[
  {
    "id": 704,
    "name": "15. Forced Hand",
    "level": 80,
    "story": 141,
    "goals": [
      {
        "active": "Convince General Nephus to join Peitha's cause.",
        "complete": "I met Ramses on the outskirts of Nyedra. We made our way past Kryptis dwellings and temples and engaged loyalist guards in the streets. Eventually we met up with Peitha and followed her toward the general's last known location, whispers of the people of Nyedra trailing us.\n\nDeeper in town, more guards confronted us—but these soldiers were loyal to Nephus. Just as it seemed a battle would ensue, our elusive target emerged from the shadows.\n\nWhile Nephus's guards worried for his safety, the general himself exuded calm authority. He posited that it was Peitha who was in danger, not himself. But Peitha refused to leave without the general hearing her proposal. Rather than finding a safe, quiet place to talk, General Nephus ordered Peitha to speak right there in the Nyedra streets, in front of a full Kryptis audience.\n\nPeitha used the audience to her advantage. Her speech gained momentum as she addressed the crowd directly. She might well have convinced the people of Nyedra to join her then and there, but one of Nephus's guards cried out an alarm: Queen Labris and her royal guard had arrived. Tension was high. Peitha urged the onlookers to join with them and fight, but General Nephus, in an attempt to remain neutral and protect his people from slaughter, ordered them not to take up arms against the queen's forces.\n\nLeft with no choice but to defend ourselves, Peitha, Ramses, and I held off Queen Labris's initial attack, battling the royal guard to a stalemate. Labris called for her forces to stand down and proposed a parley with General Nephus, which he accepted.\n\nThe Kryptis queen, stately yet menacing, made her proposal: in exchange for turning Peitha, Ramses, and me over into her custody, Nephus and his people would be granted clemency and left in peace in Nyedra with her blessing and that of King Eparch.\n\nNephus seemed initially receptive to the proposal. But slowly, we watched as his anger toward his queen built. He swore fealty to Peitha and renounced Labris and Eparch. With this one swift decision, war was truly declared, and Nayos was thrown into chaos.\n\nQueen Labris ordered the royal guard forward, sparking an all-out Kryptis-on-Kryptis clash. The people of Nyedra rallied to General Nephus, and with our combined forces we beat back the opposing force and eventually destroyed Labris's royal guard entourage. Labris then retreated under the protection of her elite Queen's Circle.\n\nPeitha thanked General Nephus. He answered in tightly controlled fury that his hand had been forced. He challenged Peitha to make up for the violence and misery that her brother and uncle had inflicted upon the Kryptis. \"You owe our people. Your family owes us,\" he said as he walked away. \"Bring us something other than death.\"\n\nUnfortunately, that request would have to wait; both he and Peitha knew that Labris had to be dealt with. More bloodshed was on the horizon. But I am prepared for the coming battle against the queen."
      }
    ]
  }
]