Session 4 Overview

The Prince is alive, although seems quite feeble and disturbed. He has been rendered unable to talk due to his neck injury, but he arranges a farewell in appreciation of the party. His aide thanks the party on his behalf and hopes that they will meet again soon. The party reconvene at the city gates and meet up once again with Melanie and her Vampire prisoner; Cynthia. They depart southeast through a mountain path towards Bastion Zenith; the Last Hell-Knight outpost in Elmunred.

Along the way they are drawn by the smoke of a campfire, and after further investigation, they encounter three suspicious individuals hurriedly packing up their campsite. At first they claim to be hunters, but eventually after some intimidation and interrogation confess they are Poachers. After the poachers attempt to flee. Hell-Knight siblings Nefarion and Ysera stop two of them in their tracks, cutting off the leg of one and extracting the tongue of the other. Sij; the Monk, chases the third into the forest and finally catches up to him. He tries to reason with the poacher, but the poacher is too desperate, and refuses to listen to any reason. After Sij is stabbed with a dagger, he sees red, and transforms into an uncontrollable state of rage. He takes the dagger off of the poacher and stabs him violently to death, and in that moment, all of his pacifist vows were broken. Nefarion and Seltyiel eventually find Sij weeping and shaking over the dead poacher, Nefarion loots the corpse, taking a little gold and the coneys that had been poached. Seltyiel extracts the man's gallbladder. Sij laments on how far they have all descended, and concludes that they are all monsters of men.

After a brief rest, the party continue on to the Bastion, and discover it is in quite a state of disrepair. The two Black Sentinel guardsmen welcome Nefarion and Ysera, but question the other party members in their company, after some tense, fighting words are exchanged between Nefarion and Black Sentinel Heinrich (the larger of the two guards). Nefarion's honor and manhood is insulted by Heinrich, and a duel (to the death) is set for later that evening. The party meet the Arch-Lictor; Emmerich (A crimson haired muscular man, of Suli descent). He seems unimpressed at the Hell-Knights for their efforts in protecting the Prince, but nevertheless gives them their payment. Later on, the Arch-Lictor summons Melanie and her prisoner; Cynthia, for questioning. He pries into Cynthia's dark past, asking her about the fate of the Hunter that killed her coven. When Cynthia insisted that she had killed the hunter (along with all of his family), the Arch Lictor seemed surprised and doubtful, and stated to her that this was not so, for the hunter was still alive.