The Painted Halo

major Active Sessions 8–9

Hidden truths, divine succession, manufactured narratives, the danger of proof, succession crisis, visual evidence of heresy

story arc

Description

The recovered contraband painting reveals a conspiracy that strikes at the heart of royal succession. When Prince Vis chips away the thick paint covering his childhood portrait, a golden halo crowns the infant's head—visual proof that he bore celestial markers of divine heritage from birth. Someone deliberately painted over this evidence, hiding the fact that unlike other royal sons, Vis inherited the Prophet's blood. The painting was stolen from Ruben's office wall, smuggled by Eli the painter, and connected to the same network documenting prophet-touched individuals across the realm. Why was this specific painting targeted? Who ordered it hidden in the first place? And what does it mean that Ruben had it hanging in her office—was she protecting the secret or studying it? The prince's visible shock suggests even he didn't know the full truth of what his infant portrait originally showed. Session 8 update: The conspiracy surrounding Prince Vis's divine heritage advances through calculated revelation. The Gloaming Guild provides Vixia with damning evidence to plant on the Prince's desk: a letter from his late father Raynalt Stormweather about destroying the Storm Hag, interrogation records revealing people were imprisoned or killed for witnessing his birth, accounts of celestial blood being hunted in the south, and specific mentions of House Seacot as carriers of divine heritage. Vixia successfully places these documents among the overwhelming paperwork Vis inherited from Lady Ruben. The evidence is now positioned for discovery, designed to force the sheltered Prince to confront the truth of what was stolen from him at birth and who was eliminated to hide it.

Timeline

Session 8 "Beneath the paint, a crown; beneath the throne, a fall."

The Prince's Golden Secret

The halo is revealed when the prince chips away the paint, visibly shocking him and confirming the contraband's connection to succession conspiracies

The Lady of Letters

Aurelia connects the Storm Hag reference to old entities and realizes the painting is part of a larger pattern of insurgent old beliefs

Session 9 "Divine fire sleeps within mortal veins, waiting for the season of storms."

Convergence of Conspiracies

Vixia reveals the contents of the letters she must plant: evidence of Prince Vis's divine heritage including a letter from his father Raynalt about destroying the Storm Hag, interrogation records about the Prince's birth, and proof that House Seacot carried celestial blood. The conspiracy's scope becomes clear—systematic documentation and elimination of divine bloodlines.

The Corvine Cloak

Vixia successfully plants the damning documents among Prince Vis's chaotic Inquisition paperwork. The evidence of his stolen birthright is now positioned where he will inevitably discover it, setting in motion the Gloaming Guild's plan to awaken him to the truth.