The Heart That Bleeds

The Duke deSandreaux could not stand it any longer. He was young, handsome, rich, and itching for a fight. Unknown to most, he was also mentally unstable. The death of King Altomogne and the assassination of his airs had left a power vacuum and the Duke Wars had begun. And now, the Duchess Christine had invaded deSandreaux's territory. He would get his fight, the Duke thought to himself. He would restore the glory of the old kingdom and return the greatest years of the Golden Age to his kingdom. He would have the beautiful Duchess Christine for his wife or his concubine, whichever worked out better. And with the help of his secret ally, there was no way that he could not win.

In the camp at the foot of deSandreaux's duchy, the Duchess Christine Mesaneille stood amongst the campfires of her soldiers and looked toward the Castille deSandreaux, the fortress of her enemy, who had wreaked so much havoc and terror upon the other Dukes and Duchesses and killed so many of his own people. Once, Christine may have loved him. But he was no longer the same man he had been. She would have like to blame it on a demonic possession or some sort of dark wizard, but she knew that it was only the sickness of the mind of Enrele deSandreaux.

Enter the heroes. Having heard of the tense political situation and the war in the nearby nation, they have come seeking adventure, but they have stumbled into a situation more volatile than they can imagine. Should they help the ambitious and well-paying Duke deSandreaux and turn a blind eye on his tyranny and horrible acts, or help the good and reighteous Duchess Christine and stop the mad deSandreaux and get a warm fuzzy feeling inside. Of course, if they do help deSandreaux, they'll probably figure out how disturbed he is. Or, if the heroes are of the anti-altruistic bent, they may just settle for inciting war.

deSandreaux=dee sandrow
Mesaneille= mezanay
Altomogne= alto-mone-yeh