The Narthwich Affair

Life, Career

In the summer of 881 AF, a scandal briefly stirred within the mountain town of Narthwich when Baron Igor Sokolov, known for his ambition and pride, acquired a signet ring he believed to be proof of noble bloodline—only for it to vanish from mention weeks later. Unbeknownst to most, the event was the work of the traveling merchant Jakov Novik and a sharp-eyed youth named Karol, who infiltrated the Baron’s estate under false pretenses, planting forged documents to support the ring’s legitimacy. Their ruse culminated in a dramatic auction and a sizeable payout before pursuit forced the pair to flee west. The chase ended in a violent wagon crash into the Culcheth River, sweeping them into the swamplands beyond. While the incident was quickly buried in courtly silence, it marked the beginning of Karol’s rise as a cunning scoundrel—and the moment he recovered a strange, ancient medallion from the wreckage, a relic that now shadows his path with increasingly dark dreams.