Session 3: Self Defense (18/11/11)

Finding themselves on the wrong end of a murder accusation after discovering the corpse of (who was it again?) after he arranged a meeting with them, the heroes began to investigate why he may have been murdered in an attempt to clear their names. (The elf person visited Rageleaf in the night - I don't remember the names and suchh, injured). Their first lead sent them to (the dude)'s house to speak with his daughter and search his shed for clues, however they were rudely interrupted by Elfsbane and his Imperial League cronies. During the fight, Elfsbane was knocked unconscious only to be dragged off by one of his men and Rageleaf charged, in hot pursuit. He cut him down, but found that one of his allies was in grave danger. Andarian Starblade was lying on the ground, with several arrows sticking out of his chest and barely clinging on to life. "Put Elfsbane on the horse," cried an archer, with an arrow ready, "or I'll put an arrow through his eye." A moment of silence, and Rageleaf put Elfsbane on his horse and it preceded to trot out of sight. "Suckers," the archer loosed his bow, and an arrow landed in the ground beside Starblade's head. Naturally, the remain archers were cut down where they stood and Starblade lived to fight another day. The heroes took the defeated Imperial League brigands to Lord Wintershield, where he declared they would be charged with banditry and lose their left hand. Pleased with the outcome, their next port of call was the local gensai spirit speaker (whats her name?), who revealed the victim had been to see her recently, and gave the heroes a coded letter. After the heroes managed to figure the code, it read
 * To Shield
 * The half blood must die, for the saftey of the ursurper's son and our empire. Kill him and his guard.
 * Colonel Vostrich

At this point it became clear. (the elf person) had killed (the dude) in order to protect Rageleaf. No longer was their a higher course of action, no longer was it in the party's best interests to reveal the murderer, and something much more sinister was at work. The heroes ventured forth to find (the elf person), and when they arrived at her house something was terribly wrong. The door had been bashed in, the chairs were broken and debris lay everywhere, and thick red stains found themselves and the walls and floor. There was no doubting it, this was Elfsbane's work. Following the scent, Lariel's wolf Char led them to Elfsbane house and the heroes discovered his hideout, a secret passage at the bottom of a well. However in their attempt to storm the place, the party was forced to fight in the open when Elfsbane declared he was going to murder the hostages. This meant they were picked off by his archers, one by one, who all had clear shots to each target. The heroes were brutally overpowered, bashed and their gear was stripped. They were carted out of town, being beaten each night, and taken to the Elfswood, where (the elf woman) and Galzug were beheaded, and the party was handed over to the Winterqueen in exchange for Morzan Mudergood (that was his name right?), the psychopathic dwarven mass murderer.