The first 48 hours are a bit of a scramble. The castle is letting in refugees but is also under siege by undead. Prince Raffolk has been slain by six unlikely heroes, or maybe villains. Prince Oron and Princess Breschka are now trying to take hold of the castle and its staff, all the while save the citizens of Dravens (and foreign nationals) who happened to be in Dravens’ Port for the event. Suffice to say things are chaotic. While the heavy rain has stopped, a light rainfall continues through the night and into the morning. Most people have little time to rest or sleep. Much of the castle is abandoned and hasn’t been used in decades. In some rooms, critters or even squatters have taken up residence. Events begin after a discussion with Oron and Breschka in their new den. The party then goes back to the study to finish divvying up the loot and getting things in order. After finishing, they all trickle out of the study one by one to begin their individual individuals. The party splits up over the next few days, but they all see each other on a regular basis. While they all step into different niches in the castle, the ongoing investigation about the undead, the dark goblin, the scrolls, and the mystery of the gargoyle continues. As the investigation continues, so does the rain and armies of undead. They say things get worst before they get better, and the next 48 hours are particularly terrible for guards, soldiers and defenders. The undead assault the city, the people, and the castle 24 hours a day. Meanwhile, scouts, priests, and militia members continue to bring refugees into the castle regularly. While the castle was nearly abandoned when they first arrived, now new areas are starting to be opened up and used as the main areas begin filling up with too many refugees. Cassius Eager for more battle Cassius spends the night on the front lines. Meanwhile, surprised at his new found wealth, he issues a request for platemail to be specially crafted by the local armorer to include the symbol of Bahamut on the breastplate. Unfortunately they don’t have anyone with the skills (or time) necessary to do the engraving or make the armor. One of the Nards offers to have the work done both quickly and cheap [I’m assuming Cassius turns him down]. Cassius approaches Breschka, both are in full armor. However, his is stained with the blood of his allies and the powdered bones of his foes. Magical longsword aside, his warhammer still seems his most trusted weapon against the skeletons. However, his new longsword does seem well suited towards fighting the zombies. He asks for a moment of her time in a busy hallway with troops running about. He intends to ask about his killing of her father. Maybe she sees it in his face, but near the end of his shift and at the point of exhaustion [2 levels of exhaustion], he is neither suave nor witty. Breschka pulls him aside, thanks him for his service and sends him to bed post haste. Just a few hours later in the night, guards are calling for reinforcements. Cassius drags himself out of bed and begins putting on his armor. He looks around and realizes some of his fighting-men from before have laid down in the floor to his room, with most of the barracks being filled with wounded. As he finishes strapping on his armor and walks out the door Breschka stands in his way. “You killed my father.” she says to him. Cassius, half-awake, spends a few minutes and mostly just blinks [1 level of exhaustion]. “Thank you.” She says. “Now get out there and defend this castle” she shouts loud enough that even Cassius’ dead-asleep friends start stirring. She turns and walks away in her clean plate armor. By the Third Day Cassius has made a couple of friends on the front lines the first two days: A Nard named Vudigs who uses a great-mace with excellent proficiency to smash skeleton heads. He’s also well known as an excellent lookout and often calls out danger long before anyone else even knows what is going on. Cassius notices Vudigs has a little bit of magic of some kind, but he’s not sure how much. The elf Carric has shown up. He doesn’t say much, but walks into combat with two short swords and doesn’t leave until all the enemies are slain or Cassius is dragging Carric’s unconscious body back to the healers, which happens more than once. Cassius doesn’t know if Carric recognizes him or not, but Carric shares a certain “disregard” for his own life that Cassius can empathize with. A grungy orc fighter shows up, wielding a maul and wearing platemail. He looks familiar but in his exhausted state he can’t seem to place him [It is Feng from the inn]. While grizzled, the orc seems to be relentless and almost mythically tireless. Any time Cassius is at the front lines, Feng is with him. Ailekk joins the battle on more than one occasion. If he sees Cassius in a fight he flies (no longer fearing the reprisal of the dragons) into the fight, keeping low for fear of enemy archers. Cassius learns that Ailekk is much less effective in the dark or at night, not having his innate ability to see in the dark. Rurrick will go along at night, to help scout and fight when needed. During the day he is busy minding his brewery or sleeping. He would likely invite Cassius and his crew when they come in from the front lines to have a drink so he could listen to their stories. Always being pleasant (but not overly pleasant) and listening. By the 4th day Cassius has finally had a chance to sleep. With some buildings fortified outside of the castle, bunking is a little bit better. He has found himself sleeping in the den of Oron and Brescka (at her request) because his room is full of his troops. After a full 12 hours of sleep, he is finally not completely exhausted [Exhaustion 0]. Cassius wakes up and sees a suit of plate mail (no emblem of Bahamut, but a symbol of bahamut painted in blood on the chest) sitting next to him along with some cold mutton and beans. After eating voraciously, Cassius sees Oron walks in the room. After studying Cassius for a moment from head to toe he nods and says “Courtesy of the new regime” and leaves. Breschka walks in not long after as Cassius is studying the armor. She is wearing armor covered in blood. “The fighting is no longer between us and undead.” She says and begins unbuckling her plate. “For a time everyone was united. It was all us versus them, that time is no more. The gangs have returned to being gangs, the brigands to brigands, the racial hatreds have rekindled.” [Cassius makes a comment] “This is my old armor, when I first became a warrior of truth. It should be yours now. I take no pleasure at what I did or who I slaughtered tonight. You asked about the Talismans. What I know is that they come from ancient Dravens. Or did, rather. Their make has not been present in these lands for some time. Thousands of years. Our land is ancient enough that people argue about Dravens’ race, gender, and how she ascended to power. What we do know is that she did so with help. A party of great warriors and friends carved out this land.” She stops and looks directly at Cassius, “Dravens pre-dates Shrive. By a fair thousand years or so.” “The talismans should have never come back to these lands. Shrive is not the first dark lord or lady to set their eyes on these lands. If you will bring me the scrolls you and your friends found I will examine them, and see what I can do.” She laughs, “As a child I was more of a scholar than a warrior. This just kind of, happened.” “I apologize for the makeshift symbol of Bahamut, I was a bit angry when I drew it. When we can find a proper engraver we will have this suit modified for the mean time. If you don’t want to wear it until then I completely understand.” “I must ask, where are the other talismans you and your party found? They should be returned and kept safe until we figure out what to do with them.” [Assuming Cassius tells her] “We’ll take care of it then, when we can. You should suit up. There is much to do, Sergeant.”
