Chapter 13: There is Thunder in Our Hearts

Part One
You enter the small town of Thymiam, where a lively bazaar has been erected. Exotic spices, rare beasts, and colorful flags are scattered around the town. Many rare goods that cannot be found elsewhere are sold. The Rakkosan, or Stormcat Clan of warrior nomads are in town, and have set up the markets around the town they have temporarily settled in. Their caravans are borne by camels and the occasional elephant. The men wear turbans on their heads and the women wear short veils over their faces, and they are all dressed in layers of thin cloth and tight metal jewelry. They are said to be blessed with sacred powers. Some of the woman are accompanied by hyenas. You hear that the chief’s daughter’s wedding ceremony is currently occuring, and great fighters from across the land have gathered to participate. You notice a sad looking boy in expensive clothes skulking in front of the Clan’s main tent, where the wedding ceremony will be occuring. You also hear rumors that the Vertebra Family of gangsters have a vendetta against the Stormcat Clan and are likely going to attempt to assassinate the chief of the clan soon.

What do you do?

Part Two
The sad boy, surprised that people took notice of his down state, greets Michael, Nicole, and Jatin and decides to treat them to the most expensive food stall in the bazaar. The food is exquisite. “I am Coco of Honeyseed, a count’s son. I have known the chief’s daughter, Sol Rakkosan, for most of my life. She is very dear to me. I’ve been relaxed and easygoing for most of my life, and I’ve never cared about anything as much as her. However, under clan law, she can only marry a man who defeats her in combat. That is why all these fighters have gathered for the wedding ceremony. She’s been fighting dozens of men each day. This is her third wedding ceremony, as the first two were inconclusive, with her never losing a match. I have signed up for today, but I am not a strong man. I am a scholar and a merchant, and I have a hard time even wearing my ancestral armor. But I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try.” Outside, a commotion is drawn to a bar near the main tent, where a handsome, jovially drunk man stumbles out. Dozens of fighters are piled on the ground behind him. “Send my apologies to Sol for poaching her opponents. These men get so boastful with a few drinks in them, and someone needed to put them in their place. A few were even so unsportsmanlike as to Name a Power. At a wedding bar, of all places.” Eleanor distressedly points out a mustached man to Kate and tells him “That’s one of my father’s knights. I have to stay away from him.” Michael learns that the Vertebra Family has a grudge against the Rakkosan because the chief’s eldest son, Jagi Rakkosan, killed a few of the Vertebra Downfather’s children when they tried to coerce him into a trade deal. Nick's falcon shows him that men in grey suits and skull hoods are plotting near the outskirts of the town. One of them removes his hood and moves to the main tent. Nick warns the Stormcat Clan about this man and he is stopped by a tall clan member who promptly tears his throat out. A whistle sounds somewhere and arrows begin flying at the Stormcat Clan guards, wounding several of them. Many Vertebra Family assassins are now seen running frantically across the bazaar.

What do you do?

Part One
Calen tried to approach the main tent, but was turned away by security due to concerns over the Vertebra situation.

Part Two
Calen bought a bomb at the market and threw it randomly into a skirmish between the Stormcat Clan and the Vertebra family, injuring several people.

Part One
Jack spends time in the market with Mika after asking Ba'az for instructions to make a potion of enhanced strength with the Cockatrice Feather, and creates and Elixir of Might with Solomon's help. He also uses some black market economics to get maximize money, but it's more difficult at this market location.

Part Two
Jack tries to gamble with the defeated warriors to take money from them and hopefully take their instruments. He asks Ba'az how to cheat at the card game Ostrich. He wins money for a while until a mysterious woman named Esde Plutonia enters the game and begins to win nearly every round, upon which he cuts his losses and leaves. He uses the money he won to buy armor for himself and Mika.

Part One
Jatin tells Solomon to buy the lightest and most expensIve armor he can find in the market for both of them and sell the treasure they stole from Thanacross. He sends the Rose Lady to scout for any information regarding the Vertebra Family. He then approaches Coco, who looks dejected, and tells him that it is no occasion for anyone to be sad, inquiring after his troubles and asking how he can help him. Coco takes him, along with Nicole and Michael, out to lunch.

Part Two
Jatin tells Coco he has a plan and has Solomon make an Elixir of Might, which Michael helps him gather supplies for. Solomon also makes a Tonic of Fatigue. Jatin has the Rose Lady deliver a message containing all the information she gathered about the Vertebra Family from spying to the Stormcat Clan in the main tent and, while she’s there, slip the Tonic of Fatigue into Sol's drink right before her fight with Coco. Solomon gives Coco the Elixir, instructing him to use it in moderation. He then walks up to the defeated warriors he has selected outside the bar and introduces himself as Sybiline Horseshadow, the Smoke Rider, and tells them he has access to a map of all the treasures of the Thanacross domain, and asks if anyone would like to join his band of Smoke Riders as mercenaries. Four, Syphon Flickerfoot, Maolo Viper, The Hanged Man, and Under-The-Valley, accept the offer. After Coco defeats Sol and is able to marry her, Sol thanks Jatin and Solomon and declares that she and Coco will accompany him on his travels as part of their honeymoon.

Part One
Kate asks Eleanor who to talk to and what to buy and looks for sword training. Eleanor suggests she tries to get an Instrument and if that fails a powerful weapon. She finds a rentable sword dancing instructor and learns from him for money.

Part Two
Kate asks Eleanor who the man is and makes an effort to hide her. She tells Kate that he is Sir Echrom rem Vardaheim, one of her father's knights and a notably powerful fighter. Kate takes more sword dancing lessons and advances in skill.

Part One
Michael asks Coco why he is so dejected and accompanies him to lunch, He also asks around about the Vertebra Family, and learns about the history between them and the Stormcat Clan.

Part Two
Michael sells his Cockatrice Feather and buys a lion's tail whip from a vendor at the market.

Part One
Nick sends his falcon to scout out information on the Vertebra Family. His falcon spots one of them attempting to enter the main tent and warns Jagi Rakkosan, who kills the assailant.

Part Two
Nick hides in the midst of the violence across Thymiam. The chief of the Stormcat Clan grants him a magical item, the Leopard's Cloak, which grants the wearer superhuman agility, as thanks for warning them about the assassination attempt.

Part One
Nicole asks Coco why he is sad and tells Pippin to stand guard outside the main tent. After going to lunch with Coco and hearing his story, she goes to investigate clues about the whereabouts of the Vertebra family and is captured by their agents upon being recognized for her previous interference with them back in Parcivel.

Part Two
Nicole tells her captors that she is a member of the Vertebra Family and that they must release her immediately. She is given a Vertebra Family uniform and reunites with Pippin.

Ending
Jatin tells Coco he has a plan and has Solomon make an Elixir of Might, which Michael helps him gather supplies for. Solomon also makes a Tonic of Fatigue. Jatin has the Rose Lady deliver a message containing all the information she gathered about the Vertebra Family from spying to the Stormcat Clan in the main tent and, while she’s there, slip the Tonic of Fatigue into Sol's drink right before her fight with Coco. Solomon gives Coco the Elixir, instructing him to use it in moderation. Jack begins a game of Ostrich with some of the warriors at the bar. Cheating, he begins to win good money. Several minutes into the game, a woman in an enormous fancy coat enters, asking if she may join the game. Everyone stares at an emblem sewn into her coat, which looks like the crest of the guild. The name Esde Plutonia is murmured. She begins to win nearly every round, upon which Jack cuts his losses and leaves. A masked Jatin walks up to the defeated warriors he has selected outside the bar and introduces himself as Sybiline Horseshadow, the Smoke Rider, and tells them he has access to a map of all the treasures of the Thanacross domain, and asks if anyone would like to join his band of Smoke Riders as mercenaries. Four, Syphon Flickerfoot, Maolo Viper, The Hanged Man, and Under-The-Valley, accept the offer. Meanwhile, combat rages across Thymiam as hooded Vertebra assassins flit around the town, trying to snipe at key Stormcat Clan outposts with crossbows to gradually weaken their guards. Jagi Rakkosan leads a band of clan members who bound after the assassins with frightening speed. Calen throws a bomb he purchased into one small skirmish, injuring several. The Vertebra family is constantly intercepted in their ambushes, as the Stormcat uses the information given to them by Nick and Jatin. Breaking past the lines of snipers, several Vertebra assassins with long poisoned swords emerge into the fray, cutting back against the Stormcat onslaught. Jagi Rakkosan roars, places his hand on the ground before him and does a spiral leap in the air, the ribbons in his clothes enveloping him, and emerges in the shape of a great white lion. Several of his kinsmen do the same, taking the forms of great cats. With a few casualties, they tear the Vertebra assassins to pieces. Coco, with Jatin and Solomon’s interference, manages to barely defeat Sol Rakkosan. When she sees it was him, they share a tearful embrace. Haja Rakkosan, the chief, thanks Nick for his warning and bestows upon him the agility-enhancing Leopard's Cloak. Sol asks Coco to introduce her to whoever helped him win. She meets Jatin and Solomon and gives them a grateful bow. “Thank you for your service to myself and my clan. You have my gratitude as a warrior. Coco, darling, this man looks like he’ll be doing interesting things in the future. What do you say we spend some of our honeymoon accompanying him and his cute friend?” Coco, still tearful with joy, nods. “But before we go,” she says, “there’s something I want to take care of.” She walks up to the bar. “Strayer Marigold,” she calls, “I can accept your challenge now. Sober up and meet me in an hour.” The handsome man who had defeated the assortment of fighters emerges from the bar. “We’ll both feel pretty foolish when I knock you down in less than a minute, Sol,” he says. “I wouldn’t dare embarrass myself in front of my new husband,” she says, smiling at Coco. She draws two skyblades, which start to crackle with electricity. Strayer chants

“Breaker of worlds now heed my call

Until your havoc engulfs all

While your disaster path I ride

No law but mine shall I abide

Rebel spear, I name thee: Laqan!”

They clash.