The First Paladin

Blackfield Bends the Knee: A Filmschool Project

admin — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:57:49 +0000

Duke Elliot Swartout tricks Baron Thomas Blackfield into an ambush he may not survive. This prequel to The First Paladin saga is set in Peter Adkison’s world of Chaldea.

Written and Directed by Peter Adkison
Illustrations by Phil Trumbo
Music by Ken Stringfellow
Edited by Melody Felix-Prieto

About Episode 4, Segment 1: “Holy Legends, Unholy Men”

admin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:58:24 +0000

Discordia confronts the High Priest of Set, Harry Bangor, and tries to convince him that Robin’s traitorous brother Darin is, in fact, an outlaw priest of Ra. Harry utterly disbelieves her, however, so in a fit of anger, Discordia magically disappears, leaving behind a certain enemy in the High Priest. Meanwhile, Robin and Apophis discover the secret of the blue-crystal wand from their shared vision: it is the Wand of Khopesh-Ra, an artifact that will allow its possessor to speak directly with the god Ra.

About Episode 4, Segment 2: “Indiscretions and Intrigue”

admin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:55:51 +0000

Sir Alistair Howard, the court seneschal, summons Alyce to a private meeting. His goals seem twofold: first, he tells Alyce he knows of Alyce’s trysts with Lord Elliott and so he offers the services of Duchess Evaine’s butler, Reginald Frye, to help them keep their affair more discreet. Second, he encourages Alyce to use his influence over Lord Elliott to convince the lord to form a council of advisors that might supplant Duchess Evaine’s influence...with Alistair as one of those advisors.

About Episode 4, Segment 3: “Hef & Oddo & Elliott & Alyce”

admin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:55:07 +0000

When Hef is given the opportunity to invest in a new brewery venture by pubmistress Ninka Stout, he turns to Oddo Goldsmith—“the Mayor of Shadyside”—for a quick loan. In exchange for a bit of coin and a bit more discretion, Oddo asks Hef to arrange noble support for one of Oddo’s own venture, a brothel facing stiff competition from another supported by Lord Montague, second son of the duke. So, Hef approaches his friend Alyce for influence, Alyce convinces his lover Lord Elliott to visit Oddo’s brothel Poppy’s, and everyone gets what they want.

About Episode 4, Segment 4: “Harrows, Hearts, and Souls”

admin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:53:09 +0000

A meeting between Discordia and Duchess Evaine becomes a summit of revelations. Discordia announces to Evaine and her battlemaiden Thessa that a dangerous harrow spies on Evaine. Evaine defends Darin’s intended goals in Gaunt and Discordia reiterates her lie that Darin is a priest of Ra. Both women pledge their support to one another in learning the truth about Darin’s actions, Evaine going so far as to promise that Discordia can kill Darin if he has, in fact, committed treason. To further their bond, the two share secrets— Evaine’s that her parents traded Discordia to the duke for her father’s senate seat, and Discordia’s that her parents wish to force her to marry. This leads the pair to consider Discordia marrying one of the duchess’s sons—possibly Robin—and finally, Evaine pledges to help Discordia recover her soul from the gem where the duke keeps it.

About Episode 4, Segment 5: “Missing Bodies”

admin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:51:06 +0000

Hef’s thief mentor, Casandra, offers him a mission: bodies and the treasure entombed with them have begun to disappear from the catacombs outside York. Before officials conclude that Casandra’s people are involved, she wants Hef to determine who’s truly responsible and to stop them if he can. When she takes him down into the catacombs to show him the empty crypt of the merchant Edwin Boylin, the latest corpse to go missing, they hear armed men approaching and are forced to flee.

About Episode 4, Segment 6: “Crypt Creeping”

admin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:50:22 +0000

As the party descends into the catacombs to investigate the mystery of the missing bodies, they are confronted by a wizard who attempts to keep them from exploring the darkness beyond, claiming a special bond to the undead within. In the pitched battle that follows, the wizard Zoltan and his evil cronies are slain. Featuring special guest GM Stefan Pokorny.

About Episode 4, Segment 7: “Grim Greeting Ghosts”

admin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:48:52 +0000

After driving off a harrow that hovers over the dead body of Zoltan, the party moves farther into the catacombs, first discovering Zoltan’s living quarters before unexpectedly meeting Tavish Mallory. He claims to be a prisoner here, but he’s disoriented and seems confused, warning the party away from an entombed sarcophagus they discover. The party takes him prisoner themselves just as they are set upon by undead guarding the sarcophagus. When the battle ends, Tavish Mallory has vanished…and harrows hover over the sarcophagus.

About Episode 4, Segment 8: “Mummy Fearest”

admin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:46:38 +0000

Deep in the catacombs, the party approaches the sarcophagus marked with Symbols of Set, only to find themselves set upon by the sarcophagus’s occupant: an animated mummy, buried with a noteworthy amount of magical treasure, including an unusual hourglass. In the aftermath of the battle, they learn from Zoltan’s journal more about this mummy, a necromancer named Tristus whom the harrows used as a material anchor and whom Zoltan animated back to a fearful semblance of life.

About Episode 3, Segment 1: “Court Appearance”

admin — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 05:28:35 +0000

Upon returning to York the party goes before the noble court, now ruled by Robin’s oldest brother Lord Elliott in the duke’s absence, to report the rebellion in Gaunt. Though most are shocked to hear this news, Count Philip Maitland’s lack of surprise raises Hef’s suspicions. Robin’s mother, Duchess Evaine, disbelieves his announcement that his younger brother Darin is behind both the rebellion and a plot to assassinate their family. But when Hef eavesdrops on Evaine and Elliott’s private instructions to Sir Michel Bosseur, he hears the duchess angrily demand that Sir Michel bring Darin to York for questioning, along with Baron Argyle and his sister Lily.