The Awakening

After reports of strange new magics all over the land, and sudden silence from several settlements in the Suaimoill forest, near the South-East boarder, the factions went to investigate in the early winter of 1293BA.

On arrival, they were joined by Ambassador Spyder of the Guild; however, she appeared to be acting strangely and claiming that she was tired and that she needed to lie down. When Lady Alecto of the Warriors went to check on her, Spyder suddenly seized her and began to attack the factions. Her appearance was unusual, dark cracks appearing on her skin and blood under her nails. She vanished with Alecto, using strange magics, and no one was able to trace them. Faelen of the Circle said he would return and see if there was any way to locate them while the factions continued on their mission.

The main opponents that the Expeditionary Force faced on their journey were daemonic forces set loose by the cultist Carric. Carric was a daemon cultist who was carrying pages of a daemonic text. He was being hunted by two brothers, William and Robert, who had refounded the templar order, an order of Sigismund dedicated to fighting impurities. Carric fought the Force who managed to defeat him, but they discovered that he had set loose his ‘pawn’, a peasant named Kraster. The brothers set out to deal with the destruction caused by Carric in the surrounding area, and asked the Expeditionary Force to deal with Kraster. The Force set out to search the outlying villages for Kraster, and found themselves battling daemons, the like of which they’d never seen before. Final, they encountered Kraster, a peasant deceived and used by Caric, who had a daemon summoning circle carved into his chest. The fight was long and hard, but he was eventually defeated, with the help of a blessed sword from the templar brothers. On his person, some members of the force found the rest of the daemonic text, which was taken into their care. The brothers returned, and Conrad was knighted and inducted into the templar order

   When the factions initially went out in search of Kraster, they found a horrific sigh upon approaching a small settlement; the bodies of the villagers were lying scattered over the ground and looked as if they had been savaged. Upon investigation, the factions found a sole survivor; a redhaired girl who was curled up and hiding inside a log. The girl said that her name was Lily but claimed to be unable to remember anything else; she was unaware of what had attacked the village and said that she had hidden because she was scared. Lily remained with the party over the next few days, becoming particularly close with Shaylee of the Circle and Nykterion of the Guild. The two of them eventually discovered that she was an unbound vampire with amnesia, and they tried to keep her secret; with Nykterion, a vampire himself, feeding her from his own supply of blood. Conrad of the Guild also discovered her secret, but when he threatened to reveal it, Lily used her vampiric powers to compel him to remain silent. Conrad, however, managed to alert other members of the Force, such as Eauxi of the Legion. With some help from Garavel Loken of the Circle, Lily began to display strong lumomantic and umbramantic powers, showing a proficiency with several higher magic spells; although she could not remember how she’d learnt them. She began to become distracted, saying that a man in black from her dreams was calling to her, and she suddenly began to head towards an unknown location, displaying inhuman strength when the party tried to stop her, and suddenly turning to smoke and vanishing, confirming suspicions that she was a very strong vampire. She was later returned to the party by Faelen of the Circle, in a state of exhaustion and confusion, saying the she needed to go to Lyverva. The aid she supplied the Expeditionary Force, and her friendship with Shaylee and Nykterion saved her from summary execution, and the force agreed to help her recover her memories. Several, including Conrad and Eauxi, were uneasy about this, suspecting she may have been the one who had slaughtered the villagers they had found her amongst. Nevertheless, the factions agreed to accompany herto the ruins of Lyverva, as it was on their route North.
Due to the increased levels of magic in Ásaterra, many people began to discover that they had dormant magical powers. The Expeditionary Force encountered a group called The Sorcerer’s Collective taking in these newly budding mages, claiming to be there to help them to develop their skills.

   During their quest, Leo of the Legion was attacked by assassins. He was assisted in fighting them off by Larka, Eauxi and Loken, and these three aided in their questioning, discovering that they were from a group called ‘The Red Dragons’.

As a result of the death of Thel Thalion, the electoral seat of Atheopolis was taken over by Elector Damasus, who arrived to speak to the Expeditionary Force. He announced that Leo would become the new Primus, taking Thel’s former role with the Unit.

### Outcome

The Expeditionary Force defeated Kraster and Carric, and the Cult of the Daemon Akol. Leo was promoted to Primus of the 10th Cohort of the Legion of the Maor Dli. The Expeditionary Force agreed to accompany the vampire Lily to Lyverva, in an attempt to uncover her past and the reason behind her mysterious powers.