Duskfall

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A Recounting…

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The Fall

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The fall of the Hellstrom family has had many tales told of it over the years, each more outlandish than the last. Some claim that it was a power play by the LaCroix, revealing Harold Hellstrom’s vampirism to the Emperor in order to gain an upper hand. Others claim that House Zenten manipulated events so that Lord Darius Blackwell, champion of Torm, learned of his curse and sought out the undead noble to settle old scores. Whatever the case, all agree that Lord Blackwell learned of the House’s unsavory origins, and sought to right the valley of a wrong he saw as too long untouched.

Darius, enraged that such a creature has been embedded within Sundarian nobility for so long, quested to Castle Nactura to ambush the creature and kill it. Accompanied by adventurers, Darius killed Harold van Hellstrom in a battle that shook the very foundations of the Spine. Most are unsure how he came to claim such abilities, but most agreed that Torm must have had His hand on the champion. Once dead, Harold and his family quickly fell apart.

Emperor Verinus quickly bought out the majority of House Hellstrom’s shares in Exigo, crippling the family financially and gaining a significant boost to his own holdings and reach across the valley. This coup alarms the other nobles, and acts as a impetus to band them together with a common enemy: Verinus. The greater noble families (Veritas, Aurelianus, Ulsteris, Meriadoc, etc.) go to the Emperor with an ultimatum: Relinquish power, or face civil war that the country had not seen in centuries.

The Emperor, thinking quickly, offered an alternative. A Senate, composed of the noble families, who will join him in governing the nation of Sundren and the lands already claimed by Meriadoc and Pendraig. In return for this concession, the Emperor retains absolute power in times of war, voted upon by the families and retains a vote, as well as veto powers in the Senate during times of peace.

In addition, he created of a Regional Council that included the independent powers of Meriadoc and Aquor, and even that of Sestra in governing the valley as a whole. This established the Silent Peace in Aquor, and the protection of the roads.

Forced into exile, the Hellstrom family retreats to its grounds. Slowly, but surely, the Hellstrom family begins to throw more and more bloodthirsty games in the arena, attracting warriors from near and far. The Hellstrom family becomes a financier for bets, and grows increasingly wealthy from the games, restoring some of its fortune. However, their recovered wealth was no cure for the social stigma of their origins. House Hellstrom is turned away from most reputable establishments and organizations, and find themselves without allies.

With the death of Harold, and the promise of regular trade in Sestra, the vampiric presence within vanishes, banished to the Spine. The vampires are hunted across the valley in a wave of adventuring death, rewards offered by practically any major power. As a result, Colibrus worship vanishes and the vampires flee to the Spine and beyond, into the shadows.

Last updated byDispater