Name of PC: Kalviath, Changeling Sorcerer VM
Name of Campaign/DM:The Gearheart Saga (named for a great book)
Name of Adventure:Island at the Axis of the World
Chapter/Scene of Death: Chapter 1, Docker's Revolt
Cause of death: A brutal fcused assault by the Docker Veteran Thames Grimesly.
Metagame cause (if applicable): Poor teamwork from the PCs combined with the DM not paying attention to PC health.
Brief Recount of events: The fight started on the bridge. The PCs had brought the longshoremen with them and were standing directly next to them. When combat started, The Veteran and Grimesly attacked and then the longshoremen turned around and caught the players off guard. In the second round of combat, Grimely used his flying clothesline attack on 3 PCs and actually killed the changeling outright.
How you handled the aftermath: The round after Kalviath the red shirt bit it, an npc joined the fight, Kiera Dailie (Lvl 1 Skirmishing Worlord Yerasol Vet with a carbine) to aid the players. They have only 1 leader so the extra healing helped a lot. The npc was designed as a backup in case a player didn't show.
After the conclusion of chapter 1, one of the players got very mouthy with Delft so he gave the character latrine duty. The played kept at it and so did delft, giving the PCs a short bodyguard assignment to guide and protect Terrano Ni'eathal, a Tiefling noble I slapped together who is a known gambler and lecherous glutton. He took the PCs to "The Pit", an underground fighting arena in Flint, where the PCs encountered Griely and his pals again. Grimesly alerted the announcer that he wanted a grudge match, singaling out the PCs. The PCs, even after being told not to kill their oppoenets, were out for blood and revenge for their fallen comrade...killing every opponent. The PCs were given a penalty round for breaking a rule and forced to fight an imprisoned beholder Gauth. Kalviath's player had created a new character that uses a carbine as a ranger. He managed to crit the beholder, allowing the team to bloody a lvl 5 elite in 1 round. At the end of the round, Kiera Dailie showed up again with a small army of low ranking RHC personnel to shut down the operation and send the PCs back to Delft to meet the Minister of Outsiders and get their briefing.