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By Jamey Martin
Zhentil Keep
Late 1371DR \ Early 1372DR
And so it was that Tyros and Lil arrived in the remains of Zhentil Keep in the year 1371 DR. The half-elfin sword-dancer did not linger long however, as she found the confines of the Keep to bleak and oppressive for her sensibilities. And so it was that Tyros and Lilandryllacia parted company, she for the fairer pastures of Shadowdale and beyond.
As for Tyros, he had little time for heartbreak, as he quickly noted that something dire was amiss with the good Lord of Zhentil Keep. From the get go, Orgauth had been too open, even affectionate, with Tyros. And if that was not unnerving enough, the Lord, whose wife and offspring had been slain in the destruction of the Keep, was now keeping company with a local whore of noble tastes, the "Lady" Desmonda, who was herself more affectionate with Tyros than the Calauntan would have considered due.
And so Tyros began to snoop and question. Those few survivors that had any real inkling of the man believed that the war, the death of his loved ones, had simply changed the man, plain and simple. As time passed however, it came to pass that Lord Orgauth summoned Tyros to him, and placed him in charge of a unit of Zhentilar. According to Orgauth, the efforts to rebuild and resettle the northern "ruins" had lately been set back due to a number of disappearances. Some folk claimed to have seen dark figures coming and going from the sewers, and some attributed the disappearances to a return of the Night Plague. Thus, Tyros was to lead his Zhentilar into the sewers and ascertain the truth of the matter.
As luck would have it, the Calauntan stumbled right into the middle of an all out war between the forces of a banelich, and a burnbones in the services of Cyric. In the process, virtually all of the Zhentilar were slain, and Tyros barely escaped with his life.
Returning to report his findings to Orgauth, Tyros did not linger any longer in the Keep than weather and common sense demanded. And so, in the early spring of 1372 DR. Tyros bid his mentor a fond farewell and then set out south, bound for "Shadowdale and beyond".
The content of And Dragons Shall Rule is the property and copyright of Jamey Martin, and is not to be published or redistributed without permission.