The Black Feast

[Phantom Lamb]

A celebration gone bad: Triumvirate men and women, attacked and slaughtered by servants of the Black Hand and Moth Oira.

The afternoon started with Cybil taking the wine, a ceremony of induction for clergy of Ilmater. Friends shared experiences and said prayer, followed by her drinking wine and confessing her darkest secrets before the gods. The ceremony went well, and as evening arrived, all who attended were hungry and quite ready for the feast that was awating them.

They merry crew marched from the city to the Crossroads. A picnic awaited them, tents shielding them from the soaking rain. The food and wine were quite tasty, but soon the Black Feast began...

It started with stomach pains. Vomiting, weakened legs, fainting, and fevers... someone had poisoned the feast! Darkness ensued, and Neradnal himself charged from the shadows, flanked by four large shadows. The Black Hand and Moth Oira made their attack, catching the feasters unaware. Nearly everyone was slaughtered.

Sounds of reinforcements drove the Black Hand back, but an ally was lost in the chaos. The evil assailant grabbed an unconscious girl from the slaughter and made for the Abaddon.

Melchoir righted the ship and restored the health of those at the feast. He had the paladins tie up the captured assailant--Clive. Distraught, he conceded to a man present that he could inflict pain on Clive to get the location of the girl that was taken--Julia Darkchild.

Melchoir soon gathered his senses and stopped the work being done on Clive, but not before Clive gave up the location Nerednal had run to. Cybil was sent to start negotiations.

Hours of torture nearly broke Julia, but she remained strong. When Cybil arrived, she was bloody but breathing. Bravely, Cybil offered to exchange her place for Julia's, feeling somehow this whole thing was her own fault. The Black Hand agreed, and took Cybil into custody while the Triumvirate set off to meet the terms of the prisoner exchange--300,000 gold in addition to Clive.

The next morning, the exchange was made. Pyras the Red Wizard himself offered the fee, an attempt to heal the wounds that had given his Enclave a bad reputation. Cybil was returned, albeit shadowless.

[Phantom Lamb]

Initial reports of Thayan generousity are quickly withdrawn. The Triumvirate is doubling its patrols. Rumor has it, the gold in the exchange was traced directly back to the Enclave.

[me_less]

The Best of Days. The Worst of Days.

Cybil. Gracious and compassionate. Faithful and true. Elijah did not hesitate to give his testimony when Brother Melchior requested it. Her friendship and faith helped solidify his search when he first came to the Triumverate seeking the true path. When it came time for Cybil's test and trial before Ilmater, Elijah was the first one on his knees praying for her strength and endurance. When she stepped out as a full-fledged initiate of Ilmater, he was quick on his feet praising the Triad. It was a wondrous day indeed. And it was a day to celebrate!

The Crossroads was full of food and rejoicing friends. The food was exotic and the company was joyous. And sure enough, it had to happen. The first few began to collapse, their hands clutching the pain in their stomachs. The food was poisoned! And then the mysterious darkness came. Large shadowy beasts sprung out and began to attack the weakened heroes. Banite lords appeared from nowhere and followed suit.

Elijah began to attack the large shadows. One collapsed and another faded away as well. Suddenly however, the enchantments surrounding him began to fade. One by one, they were being dispelled. With his defenses weakened, the blow he was expecting came. Caught unaware, the large Banite knight struck him from his flank with ungodly strength. Within a few blows, Elijah was reeling. The force sent him across the field and Elijah lay bleeding and unconscious, his bones broken in many pieces.

Had he known what would happen next, his spirit would have forced his broken body to rise and fight for Julia's freedom. Had he been conscious when Cybil offered herself up, he would have stopped her. Had he known of Clive's capture, he would have "interrogated" him himself for his hand in all this. But he wasn't. Elijah was neither conscious nor would he have had the strength to stop any of it. He will awake hearing all this after all was said and done. He will awake with a new passion in his heart: to slay every Banite that crosses his path...


(((Darn you, PL. I was trying to get this in before you could post. :P Oh well. It was a great event. Kudos! Since I had to log before I could help finish this, I'll RP that my PC was incapacitated for the rest of the event.))

[Landaren]

The name Neradnal was throw around a bit this night, could it really be the same man?

Wasn't he slain by Hano? Or was that some fake, a man trying to make a new for himself by claiming to be of the Ill'Koresh blood line.

Or perhaps this man was not Neradnal, but a replacement sent to spread fear into the hearts of the people that thought he had fallen. Bane's work had been done, reguardless of the mans real Identity.


The shadows quickly encompassed the feasting grounds, and with it the sounds and cries of the Banite attackers. A large armor clad man with a massive sword shined through the darkness, slashing the first Paladin that fumbled his way through the shadows. The man fell, cleaved in two by the might blow. He quickly found his next target and the next and the next, with each blow it seemed another man fell.

Before long the battle field had become hard to traverse, the bodies had piled high. The blow meant to kill Elijah had been deflected by some of the tent ropes, thus saving the poor man from being cut down. He looked up assessing the battle field, trying to take count of the number of men he had lost. Two, Clive was no were to be found, and the Hell Hound he had summoned seemed to have fallen in the battle as well. Furious at the loss of a brother he quickly stole away a woman, and made off towards the Abaddon.

She was light to him, or perhaps it was Bane's strength that was flowing through his vains at the moment. What ever the case he made good time, quickly reaching the Abaddon before any would-be tracks had time to catch up. He threw the woman against a tree, having one of his henchmen tie her hands and feet.