01-30-2015, 06:04 PM
Hector the Invincible is followed by the warrior of the group that is in better conditions, while the rogue and the other warrior (with heavy injuries) try sneaking from behind and take out some Palace Guard while they are focussing on Hector.
The result is quite a disaster: Hector and the character are killed, while their companions, realizing that they would probably follow their fate and that they have a mission to accomplish, retreat quietly to their room, leaving the bodies of their friends behind.
The leaves of Jheera are still green and, in the leather pouch from Hector the Invincible, is a large round locket, intricately crafted from platinum and other rare metals.
It is set with black stones, arranged in what is unmistakably the Seal of the House of Andahar. The clasp is carved in the shape of two interlocked silver dolphins. The characters try as they may, but cannot prise them apart, so they feel that it is only magical power which is keeping them together.
Stowing the locket away carefully, they settle down for the night.
Next morning, the servants are scurrying about the courtyard. They erect a kind of low stage, with a platform behind it. Soon a coffin is brought ouland laid with great care on the low stage by a number of priests. Clearly the coffin is LadyDesideria's, and her body is being brought out so that her subjects may pay their last respects.
Calogrenant, Brangaine of Maus, Gwen Rehant and Igraine the Silent all file out and take their places on the platform overlooking Ihe catafalque. Then the guards open the gates and allow the citizens to file reverently in.
When the courtyard is full of people, the characters mingle with them.
They take their place in the long line of citizens waiting to kiss (he hand of their departed ruler. In front of them, two citizens are having a whispered argument, and they cannot help but overhear. 'I'm not having you kissing tier hand!!! not after you poached her finest swans!' says the wife of the pair. 'I've heard what they say! Your guilt would turn her skin black as night!' 'Hush, woman!' her husband replies. 'Always grabbing the wrong end of the spurtle. The tale goes that if a murderer kisses its victim on the lips, they'll turn black as burnt parchment. Tve nothing to fear - she won't be missing her swans now, will she?' As they approach the body, they fall silent and how their heads in reverence. Desideria lies in full regalia, the Sword of Office gripped in her right hand, while her left rests upon a cushion so that her citizens may kiss it.
As the characters bend to kiss her hand, they lock eyes with Lutliaur, one of the heroes who remained behind to defend Vestfold. He stands just to one '¦ide of the nobles' platform, fidgeting nervously with the pommel of his sword . Strangely , he betrays no sign of recognition.
The characters hold up the Sealed Locketup above their heads for all to see. The citizens near them back away in awe.
Taking advantage of the situation, they tell how Hector the Invincible brought it back from a very perilous mission ordered by Lady Desideria, when there is a screech from the platform in front of you. 'Sacrilege! Seize the thieves!' Igraine points at the charaters, her body trembling with rage. Calogrenant is staring open-mouthed at the locket. Brangaine cries: 'It is the relic of which Desideria spoke on her death-bed - the Fate of Andahar!' Igraine cuts her short with an imperious gesture: 'Guards! Luthaur! Kill this treacherous dog.'
This time the locket snaps open very easily, and the guards shrink away from you. The nobles stare at the interior of the treasure with a mixture of bewilderment and shock. Inside is a faded picture of Hector, painted with uncanny aeeuracy. Even though the picture is old and cracked, as if painted centuries ago, it depicts him exactly as he appeared when you saw him last night. Gwen Rehant leaps to her feet and gestures for silence. The Fare of Andahar has decreed the tnith. Hector is the new King of Blackmoor!'
Everybody hails and cheers, but the characters then tell her of Hector's death. They point at Luthaur and accuse him of being a traitor. Guards surround him and he is dragged away, protesting his innocence all the while,
Taking again advantage of the momentuous situation, the characters openly challenge Lady Igraine the Silent to kiss the lips of Lady Desideria.
With consummate grace, Igraine rises to her fee! and looks around her. She walks slowlv over to the coffin and stands before il. She lowers her head towards Desideria, then stops and straightens up again. She speaks, and though her voice sounds as quiet as the breath of a breeze upon grass, that it can be heard in every part of the courtyard.
"VVhv must I bow before the orders of this lying upstart? This is intolerable, an obscenity!' She is trembling with rage, but her features remain as placid as ever.
Then a brave soul from the crowd shouts out, 'Pay your respects!' and the crowd back him up with shouts and calls. 'Quiet!' Lady Igraine silences the croivd with one word. Then she bends over Desideria once more. An instant later, she has grasped Ihe jewelled
Sword of Office from the dead fingers which held it, and swings it violently at the rogue, causing a serious injury by surprise.
It's time to fight back! As Igraine fells dead soon after, a deep rumbling noise grows louder and louder. The Terrified citizens cower away. Then there is the sound of a thunderclap which knocks everybody off their feet; a smoky black tentacle curls from Sige's mouth and forms into a gaseous parody of her earthly form . It shoots straight at the characters face and they try desperately to ward it off with their arms. Something brittle shatters against their hands, and the gaseous form disperses.
The Jheers leaves wither under their eyes, sign that it is time to leave the preparation of Vestfold's defence to Calogrenant and to go back to the black swarm once and for all. No other hero is left alive in all Blackmoor, presumably through the villany of Lady Igraine the Silent.
The result is quite a disaster: Hector and the character are killed, while their companions, realizing that they would probably follow their fate and that they have a mission to accomplish, retreat quietly to their room, leaving the bodies of their friends behind.
The leaves of Jheera are still green and, in the leather pouch from Hector the Invincible, is a large round locket, intricately crafted from platinum and other rare metals.
It is set with black stones, arranged in what is unmistakably the Seal of the House of Andahar. The clasp is carved in the shape of two interlocked silver dolphins. The characters try as they may, but cannot prise them apart, so they feel that it is only magical power which is keeping them together.
Stowing the locket away carefully, they settle down for the night.
Next morning, the servants are scurrying about the courtyard. They erect a kind of low stage, with a platform behind it. Soon a coffin is brought ouland laid with great care on the low stage by a number of priests. Clearly the coffin is LadyDesideria's, and her body is being brought out so that her subjects may pay their last respects.
Calogrenant, Brangaine of Maus, Gwen Rehant and Igraine the Silent all file out and take their places on the platform overlooking Ihe catafalque. Then the guards open the gates and allow the citizens to file reverently in.
When the courtyard is full of people, the characters mingle with them.
They take their place in the long line of citizens waiting to kiss (he hand of their departed ruler. In front of them, two citizens are having a whispered argument, and they cannot help but overhear. 'I'm not having you kissing tier hand!!! not after you poached her finest swans!' says the wife of the pair. 'I've heard what they say! Your guilt would turn her skin black as night!' 'Hush, woman!' her husband replies. 'Always grabbing the wrong end of the spurtle. The tale goes that if a murderer kisses its victim on the lips, they'll turn black as burnt parchment. Tve nothing to fear - she won't be missing her swans now, will she?' As they approach the body, they fall silent and how their heads in reverence. Desideria lies in full regalia, the Sword of Office gripped in her right hand, while her left rests upon a cushion so that her citizens may kiss it.
As the characters bend to kiss her hand, they lock eyes with Lutliaur, one of the heroes who remained behind to defend Vestfold. He stands just to one '¦ide of the nobles' platform, fidgeting nervously with the pommel of his sword . Strangely , he betrays no sign of recognition.
The characters hold up the Sealed Locketup above their heads for all to see. The citizens near them back away in awe.
Taking advantage of the situation, they tell how Hector the Invincible brought it back from a very perilous mission ordered by Lady Desideria, when there is a screech from the platform in front of you. 'Sacrilege! Seize the thieves!' Igraine points at the charaters, her body trembling with rage. Calogrenant is staring open-mouthed at the locket. Brangaine cries: 'It is the relic of which Desideria spoke on her death-bed - the Fate of Andahar!' Igraine cuts her short with an imperious gesture: 'Guards! Luthaur! Kill this treacherous dog.'
This time the locket snaps open very easily, and the guards shrink away from you. The nobles stare at the interior of the treasure with a mixture of bewilderment and shock. Inside is a faded picture of Hector, painted with uncanny aeeuracy. Even though the picture is old and cracked, as if painted centuries ago, it depicts him exactly as he appeared when you saw him last night. Gwen Rehant leaps to her feet and gestures for silence. The Fare of Andahar has decreed the tnith. Hector is the new King of Blackmoor!'
Everybody hails and cheers, but the characters then tell her of Hector's death. They point at Luthaur and accuse him of being a traitor. Guards surround him and he is dragged away, protesting his innocence all the while,
Taking again advantage of the momentuous situation, the characters openly challenge Lady Igraine the Silent to kiss the lips of Lady Desideria.
With consummate grace, Igraine rises to her fee! and looks around her. She walks slowlv over to the coffin and stands before il. She lowers her head towards Desideria, then stops and straightens up again. She speaks, and though her voice sounds as quiet as the breath of a breeze upon grass, that it can be heard in every part of the courtyard.
"VVhv must I bow before the orders of this lying upstart? This is intolerable, an obscenity!' She is trembling with rage, but her features remain as placid as ever.
Then a brave soul from the crowd shouts out, 'Pay your respects!' and the crowd back him up with shouts and calls. 'Quiet!' Lady Igraine silences the croivd with one word. Then she bends over Desideria once more. An instant later, she has grasped Ihe jewelled
Sword of Office from the dead fingers which held it, and swings it violently at the rogue, causing a serious injury by surprise.
It's time to fight back! As Igraine fells dead soon after, a deep rumbling noise grows louder and louder. The Terrified citizens cower away. Then there is the sound of a thunderclap which knocks everybody off their feet; a smoky black tentacle curls from Sige's mouth and forms into a gaseous parody of her earthly form . It shoots straight at the characters face and they try desperately to ward it off with their arms. Something brittle shatters against their hands, and the gaseous form disperses.
The Jheers leaves wither under their eyes, sign that it is time to leave the preparation of Vestfold's defence to Calogrenant and to go back to the black swarm once and for all. No other hero is left alive in all Blackmoor, presumably through the villany of Lady Igraine the Silent.
He's a real Nowhere man, sitting in his Nowhere land,
making all his Nowhere plans for Nobody.
making all his Nowhere plans for Nobody.