[Having filled up an entire codex, Medwyn has begun a second
volume. Her handwriting, tentative at first, has become sure and expert
as she chronicles the events that have taken place.]
Emperor Darien Avan himself summoned the Fulcairns to the Imperial City. There, he required they swear fealty to the newly-installed Countess of Taeghas, Thaliere, a member of Avan's personal guard. Avan ordered Cathal to execute the delegates of the interim government, as their failure had resulted in the war between Seamist and Wilder's Gorge; Cathal was horrified. They researched the history of the Fulcairns in the Imperial library and discovered they were indeed erased from history, due to a great crime committed by Melehan and his sister Caedwyn Fulcairn. In Stormpoint, Cathal attempted to plead for clemency for the delegates, but none of the Houses were sympathetic; furious, on the podium he accused all present of having failed the people of Taeghas, even as the Dragon Knights advanced and Mara and Reynhild feared for their lives, as his words verged on treason. He finally executed the delegates, having thoroughly antagonized Countess Thaliere, and the Fulcairns left for Wilder's Gorge.
Back at Wilder's Gorge, they discovered the old seneschal Merrec had died.
[May he ride forever with Haelyn. This is when I took over as seneschal. --Medwyn]
Reynhild and Cathal exchanged harsh words; Reynhild accused him of nearly having the House razed to the ground at Stormpoint, and observed that the pressure of the leadership of the House-- something he never really wanted-- was killing him slowly. He shocked her by announcing his plans to divest his bloodline to her and pass leadership of the House to her. She accepted. The divestiture was conducted by the priestess of Haelyn, Gwenevier, and Mara granted her some of her divine bloodline as well. Reynhild announced she would be taking a new name, Cuinn, to honour the god Cuiraecen and the traditions of the Fulcairns.
The Fulcairns received a map from Melehan detailing the location of an ancient crown of Taeghan kings; they retrieved it from a mysterious uninhabited isle after battling a wyvern.
A band of forty armed templars, members of an order called the Sword of Haelyn, arrived at the Keep and accused Mara of necromancy and harbouring a necromantic artifact-- a book of great evil. Cuinn angrily denied it, but Mara had hidden the book from both Cuinn and Cathal and had been studying it. Unwilling to give up Mara to the tongs and irons of torturers, and equally unwilling to be branded as necromancers, Cuinn and the Fulcairns attacked the Sword of Haelyn, slaying them to a man.
The Empire demanded both tribute of soldiers, and to remove Mara permanently from the Fulcairns' service into their own; this, alongside the impending legislative to the titles of nobility, hardened their hearts considerably against the Empire. Geoffrey Khorien, ruler of Bayside and the technically rightful ruler of Taeghas, invited the Fulcairns to his home. They discussed rebellion, he disclosed he had the backing of the Archduke of Boeruine, and the Fulcairns pledged him their support. They traveled to Boeruine to meet with the Archduke himself, where they pledged support to him as well in exchange for his help in liberating Taeghas from imperial rule, and they submitted to a magical geass, swearing to not raise arms against him.
Melehan revealed he had a plan to destroy Rhuobhe Manslayer once and for all, but it would result in his departure from the mortal plane. The Fulcairns vowed to assist. In the resulting cataclysmic magical ritual, Mara uncovered that he truly sought to transcend the mortal plane, and Rhuobhe's destruction was secondary, and that he would consume the mebhaigl-- the land's magic-- in the process, at great cost to Taeghas. Mara seized the mebhaigl from both Melehan and her old master, Harald Khorien. Melehan dealt Rhuobhe a great blow, unable to defeat him fully, and achieved his transcendence, but not before revealing a massive hoard of treasure, documents, and artifacts in the catacombs under the Keep.
It was revealed that it was Melehan's quest to destroy the Manslayer that, eight hundred years earlier, had him branded a traitor by jealous magical rivals, and the Fulcairns stripped of their rule of Taeghas and erased from the histories.
After discovering the new hoard, Cuinn realized that they no longer need Boeruine's help to raise an army, and several of her councilors-- the heads of the vassal families-- urged her to fight for an independent Taeghas.
Queen Freila of the Yngvi was presumed dead, and the Fulcairns' old allies the Yngvi appeared to have fallen on dire times, with rumours of war in southern Rjurik.
Emperor Darien Avan himself summoned the Fulcairns to the Imperial City. There, he required they swear fealty to the newly-installed Countess of Taeghas, Thaliere, a member of Avan's personal guard. Avan ordered Cathal to execute the delegates of the interim government, as their failure had resulted in the war between Seamist and Wilder's Gorge; Cathal was horrified. They researched the history of the Fulcairns in the Imperial library and discovered they were indeed erased from history, due to a great crime committed by Melehan and his sister Caedwyn Fulcairn. In Stormpoint, Cathal attempted to plead for clemency for the delegates, but none of the Houses were sympathetic; furious, on the podium he accused all present of having failed the people of Taeghas, even as the Dragon Knights advanced and Mara and Reynhild feared for their lives, as his words verged on treason. He finally executed the delegates, having thoroughly antagonized Countess Thaliere, and the Fulcairns left for Wilder's Gorge.
Back at Wilder's Gorge, they discovered the old seneschal Merrec had died.
[May he ride forever with Haelyn. This is when I took over as seneschal. --Medwyn]
Reynhild and Cathal exchanged harsh words; Reynhild accused him of nearly having the House razed to the ground at Stormpoint, and observed that the pressure of the leadership of the House-- something he never really wanted-- was killing him slowly. He shocked her by announcing his plans to divest his bloodline to her and pass leadership of the House to her. She accepted. The divestiture was conducted by the priestess of Haelyn, Gwenevier, and Mara granted her some of her divine bloodline as well. Reynhild announced she would be taking a new name, Cuinn, to honour the god Cuiraecen and the traditions of the Fulcairns.
The Fulcairns received a map from Melehan detailing the location of an ancient crown of Taeghan kings; they retrieved it from a mysterious uninhabited isle after battling a wyvern.
A band of forty armed templars, members of an order called the Sword of Haelyn, arrived at the Keep and accused Mara of necromancy and harbouring a necromantic artifact-- a book of great evil. Cuinn angrily denied it, but Mara had hidden the book from both Cuinn and Cathal and had been studying it. Unwilling to give up Mara to the tongs and irons of torturers, and equally unwilling to be branded as necromancers, Cuinn and the Fulcairns attacked the Sword of Haelyn, slaying them to a man.
The Empire demanded both tribute of soldiers, and to remove Mara permanently from the Fulcairns' service into their own; this, alongside the impending legislative to the titles of nobility, hardened their hearts considerably against the Empire. Geoffrey Khorien, ruler of Bayside and the technically rightful ruler of Taeghas, invited the Fulcairns to his home. They discussed rebellion, he disclosed he had the backing of the Archduke of Boeruine, and the Fulcairns pledged him their support. They traveled to Boeruine to meet with the Archduke himself, where they pledged support to him as well in exchange for his help in liberating Taeghas from imperial rule, and they submitted to a magical geass, swearing to not raise arms against him.
Melehan revealed he had a plan to destroy Rhuobhe Manslayer once and for all, but it would result in his departure from the mortal plane. The Fulcairns vowed to assist. In the resulting cataclysmic magical ritual, Mara uncovered that he truly sought to transcend the mortal plane, and Rhuobhe's destruction was secondary, and that he would consume the mebhaigl-- the land's magic-- in the process, at great cost to Taeghas. Mara seized the mebhaigl from both Melehan and her old master, Harald Khorien. Melehan dealt Rhuobhe a great blow, unable to defeat him fully, and achieved his transcendence, but not before revealing a massive hoard of treasure, documents, and artifacts in the catacombs under the Keep.
It was revealed that it was Melehan's quest to destroy the Manslayer that, eight hundred years earlier, had him branded a traitor by jealous magical rivals, and the Fulcairns stripped of their rule of Taeghas and erased from the histories.
After discovering the new hoard, Cuinn realized that they no longer need Boeruine's help to raise an army, and several of her councilors-- the heads of the vassal families-- urged her to fight for an independent Taeghas.
Queen Freila of the Yngvi was presumed dead, and the Fulcairns' old allies the Yngvi appeared to have fallen on dire times, with rumours of war in southern Rjurik.
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