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Silvermine –
In late Storm Season of the Lunar Year 7/50 (1621 ST), the sons of the Burning Lion gathered before Aidontas – their Imal, Fazzik, and Grandfather. Sacred Time was coming, and the Imperial Gift of Great House Sharpan needed to be delivered to the Red Emperor in Glamour. Normally, the gifts from all the Great Houses of Jhor would be combined and delivered to Moonson by an agent of Haraxalur the Bald – the Satrap of Jhor. This year was different. The war against the Southern Barbarians was finished, and their god of treachery and rebellion had been brought in chains before the Red Goddess. It was a time of celebration! On such a momentous occasion the Imperial Gift must be delivered in person.
The Rhugandy brothers took charge of their caravan and began the first leg of their two and a half week journey to the Imperial Capitol. They paused at a Rhugandy cassir on the border of their lands and took the opportunity to gather intelligence about their treacherous neighbors. Lord Astarov, eldest Rhugandy brother and ranking karmanoi, contacted his agent in House Vhemadzy and discovered that the enemy Fazzik was preparing a grand Imperial Gift - including a statue of Moonson made entirely of silver. To make matters worse, the silver used in its creation was the product of a mine that was once the property of House Rhugandy! Obviously something had to be done.
Lexmarcus and Frulimon Rhugandy, both mighty hazar-knights, scouted the land between the disputed silver mine and the Vhemadzy cassir of Vitensag. They encountered a band of black riders on demon steeds. A terrifying battle ensued, and the Rhugandy brothers emerged victorious. Obviously, something dark and foul was going on deep in the mines. Leonardo Rhugandy, master of deception, infiltrated the silver mine and caused havoc through clever used of his magical shape-shifting ability. He captured two of the Vhemadzy guards who were willing to testify that their House was using the mine as a secret temple to the illegal cults of Deshkorgos and Thed. Victory was at hand!
While his brothers were dealing with the silver mine problem, Stavas Rhugandy was investigating odd happenings in the woods near the border of Rhugandy lands. Stavas is the youngest Rhugandy brother, and benefits from duel training as a Carmanian vizier and a Grazer shaman. He detected restless wood spirits busily working on something just beyond the civilized lands of the fief. Stavas used a unique magical power to merge with his horse, becoming a centaur, and contacted one of these spirits. Believing Stavas to be a creature of the forest, the spirit (a dryad) told him that the wood-men were angry with the humans and were plotting revenge. Stavas tried to calm their wrath, and worked out a provisional deal where the Rhugandy farms would supply fertilizer for the forest and the forest dwellers would give over any man-made artifacts that they had discovered. When the time came for the Rhugandy’s to leave the area, the deal seemed to be working. |