Blades of Justice

> *"It's time for you to answer for your crimes. Drop your weapons and come with us." -* Olivia the Just
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The **Blades of Justice** were a good-aligned rival party to the Faultless Arrow. They tracked down the Arrow to capture them and bring them to justice, but the confrontation turned into a deadly battle.

## Members

### Olivia the Just

A female human cleric of Pelor. Tall, with fair skin and copper-coloured hair, and wears a suit of armor beneath a white robe. Her armor hides it, but her arms and chest are heavily burned. She was capable of divine magic powerful enough to oppose even Calenor.

Olivia has always been a devout follower of Pelor so, despite her parents' protests, she joined the Church at the age of sixteen. Since then she devoted all her time to "*protect the Innocent, heal the Sick and spread the Word*". When the great dragon Zoralth descended on the free city of Feyburn she did everything she could to help: she tended to the victims of dragonfire, she gave her own food to the starving children and (most importantly) kept their spirits up. But as time passed more and more died in the starving Commons while the nobles and the rich in the Cloud District remained just as fat. She pleaded with High Priest Geoffry but to no avail. When she could take it no longer she told her followers about the food that was stockpiled in the Dwarven Bank. Soon the mob stormed the bank and the civil war in Feyburn began.

For her role in the uprising she was excommunicated by the High Priest but in her eyes the other clerics had already lost all legitimacy, only the words of Pelor mattered and she was sure He approved. Later she learned from the leader of the revolution, First Citizen Kane, that a new hope had arrived: a party of adventurers not yet ravaged by hunger who had access to the Cloud District and were sympathetic to their cause. These adventurers (The Faultless Arrow) promised to destroy the catapults guarding the only bridge over the river, allowing the militia to take the rest of the city. But when the hour came and her friends and neighbors stormed the bridge in the name of freedom and justice, the catapults rained hellfire on them. They had been betrayed! She ran over to the bridge to save them but the fire was too strong, she almost lost her life to the flames. In the end her followers managed to pull her out.

When she awoke she swore to find the traitors and burn them in the One True Flame of Justice just as Pelor requires.

### Halmar l'Étrange

A male elf sorcerer of diminutive stature with jet black hair and colourful robes. Halmar is capable of powerful arcane magic, including invisibility, disintegration, and mind control.

When Halmar learned of the newly established colonies on Two Sisters he saw an opportunity to make a name for himself as these wild islands were bound to be home to many undiscovered magic, flora and fauna. He spent several years on these islands, documenting all of his findings. Until the fateful day when an Illithid arrived to Bournemouth and enslaved the whole city to his will. Unlike the citizens, Halmar managed to resist the mind flayer and set out to find it. But the Illithids are a cunning breed and it turned his friends against him, knowing that he could not bring himself to harm them. In the end he was captured and (after repeated attempts) mind controlled.

This lasted until the Arrow arrived and forced the Illithid to retreat. Halmar awoke to a most gruesome sight: more than a hundred men and women were dead or dying at the docks. The "saviors" of the city assured everyone that it was the work of the mind flayer and Halmar initially believed them but as time passed something started gnawing at him. It did not make sense for an Illithid to waste "livestock" like that. In the end he turned to powerful magic to restore his memories and thus he learned the horrible truth: their "saviors", The Faultless Arrow, was responsible for the deaths. They killed more people than the mind flayers took, they killed his friends and neighbors. In return they were rewarded and celebrated as heroes. That day Halmar vowed to bring the Arrow to justice.

### Burl Oakfist

A male dwarf monk with a bald head, a long, ornately-braided brown beard and impressive musculature. Burl wielded no weapons, preferring to lock enemies into a grappling fight, where his great strength and skill gave him the advantage.

It is hard to imagine what quarrel a monk of Heironeous could have with the Arrow but it turns out his motivation is family honor. During their stay at Dewport the Arrow accepted a job from Earnest Sam to frame the newly formed competition of the Northern Gale Trading Company with the theft of artifacts that belong to the Church of Pelor. Turns out Burl's brother Maurim was a merchant who wanted to make an honest living (something that is not possible with the NGTC) so he became one of the founding members of the new company. The Knights of The Holy Flame promptly arrested him. Since he was unwilling to confess to a crime he did not commit, he was publicly tortured and executed. When Burl learned of his brother's fate he vowed to take revenge on all responsible. Not long after Earnest Sam was executed by Grandmaster Glailwich the knights responsible for the arrest have disappeared. This leaves only the Arrow.

### Evalyn Quickblade

A female human swashbuckler of average height and build with olive skin and auburn hair. She was highly athletic and wielded a rapier with great precision, striking at enemies' weak spots.

Ever since she was a child Evalynwas never up to anything good. She fought with the other kids, sneaked into houses, pranked her neighbors and never respected her elders. Yet there was one person she always looked up to: Hames, his older brother who took it upon himself to care for the family when their father died and their mother got sick. While Evelyn got to be a child Hames started working: first in the stables, then as a guardsman. In the end they turned out to be very different: Hames became a well respected sergeant of the Gormouth city guard, while Evalyn moved to the free city of Tamor where she fell in with a different crowd. In a few years she became a notorious swashbuckler who is not afraid to play dirty.

The siblings kept in contact via letters but when Hames stopped responding Evalyn immediately knew something terrible happened. When she got to Gormouth she learned that a group of bandits tried to steal muskets from the Citadel but they were discovered. In the fighting Hames lost his life while the bandits escaped. Initially, there was a large effort to find the bandits but enthusiasm soon dropped, the wanted posters were taken down and life returned to normal. Even Evalyn accepted that her brother's killers had got away until one day news from the colonies arrived. While most people were either fascinated with the defeat of the krakens or dismayed at the orc uprising only she recognized the description of the party. It didn't take long for her to verify that The Heroes of Two Sisters, The Faultless Arrow are her brother's murderers. At that moment she realized that to get justice she has to get it herself.

### ＨＯＲＤＯＲ

A male half-orc barbarian. Wielded twin scimitars with blinding speed and ferocity.

Hordor's mother was from the Hillcrag orc tribe, one of the south-westernmost of the Cleaver orcs, while his father was from the Peakmound tribe (human barbarians). For decades the two tribes had been feuding over land in the eastern reaches of the Dragon mountains but this long feud had been put to rest when the elders of both tribes agreed to combine their bloodlines: one dozen men and women from each tribe chose a partner from the other. Hordor came from one of these unions.

Since his birth there has been peace between the Peakmound and the Hillcrag, and Hordor spent his childhood learning how to fight, hunt and survive from both. But one fateful day he set out for the Hillcrag camp only to find it burnt to the ground. From the tracks it was clear: less than a week ago slavers came who cut down all the warriors then rounded up the women and children and took them away in chains. His mother among them. He set out to track them down.

Hordor managed track the slaver caravan to Gormouth. Using whatever little money he had and a great deal of intimidation he struck a deal with a merchant who promised to purchase Hordor's mother in his stead (half-orcs were not welcome on the slave market). But when the day of the slave auction came his mother was nowhere to be seen. Turns out she and several dozen other slaves had been purchased by the captain of a new slaver ship and have already set sail to Kingsport on South Sister. To follow them Hordor needed passage for which he needed money, so he spent the next days doing even the most unsavory jobs to get enough.

By the time he arrived to Kingsport he was too late. The slaves had already been sold to Silverkin but most of them did not survive the journey through the Oaken Sea and have been discarded. From the ledgers it became apparent that his mother was among them. At that moment rage overtook Hordor and he vowed to make all those involved pay. First he tracked down the captain of the ship where his mother died; it turned out the elf had already lost his ship in a fire so Hordor made sure he lost his life as well. But before he died he told him about the slavers from whom he purchased his "livestock" and his business partners: The Faultless Arrow. Two weeks later the slavers' camp was attacked, no one knew by who because none lived to tell. Yet Hordor is still consumed by rage and he knows only the slow and painful death of the Arrow could help him find peace.

## Battle with the Faultless Arrow

Upon arriving in Bilberg in search of the dwarf archaeologist Hurrim, son of Tharin, members of the Arrow found only a note on his bed instructing them to meet him in a cave south of Bilberg. Inside the cave, they found only an illusory image of Hurrim concealing a pit trap: the note was a trick to corner the Faultless Arrow into the cave.

A battle between the two parties ensued, and all except Halmar fell to the Faultless Arrow. The victory was not without cost, as Calenor was disintegrated and Haereldor fell to ＨＯＲＤＯＲ's twin blades.

## Aftermath and the Return of the Blades

> "You haven't seen the last of the Blades of Justice!" - Halmar l'Étrange
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Halmar was the only Blade to escape the encounter alive. The Arrow sent their homing badger to hunt him down, but he defeated it when it found him somewhere near Gormouth.

Halmar spent the next several weeks taking on various jobs (making charms, getting rid of hexes, etc.) to get enough money and resurrect his companions. His attempts wouldn't have been successful without the sizeable anonymous donation he received three weeks after working in Gormouth.

The Blades of Justice, resurrected, didn't waste time to track down the Faultless Arrow, and with a simple scrying spell they found their arch-enemies in the Orin Valley. Assuming the Arrow was ransacking the city and looting the dead, the Blades set off to finally bring them to Justice.

## Second battle with the Faultless Arrow

It was easy to set a trap for the Faultless Arrow in the remnants of their favorite bar, the Black Unicorn. And the Arrow was predictable in falling for their trap. However, even with the element of surprise, the Blades of Justice couldn't defeat them, as the Blades weren't ready for the menace that calls himself Chad.

Chad minced up the Blades of Justice as if they were lifeless and soulless meat: both ＨＯＲＤＯＲ and Halmar fell to his dwarven axe, and only Olivia lived to tell the tale. She did have to leave Burl behind, an act she deeply regrets.