Session Recap
Dawnwatch had not recovered from the coup when Eclipse forces began coordinated attacks on the outer districts. Some attackers were openly marked with the black sun; others were former Guard units that had followed Valec out of Highcourt. Marshal Iren Tor held the palace district while the party moved between crises because no single loyal command structure could respond quickly enough.
Mira climbed into the roof network above Lowmarket and organized archers from the Greenward and local watch posts into overlapping fields of fire. She deliberately kept the Rangers under their own leaders rather than folding them into the damaged Guard hierarchy. Tomas followed supply movements and discovered barrels of alchemical powder being staged beneath an abandoned counting house. He and local volunteers destroyed the stores before they could be moved toward the inner gates.
Corin established a temporary sanctuary for wounded defenders and civilians, then returned to Highcourt when Voss insisted on resuming command despite his injuries. Corin objected but helped stabilize him enough to coordinate from behind the lines rather than fight. Aster spent much of the early siege moving between threatened gates, while Nyra used the Ember and Tide shards to identify pulses of solar magic beneath the city. Those pulses led back toward the old observatory passages.
The party descended while the battle continued above. The route from Session 1 connected to a much larger chamber surrounding the Sun Gate, a pre-dynastic ring built into Dawnwatch’s foundations. Valec had placed the stolen royal seal into one control and was using Eclipse equipment to compensate for authorities he did not possess. The Gate opened only partially, revealing shifting light and a landscape the party could not identify.
Valec argued that Maelin’s government had already proven incapable of responding to the coming crisis. He claimed the Eclipse Court had spent years preparing while the throne protected comforting history. The party did not learn whether he genuinely believed Caelum’s larger plan or primarily wanted power. Combat around the controls destabilized the mechanism. When Aster brought the Ember Shard near the royal seal and Nyra raised Tide, both fragments reacted against the Gate’s solar field. The opening collapsed enough for the party to defeat Valec and remove the seal.
Selvara Kain appeared on the far side of the chamber during the collapse. Rather than rescue Valec, she took an astronomical chart from an Eclipse instrument and stepped through the remaining opening. Nyra saw markings on the chart matching old references to the Glass Wastes before the Gate sealed. Valec reacted with anger rather than surprise, confirming that Selvara’s priorities were not his.
Aboveground, the loss of the Gate and powder stores broke the siege’s coordination. Eclipse units withdrew east rather than fight to destruction. Valec was taken alive under Maelin’s direct authority so compromised Guard officers could not control his imprisonment. Dawnwatch survived, but entire districts were damaged and the Guard remained divided. More importantly, Selvara’s escape proved that taking the capital had not been the Eclipse Court’s only objective. The party now had to decide whether to remain for recovery or follow the chart trail before Selvara reached whatever waited in the Glass Wastes.