The Legend of the Brave

Day 11

Tara was awakened by one of her old classmates from the woodcraft school, who had 

been sent with a message from Prince Shinybottom, inviting her to lunch at the royal palace. 

She murdered some innocent herons, ate them with her pack, and set off toward the palace.

Emma, Freya, Willthilas, and Siegfried were awakened by Skullthorn servants, who informed 

them that there was a visitor awaiting their pleasure. The visitor was a royal messenger with 

the same lunchtime invitation that had been sent to Tara. After a good, filling breakfast, Emma 

and Freya visited their mother again, and tried to evict Tiffany from the manor, but were denied. 

They then went home and tried to talk to Tiffany, but their cousin would not even open her door 

to speak to them. Siegfried went window­shopping for new armor, and Willthilas stopped by the 

temple for a quick prayer.

The party gathered at the palace and were escorted into a small dining room for a lunch with 

the prince, and a roguish­looking elf with curly black hair and a constant overconfident sneer, 

who was introduced as Ezio the Swift, an agent of the prince’s. The Prince stated that his other 

agents were still looking into Relgin, and that he had discovered rumors of a mercenary named 

“Relgin” that had been part of a mercenary band from about five years ago, but no other, more 

recent, information has been discovered as of yet. However, a new matter had been brought 

to the prince’s attention involving unusual behavior by the members of the Fighter’s Guild 

in Leafytown. Ezio was to guide them to the guild and Introduce them to a member named 

“Steve,” who would serve as their point of contact.

While walking to the guild, the party heard people talking about a tragic accident at the practice 

field. Apparently, a practice blade had snapped and shot into the crowd, severing the arm of a 

human cleric from foreign lands (Templar). Another shard had also pierced his eye, half-
blinding him. The clerics at the temple had been able to stabilize him, but his wounds were not 

regenerated yet. Nor was it likely that they would be...

As the party approached the guild, the sound of shouting and raised voices became clear, and 

they entered to see a pair of fighters being physically restrained from duelling each other by 

their comrades. The party managed to calm things down a bit and get the two of them 

separated. Steve, as it turned out, was one of the two that was being restrained, and the other 

was his close friend “Tate.” The party was having some difficulty in sorting out the affair, but 

was somewhat cheered by the arrival of Festus, at the prince’s request. Festus was able to 

pacify each of the elves in turn and establish that the root of the conflict was a maiden named 

“Elfinia,” that had been spending a lot of time with Tate. Steve had insulted her, Tate had tried 

to defend her honor, tempers flared, and thus had begun the fight that the party had walked in 

on. The party convinced the guildmaster to restrain the pair of them for now while they sought 

answers from Elfinia.

Discovering that she was staying at The Dancing Manticore, the party set off to the tavern to 

meet with her. Elfinia seemed to be a friendly, innocent, and slightly flirtatious shopkeeper, a 

detail that caused Tara and Freya no small discomfort as she flirted fairly shamelessly with 

Ezio, Siegfried, and Willthilas, though the priest did not seem interested in her. She expressed 

concern that she might have been the cause of the disagreement at the Fighter’s guild, and was 

comforted by Ezio. She took heart at this and invited the entire party to a worship ceremony 

dedicated to Kord that she and some compatriots from the Fighter’s Guild were having in the 

woods that sunset. Tara, Festus, and Siegfried left right away to examine the site of the 

ceremony, while the others stayed behind with Elfinia. Elfinia explained that she ran a small 

flower shop near the Noble Quarter, and continued to try and find excuses to be alone with 

Ezio, though his chaperones, Emma, Willthilas, and Freya refused to allow this. Eventually, she 

stated that she had to leave to make arrangements for the ceremony, and the four remaining 

members of the party began traveling to the ceremony site.

Arriving early, Tara played fetch with Fang, her wolf companion, Siegfried took a nap, and 

Festus examined the area. The site contained a palisade wall, rows of trestle benches, and a 

carved wooden statue of Kord that had had his hair, beard, and blade painted red. Festus was 

unable to articulate why, but the statue made him very uneasy.

Shortly after, fighters began arriving along with the other members of the party. Among the 

fighters was Tate, apparently having been released from the Guild in order to attend the 

ceremony. Elfinia entered and thanked everyone for coming, and began praising the devotion 

of those present, stating that during this time of harvest, such bonds became more important 

than ever. She took out a scroll and began speaking in what some of the party recognized as 

Draconic, and Festus shouted “Stop her!!”

As the party stood, Elfinia dropped the scroll, and shrieked that the party were vile traitors and 

that they wanted to kill her, at which point the fighters drew weapons and blocked the PCs from 

advancing. After a pitched battle, where the party was somewhat hampered by not wishing to 

kill the ensorcelled fighters, Elfinia stood revealed as a succubus. Though badly injured, she 

managed to escape after Ezio stabbed her in the chest by draining some of his life energy, 

throwing him bodily at Siegfried, and flying off into the night.

After her escape, the party helped the injured fighters back to Leafytown and spent the night at 

Skullthorn Manor (except Tara, who slept in a tree).