their caricatures drawn, and later, once Mahi’s had enough to drink, he spills the truth about why he ran from home.

### **His Royal Righteousness**

His Royal Highness Prince Mahi, Seventh Son of the Lanikai Crown, is actually the Lanikai Kingdom’s crown prince. As the seventh son of a seventh son, ancient Kingdom tradition dictates that he rise to the throne as King in his 18th year, a mere 7 moons away. He explains that Pearl isn’t a tuna, but the daughter of tuna fishers, and she isn’t his true love, but his only friend. Feeling overwhelmed by bearing the hopes and happiness of an entire kingdom—let alone the hopes of the royal family—on his young shoulders, he recalls to the party how he’d left home, ending up at the Moa Moa Lagoon and pleading with the Goddess to make him anything but a crown prince. Hearing his troubles, Luca opens up about his own relationship with his parents, and the rest of the gang worries they’ve made themselves look like royal kidnappers.

### **Past Lives**

At the end of the night, the party returns to the Arena, where Tira turns her focus toward attuning to the Moonsilver Glaive. After an hour of deep breathing and thinking feminine thoughts, the Glaive's true power is unlocked—at least, partially—and Tira senses that it’s a legendary weapon, indeed.

The next morning, Cat’s Ark stabilizes for another day, and the party prepares to say their goodbyes. Before they can go, Imta pulls Tira aside and says she’s been keeping something for her all these years. She presents her two plain gold rings and a letter from her father, Tallis. Imta, regretful that she hadn’t told Tira sooner, reveals to her the truth about her coming to Ashta: 14 years ago, her father, with the help of a coalition of rebels in K’nafay, destroyed the city’s shrines and temple ruins, planning to bring down the city’s high council. But before they could reach their goal, their group was caught and hanged, and Tira’s uncle brought her to Ashta on horseback. Before bidding her farewell, Imta urges Tira to be careful in K’nafay, and leaves her with her father’s last words. Learning the truth of her mother’s last years and the anguish that led her father to ruin, Tira cries for parents she barely knew, and the party rallies around her.

### **Beach Bums**

After a day of travel along the Malabar Coast’s beautiful shorelines and white sandy beaches, the party rests along the Southeast Road. By the next afternoon, they make it to a quaint village called Lacuna, where people are gathering on the beach for a day of festivities. Shaking off the heavy atmosphere of the day prior, the gang meets Luke and Sylvie, who give them the lowdown on the day’s events: a surf competition and a beauty contest. Luca, Mujie, and Cat enter the beauty contest, and Mahi, Bran, and Tira try their luck at surfing (with the help of some sea weed). Luca wins the beauty contest and Mahi sweeps the surf competition, and as the prizes get doled out, Bran hears a familiar voice. Is that Aster…?

## Quotes

### *SISTER, SISTER:*

> “I understand that you want the Glaive, but we risk uprising from K’nafay if word gets out that it’s no longer in Ashta. The ancient kingdom that once spanned the south coast… Its name was Helwa. Much of our history has been lost, but most believe the kingdom fell to civil war, or perhaps to war with neighboring regions. In any case, K’nafay has made out much better than Ashta. They can maintain a military again. When the cities have clashed recently, the Glaive has been our equalizer, but without it, we can’t match their force. Really, we’re just rebuilding here.”
>
>

*—Bosco, on political relations between K'nafay and Ashta*

### *WE'RE KIND OF A BIG DEAL:*

> “Seal the *what*…? You know, I suppose I just assumed you all were some raff from the woods, but... What are you people really *doing* here, anyway? Is this connected to that skylight in the Wilds...?”
>
>

*—Bosco*

### *GOOD GOODBYES:*

> “Be careful in K’nafay. I’ve told you this, but I was a mercenary there for a time. How I met your uncle. But, anyway. I left because if the nobles found out I was—what did you call it, Ark-touched?—if they knew, I’d be in shackles. Watch your back there. Your friends as well.”
>
>

*—Imta*