Prologue to Session 46
By Doug "Vek" Hopkins
The city was located on the shores of the Velverdyva River. Before its destruction by the great white wyrm Acessiwal, Verbobonc was the capital of the Viscounty of Verbobonc. With a population of 11,000 humans and assorted gnomes and elves, it hovered between a large town and small city in size. The city was walled and well maintained, with many fine examples of ancient elven architecture. Long before the founding of the Viscounty, elves and humans lived in settlements along the river. Verbobonc was the greatest of these, once the seat of an elven principality but now it was little more than rubble. Spellforge Keep was the only structure that was spared the destruction.
Vek watched from a window in the keep as the Knights of Wee Jas worked in the "city" below. A skeleton holding a broom entered the room and proceeded to sweep the area clean of dirt and dust. Vek smiled beneath the black mask that hid his face. The skeleton had been one of the high priests of Tharzidun that he had saved this very city from years ago. He loved the irony of it all. Would Acessiwal been any different? The dragon's bones would have made quite a fearsome addition to the landscape of Spellforge keep had they managed to destroy the dragon instead of just provoking it. Vek's glowing red eyes shifted to watch his new captain, a promising young knight named Metus. "He has good eyes on him." the lich said to his mindless servant but the skeleton was concerned only with sweeping.
In Verbobonc, Captain Metus assigned Vek's fifty knights to various tasks. Their orders were to rebuild the fortifications and help get the remaining townspeople on their feet. Vek brought fresh food and skilled laborers in from nearby towns. The first building to be revived was the Velvet Sabre Inn and Tavern. There was a lot of work to be done and Vek wished a place for his people to relax and more importantly he wanted to start the flow of coin again in the city. The knights worked for the glory their leader would soon show them but the other laborers required coin to work under the shadow of the dragon.
Vek was pleased with the progress that had been made since the knights had flocked to his banner. When Kizz returned she would see a very different Spellforge Keep. He wondered if things would be different enough not to require his direct attention. The lich wanted to do battle in the name of the Ruby Sorceress, not to direct troops in repairing farmhouses. He had lost many personal effects in the battle against Hedrack and instead of spending time and gold on replacing them he was overseeing the reconstruction of a city. Raflorn had better appreciate all the sacrifices he was making in his name. When he finally retrieves Lord and Lady Spellforge from the lair of that blasted dragon they are going to owe him much more than they would have ever imagined.
