GLRP:EMs:2010:In the Shadow of Virtue
In the Shadow of Virtue
This is the story of the early years after Dawn's ascension to the throne, of how the Bane Chosen threatened the peace of our realm, and how the daemon VirtueBane sought power. While the long battle was mainly fought by the the Royal Spies in the saga that has come to be known as Blood Feud: Daemon Pyre and Blood Feud: Untitled Part III, these events spanned the facets. Here we chronicle major events...
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Lost & Found - Part 1, pub. 03-26-2010
Lost & Found - Part 2, pub. 04-13-2010
Lost & Found - Part 3, pub. 04-30-2010
Lost & Found - Part 4, pub. 07-01-2010
Sosaria Sleeps, pub. 07-16-2010
A Good Use for an Old Sword, pub. 08-06-2010
Lullaby, pub. 09-03-2010
Clarity, pub. 09-17-2010
Joy and Rain, pub. 09-30-2010
The Dark Throne, pub. 11-12-2010
In the Shadow of Virtue: Prelude to War, pub. 12-17-2010
In the Shadow of Virtue: A Thin Ray of Light, pub. 2-10-2011
In the Shadow of Virtue: A Time of Mourning, pub. 2-22-2011
In the Shadow of Virtue: Harbinger Part I, pub. 2-24-2011
In the Shadow of Virtue: Harbinger Part II, pub. 2-25-2011
In the Shadow of Virtue: Harbinger Part III, pub. 2-25-2011
July 1, 2010 - Breaching the Vault
Queen Dawn requested that interested citizens gather in the throne room of Castle British. No one knew exactly why our sovereign wished to address us, however, it was a safe assumption it was related to the gaping hole which has occupied the northwest corner of her secure dais since Tuesday.
This did not sit well with the crowd, as they considered the thought of breaking into a vault containing unknown artifacts as a fool's errand. Justicar Ra'Dian Fl'Gith of the High Council commented loudly, "Is breakin' int' a magically protected vault th' wisest o' decisions we could make?" Lady Silverbrook of Magincia added, "Most things are hidden with reason." Sherry quickly excused herself as Queen Dawn arrived to give her speech.
"Welcome, Citizens of Britannia, on this warm summer evening! Thank you all for coming. Lord British did not believe in the typical vestments of power. He knew that Britannia's authority and Virtue come from its people. The Cloak that protects Britannia is the Courage of its people. The Crown that ennobles Britannia is the Love of its people. The Scepter that guides Britannia is the Truth of its people. Together we will open the Vault and eventually restore Magincia! We will tear down this wall."
While Dawn's words sank in, a Royal Mining Expert arrived to finish the tunnel into the vault. With an anticlimactic shout, the miner, upon the instruction of the Queen, breached the vault. Within moments, she reemerged with the Crystal of Duplicity, presenting it to the Queen. Her Majesty promised that a case would be built to display it. She then bade everyone enjoy the weekend-long Summer Festival before she departed.
Today, the crystal sits in front of the throne on a tall stand for all to see. According to Ricardo, it is the tool Lord British's Court Mage, Nystul, used to create the facet of Trammel. Allegedly, it was hidden in the city of Magincia. There it was later stolen by agents of the enchantress Minax who then used it to project her form from Felucca into Trammel. Current thinking holds that this crystal will somehow allow Magincia to be rebuilt by negating the demonic curse on the isle.
August 6, 2010 - Pyres of War
Since last Yule, a war has been brewing between Britannia and the disciples of ancient elemental beings. They sought to seize our world in the aftermath of the Shadowlord's assault; they thought our kingdom broken and weakened by Casca's duplicity. They would strike the dragon while it paused to nurse its wounds and tend its young.
The undead Cult of Styx strove to release the Mountain King from his prison beneath the Abyss, to unleash the fury of Lithos and smite the living. For many months this battle raged as an open secret across the facets, endangering allies both old and new. Britannia's Ministry of Intelligence (B.M.I.) fought in the shadow of a nation rebuilding, ensuring the citizenry's peace of mind.
The ruins of Xenve An-amo-lem, an ancient gargl fortress buried under the base of the volcano on Fire Isle, saw the end of the Cult. The last of their members were laid to rest, ending the threat of the Titan of Earth. Or so it was believed.
The daemon Conclave of Hythloth rose to fill the void left by the Cult. The machinations of their General triumvirate led to a brief freedom for Lithos. In return, the daemon general known as Bartholomew met a timely end through the B.M.I.'s efforts. The full brunt of Lithos' wrath then bore down on the operatives who had crushed his undead minions. Fortunately, the Titan's time in our realm was cut short when a prison of light was created to contain him at the Shrine of Compassion in Ilshenar, where he remains.
The distraction of Lithos gone, the Conclave's true motives emerged. They sought the return of their patron Titan, Pyros the Lord of Fire. A book, the Principia Daemonis, deep within the gargl ruins held the key to daemonkind's rekindling the flame of Pyros' favor. The Conclave strove fruitlessly to possess it, for Virtue delivered it into Britannia's hands.
The Conclave's remaining two Generals tried to distract Britannian forces by fomenting war with the Orcish clans, subjecting the Isle of Nujel'm to accursed nightmares and the kidnapping of a Platinum Dragon egg. Fortuitously, Bertrand, the son of the deceased Bartholomew, defected from the Conclave and presented himself to the High Council of Britannia seeking asylum. He set to work on a lexicon of the daemon language so the Principia might be understood by modern scholars. Shortly thereafter, Nether, another of the Conclave's generals, succumbed to the B.M.I.'s operatives in Moonglow.
This brings us to the current situation of the daemon scouts which had been testing the defenses in Luna and Britain. The daemons sought the 'Blood of Queens' to restore their link to Pyros so that they might summon him to our world. They had already managed to acquire the blood of a gargoyle queen through a traitorous healer. Now, they sought the blood of Queen Dawn.
The full scope of the threat facing us is now realized. The Conclave has the Blood of Queens and may well be mere days away from unleashing Pyros. The Crystal of Duplicity might find its way back into Minax's clutches, allowing her unfettered entry into Trammel.
Even the Bane Chosen appear to have a stake in the coming war, for the daemon's blackrock golems most likely came from their supplies. Those citizens, who foolishly turned over massive amounts of crystalline blackrock during the deceitful campaign against the ophidian, have aided the enemy. The Chosen now plot against the Meer, allies of Britannia. Those traitors who aid them in this latest atrocity may well be providing the next weapon to be used against the kingdom.
Once again, the pyres of war burn brightly on our horizon. Stand up and fight for Queen and country. Show Britannia's enemies how sharp the dragon's fangs truly are!
September 4, 2010 - Sage Wisdom
Queen Dawn summoned her subjects to the throne room of Castle Britannia today to partake in an adventure to Ilshenar. A particular form of sage, Salvia pietas, or Compassion sage, was required to aid the Queen's troubled sleep.
Medicinal Flora, by Hulderic of Yew
Since the rare sage grew in central Ilshenar, the group followed the Queen to meet with a Royal Scout named Cole near the Honor Shrine. Cole suggested gathering seeds from the beasts roaming the swamp near the savage fort and then acquiring a sample of the potion the Exodus Controllers brew from the plant's leaves.
As we galloped towards the swamp, a comment the scout offhandedly made stuck in my mind. He said the "Whole land's been on edge," and implied that that many around central Ilshenar have experienced troubled sleep recently. This struck me as important due to a passage regarding the sage in a tome entitled 'Medicinal Flora,' which could be found in Dexter's lab at the castle:
"The Controllers of Exodus have been known to brew potions from it to protect their minds when interacting with the inhuman sleeper of the fortress."
I had to put the thought out of my mind as we entered the swamp and began the process of collecting seeds from the bog creatures. Queen Dawn wanted a few hundred gather so her agricultural experts to sort through so they may cultivate the sage.
Potion Recipe, by Controller Tavurk
Able to think again without the distraction of combat, I realized common thread... Queen Dawn is having bad dreams. People and creatures in Ilshenar are having bad dreams. The Controllers drink a potion to protect their mind from Exodus. Exodus was never actually destroyed, only disabled. Could Exodus be reawakening after all these years? Might the angry hellspawn of Mondain and Minax be quietly readying itself for a renewed war on Britannia?
October 7, 2010 - Missing Persons
The Royal Britannian Guard were asked to meet at the Counselor’s Hall in northern Britain, apparently not by Commander Keel – but by Sherry the Mouse. She informed the Guard that she was worried about Queen Dawn being ‘away’ and said that Ricardo had gone missing from his cell in Yew.
Sherry opened a gate into the Yew Prison and the Guard poured through. In Ricardo’s cell a note was found which said: “I will be seeing you, but you won’t be seeing me. –Ricardo” It seemed to indicate that the thief had escaped his cell. Which turned out to be a good thing since the prison was currently being invaded by the forces of the Bane Chosen and the Conclave.
Amidst a cluster of Bane corpses a dropped book of orders was discovered which indicated that Ricardo had been the intended target of the invasion and that the Isle of Magincia was also under attack.
Orders, by V.
Who is this 'V,' and why would be giving a general of the Conclave orders? Could the Conclave be subservient to the leader of the Bane Chosen? Such thoughts would need to wait until after the attack, however, as the Bane had brought blackrock golems for backup.
When the Bane and the Conclave had been beaten back, Queen Dawn surfaced in Ricardo’s vacant cell. She said that she had found one of the blackrock golems at the house her husband, Ors, had been staying at. A strange letter led her to believe something was very wrong in his life..
The Queen then took the Guard to the house where a taunting book was discovered, again from the mysterious ‘V.’ She said that her husband had been gambling with a man named Miegen and must have been kidnapped. Many citizens believed this may be connected to the rumored Bane Chosen presence on Magincia…
Dear Dawn, by V.
October 27, 2010 - The Chosen (Evil Event for those allied to the Bane Chosen)
Rumors circulating the criminal underworld indicated that a gathering of those sympathetic to the Bane Chosen would be occurring in Britain. Several in the Intelligence Community concealed their identities to infiltrate the meeting and learn about the enemy firsthand.
As people gathered, a pale lady appeared in their midst and let it be known that this was a competition to see who was worthy enough to join the Chosen. She said, “Teamwork in this sort of competition is a sign of weakness.” Without further instructions, she cast a gate which led to the true Shrine of Spirituality accessible in Ilshenar.
There the criminal scum met the Echo of Mondain, a magical construct meant to inform adventurers of the sins of the past. However, the simulacrum had been repurposed by the Skull of Mondain which rested nearby. The Echo commanded those present to join with the Bane Chosen in their quest to remake the world. He then directed everyone to coordinates in northwestern Ilshenar where Cole of the Chosen could be found. The Spies amongst the groups cringed, realizing that Cole had been one of their own – turned to the Chosen by the dream sickness.
When they found Cole, he was high on the propaganda of the Chosen. Espousing that their cause was one of progress and renewal, requiring that the Kingdom of Britannia be crushed for it to succeed. He said that the Chosen were turning their eye to the City of Moonglow, one of Britannia’s places of power. The Chosen already had information about its mundane defenses, but now needed information on the magical ones so they may cast a counter spell.
Cole sent the potential Chosen to gather the required information from the Children of Nether on Dagger Isle. The collection of many tiny spider-like daemons had formed themselves into a clump which resembled a gargantuan spider. Listening to its ramblings led to the location of a ‘bit of darkness’ buried in the Moonglow cemetery and the notion to speak to Gemtedee in Buccaneer’s Den.
Gemtedee led to a book about the Four Humors, one of which might be of particular interest to the Chosen, and the spellwords "Kal Vas Grav Ort Corp."
The Four Humors, by ...
Revealing the spell words and the humor of 'melancholia' to Cole caused him to send those in the know to speak to the Black Dragon in Doom. In turn, the Dragon admitted that the Bane Chosen would make useful allies and thus would supply the melancholia if those asking could prove their worth by supplying him with an elf or human's ears.
When presented with the grisly trophy, the Dragon proclaimed that he would supply the chosen with melancholia. Cole, of course, was pleased with the news and informed you that your task was complete. You were worthy to join the Chosen.
But really, did you want to?
January 7, 2011 - Knives (Evil Event for those allied to the Bane Chosen)
a note, by Satharn
Satharn's Journal, by Satharn
A Spell for Dawn, by Satharn of the Meer
January 21, 2011 - A Candle for the Darkness (Evil Event for those allied to the Bane Chosen)
February 13, 2011 - Bloody Valentine
February 26, 2011 - In Memoriam
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