Audience with the Queen • Odyssey of the Dragonlords

If the heroes seek an audience with the queen, the response she gives depends on whether the city of Aresia is still protected by the Palladium (appendix C).

If Aresia remains protected, then Queen Helen will send a siren to parley with the heroes. However, if the heroes have successfully stolen the Palladium, then she will meet them in person.

The Siren Messenger#

Queen Helen sends a Siren Messenger (appendix B), Inarea, to negotiate with the heroes. She arrives under a white flag, wings folded in deference. The queen believes the Palladium still shields Aresia from any true threat, and so the demands she delivers are deliberately excessive. To begin peace, Mytros must lift the siege immediately and withdraw its armies. They must pay reparations of 5,000 GP per month for ten years, and publicly acknowledge Aresia’s sovereignty over the peninsula. All Aresian prisoners must be released and their captains return home unpunished. The Dragonlords must personally vow never to set foot in Aresia again without royal permission.

No one in the Mytrosian ranks will accept these terms, and most commanders will laugh at the messenger. Yet Inarea promises that if the heroes accept, they will be granted safe passage into the city and an audience with Narsus.

Meeting the Queen#

Queen Helen (appendix A) agrees to meet with the heroes in person if the city no longer has possession of the Palladium. Read the following:

You gather at the massive western gate of the city, waiting for your audience with Queen Helen of Aresia. A small iron grate built into the massive wooden door eventually swings open—it forms a passageway just large enough for you to enter single file. Beyond the gate, you are met by the queen, who is flanked on either side by three royal guards in splendid red capes. An additional phalanx of fifty soldiers stands a hundred yards away, watching the proceedings. Queen Helen is shorter than you expected, small and delicate. But her bearing is one of confidence and her voice is authoritative as she addresses you. “Thank you for agreeing to this parley. While I cannot allow Narsus to go free at this time, I will grant you leave to speak with him in person … Perhaps, once you understand the truth of his confinement, this siege can end.

Queen Helen is not as unshaken as she appears. Without the Palladium, she knows Aresia cannot withstand Mytros, its allies, and the Dragonlords combined. The heroes may demand additional concessions beyond her initial offer.

Concessions the Heroes might push for:

5,000 GP per month in reparations for ten years.

A permanent Mytrosian garrison stationed within

the city. Unrestricted access to Narsus at all times.

The surrender of Aresian war leaders responsible for

past raids. Shared control of the Thrake River gate and its tariffs.

Formal recognition of Dragonlord authority over

future conflicts. She must marry a Mytrosian noble or one of the Heroes of Prophecy.

Such demands will sting Helen, but she understands the reality: defeat has a price, and Aresia must pay it.

Refer to the section Narsus at the end of the chapter once the heroes have been given access.