Death at Silverhall

Baron Matthew Valeria

King Howlan Garess

Prince Roderic Garess

Prince Darija Surtova

Princess Dafini Surtova

Lady Lyn Tiasa

Duke Grier Medvyed

Duchess Sylvanna Orlovsky

Sir Valenti Argyros

## Celebrating Defeat

Every year on the 28th of Gozran, the noble houses of Brevoy would gather in one of their manors and celebrate the end of the Brevoy Civil War. More appropriately, House Garess, House Valeria, and House Lebeda would celebrate while the others bemoaned their loss or their current ruler.

No one could avoid coming to the anniversary though. It was at these once a year meetings that major policy decisions and deals between Houses could be arranged in a night. To wait till any other day would result in the process taking months if not years and the loss of face from not attending would be enormous. It was this certainty that allowed the Valeria family to know their plot would succeed.

The families gathered as they did every year, this time at the Silverhall estate of House Lebeda. The Valeria family were not the first to arrive but they arrived quickly enough to take to their appointed tasks. Baron Valeria kept the elder nobles of each family in the main lounge occupied so as to not while Prince Richard Valeria pulled Prince Roderic Garess into a side room. Prince Richard harassed his main impediment to the throne of Brevoy, intimidating him into giving up the throne by showing his infernal power and the scales given to him by Kai'Thikul. Meanwhile Tyrus Valeria poisoned two wines on the rack and then returned to his friends at the gaming table and kept on as if nothing had occurred.

## Eliminating the Competition

Prince and Princess Surtova were the first to fall to the Valeria's plot. Their bodies oozed blood from every pore as they shrieked in pain and collapsed to the ground, their wine glasses shattering on the floor. The entire manor entered an outrage as each noble family began to accuse the others of having assassinated the Surtovas. An unknown agent took advantage of this chaos, an elven woman from Tian Xia named Lady Lyn Tiasa. She had journeyed to Avistan and to Brevoy in particular to seek a partnership with one of the many fractured noble houses. Her home country was under attack by Oni and needed support. She had not planned on the deaths of such prominent noblemen, but their deaths opened an opportunity for her to bewitch the couple's grieving son, Lord Erin Surtova. Her magics proved too much for his broken heart and he fell to her wiles. They would later marry and she would become Lady Surtova, but that's a tale for another time.

The families split into various parts of the manor after King Garess refused to allow anyone to leave till the culprit was caught. The Valeria's had planned for this, and Tyrus was armed with several disguise and invisibility tools to allow him to blend between the families. When Lady Orlovsky left the protection of her family to visit the ladies room, it was a simple thing to take on the appearance of Baroness Medvyed and follow her into the bathroom before piercing her through the back of her head with his hidden blade. Discovered later that afternoon, the uproar created by finding the deceased noble provided an opportunity to escape the house and lead a horse north of the manor for use later if he were to be discovered. During Tyrus's absence Baron Valeria headed upstairs and committed suicide with the same poison that had killed the Surtova's. Suspicion would leave his family if one of their own were to die, and he had served his purpose. Having faith that his children could carry out the task of bringing peace to Brevoy, he planted a poisoned dart in his leg and faded away.

The Valeria plot was nearly uncovered when upon returning to the manor, Tyrus encountered Sir Argyros in the stables. The bard had spotted Tyrus exiting the stables and was waiting for him to return so as to ambush him and show the rest of the manor that he had caught the killer. Tyrus killed him instead, slitting his throat swiftly and carving out his tongue so that the attending clerics could not extract who the victim had seen. Disguising himself as a wandering villager he called out to the guards inside that he had been wandering by and found the body of Sir Argyros. The manor once again became a hub of activity as everyone rushed out save for one member. Duke Medvyed had attempted to flee the manor earlier that day and as such he was forbidden from following everyone else outside. Tyrus slipped into the manor once more, found the unsuspecting Duke alone and killed him from behind.

With the deaths of five prominent nobles at this point the King could no longer hold the nobles at bay and every family fled the event. The Valeria's were never discovered to have orchestrated the event, and with the heads of any opposition disposed of or placated, Prince Richard Valeria would now go on to become King Valeria when Howlan Garess passed away two years later.