Upon hearing rumours of Duke Ynedar's speech cancellation, the party were then approached by a worried looking Captain Burlio. He reported that the Duke had gone missing along with Father Leandro, and that he needed their help. Fenya, Lanky and Orlan withdrew to tend to injuries, meanwhile, Wulf turned up late to the party.

They followed Burlio back to the fortress, where they were met with Belia. She was pleased to see them this time, and told them what had happened. The Duke had taken Leandro to meet with Sister Malina, the head of the Whip of Prios, for him to be questioned about the murder of Armanda. The Duke had gone with Leandro and two bodyguards, not telling anyone else, but fortunately his valet had told Belia where he'd gone - to one of his secret meeting locations, the Blue Moon warehouse in Barbarian Town.

Belia realised the folly of this, it was likely a trap. She admitted to the party that the Duke had ties to the Reformists and it was likely he that Malina was after. She'd sent some guards to the warehouse, but all they found were the corpses of the two bodyguards. She now begged the party to help, offering them 100 thaler each. They agreed and headed to the warehouse.

They arrived as it was approaching midnight. The warehouse was pretty empty, but had an obvious area for meetings, with comfortable chairs, and even a king-sized bed. They found the 2 corpses; one appeared to have been stabbed in the back and the other garrotted. There was evidence however, that someone had escaped, with scuff marks by the door and an arrow lodged in the wall. There were also feathers from some sort of black bird on the floor.

It made sense to try and track where the escapee and their pursuers had gone. They followed tracks out to the countryside with the help of Wolve the wolf, but eventually lost them. Then they noticed a raven up ahead, making a weird cawing noise, and waiting for them to follow. The city watch refused too, saying it was a bad omen, but Maddox decided to follow, along with the others.

The raven took them to an ancient ruin, excavated on a hill, and flew off quickly. the ruin was two floors, with the roof caved in, and windows on all sides. Outside the ruin were four horses. It appeared that the chase had ended up here. Brunt decided to sneak up and investigate, noticing someone peering out of the back window but no-one else. Maddox came closer, but was too noisy, alerting a previously hidden look-out at the front window. Maddox quickly used misty step to get under cover further away. Wulf hung back, bow at the ready.

The two people inside came out to investigate the noise, surprised to not seen anything where Maddox had previously been. One of them was the knight who they'd previously seen on the carriage of the Whip of Prios, the other a tough looking black cloak. The party ambushed them, with a surprise attack. They won without too much trouble, thought the assailants put up a good fight. However, two more enemies then appeared from the ruin, another black cloak, and the other person they'd seen on the Whip's carriage, a holy looking figure with a whip and flail. Again, the party were victorious.

They entered into the ruin and down the stairs to the basement, hearing someone weakly calling for help. On heading down, they found a weary and bedraggled looking Duke Ynedar, dragging himself from a hiding hole. He thanked them for saving him--any later and he would have been captured. After introductions, the Duke admitted that he had ordered Armanda's murder with the witch Algaya. Armanda had been blackmailing him as she knew of his involvements with the reformists--in fact, he was their leader in the New Beretor region. Armanda had wanted him to incriminate other reformists clergy and pay her a lot of money. He spoke about it light heartedly, like it was an "oopsie", so Maddox soon berated him, saying it had prompted the the murders.

Ynedar realised he shouldn't have been so flippant, and also thanked the party for killing Galdam and his Black Cloaks. He also asked them to keep his involvement quiet; whilst he believed he could bring the queen around to his cause, he didn't want to openly be known as a heretic at this point, nor be accused of as a murderer. He then asked for their help, promising to pay more thaler to each, as well as help finance  The Returners expedition in Davokar. Sister Malina was still out there and she had Leandro. If she got him to confess, she would have the proof she needed against the Duke; she needed to be stopped.

The party agreed, and were then approached by the same raven, who turned out to be Algaya in animal form. She had helped Ynedar escape from the warehouse, and had tracked him here. She had also tracked Malina to a farm nearby, and told the party the way. She then took Ynedar back to the town. The party took the horses and headed to the farm. Malina was waiting for them there, grinning. They were too late, Leandro had cracked. He had a finger missing and several teeth, and was in a state, but alive. Malina said it was a shame the other members of the Whip were dead, but didn't seem too bothered. She then told them due to the Duke's heresy's, she'd given the order to Ervano Vearra--one of the chief commanders of the Fallen Templars--to burn Ravenia to the ground. Whilst the knights of dead Prios were technically heretics themselves in the eyes of the Curia, they had their uses, and had a common enemy--the Reformists, so Malina had no issue working with Ervano.

Malina put up no fight. After Wulf stabbed her with an arrow, Maddox knocked her out and they took her back to Ravenia as a prisoner. They took a short rest, then headed back to town. When they arrived, they came into the middle of a war council, with Ynedar, Algaya, Burlio, and Belialia. Ynedar quickly promoted them all to lieutenants, thankful for their help--in fact, desperate for it. Algaya had found and scouted the enemy camp in raven form. There were 40 or so powerful knights camped an hour north, preparing to attack. The town watch only numbered 40 as well, and they were not even close to a match for the knights, so more troops were needed.

Ynedar spoke to Leandro to secure 8 healers of the church. Burlio spoke to the traders to enlist the help of about 20 body guards. Maddox headed to the Ordo Magika, securing 8 mages, but having to promise the Duke Ynedar would finance an expedition for them. Brunt went to the barbarian Molgara--she pledged 40 or so barbarians, but at a hefty price--the construction of a wall around barbarian town, a new set of laws allowing barbarians to move into the city and trade more easily, and a place on the council for her--Brunt had little choice but to agree. Finally, Wulf went to the taverns to enlist adventurers. He spoke to a leader of a large group and spent all of the gold stipend from the Duke on enlisting a dozen, plus more gold for the leader herself, and extra again for the troll, NoGood. All-in-all, the Duke had made a lot of promises, but now had 120 fighting men.

Then they talked about strategy. Ynedar wanted to defend from the mound, but that would sacrifice a large part of the city. Burlio called for meeting them on the field outside the town, protecting the towns people but losing any defensive advantage. Algaya wanted to attack them in their camp--risky but could pay off. And Belalia wanted to ambush them from within the town itself. In the end the party decided to man the main town walls, outside of the mound, but still in a protected position. They opened the gates, allowing all barbarian civilians to run inside the main town.

This meant they had a strong defensive stance, but the barbarian town was sacrificed. When the knights arrived, they put it to the torch. Then they attacked the walls. The defenders put up a good fight, and all seemed fine. Then something strange happened. The knights all disappeared then reappeared atop the walls! They had used a mix of invisibility and levitate to break through. All hell broke loose. Maddox, Wulf, and Brunt all played an important part in stopping a total collapse, and as the knights pushed into the city, the fight hung on a knife edge.

Both sides had lost about three quarters of their men. Then the party and the Duke found themselves in a stand-off with Ervano himself, and a couple of his remaining knights. He wielded a massive flaming great axe. Maddox did well to slow him down with magic, but it didn't stop him for long. He used the axe to devastating effect, knocking Maddox out with it easily, using a triple attack with additional fire damage. The others dispatch the knights, and healed Maddox, whilst wearing Ervano down, constantly afraid of the damage his axe could do.

He came very close to slaying Ynedar with it, but then Brunt managed to critically wound him. It was easy for Wulf to finish him off, saving Ynedar and the town. The battle was over, the Duke victorious, though at great cost--both in life and financially.

However, this was a new beginning. The events in Ravenia triggered a number of things. Ynedar was true to his word, and promised men and money for the Returners, for their expedition north.

He also highlighted what the Curia had done; the murders done by Brother Galdam were illegal and the Curia was getting out-of-control (whilst his murder of Armanda remained a secret). Though the Curia denied involvement, they didn't condemn Galdam's, Malina's and Ervano's actions either. Ynedar argued that surely this meant they had gone too far, that things needed to change, and that surely the time was ripe now for the queen to turn away from the Curia and move towards the Reformists.

Ynedar also became openly known as the leader and champion of the Reformists, and no-one seemed to challenge this, now that the Black Cloaks and the Curia had suffered a major beating in the region. It really did seem like times were changing, that the Reformists were on the cusp of taking power from the loyalists of the Curia. Now seemed as good a time as any for the queen to show her hand.

Upon hearing rumours of Duke Ynedar's speech cancellation, the party were then approached by a worried looking Captain Burlio. He reported that the Duke had gone missing along with Father Leandro, and that he needed their help. Fenya, Lanky and Orlan withdrew to tend to injuries, meanwhile, Wulf turned up late to the party.

They followed Burlio back to the fortress, where they were met with Belia. She was pleased to see them this time, and told them what had happened. The Duke had taken Leandro to meet with Sister Malina, the head of the Whip of Prios, for him to be questioned about the murder of Armanda. The Duke had gone with Leandro and two bodyguards, not telling anyone else, but fortunately his valet had told Belia where he'd gone - to one of his secret meeting locations, the Blue Moon warehouse in Barbarian Town.

Belia realised the folly of this, it was likely a trap. She admitted to the party that the Duke had ties to the Reformists and it was likely he that Malina was after. She'd sent some guards to the warehouse, but all they found were the corpses of the two bodyguards. She now begged the party to help, offering them 100 thaler each. They agreed and headed to the warehouse.

They arrived as it was approaching midnight. The warehouse was pretty empty, but had an obvious area for meetings, with comfortable chairs, and even a king-sized bed. They found the 2 corpses; one appeared to have been stabbed in the back and the other garrotted. There was evidence however, that someone had escaped, with scuff marks by the door and an arrow lodged in the wall. There were also feathers from some sort of black bird on the floor.

It made sense to try and track where the escapee and their pursuers had gone. They followed tracks out to the countryside with the help of Wolve the wolf, but eventually lost them. Then they noticed a raven up ahead, making a weird cawing noise, and waiting for them to follow. The city watch refused too, saying it was a bad omen, but Maddox decided to follow, along with the others.

The raven took them to an ancient ruin, excavated on a hill, and flew off quickly. the ruin was two floors, with the roof caved in, and windows on all sides. Outside the ruin were four horses. It appeared that the chase had ended up here. Brunt decided to sneak up and investigate, noticing someone peering out of the back window but no-one else. Maddox came closer, but was too noisy, alerting a previously hidden look-out at the front window. Maddox quickly used misty step to get under cover further away. Wulf hung back, bow at the ready.

The two people inside came out to investigate the noise, surprised to not seen anything where Maddox had previously been. One of them was the knight who they'd previously seen on the carriage of the Whip of Prios, the other a tough looking black cloak. The party ambushed them, with a surprise attack. They won without too much trouble, thought the assailants put up a good fight. However, two more enemies then appeared from the ruin, another black cloak, and the other person they'd seen on the Whip's carriage, a holy looking figure with a whip and flail. Again, the party were victorious.

They entered into the ruin and down the stairs to the basement, hearing someone weakly calling for help. On heading down, they found a weary and bedraggled looking Duke Ynedar, dragging himself from a hiding hole. He thanked them for saving him--any later and he would have been captured. After introductions, the Duke admitted that he had ordered Armanda's murder with the witch Algaya. Armanda had been blackmailing him as she knew of his involvements with the reformists--in fact, he was their leader in the New Beretor region. Armanda had wanted him to incriminate other reformists clergy and pay her a lot of money. He spoke about it light heartedly, like it was an "oopsie", so Maddox soon berated him, saying it had prompted the the murders.

Ynedar realised he shouldn't have been so flippant, and also thanked the party for killing Galdam and his Black Cloaks. He also asked them to keep his involvement quiet; whilst he believed he could bring the queen around to his cause, he didn't want to openly be known as a heretic at this point, nor be accused of as a murderer. He then asked for their help, promising to pay more thaler to each, as well as help finance  The Returners expedition in Davokar. Sister Malina was still out there and she had Leandro. If she got him to confess, she would have the proof she needed against the Duke; she needed to be stopped.

The party agreed, and were then approached by the same raven, who turned out to be Algaya in animal form. She had helped Ynedar escape from the warehouse, and had tracked him here. She had also tracked Malina to a farm nearby, and told the party the way. She then took Ynedar back to the town. The party took the horses and headed to the farm. Malina was waiting for them there, grinning. They were too late, Leandro had cracked. He had a finger missing and several teeth, and was in a state, but alive. Malina said it was a shame the other members of the Whip were dead, but didn't seem too bothered. She then told them due to the Duke's heresy's, she'd given the order to Ervano Vearra--one of the chief commanders of the Fallen Templars--to burn Ravenia to the ground. Whilst the knights of dead Prios were technically heretics themselves in the eyes of the Curia, they had their uses, and had a common enemy--the Reformists, so Malina had no issue working with Ervano.

Malina put up no fight. After Wulf stabbed her with an arrow, Maddox knocked her out and they took her back to Ravenia as a prisoner. They took a short rest, then headed back to town. When they arrived, they came into the middle of a war council, with Ynedar, Algaya, Burlio, and Belialia. Ynedar quickly promoted them all to lieutenants, thankful for their help--in fact, desperate for it. Algaya had found and scouted the enemy camp in raven form. There were 40 or so powerful knights camped an hour north, preparing to attack. The town watch only numbered 40 as well, and they were not even close to a match for the knights, so more troops were needed.

Ynedar spoke to Leandro to secure 8 healers of the church. Burlio spoke to the traders to enlist the help of about 20 body guards. Maddox headed to the Ordo Magika, securing 8 mages, but having to promise the Duke Ynedar would finance an expedition for them. Brunt went to the barbarian Molgara--she pledged 40 or so barbarians, but at a hefty price--the construction of a wall around barbarian town, a new set of laws allowing barbarians to move into the city and trade more easily, and a place on the council for her--Brunt had little choice but to agree. Finally, Wulf went to the taverns to enlist adventurers. He spoke to a leader of a large group and spent all of the gold stipend from the Duke on enlisting a dozen, plus more gold for the leader herself, and extra again for the troll, NoGood. All-in-all, the Duke had made a lot of promises, but now had 120 fighting men.

Then they talked about strategy. Ynedar wanted to defend from the mound, but that would sacrifice a large part of the city. Burlio called for meeting them on the field outside the town, protecting the towns people but losing any defensive advantage. Algaya wanted to attack them in their camp--risky but could pay off. And Belalia wanted to ambush them from within the town itself. In the end the party decided to man the main town walls, outside of the mound, but still in a protected position. They opened the gates, allowing all barbarian civilians to run inside the main town.

This meant they had a strong defensive stance, but the barbarian town was sacrificed. When the knights arrived, they put it to the torch. Then they attacked the walls. The defenders put up a good fight, and all seemed fine. Then something strange happened. The knights all disappeared then reappeared atop the walls! They had used a mix of invisibility and levitate to break through. All hell broke loose. Maddox, Wulf, and Brunt all played an important part in stopping a total collapse, and as the knights pushed into the city, the fight hung on a knife edge.

Both sides had lost about three quarters of their men. Then the party and the Duke found themselves in a stand-off with Ervano himself, and a couple of his remaining knights. He wielded a massive flaming great axe. Maddox did well to slow him down with magic, but it didn't stop him for long. He used the axe to devastating effect, knocking Maddox out with it easily, using a triple attack with additional fire damage. The others dispatch the knights, and healed Maddox, whilst wearing Ervano down, constantly afraid of the damage his axe could do.

He came very close to slaying Ynedar with it, but then Brunt managed to critically wound him. It was easy for Wulf to finish him off, saving Ynedar and the town. The battle was over, the Duke victorious, though at great cost--both in life and financially.

However, this was a new beginning. The events in Ravenia triggered a number of things. Ynedar was true to his word, and promised men and money for the Returners, for their expedition north.

He also highlighted what the Curia had done; the murders done by Brother Galdam were illegal and the Curia was getting out-of-control (whilst his murder of Armanda remained a secret). Though the Curia denied involvement, they didn't condemn Galdam's, Malina's and Ervano's actions either. Ynedar argued that surely this meant they had gone too far, that things needed to change, and that surely the time was ripe now for the queen to turn away from the Curia and move towards the Reformists.

Ynedar also became openly known as the leader and champion of the Reformists, and no-one seemed to challenge this, now that the Black Cloaks and the Curia had suffered a major beating in the region. It really did seem like times were changing, that the Reformists were on the cusp of taking power from the loyalists of the Curia. Now seemed as good a time as any for the queen to show her hand.