After leaving the presence of Yanlong of Shu, Apollo was instructed to find Lunsford of Saklan, also of the Order of the Sword and Rose, who had a three day head start from Peakshadow. Apollo raced after the Champion and received the command to, "Find someone who is naked and clothe them with nobility."
Apollo immediately pondered returning to the embroiderer for a new set of noble clothing, but thinking better of it, again enlisted the help of his comrades in arms. One told him of a chance encounter with the Scarlett Hood who preyed on merchants as they crossed through the mountain pass of south of the Dwarven Kingdom of Oromir. The Scarlett Hood had demanded a tax of all travelers for two generations, or more and there was little that the authorities could do to stop him. The Hood was said to be part goat and able to hide in the mountains with an entire company of men, quite safe from mounted patrols. Plus, it was said that the Scarlett Hood commanded spirits of the mountains to defend him, give him passage and obscure his routes. During this chance encounter, the comrade told Apollo that he became convinced that the Scarlett Hood was a man of some character and nobility, despite his current occupation.
Using a pair of griffons obtained previously, Mai and Apollo immediately set out to find the Scarlett Hood, and once able to do so entered boldly into his camp and offered their services. Immediately they were surrounded and after a great deal of verbal sparring, they managed an interview with the Hood himself. He allotted that he was of noble blood, or so he had been told. A family prophesy promised that all of Collonia on the West side of the Mountains would be his, if he held the magical sword of his fathers. This sword was lost five centuries previous and two lifetimes of searching had not revealed it to any of his kin. Like his father before him, he chalked it up to family legend and made a name for himself opposing the strategems of the High King in Peakshadow and the Congregation of Nobles in Collonia.
He also congratulated the two adventurers on their strategy to discover his encampment but said that greater pains would be taken in the future to insure that he was not found from the air. If by some long shot they discovered the sword, they could leave it with father Aljero in Haven or a nobleman named Kadmus in Peakshadow. With that the encampment folded up and the two adventurers were bid to leave.
Apollo and Mai then flew to Wanderhalt, capital city of Collonia. Once there, they infiltrated the library and spent days of research on Collonian politics. The throne, they discovered, was empty and had been since a decisive battle centuries ago. A noble council had ruled in the king's stead and they were most often bought off by the High King in Peakshadow who considered Collonia a puppet state instead of a proper vassal. Upon learning all they could, the returned to the city of the High King and infiltrated that library, as well. In Peakshadow they discovered still more regarding Collonian politics and that certain records in Wanderhalt had been faked. Armed with their last best guess as to where the last King of Collonia had been slain, and perhaps the location of his sword, the two regrouped with the rest of the party and proposed their next adventure.
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