Major Isoor posted:

Content that the heat has died down enough for him to try and leave the city, Ableton heads out early in the morning and successfully passes the guards in his new armour. The short trip to Trefoille is uneventful, so before long he's back in front of Oliphard's fancy pavilion.
Upon passing through the flap at the pavilion's entrance, Ableton notices Oliphard sitting in a chair and he raises the verdigris key with a smile. "Ahh, you have it after all, eh?" Oliphard says, closing the book he was reading. "Very well! Unlock this trapdoor and follow me," he says, as he pulls away a rug - revealing a verdigris trapdoor set in the scorched stone floor.
Ableton unlocks the hatch, then hauls it open - revealing a staircase descending into a dark room. Oliphard then creates a magical light and leads the way, into a small chamber with three doors. "A wizard I knew lived here prior to the city's destruction, so I'm aware of the properties of these doors. They've been enchanted with teleportation magic! That one," he says, pointing to a door, "leads to the city of Metriciens in Golnir, that one leads you to Sky Mountain in the far north, and finally, this door leads you to Dweomer, the island city of sorcerers."
Highly curious of this news but not having an immediate need for these portals, Ableton thanks Oliphard and takes his leave.

Spending most of the rest of the day on the road, Ableton eventually reaches the aptly-named Weary Pilgrim Tavern, overlooking the Forest of Larun. Deciding to rest here for the night (especially after living rough in the sewers and mines, for the past few weeks) Ableton spends a few shards on ale, listening for news and rumours. Aside from some embellished tales about the assassination of the provost marshal, Ableton manages to get a trader from the north talking about an old tale about the area. He drones on about some famous shaman and a powerful wizard called Targdaz the Magnificent, before getting to the meat of the story.
"...so the shaman went to Targdaz's tower in the forest over yonder, and magically imprisoned Targdaz in a giant ruby! As the wizard was now helpless, the shaman looted his possessions. Foolishly though, he opened the wizard's Casket of Imponderables, unleashing a terrible storm that swept across the steppes, scattering the great tribes far and wide. The shaman was killed of course, but as far as anyone knows, ol' Targdaz is still there, up in his tower! Imprisoned in a ruby, waiting for release... Hah! O' course, you wouldn't catch me going over there, to take a look!"

Intrigued by this tale, Ableton goes to bed dreaming of giant rubies and mountains of shards. In the morning, Ableton sets off once more, to the Coldbleak Mountains. After climbing the now-familiar path, he's once again hailed by a soldier - who recognizes him as an ally and shows him to the rebel stronghold.
After entering the large cave, Ableton dusts some snow off his shoulders and immediately heads to the king's makeshift throne room. "Ah, you're back! I thought you must've failed the mission, given the amount of time you had been gone," King Nergan says, rising from his throne to happily greet Ableton.
"Indeed, I did face some... obstructions, on my quest. Nevertheless, it is done - the provost marshal is dead. He's been replaced by some Captain Royzen, I believe, but he doesn't seem to be liked any better than the old marshal," Ableton explains, before spending a while to detail what happened on the mission. By the time he's finished going over his capture, enslavement, breakout and then the successful assassination in the wake of an uprising, the king is well and truly impressed by Ableton's tenacity.
"Excellent, excellent! Thank you again," the king exclaims, "at this rate I'll be retaking my rightful place on the throne in Old Sokar in no time! Bad luck about that uprising in Yellowport, though. Those people weren't directly connected to the rebellion as such, but it's a shame to lose them all the same. But for now, in return for your faithful service to the crown, I'd like to reward you. Unfortunately there's not much I can give to you in the traditional sense for a king, since as you can see I have no fiefs to hand out. But please, take these five hundred shards. I'll also name you King's Champion, an honourary title the few, most elite men in the realm, who essentially act as my most trusted, chief members among my knights."

After this, news spreads quickly among the rebels - and the mood instantly shifts from a dreary mix of determination and resignation to an almost electric level of hope and excitement among the men. They all congratulate Ableton profusely, as this is the best news they've had since before the war began.
Before long, the king holds a small ceremony with the garrison as witnesses, to go through the motions of publicly declaring Ableton as the King's Champion. After this, the king leads Ableton to a side room, then speaks to him in a hushed tone.
"Look, I hate to ask, but something critical came up while you were away - it's actually fortunate timing, that you arrived today. I've just received word that a contingent of Sokaran soldiers who were forced to flee north during the war have amassed a following among the locals - nomads, Trau and Mannekyns, if you could believe it! Anyway, I've received a message claiming that they're preparing to besiege the Citadel of Velis Corin, which is the main passage through the mountains between the steppes and Sokara. This northern alliance has declared war on the new Sokaran regime - in part due to the passionate words of my cut-off soldiers, but also due to some trade restrictions Marlock has placed on goods bound for the far north. Aligning ourselves with this force is absolutely crucial - they would be an immense asset in our war effort!" The king exclaims. "They're led by someone calling themselves General Beladai. Would you be able to go north and make contact with him? Since if you could assist these northerners by aiding their siege from within the Citadel, they'll be able to succeed with minimal losses. And as a result, the tide of the war may yet change in our favour!"


Ableton ponders this seriously... should he take up this mission? An assassination is pretty dangerous - but if this new assignment doesn't go to plan, it might be a whole lot riskier. Or, it might be relatively smooth, if the king is right and all he needs to do is help create an opening for others to come in and fight.
Either way, is there anything else Ableton should do? Even if he accepts, he may wish to stop off somewhere along the way. e.g. check out the mysterious Forest of Larun, or venture down to the Scorpion Bight.



EDIT: Oh also, Ableton ranked-up as a result of completing the assassination mission - so he's now rank 4!