Session 3 Recap

What's going on?

The Silver Elites have traveled to Stonehome to deliver a message from Prince Jorum Edmund to King Arnulf the Blademeister of Stonehome regarding recent problems with kobolds in the Smokestack Mountains near Fallcrest. Edmund has reason to believe that a band of dwarfs may have disturbed the kobolds, and more importantly the ancient dragon menace, Gafir. Kharas Fireaxe, a traveling dwarf merchant from Stonehome, let slip that this may be the case.

Tallos Fireaxe, Kharas's brother, approached the heroes on their first night in Stonehome. He told them that the Fireaxe clan did indeed finance the mission to recover Gafir's treasure. He strongly encouraged the heroes to avoid mentioning the dragon, or dwarfs or anything that might bring dishonor to his clan. The Fireaxe clan has held a position on the High Council of Stonehome for generations and a scandal of this sort would endanger their political standing. The election for the position currently held by the Fireaxe clan occurs in two years. The heroes were noncommittal to Tallos, but he left believing they will not be doing him any favors.

The next night Drusilla Fireaxe, the High Councilor of the Fireaxe clan, invited the Silver Elites to a dinner party. The heroes enjoyed a massive banquet and good entertainment before Drusilla met with them privately. Drusilla pumped them for information and discovered the problems with the kobolds, the potential involvement of dwarfs and the threat of Gafir. Jordin recognized that Drusilla did not know about the expedition to Gafir's treasure. She thanked them for their time and dismissed them.

The King's Court

The Silver Elites attended King Arnulf's Court in the Stonehome Amphitheater. The session opened with a very stylized and ritualistic performance that named all of the High Councilors and announced the purpose of the Court: to treat with emissaries from the Court of Prince Jorum Edmund. As the king called on the heroes to stand and present their business High Councilor Drusilla Fireaxe called "a Point of Order" which interrupted the proceedings. The assembled dwarfs were shocked. While the High Councilor followed protocol and was well within her rights to do call a Point of Order, such interruptions are nearly unheard of in King Arnulf's court.

High Councilor Drusilla then proceeded to accuse two members of her own clan, the brothers Tallos and Kharas Fireaxe, of high treason. The rules of the dwarf court require that such matters be resolved prior to any other business and after a formal reading of the charges, the court was adjourned with the pronouncement that King Arnulf and High Councilor Drusilla Fireaxe demand the capture of both Tallos and Kharas and will pay a reward of 1,000 gp each for the presentation of their living persons at the court at Stonehome.

The specifics of the charges were not made public. High Councilor Drusilla used her authority to press for a private Council at which to discuss the matters as the information may present a danger to the state.

What to do?

So, High Councilor Drusilla Fireaxe has managed to manuever the court to avoid public presentation of information that will endanger her political position. In the meantime, King Arnulf still does not know what's going on and the heroes have not gotten Prince Jorum's message to the king.