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lathanySunday saw a change of pace for my Athory campaign.
Firstly,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chrestomancy's new character Finch was added to the party - as a non-magical bodyguard for Lord Roland (ao_lai). Introductions were made and the party trooped (or, in Lady Bryanna's case, swept) into dinner. There they were greeted by the remainder of Chir Shrine's nobility; the attractive Lord Curtis, the elderly Lord Merrigan and the heavily-pregnant Lady Immestra. Additionally Her Grace, Duchess Louise, and the injured Lord Ordacory were there. The first course involved quiet chit-chat and then the first of the messengers arrived.
He had come from High Island, having been sent by the Duchess Dimity and he had some extremely bad news; the Dry Duchy was about to be attacked by three other Duchies - Oak, Masked and South. Bryanna's (quisalan's) magic confirmed that, for the city of Gythfort at least, this was the truth. Louise and Ordacory left the table to send out for intelligence reports. Bryanna, Taronus (chrisvenus), Roland and Danaeus (bateleur) went upstairs to discuss what they should do about it, taking Finch as a guard. Heleth (venta) stayed in the dining room and consequently became the first to hear the other reports. There were many other reports.
The first reports came from the empathy mages; Loritath (in the North) was under attack from a number of magically-altered animals as part of Duke Valentin's army (from the Duchy of Oak), Orbassa Spires (in the East) was being attacked by two armies - one from the Masked Duchy (under orders from the Duchess Catrina) whilst the other was unknown, Gythfort, meanwhile, was fighting the army of Duchess Sarabella (from the Duchy of the South).
Taronus, having made his views on the party's predicament clear, decided to leave the others to their decision-making and go into the city to find the inn Irika's House where his grandfather Emeril was staying. He arrived and there was a joyous meeting on both sides. However, before much news could be exchanged a huge magical effect echoed over Athory and Taronus realised that it had triggered a second heart attack for Leonides.
Taronus rushed back towards the palace, but realised he would arrive too late. Instead he stopped and tried to save the arch-mage using the link that had been established between them on their arrival in Chir Shrine. His attempt went disasterously wrong and Taronus received the full effect of the mis-directed teleport spell that Leonides had cast only a day earlier.
Emeril travelled to the palace and informed the Lathany party of his grandson's disappearance. A healer had been called in Taronus' absence and she had been puzzled and relieved by the arch-mage's unexpected recovery from this second attack. However the party were concerned and scared by Taronus' sudden disappearance.
About an hour after Leonides' attack, a second wave of magic could be felt, and this one had some very physical effects. The empathy mages of Sarabella's army were destroying Gythfort through the use of earthquakes and other banned magic. Heleth's immediate reaction was to take the weakened Leonides away from the Palace and to a safer area in the ruins of the outer city before anything similar befell the capital.
Louise summoned Bryanna to her presence to confirm that war had now, formally, been declared by all three Duchies. Additionally, one startling piece of news was added - the mages had lost touch with their contacts in Carnival. As the night dragged on, this resulted in the withdrawal of the Masked army from Orbassa Spires allowing the other force - the Rogue Stones under the command of Lawrence of the Gate - to take the city. Meanwhile the animal army from Oak had captured Loritath and the South army had levelled Gythfort. Additionally, another messenger was shown in - this time from Duchess Melody of Eye and Shore. Lirrisorn were sinking the Eye and Melody had sent for help. If this was not enough, a hour later a representative of the Rogue Stones arrived and asked the Duchess to surrender her lands to the King - an heir to to long-abandoned throne.
As the PCs decided, finally, to get some sleep another crisis occurred. An assassin was sent in to remove Louise by what Athorians might refer to as "traditional methods". Fortunately the attempt failed and the intervention of Finch resulted in the death of the would-be killer.
For a couple of hours there was, relative, peace. Then, as the sun rose, Leonides awoke. He realised within a few minutes what had happened. He knew that he was being supported by Taronus' life, having already lost his own. He asked Heleth to bring the others to his bedside so he could talk to them before he died.
A small group stood be his bedside as he told them of Taronus' sacrifice. He believed that Taronus was in The Living Dock (the Duchy of Oak), unconscious. He asked them for any final words or questions before he left the world. Danaeus asked him to name a successor for his island - he bequeathed it to Heleth. Roland asked him for some final advice, but the arch-mage refused to provide any more orders. He could not bring himself to make a request which he knew would outlast his own life. He did, however, suggest that the group continued to use his name and to hide his death so that it would seem that they were still under his protection.
And then he died. In Chir Shrine, the former seat of the Empire, the city where each Baron had once been granted their Barony by the Emperor. He was buried and his grave was hidden. But not forgotten.
Bryanna and Roland came to a decision, they would urge Louise to seek help from her neighbours and then would leave for The Living Dock. Once they had rescued Taronus they would make further plans about their group's future. Louise had already sent messengers; so the party left Chir Shrine, hoping against hope that Louise would survive the approaching war.
Danaeus suggested a plan to improve Louise's chances - he ensured that the Oak army was informed that the Rogue Stones were also planning to march upon Chir Shrine. He hoped that the clashing of the armies, along with the efforts of the Blades, might keep the capital safe for a while longer.
Meanwhile, Taronus awoke in a little house on the main road through The Living Dock. He had been brought in from the road by Garred who knew that the magically-altered animals who patrolled through the night would find and kill him. Garred had brought him home and turned him over to the care of his sister Iona.
Taronus spent several days recovering, learning more about his hosts. Garred was one of the Rogue Stones; part of the original, first, faction which did not follow Laurence. Garred also gave him some curious information - Lawrence's orders whilst often, and understandably, aimed at Carnival sometimes appeared to be conflicting. As though the former Duke was in two different frames of mind.
The attractive Iona appeared to be of interest to a different faction, the ruling Lord Sulthew. However, to Taronus' horror, the Lord's interest was not limited by, it seemed, anything. He sent guards to bring her to him. She returned, hours later, bruised, limping and bleeding.
As his friends travelled North to rescue him, Taronus was starting to develop a strong interest in the future of Athory both in general, and in particular...
It's good to havechrestomancy back. With or without Kalen/Istan.
Firstly,
chrestomancy's new character Finch was added to the party - as a non-magical bodyguard for Lord Roland (ao_lai). Introductions were made and the party trooped (or, in Lady Bryanna's case, swept) into dinner. There they were greeted by the remainder of Chir Shrine's nobility; the attractive Lord Curtis, the elderly Lord Merrigan and the heavily-pregnant Lady Immestra. Additionally Her Grace, Duchess Louise, and the injured Lord Ordacory were there. The first course involved quiet chit-chat and then the first of the messengers arrived.He had come from High Island, having been sent by the Duchess Dimity and he had some extremely bad news; the Dry Duchy was about to be attacked by three other Duchies - Oak, Masked and South. Bryanna's (
quisalan's) magic confirmed that, for the city of Gythfort at least, this was the truth. Louise and Ordacory left the table to send out for intelligence reports. Bryanna, Taronus (chrisvenus), Roland and Danaeus (bateleur) went upstairs to discuss what they should do about it, taking Finch as a guard. Heleth (venta) stayed in the dining room and consequently became the first to hear the other reports. There were many other reports.The first reports came from the empathy mages; Loritath (in the North) was under attack from a number of magically-altered animals as part of Duke Valentin's army (from the Duchy of Oak), Orbassa Spires (in the East) was being attacked by two armies - one from the Masked Duchy (under orders from the Duchess Catrina) whilst the other was unknown, Gythfort, meanwhile, was fighting the army of Duchess Sarabella (from the Duchy of the South).
Taronus, having made his views on the party's predicament clear, decided to leave the others to their decision-making and go into the city to find the inn Irika's House where his grandfather Emeril was staying. He arrived and there was a joyous meeting on both sides. However, before much news could be exchanged a huge magical effect echoed over Athory and Taronus realised that it had triggered a second heart attack for Leonides.
Taronus rushed back towards the palace, but realised he would arrive too late. Instead he stopped and tried to save the arch-mage using the link that had been established between them on their arrival in Chir Shrine. His attempt went disasterously wrong and Taronus received the full effect of the mis-directed teleport spell that Leonides had cast only a day earlier.
Emeril travelled to the palace and informed the Lathany party of his grandson's disappearance. A healer had been called in Taronus' absence and she had been puzzled and relieved by the arch-mage's unexpected recovery from this second attack. However the party were concerned and scared by Taronus' sudden disappearance.
About an hour after Leonides' attack, a second wave of magic could be felt, and this one had some very physical effects. The empathy mages of Sarabella's army were destroying Gythfort through the use of earthquakes and other banned magic. Heleth's immediate reaction was to take the weakened Leonides away from the Palace and to a safer area in the ruins of the outer city before anything similar befell the capital.
Louise summoned Bryanna to her presence to confirm that war had now, formally, been declared by all three Duchies. Additionally, one startling piece of news was added - the mages had lost touch with their contacts in Carnival. As the night dragged on, this resulted in the withdrawal of the Masked army from Orbassa Spires allowing the other force - the Rogue Stones under the command of Lawrence of the Gate - to take the city. Meanwhile the animal army from Oak had captured Loritath and the South army had levelled Gythfort. Additionally, another messenger was shown in - this time from Duchess Melody of Eye and Shore. Lirrisorn were sinking the Eye and Melody had sent for help. If this was not enough, a hour later a representative of the Rogue Stones arrived and asked the Duchess to surrender her lands to the King - an heir to to long-abandoned throne.
As the PCs decided, finally, to get some sleep another crisis occurred. An assassin was sent in to remove Louise by what Athorians might refer to as "traditional methods". Fortunately the attempt failed and the intervention of Finch resulted in the death of the would-be killer.
For a couple of hours there was, relative, peace. Then, as the sun rose, Leonides awoke. He realised within a few minutes what had happened. He knew that he was being supported by Taronus' life, having already lost his own. He asked Heleth to bring the others to his bedside so he could talk to them before he died.
A small group stood be his bedside as he told them of Taronus' sacrifice. He believed that Taronus was in The Living Dock (the Duchy of Oak), unconscious. He asked them for any final words or questions before he left the world. Danaeus asked him to name a successor for his island - he bequeathed it to Heleth. Roland asked him for some final advice, but the arch-mage refused to provide any more orders. He could not bring himself to make a request which he knew would outlast his own life. He did, however, suggest that the group continued to use his name and to hide his death so that it would seem that they were still under his protection.
And then he died. In Chir Shrine, the former seat of the Empire, the city where each Baron had once been granted their Barony by the Emperor. He was buried and his grave was hidden. But not forgotten.
Bryanna and Roland came to a decision, they would urge Louise to seek help from her neighbours and then would leave for The Living Dock. Once they had rescued Taronus they would make further plans about their group's future. Louise had already sent messengers; so the party left Chir Shrine, hoping against hope that Louise would survive the approaching war.
Danaeus suggested a plan to improve Louise's chances - he ensured that the Oak army was informed that the Rogue Stones were also planning to march upon Chir Shrine. He hoped that the clashing of the armies, along with the efforts of the Blades, might keep the capital safe for a while longer.
Meanwhile, Taronus awoke in a little house on the main road through The Living Dock. He had been brought in from the road by Garred who knew that the magically-altered animals who patrolled through the night would find and kill him. Garred had brought him home and turned him over to the care of his sister Iona.
Taronus spent several days recovering, learning more about his hosts. Garred was one of the Rogue Stones; part of the original, first, faction which did not follow Laurence. Garred also gave him some curious information - Lawrence's orders whilst often, and understandably, aimed at Carnival sometimes appeared to be conflicting. As though the former Duke was in two different frames of mind.
The attractive Iona appeared to be of interest to a different faction, the ruling Lord Sulthew. However, to Taronus' horror, the Lord's interest was not limited by, it seemed, anything. He sent guards to bring her to him. She returned, hours later, bruised, limping and bleeding.
As his friends travelled North to rescue him, Taronus was starting to develop a strong interest in the future of Athory both in general, and in particular...
It's good to have
chrestomancy back. With or without Kalen/Istan.
