Against Riverest

Political event

On arrival home, the party must contend with a dire new threat: the neighbors.

  Firstly they lure the head of the peasant army in for kidnapping, leveraging him for a prisoner exchange.

  From here, the group splits up, with some going to Riverest to stir up chaos before the prisoner exchange, and a jump in profits for the group.

The political situation of the Republic of Istria  details how power is split up among the Knight Lords of the cities and towns outside of the capitol city. Riverest is the second largest and most powerful town after Istria proper, sitting along the Krovitya River and acting as a stopping dock along the river for barges. As such, its influence is the most substantial within the north of the Istrian countryside. Their liege, Knight Lord Curtis Marbrand, is responsible what happens within his region of influence. As such, when rumors sprout up about an undocumented group that was rapidly hiring out skilled laborers, without consent or taxes given to the local lord, suspicions are immediately struck. A bandit den, or possibly a group of cultists, or other group that needs removing. What he wasn't aware of was it was the adventuring group that was waiting for him.   Coming to bear with a small force of village militia, and a few lieutenants including a elven assassin, he was rather surprised to be given a warm greeting by Aestasea. A meal was also presented by the gourmet chef Onyx Brimstone. What he wasn't prepared for was the distinctly drow poison that was waiting in his beef wellington.   A fight immediately breaks out, with the party quickly overwhelming and capturing the Knight Lord.   From here, Onyx, Thaleia, Myrddin, and Lillyen make their way to Riverest proper to make preparations for the prisoner exchange, as well as prepare some leverage.   The town is in a state of tension, with fortifications being thrown up on the banks of the river in preparation for some variety of attack coming that direction. The group successfully plants explosives on the wall, just in case they need to retaliate on the exchange going poorly. From here, they also move to the lord's manor outside the castle.   With a invitation to the Silverrush Waterfall along the West Krasta Road for their exchange, some of the group find their way to the manor and attempt a break in to stuff their coffers an additional sum. With their ill-gotten gains, and potential sabotage against Riverest, the meeting is had, and the party is successful in securing their position within their base in the Westhills, with a fat injection of cash to grease the wheels.   As such, while Riverest is unlikely to take kindly to the party from here-on-out, they are also unlikely to be disturbed by the authorities.   A final note, Onyx discovered the handiwork of a murderous spirit who had come to terrorize the town and particularly the elvish minority population here. The grotesque murder of a thorned spike in the public park had the town in a state of terror. Onyx would regrettably be aware of who was responsible.