Mission 4: To Rescue a Princess

## 4.1. Fikon Arrival

Once the dwarf had be taken away Iris takes it upon herself to meet with the other passengers. The crew's lack of screening process has her weary of who else they may have allowed to board their ship. The mother and her children remained quiet but eventual casual conversation the mother opened up about her excited about the new life she and her children were embarking in Fikon. The shakiness of her voice led Iris to think the woman was running from *something or someone* however she would not open up and share further. The ship finally arrived safely in Fikon the following day without further incident. It was an absolutely remarkable sight, with lights and buildings covering every square inch of land. The beauty of the approaching city was spoiled as the Captain informed the crew they were broke a.f. and need fuel. Solution? To find more passengers willing to pay a decent dollar for the ships speed, all within 36 hours so that they can make it back to the rock for an apparent high paying courier gig. Easy right? What could go wrong as the crew departs in search of worthy passengers on Fikon? Ornithal and Taryn make some signs in an attempt to find passengers. Iris and Rom take a more professional approach, asking a merchant the proper protocol for finding passengers. They leave the shop to register their ship at the terminal, which would allow for their vessel to be advertised among more reputable travelers than the previous dwarf fugitive. However, the two end up on a detour to the public library via a train in Fikon, saving a duckling and exploring the city the rest of the day solo in what ends up leading each character down an interesting path.

After an assortment of events during their first day in Fikon, the crew meets up the following morning to discuss their progress finding passengers or lack thereof. Cora stayed on track, sort of, learning of a young woman wanting to escape an arranged marriage. Details were limited, as Cora heard of this woman's situation while visiting the Selune temple late at night and ended up getting jumped on the way back to the ship. It's at this point everyone looks around the group and realizes someone is missing ... Rom. As panic broke out amongst the crew as to what happened to him, they see him casually enter the kitchen for some food. As they stand there dumbfounded and relieved, they question him about his whereabouts and learn to never EVER leave him to travel alone again. The crew then proceeds to successfully register their ship at the main terminal among the spaceports.

### Noble District

Cora leads most of the crew in search of the young woman looking to escape her arranged marriage. Their quest takes them by train along the green line for a few hours and into the Noble District. Along their journey they pass through rolling valleys with large estates, castles of incredible architecture upon pristine landscapes were ahead. They depart the train at the last stop, a beautiful ornate train station where Ornithal's wisdom led the group to a map of the Noble District and subsequently the Bregnadu manor. Once at the manor the group is greeted and Cora's offering of a blessing for the bride-to-be buys them an invitation inside.

The Butler leads them to whom the group seeks, Lita. She is hesitant to speak to the group at first as she is not shy about not wanting to be married and is annoyed at any offering of a blessing for her curse. However, Cora and Iris manage to persuade Lita that there is more to their blessing then she can see and so the Butler is dismissed and the group reveals their intentions. Hearing the group is here to rescue her she jumps for joy, the sight is like a child seeing a mythical creature for the first time. The excitement then quickly turns to anger as Lita vents about the outdated custom and business transaction that her family treats the concept of marriage.

The group calms Lita, and spends time discussing plans for helping her escape. They settle with using Iris' gift of levitation to sneak the princess out of her room and to the ship at midnight. To keep their cover, the group joins Lita for dinner. They all exchange pleasant conversations and head back to their ship via *the train*. Their plan was simple and well thought out; the group would return to the castle at midnight and would watch for the lights to go off in Lita's room. Once off, Lita would be at her open window for Iris to use her gifts with the wind and levitate the princess. To move across the open meadow while suspended, Lita would use her layman's mage hand. There wasn't too many steps to this plan and so the crew expected a simple in and out mission ...

> *"I bless you in the name of Selune, that you may walk your path in the fullness of her light and know, even on the darkest night, that it just a passing phase until her return" - Cora's blessing for Lita, so that she may be protected throughout the night and safely guided to freedom.*
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## 4.2. The Rescue

### Step 1: lose track of time and show up late

The group arrives back at the ship exhausted, ready to roll into bed, not realizing the time it took them to return. The Captain, confused and angry, attempts to play catch up to the crew's whereabouts as the ship was supposed to depart hours earlier. The adventurer's meanwhile go into panic mode, scrambling together a plan. They were supposed to meet the princess at midnight and it was now 2:00 am. Lita was to be waiting by her window for Iris to levitate her down to the safety of earth and instead she'd be left alone. The adventurers had no way of communicating with her and took a chance that she would still be awake. Iris persuaded the Captain to saving Lita and being late for their next delivery, although money would be lost, the group did not want to leave the princess behind.

> *"Sitting in her open window with the lights off staring up at the moonlight Lita wonders - What did I do wrong? Nothing. I did nothing wrong. I was here at midnight. I opened the windows, I turn the lights off, I did what I was told, I was ready. Then why aren't they here... What if Father found out... he could have made pointy shoes get rid of them. No no no father's not that way. Wouldn't hurt them. Probably just bribe them"*
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### Step 2: *The quiet owl gets the mouse*

While the Captain begins to head towards the Noble District, Iris and Rodney - in classic fashion - get into a heated debate on their plan B. One offered a direct, Leroy approach while the other proposed a plan with a little more finesse. *Take a guess which is which*. Ornithal standing on the sidelines breaks his silence and stops the bickering, proposing a compromise; *"If we get her out quietly, they will not even notice she is gone until the morning. Flying the ship straight to her window is unwise. Try stealth. If stealth fails, bring out the ship."* Taryn remained hesitant, as there were still logistics yet to be figured out.

### Step 3: The quiet owl proceeds through the meadow

The Leviathan lands a far ways from the mansion, and as the crew disembarks they see a 10 ft wall at 2000 feet ahead. The group decides to travel together, with Taryn granting swift and quiet passage through his *merge with stone* gift. Once the group starts to move they can feel soft dirt beneath their footsteps, a light rumbling that quietly settles the grasses and soil as to remove any trace of passage. While the owl takes flight over the wall, thankfully the group had rope to allow everyone else to follow safely. As they look up at the windows across the 200 ft of mansion side Cora points out they do not have the sending stone to notify the princess of their arrival nor does she remember which window to even look for. Thankfully, Iris looked out Lita's window to assess the mansion surroundings earlier in the day and she was able to get her bearings well enough in the darkness of night to spot it. Of course, the light was off and window shut, so Iris decided to instead levitate herself upwards to the princess. She channels her teachings from Air Gensai and focuses on slowly rises straight up towards the window desired. Her movements one with the gentle breeze that passes by.

### Step 4: The mouse awaits and hope is renewed

As Iris arrives at Lita's window she taps the window softly a few times and waits. Meanwhile, below on the ground, Taryn is praying the princess doesn't fall. *"Taryn watches silently, preparing for… nothing because he can’t see very well. He sighs quietly. Let’s hope Iris doesn’t drop her"*

> *"I thought you weren't coming I thought actually I thought you might have been a prank by someone quite mean. I can't believe you're actually here I can't believe oh my God let's go!"*
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Iris instructs Lita that to escape is to take a leap of faith...literally... she must reach out for Iris and levitate to the ground together. Lita jumps into Iris' arms and they both safely and slowly reach the ground below again due to Iris' gifts and concentration on prior teachings. Iris's swift and quiet decent combined with Taryn's guidance across the meadow allows the group to safely reach the wall they climbed prior. The two Gensai then use their combined strength to help Lita over the wall and they make their way to the ship. Lita is free.