They say if a Butterfly flaps its wings in the Forests of Dawnglade, it causes a storm in the Mountains of Hollowglen. 

The Barony of Rookgate has been shook to its core with the untimely end of Lady Hollowglen. Murdered by a Goblin man, in what many whisper was a crime of passion, a vengence for the years long exploitation of his adoptive family. 

News of this murder has rippled out across the four baronies that make up the Crowned Lands of Duskmarch.  In Hollowglen, people are divided. Some mourn a noblewoman fallen, others cheer the fall of a tyrant.  Everyone thought the mines were stable but, this death has sent deeper fractures through the land than first thought.

Succession has been swift in the form of Lord Callan now, of Hollowglen.  A man of polished speech and sharper wit who has vowed before the Magistrate, to the Regent herself to restore the scarred landscapes, to seal the mines for good, and to purge any lingering blight left by his predecessor’s ambition. Whether his motives are honourable or opportunistic remains to be seen.

But the damage has already been done. Fragments of this strange ore have found their way into the world by one way or another.  Some magic-users report the sudden loss of their powers upon contact with the ore.  Others, once mundane, have awakened strange abilities after unknowingly handling even the smallest shard.  It gives from one, and takes from another.  As if balancing scales we don’t quite understand.

An emergency conclave has been called.  Scholars, mystics, alchemists and various other experts in the field have been quietly summoned to investigate.