Chains, Council, and the Fall of Al'ean

Disaster / Destruction

Two weeks pass as Warren languishes in a city holding cell, alone and disgraced. He receives a single visitor—his mother, Genevieve Alder, who has traveled from Afield to retrieve Rikar’s soulless body and collect the symbolic earring of martial rank. Their conversation is brief, marked by Warren’s crushing shame and Genevieve’s silent inner conflict. She departs before either can speak what truly weighs on their hearts.

Three days later, Warren is summoned before a partial council tribunal where he meets:

• Dalamar Selecia, a stoic, severe high elf and Captain of the Al’ean Guard, and
• Councilwoman Lizili Qienan, a serpentine yuan-ti dignitary from Nelanor.

To Warren’s surprise, the charges against him are dropped entirely. Dalamar explains, through gritted teeth, that a higher authority—one with influence even beyond the council—has ordered Warren’s release. He names the slain guard, Gregory Thatcher, a dear friend, and warns Warren that justice will come—one way or another.

As Warren is handed his effects and released, he is met by Lenora Tenari, Chief of Staff to Helena Daughtry, acting Royal Envoy and Warren’s betrothed. Lenora gently informs Warren that it was Helena who intervened, leveraging her growing political clout on the Royal Council to suppress the charges and keep Warren’s future intact. She encourages him to travel to Edoran, where Helena awaits, and speak with her directly—sooner rather than later.

That evening, Warren is approached in a shadowed alley by the assassin, a striking fairfolk woman with brown skin and glowing red eyes. She hands Warren a teleportation scroll, claiming her “employer” is intrigued by him and wishes to speak in time. She vanishes in a mist of shadow, leaving Warren haunted by questions:

• Why didn’t House Nevroti pursue him legally?
• Was Baron Oswin shielding himself from exposure?
• What was the true nature of the experiments referenced in Oswin’s notes?
• Who is this "employer" the woman was talking about?
• Had Helena risked her status for him?
• And what of his family’s view on these spiraling events?

But these questions are abruptly silenced.

As Warren walks the vibrant evening streets of Al’ean, a sudden explosion tears through the cobblestones at his feet, launching him through a nearby market stall. Smoke, fire, and screams erupt around him. More explosions follow.

From the ruptured ground pour orcs and goblins, twisted and mind-controlled, their eyes vacant. Warren quickly calls forth Lunatiel and fends off their attacks, sparing those he can. But the horror escalates as Bodaks, terrifying undead whose very gaze can extinguish life, emerge from the chaos.

Amidst the pandemonium, a greater threat descends—Black Mage Mesuli, the tortle necromancer, mounted on a skeletal wyvern. He hails Warren by name and taunts him, revealing that he still holds Rikar’s soul. Warren attempts to reach him, but Mesuli stays aloft, unleashing more undead upon the city.

Just as hope begins to fade, the sky is pierced by flame and shadow—I’na Brightstar, riding a Nightmere, crashes into the battle. Radiating holy fire and wielding her divine magic, she confronts Mesuli directly. With a hiss of fear and fury, the necromancer flees north, and I’na gives chase, leaving Warren behind to deal with the wreckage.

Warren presses on, cutting through the chaos to reach House Nevroti, guided by an ethereal voice—Cassidy’s, impossibly alive and calling to him. Injured and battle-worn, he races through the fire-lit streets, past fleeing citizens and crumbling homes, toward the estate that holds the final pieces of this unraveling mystery.