Beneath the Gaze of Heaven and Hell

**"Beneath the Gaze of Heaven and Hell"** is the second session of The Last Enemy is Death. It took place on the 4th of February, 2022.

## Synopsis

Edarin Allseer, the Oracle of the Everlight for over two hundred years, lies dead. Castle Astielle reels from an unforeseen, impossible attack. Ill deeds awake, and shadows plot in the dead of night.

### Part I

#### A Secret Counsel

The party sits in silent shock as Edarin gasps his final breath. The life has been drawn from his body, leaving a desiccated husk of the once-great Oracle. Alistan holds the corpse close to his chest.

There is a heavy knock at the door. Prince Dorian has come to summon the Oracle and the Champion to council. He stares, speechless, at the body of Edarin Allseer. Shaking himself, he bids the party to follow him: the Sovereign had called an emergency council, and those that remained in this room would need to give their accounts. Alistan rises, cradling the corpse of his mentor.

As they descend, Dorian relays the state of things: the palace is, understandably, in an uproar. Luckily, there had been few casualties as a result of the invasion force, and the civilians had all been evacuated to the Temple of the Dawn outside the castle gates. The people are safe, but rightfully scared. Dorian, too, is perturbed: Castle Astielle is supposed to be warded against invasion of exactly this kind - what happened tonight *should not be possible.*

Arriving in the council chamber, Alistan lays Edarin out upon the council table, to the shock of all present. It is Loremaster Belorin Ruby-Eye, Astielle's Master of Ceremony, that speaks first: the new Oracle must be retrieved at once. A regiment of soldiers must be sent to Dragonfell to retrieve the young Oracle.

The Lord Marshall objects. The castle had just barely fought off an invading force. It could ill afford to send soldiers, leaving the city undefended.

Alistan volunteers, and it is quickly decided: The Champion of the Everlight, and those that fought alongside him, shall retrieve the new Oracle, bring them to Dawnhold. Their safety was tantamount.

The council disperses, and the four part ways. They depart the following morning, but first:

#### Whispers in the Night

Sunflower returns to her home within the city walls, taking back up the face of Hemlock. At her home, she packs for the long journey, and hears a tapping at her door, hears a voice ask if she will spare a log for the fire. Recognizing the theives' cant for what it is - a debrief - the half-elf opens the door, allowing Raven, her primary contact with the Dawnhold Thieves' Guild, inside.

They discuss the events of the night, Hemlock giving Arthur a glowing review - notably redacting the events of the night following the ceremony's commencement. For her trouble, Hemlock is paid and thanked for her time, and Raven disappears into the night, leaving the half-elf to finish packing, and return to Castle Astielle under the face of Sunflower once more.

Meanwhile, in his modest inn room, Arthur tinkers with woodworking designs, awaiting a meeting of his own. He receives it before too long: Raven, again, come to induct a new brother into the family. Provided, of course, he drops all pretense of secret. For his honesty, and for the opportunity he represents, Arthur is gifted three keys and a kiss on the cheek. Welcome to the family, brother.

Within the castle, Alana prepares for the journey ahead. She is visited by Captain Oreg, who gives her a both a gift and a warning, and asks of her a favor. The two she leapt to depend may be brave, may even be heroes, but they are no less thieves for their heroics. Edarin, rest him, may have trusted Arthur and Sunflower, but the captain of the guard is under no such obligation. He bids the halfling keep an eye on the young Champion, make sure the thieves can do him no harm. She obliges, and he offers her a stone that has brought him luck. Perhaps she will need it more than he.

On the castle's training fields, the Champion of the Everlight mourns his mentor with the practiced thrusts of a rapier, drills repeated to the point of muscle memory. He is joined by Prince Dorian, and the two commiserate. Dorian wishes nothing more than to join Alistan, to escape the confines of the castle walls and to *act.* But he is bound to his fate, and Alistan is bound to his. The two spar, or they attempt to, Alistan delivering a decisive thrashing to the Prince before retiring for the night.

When he does sleep, he dreams: a vision of a dead world, of a fire burnt to embers and ash. A dream of a trapdoor wreathed in light, of a skeletal hand reaching for the handle. When he wakes, he finds himself marked: the solar crown of the Everlight, emblazoned and radiant upon his hand. His fate is laid out before him, and he goes now to meet it.

### Part II

#### The Road to Dragonfell

It is seven days' ride to the town of Dragonfell. Before the party embarks, Loremaster Ruby-Eye performs a ritual upon the Champion, saying it will bless them with safe travel. Upon their strosas, the four set off from Dawnhold, heading west to the logging town where the next Oracle awaits them.

By the third day, it is clear something is amiss. Alana notices the call of wolves, consistently some distance behind them. They are being followed. The third night, the night watch is upset by a disturbing message: a slain deer, its throat torn out, positioned at the edge of camp. Following the trail of blood leads to a clearing where three other deer lay dead, their bodies untouched save for their mauled throats. Among the wolf tracks are a single set of pawprints that bespeak a wolf standing upright - or, perhaps not a wolf at all.

Wolf howls echo in the morning air. The message is clear: they are not being followed.

They are being hunted.