AEHU/Plot/Chapter 2

Event Geography[edit]

Wittel and others engage in combat on the beaches of Choras. Turns out the pirates are also fairly ill-equipped, so it's an even match.
- FW note: Interestingly, this is the very same beach upon which Porrean forces arrive in CC:DBT's 1015 prologue.
- FW Note: It's my preference to make the pirates a mixture of both humans and Mystics, showing some changing cultural dynamics in this era since we last saw it in CT's 600AD.

Victory on the beaches emboldens the Lord Magistrate, who takes command of a Choran shipping vessel with plans to ram the main pirate ship. Thus Wittel gets to participate in some high-seas swashbuckling. He feels exhilerated and impresses the Lord Magistrate by taking on the pirate captain mano-a-mano. Before he dies the pirate captain explains why he and his gang turned to piracy -- their homeland, Medina, has suffered a years-long drought and food is scarce.
- FW Note: I was thinking Wittel's straight-arrow monk friend might have joined him, but if not, he should make a meaningful acquaintance with a fellow Choran soldier who is wounded during the battle.

Wittel and the Lord Magistrate free the Guardian knights who otherwise would have defended Choras; the pirate captain's ship is actually a hijacked Guardian frigate. Meanwhile, a group of recognizably-colored frogs hops from the pirate ship onto the Choran vessel.

The makeshift Choran battalion receive a hero's welcome that doubles as a celebration of the year's bountiful harvest. Wittel wishes his wounded friend a speedy recovery and proceeds to party down, getting his first (albeit underage) taste of booze and life outside the monastery in general. The Lord Magistrate proclaims this celebration the First Annual Frog Festival, frogs being an auspicious animal in Choran culture.
- FW Note: We can outdo the Millennial Fair here. The Frog Festival is a raw, frenzied celebration of life; these people just escaped certain doom after all. Norstein Bekkler is on hand to pass out little frogs to kids or something, and he wholeheartedly partakes in the revelry. Even those frogs that stowed away onto the returning Choran ship are bouncing around everywhere...

The recently-freed Guardian military official is on hand for this scene. He serves two purposes -- to congratulate the Chorans on their self-defense and to collect the King's share of this year's harvest. There needs to be serious hints of the political relationship between Guardia and Choras at this early stage.

The Lord Magistrate brings special attention to Wittel for his role in defeating the pirate captain, and introduces his daughter Brione to him for obvious reasons. They wander around the festival for awhile, providing an opportunity for a character unfamiliar with Wittel to ask about his background and possible Guardian heritage.

A servant of the Lord Magistrate summons Brione to visit wounded soldiers -- this is proper for the Lord Magistrate's family politically. Wittel accompanies her to the Lord Magistrate's manor, now generously converted into a hospital. Wittel and Brione witness the death of the soldier he met earlier, obviously dampening the mood even as the Frog Festival rages outside.

Wittel and Brione head out to a balcony to brood on mortality. Wittel notes that the Mystic pirate captain bled the same color blood as humans, and his young mind grasps for the meaning behind what he's just done today. He announces his intention to sail to Medina and find out just how bad the pirates had it there. The conversation on mortality leads back to the vision of Schala Wittel saw earlier.