Evil Within the Emerald Estate

The haunting of the Emerald Estate began not with screams, but with haunting secrets inlaid in silk—Esmerelda Honning, veiled in beauty, entered Avalon’s high society as a noble heiress clad in emerald robes and honeyed charm after marrying Adar Honning before his untimely demise. It was in the gilded halls of the Gold State Auction House., under the gaslight glint of arcane curios, that The Sunsations first laid eyes upon her. She paid a king’s ransom for an obscure bone-carved totem, etched with primordial Njordir runes, and disappeared into the streets of Avalon before suspicions could root.

Vander Greatoak ever watchful, followed. The Njordir elf’s heart stirred with unease, sensing something else beneath her poised veneer. Esmerelda invited him into her manor with a smile, and behind that smile—betrayal. Drugged by her wine, Vander awoke bound in arcane coercion, his will bent to hers by whispered promises and sigil-marked servitude. When he returned to the Sunsations, he was fractured and unclear, his memories fogged and his instincts dulled. As the Sunsations treated with the Merrythane family to inspect a batch of poisoned mead, they were beset upon a grotesquely stitched together Adar that nearly killed Kavogrot Merrythane before leaping out of a window into the night.

Days later, after fragments of truth returned to him in sleepless dread, the Sunsations stormed the Emerald Estate—but the hag was waiting. Within the once-beautiful halls, twisted dolls of bone and flesh danced like marionettes, reanimated puppets fashioned from her victims. And among them stood Vander, compelled to defend her. The battle was chaos—doors slammed shut, corridors bent in impossible angles, and chandeliers wept blood. In a moment of lucidity, Vander turned his blade on himself, severing Esmerelda’s grip and shielding his friends from certain death.

Wounded and forced to flee, the Sunsations returned bloodied and grieving. The disturbance caught the attention of the city’s witch hunters, and soon reached King Balder Stonefist. Furious and resolute, the king issued a royal edict: bring the hag’s head before sunrise, or be it your heads taken.

They returned one final time beneath a cursed moon. Through a gauntlet of twisted horrors and revenants, the Sunsations fought their way to Esmerelda’s grisly alter. There, amidst a pile of flesh and bone, stood Vander’s corpse—raised as her final sentinel. What followed was a grim, heart-wrenching duel, as his soul flickered like a candlelight trapped within wax. With prayers and tears, they laid him to rest by sword.

When dawn broke over Avalon, the Sunsations approached the throne of King Balder Stonefist with Esmerelda’s head in hand, their eyes hollow with grief. The Evil Within the Emerald Estate was ended—but at a cost Avalon would never forget. Her legacy became a whisper in every orphan's lullaby, every hunter’s vow, and hand wives tale.