Unintended Consequences (Date 1/3/7)

Marty's party came off better than he could have dreamed. Drinking and dancing - by all save Justice - culminated in a sloppy, gropefest in an upstairs bedroom with Lumi that counted as a passage to adulthood for both participants. Even Lex and Giada finally consummated a years' long flirtation. Euwyn and Mjelde slept alone while Hedge dozed in his armor on the communal landing, and Justice sat guard on the porch until he eventually succumbed to one-eyed slumber.

Justice woke to full alert some hours later, hearing odd stirrings in the night. He went to investigate and was overwhelmed by and enemy possessing superior numbers and magic.

The rest of the party awoke when the house was surrounded by howling horsemen hurling lanterns and flasks of oil through several windows. Chaos followed with Hedge and Giada nearly dying, when the true enemy showed himself. One of Bartok's men, an adept named Dravo, was seeking redress for his master's death and for the simple fact that the Prince was allowed to openly utilize magic where he had felt the need to hide his curse or be thought a freak. The prince was subdued and dragged from the house where Dravo prepared to execute him by beheading mere steps from where Bartok had perished, only the timely arrival of the mortally wounded, but still kicking, Justice save the prince's life.

Stashing the girls and the wounded Justice with the locals, the party tracked the injured men to a nearby farmhouse where they scared Dravo into flight, put his horse to sleep and cut him down. The rest of his men fled, save for one who begged the prince not to execute his family for their involvement. Euwyn was a little taken aback by this sentiment, realizing he had a bit of reputation for tyranny in these parts.

Gathering up the girls, the group returned home. Marty began pushing Mjelde toward religion over assassin as a new career, and Giada renewed her push to return home if the Prince wasn't going to head for the fort after all.