Candleburn Keep (DM's version)

King Phillip VIII: King Phillip maintains a careful neutrality so as to maintain his own independence. He plays both sides against each other, offering both concessions, but granting neither what they really want, a military fort in his kingdom. He has fortified his castle and prepared it for seige against the day either the Kingdom of Aquila or the Empire attack. He attends services of both Ator and Nevea every week and refuses to say which god he prefers.

Prince Eldred: Prince Eldred, brother of King Phillip, is greedy and evil, and favors Aquila, who has promised him gold, soldiers, and material assistance so he can acheive military dominance over the other eight kingdoms, and schemes with the Prime Minister Able Charlie to overthrow his brother. He worships Nevea, but only to please his masters.

Princess Caroline Phillipa, heiress to the throne and a devout Ator worshipper, favors the Empire, and plans to marry an Imperial Duke, which would give the Empire a firm alliance with the kingdom. Prince Elbert can't have that, and so he has made a deal with the goblins to kidnap her and hold her "ransom." The plan is to kill the princess after the ransom is paid, and then the goblins and Prince Elbert would split it 50/50. King Phillip seeks a small group of adventurers to rescue Princess Caroline.

Lady Kate: She encouraged Caroline Phillipa in her Atorian faith, and is an Imperial informer. She reports everything she learns in the castle to Cranch Carpenter, who is her handler in the village. She meets with him when she goes shopping for the Princess.

Lady Marie: Marie is very talkative, very curious, but not too bright, traits that can get her in trouble. She has a tendency to eavesdrop on other people's conversations. She has overheard two guards loyal to Eldred discuss the plot to have goblins kidnap Princess Caroline, but makes the mistake of telling her lover Sir Morey. Sir Morey murders her immediately, and hides her body in a basket in the washingroom, covering her up with sheets. A maid discovers the body and screams.

Sir Morey: Prince Eldred's aide, lover of Lady Marie. She tells him she overheard two guards discussing the plot to have goblins kidnap Princess Caroline, and he murders her.

Prime Minister Able Charlie, a gnome, was a loyal adviser to King Phillip until two years ago. That was when his wife, Bezelbott was killed in an explosion in her laboratory, and he has been a lonely widower ever since. He learned that she was working on a secret weapon for King Phillip, and blames him for her death. He has asked the king to pay for a resurrection spell, but the king has told Able Charlie he should move on, death is a part of the way of things. Prince Eldred, learned of this, and recruited Able Charlie in his schemes to overthrow his brother. He has promised to resurrect Bezelbott once he is king. The plan is for Able Charlie to take Princess Caroline for a morning ride, leading her into the ambush of goblins to kidnap her.

Father Ditmus and Father Cairn: Priests of Nevea and Ator respectively, they are fast friends, and try to discourage the religious strife that worshippers of these gods engage in elsewhere. They fought together with the king against the Eldritch Lord, and the the three of them are old drinking buddies. They went into clerical careers in separate churches as a favor to their friend the king, and neither is very convinced that their respective god is better than any other. Ditmus has tried to talk down Vernon Blacksmith from his fanaticism, to no avail.