Curse of Crimson Throne TImeline

The orc warlord Belkzen besieges and takes the dwarven Sky Citadel of Koldukar, later renaming it Urgir.

After meeting with the grieving queen to return the stolen brooch, they are recruited by the Korvosan Guard to help bring the city back under control. After dealing with guards gone rogue, handling a delicate political situation involving a local crime lord, and coping with all manner of chaos in the streets, the PCs are called upon to apprehend a woman named Trinia Embereye, who might just be the one who assassinated King Eodred II.

The PCs return Gaekhen’s corpse to Field Commander Cressida Kroft—she handled the delicate prospect of seeing the body is properly handled and returned to Thousand Bones. This is for the best, for the big news bustling about the city as the PCs emerge triumphant from the Dead Warrens is that Trinia Sabor’s trial has concluded. Queen Ileosa has announced that the assassin is to be executed at sunset and has invited many of Korvosa’s nobles, military officers, and anyone of any real import to Castle Korvosa’s public courtyard to witness the event. Cressida Kroft wants the PCs to be there. Something about the whole affair doesn’t sit right with her, and the way things have been going lately in Korvosa, Kroft worries that the execution might trigger another riot. The execution it is not an affair to be missed. The toast of Korvosa is in attendance in garish gowns, fine capes, and enough jewels to blind a common man. The overall feel of the event is that of a grand ball or party, not an assassin’s public execution. One notable personage not in attendance is Vencarlo Orisino.   Queen Ileosa emerges amid a great flourish and pomp as heralds announce her arrival with a fanfare of music and drums. Queen Ileosa has fully accepted the mantle of sole monarch now, and carries herself with poise, style, and grace. She wears a green and white silk dress worth thousands of gold coins, and is attended by a small army of servants. Chief among these is Sabina, her expression neutral but ever watchful for possible problems in the crowd. Ileosa takes her seat in a high throne-like chair at one end of the public courtyard, while the headman’s block stands ominously at the other. The executioner is a towering, muscular man wearing an executioner’s helm and idly holding an immense axe—he remains motionless until his services are called upon.   As sunset draws near, the expectant excitement in the crowd builds. When the ominous beating of a single large drum begins, the assembled gawkers fall silent. The drum sets the pace for Trinia’s procession to the headsman’s block. As they reach the headsman’s block, one of the guards removes Trinia’s shackles and the hood, revealing a very frightened woman who nonetheless bravely holds back her tears, if only barely. Trinia is led up onto the platform, her arms bound behind her back by a leather cord, and she is forced to kneel over the wooden block before the headsman as Queen Ileosa stands and addresses the crowd.   “Fellow Korvosans! You have suffered greatly these past few weeks. Homes have burned, family members have died, fortunes have been lost. I feel your suffering, for not only have I lost a beloved husband, but with each riot, each burning home, each act of anarchy, my heart bleeds a little more. This has been a trying time for us, yet the torment is at an end. Before you is the face of your anguish and pain. Do not be deceived by this murderer’s timid nature—she is a black-hearted assassin, a seductress and sinner, a viper amidst us all. I offer you all her death as a salve against the hatred and hurt you have suffered.Her death will not rebuild Korvosa, nor will it bring back the king, yet tomorrow will be a new dawn—a dawn over a city ready to rise from the edge of anarchy to become stronger than ever before!   “And so, without further delay, let us usher in this new dawn with justice! OFF WITH HER HEAD!”   As the headsman hefts his axe, the already silent crowd freezes in anticipation. Yet just before he swings, the headsman gives a strange little grunt and staggers. His raised axe falters as he reaches with one hand to the small of his back and then brings it to his face, the fingers dripping with blood. An instant later, he cries out in pain and drops the axe as a dagger embeds itself in the back of his other hand. The axe sinks itself in the block inches from Trinia’s head, and the headsman doubles over in pain, revealing a second dagger that’s already embedded in the small of his back. Trinia rises to her knees, glancing up at the executioner in shock as a scream echoes through the crowded courtyard: “By the gods! It’s Blackjack!”   An instant later, a man dressed in a hooded cloak and leather armor springs onto the executioner’s block. He wields a rapier in one hand and a dagger in the other. Blackjack cuts the bonds on Trinia’s wrists and then throws the dagger down to pin the executioner’s left foot to the wood below. He quickly helps Trinia to her feet and then briefly turns to address the shocked crowd.   “Yes indeed, my queen! Let us usher in justice, but let that be justice for Korvosa, not this shambles you petulantly call a monarchy! Long live Korvosa! Down with the Queen!”   Blackjack’s words spread like fire, causing the crowd to erupt into a frenzy of activity. Some demand that he release the assassin while others call for the queen to step down from the Crimson Throne. Queen Ileosa stands stunned for a few moments, whispers something to Sabina, and then quickly turns to flee into Castle Korvosa, Sabina and a dozen guards behind her to cover her retreat. The remaining guards in the courtyard move to apprehend Blackjack, but the gathered nobles, thirsty for blood, make it difficult to move. At the same time, the executioner recovers from his wounds and lifts his axe once again over Blackjack, who seems to have momentarily forgotten the man in his apparent delight at having forced the queen to flee.   Blackjack notices the headsman in time and ducks out of the way of his axe, dragging Trinia behind him and clambering up a hanging banner to anearby wall, Trinia scampering behind them. As the two reach the wall, he swiftly drinks a potion of feather fall, bows to the crowd while backlit by the setting sun, and then both he and Trinia leap from the wall to make their escape into the city.