>>1320915
>>[Dilettante/Autosuccess] Show off to the crowd a bit.

>>1320915
>[Dilettante/Autosuccess] Show off to the crowd a bit.
loudly give the babies a tour

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>>1320915
It's a good thing you're wearing your crimson coat with gold trimmings; it makes you look more impressive as you gingerly take your son from Reagan's arms and stand up to show him off to the crowd's acclaim. Rhein looks back at the crowd for all of ten seconds before he decides grabbing onto your tassels is a better use of his time. The people love it though and that's what really matters right now.

The city guard open up a path for your procession as you get closer to the palace. There are no commoners in this area, but there are some nobles, including your family. As soon as the carriage stops and you step down, there's a high-pitched squeal and your mother swoops down on you. The next thing you notice, your arms are empty.

"Oh, he is so adorable!" Your mother holds Rhein up and tickles his belly with her nose. "I'm going to teach you to lie and seduce women and have people assassinated when they get in your way so you can turn out just like your father!"

"I'm so glad someone else around here has their priorities straight," Reagan says as she disembarks. She holds her arms up and Olwen passes Aislin down to her.

>"It's important to get an early start on these things."
>"I believe that can wait a few years, mother."
>"Here, have a look at your granddaughter."

>>1320996
>>>"Here, have a look at your granddaughter."

>>1320996
>>"Here, have a look at your granddaughter."

Man if our mom wasn;t mom she'd be twisted as hell.

>>1320996
>"Here, have a look at your granddaughter."

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>>1320996
"Here." You pass Aislin to your mother, who has no problem juggling two swaddled babies. "Have a look at your granddaughter."

"Right, I'll need to find a kingdom for her," your mother says. "Maybe something over on the home continent?"

Reagan frowns; no doubt she'd rather take over the marriage arrangements herself. Being who they are, you're certain they'll come to some sort of agreement.

A loud laugh draws your attention to your father, who roughly slaps you on the back.

"Meirion! Welcome back! To think you would start a family so soon! Haul, you can't fall behind your brother!"

"Yes, it's nice that Meirion is finally become a responsible man," your sister Nesta says. "You were quite frivolous in the past, little brother. I'm proud of you for straightening yourself out like this!"

You suppress your twitching eye through sheer, overwhelming force of will.

"I'm proud of you as well, little brother," Prince Haul says. "Mair is still nervous about starting a family, so we've decided to wait a few more years."

… then what the fuck was even the point of them getting married so soon?

>[Sovereign/1d12] Try to convince your brother to get on with procreation.
>Leave it be for now.

>>1321107
>>[Sovereign/1d12] Try to convince your brother to get on with procreation.

Rolled 5 (1d12)

>>1321107
>[Sovereign/1d12] Try to convince your brother to get on with procreation.

Play it off as having his kids and ours grow up close in age so they can be freinds instead of the usual royal kerfuffle.

Rolled 12 (1d12)

>>1321107
>[Sovereign/1d12] Try to convince your brother to get on with procreation.

Something something line of succession.

Rolled 6 (1d12)

>>1321107
>>[Sovereign/1d12] Try to convince your brother to get on with procreation.

>>1321107
seconding >>1321128

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>>1321107
It's time to bullshit your brother into doing something he doesn't want to do for the greater good of the kingdom. It's been a while, but you're pretty sure you can pull this off. Just need to get back in the zone.

"You should be more excited about this, brother!" You smile and clasped Haul's shoulder. "I don't want my children to grow up without cousins to play with." The fact that you have more children waiting home back in Degfford comes unmentioned. "Why don't you talk to your wife about it again? You're going to need to have children eventually anyway, so you might as well do it while you're still young and energetic. Once you've inherited the throne, you might not have time anymore."

Prince Haul considers your words.

>Roll 1d12, best of three.

Rolled 8 (1d12)

>>1321183

>>1321183
dice+1d12

Rolled 10 (1d12)

>>1321194
>>1321183
derp

Rolled 2 (1d12)

>>1321183

Rolled 3 (1d12)

>>1321183

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>>1321183
"I suppose I could speak with Mair again." Prince Haul sighs heavily and relents. "It would be nice to have a family of our own, after all."

"That's the spirit!" King Gerad laughs heartily and slaps your brother's back this time. "It's every man's duty to get married and have lots of kids to brag to! Your mother wanted to stop at two, but I convinced her to have a third! Otherwise, Meirion wouldn't have been born! Hahahaha!"

"And it was the best decision I ever made." Queen Margrete pokes Rhein's nose. He giggles and grabs at her finger. "Isn't that right, Rhein?"

The Queen reluctantly passes the babies back to Reagan and Olwen so you can head into the palace proper.

"I believe your letter mentioned that you had two other daughters," your mother whispers to you once she's certain your father and siblings are thoroughly engrossed in Olwen's new war stories.

"They'll be fine in Degfford, mother," you say. "I didn't want to ask Seren and Esyllt to travel and I needed someone to look after things there anyway. I'm expecting some conflicts in Olstren next year."

"Fine, fine," your mother grumbles. "But I want you to bring them the next time you visit. Or perhaps I'll go to Degfford again."

"You're welcome any time you want."

"I know," your mother says. "So, why did you come back?"

>"I thought Haul could use some support."
>"I'm here to kill my uncle."
>"There are a few reasons…"

>>1321281
>>"There are a few reasons…"
Big two are dealing with the snake at my back and getting my brother into shape.

>>1321281
>>"There are a few reasons…"

>>1321281
>"I'm here to kill my uncle."

>>1321281
>>"There are a few reasons…"

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>>1321281
"There are a few reasons," you say quietly. "I thought the Crown Prince could use a little guidance, and I wanted to be there for Uncle Aled for his last winter."

"That's very kind of you, dear," your mother says. "Just don't screw this up. It'll make a mess if you try to kill your uncle and fail."

"I know, mother," you say. "I won't act unless success is assured."

Your parents and siblings have to return to their work, which gives you time to get reacquainted with your old chambers. Your own room now has cribs for the babies - Reagan puts them to bed almost immediately - so you'll have to carry your "indulgences" out elsewhere. Fortunately, Olwen still has her room as well and she's offered to share with Olwen. Myrddin and Nimue will be staying together as well.

As soon as everyone's finished unpacking, you ask a servant to bring food and tea to your room so you can have a working lunch. It's nice to have luxurious palace cuisine after so long.

"What do you want to go over first?" Myrddin asks. "The information I gathered on your cousins, or the parties we could attend while we're here?"

>Information first.
>Parties first.

>>1321390
>>Parties first.

>>1321390
>>Information first.

>>1321390
>Information first.

>>1321390
>>Information first.

>Fortunately, Olwen still has her room as well and she's offered to share with Olwen.

>>1321390
>Parties first.

>>1321419
Damn it. That was supposed to be Eleri.

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>>1321390
"Let's start with the information."

Myrddin takes out a thick pile of paper and lets it fall on the table with a dull thud. Reagan glares at him and casts a glance over her shoulder to check the babies are still sleeping.

The first name on the list is Celdwyn, now the eldest after his brother's demise at your hands. He provides loans to criminals, desperate people, and others who simply can't afford a more reputable creditor. It's not technically illegal, but it's a predatory business and it can quickly turn into blackmail, racketeering, extortion, beatings or outright murder depending on the size of the loan and the parties involved. It's actually the blackmail that has Myrddin most concerned. It's difficult to rely someone when they can be threatened into betraying you at any moment.

Next is your cousin Talfryn. He's a skilled duellist and tends to answer any slight against Prince Aled's reputation with his blade. His presence helps your uncle maintain the appearance of honour when his crimes are exposed. In truth, duels of honour usually aren't taken too seriously - truly egregious crimes can't be pardoned by the sword, and you have rigged duels in the past in order to secure the Crown's justice - but they're still cause for gossip. Talfryn has also become more involved with your uncle's military forces now that Prince Siarl is no longer around.

Your cousin Llinos focuses on your uncle's businesses. Most of her work is perfectly legitimate, but she's also in charge of the smuggling operation and certain alchemical solutions that aren't supposed to be available in Gwyrddarfordir because they're too dangerous, too addictive, or because some of the critical ingredients are rare and need to be preserved for more practical alchemical solutions, such as healing potions and salves.

The last person on the list is Rhys. He's several years younger than you and while he's considered relatively competent for his age, he hasn't been involved in your uncle's more… delicate affairs yet. It wouldn't do for a smuggling operation to fall apart because the handler was simply too inexperienced to deal with an unforeseen problem, after all. At the moment, he's looking after Duwcan on Prince Aled's behalf.

One of your cousins likely hold the key to dragging your uncle down into the mud.

>(1/2)

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>>1321506
"Llinos seems like the obvious choice," Olwen says. "Smuggling and illegal alchemy are serious crimes. Your uncle's reputation wouldn't survive a conviction."

"They're also difficult to prove," Myrddin says. "Most of the evidence I have is hearsay or circumstantial. We need more if we want to prove anything, but Llinos isolates herself from any outright criminal activities very well."

"If we want to undermine Prince Aled's reputation, we should target Prince Talfryn," Eleri says. "Without anyone to defend his honour, it'll be easier to spread rumours about him."

"That won't be enough to kill a prince," Reagan says. "However, if we get to Celdwyn first, we can use the information he has to uncover Prince Aled's associate. We could even subvert some of them."

>Target Celdwyn first.
>Target Talfryn first.
>Target Llinos first.

>>1321513
>>Target Celdwyn first.

>>1321513
>Target Celdwyn first.

>>1321513
>>Target Celdwyn first.
Maybe we can blow up his carriage or something and pin it on one of his siblings?

>>1321513
>>Target Celdwyn first.

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>>1321513
"I'd like to start with Celdwyn," you say. "Hopefully, he'll give us everything we need, but if not, we'll move on to the next one. Either way, he's bound to give us something useful."

"If you want to start with Celdwyn…" Myrddin pauses to think for a moment. "We should start by investigating his clients."

"That sounds like a good start," Eleri says. "Most of them should be looking to get out from under his thumb, right?"

"Not as many as you'd think," Myrddin says. "Celdwyn has many regular clients who've been taking loans from him for years and who are quite pleased with the way he does business. So long as they make their payments on time, there are no problems for anyone involved. It's quite convenient for criminals."

"No doubt there are some who do want to break their loans, however," Reagan says. "Would it be possible to identify their future clients?"

"It's slightly more difficult, but not impossible," Myrddin says. "As much as I hate to admit it, my resources are limited, even with the people I was able to bring into the city. My apologies."

The regular clients can't be turned against Celdwyn, but they're more likely to have information. The dissatisfied clients, on the other hand, will be more willing to turn on Celdwyn, but they won't be able to tell you much. Finally, if you can learn how Celdwyn finds new clients, you might be able to use one of Myrddin's people to infiltrate his scheme.

>[Intrigue/1d10] Investigate the regular clients.
>[Intrigue/1d10] Investigate the dissatisfied clients.
>[Intrigue/1d8] Investigate the new clients.

>>1321606
>>[Intrigue/1d8] Investigate the new clients.

>>1321606
>>[Intrigue/1d8] Investigate the new clients.

>>1321606
>>[Intrigue/1d8] Investigate the new clients.

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>>1321606
"Investigate the new clients," you say. "Find out how Celdwyn picks them, if there's anyone he's negotiating with at the moment, that sort of thing. That'll give us the opening we need to slip someone into his operation."

>Roll 1d8, best of three.

Rolled 6 (1d8)

>>1321681

Rolled 1 (1d8)

>>1321681

Rolled 2 (1d8)

>>1321681

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>>1321681
"Yes, your highness," Myrddin says. "I'll send the order out before going to bed."

Myrddin picks up his documents and leaves.

Olwen immediately leans over the table to kiss Eleri. She cracks one eye open to glance at you and smirk.

"Eleri and I will be going back to my chambers," she says. " Would you care to join us?"

"If you're trying to get me flustered, we're long past that point," you say.

"I'm actually teasing her highness," Olwen says. "Since I can't enjoy motherhood yet, I might as well enjoy a total lack of responsibility instead."

"You can join them, if you like." Reagan looks at you and smiles. "I'm, ah, not quite back up to physical form yet anyway, and it's not like your dalliances ever bothered me in the past. I can look after the children."

>Go with Eleri and Olwen.
>Stay with Reagan.

>>1321757
>Go with Eleri and Olwen.

>>1321757
>>Go with Eleri and Olwen.

>>1321757
>>Go with Eleri and Olwen.

>>1321757
>Go with Eleri and Olwen.

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>>1321757
You weren't able to spend any time alone together while you were on the road, so you might as well make up for it now before things get busy again.

"Alright then." You stand up and kiss Reagan. "Just call the servants if you need me for something."

"Have fun, dear."

Olwen and Eleri snuggle up to your left and right respectively and you put one arm around each. As soon as you enter Olwen's room, they jump onto the bed and start taking their clothes off. You lock the door and toss your jacket away before joining them.

Rolled 6, 2, 3 = 11 (3d6)

>>1321845
Time for the bonus XP.

Rolled 3, 4, 5 = 12 (3d8)

>>1321850

Rolled 9 (1d10)

>>1321859
And that's it.

As always, Beleaguered Prince Quest will return on Friday April 7th at 7PM EDT. You can follow me on Twitter @beleagueredqm for updates.

Goodnight and thanks for playing.

>>1321864
Thanks, QM!

>>1321864
Thanks for running!