The Seeds of Conflict is the first episode of season 16: The Ravening War.
The cast introduces their characters for the first time. At the festival of St. Eggamere, backstabbing and politicking put Calorum on a dangerous path.
Introduction[]
Behold, Calorum, a vast, many-cultured land, where manifold societies and everyday citizens chase their individual happiness. Years before the forging of the Concord and its unifying emperor. Before the grasp of the Bulbian Church had stretched the breadth of the continent. Long before the corruption of the Sweetening Path and the assault on Castle Candy, a tenuous peace hangs in the balance between the six kingdoms, for the great King Arthur Cardoon, the long-ruling sovereign of Vegetania, has died, and without an heir, his succession remains a topic of debate and contention. But our story does not begin in the hallowed halls of Greenhold, nor does it begin within the grain marble amphitheaters of Pangranos. Our story begins in a land of saccharine fields and clandestine plots, of secrets and of shadow. Our story begins in the whispers of the Ravening War.
Synopsis[]
On the 22nd day of Highbloom in the year of the Bulb 1188, the countries of Calorum gather in Comida to celebrate Saint Eggamere and to mourn the death of the recently deceased King Cardoon.
Queen Amangeaux (the widow of King Cardoon), Karna Solara, and Bishop Raphaniel Charlock ride together in a carriage transporting them to the city via Pilgrim's Road. During this ride they discuss their worries and anxieties over the fragile political state of the continent. Karna, with the ability to shapeshift into any visage, is seen by one of the Vegetanian knights accompanying them in her true visage. Charlock warns her of exposing her magic. It is raining heavily during their trip.
Meanwhile, coming from the north, a rickety, visibly rented carriage transports Thane Delissandro Katzon, envoy of the Beef Clans, as well as his mother Chieftess Cleva Katzon, the Battle-Sage of the Beef Clans. They are accompanied by their "haunchman", Sirley Hiag, as well as two men from the Dairy Islands, Colin Provolone and Colton Gouda. They stop briefly so that the Chieftess can relieve herself and "hit something." She punches Colton who doesn't seem to particularly mind. As they continue on the road to Comida, they see that it may rain soon.
After a day or two more of travel, both carriages make their way to Comida and the Great Pyramid of Food, currently under construction as it has been for many decades. Nobles from every country gather in the Cornucopian Hall for the Eggamere Cornucopia Convocation. The Queen enters and is announced as the "widowed, former-queen," making her visibly uncomfortable. The Bishop joins her at her side.
Meanwhile, Karna takes to the street and uses her abilities to shapeshift to gather information from people in the city. Remembering Bishop Charlock's comments to Lady Amangeaux, she spreads a rumor in Comida the Vegetanians aren't in favor of any particular options for potential successors to the throne. She also gathers the names of two contenders, the Vegetanian Count Belvedere Cabbage and the Fructeran Count Jacques Tomaté.
The House Rocks exchange some slightly tense words with the Queen and the Bishop, also conversing with Tomaté, as they discuss their different views on the Bulbian religion. The Queen boldly asserts in a conversation with Tomaté that she is the most fitting option for successor. However, the Bishop pulls her aside afterwards and warns against announcing her wish to be successor for fear of putting a target on her back.
Colin Provolone and Chieftess Katzon continue sitting together at the gathering. The Chieftess makes a deal with Provolone to protect her son, promising that if he betrays Delissandro, she will kill him. He accepts, and she drops a pile of gold coins in his lap.
Senator Ariana Gemelli, Delissandro's biological aunt, converses with Deli, both of them flirting heavily. Ariana seems to be subtly prying information from him about the political state of the clans of the Meat Lands. Deli claims the Meat Lands are still unstable, but is slowly unifying with his help. Ariana encourages him to bring the clans together so that she can visit him one day and "slam down big style."
As the party concludes, every PC except Karna recedes to their rooms and discovers that a package has been left for each of them. (Karna finds her package after seeing a shadowy figure drop it in front of her in the street and run away.) The packages contain a letter, sealed by an emblem of hands and a quill, as well as artifacts related to each character's secrets. The letters read:Colin Provolone finds the burned banner of Fontina; the flag of Lucas Fontina who staged a failed coup in the Dairy Islands decades ago. Karna finds the severed finger of her former employer, spymaster Ja'Cru Dite, wearing a stylized cornsilk silver ring with his emblem, a corn kernel. Deli finds a piece of lingerie that he recognizes to be Ariana's. Amangeaux finds a blood-stained letter requiring the repayment of debts, though the parties involved are not stated. Charlock finds a simple cloth inside of which is a bundle of violet cloves, an herb that is medicinal in small amounts and "in large amounts, can cause other biological challenges." Colin hides the banner under his bed, Karna puts on Jacque Crudites' ring, Amangeaux stuffs the letters into her bodice, Charlock burns the herbs, and Deli hides the lingerie."You are destined for great things. We wish to guide you to them. By your hand, we can change the world. After the Bulb-set light leaves the western horizon, we implore we meet at the pyramid's base. Follow the blue flame. It would be wise to attend. We know."
At the base of the pyramid, Deli, Amangeaux, and Colin are surprised to meet each other there. Karna arrives after casting Invisibility and watches as Charlock (who had also arrived Invisible) pretends to be out of breath as if he had just run from his chambers to find Amangeaux. Karna drops her Invisibility spell to use Silvery Barbs, attempting to catch Charlock in a lie. Charlock uses telepathy, warning Karna that he can't protect her if she uses magic out in the open.
Although they are all suspicious of Charlock, they believe his lie that he had not received a package and had only arrived out of concern for Amangeaux. Nervous, they decide to enter the pyramid, down a staircase to the bottom of a pit. Suddenly, the top of the pit is encircled by hooded figures in calico robes and metal masks. By their accents and general body shapes, it seems that there are members of each of the six kingdoms. Amangeaux, using her magic ring that lets her see through solid objects, manages to see that one person is the shape of a tall bottle filled with an unknown amber liquid. The figures announce themselves as the Fellowship of Destiny's Architects (FDA). They tell the PCs that they have been inducted into the Fellowship and that they would be asked to complete a task for the FDA in the coming years. If they refuse, their secrets will be outed and their lives ruined.
After this meeting, all the characters go to the dinner party. Shortly after their arrival, Tomaté makes an declaration that the throne of Vegetania is rightfully his, and that he will unite Fructera and Vegetania under one rule. The Vegetanian nobles denounce this claim, promising that a Vegetanian will take the throne. A heated argument erupts and members of nobility storm from the party. The events of this dinner soon lead to war.
Outro[]
In the wake of this ominous Eggamere Festival, as you begin to scatter in the following morning, Eggamere, concluded, to your various homes and lands, Tomaté rallies the people of Fructera behind his cause and begins seizing bordering Vegetanian lands as the months go on. Marching Fructeran armies make their way to the gates of Greenhold to claim his throne by force. You must flee and find safe spaces beyond the home that you one held. And you, returning to Fructera in the embrace of your family and your parents. In the midst of this struggle, to the north, the Ceresian Senate engages military support to aid in their alliance with the Vegetanian Lords, a move that widely upsets the Ceresian people and pushes back the Fructeran armies. In the two years that follow this Eggamere, Senator Focaccia claims dominance of Ceresia as the new Imperator. Withdrawing from the southern conflict and instead mounting the Ceresian armies to assault the Meat Lands at their border. This galvanizes the Dairy Islands to take up arms in support of their Meatlander allies, which in turn triggers a full-scale assault from Ceresian retaliation, and they invade the Dairy Islands. Candia's refusal to take the banner of war in defense of the Islands further fractures the ruling House Rocks of Candia, establishing the Candian traitor house of Jawbreaker. By the year 1190, all of Calorum is embroiled in the beginnings of a full-scale continent-wide war, one to be known in time as the Ravening War.
Timeline & Locations within Calorum[]
Timeline[]
- 22nd - 24th days of Highbloom, in the year of the Bulb 1188
- Festival of St. Eggamere
- 1188-1190
- The beginning of the Ravening War.
Vegetania[]
- Pilgrim's Road (between Greenhold & Brightgarden)
Fructera[]
- crossroads of Frucian Road & Glucian Road (between Uvano, Castle Candy, & Comida)
- Comida
- Great Pyramid of Food (under construction)
- Cornucopian Hall
Featured Characters[]
The Scrumptious Scoundrels[]
- Queen Amangeaux Epicée du Peche
- Colin Provolone
- Thane Delissandro Katzon
- Karna Solara
- Bishop Raphaniel Charlock
New[]
- Senator Ariana Gemelli
- Archbishop Camille Colliflour
- Chieftess Cleva Katzon
- Chutney
- Colton Gouda
- Senator Enzo Carbano
- Count Jacque Tomaté
- Sirley Hiag
- The Fellowship of Destiny's Architects
- unnamed brussel sprout attendant
- unnamed carrot knight
- unnamed silken cornhusk attendant
- unnamed lemon servant
- unnamed raspberry street food vendor
Returning (from A Crown of Candy)[]
- Bishop Belizabeth Brassica
- Count Belvedere Cabbage
- Princess Citrina Rocks
- Senator Focaccia
- Queen Pamelia "Pamela" Rocks
Mentioned[]
- King Arthur Cardoon (†)
- Saint Eggamere (†)
- Ja'Cru Dite (†)
- Lucas Fontina