Prologue Session III.

Rhaine felt a strange comfort in the fact that his new companion Aegus, was adept at dealing with confrontation. With the the urn safley in the groups possession, it would only be a short amount of time before the Night Masks came loking for it again.

A quick knock at the door of their room confirmed just that. “It is I, Admere Omari.”, said the voice from the hall. “I have come to discuss the urn.” Rhaine quickly tucked the urn under his arm and blended with the shadows hiding his location. “Come in.”, said Aegus as Admere entered the room. “I could not speak of it earlier, but the urn you carry is of great power. It holds the ashes of a holy warrior and needs to be given to a church in Suzail.” Admere spoke with intent focusing upon the urn. “I can guide you to Suzail, but we must hurry.” Rhaine (still hidden) remained motionless against the east wall. Aegus agreed and thought it a good idea to get out of Pros. Admere Omari looked around the room, he asked “Are we alone?” Aegus said yes and Admere told him of the protection spells cast upon the urn and that it could not be damaged by time, or by sword. The contents of the urn needed to be burried in Suzail or at least given to those that knew more of a final resting place for this holy savior. As they moved toward the door to leave, Rhaine moved into sight. “I thought you said we were alone!?”, Admere shouted. “We were”, Rhaine replied. As they gathered their gear they heard combat from below the tavern. They prepared for battle as their door was burst from the hinges. Masked thugs came into melee with short swords blazing with speed. They fought hard but were no match for Rhaines quick unannounced dagger throws, Aegus’ abilities and Admere’s spells combined. The three moved to the street where a wagon awaited. A quick gesture from the wizard had a phantom steed at the front ready to pull with might. The group took off out of Pros headed to the west to escape the plots of the Night Masks assassins.

As they stopped the wagon near the road twisting past a few trees, the group lost sight of their new companion for a few moments. He soon returned with three amultes. “Put these on and they will have a tough time locating us.”, he said. “Lets get moving agiain before night falls.”

As they again moved fast beyond more trees, Rhaine and Aegus wondered where they were truley going. “We have got to get this urn to Suzail”, Rhaine said to Aegus. As the wagon came to a sudden stop they jumped out to see what was the reason for their halt. “People are in the road!”, Admere shouted. As the group moved towards the people in the road one of them ran towards Aegus and begged for help. They were under attack! in a cave not far from here, the people were savagely beaten and managed to escape with their lives. “Be gone!”, Aegus stated with a heart as cold as ice. “We are traveling through and have no time for the likes of you!” The group was about to leave them upon the roadway when Rhaine saw one of them draw a weapon, apparently due to questions Admere was asking them. They attacked with force trying to overtake the three, but failed due to a great effort of teamwork.

“I told you I would clear the road”, said Aegus to the now focused mage. As Aegus smiled he saw a globe in the distance moving fast towards Admere. It was to late, a hole burned through Admere Omari’s chest and he died instantly. Upon the hill in the distance was someone wearing a black and red cape, holding a staff. Aegus couldn’t make out more details and didn’t want to stick around any longer. Rhaine ran to the back of the wagon and grasped the urn. As he moved toward the front of the wagon, the figure on the hill vanished like mist on a warm summer day. He was just gone, like mist… They ran as fast as they could towards the west, hoping to make it to some type of shelter.

As the two of them moved towards a curve in the roadway, they spotted a fire and a group of people camping near the forest. Rhaine saw his chance to shine. He easily slipped past the sentry and around the back of the camp. He ducked into their tent quietly as they spoke outside it of the ruins they had plundered this day and the more loot they would find the following morning. Even though an old man lay sleeping inside the same very tent, Rhaine easily opened the lock on a wooden desk and found a piece of parchment, a jeweled case and a pouch at the mans feet.

Without a second thought, Rhaine slipped back outside the tent, unhitched two horses from some nearby trees and brought them back to Aegus. “I say we give them a good scare, what about you?” Aegus asked Rhaine. “I suppose that would do.”, Rhaine replied. They charged through the camp on the horses, as Rhaine shouted “The REAPER rides this night! Do not follow us or your lives will be forfeit!” The band of campers were utterly terrified and cowered under the “reaper’s” wicked Scythe. The tent fell over as the old man inside shouted in terror. They took off on horseback towards Proskur, the nearest town.

After arriving in Proskur the two of them quickley got a room at the Murky Bridge. They spent quite a bundle on the best room the place had to offer and had plenty of food and drink to tide themselves over, including a bottle of madman and a bottle of Elven Wine. As Rhaine took a well needed bath, Aegus made his way towards an old wizard’s tower to aquire information about his “new magic items.” Although once a great tower, it was now only shambles. Aegus and Rhaine would return possibly at a later date to investigate the place. They stayed another night at the Inn, but were off soon to Suzail.

Prologue Session II.

Aegus got up early and attended his draconic studdies. After he packed his gear, he wandered toward the kitchen for a hearty breakfast. He had his fill and then headed down Gallows Hill towards a shop owned by a man named Admere. Admere was the contact in Pros for strange or rare items. After walking through the shops open door, Aegus found a man wearing a blue cloak behind a counter. He entrusted Admere with information regarding the strange urn and was unable to find out much in return. Frustrated, Aegus left the shop and headed back to the docks.

Rhaine awoke and felt hunger getting to him. After heading downstairs for a “breakfast” meal, he headed out to find a shopkeep. Walking down the water front, he spotted a man wearing a long thick black cloak. Upon a closer look, he recognized the man as a person he saw upon the docks during last nights shipments. He decided to follow the man and discover what he was doing here in Pros.

After following the strange man all over Pros (including a few streets that even Rhaine wouldn’t go down) Rhaine was getting a bit frustrated with the idea of another smuggler coming into his area without warning, so he decided to join him for lunch. As Aegus was seated for a bit of lunch, Rhaine finally approached him saying, “Is this seat taken?” “Who’s asking?”, Aegus replied. With the silence of the Elven court, Rhaine took a seat and joined in a less than moderate meal in his tastes. After discussing their intent, they decided to join forces and uncover more behind the Urn and what secrets it holds…

Upon returning to his room, Aegus noticed a man wearing black sitting in his room window. He was holding the Urn! The man tossed the urn out of the window to the street below and was about to jump, when Aegus grasped his throat and drained him of his life-force, tossing his limp body out the window. As the man fell to the ground Aegus noticed three more men in the street below, one of them holding the urn. “Get the urn!”, he shouted to Rhaine. With a burst of speed, Rhaine was into the street asking the man to give him back the urn. “I will sick HIM upon you! They call him the REAPER for a reason!”, Rhaine said to the group of three men holding the urn captive. As Aegus looked out the open window he lifted a large Scythe from beneath his cloak. It was enough to shake the men and they tossed it to Rhaine, saying “The Night Masks will get it one way or antoher…

As they regrouped back inside the room, they realized that more than a few knew of this urn and that many more secrets were held within it. Rhaine informed Aegus of the runes he had noticed on the urn during the time he followed him through the city. Rhaine told him of the Knight Rune on the side and the message imprinted upon the urn base.

“Here lies the Holy Warrior of the untold era. _He rests protected inside this urn and his ashes remain for eternity. Here lies the Dusklord.”

Prologue Session I.

Rhaine waited at the docks as the Mergella dropped her anchor, for a man named Zan Kyass. A shipment of Moondraught was being smuggled into port and Rhaine knew all about it. The smaller tether boats came ashore to the docks and began unloading cargo. Rhaine spotted strange markings upon a few of the crates and moved them close to a cart he had waiting. Where was the third crate? Waiting for more cargo to be unloaded he spotted a strange looking man getting off onto a dock close by. Although he couldn’t see much of the man past a thick black cloak, he did spot a large urn under the mans arm. As the last crate came ashore, Rhaine loaded the cart and guided it towards the nearby Broken Horn Stables .

Parking his cart behind the stables, Rhaine confronted a stable boy. “Here’s a silver piece kid, and there is two more where that came from if nobody touches it while I’m gone.” The boy anxiously agreed and moved a few bails of hay to hide the cart. Rhaine went inside the Waterfront Tavern for a long awaited drink. He decided to rent a room for the night and relax until his midnight meeting with Karia.

As a thick mist moved into Pros off the Dragonmere, Rhaine made his way back to the stables. After inspecting his cart he noticed one of his crates had been opened. “Did you open this?”, he asked the stable boy. “No, nobody touched it while you were gone.” After a thought, he paid the boy anyway and moved into the alleyway to exchange the Moondraught. Karia was waiting in the shadows and moved close to take a look at the cargo. After a quick peek she tossed a sack of gold to Rhaine and instructed him to take his cut and meet with Zan Kyass at the docks. She would deliver the shipment to Alurad. “Tell Alurad this is the last favor I do for him.”, Rhaine replied.

Just as he moved from the alleyway, a globe of black energy took shape. It cracked and sparked with lightning and became large taking up the entire width of the back alley! Rhaine peeked around the corner of the building and six red orbs became visible inside the globe. That was the final straw, Rhaine took off running towards the docks and stopped in the nearby street. Clearing his head he saw Zan Kyass near the last tether boat. After giving him the payment from Karia, he headed back to the Waterfront Tavern for a good nights sleep.

Aegus Fythol came the docks of Pros aboard the Mergella. It wasn’t the nicest ship, but the voyage was safe and had arrived with little trouble passing Westgate. He knew that a gem of Jasmal was on board the ship, but he hadn’t been below decks long enough to search for it. As many of the crew members went ashore, or unloaded cargo from the holds below, Aegus felt this was the moment he had waited for. Moving below deck toward the main hold he spotted a locked door leading to a part of the ship he hadn’t noticed before. Finding a ring of keys, he opened the door to find a few crates and a sleeping hound upon the floor. He searched the crates to find two bottles of strange “wine’ and an urn hidden behind the crates. He talked his way back onto the main deck ordering the deckhands back to work and went ashore.

Aegus took the urn to an inn called Gallows Hills to inspect it further. He set the urn near his bed and went sleep, ignoring loud noises nearby.