Whispers of War is a 3rd-5th level adventure, set in the city of Fracha, a trading hub at the borders of Biyan and Pybyr Vestana. The PCs arrive during the biannual War of Rose & Thorn, a large tournament held to determine who gets places in the prestigious Living Sun Wardens that both guard and rule Fracha.
Background information on the War of Rose & Thorn, and on Fracha.
In Fracha, every half-year there is a great tournament, a contest that pits rival arcanists and warriors against one another, fraught with bloodshed, intrigue, and the settling of old debts. Nobles enter their best warriors, arcane schools their best wizards, each seeking to gain fame for themselves and the wealth and power that comes with gaining entrance into and influence upon the Living Sun Wardens, the collective group of soldiers and magic-users that protects the city of Fracha, but also profits from it. They are almost exclusively chosen from the ranks of the Biyou and the Pybyr that live within and around the city, but each year, a few outsiders make the difficult journey to join their ranks.
You witness the following fight between the champions of two rival houses as you arrive in/at Fracha.
The crimson sun scorches the War of Rose & Thorn battlefields. Sweating crowds gathered outside the city’s only entrance, the Golden Moon Gate, shout aggressive taunts at the warriors locked in ritual combat. Cries of war echo across the battlefield as the champions of two rival houses clash, their nacatal axes – infamous for disarming techniques – meeting with deadly force. The bare-chested warriors’ bulging muscles ripple in the afternoon sun and their knee-length leather skirts whirl about them as they duel. The painting along their crests drips in the heat, but marks them both as distinguished warriors. One will be celebrated in victory, a new leader amongst the Living Sun Wardens. The other will be his slave for a year and a day, for such is the fate both agreed – assuming the loser survives.
The crowd’s cheers increase in ferocity as the assaults become faster and more daring, and they explode in excitement at the first sight of blood. One of the two Biyou reels from a blow, but regains his balance quickly, only to have his last vision be that of his enemy’s axe crashing down upon his skull. The noise of crunching bone is lost in the deafening roar of the crowds. A shower of blood stains the closest onlookers and sprays the triumphant champion in red, as his defeated rival’s corpse slumps to the ground, already forgotten except by his supporters… until the victor bends down and slices away the crest of his fallen foe, waving it high above his head, his trophy and symbol of the victory. The noise from the crowd is all but deafening.
