Briarwoods

Sylas and Delilah Briarwood, collectively known as the Briarwoods, were a couple from Wildmount who appeared as sudden guests to Whitestone Castle. They were responsible for the deaths of the rulers of Whitestone, Lord and Lady de Rolo, as well as all the de Rolo children, save Cassandra and Percival.

Background
Little is known about the Briarwoods prior to their arrival in Whitestone. They were seemingly nobility from some portion of Wildmount, given their titles of Lord and Lady, though that might have been a ruse in order to gain access to the royal family of Whitestone. Sylas Briarwood was a vampire, assumedly killed and then resurrected by his wife Delilah prior to them traveling to Whitestone. Delilah herself was a necromancer wizard, having studied in part at the Alabaster Lyceum in Emon, indicating she spent time in or might have originally come from some portion of Tal'Dorei.

Arrival at Whitestone
The Briarwoods arrived at Whitestone Castle and were welcomed as guests of the de Rolo household. During a feast that was held in their honor, the Briarwoods' party suddenly and violently took control of the castle, killing or capturing anyone that opposed them. The only two survivors from the whole of the de Rolo family were second son Percival (Percy) and his youngest sister, Cassandra.

The Briarwoods had Percy imprisoned beneath the Whitestone dungeons, but he was later rescued by Cassandra and the two fled. The Briarwoods either were alerted during the escape or quickly found out, as their men chased down Percy and Cassandra. While Percy escaped, his sister was hit by several arrows and collapsed. Percy presumed that she died as a result of her injuries and continued on.

Cassandra was heavily wounded, but survived, and the Briarwoods placed her in Whitestone Castle as a prisoner once more, managing to brainwash her over a period of years to believe that she was a Briarwood rather than a de Rolo and convince her to help them in their plans for dominion over Whitestone.

Rulers of Whitestone
A rulers of Whitestone, the Briarwoods promoted the followers who helped them defeat the former rulers to nobility, namely as Barons, while they themselves took up residence in Whitestone Castle. To maintain their iron rule over the people of Whitestone, as well as hide the secret of the de Rolo family murders and Sylas' vampirism, they ordered that communication with the rest of Tal'Dorei be cut off, isolating Whitestone and plunging it and its people into a era of hopelessness and hardship.

In the years following their ascension to power, they instructed that large portions of ground underneath Whitestone and Whitestone Castle be excavated to reveal the Ziggurat that lay underneath the castle. This would later be revealed as part of a long and elaborate plan to perform a dark ritual that would resurrect the god Vecna.

Letter to Emon
Having heard, close to five years after their rise to power, that suspicion was being cast on the Briarwoods and their status as Lord and Lady of Whitestone, they sent word to Sovereign Uriel Tal'Dorei III that they would like to visit Emon to open communications and establish a plan for an official trade route into Wildmount that included a bridge from Whitestone to the neighboring continent.

Through their letter, they were able to convince the Tal'Dorei Council of their sincerity concerning the plans for a bridge and a trade route, though it seems as though such an idea was merely a ruse to remove suspicion from themselves. As well, they seemingly were able to establish some sort of believable validity to their inheritance of power from the former de Rolo rulers.

An unforeseen side effect of the letter to Emon was Percy being informed of their communication with Sovereign Uriel.

The Briarwood Family

 * Lord Sylas Briarwood: Head of House Briarwood and Lord of Whitestone.
 * Lady Delilah Briarwood: The Lady of House Briarwood and Lady of Whitestone.