Ebon Blades

**Ebon Blades** is a mercenary group made up of ex-Rynith officers and guards, formed in early 500 by Blackthorne and Roche.
The group was reported killed during a siege of Greyspire in Winter 509.

Current Members include:

Torrin Draith (aka “Blackthorne”) [Deceased] - David Miner
Alexander Roche [Deceased] - Andrew Gaughen

Jared "Shock" Miller [Deceased] - Mike Antos

Tara [Deceased] - Cabernet Murray

Xan Asplund [Deceased] - Jen Groninger

Salah [Deceased] - Hilary Adams

# The Fall of the Ebon Blades - As experienced by FitzWilliam Trout

*In an unexpected spring blizzard, a group of about thirty mercenaries attacked the citadel, spending blood and lives to push all the way into the King's royal chambers, where King Volek was killed. Despite the confusion, it is fairly certain that none of the attackers survived.*

*You stayed around the capitol for a few days, until you heard that someone was interested in questioning you about that night. Here is what you either saw or learned (depending on how you want to tell the tale).*

*The story begins with a dark-haired, lithe woman, one of their number, who managed to climb along a cliff-face to drop into the citadel. As one with the shadows, she dispatched many guardsmen, silently with black daggers, dropping their lifeless bodies into the water well inside the courtyard. Her body was found near the front gate, which she must have opened before killing and being killed by the off-duty captain of the daytime guards, who apparently stumbled upon her.*

*Once the main force was inside the castle, the Blades pushed hard towards the King. Along the way they lost many of the lesser mercenaries, and seemingly held little care of it. They also seemed unconcerned about pursuit, that is, until their plan was revealed. The plunge deeper inside the castle.*
*Once inside the building, one of their members broke away, a savage blond woman, who worked from the shadows alongside their line of attack, stirring confusion and killing many of the guard when they believed they were still far from the battle. She killed with a blade, and with her hands and feet with remarkable martial skill.*

*You've since learned that the group was called The Ebon Blades, and only six of the attackers were actually of this group. They each wore a small black-sword symbol on their clothes, and carried black blades. If stories can be trusted they were once Rynith elite soldiers. One who died in the King's chamber is rumored to have once served the Queen of the Elves! You have also heard tell that their lieutenant, among the dead that night, was a radical Vorakian (worshipper of the God of War) who had sworn a blood oath to kill King Volek.*

*Of the main force, only six remained when they reached the Court Room (where you were cowering in a corner?). At the doorway the assassins stopped for the briefest pause. You saw a tall man with a helm and eye patch, covered with blood that was likely a mix of his own and the many Gesni he had slain. With him was younger man, cackling in a robe of green, wielding a staff, and holding a black dagger in his teeth. A crossbow bolt stuck out from his shoulder at an angle, and the red-haired woman of the group said "Shock, hold still!" and broke the shaft off just above his skin. She paused for a moment, hand on his wound, her head bowed, and you thought you could see the glow of magik under her palm.*

*With them were two men, who to you seemed startled and perhaps a little less certain than these others. The last among them was a man whose face you will likely never forget. He was large and bearded, with black leather gauntlets, and two swords. His face never changed, on it was determination, and resignation, and rapture. He, you have learned, was called Roche, and it was his gauntleted hands that strangeled the life from the King.*

*This all happened in seconds, and moments later a spear arced through the air, driving through the woman's thigh and into the door. Her shriek was more of anger than pain, and "Shock" (the staff-bearer) repaid her favor by literally dragging her off the spear. And this you will never forget: the moment she was unsteadily back on two feet, she said, "Go, I'll hold them here."*

*With that, the five men turned and quickly moved into the Court Room, confronting the guards who were only now streaming in from the other end of the hall. As the doors swung shut, you saw the other woman, the blond who you've learned killed over thirty men that night, join her wounded female friend to defend the closed door against pursuit. You know now that those two wreaked havoc on those who came to push through that door, falling only after enough crossbowmen could be mustered and the women had run out of daggers. The red-headed woman who took the spear, you hear, once disarmed, took men with her to the underworld using her nails and teeth before a killing strike finished her.*

*As the guards formed ranks before the King's chamber door, they outnumbered their attackers four to one. Crossbowmen began firing, and through luck or skill, the three remaining Ebon Blades seemed immune to the bolts. Their hired men were not so fortunate. What happened next, you still have trouble believing, despite having seen it with your own eyes:*

*The staff-bearer, the one called Shock, sprinted headlong at the guards' lines arrayed before him. As he ran magikal blue lightning few from his fingers into the ranks of crossbowmen.&nbsp; He carried his staff like a lance, and seemed intent on casting himself onto the blades of his opponents. In fact, this is exactly what he did...and then his body exploded. With a "whoomp", an expanding ball of orange electrical fire reached out and destroyed the throne, and more than half of the guards standing against the attackers. So too, the doors to the King's chambers were blown off their hinges and thrown back into the rooms beyond.*

*Into this chaos the last two men ran, slashing their way through the shocked and disoriented guardsmen. Realization strikes you that they had known their teammate would take his own life to clear the way! It was in their plan!*

*Once inside the King's chamber, you lost sight of them. You can only imagine the battle between the King's own guard (the Eagle Elite) and these two last warriors. The man with a patch, you hear, took a bolt to his lost eye and died on the spot. Leaving only Roche, who destroyed the remaining Elite Guards, and with his own hands strangled the life from Volek, before dying from the loss of blood from many wounds.*