Betrayal - Prologue

Three men play cards, buy supplies, and listen to gossip while putting the finishing touches on the plan they've been working on for the past month and begin to execute it.

Plot points/Scenes

Raizel plays cards at The Limping Griffin Tavern with his friend Xanti, though the two men feign not knowing the other. He purposefully folds good hands and plays bad ones, winning and losing almost evenly to draw the game out. There are five other men at the table, three of whom are city guards and one who is a palace guard. Both Raizel and Xanti buy drinks for the table when they are winning so the other five men are quite buzzed but not drunk. Raizel and his friend, however, are stone cold sober but act like they are tipsy. As they play, the two subtly probe the men for information about the city. Most of what they learn is confirmation of information they've gathered over the past month but the masters at the Temple of the Moon have all but branded the need to make absolutely sure of information before making a move.
Eventually, Raizel sees their other friend Aurelius enter the tavern. Aurelius, also pretending he doesn't know Raizel and Xanti approaches the table and asks if he can join. Feigning that he's lost all the money he can, Raizel offers him his seat and drunkenly moves to the entrance. As he passes Aurelius, his friend slips a note into his pocket and when Raizel steps outside he reads it. The note is brief but, confirms that the guard rotation has remained the same as its been since they first arrived in Llyne. Dropping the drunk act, Raizel makes his way towards the market and buys a few supplies like parchment, ink, and a few candles.
The three men, meet back up at the backroom of a brothel they've been staying in. They go over the plan once more, reiterating everything they've learned from the guard rotation to the height of the palace wall to exactly where the king's bedroom was. Aurelius melts down the candles Raizel bought and pours the melted wax over the ends of the rope they started crafting earlier that week. Once night has fallen, the three sharpen their weapons, pull on their armor, and under cover of night head towards the palace.
They get over the outer wall and sneak through the courtyard without issue. Due to the layout of the keep, they are forced to use the great hall balcony to get into the castle. As the three emerge from the balcony and start to cross the darkened room, they are forced to draw up short when dozens of soldiers start flooding into the room. Half are wielding torches while the other half are using bows, and the last person to enter the room is their target King Cardin Oweyn.
Raizel starts to turn to run back out the balcony but, his progress is halted when Xanti hamstrings him. His cry of surprise and pain distracts Aurelius as the archers let arrows fly. Xanti escapes the hailstorm of arrows, but Raizel gets hit in his right thigh, left hip, left shoulder and right above his ribs in the right side. Aurelius, being the bigger of the two gets hit with more arrows but, doesn't go down until the King slices him nearly in half with his sword. Injured and unable to move, Raizel can only watch on in rage and helplessness as Xanti slips past the archers and calmly walks out the door and Cardin Oweyn draws closer, his sword still dripping with Aurelius' blood.

Themes

Raizel notices Xanti seems distracted a few times but chalks it up to nerves before they start their mission. Raizel touches the pendant he's wearing a number of times while he's thinking. The pendant is made of obsidian and sapphire where the sapphire is in the shape of a crescent moon while the obsidian fills the rest of the space of the pendant. Multiple times, Raizel has to mask his disdain and discomfort when Rune Casters are mentioned.

Relations

Protagonists

Raizel

Allies

Xanti
Aurelius

Competitors

Xanti

Adversaries

Cardin Oweyn

Backdrops

Locations

The Limping Griffin Tavern:

From the outside it looks cheerful, peaceful and cozy. Clay bricks and wooden pillars make up most of the building's outer structure. It's hard to see through the small, stained glass windows, but the clinking of beer glasses from within can be felt outside. The entrance is a single heavily used, wooden door, that opens to the sight of dancing people and the smell of alcohol. Tree logs support the upper floor and the rows of small candles attached to them. The walls are decorated with mounted animal heads, hides, and small animals. The owner is an avid hunter, and the smells coming from the kitchen around-the-clock indicates her kills never go to waste.
The tavern itself is packed with passing traders, sailors, and locals who mostly congregate around the long tables that fill a majority of the tavern. At the bar, there are some stools occupied by those lucky few who arrived early enough to snag them or the drunkards who seem to be permanent features of the tavern. There are a number of smaller tables that can be used by smaller groups, though more often than not are reserved for card playing. Those playing cards have to go to the bar and get their drinks themselves due to a few incidents with rowdy players harming servers.

Llyne Marketplace:

The marketplace is incredibly busy being the center of the city of Llyne. Merchants and street vendors call out trying to attract customers or busy themselves loading and unloading their goods from carts. The southern part of the market is where tanners, weavers, furriers, dyers, rugmakers, and everyone else who makes clothing or other items from fabric or leather are located. To the east, are the various smiths as well as armorers and fletchers and bowmakers are located. To the north are the bakers, butchers, brewer, and everyone else involved in the profession of making food or drink. To the south, are the carpenters, shipwrights, woodcutters, wood carvers, and every other profession that makes things out of wood. The center of the market is used by entertainers, artists, jewelers, and everyone else who don't fit in with any of the other areas.
In addition to being at the very heart of Llyne, the marketplace is directly between Remia Academy of the Arcane and the palace. The sight of a Rune Caster or noble passing through the market is not uncommon as they often eat at the fancier inns and taverns surrounding the market. Nor is it uncommon for casters to be seen passing through the market to reach the palace.

Llyne Palace:

The palace is found in the northern portion of Llyne, surrounded by the houses of the nobility. Its curtain wall is a large, thick, stone wall with six tall towers spread out evenly along the wall. A huge gate with great metal doors and strong defenses guard the only passage into the castle. The bailey is a mix of gardens and various buildings for the blacksmiths, stable master, armorer and other citizens who have the privilege of working exclusively for the King and his castle. The only way into the keep is through two large wooden doors that are guarded nonstop by the Aryish soldiers. The ground floor has narrow windows that allow daylight but nothing else through. The other floors have tall wide windows that are purposefully made thick enough to not be able to break unless struck by a projectile launched by a trebuchet. On the third and fourth floor, there are a couple of balconies, most of which overlook the courtyard, though a few overlook the river.

Plot type

Short Story Prologue

Related Locations

• Llyne