Introduction and intel

Iris waits until everyone quiets before speaking. “As I’m sure you’ve all noticed, I made it back, and I have brought the help we needed. For those who do not recognize him, this is Josh, Emperor of Athkalla, and slayer of the demon lord.”

A murmur passes through the gathered people as you nod. Iris continues. “He has a plan to solve what’s happening with Queen Mayella.”

A grey skinned woman speaks up. “Just him and these three others? I understand that he’s powerful, but why so few?”

You step forward to answer. “I don’t plan to murder my way through this unless I have no choice. And trust me, these three are plenty. But I don’t think any of you want me to just slaughter your leadership if there’s another way.”

You see most people nodding, and no one seems to be upset by your statement. The woman seems satisfied, but also asks, “So what do you need us to do?”

You shake your head. “Nothing for now. I want to keep you out of this for now, because numbers won’t help with my plan. What I need from all of you is to inform me of what has happened. Iris told me the story, but what new developments are there?”

A human steps forward, looking rather ragged. “As I’m sure you know, people are disappearing, especially those who aren’t undead. We assume that they’re being used as food…but the supply of food, both for undead and living, is running short. More and more undead are going feral, and either being locked away, or hiding in the forest outside of the city.”

You look at Iris. “That must be what we saw as we approached.”

Iris nods. “It makes sense. They wouldn’t attack because even feral, something told them it would end badly.”

The man continues. “Also, our main source of hope besides Iris was captured shortly after she left.”

Iris looks at him curiously. “What? Who is that?”

The man sighs. “The living rarely mentioned her because we feared this could happen. There was a minor goddess hidden amongst us.”

You glance at Sadie. “Let me guess, the lady of the wind?”

The man looks at you in surprise. “Yes, that’s Arella’s title, how could you know?”

You gesture towards Sadie. “One of the family I brought with us a djinn. She was hoping to find the goddess here.”

The man shakes his head. “She was taken, I don’t know what they’ve done with her.”

You nod. “Well, add a rescue to our plan then. If they captured a goddess, they probably have a reason.”

Samuel steps forward. “So, why do you think you can save the Queen?”

You sigh. “Grief makes people susceptible to manipulation. And royal courts are notorious for corruption, especially courts that have been around a while. Before the king died, your queen was a kind person, right?”

Samuel nods, and you hear general agreement. You nod. “I doubt that in her grief, she became an entirely different person. She’s being manipulated, either through magic or through simple persuasion. If it’s magic, I can solve that immediately. If not…it gets more complicated.”

You field several more questions, but in general, people seem happy to let you try to solve this. After a couple hours, the meeting breaks up, and your group makes their way back to Samuel’s house.

You look at the girls as you settle in and relax. “Tomorrow we go to the palace. Right in the front door. Audacity is our shield in this, if we act like we belong, we should be fine.”

Maya laughs. “We can always trust you to have a terrible plan that somehow works, my Josh.”