Wandering Wolves: And In the Spring...

Olarune 28 - Eyre 25, YK 1000

Almost two months pass, as winter finally gives way to spring on Eberron. The Wolves' Reward remains busy, although it does lose some of its business to Stormhome, as the nicer weather encourages some of the idle rich to travel there for a bit of resort living.

With the prodding by William, and almost no argument from Diarmand, the security arrangement at the Wolves' Reward is changed. Maresh, healed back almost fully by House Jorasco experts, takes on the role of Head of Security at the casino, with Diarmand serving as his deputy. The result is tighter security overall and a much closer eye on the subversive elements that William might despise, but Pel and Lysander subtly encourage in order to cultivate information trafficking. Maresh's tactical mind and attention to detail results in tight security, but Diarmand takes on more of a wandering rogue role at the bars and tables, keeping his ear out for anything juicy that might require the attention of Maresh or, more often, Pel or Lysander.

Events are hardly quiet on Galifar's Hope, either. Though the Wolves aren't officially involved, they do hear a lot of chatter from diplomats and their aides in the bars, especially with Pel adopting different identities to listen to different people.

The good news is that the treaty that ended the Sigilstar conflict has been extended until the end of the month of Dravago, which will also be the end of spring. Trade routes are being reopened, and most of the ambassadors are optimistic that the treaty will be extended into summer, and then indefinitely, before the end of Dravago. As of the month of Therendor, the Sigilstar Alliance is officially disbanded, and many of those recruited into military service are sent back to civilian life, including the airship Golden Dragon, which is being converted into a grand diplomatic vessel to be berthed at Galifar's Hope as a transport for ambassadors.

There's still some tension in the ambassadorial meetings, however. One of the minor bones of contention is that Scabbard, ambassador for the Lord of Blades, is asking for permission to defend Mournland borders against looters, which they say is a violation of their sovereignty, and prevents them from establishing any kind of stable, non-violent nation for warforged. In exchange, the other nations want the Lord of Blades to dispatch warforged to search for bodies, equipment, information from the war era and ship it back to those nations. However, the sticking point is that they don't trust the Lord of Blades, and they want to send inspectors of their own to lead these missions, which is unacceptable, according to Scabbard. The Lord of Blades views this as nothing more than espionage under a cover of recovering lost national property, and to be fair, he's probably more right than wrong.

More importantly, things are really heating up between Aundair and Thrane, and there are days when their ambassadorial staff aren't even talking to one another. Security has even had to break up a few near-brawls in The Wanderer's Prospect and Rorsa's Den. Aundair assumed that the end of the war with Droaam was going to see Thaliost returned to them, and they insist that regardless of what happened with the war, Thrane owes it to them to return that city back. Thrane, naturally, does not see it that way. Ambassador Neya ir'Krell has made a few remarks about "If we have to take it, we will" that Ambassador Prince ir'Wynarn insists are no less than calls for war. Currently, Brelish Ambassador Kemble is the voice of reason for Neya, and Karrnathi Ambassador Sedge Avadarrn is the voice of reason for Prince ir'Wynarn, but the tensions run higher every day. Both have privately expressed that an Aundarian-Thrane conflict could be the match that re-ignites the Last War, and this is exactly the kind of thing Galifar's Hope was built to avoid.

Perhaps the most notable event for the Wolves, if not for Khorvaire as a whole, is the spring wedding of Lysander Llywellyn d'Phiarlan and Arenydee d'Phiarlan. The lavish ceremony is held in Cloudpool Park in Skyway in Sharn, with a reception at the Azure Gateway Restaurant. There are performances by House Phiarlan, and the ceremony is officiated by Baron Elvinor herself. Many of the Wolves friends and allies from their adventures are in attendance. As for the honeymoon? Only Lysander and Arenydee know, but they return to the Wolves' Reward happy, healthy and with perhaps a few new scrapes indicating an adventure or two along with their vacation in the month of Eyre.

Luggoth:
Though he may not tell the Wolves about it, Luggoth has been making friends, or at least acquaintances, in a variety of places. During his time in Passage, he was approached by a Tiefling who called himself Therin and said that he was a representative of The Order of Q'annhyrde. Therin endeared himself to Luggoth, despite his sinister exterior, by expressing nothing but disdain for the Prophecy, the "arrogant" Dragons who "mostly invented it" and the Demons who "foolishly follow the plans their enemies the Dragons lay out for them." Therin told Luggoth that he represented a group that thought it was the time of Mortals, not Dragons and Demons, and that Luggoth should reject what the Prophecy and its advocates told him, and just live for the moment.

Since then, Therin has visited Luggoth a few times, offering up names of contacts in various places allied with his organization, which some might refer to as a cult, although they deliberately eschew any religious trappings or indeed worship of anything. This includes Kira, a Tiefling Wizard of no small power who makes her home in Stormreach in Xen'drik and throws frequent parties for members of The Order. When Luggoth mentioned that the Wolves might be going to Xen'drik for a job or two, Therin gave him a half-dozen invitations to Kira's party at the beginning of Dravago.

Luggoth knows that Therin is sinister, perhaps even evil, but his nihilistic views fit in nicely with some of Luggoth's, and having someone tell him that he's not destined to do anything horrible (or even great) is something of a relief.

On the other hand, Savannah absolutely despises Therin, and has stopped just short of branding him a heretic, knowing that to do so might drive Luggoth away. However, she has put Luggoth in touch with Father Mizar Talandro, a retired paladin of the Silver Flame who was the priest who brought Savannah and Borgath to Sharn, and is a shifter himself.

Mizar Talandro is a shifter in his early sixties who was once a paladin of the Silver Flame, but has now settled into the role of a traveling priest. Unlike many shifters, he holds no grudge against the Silver Flame, in large part because of what happened to his family during the Inquisition. In 840 YK, about a hundred years before Mizar was born, his family was nearly wiped out by the lycanthropic plague infecting Thrane. Only the intervention of the Inquisition saved Mizar's great-grandmother, who was adopted by the Talandro family. Mizar's branch of the family, though shifters all, were brought up to worship in the faith and to despise the lycanthropes that had nearly killed all of them.

In his youth, Mizar was a fiery crusader against demonic and lycanthropic influences, but time and experience has mellowed him. He still believes in the existence of evil, but rather than fighting with swords, he tries to fight with words and thoughts, as he believes that no one mortal is beyond salvation. He also believes that their salvation is ultimately up to them, and all he can offer is guidance. Though he speaks softly and intelligently as a priest, when talking with other adventurers, who can tell stories with the best of them, and his priestly veneer drops to reveal the former adventurer who raided dungeons and battled monsters across the face of Khorvaire. Lysander actually finds him to be quite entertaining and full of stories, and William can talk to him warrior to warrior with little difficulty.

He talks with Luggoth about the struggles with violence, with destiny and with religion. As a shifter and former adventurer, his approach to the Silver Flame is much more palatable to Luggoth, although the life he offers is one that is more restrained and more guarded than the one that Therin suggests.

William
There is a new addition to the House Deneith complement at the Wolves' Reward. Karola d'Deneith, an 18-year-old dragonmarked heir from an influential bloodline, has come to continue her training as a blademark under the personal guidance of Maresh d'Deneith. Uncle Maresh also tipped off William that Karola is someone that his mother would very much like William to marry, although she knows better than to try and push them together. Instead, she has sent Karola to train under Maresh, where she's likely to see William quite a bit.

Karola, for her part, is as tough as one would expect from a Deneith heir, and very eager to please Maresh, whose tactical brilliance she has studied in school. After meeting William, she has developed an obvious crush on him, thanks in no small part to tales told by Sharri d'Deneith. However, she doesn't try to win William's affections with flirtation of a standard kind... instead, she's constantly challenging him to combats in the training hall. And constantly losing, because while she's a promising young Blademark, she's nowhere near William's skill level.

Early in this month (Eyre), Lalia d'Deneith, one of the twins who serves as the leading Sentinel Marshals in Sharn, reviewed William's application to become a Sentinel Marshl. With recommendations from General Karlach and his work with Vadis and Orlok, he has been accepted into the Sentinel Marshals and made deputy to Resolute. This still grants him plenty of independence, it just means that from time to time, Resolute will check in on him and might request that William accompany him on missions.

The next such mission is one that William, and the Wolves, will probably enjoy. Halas Martain, formerly of the Wayfinder Foundation, is wanted for his part in the slaughter of a Korranberg expedition aboard the Shining Dragonfly. Information has reached the Sentinel Marshals that Martain has been spotted in the jungles of Xen'drik, and given that the Wolves have met Martain, and were there when the massacre happened, Resolute has asked for their help in tracking down Martain and bringing him in to be questioned. The Wolves have hazy memories that Martain was transformed into a frog, but they don't remember why they thought that, and clearly if he's been spotted in Xen'drik, it's not true in any case.

Lysander
Probably the most notable event in Lysander's life is his successful marriage to Arenydee, who is now officially Arenydee Llywellyn d'Phiarlan. It's up to you where the two of them went on their honeymoon, and what adventures they got up to.

Lysander is given a wedding gift from his mother, a Songbow of Vanishment +4 that is a family heirloom, and has a proud history of use by the bards of the Elorrenthi family dating back over twenty thousand years to the days before the Mark of Shadow manifested, when the Phiarlan line were spies and mediators for the court of Aerenal at its height. Rumor has it that there is a songblade with an even more powerful enchantment that was the companion to the bow, but the conflicting stories and gaps in the tales make it hard to determine where it might be now. Smart money is either in Xen'drik, Aerenal or perhaps even Argonnessen.

Pel
Pel has been quite busy in the past two months, spending days in different identities and different cities, and even in different nations. His protectorate of organized crime is mainly in Sharn, but Boromar ties back to the Talenta Plains, the Daask tie back to Droaam and the Tyrants' expansion under the guidance of Vadis has left broken tendrils throughout Khorvaire that Pel has been trying to snip off for good.

The Boromar have been mostly moving in on the Sharn City Council, increasing their political power. They have managed to take the seat that was once Sava Kharisa's, playing on the distrust of "Councilor Pel," and they have discovered the truth about Councilor Kilik, who is an invention of the Tyrants, providing them with blackmail to neutralize one of their most powerful political opponents. There are only two councilors left who effectively oppose Boromar influence on the council: Hruit, the powerful druid from Middle Dura, and Borian Haldorak, an older dwarf who represents Upper Dura. Both of these men have power and secrets of their own, but Pel has been ordered to keep his ears open for potential attempts at blackmailing or eliminating them by the Boromars.

The Daask, though nearly broken by Vadis's machinations, have begun recovering thanks to the weakening of the Tyrants and the restoration of trade routes between Breland and Droaam. Muscle and money is coming in from Droaam once more. In fact, the Daask have a few bookies and enforcers working at the Wolves' Reward, with the protection of Ambassador Crezyan Rrac. Lysander and Pel are able to keep tabs on them fairly easily through their own networks, and the Daask provide some useful information, so their presence is tolerated. For now.

The Tyrants, meanwhile, under the guidance of their new Tyrant One and a mostly new council, are keeping a very low profile. Only their most profitable brothels and information-gathering operations are still running, and nothing that draws the attention of the Watch is operating right now. Pel keeps his eye on them because he knows, better than most, what they're capable of, and how quickly they could become a threat, but mostly he's spending his time eliminating the expansion his father made into other nations that could come back to threaten Brelish interests, rather than focusing on their minimal operations in Sharn.

Pel has a flow of information coming to him at all times. Of particular interest, he has heard that Xain, his half-brother, might be operating with the Bilge Rats in Xen'drik. He has also planted rumors of Brelish agents hunting Vadis across Khorvaire, to keep up the illusion that his father might not be dead.

Pel has an operative at the casino who needs a name and basic information. He also needs to appoint someone to run Sava Kharisa's Gallery in Sharn, which he now owns.

Brand
The trial of Aeromus d'Orien vs. Traega d'Orien has been set for Dravago, the late spring. The Sivis lawyers for both sides have a small army of investigators working across two continents to find information on the case, which ties into events that go back decades across Khorvaire and Xen'drik.

Tworock and Saia Borath both came to Khorvaire to attend the wedding of Lysander and Arenydee, although Saia came in disguise. They informed Brand that Yanesh Hite is operating as The Native for the time being, as well as acting as his diplomat, and they're still using the guidance of Medrea's prophecies, but Yanesh is stretched to the limit, and they really need someone else to take over if the Native's operation is to continue. Saia would like to return to Khorvaire and stay at the Wolves' Reward, despite its proximity to her Ashbound problems in the Eldeen Reaches and potential trouble with her aberrant dragonmark, but Tworock intends to stay in Xen'drik for the time being. They both suggested that Yanesh come to Khorvaire, but he was insistent that he couldn't spare the time. Both of them seem to agree that the Native's operation might have served its purpose, and they might be better off disbanding it before Yanesh really gets himself into trouble.

Speaking of trouble, there are rumors of trouble with a couple of Orien caravans. A couple of incidents have happened where the passengers have turned murderous and cannibalistic, ending with nearly everyone dead, and one mad, dangerous patron having to be put down by security. No one is entirely sure what has caused this.

The sword that Brand recovered from Caela d'Orien turns out to be a long lost blade from the Order of the Eldritch Knights. The Order, formed some 1,800 years ago, was an elite force of swordmages who traveled across Galifar, just as the other scions of House Orien did, but while most of House Orien was concerned with the transference of people, cargo or information, the Eldrich Knights were concerned with the transference of justice. They were freelance protectors who fought for the weak against anyone who would try to oppress them, from wandering monsters and bandits to corrupt lords and even some Dragonmarked Houses. They earned powerful enemies as a result, and eventually political machinations backed by physical force found the knights destroyed.

The last knight fell on the same day in 894 YK that King Jarot died, and some argue that the Kingdom of Galifar died on that day as well. Most of the Eldritch Knights' panoply of magical blades, boots, medallion, bracers, belts and gauntlets had been destroyed when the individual knights died, but the gear of the last knight was given to various noble families in House Orien, and then stolen, lost or hidden over the course of the Last War. It's clear that the blade found its way into the hands of Caela d'Orien's family... where the rest of the gear went will require investigation.