A letter arrives.

I find Marrick when the letter arrives and tell him I've been summoned to some sort of meeting. "This seems like a trap to me. What do you think?"

Marrick would be staying in a nameless inn of the Low City. Chewing on his tasteless stew he would look at Xiara with a frown.

A trap, maybe. he snorts and lays down his wooden spoon You've never been to a fancy noble party, have you?

He would stand up and continue after paying for the meal.

This doesn't inspire anything good, but I can tell you I'm going anyway. The family will be there. he concludes in a ruff, displeased tone.

----

Walking up the long road, Marrick is starting to sweat. All this commotion is irritating and he looks at their destination with a sinister glance. His sour face barely brightens up when he sees Sister Rose.

Sister Rose! Good to see you. It is painfully obvious he is not good with formalities or greetings.
He pulls the letter from his coat and shows her the strange sign once again. For the past ten days he has thought a great deal about the odd rune. Who would have such precise information on House Palen ? Marrick was at this point fairly removed from noble society
but he still had small leads and some acquaintances. He has taken his time researching the sender.

"Marrick, my dear boy! And young Xiara. Did you receive letters as well? Mine was most disquieting." She beams with honest affection at them both.

After sparring with Marrick these last few days it's obvious he has something other than swordsmanship on his mind. Arras hasn't seen much of Marrick recently. Come to think of it, it's been since Arras received the letter. How it got here and from where it was addressed is still a mystery. A mystery Sister Rose and Arras have been discussing for days with no more answers than before the letter.
As Arras and Sister Rose travel up the long road toward The Spire- in all it's brilliance gleaming in the night- They spot Marrick and Xiara talking to one another. Their comments are out of ear shot when Sister Rose and I approach on the newly wet cobblestone leading to the palace. I greet them with a nod and focus on the Spire ahead, my thoughts on what might lie ahead.
"My letter was most suspicious as well. This night should be nothing if not interesting" Arras says, glancing toward the others before returning his gaze to the spire in the distance.
Act like you were expecting this. Act like this has happened many times before. Remember your teachings and remain calm, as if this is nothing more than an inconvenience.

"I don't like it. It's one thing to find out about this... party off-hand and sneaking in, but to be openly asked to take part..." And yet there is no other way. I must attend. Even if I don't like it. I sigh.

Marrick looks at the rune with a confused expression before shaking his head to Sister Rose. How can she be so enthusiastic ?

I didn't find anything on who the sender could be.

He grunts when Arras speaks and shares a glance with the thief. He has trouble interacting with Arras. He enjoys sparring with him. But everytime, when the fight ends, Marrick can't quite look him in the eye. Even though the elf is a foreigner, he still reminds him too much of the sort of folk that dance and scheme in the Spire. Still, the warrior gives him the benefit of the doubt before he gets to know him better.

Interesting, that be one of the last words I'd use. We got invitations, sure, but there is no way these are official, right ? Whoever sent this, well, I don't think he wants us getting caught.

As you gather to the side of the road, a commotion lower down the spire draws your attention. A large carriage comes barreling around a corner at full speed. The horses eyes are wide with madness, the whites would be visible all around, except instead of whites they are blood red. All six of the beasts are foaming at the mouth, and their gait is so out of sync that the shaft is visibly bending, if this continues it will splinter, causing the carriage to separate and crash. The vehicle is tearing up the street, many pedestrians are about to be mowed down. When the people realize it, they start stampeding up the street toward where you stand.

What do you do?

"Gods! Those horses will kill everyone in their path. There must be something we can do. Quick, someone help me subdue them."

Arras wades through the oncoming crowd shouting, "Make way! Make way!" and tossing people aside if need be on his way toward the oncoming horses.

"There's not much time!" I quickly look around for a means of diverting the horses down a less-busy street. Perhaps we can reduce the casualties or prevent them altogether?

Sister Rose follows in Arras' wake, and looks about for anything that might help.

Arras lunges forward, looking to save lives. He manages to work his way through the crowd and get in front of the horses. Leaping up he attempts to leap aboard. Sister Rose follows Arras. She sees a simple cart filled with dry hay. It lies directly in the path of the run away carriage. If set aflame, it could divert the horses down a side alley.

Curses! Not now...

Marrick will push aside as many people as he can, intent on saving the panicking crowd somehow. He hasn't had time to think things through but he straps his shield in a hurry, hoping it will somehow help protecting him from hooves or any other impact.

Get out of the way! he screams at the top of his lungs.

Sister Rose grabs a nearby torch and runs and plunges into the wagon full of hay.

Arras yells and throws oncomers out of the path of danger as the horses approach, fire in their mad eyes.

Arras clears the path of the remaining would-be victims only to see the carriage go up in flames. A shrill scream can be heard, close and dangerous. This flaming carriage can no longer be controlled, it must be stopped. Producing the old, familiar spear, Arrras attempts to board the closest mad horse. He stands fast against the approaching stampede, his heart racing. Time slows and the loose, tattered reigns of the lead horse flash by as Arras-too close for comfort- steps aside the horse as if it were some mad dance and reaches out for the reigns...

Sister Rose leaps toward the bystander, attempting to pull them both away from the flames.

I attempt to run alongside the horses, slashing at their legs with my sword in the hopes that bringing one down will slow down the others.