8 Months Later
The past half year or so has been hell, both literally and figuratively. After the first few investigations, where Wandering Dragon discovered the initial rifts between the planes, they lost one of their members on their first commission from the Order. They continued on, discovering more and more rifts across the southern Empire, returning to Avandigor between commissions to rest, recuperate and collect their earnings.
Using this downtime wisely (or not), they regathered themselves whenever the Order brought another mission to the Unicorn’s Purse, and the three of you rapidly became known as the foremost Rift Hunters in southern Iserra. They would often be brought the most difficult commissions, and despite a few near misses, succeeded in bringing most back under control. When some of these misses occur, Wandering Dragon realised that a few more members to their number would be more than welcome. Looking around for suitable peoples, you meet Emmeric, a paladin of the Order of the Gauntlet, along with a few more.
Unfortunately, not all Rift Hunters were as successful, and it wasn’t unusual for Wandering Dragon to be sent to deal with a rift that had been left to run rampant when another team failed to return. Across the Empire and the entirety of Versania, these rifts were growing more and more substantial, frequent & deadly. Creatures of flame, wind, water and earth were the most common, but abyssal demons, devils and undead are not an uncommon sight.
The common folk live in fear of rifts opening nearby, and old prejudices rear their ugly heads. Half-Orcs, Tieflings and other folks on the fringes are treated even worse than before, being assaulted or driven out of many towns and villages and in some isolated cases, murdered. While cities are generally safer, and Avandigor in particular due to their recent troubles, the town & city guards are often stretched to breaking point. Things needed to change, and fast.
Throughout this, the Imperial family were relatively quiet, continuing to support the Order in their efforts, but not lending their own considerable resources to the plight. There were rumours of all sorts, but the most pervasive was that the Empire was cooking up something to combat the issue themselves. Things changed around 2 months ago, with the official announcement that the Empire was commissioning a new, official force of Rift Hunters known as the Blades of Dawn.
Along with the formal announcement of the Blades, the Imperial family issued a statement that the Purge was now recommenced. Recruitment notices for the Blades went up across the Empire and they have been training their forces in camps across the country. Order information (provided to you by your erstwhile patron, Cavalier Helja) suggests that the Blades are readying for their first operations, which seems impossible in such a short time.
Resting in the Unicorn’s Purse, you are given another commission – an expedition into the mountains far north of Avandigor, relatively nearby to Ironhaven. Artin suggests that this might be more than the normal missions you’ve been sent on, and it’s much further afield – clearly your renown has spread nearly across the empire! Hoping to secure more support, you put out a recruitment notice that Wandering Dragon were looking for new recruits…