Friends in a Foreign Land

Breakfast was a quiet affair the next morning. Eric was quite obviously hung over and no one felt like starting an argument. After they finished eating Mira said they should go explore the town a bit and no one objected.

The next few hours went by rather quickly and being out in the sun seemed to energize the team a bit. Lunch came quickly and while they saw a few food carts, they had only found a single restaurant in the town so that’s where they headed. It was fancier than the tavern at the inn but Regina felt it was, at best, on par with a Chili’s from back home. She was reminded of where she was when instead of being offered a menu they were simply given food. They each received their own bowl of rice while a pot of soup with what looked like chicken and then a plate with sautéed fish and vegetables was placed in the center for them to share.

“This is delicious,” Alexis said after taking a bite of one of the vegetables.

“What even is it?” asked Regina.

“No idea. Tastes like cross between eggplant and carrot.”

“Are you sure,” said Mira. “I’m getting more of a squash taste from it.”

“New world, new things to eat.” Said Eric as he was topping his bowl with a bit of everything.

Regina smiled to herself when she saw Ramiro, who’s one of the picker people in the group, enjoying the new dishes.

After they finished eating Regina paid the tab over the objections of everyone else. “Look, I owe you all far more than this meal for the danger I put you in yesterday. Let me do this.”

After the bill was settled and the party exited the restaurant they found a well dressed elf standing before them, apparently waiting on them.

“Glad to see you enjoyed your meal. Basil and Lime might be our only restaurant but I’d put their food up against any from the capital,” said the man in the suit before he fixed them with a stern look, “That is where you all are from? The capitol, right?”

“That is where we came from,” replied Alexis with a smile. “And you are?”

“Forgive me. I am Solon Anh Tuan,” the man replied in a tone that said they should be impressed.

A tone that Eric either missed or ignored as he replied, “Nice to meet you Solon. I agree, the restaurant was great.”

“I think you misunderstand, Solon is my title. It means I’m a member of ruling council here in Arimel. You should address me as Solon Anh.”

About that time a woman approached who appeared quite a bit older than Solon Anh but far classier. “Yes, Tuan is always so worried about following formality as if this was the capitol itself rather than a days ride away. I’m Solon Dao Mai, you can call me Mai. Would you all be willing to speak with us.” Mai continued on but it was clear that her interruption had upset Tuan, “We heard a rumor that you all encountered a troll on your way here and would like to speak with you about it if you have a few minutes.”

Regina looked to her group and seeing no objections she nodded, “Sure. Perhaps on the way you can continue to educate us on the local government.”

The two Solons as well as the guardsman turned to lead the way. Mai let the others catch up to her, “There’s not much to our government here. It’s a small council made of five Solons. One elected by the businesses owners, one by the laborers, one by the guards, and two appointed by the crown. We used to have the title of council members but some among us,” Mai looked pointedly at Tuan’s back, “thought that changing our title to Solon would give us a more sophisticated air. As if being sophisticated goes well with smelling pig dung every time the wind blows from the west.”

Hearing this Tuan turned and looked back, “Over fifty years we tried being blasé and that didn’t help us grow. It’s time to try something new.”

Mai simply waved her hand at Tuan as if saying, “See”

⚶

Soon the party found themselves inside of a council room with the five Solons, who were all sitting on an elevated platform. They were quickly introduced to Ong Binh, a high elf merchant with long braided brown hair, a miller Lan Tom, and finally the guard Dam Elel. After introductions Soto Dam started with the questions.

“Is it true that you traveled here yesterday from the capitol and encountered a troll en route?”

Eric spoke up, “Yes. Specifically it was a level ten forest troll.”

“Are you sure it was alone?”

“No sir. I am sure that I only saw a single set of tracks and we fought only one. But we did not look for others.”

“Is there reason why you did not report this to the gate guards when you arrived?”

“We did not realize that we needed to report it.”

This visibly upset Soto Dam. “You did not realize…. Why do you expect me to believe such a thing? No matter where you’re from town, you always alert gate guards to any threats when you arrive. What if it followed you to town last night and attacked? We would have been unprepared.”

“How would a dead troll follow us?” asked Ramiro dryly.

“What?” asked Soto Dam in shock. “First you expect us to believe that you don’t know you’re suppose to report threats then you lie to try and get out of trouble?”

Seeing where this was going, Regina stood and cast [Dome of Truth] before mentally tapping her preset to equip her weapons and armor. All of the council members were aghast but before they could say anything Regina started to speak, “I’ve cast a truth spell on this room. If anyone tries to lie, you will be unable to take a breath until you decide to be truthful. And, yes, we do expect you to believe that we killed the troll. Because we did. So the troll issue is solved. Now, since you interrupted our day off, we might as well get to work.” Looking directly at Soto Ong Binh she demanded, “Are you the owner of Ong’s Linens here in town?”

“You were brought here to answer our questions,” exclaimed Solon Anh. “What do you think you are doing?”

Regina never broke eye contact with Ong Binh when she answered, “We were dispatched here by his majesty King Hung Daot to bring some oath breakers to justice. Now, all of you have broken oaths. I can feel that in my very bones. But we only came to town looking for one. The owner of Ong’s Linens.”

The entire room went silent when Regina stopped speaking. Soto Ong looked toward the door the council used to enter and exit the room and saw that Ramiro was already standing there. The rest of the council was now staring at Ong Binh, waiting for her to respond.

Several times it appeared that Soto Ong was about to speak but was inhibited by the truth spell. Finally she took a deep breath and replied, “Yes, I am the owner of the linen shop.” Thrice more Ong Binh tried to speak and was unable to breath due to the spell.

Nodding her head, Regina continued, “You have broken both oaths and the law of the kingdom by participating in trafficking of sapient beings in service to a cult. Soto Ong, you are under arrest.”

“Tell me you didn’t,” said Mai.

Tears started to run down Binh’s cheeks as she drew a dagger and weakly replied, “I will not stand before the king and suffer his interrogations.”

“You do not intend to cooperate?” asked Regina in a voice so cold even her party members were surprised.

“No,” she said softly.

As happened the last time she passed judgment, the next words were in her voice but came from somewhere else, “Then on behalf of the Kingdom of Avallon and by the power granted by Calore, the God of Oaths and Judgment I find you guilty and sentence you to death.”

As soon as Regina stopped speaking, Ramiro appeared behind Soto Ong and drove a knife up through the base of the skull and into her brain, killing her in barely a second.

Gasps came from every one of the solons but before they could move, Regina started speaking again. “As I said you all have broken oaths but you are to be given opportunity to repent and you will aid us in our investigation. Ong Binh is stripped of all titles and property. Everything she owned now belongs to the crown. Please conduct an inventory of her things and send a report to his majesty’s chancellor Ailmon Kelwynn. If anyone asks, this meeting was in regards to the troll and nothing else.

“We will be going to Ong’s Linens next to look for clues as to whom else is involved in her corruption. Please send someone there who can show us the way to Ong Binh’s home and any other real estate holdings she had so that we may search there as well.

“Hunting these cultists is an ongoing investigation. If you hinder it in any way, intentionally or accidentally, well, we are authorized to remove any threats to our mission.”

Finished with her speech, Regina turned and walked toward the door. The rest of her group started to follow. Just before walking out the door Regina turned and looked back to the sotos, “Again I stress, make things right in regards to the oaths you’ve broken. You never know when Calor will send us back through town.”

After they were all gone and the door closed, the solons looked to one another. Finally Mai spoke up, “That’s more excitement than I’ve seen in a hundred years.”

Tuan glared at her, “Of course you would be happy about having the agents of the crown in town.”

Before the two could start an argument, Solon Dam asked a question, “Where did Ong Binh’s body go?”

They all turned and saw that the body had vanished. Only a few drops of blood on the floor hinted at what had just occurred.

The solons quickly started to argue over who would do an inventory of Ong Binh’s holdings and who would let the merchants guild know they needed to elect a new representative to the council. Mai volunteered to show the part to Binh’s other properties.

As they spoke, Ramiro sat in stealth on the other side of the room listening to all their plans to ensure no one stepped out of line.