Player Character Death Report: Nefarion Furyborn

"Where is your king now?" - Nefarion

Name: Commander Nefarion Furyborn
Race/Class: Human Fighter / Hell-Knight Commander
Player: Mike
Level: 7 (Required 10,345 for Level 8)
Date of Death: ~12pm, 28th of June, 5th Era 1486 RE
Cause of Death: Bleeding Out. Sliced multiple times by Ykarion the Jester. Brought down following a laceration to his Achilles' heel.
Location: Melee Free-For-All Arena, Dunfarg Tourney Grounds, Val Némor
Total Sessions: 20 (1-20)
Total In-Game Days: 16 (Days 1-16)

Back-story/Bio:
A decorated and battle-hardened human Hell-Knight Commander who (along with his adopted sister; Ysera) served as a personal bodyguards to the Crimson Prince; Rhed Arcadeus during the Civil War of 1486 RE. His most important assignment yet, he fought alongside the Prince and the Royalist forces during the Battle of the West-Harbour, and continued to successfully protect the Prince even after the defeat they sustained at the hands of the Renegades and their War Automatons. Among his Hell-Knight comrades he is known as the ‘Executioner’, and his sister; Ysera, is called the ‘Judge’. They are infamous in their own order as being a deadly duo, feared by criminals and lawbreakers all over the realm.

Quests Completed: 4
1.) Main Quest: 'Returning the Phoenix to the Nest'
                                     Successfully escorted the wounded Prince Rhed safely back to Rhuen.
2.) Optional Side Quest: 'The Black Sentinel'
                                     Defeated Black Sentinel Heinrich in single combat.
3.) Optional Side Quest: 'Protecting Haven'
                                     Repelled the Von Heltzer Threat at High-Haven
4.) Optional Side Quest: 'The Hounds of Hell'
                                     Captured High-Haven from the Rebel House Hyegarl

Bosses Defeated: 3
1.) Black Sentinel Heinrich (The Black Sentinel)
2.) Old Adelbern (Protecting Haven)
3.) Field-Commander Hoyt (Protecting Haven)

Total Exp Gained: 17,655exp
+1,366 (The Battle of the West-Harbour)
+250 (Highwaymen Encounter)
+100 (Assassin Encounter)
+150 (Won Duel: Ser Percival at the Dueling Academy)
+1,125 (Quest Completed: 'Returning the Phoenix to the Nest')
+150 (Poacher Encounter)
+5,500 (Quest Completed: 'The Black Sentinel' - Defeated Boss: Heinrich)
+250 (Communicated with the Faceless Deity)
+250 (Helped the young girl; Severine escape Bastion Zenith)
+100 (Met Matheus of Olynne)
+500 (Convinced the Prisoners of High-Haven to help fight)
+383 (Von Heltzer Patrol Ambush)
+530 (Defeated Boss: Old Adelbern)
+600 (Destroyed the Artillery Depot)
+185 (Hand-to-Hand combat with Von Heltzer Private Samson)
+250 (Defeated Field Commander Hoyt)
+616 (Windmill encounter)
+1,000 (Quest Completed: 'Protecting Haven')
+200 (Saving Hel / Witnessing the 'Creature')
+750 (Towns-Guard battle in High-Haven Siege)
+1,500 (Quest Completed: 'The Hounds of Hell')
+150 (Spared the little girl; Sasha's life)
+250 (Made it into Val Nemor undetected using an alias)
+500 (Signed up for the Tourney)
+1,000 (Defeated Figaro the 'Half-Knight')

Total GP Gained: 6,000gp
+750 (QC: Returning the Phoenix to the Nest)
+1,000 (Commander Hoyt's Chest)
+2,000 (QC: Protecting Haven)
+1,500 (QC: Protecting Haven: Hel's Share)
+750 (QC: The Hounds of Hell)

Sin Points: 15 (Highest of all PC's at the time)
+2 Envy (From drinking corrupted Assassin's Blood)
+1 Envy (Tainted when assisting Sij in the Blood Ritual)
+1 Greed (From taking both daggers on the Assassin's corpse)
+2 Greed (From taking Hel's share of her mission reward gold)
+1 Lust (Tainted by the Passion Phantasm in the Commander's Tent)
+1 Wrath (Unnecessary Cruelty to others: Old Man in Kentonborough)
+1 Wrath (Unnecessary Cruelty to others: Poachers)
+1 Wrath (Unnecessary Cruelty to others: Pvt. Samson / Paladin Cedric, Von Heltzers)
+1 Wrath (Unnecessary Cruelty to others: Mack)
+1 Pride (Acted in defense of his pride: Black Sentinel Heinrich)
+1 Pride (He didn't thank Hel for her assistance and loyalty in the duel)
+1 Pride (Wears the heads of his enemies as trophies)
+1 Pride (After the sacking of High-Haven, he claimed Lord Emmon's bedroom)

Virtue Points: 11 (Second Highest of all PC's at the time)
+1 Kindness (Showed Kindness to Severine and helped her escape the Bastion)
+1 Kindness (Decided to help Lord Emmon rather than turn him in as a traitor)
+1 Kindness (In High-Haven, he ordered Hel to sanctify the bodies of the dead.)
+1 Kindness (He spared the life of the girl; Sasha, after she attacked Lt. Salvo)
+1 Charity (Clothed Matheus and Severine using his own gold)
+1 Patience (Endured the Corsairs without aggression or bloodshed)
+1 Humility (Embraced his own death with grace and tranquility)
+2 Diligence (Has shown diligence in protecting the Prince and bringing him home)
+2 Diligence (Has shown diligence in all of his Hell-Knight duties and missions)

Session 20: Group 1 Overview

'NYGEL, of Farome', a Bodyguard for Hire (Nefarion)
'GLORFINDEL', a Travelling Healer (Seltyiel)
'KANDI', a Traveling Courtesan (Cynthia)
'EEVEE', The Sorrowful Blind', a Traveling Monk (Hel)
~11am, 28th of June, 5th Era 1486 RE (Day 16)
Melee Free-For-All Arena, Tourney Grounds, Dunfarg, Val Némor

 Melee Free-For-All Ground Rules
~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No Arcane Abilities of the Second Circle or higher.
No Ranged or Thrown Weaponry of any sort.
Healing is restricted to one instance per participant.

No mounts of any kind. Fighting beasts are also disallowed.

Participant may withdraw from the Free-For-All at any time, and must shout "Yield"
A Participant who has yielded must not be harmed further, and cannot take part any more.

No cooperation or 'ganging up', no mutual benefits of any kind to be exchanged between participants.
~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Champion's Reward; the sum of 10,000 Gold Pieces
Runner Up; the sum of 4,000 Gold Pieces

~~~~~~~~~~~~o~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The thirty combatants take their places at the borders of the Free-For-All arena, Nefarion thinks to himself, this so-called 'arena' seems more like a pit...a great expanse of cracked dry mud, stained with blood and littered with shards of armor and weapons. He notices that only a handful of combatants stand between him and Seltyiel. The rules state clearly that he cannot cooperate with him, so he might as well steer clear of him until completely necessary. The Dark Master has vowed to watch him perform on the field, he needed to look good out there, spill a bit of blood. Do what he does best. For the good of the Hell-Knights. Unbeknownst to Nefarion however, Seltyiel would not refrain from fighting him. When the wooden palisades were raised, the combatants began to spill into the arena from all corners - a veritable medley of different races, armors, weapons and fighting techniques battled for the chance to win gold and glory. The bulk of the thirty combatants congealed into one large bloodbath in the center of the pit, and quickly their numbers were thinned. Many yielded before long, and those who didn't suffered terrible wounds, dismemberment, and some; death. Hel stood at the edge of the arena, and discretely cast a Life Bond spell on Nefarion and Seltyiel, so that she might share some of their pain inflicted (and they might be able to withstand more of the fighting) Nefarion cornered a halfling paladin of Ragathiel named Figaro and brought down his great axe upon him. He swung relentlessly at the little armored knight until Figaro collapsed. His squires rushed onto the arena to drag off his body, and Nefarion continued to his next target. Seltyiel drank his mutagen and beast-morphed into his terrible and destructive form. With ease, he sent an imposing muscular satyr down onto the ground. The barbaric creature known as Barryx the Bull dropped his hooked blades and was also dragged off by his squires. The main fray in the center of the arena waged on, more knights fell and more lost blood and limbs. Truly thinned were there numbers now, and a sinister looking combatant made his way towards Nefarion. He could hear the jingling of bells before he could see the horrific jester dancing towards him, armed with an evil-looking hand sickle. An unsettling, exaggerated smile crept across his blood-smeared face and Nefarion advanced to meet him cautiously. Through magical means, the Jester threw down a slippery liquid in an attempt to trip Nefarion, he could also vanish into thin air with great ease. Nefarion found himself at a true disadvantage, and could not predict when or where the jester would strike. Even with Hel's Life Bond spell sustaining him, the jester bled him time and time again. The battle raged on for some time, and victorious from the main fray emerged a hulking knight in brass colored armor. He advanced steadily towards Seltyiel with tower shield and flanged mace in tow. Seltyiel braced for impact as the heavy flanged mace came down upon him. He deflected, and returned a flurry of blows. For some time they both battled, exchanging powerful blows, and for a time it seemed that they were evenly matched. While this was happening, Hel had attracted some attention from the Tournament Guards, and they made their way towards her. Vycktor warned Hel of this, and attempted to waylay the guards in any way he could to buy her some time to get away. When Vycktor is backhanded by one of the guards, he flees the tourney grounds. Hel makes a run for it and the guards continue to chase her for some time. With the majority of the participants out (in one form or another), it seems that Nefarion and Seltyiel are among the last few left. The Knight of Brass continues to battle Seltyiel, and he defends himself well, occasionally landing a lethal hit on the knight, whittling him down slowly. Nefarion however is not faring so well, and the Jester has drawn blood one too many times. The effects of the Life Bond have worn off since Hel was chased off by the guards, and Nefarion seems without choice. He must yield, or he will die. He buys himself a moment to quickly glance into the audience stalls and around the edges of the arena, but he cannot see anyone that might be the cult leader. Despairingly, he fights on until the jester finally brings him down - slicing his Achilles' tendon with the sickle. Nefarion falls hard, dropping his great axe. The Jester kneels down beside him, and talks menacingly about life and death. Nefarion's rapidly losing a lot of blood, and yet he still does not yield. The Jester eggs on the cheering crowd, demanding an outcome. The general consensus vote to spare his life, and the Jester obliges, and dances away from Nefarion's body. Despite this mercy however, Nefarion's squire; Vycktor is nowhere to be seen, and the only person who runs to his aid is Os. He tries his best to save his master and stop the blood-loss. He wails out to the crowd in anguish, begging for help. With his life force leaving him by the gallon, Nefarion bleeds out on the dirt and not one of his comrades come to his aid. The Brass Knight uses Stone Soul to make himself grow both in size and strength, but not long after, he is stabbed in the back several times by the invisible Jester. The Brass Knight topples like a building onto the ground, shaking the very earth beneath him. The Jester leaves himself vulnerable and Seltyiel strikes him down after a brief tussle. "I yield, I yield" he screams. The cheering of the crowd comes to a climax, and Seltyiel looks around amazed to see that he is the last man standing in the arena. He's ushered up to the podium by the tourney herald, and is congratulated for his accomplishments. Another distinct looking man is also stood up at the podium with the herald and the other officials and noblemen. He's clad in expensive silver armor and adorned with a rich purple cape. His long hair - the same color as his armor - hangs from his weathered and disgruntled face. He personally extends out his (not-so) sincere congratulations to Seltyiel.

"Bravo. Good show. Congratulations on your victory and proving your valor, chivalry...etc etc, formalities and formalities...Damn it will someone just pay the man his gold and be done with it?! I've got a war to win."

Only after this conceited and contemptuous man had withdrawn himself, did Seltyiel learn who it was. He had just spoken to Lord-Meister Hermann; the head of the renegade House Villeroy - he was the treasonous uncle of the Queen, and the number one enemy of the Royalists.

Melee Free-For-All Applicants: Dunfarg Annual Tournamentum

Session 19: Group 1 Overview

'NYGEL, of Farome', a Bodyguard for Hire (Nefarion)
'GLORFINDEL', a Travelling Healer (Seltyiel)
'KANDI', a Traveling Courtesan (Cynthia)
'EEVEE', The Sorrowful Blind', a Traveling Monk (Hel)
~10pm, 25th of June, 5th Era 1486 RE (Day 13)
Outskirts of Schuteberk, Southern Val Nemor

With their new aliases and occupations into full effect, the party are transported from Port Zeiduch to Dunfarg. The Hell-Knight element of the party are paired up with fellow agent; Mélanie - under the alias; Astrid, a shipwright's daughter - who has been working undercover in Val Némor for the last few days, in order to track this sinister cult leader. By the carriage of a traveling quack doctor named 'Umberto', the party stops briefly outside the regional Capital City of Schuteberk. Known locally as the 'City of Ghosts', Schuteberk seems to live up to this macabre moniker -  at least from the outside anyway. It's city walls stand tall and jagged, comprised of a glossy stone as black as pitch. The numerous towers behind the walls are narrow, with pointed spires. What lies behind the walls remains unclear to the passing party members, however a flickering green light seems to be emanating from the city's interiors - the light is similar to that from braziers and pyres, except the fire is a sickly, and venomous colour. The party stop here for as little time as possible - for Schuteberk is the seat of the Renegade House Villeroy; who are the greatest enemies of the Royalists. While they are resting up, and while the charlatan tends to the horses, the great black city gates open to release a contingent of Villeroy soldiers armed with curved spears and swords. With them, several lumbering automatons appear, heavily armored and wielding integral arm-blades and cannons. The contingent heads east, and the party wait patiently and nervously until they are well out of the way. Before they leave, they pick up a cloaked hitchhiker whose also bound for Dunfarg, and carry on with their journey north. Along the way, they learn that the man they picked up is hoping to make some gold at the tournament. His name is Vycktor, and he seems to be a rogue of sorts. As the party are also heading to the tournament, he seems keen to stick with them for the time being, and the group consent.

Dunfarg is an old city, with much culture, and ancient buildings. It is home to many aristocratic lords and scholars, and it also hosts the annual Tournamentum - a series of Knightly Games spanning three days. The big event attracts champions from all corners of the realm, promising fame, glory and riches. Over the three days, participants can sign up into Knightly games and bloodsports such as the melee, jousting, archery and more. The site for the tournament is so large, that it has to be placed outside of the city walls, and hundreds of brightly colored tents surround the many arenas and training grounds. When the party arrive at the tourney, they exit the charlatan's carriage and proceed into the camp to find the nearest tournament official. They eventually find one, a bald-headed man by the name of Riquard. He produces a long list and a feather quill, and unenthusiastically signs both Nefarion (Nygel) and Seltyiel (Glorfindel) into the Melee free-for-all. He explains to them that they both need to have squires if they are to participate. Seltyiel asks Hel (Eevee) if she would be his, and  and Nefarion asks the newly acquired rogue; Vycktor to be his. Once the paperwork is completed, they are led by the official to the encampment. The camp is a den of activity - there are a great many knights, squires and tournament workers here, the majority of which are practicing and preparing for the games. When they reach the encampment, they are led to their assigned quarters. Two tents. Nefarion enters his own tent with Vycktor and is surprised to see it has not been cleaned since it's last occupant used it. The mattress on the simple bed is stained in sweat and blood and the stench is unbearable. On the table next to the bed sits an apothecary's kit, dirty bandages, empty vials and syringes. An apologetic voice speaks to the pair of them from outside the tent, and when they go to investigate, they see a young, enthusiastic man with a mess of black curly hair and a green doublet. He introduces himself as Os, a talented Squire in need of a master. He explains to them that the tent's previous occupant had been his last. The late Cort Vel Drune had been a distinguished knight and victor of many tourneys throughout Elmunred. He died from wounds sustained in the tournament preliminaries. Os seems despondent, but nevertheless, he seeks to assist Nefarion as his new squire. Nefarion already has Vycktor as his squire, but in sympathy for the boy's loss, he accepts him as a second squire. The bald official; Riquard overhears their conversation and steps in with a smirk on his face.

Riquard: "Don't believe a word he says. He's the worst squire in Val Némor. There's many a dead knight because of this one."
Os: "That's not true at all...well...there was...but that was only one.You can't blame me for that! The tourney is dangerous place."
Riquard: "Yes, Cort Vel Drune. A lance to his flank. Ruptured one of his kidneys they said. Nasty way to go."
Os: "He was one of the greatest...a true and chivalrous knight...he died in my arms, I couldn't stop his pain, nor could the clerics."
Riquard: "Oh aye. And what about that dwarven champion; Konrack Stonereaver?"
Os: "Seriously, Riquard? You know what happened! His helmet fell off and he got hit on the head with a club. But he didn't die! and that wasn't my fault!"
Riquard: "And before him...Sir James the Tall? Does he not count?"
Os: "He fell from his horse in the joust and was trampled on...but again, an accident. And he lived to fight another day."
Riquard: "It's just a shame his legs were pulverized by the horses' stamping hooves..."
Os: "Better his legs then his head!"

In response to this conversation, Nefarion became quite cautious. But he reconsidered himself, how could he blame the young and loyal squire for these terrible accidents? The tournaments are dangerous, and the Knights know the risks very well. A passionate and eager youth, Nefarion could not bare to cast him away. He himself was no stranger to warfare, and for what it was worth, he could take care of himself. (He could at least indulge Os with the honor, even if the boy would not prove useful in any way.)

While all this was happening, Mélanie (Astrid) distanced herself from the group, and began scouting the tourney grounds for clues that might lead to the whereabouts of the cult leader. The vampiress Cynthia (Kandi) was in search for her next meal. She had the advantage of being dressed as a courtesan, and so it didn't take her long to find a willing male to share the privacy of a tent together. A Viper-Guard sworn to House Villeroy accepted her 'invitation', and when the two of them were alone together in his tent. It became quite clear to Cynthia, that she would have to put on a 'convincing show' for it seemed the Viper-Guard enjoyed a visual performance before a physical one. On the bed she undressed slowly, and he stood there stroking his undulating spear (not a euphemism!) Eventually, he got in with her, and she hit him with her vampiric spell...but it failed. She was initially worried, but it unexpectedly he seemed to enjoy the sensation she had given him. Very much so in fact. His arousal heightened and he demanded more. Calmly, she tried again to subdue him until she was successful. She fed, and then she left the tent - taking her payment as she did so.

The party stayed in the camp for the duration of the three-day tourney. Mélanie was still unable to find any trace of the Dark Master that had led them here. The main events of the second day was the jousting and the archery, and on the morning of the third day began the Melee Free-For-All. In addition to Nefarion and Seltyiel, another twenty eight competitors had signed up for the melee - all of them with the hope of winning fame, glory, and of course the ten thousand gold cash prize. With the formalities, paperwork and waivers submitted, the combatants were gathered to this large 'pit' of an arena. Stands had been erected for the audience around the arena and a panel of judges and noblemen overlooked them. Hundreds of people, both spectators and participants had been gathered here on this glorious June morning. Nefarion , Seltyiel and the others readied up and took their positions on the borders of the arena. At midday; the Herald declared the Melee Free-For-All open. "Let the games begin!" he concluded and the crowd roared with excitement and thrill.