A Weakening Peace

Though the characters were safe and sound back in Helmsport, the city wasn’t in such good shape. Political tensions between the humans of the Western Province and the elves of Brithonen were nearing a boiling point. Despite a centuries-old alliance—forged by the druid Melea long ago—the humans and elves had never fully trusted one another. As the elven kingdom waned and human settlers ventured farther and farther into the woods, some among the elves began to grow impatient with their queen. On the other side, with the underlying human distrust of all things elven fanned by the recent events in Ossington (the real truth of which had yet to surface publicly), even the elven and half-elven citizens of Helmsport didn’t feel safe in their own homes and shops.

Knowing that the heroes had helped the city once before, Duke Avan once again turned to them. The Lord Chamberlain charged Adarrial Smythe, Man of Renown (and a half-elf besides), and Eandrynn, a member of the elven military currently working with the heroes, to travel to Brithonen and open up discussions on how matters could be improved. Gathering several of their friends—Alarion, Duran, Jarvis, Stannis, Thorgrimm, and Thomas—the two envoys traveled south to the elven forest kingdom.

Along the way, the characters liberated an elven guard post that had been overrun by devils from the depths of Hell. Though the fiends’ purpose was unclear, the heroes couldn’t stop long to investigate.

After arriving in Brithonen, Adarrial and Eandrynn engaged in a series of talks with representatives of the elven queen. For perhaps the first time, the heroes truly understood the depths of the elven anger at the humans’ continued encroachment upon their lands. The characters could only sit in shamed silence as the elves recounted the tale of the tribe of grugachi (wild elves) slain by the humans of Ossington, knowing full well that they too were at least partially responsible for that occasion.

The heroes left Brithonen a few days later, with only marginal progress to show for their visit. Still, both sides held out hope that these discussions could represent the start of a bridging of the gap between the two sides. After all, the elven diplomats admitted, the Avan family had generally been friendly to elven causes through the generations, and the current duke showed no signs of being any different from his forefathers.

Returning to the duke’s palace to report their mission, the characters found the Lord Chamberlain’s office mysteriously empty, with clear signs of a struggle. Fearing the worst, the heroes burst into the throne room itself only to find it overtaken by horrible demons, several undead royal guards, and a group of deadly elven archers!

A battle quickly ensued as the heroes brought their formidable powers to bear on the enemies at hand. But evil in the throne room wasn’t the only surprise of the day, as the shadowdancer Tully (slain by the heroes in Ossington months earlier) suddenly appeared, along with the sorcerer Dyson, his cohort, the cleric Henwen, and a walking corpse that was none other than the duke himself!

Several small fights raged throughout the complex, as the characters ran from one opponent to the next. Adarrial, facing Dyson and Henwen by himself, feigned defeat, going so far as to pretend to be animated as a zombie by Henwen’s skull-topped staff. Unfortunately, since the cleric had intended to turn the bard into a shadow, the bluff failed, resulting in a deadly cone of cold from Dyson. This time, the cleric’s attempt succeeded, and Duran was forced to destroy his friend with the holy might of Altius.

Even this horrific scene did not dissuade the heroes, who eventually defeated their enemies, but could not save the undead duke. After saying a prayer for the destroyed Adarrial, the heroes carried the ashes of the duke to the Church of Altius, looking for Bishop Carlein to resurrect the fallen ruler. But the day held one last surprise for the characters, as the bishop turned his back on the heroes, claiming that the church had chosen to stay uninvolved with the situation.

Four days later, Bishop Carlein crowned the duke’s remaining son, Decius—rescued from barbarians by the characters some six months before—as the new Duke of the Western Province and ruler of the city of Helmsport. The new duke re-affirmed the city’s gratitude to the heroes, for without their timely appearance he too would certainly have been slain. Of course, by now word had leaked out to the street of the duke’s death, and the presence of several elves among the killers further enflamed the bigotry that was already creeping into citizens’ hearts. Episodes of anti-elf violence started cropping up, and even among the heroes of Helmsport, those of elven blood began to feel the cold shoulder of racism.

Previous: Bright Fangs, Big City

Next: Return to Great Rock