The Hero's Tale
The party was hired by Jorm Stormgate in the College of Art, who was writing an epic ballad about the life of Alleah Babwa, a famous dwarven barbarian. Amongst her accomplishments is singlehandedly taking down a hundred mounted bandits, saving the king of Gambuldar from an assassination attempt, and defeating the necromancer Grizelda Deathwhisper. What she is most famous for is being a dwarven feminist- she was one of the first dwarven women to cast off her beard and wear revealing clothing, advertising her femininity in a way unheard of in dwarven culture- inspiring many other women to do the same.
Jorm has been carefully detailing her deeds, but he worries that she will outlive him, accomplishing great deeds he can never write about or- worse yet- retire and peter out like an untended campfire. He arranged for a rematch between her and Grizelda Deathwhisper by reconstructing her necromantic artifact and arranging a meeting between them for a final showdown- which he wanted the party to watch and report on.
When the party got there, they realized that Grizelda was not an evil necromancer, but that she was possessed by the dark artifact that controlled her mind and used her to raise armies of undead. Alleah arrived and was heartbroken to see that the artifact was reconstructed. She began battling the undead and was brought to tears at the prospect of having to kill Grizelda- who was, in fact, her lover.
The party intervened, and helped heal Alleah and climbed to the top of the temple to shatter the artifact, freeing its control on Grizelda. They convinced them of the importance of true love, and both of them faked their deaths- giving the College of Art a great story, whilst allowing them to run off incogneto and have a life together.
Pending got himself added in as a co-researcher on the book, giving him extra credit at the College of Art.
The Princess and the Frog
Julietta Rosen, hearing the tragic tale of forbidden love lost to time, approached the party. She is a separatist cleric of Naderi- the goddess of tragic suicides due to forbidden love- though she focuses on Naderi's original portfolio- being a patron to forbidden lovers.
She had received a vision that two people were doomed to not be with their true loves: Zirule and Glenn- but were they to work together, they may find that they each have what the other needs to find true love in their lifetimes.
She asked the party to facilitate this cooperation. Vesper, having a relationship with Zirule already, reached out to him.
Zirule had long been courting Missandei Emmanuel. However, she was a princess of a desert tribe, and her family would be pressuring her to marry royalty if possible. Zirule had a plan- he had heard of a ruined castle on a small swampy island that was overrun with swamp trolls. If he could get a group to help him clear it out, he could declare himself king of the new nation. That means Missandei would be queen if she marries him, and he would become a great suitor for her.
Meanwhile, Glenn- a grippli knight, was in love with his princess and charge: Leene Guardania, an elf. He had long resigned to love her from afar, as many knights do with princesses, because her family would never allow the marriage- he is a short lived grippli, and she would require an elven royal.
However, the noble Glenn believed in the cause of true love, and agreed to help Zirule gain his castle in the name of his own true love.
The party took a ship to the swamp island covered in swamp holly bushes, and began clearing out the trolls with Zirule and Glenn. The trolls called for help and a green hag appeared, disabling most of the party. She was about to kill Zirule when Glenn sneak attacked her and killed her- saving the day.
Zirule declared himself king of the Nation of Holly, and made Vesper, Pending, and Nantar lords and ladies. Glenn, for his exemplary service, he declared a blood brother, performing an ancient elven blood brother ritual- giving him a very small amount of elf blood, and making him a legal prince.
Back home, at a tournament for Leene's hand, Glenn won, and declared his love for Leene- at Zirule's encouragement. When the family denied his request for not being an elven prince, Zirule publicly stood up for Glenn, arguing that as his adopted brother he is a prince, and as a person who has a tiny bit of elf blood, he can be legally considered an elf in law. Julietta started the crowd chanting in favor of Glenn, and King Janus Guardania blessed the union, allowing Glenn and Leene to marry. Missndei- moved by Zirule's actions to help the noble Glenn find true love, found herself fallen in love with Zirule, and accepted his proposal as well.
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