Episode 18 - The Tree of Judgement

General Summary

20th of Midyear, 1442 Within the great hall of Rhythavn Castle, a grand ceremony is taking place as Iryval Ayvir is legitimized as a fully-recognized member of House Ildrafn. Her father Kuron Ildrafn is there, as is her half-brother Halren Ildrafn and half-sister Isola Ildrafn, and she ascends the steps leading up to Pendros Ildrafn as he recites words of binding from an ancient Antari scroll in accordance with Ildrafn tradition. At the end of the ceremony, Iryval is gifted with a fine dagger etched with the words of her House "Guided Towards Glory". 6th of Sunfall, 1442 As the drums of war resound through Castle Rhythavn and their soldiers make ready to depart to assist in the defence of McCloughhaven's Reach, Pendros Ildrafn continues to disperse his agents out across Banteave in preparation for greater conflicts to come. To this end, he tasks Iryval with clandestinely travelling to The Heartlands and acting as his emissary there, visiting several of his loyal supporters among the petty nobility there to reaffirm their loyalties to Ildrafn in the event of civil war. To act as her bodyguard, Pendros assigns Semmian DeRein, a plainspoken marksman who had recently served well in assisting Ulfvyr Tahn Eskir in instigating rebellion within the lands of House Antyre . The two make for an odd pairing, but as the conflict between the freshly formed factions in the Heartlands continues to escalate, Pendros believes she will be well-served by Semmian's keen eye. The two depart that evening, and Iryval watches as her father and brother both march off to join in the defence of the Reach. Their fate would remain a mystery to her for some time. 21st of Sunfall, 1442 Travelling from safe house to safe house amongst the Durhalen Foothills that line the borders between the Barony of Tatcher and the Barony of Bridemare, Iryval and Semmian arrived at their next destination, expecting to meet a pair of minor counts to reaffirm their loyalty to House Ildrafn. What they found instead was a ransacked manor house, slaughtered servants and hoofprints leading away from the grim scene. Pulling a blade from a dying footman, Semmian spies the sigil of an anvil imprinted upon the hilt; the arms made in the forges of Tatcher's Pass for the armies of Beltran Dillestone are all marked in a similar fashion. There have been reports of inflamed tension along the border between the two baronies as Artigan Dillestone and his brother Beltran escalate their dispute over the Banteavan throne, with soldiers from either side maneuvering into position for a full-scale assault. Naturally, the peasants caught in the middle are the ones suffering the most at present, and it appears the Count and Countess Coswell, whom Iryval had intended to meet with, have also been caught up in some dire entanglement with Beltran's soldiers. *** Meanwhile, not far away, Elnor Portrain and Bexley are approaching the doors of a pillaged ranch house where soldiers wearing Beltran's colours are contentedly gambling and drinking. This is the house that belonged to Tonnath, the man who promised he had information to sell regarding Mair Dillestone, and the team lead by Kain Unknown is determined to find him at any cost. Readying their weapons, Bexley and Elnor prepare to kill all but one of the remaining men inside... But a minor footfall gives away their position just before they can strike, and the soldiers inside are ready for them, throwing over the table for cover and hurling what weapons they have on hand. Bexley pulls back in time, but Elnor can't dodge fast enough and finds a thrown dagger lodged in his side. The pain is excruciating, and Elnor staggers back out of the doorway as the soldiers inside give chase after Bexley... leaving their captain to run down Elnor, fully intending to split his skull with his well-notched axe. Salvation comes from the efforts of Jarvin Cadwalader and Roan Cordelaine , neither of whom are particularly skilled in the arts of combat but charge into the fray nonetheless, hurling whatever they have on hand to distract the captain. Roan's thrown coin purse catches him across the temple, offering Elnor a momentary opportunity to lunge in with his dagger, stabbing the man squarely in the groin. As his howl of pain echoes through the night air... *** On a nearby country road, Semmian and Iryval spot an approaching group of figures bearing wagons and torches in the dead of night. Fearing potential discovery by Dillestone soldiers on either side, Semmian and Iryval conceal themselves among the trees on the roadside as the figures are revealed to be a pack of commoners fleeing from an unknown foe. Hearing the sounds of approaching hoofbeats, the commoners abandon the slow-going wagon to flee on foot. However, one among them is too wounded to run and remains behind in the wagon, preparing to meet their fate. Acting in the spur of the moment, Iryval and Semmian dash out to pull the wounded peasants to safety, concealing them in the underbrush before four horsemen bearing the colours of Tatcher ride up, searching for the runaway commonfolk. Frustrated at coming up empty handed, the riders curse and return from whence they came, not noticing the hidden fugitives or Semmian and Iryval. Once they've calmed down a moment, the peasants reveal that the soldiers have been rounding up anyone that they believe sold information about their troop movements to the opposing side. A large group of prisoners taken from the surrounding hamlets have been taken to a great tree a short distance to the west where brisk judgements and executions are being carried out by Tatcher troops. Despite Semmian's protestations, Iryval gives the peasants the location of a safe house maintained by House Ildrafn, one that they can shelter in until it's safe to move on again. *** Back at Tonnath's ranch house, Drosta gives Elnor a swig of vodka and a bit of wood to bite down on as she attempts to remove the knife from his side. She manages to get the knife out and dress the wound, though Elnor remains rattled by the experience. Outside, Jarvin and Roan interrogate the wounded captain, who confesses that they abducted Tonnath from the ranch when they found out he was selling information about their movements to Artigan's soldiers. They've taken him to a grand tree not too far from here, where he will be summarily judged and meet his fate at the end of a rope. Further questioning yields little results when Roan's power over rats is revealed, as the captain crumbles into catatonia, repeating prayers to The Six Saints and completely shutting down. Elnor staggers out of the ranchhouse, confirms that they've extracted all they need from the captain, and quickly dispatches him with a deftly thrusted blade. *** The hanging tree is already festooned with corpses by the time Semmian and Iryval arrive, with twelve soldiers working their way through two wagonloads of prisoners they've taken from the nearby countryside, drummed up on the flimsiest of charges. Semmian spies Count Coswell already swinging from the tree, but his wife the Countess is still alive and awaiting her own judgement. As Semmian and Iryval try to determine how to best approach rescuing her, Semmian hears movement in the brush behind them and whirls about, arrow at the ready... only to find Roan skulking in the brush. Iryval recognizes Roan from their time in Redehall City and tells Semmian to lower his bow as the others emerge; Kain, Drosta, Bexley, Elnor, Jarvin and Elrilla. The young farm girl confirms that Tonnath is still alive, sitting in a wagon watching as another beside him is hauled up to the noose. Time is short, and the two parties agree to work together to extract both the Countess and Tonnath. Luckily for them, Jarvin remembered to steal the uniforms of the slain Tatcher soldiers back at the ranchhouse. They're a little bloodstained, but they just might help them pull off a clever ruse... A short time later, Jarvin, Iryval and Elnor emerge from the darkness, dressed in the livery of Tatcher. Approaching the "judge" presiding over the executions, they report that they were ambushed at the farmhouse by brigands and they are all that remains of their unit. Leveraging Elnor's wounds to add credence to their story, the trio manages to convince the judge and three other soldiers to ride out and confirm their story, leaving Jarvin in charges of overseeing the executions. Spying a pair of local landed lords who are also there to "officiate" the executions, Jarvin quietly insinuates to another Tatcher soldier that the lords are also compromised and headed for the gallows, sowing confusion and discord among their ranks. Meanwhile, Elnor and Iryval seek out the Countess and Tonnath, infiltrating the ranks of the prisoners. Roan slinks through the nearby trees, and Semmian remains on a nearby high hill, ready to loose arrows the moment that all hell breaks loose. He doesn't have to wait long. As the betrayed nobles try to flee from the Tatcher troops, Jarvin, Iryval, Elnor and Roan spring into action to extract their two targets. Despite his injuries, Elnor gets Tonnath to safety with the assistance of Roan, and with diminished guards overseeing them, several of the captured peasants stage a last-minute rebellion, striking at the Tatcher troops with whatever they have on hand. A burning log from the nearby fire is knocked askew, setting fire to the dry grass nearby and engulfing the hanging tree. Amidst this hellish scene, Iryval and the Countess race to safety, but not before a desperate farmhand tackles Iryval to the ground. She struggles to free herself but the man, convinced she's a Tatcher soldier responsible for all the death and cruelty he's seen, is unrelenting, wielding a rock and bludgeoning Iryval repeatedly. He would have killed her if not for Semmian's arrow, which strikes him dead. Reeling from pain, Iryval can barely stand... and then suddenly Elnor is beside her, hauling her to her feet and dragging her across the road and into the darkness of the surrounding countryside as the surviving prisoners overwhelm the remaining Tatcher soldiers and the hanging tress goes up in flames, a grim beacon in the dead of night. 22nd of Sunfall, 1442 The following morning, the group is encamped in the ruins of an old windmill some distance from the hanging tree. The Countess thanks Iryval for their timely rescue before she departs for safer lands, but it barely registers thanks to the ringing in Iryval's ears. Sitting down with Tonnath and Elrilla, the rest of the group learns what he knows; his former name was "Baron" Lazarus Craytin, a landless lord fallen on hard times. He was travelling at night in the Barony of Catena when he and his travelling companions came across an ambushed caravan, all bearing the colours of the Barony of Risevar . Within that wagon they found Annabeth of Risevar and her daughter Mair Dillestone , frightened but alive, and escorted them to a nearby inn to take shelter. There, they were surrounded by mercenaries working for an unknown master, lead by a brutal, uncompromising man, who demanded they hand over the baby. When Annabeth refused, the mercenaries set about burning the inn down and slaying anyone who tried to make a run for it. Lazarus and Annabeth made a daring escape, but the friar they were travelling with was brutally killed by the mercenaries. Lazarus and Annabeth made it as far as Springbrook, where she met up with an unknown knight and paid Lazarus well for his service before parting ways. Lazarus bought a failing ranch in the Foothills nearby and tried to blend in, but shortly afterward received a letter in Annabeth's hand, confirming that she'd arrived at her destination safely and she would never forget his service. The letter did not speak to her location, but the messenger bore the sigil of Castle Cole , the old ruined keep that served as the seat of power for Ravenna Durant , the Iron Warden of House Oake and their former Master of Laws. If anyone knows where Annabeth will be, it will likely be Ravenna, though extracting information from the iron-masked Baroness will be an arduous task in and of itself. They are close to finding Mair... but when they do, will House Sandoreale or House Ildrafn be the ones to claim her for their own ends? END OF EPISODE

Rewards Granted

The party has discovered a crucial clue; Ravenna Durant may know the true location of Mair Dillestone, or may be sheltering her and her mother at Castle Cole .

Missions/Quests Completed

The group successfully rescued both the Countess Coswell and Tonnath / Lazarus Craytin from the noose.

Notes

The situation along the border between the Barony of Tatcher and Bridemare is dire, and the troops there are preparing for war.
Roan has intentionally spread pestilence to the small villages that sit on the border between the two baronies. His debt has been relieved, but at what cost?
Both Iryval and Elnor have sustained serious injuries that will take some time to heal.

Campaign

The Burning Isle

Protagonists