The Dinner Party

With the memory of prison walls still fresh and the sting of Alinora’s death weighing heavily on their hearts, the Arrestables turned their sights on a singular target: the Xavier family—and through them, the elusive and powerful Muskelon. The group’s suspicions ran deep, believing the Xaviers were not only tied to their friend Bergold’s murder, but were central players in a broader conspiracy to seize power across Physt.

Vorden’s royal blood gave them an opportunity. His parents—King and Queen Copper—granted the Xaviers an invitation to a formal dinner at the palace. The Arrestables, with quiet resolve and no regal permission, had plans of their own.

As the Xaviers departed for the banquet, the party struck. Vorden hoisted the ever-resourceful Jonathan through a high window of the Xavier estate. Landing with a thud and a wince, the halfling rogue made his way to the front door and unlocked it for the rest of the group. With that, the infiltration began.

The manor was opulent and cold, filled with the hum of latent magic and secrets buried behind marble and steel. It wasn’t long before the group triggered a ward—an arcane trap designed to detect unauthorized spellcasting. The magic pulsed through the structure, and before they could react, stone gargoyles perched high along the vaulted ceilings came to life, wings snapping open like blades.

Sinas was the first to move, calling upon his divine gifts to shield the group and bring radiant energy down on the attackers. The room erupted into chaos as Vorden met one of the beasts head-on, his newly inherited Sun Blade casting searing golden arcs through the dim corridors. Shadow struck from the sides, his body moving like smoke, fists laced with draconic power as he battered one of the gargoyles into rubble.

Jonathan, avoiding the fray, crept deeper into the manor. His instincts guided him to a hallway lined with portraits—each grandiose, each hiding something. A false wall behind a tapestry gave way beneath his searching hands, and there he found it: a hidden prison chamber, and within it, the broken but unmistakable form of Artemis.

The group had long suspected Artemis of colluding with the Xaviers. But here, locked away and half-dead, his true story came to light. The Xaviers had framed him for Bergold’s murder and used him as a living conduit—torturing him, killing him, resurrecting him, and repeating the cycle—to extract knowledge about the Derhiti and their ancient magics.

As the group regrouped around the hidden cell, they sensed it—others now knew they were here. Their magical trespass had not gone unnoticed. The Xaviers, realizing Vorden was occupied at the palace, launched their coup in the very same hour.

Knowing time was short, Sinas gently released Artemis’s tortured soul, ending his suffering. The party fled the manor, slipping through alleyways and hidden tunnels before vanishing into the desert night.

By morning, the Copper family’s rule was gone. The Xaviers had seized control of Physt.

And the Arrestables—bloodied, hunted, and now exiled—had never been more certain of their mission.