Session 23

Heroes (lvl 6): Amani, Deet, Gunnar, Hassan, Regall, Ryel 

672 MR - Summer (month of Deismir)

The Duke has just been stabbed through the chest, and he's breathing his last breaths. The attackers are a warband of elves, led by none other than Rhuobhe Manslayer the awnshegh. The PCs fight the attackers, while trying to save the Duke. But the healing magic of both Amani and Regall is not enough to stop the fury of the Elf, who wounds the Duke repeatedly, and takes his life and his bloodline.

Yet his evil does not stop there. While his elves cover the room in darkness with magic, Rhuobhe fey steps away from the battle, and the uses a spell of dimension door to relocate to the tower where the Duke's grandson is kept. The PCs are tied up in battle with the other elves, and are unable to follow him. During the battle Nathanael falls unconscious, and Regall feels dark urges raise inside his heart. He fights against them, and keeps fighting to save his brother.

When screams can be heard from the tower, the elves begin to retreat. Unfortunately for them, the PCs keep their wits about them, and one by one they kill the elves while they're on the run. But the danger is not over yet. Nathanael's wife has been thrown out of a window of the tower, and she's hanging for dear life from a curtain. The PCs use skill and magical power to guarantee her a safe landing.

The PCs proceed to the tower, but Rhuobhe is long gone. So is Nathanael's child. A dagger pierces a scroll inside the baby's crib: "This will guarantee your loyalty to your Emperor". It seems that the Elf was acting on behalf of the Emperor of Anuire, who must have doubted the Duke's loyalty. Or is it all a cunning ruse from the Elf, to provoke a civil war? Further investigations from Amani and Deet reveal some correspondence between Nathanael's wife and Fauve Avan, one of the three Imperial Princesses, where the two women discuss the Duke's lack of loyalty to the Emperor.

While the party is discussing these matters with Nathanael, Duchess Erin Tieghan of Tuornen, Grand-mistress of the Silver Knights, makes her entrance.

LEVEL UP!