Storyline pt. 1

*2 minute read - Glossary at the bottom* - *Special thanks to **Zhidao and Mokijn***

*[This page covers in-game progress up to and including Ergenstadt]*

**The article "Storyline pt. 1" contains spoilers from the Raws!**
This article contains spoilers from the Raws and could reveal untranslated details. Do **not** continue reading if this is a problem for you.

*"The Tale has many beginnings, but tonight, at this fire, it will start with this:*

*It is a tale of its greatest emperor and his most wretched subjects. Of killing. And treachery and loyalty.*

*In the City of Verazza, that depraved and wondrous pace, the Imperial Crown Prince had been murdered.*

*And far from that city, in his own darkness, a man stirred at the sound of battle beyond his cell door..."*

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## Prison Break - A Journey Begins

During the fourth year in his cell at Dunweld Prison, Reynar is surprised by Corso, a former counterpart from the Iron Crowns and a highly skilled assassin, who had come to tell Reynar that it's time to escape and pick up a sword. Corso informs him that the sole heir, Prince Medard, had been murdered, diving the Empire into confusion and uncertainty, and that a company of Iron Crowns is seeking Reynar for questioning as they believe he was involved. Corso left ahead to make preparations, telling Reynar to make his way to Verazza so they could find out what happened to the Prince. Fighting his way through a prison riot and guards, Reynar is joined outside by former associates River, a half-elf huntress from Sorrow’s Heart, and Amras, a renowned battle mage and scholar who was going to see Master Otrados, his mentor, at the Tower of Sky.

With the Iron Crowns on their trail, they make way along the Stoneway to Brachen where the local unrest was immediately evident as the Wessian Army was clashing with groups of revolters and thugs from Brachen. It came as the result of 20 years of heavy taxing and conscription by Wessia’s ruler, Baron Ostrem, who had neglected the livelihood of people living under him as he had prioritized securing his borders and expanding his territory. With all that was going on, tensions were already high, and reached a boiling point upon the Prince’s death. To avoid their pursuers, the companions decided to stay off the beaten path to reach the Aldwood but their challenges were never in short supply. They had run-ins with, amongst others, a group of bandits called the Red Thorns; a group of low-lives who were mercilessly terrorizing the locals and were under the control of Markan Van Thorne. Markan claimed to be heir to the Van Thorne name and was aggressively rising up to claim back Brachen that was formerly held by his family and reassigned to Baron Ostrem during the Great Purge.

In reaching Ergenstadt, ashen columns of smoke arose as a product of the pillaging and ravages of the Red Thorns that had overrun the town. Amidst the fires, they fought their way through the city, breaking through the bandits, until they reached the town square where they found Ezekiel Patakos, the Red Mage, by the church that Livia of the Mercy was protecting. The Red Mage had been pulling the strings behind the scenes, having the Red Thorns brutishly search for lost powerful artifacts in the area. Livia had set up gunpowder within the church and wanted to lure in the Red Thorns in order to kill them all. Fortunately, she didn't need to resort to it as our heroes dispensed with both the Red Thorns and the Red Mage with finality. Once Patakos was slain, Livia joined the heroes as they had learned that her convent was lost and she wanted to assist them in their journey.

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