[i]The Assassination of King Aneos[/i]
[b]King Aneos Faerieblade of Oakwarden (-10 - 45)[/b]
[quote=Aurelios Sullenblade, Courtier of Thanesrow, c. 50]
Now the king [Dulderglud Felderwun of Thanesrow] took it upon himself to journey to the Oaklands, the home of his ally and friend King Aneos Faerieblade, warden of the Oaken Mounts, so that he could pay penance and tribute to the gods of the Treefaith, and thus dispel misfortune within their alliance with heavenly assistance. So the king assembled a great host, comprised of his royal guard and his courtiers and his holy men, and journeyed to the abode of the line of Oakwarden.
 
The good King Aneos did hear about this gathering, and set about his royal court making ready for his visitors, paying his due sacrifices to the Treelords, and was thus filled with a tranquil calm that was absent from the line of Oakwarden for many years. So when the visitors of the Meadlands came, they were greeted with lyre and praise and song, and the king Aneos set about his brother Dulderguld a crown of laurel leaves, and bowed reverently before his presence. There was a great feast, with the choicest meats and finest wines, and all hosts partook of their fill merrily. [...]
 
So when the time came, King Aneos bid his guests and court silence, and took his goblet and filled it with wine, and raised it in offering to the gods, and declared that the spirits of the earth would defend their alliance evermore. But ere the king could finish, a terrible cry arose from one of the tables, and several voices proclaimed that the line of Oakwarden would perish. Then five to seven men stood, and unsheathed swords and daggers hidden from the royal guard, and rushed upon the seat of the king Aneos. The king had no sword, and he was smitten in the heart by a javelin, and the killers fell on him. There then arose a great tumult in the hall, and all fled from the presence of the assassins, and the hall was tinged with the smell of blood. Our good King Dulderglud was borne out of the chaos by two of his men, and he was distraught, and cried out the name of his dead friend seven times. Then the royal guards acted, and smote one of the killers in the foot with a sword, and pursued the others, and the others could not flee, and were hacked to death in that hall.
 
King Dulderglud would not go, and asked for his sword, but when he had it the killers were gone, too dead to feel the sting of revenge. Then king Dulderglud took his sword, and in front of all his host smote it against the stone walls, creating a bend in the metal that not even the skilled sword-smiths of old could ever straighten, and cried aloud to the heavens, cursing them, cursing their hands which did not move, which did not stay death, which did not stay his loss of one of the greatest men he ever knew.
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