Spoilers

GM only. Players should not read below. It will damage your game experience.

Arc Focus: The possible rebirth — or permanent extinction — of House Valeheart, beginning with Dame Lyssandra’s imprisonment in the Bone-Lock Cells.
Their fate is no longer just survival or death, but whether they rise as an independent banner, become pawns of other houses, or vanish entirely into Syndicate ledgers and raider feasts.

Act I – Shackles of the Syndicate

Location: Bone-Lock Cells.

• PCs meet Dame Lyssandra Valeheart, Relmar Krayic, Zalmak Craye, the Ledger-Scribe, and the Whisperer.

• Escape attempt or negotiation for release sets Valeheart’s survival in motion.

• Choice Point: If Lyssandra dies or is left behind, Valeheart restoration falters — other factions seize the vacuum.

⚔️ Act II – Debts in Blood

Location: Ashen Marches frontier, Greyhook Haven.

• PCs rally with Lucien Valeheart and Skye Thornvale, or deliver Lyssandra to a rival house (Thornvale/Bragrash/Carverson).

• Relmar offers scandalous secrets of House Viremont → potential leverage in court or with Syndicate.

• Choice Point: Do PCs stand with Valeheart loyalists, or barter her survival to another power?

🔥 Act III – The Meeting of the Vultures

Location: Waykeep Inn.

• Participants: Thudel Carverson, Centurion Proclus Tadius Scaurus, Skorvald the Icehound, Shawn the Lucky.

• PCs can:

  • Spy and learn of Syndicate plots.

  • Disrupt, assassinate, or deal.

  • Align with one faction to crush another.

• Outcome: Whoever leaves stronger will shape the Valeheart frontier — Carverson trade rule, Dominion annexation, raider foothold, or Syndicate proxy control.

🛡️ Act IV – The Hound Stirs

Location: Grimhollow Keep.

• PCs and Amadeus Valeheart attempt to retake the keep from Korrin “Ash-Tooth” Dravven and Syndicate-backed Salt Bandits.

• Documents here may confirm Lucira Bragrash’s involvement in Valeheart’s fall.

• Choice Point: Victory restores Valeheart. Failure sees the Keep seized by Bragrash, Syndicate, or Raiders.

🩸 Act V – The Silver Lady’s Shadow

Location: Syndicate courts in Lowspire, or Bragrash strongholds.

• Evidence links the Valeheart downfall to Lucira Bragrash and Syndicate investments.

• PCs may pursue vengeance, political exposure, or negotiations.

• Relmar’s gossip about House Viremont ties in here: perhaps they profited from Valeheart’s ruin.

• Choice Point: Do Valehearts strike openly, or play politics through scandal and alliances?

⚔️ Act VI – The Ashen Reckoning

Location: Ashen Marches and surrounding powers.

• Larger factions make final moves:

  • Valeheart Restored: Amadeus & Lyssandra reclaim their banner, vassals of Thornvale or independent.

  • Valeheart Subsumed: Thornvale wards them, Bragrash puppets them, or Carverson bankrolls them.

  • Valeheart Silenced: Raiders sack Grimhollow, Syndicate enforces land rights, or Dominion annexes.

  • Valeheart in Shadow: Survives only as guerilla rebels in the marches.

• Tone: A reckoning where debts — political, personal, and literal — are paid.

🎲 GM Notes

• Relmar Krayic: Can be a tragic foil, a betrayer, or a leverage-point through his Viremont scandal.

• Shawn the Lucky: Ideal comic-relief pawn who accidentally destabilizes negotiations.

• Zalmak Craye: Brings sadistic order to Bone-Lock, gives it personality beyond “just a dungeon.”

• Faction Opportunism: Always consider who benefits from Valeheart’s weakness. Thornvale and Bragrash are the obvious players, but Carverson and the Syndicate are emerging as “silent claimants.”

• Agency: Every act ends with a branch — Valeheart strong, weak, or erased.

🎲 GM Tools

• Agency Above All: Keep outcomes flexible — Valeheart can rise, fall, or linger depending on player choices. Their story is a crossroads, not a fixed destiny.

• Faction Opportunism: No faction wastes a power vacuum. Thornvale, Bragrash, Carverson, the Syndicate, the Iron Dominion, and raiders all circle the Ashen Marches like vultures.

• Ambiguity is Strength: Even “victory” leaves loose ends — Syndicate revenge, raider pressure, Bragrash schemes, or Dominion annexation. Winning Grimhollow may not mean winning peace.

• Pawn Politics: Remember that the Salt Bandits (via Shawn the Lucky) are never more than tools. Their swagger hides the reality that Syndicate coin and Bragrash gold truly steer them.

• Scandal as Weapon: Relmar Krayic and Meorise’s affair creates an unexpected lever against House Viremont — and possibly proof of noble collusion in Valeheart’s ruin.

🌒 Adventure Seeds

• The Whisperer’s Bargain: Claims to be a Bragrash agent, offers escape for betrayal. Truth, madness, or deliberate misdirection?

• Thornvale’s Claim: Skye Thornvale insists Lyssandra be brought under Thornvale’s wardship, framing Valeheart as eternal vassals rather than reborn lords.

• Carverson’s Offer: Thudel Carverson proposes gold and mercenaries in exchange for loyalty to Syndicate creditors — effectively making Valeheart a merchant puppet-house.

• The Raider Threat: Skorvald the Icehound, champion of the Speartide, pushes south. PCs must secure Grimhollow before raiders turn it into a shield-wall hall.

• The Iron Dominion Envoy: Centurion Proclus Tadius Scaurus offers “aid” to the beleaguered Marches — at the price of Dominion annexation.

• The Meeting of the Vultures: At Waykeep Inn, PCs can spy on, disrupt, or cut deals with Carverson, Dominion, Raiders, and Salt Bandits as they divide Valeheart’s corpse.

• Relmar’s Gossip: Relmar Krayic spills scandal about his affair with Meorise Viremont. PCs can weaponize this against House Viremont — or watch it spiral into dangerous political fallout.