Renee posed in front of the mirror, swirling his blue, tiger skin-lined cape over and around his maroon boots. He tried assorted angles for his semi-floppy hat for maximum effect of the orange and green feather. There was something he had suspected for some time, but now he was certain... boot feathers make the man. It had been a difficult journey as of late because of the unspoken battle with the paladin over style. The paladin can pull off a silent stoicism, but the ladies of the land don't want to battle with armor when they can lay down with Michael Fabian, the most dapper tiger killer in the world. Renee frowned slightly when he realized that he might have preferred to have "Tiger Killer" associated with a different side of his personality, perhaps even his "real" name. His frown deepened when he suddenly realized that it must be awful to be a vampire if you can't see the way your cape twirls around your boot feathers in a mirror. Or practice seductive glasses. Or find the perfect angle and speed for a friendly nod based on feather response. Caressing his newest thin blade with the palm of his hand, he stepped through the door of the inn to get some healing.


Renee's battle with the paladin had begun in Kinver. They had left the Grove of Aldersalm and traveled over narrow trails and even cross country. The weather was dangerous, and they knew it would only get worse were they to remain so high in the northern Elfbone mountains. Livid guided them well, but there is only so much she can do if they can't handle a little cool weather. They arrived in Kinver on the day before the winter solstice, and that is where Sir Alestair sat down with Sir Percival by the warming fire in the home of Jorrelt Forren, the mayor of Kinver. The way the two knights could sit in those leather chairs, sipping brandy to the sound of the crackling fire, well, Renee had to admit it was impressive. Though they spoke of kings, fathers, and murders, they spoke of these things in the calm voices of those without fear. Their conversation was not rushed, nor was it excited; it seemed to follow its own meandering course that would only end when the glasses were empty, and the glasses were content to separate the practiced hands from the aromatic beverage until the last embers died out.

In this maddeningly dashing way, Sir Alestair learned of his father.

The last Alestair had seen of his father, Willem, was when he took a stand before the knights loyal to the new King Edgar so Alestair had time to get into Shield, where he would eventually become a paladin. Willem was one of many knights who called themselves Knights of True Munir. They believed that King Edgar Orlenda had killed his older brother, Harliff, to become king. As regicide cannot be rewarded with a crown, that would make the youngest brother, Jenfin, the rightful king. Alestair believed that his father had been killed, or at least assumed that was the most likely outcome, but Percival told him that no, his father lived.

Willem Morningseeker and ten other knights were captured and held hostage. Were any members of the True Knights of Munir spotted anywhere near the prison or any acts of rebellion witnessed, then hostages would be killed. Edgar was not a good king, but Jenfin did not want so many to die in what would likely be an unsuccessful attempt to take the throne from a brother who had not been proven guilty of regicide.

Sir Merril Kehoe was killed trying to escape prison, but the others have been treated relatively kindly according to all reports. They were captured eight years ago, and after two years they were moved from the prison in Stonefork to a converted castle on the River Finn just upstream from Ablewood called White Bend. They are afforded much freedom and may interact with the guards, but there is a separate group of guards that are rotated out frequently and may not have contact with the prisoners. Should an escape or rescue be attempted, this separate group has one purpose - kill hostages. Because they will not know the prisoners beyond faces and names, they will not hesitate.

King Edgar has indicated that, if there is no insurrection, then he will release prisoners in three years if they swear an oath to never take up arms against him.

If Alestair attempts to rescue them, they may all die. Is it too high a risk when they will be released in three years anyway? The party was willing to follow him on this, but Alestair decided they should perhaps finally see if any messages had been left for them at a temple of Maeles. With the undead walking Abril, perhaps it is not a good time to stage a prison break.

Renee could not help but notice that putting the concerns of the world over his personal feelings was hauntingly stoic.

They set out for Shadwell, and as the sun set on the Winter Solstice, a flash of red seemed to light up the entire sky. They all felt a chill, and not merely because it was actually quite cold. They all knew something terrible had just happened, but they did not know what.

The withering roses arrived in Shadwell on the 5th day of Winter's Breadth. Shadwell was a city of maybe 25,000 people, and it was very defensible. Part of it was carved into the rocky hillside, and the walls were very solid. This was a city of gems and silver, so if not for such protection it stands to reason it would be raided more often. They stayed in the Blue Kitchen, a lovely inn run by Arissa. The next day, they journeyed to the Temple of the Arcing Arrow and got their messages.


They responded that they are fine, that he should not worry about Francois or Michael, and that they would head to Cobham.

First, however, they had some shopping to do. Renee made his way to the Shining Haberdashery. This was an odd little shop. It seemed some combination of gentlemen's goods and then all sorts of odds and ends. Sebastian Dubrock and Halfinger Munch, the proprietor, had a wonderful time outfitting the gentleman for his continuing expedition. A bold adventure and a bold man merit bold colors. Fortune, as they say, favors the well-dressed man. Halfinger explained to Sebastian, after helping him find new boots, a hat, and a brilliant hat feather, that boot feathers are a very popular trend in Borden. Much smaller than hat feathers, they fit on the top flap of the boots. A doubting man might have said that they were but small feathers for children's hats of nobles and wealthy merchants, but bold Sebastians do not doubt. Sadly, Halfinger seemed out of appropriately sized pants, but he did send him to the Nobleman's Tailor. Being sensible, Sebastian decided that 14gp was too much to pay for quality pants.

Meanwhile, the other members of the party did their own shopping. Potions and weapons were bought and sold so that they might be better prepared for combat or whatever other surprises they may encounter. They passed by Colorful Quaffs many time and could not help but notice it appeared to be a wonderful shop, but they did not enter.

As Brenaed mounted Biscuit, he could not help but notice that Alestair sold his horse, Grace. This didn't seem like a wise plan as the rest of the party still had their horses, but Alestair assured him it would be alright. Renee, however, suspected something was amiss. He knew Alestair was about to make a power move. When they left the city, Renee saw he was right. Alestair summoned a beautiful painted horse. It was majestic, and for a moment Renee felt a little silly in his semi-floppy hat, but then he realized that while it may be glorious for a man of Renee's stature to behold, women do not like horses. They find them smelly and frightening. Renee scoffed and rode on.

Alestair, however, stood before Glory, and he felt a connection to this noble steed, and his faith in Agnelo could not have been stronger. He was confident that this was the right path for his life, and with Glory and his brave cohorts, no evil could hide from them. Further, he knew that the blot upon his character, his part in the death of five paladins, must have been forgiven in the eyes of Agnelo.

Brenaed, Livid, and Brother Eisen patiently waited. They were not eager to face undead or rioting townsfolk. The horse was, afterall, quite pretty. And they did not need to worry about losing track of Renee.

They stopped in Nevern, where they stayed in Twinkle's. It was run by Twinkle. Twinkle was excited to see a wolf, which he did. Livid decided this was a strange human, and she thought how her own people cared for their mentally ill much better than this.

Cobham is a large city of 30k, and they arrived on the 12th of Winter's Breadth. The soldiers at the gate were adamant that they not join the insane townsfolk at their barricade around the temple. First they got themselves rooms at the Purple Lightning, and then they set off for the temple of Pilato. This was a massive tower reaching ~400ft. Its base was ~200 feet across, so it was almost a stretched pyramid more than a tower. A park was at the bottom, and 200 feet from the temple, all the way around, was a hastily constructed barricade. The leader was Kyle Frome. He said his wife saw some priests come out at night, pick a beggar up, and carry him inside over their heads. This, he decided, was proof. It stands to reason other people had more solid evidence, but Kyle was the speaking moron. The party attempted to speak with the priests, but the priests were quite worried they would have to fight their flock. The windows were boarded up. The first floor was 100 feet high, so they spoke to a priest who was at a small opening in the window 100 feet up. He refused to come down, and the party began to suspect perhaps there were undead here after all. Still, the young priest explained the beggar was Jaryon. He was sick, and they healed him. Jaryon even came to the window.

As the sun was low in the sky, they decided to return to their rooms and make a plan in the morning. The vampire priests, in contrast, decided the middle of the night was a good time to attack the party. Perhaps they should have brought more, but in any event, they were turned to gas by the brave withered roses. However, this victory was not free, and powers were drained. In the predawn light, Renee found himself practicing his nods and twirls while waiting for others. By Orla he looked good! He was eager to be healed, and he certainly couldn't sleep like this.

The party made their way to the temple of Asigrola for healing for dear Renee. This was a significant ceremony involving many priests, but it was done. The priests expressed great concern over the suggestion that the townsfolk weren't completely wrong. The party suited up, gathered important supplies, and headed back to the temple.

They had Kyle get a few men together to build a battering ram to take out the main door, and then they entered the massive room. This was the sanctuary, and without boards over the windows it would truly reflect the god of weather. A 40ft tall statue of Pilato was in the center of the room, and it appeared it could rotate about the base in some way. The statue was of an old man, and in his right hand was a staff. His left hand reached up as two cardinals took flight as if he had been holding them a moment before. The man and staff are black marble, his robes are blue marble, and the cardinals are red marble. Blue tapestries hung from the ceiling, and they must have been beautiful in a breeze. Instead, vampires dropped down from the walls, hidden by the many tapestries. The vampires were not beautiful, and they actually made the party like tapestries a little less. The battle was joined.

It was a good fight. The party won, but the vampire spawn simply turned to gas and left when defeated. The vampire in the room did the same, but he did so before being rekilled. The party is considering just how screwed they might be.

It is noon on the 13th day of Winter's Breadth.



So... two apologies. First, I apologize for not finding as much to discuss from Brenaed and Livid. But, you know, we spent like an hour outfitting Renee, and it was wildly entertaining to me.

Second, I'm sorry again if my interpretation of the character is off. This recap is really just meant to remind everyone what happened, and I want to do it in an entertaining way. Any sense of your character absolutely wins out over anything I do here.

There are plenty of devout, pious ladies who are curious as to what lurks beneath this shining armor.


Personally, most of your interpretations of Alestair and his motives/goals/etc. have been spot-on. Carry on.

Well, yes, and they also love the living shit out of horses.... but my interpretation of Renee is that he doesn't see it that way.

Indeed. I do wonder how Agnelo could provide a fellow human with such a broken set of eyes...the same ones that tell him that it's OK to dress is such reprehensible outfits.

We went to the ren fair, and I found myself trying on some clothes. I am drawn naturally to things that scream "Pirate captain!" And, aside from being a tubby pirate captain, I looked pretty damned good.

The problem is that once you leave the ren fair, you either end up looking like a sad tubby monkey who wishes he could be at the ren fair, or a tubby pimp. Fortunately, I kept that in mind and did not buy anything. But still... I would totally have bought The Sebastian Dubrock had it been available.

In probably the same way he bestows the jealousy that would lead such a pious man to be a bit catty.

Well, Agnelo is also the reprehensible outfits, and without awful eyes, how would anyone wear Him?

Also, the Pimp Handbook says pimps can be tubby, so you should be ok with that look.


And seriously, I really like the pov write ups. I know that they are hard to do though.