Impiltur, the Jewel of the North, was governed by the Council of Lords, twelve in all, who ruled ostensibly in the name of their Queen Regent, Sambryl. But in reality they enjoyed a great deal of autonomy, especially when it came to the meting out of justice. It was in this capacity about which Lord Helimbraun, one of the twelve, was especially excited today. He had not one, but four executions planned.<br/><br/>Sriani, Brian, Malakai and Caitlin sat in their darkened cells, stripped of even the dignity of clothing, awaiting the moment they would be taken from the depths of the dungeon which had been their home for several moons, brought to the gallows and then hung for anyone in Lyrabar who wished to witness it. Helimbraun was especially looking forward to watching Malakai hang, he who had once been a knight in the Queen Regent's service, and who had deflowered his only daughter, Rosalind, whom he now kept confined to her chambers for the foreseeable future. But it would be nice to see them all hang, the aging paladin thought to himself, it was always nice to show the strength and righteousness of the Knights of Impiltur, and nothing was quite so grand as a multiple execution to make a proper example for anyone else who thought they might get away with breaking the most serious of laws.<br/><br/>But somewhere not too far away, in a small cave hidden in the woods just outside the city proper, plans were being made to spoil Helimbraun's "joy" and to do it in style. A little girl was humming to herself softly, dressed in a long white dress, barefoot as she hiked through the woods and stopped just outside the cave.<br/><br/>"Miranda..." she whispered to the cave, the voice seeming to whisper in her mind as well, "we need you... take these masks down to the dungeon below the castle, give one to each of the prisoners, set them free, and take the fifth one for yourself. Awaken the powers of my deceased progeny, so that a new era may darken all of Toril for eternity..." she giggled softly and then was gone, leaving only a dark patch of shadow, vaguely in the form of a large sack, placed at the entrance of her cave.