Ethrys

Ethrys is a female human wizard NPC in the Emeron campaign.

Ethrys is a hired assassin who twice tried to kill the Joined of Vesper.

## Background

Little is known of Ethrys' background. It is known that she was part of a bandit gang where she met Legor and Caradose. The three made an effective team and struck out on their own as hired assassins. At some point she came upon an underground area that she claimed as her lair. She insisted to her companions that there was no way in or out of it short of magical transportation and though she took them there several times, she never revealed it's exact location to them.

 Contract on the Joined of Vesper

On the 19th of Unicorn, 1159, The trio got word through their contacts that a man named Silvanus wanted to hire them in Emeron City. They were offered 2,000 gold pieces a head for each of the Joined of Vesper with a 4,000 gold bonus once they were all slain. The trio investigated Silvanus and learned he worked for the Royal Justicar, Roge Thorgon.

The group accepted the contract and along with intelligence reports furnished by Silvanus and their own contacts determined that the Joined had made their way through the Halfling Shires but departed. Ethrys attempted to scry on them but was unsuccessful.

Eventually they received a report that Shren had been slain in Reikland, and they began compiling reports from Silvanus and their own contacts and learned that the Joined were seen in Lyzol, in the company of a halfling poet (Ronald Cunningham) and a blond archer (Belina Katel). Ethrys tried scrying on these figures and, while failing with Ron, they actually succeeded in spotting Belina in Reikland.

The trio made preparations to strike the following day but Ethrys could no longer find even Belina. Unbeknownst to the trio, they had been granted sanctuary at the Red Keep and its magic protected them. Ethrys kept trying however and after a couple of days she found Belina inexplicably in Emeron City in a run down tavern called the Unintended Corpse.

### **Strike in the Unintended Corpse**

The trio moved on the Joined of Vesper in the Unintended Corpse Tavern. Caradose disguised himself as a human beggar child. In this disguise he approached Ron Cunningham, Raskin Daggermaw, Beybulat Tasho, and Belina Katel, throwing them off guard by pitifully asking for coppers.

When the kindly Ron reached over to give some coin, Caradose stabbed him with a poisoned blade, casting off his disguise and attacking. He was quickly joined by Legor while Ethrys remained invisible and cast spells on the Joined of Vesper. Ethrys cast a number of spells that kept the bar crowd from interfering, though her targets proved more resistant to her efforts.

The trio proved too strong for the members of the Joined of Vesper, and they fled the trio of attackers, reaching the streets of the city and blending into the crowd. The trio did not pursue, as the element of surprise was now gone and the odds of success at that point were minimal so they withdrew.

### **Strike at Horsehead Peak**

The trio continued to try to keep tabs on the Joined of Vesper, but found it difficult as they spent several days in the magically protected safe house of Jaymes Chickwood. Eventually Ethrys was able to locate Belina magically, but she seemed to no longer be with the Joined of Vesper.

They went back to compiling intelligence reports, and found that the Joined had surfaced in Hardale, rallying the town to battle and leading the Battle of Hardale. Their reports indicated they were traveling in the company of a second halfling, a chef named Rongul Ruddletater. As with Belina, they were able to scry on Rongul and determine that the Joined of Vesper were delving in an abandoned mine at Horsehead Peak.

Ethrys magically teleported them to the area and they rendered Rongul unconscious. They avoided killing him because if the attack failed they would want to use him to keep track of their targets. Caradose dressed in Rongul's clothes and pretended to be a dead or unconscious Rongul to draw their targets in while Ethrys was cloaked in invisibility and set to bombard the group with spells to make climbing down from the entrance to Horsehead Peak far more dangerous while Legor hid in an invisibility spell and attacked when the time was right.

The ambush went well, as the Joined were drained of energy and spells from fighting monsters in the dungeon and they were caught wholly by surprise. At varying times both Briac Youngblood and Beybulat Tasho nearly fell to their deaths, everyone was injured, and Froderik Penderghast did fall and seemed to have been saved only as a result of his connection to Vesper and a speedy application of healing by Edella Montfort.

Still, the fight turned against the trio and soon Caradose was rendered unconscious and Legor was surrounded by hostiles and called for extraction. Worse, Zenga had somehow pierced Ethrys' invisibility spell and was trading magical attacks with her. Ethrys felt there was no chance to save her companions and magically teleported herself away from the battle.