The Night of Silent Flames

Smoke curled like black ribbons across the moonlit sky, the scent of burning cedar heavy in the air. Bells clanged from every watchtower in the village, frantic and uneven, as villagers raced with buckets sloshing cold river water. But the flames that devoured Evenshade Manor were no ordinary fire—they flashed as if fed by fury itself, casting the hilltop in a ghastly red-orange glow, and yet the furious flames made very little sound at all.

Baroness Sandibar stood in the west hall, her night-robe singed, a curved sabre in one hand. Behind her, Lord Ulden lay still upon the flagstones. Beyond the smoke, she could hear her children’s cries—three voices, already fading.

“Get back into the house!” she rasped to the last of her guards. “Save Persil!”

But the raiders were already at the shattered doors, faces masked and blades dripping. They moved like wraiths in the firelight, mercenaries with nothing to lose and orders that reeked of blood. Sandibar met them with steel and rage, her final cry swallowed by the inferno.

When the dawn came, portions of the manor were ash, the creeks and mill race ran black with char, and the rising sun woke to silence broken only by a boy’s sobs in the hidden hollow behind the manor's hearth.

The Lead-Up (1423–1426 DR)

Zhentarim Expansion Strategy: After consolidating influence in the Western Heartlands, the Zhentarim seek to expand into Berdusk and its outlying communities. Their long game is about soft power: securing First Folk families as clients, using them as leverage within Berduskan politics.

Targeting the Evenshades: Among the First Folk, Evenshade is a tempting target because it’s relatively small and geographically isolated. If the Zhentarim can get Evenshade--and some of the other smaller First Folks families--under the Zhentarim thumb, the larger Families may follow. The Zhentarim envoy approach the family with offers of “protection” and “exclusive trade channels”—code for mercenary contracts and smuggling routes.

The Refusal: Baroness Sandibar Evenshade , a shrewd but principled matriarch, rebuffs the Zhentarim multiple times. She values Evenshade’s autonomy and Oghma's ideals of free knowledge, which run counter to Zhentarim secrecy and coercion. Rumors suggest she even exposed one of their agents during a council session, embarrassing the network.

Tension Rising: By 1425 DR, Evenshade receives threats—veiled at first, then increasingly explicit. The Zhentarim shift strategy: if persuasion fails, fear will succeed. They hire mercenaries to stage “pirate raids” along the River Chionthar, creating an illusion that Evenshade is vulnerable without Zhent protection. Sandibar still refuses this protection and sinks additional funds into the village's own law enforcement and defensive infrastructure.

The Event (1426 DR) – The Night of Silent Flames

The Plan Went Wrong: The Zhentarim didn’t intend a massacre; they wanted to terrify the village into compliance. A strike team of Black Network sellswords—disguised as river pirates—attacks Evenshade’s docks at midnight, setting fire to several merchant warehouses. Their orders: make noise, cause loss, leave survivors.

Unforeseen Catalyst: Unknown to the raiders, a Harpers’ operative is in Evenshade on unrelated business (or perhaps monitoring Zhentarim activity). He intervenes, killing one of the disguised captains—a key operative with ties to Zhent leadership. In the chaos, command structure collapses, and the mercenaries panic.

The Slaughter: As the fires spread, the mercenaries—afraid of failure and betrayal—storm Evenshade Manor, assuming the family’s deaths will silence witnesses and send the strongest message. The manor’s guards fight valiantly, but the Baroness, Lord Ulden Tasq Evenshade , and the three eldest children perish in the blaze and bloodshed. Only nine-year-old Persil Evenshade, hiding in a secret alcove behind the library hearth (a Harper-taught escape measure Sandibar insisted on for emergencies), survives.

The Twist: Some witnesses claimed the fires spread faster than any mundane flame—that something (or someone) amplified the destruction. It was reported by many, including the Watch, that the fires were unusually quiet, despite burning so fiercely. Was a rogue Zhentarim wizard involved? Or did some Harper's spell go wrong? Or could there have been a strange intervention from something older, bound in the ancient mage tower, lending a hand to the chaos? The truth may have been deliberately buried.

The Aftermath (1426–1435 DR)

The Village Rises: Evenshade’s Watch of the Scroll rally, aided by Harpers and neighboring First Folk militia. The raiders are killed or captured. Those taken alive implicate the Zhentarim under torture and testimony—though some suspect these were expendables meant to take the fall.

The Harpers’ Shadow Move: Fearing the event could fracture the Western Heartlands or invite Zhentarim reprisal, the Harpers pressure the First Folk to keep details quiet. Publicly, the story becomes “pirate attack during a bad river season.” Behind closed doors, it’s a rallying cry for anti-Zhent alliances.

The Council Rule: With Sandibar dead and Persil too young, the Evenshade Council assumes stewardship, appointing an annually rotating pro tempore leader. This decision is pragmatic—but controversial. Some First Folk argue the Evenshade line is broken, and the Council should elect a new family to leadership. Others insist preserving the bloodline of a strong and benevolent family matters. Persil becomes a symbol—a fragile thread binding tradition to future stability.

Zhentarim Fallout: The Black Network suffers reputational damage in the region; their plans to infiltrate Berdusk stall for a generation. Some factions within the Zhentarim see the disaster as a betrayal or blunder and quietly eliminate those responsible.