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« on: December 23, 2020, 12:55:25 AM »
[ :: Year 1 :: ]
The past day has been spent by many mulling what was a strange, dangerous scene at the first Council of Peers to be held since the marriage of Lady Oriana Sunpurse and Count Zarono Sensupur. All the Houses were in attendance, including minor houses seeking to curry favor in their quest to perhaps fill the seat of Nepehezar, with one of the Bishops of the Faith of the Lord and Lady, Eris Hale, presiding for Sunpurse.
Little of note had occurred beyond verbal sparring between the battle lines of Sunpurse and Orza against Glitt and Velstra, the latter of whom have raised their voices in opposition to the Count. Tension was writ through the room, then, just as it is writ through the ward at large, as a troupe of strange figures entered the Council chambers. They were lead by none other than Adela Nephezar, seeming in a daze amid powerful sorcerous magicks, in the company of two exiled Lords: Schwarzenkopf and Willows. In a moment of clarity, she uttered a grievous curse, accusing Sensupur of corrupting the faith of the Lord and Lady with false idols, damning them in the eyes of the Lord Departed and all who bore witness.
She then disappeared in a cry and flash of spellfire, leaving the scene to swiftly descend into bedlam. Chaos reigned, at least one man in the service of the Count was brought low, and as the dust cleared both of the Exiles lay slain upon the ground. Rumors seethe about the cowardice, or disloyalty, of many in the chamber who chose not to aid the defenders. Others, more quietly, speak of the actions of what may be the last living scion of House Nephezar as something resembling a savior of the ancient traditions against a usurper and tyrant. In any case, Adela Nephezar was nowhere to be found.
A manhunt followed, but all the steading homes and hidden places thusfar looked-in have not revealed the woman who once tended the Almshouse of in the Mongrelwoods, that of the Sobering Spirit. She is hunted even now by the retinue of the Count; though what shall come of this blow to his prestige remains to be seen. Dark talk spreads through the Steadings and the Weald of what may happen if the Count oversteps the limits of his newfound power. Meanwhile, even as the diplomats had met to discuss the situation, as Velstra and Glitt are quietly seen to stockpile the supplies and implements of war.