Dungeons and Dragons Gamer's Club

I ordered a new RPG!

It's called, Testament, the d20 role-playing game set in the Biblical Era. You heard me the Bible D20! I'm so excited!

The book's focus deals with the Israelites, Babylonians, Canaanites, and Egyptians. How much more interesting is the Old Testament going to be after your characters have done recon missions into Canna for General Joshua, or fighting the Amalekites in the desert, or being hunted by King Saul for your loyalty to David? This is going to be fun for my hardcore veteran gaming pals and my Church youth group and/or bible study.

And this is no slim gaming supplement; this paperback rulebook weighs-in at 240-pages! Not only is this a game book I have wanted ever since I heard it existed but this is the best part, the book retails for $32.00 (ouch! I could never afford that now). I got it on sale for $2 (plus 4 bucks shipping and handling) but still, 6 bucks for a 32 dollar book. That is a bargain! I can't wait for it to arrive!

For my more avid gaming friends you can read a full book review about it here http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9706.phtml

Anyone got any comments about this? Cool? Blasphemous? Want to try it? Tell me!

Dungeons and Dragons: Trials of Devotion

An 8-Bit Reenactment of Dungeons and Dragons

This is the real deal

Dungeons and Dragons live gone wrong

This makes me laugh every time!!!

Superhero Backgrounds 3

This is the third of five Superhero Character Backgrounds.

Concrete










Dustin Michaels 6’3” and 223 pounds was nicknamed Dustin “Concrete” Michaels because hitting him was like running into a concrete barrier. In his high school football career, he made 204 tackles, had 10 fumble recoveries, 18 interceptions (returning seven for TDs) and returned 40 punts (18.3-yard average), three for scores.

Ohio State saw Buckeyes potential and his first season reviews did not disappoint, “Michael’s is a very athletic defensive back, who can play both corner and safety. He has excellent speed to go along with good hip movement which allows him to run with receivers and make plays on the ball. He's very smart player who recognizes routes. His athleticism and smarts make him a ballhawk, and he has a tendency to return interceptions for touchdowns. He will more than likely end up playing safety in the NFL, and should make an immediate impact.”

He was big man on campus two years in a row. He was everyone’s favorite defensive back and the ladies loved him. But that was the problem. Cheerleaders and sorority girls were always interested in the most-likely-to-go-pro guys, but Dustin wanted more. Someone he could be with him even if he didn’t play football. Then he met her, Yulia Mihailov, light brown hair, blue eyes, athletic, 5’9” 165lbs. She was known to his teammates as that hot girl with the Russian accent but Dustin knew who she really was. Yulia was the head of Professoer Prabir Dutta’s research team that earned a spot on the prestigious “R&D 100” list. This international beauty was quickly becoming renowned as a leader in the field of chemistry. Dustin never ran for the first down it was always the touchdown or not at all; and Yulia was definitely his touchdown.

She must have shot him down a dozen times, one time very loudly in a crowded cafe. Rejection was an unfamiliar sensation for the All-American football star, but sports had taught him tenacity. What troubled Dustin was she never explained why she wouldn't go out with him. One afternoon in The Thompson Library, he cornered her alone and pleaded to know why she didn’t want to have anything to do with him. She was cold but honest, “You are a jock. You float through college and are practically handed a degree. While people like myself struggle everyday to earn that sheep skin. And before you give me that bull about how hard playing football is, remember I’m not trying to date you. You are trying to date me. If you want a date me, take some real classes and then we will talk.” She turned and strutted away. Before she disappeared behind the rows of bookshelves, she turned and said, “I need you to show me, I’m worth it to you. I’m waiting.”

By the third semester of his junior year, Dustin was balancing football with his exceptional marks in several difficult classes. He knew it started with Yulia but now he was doing for himself. He had never been expected to excel at his academics but now he was seeing what he was really made of.

Beginning senior year, Yulia’s Siberian heart had thawed and they began to seeing each other for study dates with some of Yulia’s friends. Dustin was treated not much better then a talking monkey by her friends. The worst was Katsuo Nakamura a young Japanese-American prodigy who had claimed Yulia for his own and all the science geeks knew it, except Yulia of course. Katsuo would always pretend to be nice to Dustin when Yulia was around and then spurred the others to ridicule and tease him the moment she left the room. Dustin knew what they were doing but he worked to hard to lose her because of these jealous nerds.

Finals week turned campus into a mad house. This was the first year Dustin was worried about passing those tests. By this time, Dustin & Yulia had been studying together without her friends and he actually got her to come see one of his games. They were talking about Europe in the summer and meeting her parents. Dustin’s dreams were coming true, but he had to get through these finals. Four days before finals, Yulia brought Katsuo by and told Dustin that he had offered to help him with his chem. final. Dustin accepted his help.

Katsuo showed Dustin to the basement below his apartment complex. Katsuo had converted the old boiler room into his own personal lab. Unbeknownst to Dustin, the majority of lab equipment was stolen from campus. Katsuo told Dustin the written portion of the exam was just memorization, but the lab part was crucial. Dustin was desperate to pass, so he did as Katsuo said.

After hours, the 5 foot wide 11 feet long lab table was covered in lab equipment and volatile chemicals. The Erlenmeyer and Florence flasks ranged from 250 to 500 ml. They sat on ring stands over Bunsen burners. The table was clutter with racks of test tubes, tongs, watch glasses, and mortar & pestles. Dustin became more and more frustrated as Katsuo continued to deviate from the classroom chemistry. Finally, Katsuo said “We’re almost finished. Your understanding of chemistry is remarkable…for a jock.” Before Dustin could respond, Katsuo continued, “Wait here I will back with something to drink.”

Exhausted and frustrated Dustin steps to the far end of the table to examine for the first time the mobile dry erase board. The formula Katsuo had put on board was nothing like he had seen in class. It looked like something out of science fiction. Dustin turned to shout across the room “What is all this?” But Katsuo was right behind him holding a loaded syringe!

Katsuo held the syringe over his head like a knife, the needle pointed at Dustin and his thumb on the plunger. “You should have stuck to football, Yulia belongs to me!”, he swung the syringe at Dustin. Dustin grabbed the scrawny nerds forearm expecting to snap it. Dustin was startled by the strength Katsuo possessed. His shock was revealed on his face, “We nerds have strong forearms!” Katsuo maniacally laughed as he forced the syringe closer to Dustin’s chest. Dustin rolled to the left hoping to use Katsuo strength against him. Suddenly, Katsuo punched Dustin in the face with his free hand. Dustin felt himself raise off the ground from the blow and knew the table of chemicals was behind him, as a reflex he gabbed Katsuo by his suspenders. The two college students hurled towards the table of unstable chemicals and landed in a crash as beakers shattered and chemicals splashed in all directions. There was an explosion and Katsuo’s face was badly burned. Screaming and holding his face Katsuo ran out of the basement. Dustin looked around and saw the syringe in his leg. The toppled burners had started a fire and the chemicals had begun to create toxic smoke. That’s when Dustin lost consciousness.

Four days later he emerged in the middle of the night from the rubble of the destroyed apartment complex. He stumbled disoriented in the direction of his dorm. Half way there he stopped on a park bench hoping his head would stop pounding long enough for him to make sense of what had happen. When he was sitting there a woman screamed pointing in his direction and ran. Dustin leapt to his feet and looked behind him but nothing was there. He looked down at himself and he became very afraid. He looked at his chest, arms, and legs. All his muscles had become larger and more defined but his skin was the color and texture of a cement block. Terrified that he suffered permanent damage in the fire, Dustin ran back to his dorm.

His whole body was covered in this concrete skin. He felt stronger and knew he was much large then before. Who could he turn to? He thought he was some kind freak, some meta-human. He couldn’t turn to his coach. He would just tell him his career was over, meta-humans where not allowed to play pro ball. He couldn't call his folks. His father was bigot, the type that hated everyone especially meta-humans. He thought, "What would Yulia say? What was the point of finding out? How could she love a monster?" He decided there was no one to turn to, no one that would understand. He grabbed a few of his possessions and was on the road before sun up.

After a year of drifting, Dustin found himself homeless in New York City. A wide brim hat, an oversized trench coat, traveling at night and avoiding people helped hide his unusual appearance. He was still uncertain as to what to do with his life and where he could go from there.

One night he was sleeping behind a synagogue in Brooklyn. It was early, ten or eleven at night. Dustin watched as the elderly rabbi was locking up. He saw the street punks approaching. They followed the rabbi about a 3 blocks at a distance but Dustin also followed them. Before they could close in on the elderly jewish man, Dustin was on them. Their switchblades broke on his alabaster skin. Their steel toed boots and chains had little effect on him. Soon the alley was littered with their broken unconscious bodies. The little rabbi entered his apartment building across the street from the alley where Dustin surprised the hoodlums, seemingly unaware of any danger. Dustin made an anonymous call to the police and the paramedics.

The next Sabbath night, Dustin was back outside the synagogue getting ready to sleep near the dumpster when he heard someone coming. He put his hat on hoping they would pass by when he heard, “I do not know who you are but I wanted to thank you. I thought they were going to kill me. You are a hero. If you ever need anything I am in your debt.”

“I’m not a hero. I’m a freak… a monster.” Dustin grumbled in reply pulling his trench coat tighter around him.

“Young man, you take a great deal of care to cover up your appearance. I want you to know, you could look like a demon spawned by Lilith herself under that hat but monsters don’t save lives. Those punks weren’t bothering you. You could have left me to my fate but instead you rescued me from certain death. You made a choice. It is your choices that define you not your appearence.” He paused and then, “Would you like to finish this discussion inside?” Dustin stood, removed his hat, and stepped into the light of a street lamp. The rabbi smiled, “What a relief, you are just a man made of stone. That is much easier to handle then what I was imagining. Please come with me.”

After several hours, Rabbi Ben Yehuda convinced Dustin to stay in the apartment near the synagogue that was reserved for visiting rabbis. Now that Dustin was off the streets, he had time to reflex and with the rabbi’s counseling decided he needed to use his gifts to help people.

Before long he was patrolling Brooklyn from Bay Ridge to Greenpoint. He protected the residents of Brooklyn from violent crime. His success at reducing gang violence in the city attracted the attention of the JLA. His invitation to the JLA’s Los Angeles embassy arrived yesterday with a plane ticket.

Superhero Backgrounds 2

This is the second of five Superhero Character Backgrounds.

The Gryphon

Anastasia Griffin, top international model, sets her table for two in her Paris apartment. She’s tall with wavy brown hair and dark brown almond shaped eyes. Her face is heart shaped with rounded features and she has a well toned body with a light bronze skin tone. She looks up at the clock, ‘Almost eight o’clock, he should be here by now. Well, Paris is more crowded then it use to be. He’s probably just stuck in traffic.

This past year has been the hardest on my modeling career. I never thought anything could be more important to me than my work. I’ve always had a reputation for extreme sports. You name it, I did it, rock climbing, scuba diving, white water rafting, paintball safari. However, I never missed a shoot or a show until this year. Everyone thinks this is all about Gwen. I guess it is, but not the way they think.

There’s a knock at the door, ‘He’s here. I hope I’m ready for this.’ Stasia nervously goes to the door, takes a deep breath. She opens the door with a smile, “Bonjour, Andrew.” Standing at the door is a middle-aged man. He is dressed well and his hair is in tight fade with copious amounts of gel arranging the sparse strands on top in attempt to hide his impending baldness.

He enters, “I got your text.” his entire demeanor expresses his restrained anger. He looks around at the apartment almost surprised by its cleanliness. “What is this all about?”

Stasia evasively replies, “I picked up some le pain Poi lane today would you care for some? I…”

Andrew cuts her off, “Three months, Stasia! I have been worried sick about you! I haven’t heard from you. I have called everyone! Photographers, designers, the other models, and no one had heard from you. Your assistant said you had her cancel all your modeling gigs and then you sent her on a paid leave of absence…”

“Andrew, please…”

“Don’t ‘Andrew, please’ me! I deserve an explanation.”

“That’s why I asked you here…”

“What is it? Are you burnt out? Tired of fame and success? Or is it me? Do you want a different agent? Is that why you have kept me out?”

“Please, you have been like a father to me…”

“Here we go, stroke the old queens ego with father references.”

“Andrew! I’m trying to explain what’s going on! This is not going to be a short or easy conversation. Would you please go into the kitchen and grab the 1996 La Mondotte. I’ll get the glasses.” After a few minutes they sit down at the table and pour the wine. Stasia touches the older man’s hand, “I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch.” Andrew waits with concerned intrigue. “Do you remember that photo shoot in Iraq four years ago?” Andrew thinks quietly for a moment and then looks up with a puzzled ‘what-made-you-think-of-that’ look on his face.

--------------

Four years ago…

“Where are we going?” Stasia shouts over the sound of the helicopter.

“Nippur. It was an ancient Mesopotamian city southeast of Babylon.” Andrew was always a history-buff and loved these exotic locals.

“OH! Is that in Egypt?” Gisele shouts from the back row.

Stasia turns with a smile, “No honey, Babylon is in southeastern Iraq. They have made amazing discoveries there. I’ll let you borrow my National Geographic.” Gisele smiles back, she knew anyone else would have talked down to her and made her feel stupid but Stasia wasn’t like the other models. Stasia turns back, “Andrew, what is the location and what are we shooting?”

“A new summer line from Loewe,” Andrew fumbles with his palm pilot then looks up again, “The archeologists have found a ziggurat for Enlil the Sumerian storm god. We will feature you around the ruins. Real Indian Jones stuff.”

Three days later the shoot was over. The Iraqi laborers were given a long weekend to prevent them from being upset about the barely dressed American women. Meanwhile, the British archeological team enjoyed the change of scenery. As at the end of most big shoots the models had a party. It wasn’t very large of course, 6 models, Andrew, 4 stuffy old archeologists and their 8 graduate students. Stasia hit it off with one of the grad students and took him out to the dig site to fool around. While they were out there they ran out of champagne and the now very drunk young scientist left to bring back more. He had been gone awhile when Stasia decided to return by herself.

She got turned around in the dark mostly due to the large amounts of champagne. She stumbled into a huge semi underground chamber. The chamber entrance had statues of two enormous creatures each with the head, wings, and forelegs of an eagle and the tail and hindquarters of a lion. She had not seen this area of the dig before. While stumbling in the dark she slipped and her hand was cut on a jagged rock. Despite her efforts her hand bled a lot! As her blood splatter on the floor, the darkened temple began to illuminate with a strange blue light. As the temple grew brighter, she could see statues, cravings, and paintings of a the Sumerian storm god and his strange part eagle and part lion guardians.

Suddenly, the lights in the temple dimmed and a single beam of light shots forth from the altar. The beam animated an image of a Middle Eastern man in a turban, with a tightly braided long beard, wearing overlapping plate body armor, and a pair of enormous wings; it was the Sumerian storm god, Enlil. The image began to move and speak almost like a hologram. Stasia felt she heard more of the message in her head then by her ears. It spoke in what sounded Aramaic. Stasia could not understand a word of it. She tried to remember some of the words but it was hard to concentrate with the intoxication and exhaustion working against her. She passed out and awoke the next morning in her in her motor home. Andrew exploded into the motor home ranting about irresponsibility, scorpions, and of course his typical “I’m going to have a nervous breakdown” speech.

She thought, “Ah, Andrew’s post party/pre departure anxiety attack, just what my hang over needed.”

5 days of planes, trains, and automobiles and she is back in her Paris apartment. She’s ready for the first night in a bed since she left Iraq. Soon as her head hits her Scandia Down pillows she is asleep.

The worst pain she has ever been in! Stasia was sound asleep, now she is on the floor on her hands and knees, back arched towards the ceiling, being racked with pain. She can hear her Julianna Rae chemise being ripped apart! She looks over at the her full length standing mirror to see her back is a bloody mess as a pair of white feathered wings slowly and painfully bud from her back. Her fingernails crack, split, and fall off as bird like talons burst forth on each finger. Her legs become covered in tough yellowish tan fur. She watches in the mirror as the muscles on her body enlarge and become more defined. Her face is unchanged except her hair has doubled in length almost instantaneously. With the transformation complete, the pain begins to subside, Stasia stands in front the mirror staring at the creature she has become and the words of Enlil return to her memory as clear as crystal.

“I am Enlil. My time in this world is over. I bestow my final gift to the descendent of my high priest Akkad Ku-Baba. You who have sought my temple even after my entrance to the underworld, I give to you the power of my greatest creation. Though this power is yours to possess, it is not for you alone. I give this to you as a weapon to fight injustice, to defend the weak, and to punish wicked. This is my last act of kindness to this my once beloved world. With the strength of the Gryphon, no evil will escape your judgment! Ma'a Salama, child of Akkad Ku-Baba.”

----------------

Andrew, deep into his third glass and pouring a refill, “What happened then?”

“Well, I freaked. I didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t want it and didn’t know what to do with it. I…”

“Wait! You’re telling me you are The Gryphon! You have been Paris’ mysterious defender that has been all over the cover of Le Monde for months?”

“Well, I…”

“That was you on the news that almost died breaking up that human trafficking ring in Luxembourg last week?” Andrew looks panicked. Stasia cuts her eyes to the left and down with a blush of embarrassment. Andrew puts his head in his hands, “I think I’m going to be sick!”

“I’m helping people, really helping people. I think I’m going to go full time with this.” Her old mentor, the veteran of the fashion world, sits unresponsive with worry. “Andrew, look at this.” Stasia pulls an invitation out of a tiny purse on the table. “It’s from the Justice League. I’m to be at their Los Angeles embassy by Saturday and I want you to come with me. Andrew… I need your help.”

Andrew smiles and nods, “Ok… but I’m not wearing tights.”

Superhero Backgrounds

This is the first of five Superhero Character Backgrounds.

APE-X

It’s the same nightmare as before.

‘The gun shots and flames, my mother screaming, tell me to run. She’s fallen down, she’s not getting up. I cry out, “Mommy!” I have to help her! They are all around us. Who has me? Some one has grabbed me up! Oh no! It’s one of them!’

I wake in a sweat. I’m safe in my bed. That terrible night my mother was murdered was over 20 years ago. But why have the nightmares begun again?

I don’t remember a lot after my mother’s death. I remember a ride in a truck and then a long boat voyage. Everything was a blur of grief and depression.

Just outside of the small Texas town of Port Lavaca was corporate laboratory for Boris & Ursa Aviation Technologies that was supposedly doing aviation research for NASA. However, the truth had more to do with genetic engineering, cloning, and several other illegal science explorations. Nearly 87% of the building’s structure was under ground giving it the illusion of medium size three story office building to any passersby.

Inside in this building was a division titled MAA (Metazoan Adaptation Assessment). This was the wing were I was kept with several other species of primates. Our cages were alphabetized and then numbered with roman numerals. I was one of the first inmates in this torture chamber. I was called Apex or Specimen 10 depending on which lab-coat was handling me at the time.

They were altering our DNA structure trying to create a human-ape hybrid. To this day, I don’t know what they were altering us for but I’m sure it had something to do with military or dangerous space exploration from all the flight simulators they put us in. The torture went on for years and though many of my inmate companions died, the scientist had incredible success with their Molecular Biology research.

The only other gorilla was GeeVee, which is what they called him because he was in cage G 5. They called him my brother, I do not know if we are truly related or just both orphans of Rwanda’s poaching industry. He was always the most violent and angry of all of us, every night he would shake the door to his cage. It became so bad they had to place multiple locks on his door. I think the anger was because he was older then me when he was captured. He was the first of us to start vocalizing words. After he began to speak they put him through horribly painful tests. After this he, with his now human like intelligence, was bent towards revenge. His thoughts frightened me and I tried to block them out.

As the handful of survivors, including me, began to graduate to the next level they made their fatal mistake, they brought in Doctor Kadambini Ganguli. She was a petite woman from Chennai, India. She commanded the attention of a room with her silent penetrating gaze through her modest eye glasses. She was a leader in animal behavior specializing in apes. They thought she would help us transition better as communication was now being introduced. Instead she brought questions about our treatment, the purpose of the research, legal matters, and most importantly humane treatment of the animals in their care. They thought they could control her and they were wrong.

We immediately connected. Doctor Ganguli was the first person that cared about me since my mother died. We began with sign language. I played along. I felt I could trust her but wasn’t completely sure. Months past and the health of all of us improved. However, the geneticists’ researched slowed as they were no longer able to treat us like lab rats.

Threats of funding cuts started coming from higher up. A couple of the lab techs took it upon themselves to put things back to the way it was before Doctor Ganguli came. That night the lab techs left a few of GeeVee’s cage locks open and didn’t give him his evening sedative. It may take an hour but eventually GeeVee would open his door while Doctor Ganguli was alone in the lab. They hoped it would scare her off or worse, either way they would have job security.

I remember that night very clearly. We had just finished our sign language sessions. I wanted to tell her. Tell her I was telepathic. Tell her I was a prisoner. Tell her I had developed feelings for her. Feelings I needed her to help me understand. I never got the chance. She gave me my nightly sedative and as I began to loose consciousness GeeVee leaped from the second level of cages and began beating on her. I heard her screams and the echo of my mother’s screams mingled with hers. I fought through the sedative. I tried to stop him. I rendered him unconscious but it was too late. The exertion of my powers made me unable to fight the drugs and I feel asleep.

When I awoke I was in my cage with Doctor Ganguli’s broken body in my arms. GeeVee sat grinning securely in his cage starring in anticipation from across the lab. Still recovering from the shot and trying to clear my mind, the lab techs enter. There is shouting as they grab the cattle prod like high-powered tazers. I realize GeeVee has set me up and he laughs and beats his chest as the realization sweeps across my face. I know this is my only chance and I mentally blast the two lab techs and flee the lab. GeeVee bursts into a rage when he remembers he reset his cage locks to ensure he was not suspected of the murder. He never imagined I would escape his trap.

That was all ten years ago. I still visit her grave when I can.

In those seven years I used my powers to manipulate 2 mega-ball lotteries and collecting the winnings under aliases. I used this money to create a life for myself. I purchased everything from my estate to my custom hummer online. I managed my stocks online. In two years, I obtained a doctorate in psychology online from an Ivy League school. I hired the best tutors to help me master my mental powers, again online, with one way webcam-ing. I played with the idea of becoming an online professor when I heard the news, “PETA Activist free lab animals in Port Lavaca, Texas”. GeeVee was at large and with his mad murderous mind who knew what kind of chaos he would unleash. My comfortable life style would have to wait until I put that animal back in a zoo where he belonged.

That was three years ago. After defeating GeeVee, other villains crossed my path and soon being a professor was a distant memory as I found myself as a full time crime fighter. Now, I have this invitation from the Justice League and an appointment in Los Angeles at 3 am tomorrow. I’ve never been part of a team before, but I’m doing it for you, Kadambini.

A slight detour to a galaxy far far away!

I am taking my friends on a slight detour. We are on hiatus due to my son’s recent birth. I wanted to take a dip in some different campaign settings. So far Star Wars and Superheroes have had the biggest response. I am hoping this detour may lead to a new favorite campaign or make us appreciate our Palladium campaign and want to return to it.

After asking what race and class everyone wanted to play in Star Wars, I created the characters and their backgrounds. Here they are…


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Few wookiees leave their home world of Kashyyyk by choice, Jowrhynn is no exception. Trandoshan slavers often raid Kashyyyk to capture wookiees. Jowrhynn defended his clan bravely but in the end was subdued and sold into slavery.

For 2 years, he was a gladiator in a Hutt crime lord’s arena. During a gang war between his owner and another crime family he managed to escape. For the next 12 years he worked as a mercenary, body guard, and repo-man. As imperial oppression choked the galaxy it became harder and harder to make a living as an independent soldier.

During a mission to recover property from an aristocrat due to a delinquent debt, Jowrhynn had his first experience with the “real” side of the empire. The aristocrat called in a favor and an imp sergeant and his stormtroopers interrupted the repo job. Jowrhynn and his team were beaten and arrested for theft. Jowrhynn was going quietly hoping his cooperation would help him at trial. Then he overheard the sergeant tell the stormtroopers to load them up and take them to Orvax. Jowrhynn had never forgotten Orvax. It was the first planet he had ever been to after he was take from Kashyyyk. Orvax is the slave marketplace to the galaxy. Jowrhynn would rather die then be enslaved again and in a moment of desperation and rage he killed two stormtroopers and fled.

Now a wanted criminal by the Empire, Jowrhynn’s last hope for freedom and justice lies with joining the Rebel Alliance.
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Guy Devarian never knew his parents, Dad left before he was born and Mom died when he was young. He was raised by his Uncle Bellomi. Uncle Bellomi was an independent freighter pilot with his own Corellian YT-2400, The Lighting Nebula VI. He did mostly cargo transporting but from time to time would take on passengers.

Uncle Bellomi was always more like a best friend then an uncle to Guy. Uncle Bellomi never tried to hide his smuggling work from him growing up. When Guy was preteen he practiced a dangerous game of pick pocketing while at the different spaceports they would visit.

As Guy grew into adolescence, he became more attentive at Uncle Belome's "business" dealings. For years, Guy silently watched the intricate dance of negotiation between his Uncle and the "client". More then once, he saw his Uncle get the short end of a deal because he didn't see through the client's front. Finally, Guy couldn't take it and as he began to see another deal going in the direction of less pay, he spoke up. At first Uncle Belome, was startled and as Guy began to haggle with the client he started to become angry, fearing he was going to lose the deal. Then, all of sudden, the client caved-in and offered more money. Uncle Belome was overjoyed when they left the cantina. Soon Guy became invaluable at negotiations. His friendly laidback demeanor made even the hardest of underworld figures feel relaxed and willing to be reasonable. It wasn't long before Guy began working almost all of their contacts and brought in so much work they always had a "run" lined up. Work was steady and the times were good for them. They grew in popularity as sought after smugglers. They were even saving up for Guy to get his own ship.

Uncle Bellomi was approached by a hooded stranger in a cantina on Centerpoint Space Station in the Core. The deal seemed pretty straight forward, delivering some crates and the offer was fair, nothing suspicious, so he agreed. The dealing was so quick and easy he forgot to even mention it to Guy. They arrived on Vorzyd 5 on the Outer Rim three weeks later.

Guy headed to the casinos to drum up their next run and Uncle Bellomi heads to the drop off with the crates from Centerpoint. Two hours have past since Guy returned from the casino and Uncle Bellomi is still not back. Guy began searching the heavily urban area for signs of Uncle Bellomi.

It had been 2 days, Guy asked around, offered reward credits, and even made some bribes, but no one knew anything about his uncle. As the second day was ending, Guy spotted Uncle Bellomi’s jacket on a homeless person. Guy roughed up the bum but the bum told him he found it in a dumpster. Guy found Uncle Bellomi’s datapad, comlink, and his holo-recorder in the hidden coat pocket. When Guy returned to The Lighting Nebula VI, his uncle’s murder was all on the holo-recorder. He could see the face of his uncles attacker but it was a woman and she called her self the “Emperor’s Hand”. She ignited some kind of “energy sword” and cut Uncle Bellomi down. Guy didn’t know who she was, what that weapon was called, or what an Emperor’s Hand is, but if the empire killed his uncle they were going to pay. Guy sought out the rebellion and used all his skills and contacts to aid the cause.

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Remei has been working on droids since she was 7 years old. Her parents were deep space explorers. They would be out for months between ports charting new hyperspace lanes. Remi had no siblings or pets so she spent a lot of time with the ship’s R5 Astromech droid. R5C7 lead her to an old NR5 maintenance droid in the ships cargo bay. Under R5C7’s tutelage Remi began tinkering with the long disabled NR5. Her parents were so pleased when she repaired the NR5 they began to encourage her interest in droids. After a while, every port they stopped in, Remi would pick up droid parts, manuals, even complete but broken droids. By 18, Remi has more experience with Droids then most freelance droid engineers on any core world.

Her parents’ ship went missing a few years back. Remei knew as deep space explorers it was a hard truth that one day they would get lost or worse out there in the black. She made a life for herself on Muunilinst on the Outer Rim. She opened a small droid repair shop with her old astromech R5C7. Then the imperials came. They asked her a lot of questions about her parents, the work they did, and their connection to the rebel alliance. When she didn’t know anything about them working for the rebels, they got rough and wrecked her shop. Then they learned that R5C7 was her parents’ droid, they confiscated him.
It was months and no one could tell her what happened to R5C7. The day before she was leaving Muunilinst, at the spaceport she saw a black and white imperial R5 unit but imperials don’t manufacture R5 units. That night before her ship took off, she shot the R5 unit with an ion gun and dragged the unconscious droid on board. It was R5C7, his memory had been wiped. Luckily, she had backup-ed his mind 6 months prior to the imps showing up. Now there was only one course action seek out the Rebel Alliance and find out the truth about her parents.
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Tekba was a legitimate freighter pilot. It wasn’t glamorous but it paid well and he enjoyed the constant space travel. Imperial inspections were nothing new to him, in fact it would be a surprise if the imp officer didn’t crack open a crate and “confiscate” a couple of bottles of Corellian wine, pair of clothing, or whatever he was hauling. He loved the raw material loads, almost guaranteed nothing would be “confiscated”. But things with the imperials starting getting worse, a bottle or two became a case or two, and then they started taking full crates. Soon Tekba was paying more in lost cargo fees then he was getting paid for the run.

He remembers the morning he got up to go to his new job as a pilot on a personnel transport ship. It meant better pay, same route everyday, cleaner, safer, and best of all no lost cargo fees. He put on his uniform and turned on the news. He was half way through his morning coffee when he heard, “Mon Calamari secedes from the Empire.” He was shocked. The news said Mon Calamari had released an official statement explaining their actions, “To the citizens of the Republic…” the news feed went dead. Tekba found himself paralyzed in front of the screen. He had to know why, why his home world would take such a dangerous course. 3 minutes, a whole 3 minutes had past. What is happening?

Suddenly, the news came on with a different anchorman. He wasn’t any reporter Tekba had seen before and he was wearing a military press uniform. The stern face human explained that Mon Calamari’s government has been infiltrated by terrorist. He read a statement from the Emperor’s high command vowing to rescue the Mon Calamari people from this false regime. He went on to say the statement that was about to be read was interrupted because imperial intelligence suspects it is a coded message meant to activate terrorist cells throughout the Empire.

As the broadcast ended Tekba’s new job called and told him not to come in, he was fired. Later, he learned Mon Calamaris all over the empire were being laid off. Then the hate crimes started, every Mon Calamari was a suspected terrorist. Within weeks of that broadcast, they started rounding up Mon Calamaris in the core and taking them to a secret relocation camp for their safety. Tekba was hours from reporting to the spaceport to be taken to the relocation camps when a friend of his came to his apartment and told him he heard from a rebel agent that the “relocation camp” is in fact the mining prison on Kessel! Tekba decides to put his piloting skills to use for the Rebel Alliance in hopes of saving his people.
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Manfando was a famous and well respected doctor and surgeon. Later in his career he led a non-for profit medical team of some of the most brilliant doctors in the galaxy. They provided vaccines, surgeries, and physical therapy to beings throughout the galaxy for free or little cost. When Manfando wasn’t making house calls to over a dozen planets, he was gathering support and funding from wealthy core worlds. Thanks to the generous contributions from noble families on core planets such as Alderaan, Manfando’s work was possible. Out of no where the imperial government contacted Manfando and his team to find a cure to the disease that has ravaged the people of Altora for over a decade. They assured full funding in exchange for this being Manfando’s primary project.

As an Ithorian, he looked on in painful disgust as the signs of the wholesale rape of the planet’s natural resources were everywhere. This once lush world had been mined and polluted to the brink of destruction. The worst was yet to be revealed. Manfando and his team arrived at the central “hospital” to find a filthy house of the dieing being run by a handful of incompetent imperial medical interns. They explained that the disease only affects the Altora people and after months of agony it turns fatal.

Three years later, a cure is eminent though not yet found. The treatment has brought the death toll down considerably. For the first time since his arrival Manfando has hope that the Altora people will survive. Suddenly, the planetary news reports an earthquake on the southern continent at the site of the main mining facility, millions die in the first moments of the quake and hundreds of thousands more are missing in the rubble and collapsed mines. Manfando and his team ready themselves to deploy for disaster relief when they are ordered back to their hospital to continue research on the cure.

Months pass as the news increases the number of dead by the hour. Manfando is told by some Altora locals that imperial ships have been decommissioning mining facilities all over the planet. As the mines shut down, the Altora people are being sent home and residential areas are becoming quickly over populated. Manfando knows the situation is ripe for a fresh outbreak of the disease. As Manfando attempts to ask for additional help, the empire informs him that his funding is being cut. He is told plainly that the empire’s long-term investment in Altora has come to completion now that it is no longer economic to mine there.

Without the necessary funding for research, a cure is impossible. Manfando and his team leave to seek private funding from the galactic community. However, educating the imperial citizens on the Altorian people’s plight takes time. Once the funds were finally raised, imperial red tape slowed their return further. It was 18 months before they return.

Manfando’s ship touched down on a planet size graveyard. He and his crew spent weeks searching for survivors. What they found instead was that the disease was a direct result of the imperials strip mining this planet and like a well planned murder they left no witnesses.

Several of Manfando’s team left to show their findings to the imperial senate but their ship had an “accident” while entering orbit on Coruscant and all on board were lost. Manfando went into hiding then joined the Rebels swearing justice for the death of his friends and the Altora people.

XVIII: Providence

It had been over a month since the heroes left New Hollow. While there they liberated the human settlers from a Beast Dragon that threaten to enslave them. But now they were back on track and this lap of their journey was drawing to an end. As they left the forest and the hills behind, they could see the port city, Providence, on the horizon. They could hear the sounds of seabirds. As they traveled closer the sounds and smell of the Inland Sea grew.

(To Be Continued)

XVII: New Hollow

(To Be Continued)

XVI: Blood Corn

The scarecrow rushes Krimp with fists balled in rage. The wolfen slams his glaive through it, exploding hay out it’s back, yet the scarecrow seems unphased. Krimp, Wronski, Soveliss, Niball, and Roxana look at the curious animated scarecrow which is now impaled on Krimp’s pole arm. Suddenly, its button eyes glow green and a flash of green light washes over them! Niball cries out in terror, turns on her heels, and begins running away into the plains. Roxana and Wronski feel shaken and afraid of the strange scarecrow, but are able to stand their ground. Solvillis was further back and did not feel any strange effects but did see the flash from the scarecrow’s eyes. Krimp immediately recognizes this to be some kind of fear magic which, thankfully, Kym-nark-mar has made him immune to.

Three more scarecrows emerge from the cornfields shouting, “Protect the corn!”. One pops out near Roxana and delivers a smashing punch to her head. In one fluid motion, Roxana sweeps the legs from underneath the scarecrow and drives it’s face into the soil. Another charges Krimp, and he slashes at it. The last comes up behind the group. As Soveliss and Wronski turn in it’s direction, it’s button eyes glow green and a flash of green light showers them! Soveliss and Wronski are panic stricken and charge blindly into the cornfield to escape!

Roxana wrestles with her scarecrow trying to put manacles on it in order to subdue it. Meanwhile, Krimp is surrounded by the three other scarecrows! The rear scarecrow raises his arms above his head, clasping his fingers together into a hammer, and smashes the wolfen in his kidneys. Krimp gasps as he thrust his glaive at it.

Soveliss and Wronski regain their composure as the panic spell wears off. They take a moment to catch their breath than turn running back towards the sound of the battle. Wronski holds up his pendant of Kormath blasting a scarecrow with the Light of Kormath’s Truth! Captain Soveliss notches an arrow with a red shaft and a metal head marked with the rune for fire. As he launches the arrow, the arrowhead magically ignites and scorches one of the scarecrows.

Krimp slashes one of the scarecrows in half. As the top and bottom of the scarecrow fall in opposite directions, hay falls all around him. Krimp loses his grip flinging his glaive past the last standing scarecrow. Now unarmed, he launches a savage attack with his claws, snapping at the scarecrow with his monstrous teeth!

Now that the panic spell has worn off, Niball returns from behind the barn just in time to see Captain Soveliss’ fiery attack. She remembers the magical fire bolts she bought in Acoroc, and slaps the clip into the bottom of her repeating crossbow. She darts forward sending a flaming blot into the head of one of the scarecrows! Niball’s bolt instantly ignites the dry straw of the scarecrow, making the creature fall to the ground in a smoldering heap.

Roxana has kept her scarecrow out of the fight, but couldn’t get her manacles on him. Unsure of what else to do, she pulls out her short sword and repeatedly stabs it! The scarecrow has taken considerable injury from the dwarven woman but is still struggling to get up. Roxana shouts in frustration, “A little fire over here, please!”, prompting Captain Soveliss to effortlessly shoot the flailing scarecrow. It bursts into flames as Roxana jumps away.

The heroes retire to the nearby barn. Niball convinces Soveliss to accompany her to do some reconnaissance in town while the others are resting. The town looks deserted, and void of any noise other then the wind. The first building appears to be a private residence. Niball notices the front door has been forced in, and decides to investigate. Soveliss follows her about thirty feet behind and stays outside as she enters the small single story house. Niball sees a table that appears to have been set for a meal but the food has long been decayed or eaten by vermin. She gets to the second door, and discovers that it too has been forced in. Inside the bedroom, she finds bed that has been toppled over and the skeletal remains of what seems to have been a peasant woman judging by the dress. Niball searches the house only to find a small amount of coin. She decides to move on.

Next she enters the two story saloon across the street. When she enters, the skeletons and tossed about furniture tell the tale. Playing cards and coins are scattered all over the floor. The chairs are knocked over. Near the entrance are two skeletons with broken necks. They must have rushed the scarecrow or scarecrows that first entered the saloon, from there the rest is chaos. Most of the skeletons have cracked skulls. One has the leg end of a bar stool through his ribs. This overturned poker table has a skeleton impaled on each table leg. There are fifteen bodies in all. Niball grabs the saloons cash box, some expensive liquor, and the stray poker money.

Next door is the nicest two story house in the little town. Niball pops in and searches the first story only finding some odds and ends. She creeps upstairs and notices a well hidden folding attic stair. She silently creeps up the stair with one crossbow in hand. The attic window allows the afternoon sun to allow some visibility. She can see that this spacious attic is crammed with dusty crates, barrels, boxes, as well as loose odds and ends. Suddenly, a shadow moves past the small window! Meanwhile outside, Soveliss sees the curtain at the attic window move. He immediately draws his sword and rushes into the house, calling for Niball. Niball shouts into the attic “Show yourself!” Soveliss reaches the folding attic stair and joins Niball. She motions for Soveliss to circle around one side of a pile of crates as she goes around the other side. Soveliss sees an old human male hiding among the crates.

Roxana has climbed into the loft of the barn to keep a look out. Krimp and Wronski debate the origin of the scarecrows and if there are anymore. Roxana sees Niball and Soveliss returning and see that they have someone with them. She relays this to Krimp and Wronski. Soveliss enters with Niball leading the old man. The old man seems skittish. Krimp asks him his name. The old man introduces himself as Jeremiah Osteen the Magistrate of New Town.

Roxana asks what happened here. Jeremiah tells them, “Ten years ago a man came out of the Old Kingdom Mountains. He told us he was a wizard and wanted to settle in New Town. After a few months he said he had made something that would help the town. He showed us his scarecrow. He told it to fetch water, so it fetched water. He told it to sweep the floor, so it swept the floor. He told us he could make more and have them protect the corn fields from the nomadic tribes and vermin. He told them to protect the corn. That was just after planting. When autumn came the people went out to the fields to gather the corn. We heard the screams. The harvesters came running into town with the scarecrows quick upon them. I ran to my house and hid in my attic. I heard them running after people, smashing in locked doors, and the screams, all the screaming! My family was on a trip and they returned three weeks later. They didn’t make it half way into town when the scarecrows killed them. That was ten years ago and I have been trapped in this town ever since.” Soveliss asks what all the stuff in the attic was. Jeremiah explains it was emergency supplies for the town.

Roxana suddenly notices a change in Jeremiah when he said emergency supplies. It was something strange, a flutter, like when someone is speak half-truths. She had listened to the confessions of many criminals that she was escorting back to justice. They would always try to convince her of their innocence or at least of the circumstances surrounding their crime. She had learned to pickup on the subtle clues in a person’s voice or body language when they were painting their story with “half-truths”. She didn’t like call them lies because they always revealed some bit of truth, no matter how small or hidden. “Why did you not offer to hide anyone else in your attic?” The old man looks nervous and begins to fidget. Roxana drills him with questions about the attic, the emergency supplies, the towns people and his relationship with them! The rest of the heroes are about to stop Roxana’s harsh interview when the old man caves!

“I didn’t know they would all be killed!” he sobs. “They are not emergency supplies. It is my private stash of goods to make myself wealthy and better prepared. The town’s people agreed to share their wealth and resources with one another and I kept mine in the hidden attic. I thought for sure that after the crisis was over, life would go back to normal. I thought others would hide like I did. I never believed they would all die so I didn’t want to expose my secret.” He sobs, his head held in his hands, mumbling he is a coward and he didn’t know. Roxana feels a twinge of compassion for the greedy broken old fool.

Wronski approaches the sobbing huddled man and places a compassionate arm around him. He speaks soothingly, “Jeremiah, you can not undo the past. But there is another way, to begin anew. Let a cold wind blanket your past in snow until you can awaken in a new spring. There is only one being powerful enough to do that. This being is not a mere god but is a Dragon god. His name is Kormath and he wants to help you…”

At this, Niball rolls her eyes and says, “I would like to continue searching the town while there is still daylight.” Roxana and Soveliss agree to return to town with Niball. Krimp remains behind to listen to Wronski’s sermon, curious to see it’s outcome.

In town, Niball and Roxana return to Jeremiah’s house, Soveliss remains outside keeping watch. They search the attic. Roxana finds a cash box hidden in the panel of the wall. Niball finds a several documents. Roxana and Niball look over the documents and they are record of Jeremiah’s crooked deals; from fixed games at the saloon, land swindling, and even trading arms to indigenous nomadic tribes. Roxana is furious! She gathers up the documents in a crate and storms down stairs. The three of them return to the barn.

Wronski convinces the old man that Kormath can help him start a new life. They discuss plans to take him to the next settlement, hopefully recruit new settlers to inhabit the town, and to renovate one of the existing buildings to a temple of Dragonwright, with prominent focus on Kormath. Krimp is standing in awe of Wronski’s powers of conversion when Roxana walks in.

The documents are shown to the party. Roxana insists, “This man was lording over this town and then he let these people die. He must stand for his crimes.”

Soveliss points out, “There is no one left to try him.”

“Then the next town we come to we turn him over to the authorities!” she snaps.

“What? After hearing this, I think we should leave him here. He will slow us down anyway.” Krimp stares down at the shocked old man in disgust.

Wronski looks angry at the human as he runs the facts over in his mind. Finally the kobold priest stands up, “We won’t leave him here. Without anyone else he will die in this hostile land. You might as well kill him if you are willing to abandon him.” Wronski looks at the others to gage their opinions, Niball seems completely apathetic, Roxana seems furious with an expression that screams ‘perhaps he deserves it’, Krimp is disgusted by the old man, and Soveliss’ expression is annoyed.

Jeremiah, seeing the majority of the group is either apathetic or hostile towards him, cries out, “What have I done? What have I done to deserve death? Yes, I was greedy. Yes, I cheated people. Yes, I was a selfish coward. But I didn’t kill these people!”

Soveliss sits on a hay bail, “Do you have any skills? Any skills that would aid us?”

“I was a wheelwright at one time if you have a wagon and it throws a wheel, I could be of assistance. Other then wagons, I am good at math and creating legal documents such as contracts.” He says hopeful.

The disgusted paladin growl, “Useless! We have no wagon. Leave him to die here with his shame!” Wronski gives Krimp a disapproving look.

“Please! I have been a prisoner of the scarecrows for ten years. Ten years of my life is loss. My family, friends, and home are lost to me. Is that not enough justice for being a greedy S.O.B?” He notices a couple of them turn their eyes from him. “Look, I’m not asking you to protect me. I’m asking to walk in close proximity to you as you venture to the next town. In a hope, that by traveling with you the predators of the Old Kingdom Plains may be warded off. You may leave me homeless and penniless in the next town.”

Krimp growls from behind clench teeth, “You better walk fast, old man. We will not slow down for you.” Wronski smiles up at Krimp, Krimp shakes his head like ‘I’m going to regret this.’

Niball breaks the silence, “It is getting late. The inn has nice beds. Let’s sleep there tonight.” The others start talking about how the barn is a fine structure to sleep in when Niball stamps her foot, “No! There is a perfectly good inn with real beds! I have no intention of sleeping in a barn or a tent when who knows when we will be near an inn again.” She turns and storms out of the barn. The heroes look at one another, shrug, and gather their belongings to head to the inn.

When they enter the inn, Niball has turned a table and chair right side up. She is counting her coins on the table. Jeremiah enters and gasps at the skeletons as he recognizes each and every one of them. Wronski says to him, “Healing can come from labor. You and I will put these poor souls to rest.” The old magistrate and Fr. Wronski gathered the bodies and buried them late into the night. The heroes saw them come in covered in sweat and dirt and tears. They were compassionate to the old man and went to sleep.

In the morning, they gathered what supplies they needed and headed into the plains. They traveled on and on for weeks. Jeremiah did slow them down. When the others would become annoyed, Wronski would slow down and walk with him. They saw a lone Tusker grazing far to the south, a pasting tribe of humans avoided them one afternoon, and one night a large shadow flew over head but nothing came of any of these things.

XV: Old Kingdom Prairie

It has been over a month since Father Wronski last saw Malachi. He was the closest person to family he had since… well… since Hans. Wronski says a silent prayer to Kormath that Hans could be ransomed from his infernal prison. His mind tells him it is not possible but his heart still hopes.

Wronski hears Krimp walking up behind him. He is amazed how quietly a nine foot tall, five hundred pound wolfen can be. “Wronski, it’s your turn at watch,” Krimp nudges the kobold priest. Wronski nods as he rises and gathers his claw bracers. “Several hours ago, I saw a large group of close to thirty or more heading north on foot. They were too far away to tell who they were, perhaps humans but more likely orcs. These plains are so flat that they could have been miles away at the edge of the horizon. I wouldn’t even have seen them if the moon hadn’t been rising at that very moment. They didn’t alter their course, so I didn’t wake anyone, but I wanted to tell you to stay low and keep an eye out. Any signs of trouble, just wake me.” Again Wronski nods and takes up his watch position.

Krimp curls up on his batch of grass where he has walked in circles until it is matted down just so. Nibell is quietly snoring in her grey pup-tent. Krimp laughs remembering the argument between the two of them. Krimp had told her that her tent would give away their position to every roaming nomad on the Old Kingdom plains, and she had bitten back with “I’m not sleeping on the ground like some animal!”. Krimp had stormed off shaking his head with his hands thrown in the air.

Wronski considers the newest member of their party, Roxana Diamondshard, the dwarven bounty hunter they met in Acoroc. She sleeps silently on her bedroll. His eyes are drawn to the scroll she has clutched in her fist. She must have read that scroll ten times a day for the past month. She said it is Brother Nuvalye’s “profile”; his history, his public appearances, his mannerisms, his family and acquaintances, even a detailed record of his most prized possessions. Wronski recalls a couple of weeks ago when Krimp jokingly asked her, “Haven’t you memorized that by now?” At first she didn’t respond, instead just finished reading the part of the scroll she was on. Then without looking-up she coldly said, “I’m trying to get into the mind of a gnome wizard that has specialized his magical discipline to become a Master Illusionist. He then poses as a holy man and becomes the most popular evangelist the Church of Light has ever had by using magical illusions to mimic miracles. He fools thousands of people into giving him riches and fame including the King. When he gets caught and his charlatan act is going to be revealed, he does the unspeakable.” She looks up into the wolfen paladin’s eyes, “What kind of sick madman do you have to be? A town full of people threatens to reveal your con to the nation, so you use your illusionist abilities to trick the people into thinking they are being attack by goblin raiders. But when the town’s people finish slaying the goblins that are in their houses and on their streets, only then do they realize that the goblins were just an illusion and every child less than twelve turns of the seasons is dead by the hands of the people that loved them.” She stands up not taking her gaze off Krimp’s eyes, “I hunt criminals, all kinds of criminals. And to catch a criminal, I have to think like that criminal thinks. But how can I think like someone that would murder children because the inevitable end of his game has finally arrived?” there was a breathless silence among all of them, and then she rolls up the scroll, and goes to bed. Krimp looked over at Wronski with a “right, don’t ask her any questions” expression on his face and walked off.

It is next morning and they are traveling through a lightly forested area near a creek. Roxana hears a person running towards them out on the plains. She dismounts from her pony, crouches, starts swinging her bolas over her head, and tells everyone “Someone is coming!”. Wronski and Nibell also dismount and draw their weapons.

Krimp lifts up his glaive and prowls toward the tree line for a closer look. He sees an elf charging through the tall grass straight towards him, an elf who seems to be running for his life. Behind the elf, Krimp sees three large creatures almost the size of rhinos. They have the appearance of great hairless boars, with sharp fangs and large straight tusks. Krimp vaguely remembers seeing one of these creatures stuffed in Credia. A Tusker he thinks it is called. Realizing the true danger of the situation, Krimp reaches to his belt and grabs the Mummy Baron’s scepter which he had brought out of the catacombs under Gate Manor. He holds up the scepter and reads it’s inscription. Instantly Krimp and his equipment grow to an enormous twenty foot tall giant. He readies his now giant size glaive to strike the first Tusker that gets too close. Krimp looks closer at the elf and says, “I think that is Soveliss!”

Captain Soveliss tries to keep his mind focused on the tree line, “Got to get to a tree! If I can get to a tree maybe they will stop chasing me”, he thinks to himself. He can hear the pounding of the Tuskers hooves and their rhythmic panting as his legs burn with pain trying to out run the large omnivores. He has done it! He made it to the tree line! Soveliss scrambles up a tree as he sees a flurry of crossbow bolts fly past him and hears the roar of one of the Tuskers! He looks back and they are still thirty feet from the trees when a giant size glaive splashes through the bushes and splits one of the three Tusker’s skull in twain. He turns to see “giant” Krimp, Father Wronski, and Nibell poised for battle!

Father Wronski kneels and cries out to the heavens, “KORMATH! BRING DOWN YOUR FROSTY BREATH!”. The translucent image of a great wyrm springs forth from the kneeling kobold, towering over the trees extending it’s neck over the charging Tuskers. The spirit-like dragon roars as its breath blasts the Tuskers in a blizzard of liquid ice before fading back into Father Wronski. The creatures cry out in pain and are severely frostbitten, but there is little that can stop a charging Tusker.

The Tuskers charge Krimp with their deadly tusks lightly cutting both of his legs. Nibell unloads her crossbows on the closest Tusker, but they are barely penetrating the thick armor-like hide. Father Wronski scorches the beasts with the light of Kormath while Captain Soveliss releases his arrows from above. Roxana bursts from her hiding place stabbing one of the creatures with her sword.

Then it happens! Over the pounding of hooves and panting of the Tuskers, they hear a scream. They look to Krimp as one of the Tuskers impales his thigh with its tusk. It takes all of his strength to not pass out from the injury! The giant-sized wolfen lets out a battle howl as the Tusker frees itself from his bleeding wound. Krimp falls victim to his primal rage! His blind fury erupts and the Tusker is pinned to the ground by the giant glaive. Roxana moves quickly to finish the immobilized beast.

The last Tusker swings its razor sharp tusks at Father Wronski! Roxana rushes to his aid, but in her haste crashes into the hind leg and dislocates her shoulder. The Tusker turns on Roxana and slashes her with its tusk, bites at her, and attempts to slash her it with its claws. Captain Soveliss’ arrows seem to have little effect on the beast. Finally, Nibell stands empting her bolt clips into the creature’s face and the mighty Tusker falls. Krimp is still out of his skull with rage and pain; he takes a wild swing at Wronski before he collapses in exhaustion.

Father Wronski prays for Kormath’s healing mercy over Krimp’s unconscious body. His leg closes up and a layer of soothing ice rests on his thigh where the gashing wound was. Soveliss and Nibell retrieve their bolts and arrows. Roxana pops her shoulder back into the socket with a slight flinch.

When Krimp awakens, Captain Soveliss informs them of Nestor’s disappearance and the kidnapping of the Emperor. Wronski and Krimp begin to plan a rescue mission when Soveliss tells them of his oath to Devin. There is a long silence, then Nibell says, “He knew the risks. We have to respect his final request.” Wronski begins to whisper prayers for Devin’s safety. Krimp stands and strides toward the bodies of the Tuskers, preparing them for food and leather armor. Roxana pulls out her scroll and starts reading.

It is been weeks since they found Captain Soveliss and the Tusker jerky is starting to run low. The late morning sun is becoming unbearable. Across the plains they see a small prairie town. The road into town has cornfields on either side. As they get closer, Roxana pulls her sword, “Something’s wrong.”

“What is it?” Krimp asks.

“Look at this place.” They look closely and notice the town is overgrown. It seems to have fallen into disrepair. There is no motion in town, as if abandoned. As they approach the outskirts of town they come upon a barn. Roxana motions to Krimp, “I’m going to head around back. You check the front.” Krimp nods. Nibell follows Roxana around the back of the barn. Soveliss follows Krimp at a distance with his bow ready.

Krimp enters the barn. The barn is overgrown inside, tools are rusting on there racks, and holes in the roof illuminate the barn. Krimp is about to turn around and leave when something out of place catches his eye. He slowly creeps to the far back corner of the barn, glaive at the ready. It’s a skeleton of a human, he thinks. The skeleton is slumped over the gate of a cow pen. The skeleton has a rusted pitch fork stuck through its back and into the wooden gate. He can see by the stage of decay this murder happened years ago. As Krimp exits the barn Roxana and Nibell come around the corner. Krimp tells them of the skeleton.

Suddenly, they hear the cawing of a crow. They watch as it glides down into the cornfield. They see the bird land on an ear of corn and begin to peck. Then there is a fast rustle through the corn, like someone running. In a flash, the crow is snatched down into the stocks as it attempts to fly away. They hear the panicked squawks of the crow before it is silenced with a loud snap!

There is silence as the heroes look at one another nervously. About thirty yards up the road a human figure saunters out of the corn rows. The figure has a field-hand’s hat, pants, gloves, boots, and he is wearing some kind of mask or sack over his head. As the farmer lifts his head the sun reveals his “mask”. Krimp looks closely and realizes there are no eye holes in the sack, only buttons where the eyes should be and the mouth is threaded shut! Krimp gasps as he realizes it is not a man dressed as a scarecrow but it is an animated scarecrow! The creature strains its mouth against the stitches and whispers “Protect the corn!” It starts running at the heroes. As it builds speed and gets closer, it gets louder and angrier repeating over and over, “Protect the corn! Protect the corn! Protect the corn!”. Krimp lifts his glaive. Nibell pulls her crossbows. Soveliss readies his arrow. Father Wronski raises his symbol of Kormath. Roxana looks towards the corn field as she hears someone coming up behind them.

Prologue: Old Kingdom Prairie

It is the final days of summer in Timiro. The valley known as the Northern Gate is suffocatingly humid. Lord Devanaht Lithandor sits at his desk writing his parting orders to his town council. He reads the scroll again, “The Rune Gauntlet of Glorfidel is the only remaining piece of the full plate rune armor worn by Emperor Glorfidel XVII who perished in the seven-hundredth year of the Elf/Dwarf War over fifteen thousand years ago. The Gauntlet symbolizes elven unity and its wearer is destined to reunite the elven peoples.” He slowly rolls up the scroll and contemplates the final message, “its wearer is destined to reunite the elven peoples.”

Devin meets with his fellow Lords of the Northern Gate. First is Krimp a wolfen of the Eastern Arm tribe who has been chosen to be a righteous champion by Kym-nark-mar, the ancient Dragon-god long believed to be dead. Nibell is a dark and mysterious human woman of Timiro that seems to be running from her past but her pair of handheld repeating crossbows makes her a formidable opponent for anyone that asks too many questions. Father Wronski is a kobold from the Algor mountain range who is a High Priest of Kormath, the Dragon-god of peace and law. Nestor is a wolfen of the January Magic tribe who revels in combat and dedicates his extraordinary intellect to the art of war. Also, at the meeting is Captain Soveliss, the elven ranger that is deeply devoted to Emperor Devin and his cause, Malachi the kobold mercenary that has become more of a friend to the Lords then their hired-hand, and Nib-nib, Lord Nestor’s psychopathic goblin that poses as a sophisticated assassin.

Devin tells them of his visit from three elven knights from Elohorn, a predominately elven city-state in the Eastern Territory. These knights told Devin if he can find and claim the Rune Gauntlet of Glorfidel that Elohorn would officially recognize his sovereignty as the emperor of the new elven empire and support him politically and militarily. He implores his fellow Lords of the Northern Gate to aid him in this quest.

After some deliberation it is agreed that Krimp, Nibell, Wronski and Malachi will travel to the dwarven city of Acoroc and obtain much needed equipment and arms. Devin, Soveliss, Nestor, and Nib-nib will travel to the port town, Providence, on the Inland sea where they will await the others on a ship named Calligraphy. The party leaves Gate Manor within days of one another.

It has been seven weeks since Devin, Soveliss, Nestor, and Nib-nib set out from Gate Manor. It is early Autumn and they have reached the Old Kingdom Prairie. Devin and Soveliss ride hearty horses of Timiro while Nib-nib, the three foot tall goblin, rides upon the back of his master Lord Nestor, the over eight foot tall wolfen. They are now in the midst of what was once the breadbasket of the Elven Empire thousands of years ago. Now the Old Kingdom Prairie is a lonesome place that gives way to a plethora of nomadic tribes of human barbarians, orcs, and ogres. Every now and again, they see the ruins of an elven castle or pyramid on the southern horizon. Despite the temptation of exploration, they continue their trek west towards Providence.

One evening, the two elves are on watch, Devin turns to Soveliss and tells him, “The Gauntlet of Glorfidel is the last hope of the elven people. If something happens to me on this quest you must continue. Retrieve the gauntlet and return it to the Northern Gate. Swear this to me.” Soveliss silently nods. Devin raises his troubled brow to stare at the stars alleviated.

Weeks pass since that night under the stars. Unbeknownst to Devin, Soveliss, Nestor, and Nib-nib they are skirting the boarder between the Old Kingdom and the Eastern Territory. In a lightly forested hallow, a company of thirty elven warriors on horse back approach from the northeast. These elves carry the banner of Elohorn and hail the group with warm salutations. Once the elves have closed in on the party they inform Devin he is under arrest and is to come with them to Elohorn. Devin does not understand why he is being arrested. He fears attacking these elves will destroy any chance he has of uniting the elven people. He makes a diplomatic decision to go peacefully and hopes that he can negotiate his release with the king of Elohorn.

He is fitted with anti-magic shackles, preventing him from calling on the elements for aid. Soveliss, Nestor, and Nib-nib stand almost paralyzed with indecision. When Devin is secured on a horse, the elven lieutenant addresses his sergeant nonchalantly and loud enough for all to hear, “Our Lord is only interested in the imposture emperor, slay the others.” At this Nestor relinquishes his self-control and gives into his primal fight or flight instincts. Three elven warriors fall as Nestor wades into their ranks with his massive axes. Nib-nib rains his arsenal of small but deadly shards of sharpened metal down on the elven warriors atop Nestor’s broad shoulders. Soveliss fires three arrows into the elves as they charge Nestor.

Devin cries out over the chaos “Remember your oath! Complete your mission! Remember your oath! Complete your mission!” the elven lieutenant renders Devin unconscious with a powerful blow from the pommel of his sword to the back of Devin’s head. As Soveliss sees this he remembers what has been asked of him and he fades back into the foliage to evade capture.

Nestor begins to fall back as the elves threaten to overwhelm him. He spits elven blood from he’s crimson soaked mussel as he roars, “I will come for you, Devin! They will pay for this transgression! The elves of Elohorn will learn to fear my wrath before I rip the throat out of their traitorous king! I swear! They will all pay!” He turns and bounds away on all fours, as Nib-nib showers their would-be pursuers with his shuriken.

Nestor’s dramatic retreat is enough of a distraction for Soveliss to properly hide himself and watch the Elohorn elves depart with his beloved emperor. Soveliss waits two days before moving from his hiding spot incase any of the elven soldiers were left behind to find him. Soveliss begins tracking Nestor in hopes of joining up with him again, advising him of Devin’s order, and continuing to Providence. After four days of tracking, Nestor’s trail turns cold and Soveliss knows that he is alone.

Soveliss is unsure if he can make it to Providence alone and if he could what if the Elohorn elves ambush Krimp, Nibell, Wronski and Malachi too. He decides his best course of action is to turn back down the same route they came; the others should only be a month behind him. He can meet with them and steer them clear of the Elohorn elves.

XIV: Acoroc, The City of Iron

Nibell the human rogue with the double handheld crossbows, Krimp the wolfen Champion of Kym-nark-mar, Father Wronski the kobold High Priest of Kormath, and Malachi the kobold mercenary, travel out of the valley of the Northern Gate east through the forest to the mountain city Acoroc. After Nibell’s last run-in with bounty hunters, they decide to shun the roads and trade routes. Krimp takes point, even though he is now a paladin, he was first a Wolfen hunter of the Eastern Arm Tribe.

After a little over a week of travel, Iron Mountain can be seen just above the tree line. A few days later the forest begins to spread apart and farmland can be seen in the hill country ahead. These are the human run farms at the base of the great mountain. Stone fences dot the country side; barley, grain, and hops can be seen growing in the fields; and herds of cattle and sheep are tended among the rolling hills.

Iron Mountain is 14,409 feet from base to summit. Like a Juggernaut it rises from Timiro’s hilly forest country in the northeast of the kingdom. The mountain and it’s surrounding foot hills are home to several small human villages but upon it’s summit, like the mountain’s crown, rests the City of Iron, Acoroc.

As the heroes begin to exit the woods a patrol of Timiro soldiers, lead by a mounted knight, approaches them. At first the knight is harsh to the heroes. However, upon learning they are The Lords of the Northern Gate, his demeanor changes to a sarcastic courtesy. He introduces himself as Sir Bartholomew Lington, Commander of Fort Seb. Sir Lington escorts the Heroes to the base of Iron Mountain. On the way, Sir Lington’s bitter sarcasm and disdain for his position at Fort Seb becomes abundantly clear. They are glad to reach the main trade road leading up the mountain and to be rid of Sir Lington’s company.

As the heroes ascend Iron Mountain, they notice the incredible amount of wagon traffic both going up and down. The heroes recall that on a busy trade road anywhere else in the kingdom a wagon or traveler would be seen every hour or two. But here on the road to Acoroc, it seems every 20 minutes a human or a dwarf passes on horse, pony, or wagon. Along the road there are seven or eight small villages, each consisting of a few shops and an inn and each is spaced a few miles apart. Everyone on the mountain seems to be in a hurry. Both Human and Dwarf are set about their work with a fierce single-mindedness.

The heroes decide to stay the night at an inn over halfway up the mountain. To their surprise, they are warmly greeted by the locals that have set aside the days work to partake in a jovial celebration of ale and songs. The dwarves immediately assume Wronski and Malachi have come down the mountain out of Acoroc. Krimp is the only one among the party that doesn’t speak the dwarven language and finds the majority of the evening unintelligible. When Wronski inquires about a dwarven blacksmith, the dwarves inform Wronski that he is probably in the real city not the “storefront” on top. Wronski asks how deep the subterranean city delves. The dwarves perceive this as a joke and merrily laugh; Malachi kicks Wronski under the table and shoots him a look to keep quiet. Wronski takes the hint and laughs along with the dwarves.

Suddenly a human is flung through the door of the inn. He is wearing orange overalls and has is hands bound behind his back and his ankles shackled. Directly after he lands on the hard wood floor, in walks a dwarven woman with reddish brown hair in two braids, a traveling cloak and muddy boots. She surveys the inn for any signs of danger as she enters. The locals recognize her to be a bounty hunter and go back to their music and spirits.

She approaches the bar, “Stew for me and whatever gruel you have back there for him.”

“What did he do?” asks the human bartender.

“Plenty.” She flatly replies. It’s been over a week since she captured him trying to flee to the Eastern Territory. He could have made it too, start a new life, and put that senseless intoxicated night that ended in bloodshed behind him. But she took the job. Another bounty hunter could have been paid off or would have let their guard down after a week of travel, but not her. She has a methodic almost ritualistic way of maintaining control of his every action, almost as if she could read him and guess his most brilliant escape plan before he can even finish dreaming them up. Now they are already half way up Iron Mountain, and by noon he’ll be at the gallows.

In the still of the night, Krimp is restless in the cramped inn bed. Suddenly he hears dwarvish speaking outside his door. It sounds like arguing and one of the voices is distinctly Malachi’s. He hears a pouch of coins hit the hard wood floor. There is some cursing and the pouch is retrieved by the dwarf who turns and heads down the stairs to the lobby. Malachi skulks back to his room. Krimp waits till he hears Malachi’s door shut and begins to tiptoe into the hall to see who Malachi was arguing with. Except when you are nine feet tall tiptoeing is still pretty loud. Several of the inn’s patrons shout from within their rooms to quite down, Krimp quickly returns to his bed and decides to confront Malachi in the morning.


The next morning…

Malachi pops his head into inn room and shouts “Let’s move people!”

Father Wronski wipes the sleep from his eyes, “It’s still dark! What time is it?”

“Early but we can’t wait till the sun comes up, we are on the west side of the mountain. By the time the sun gets here it will be the middle of the afternoon.” Malachi slams the door and moves down the hall to Krimp’s room.

Malachi creeks open the door expecting to see a slumbering wolfen. He is surprised to see Krimp, dressed and geared up. Krimp is sitting on the side of his bed and looks very irritated. He points and motions for Malachi to enter, “You have some explaining to do.” The wolfen’s eyes narrow and his ears fold back. Malachi loudly gulps and enters, closing the door behind him.


The walls of Acoroc are like a crown at the top of the mountain. The walls are easily four stories in height and at least twenty feet thick. As the heroes approach they notice the walls are the finest masonry any of them have ever seen. Above the walls can be seen the cramped tall stone buildings of the dwarven city. They turn the final bend and see the great iron gates of Acoroc. These magnificent gates are spiked and depict the agreement between King Acoroc and the dwarves of Iron Mountain. Above the gate it reads in dwarven, “Acoroc the Last Citadel.”

As they enter the gates they see the towering buildings of Acoroc. Most buildings appear to be four to six stories in height. The architecture is a marvel! The buildings are rectangular in shape, made of stone, though they seem plain from a distance, an almost artistic flare is in the details of the buildings especially around archways, windows, and ledges. The majority of the buildings are shops or businesses. Each building on the city block has a main or front entrance and then once inside there are entrances to each of the adjacent businesses. One could wander through six or even seven shops before having to set outside.

The city is extremely packed. The noise of carts, arguing merchants, and singing clerics is almost deafening. The people of Acoroc almost seem not to notice the noise. The heroes see mostly humans, dwarves, and a surprising number of kobolds bustling about. Father Wronski notices an unusual number of clerics of varying races and pantheons hurrying about the city, he starts to wonder if there is an inter-pantheon convention he has not heard about. The lack of pollution, homelessness, and the diseased makes a striking contrast to the other cities of Timiro. The heroes are bewildered by the sights and sounds of the great city. The crowd seems to move them like a current towards the city square.

In the city square has been erected a temporary gallows for a public execution. On the gallows are three dwarves. Two of the dwarves are executioners without face coverings; the dwarves of Acoroc are not ashamed to administer justice. The third dwarf is a paladin in full plate armor without a helmet he has close to a dozen different religious symbols on separate gold chains around his neck. As the heroes approach they see the dwarven bounty hunter leading her prisoner up the wood steps to the noose.
The paladin pulls for sack of coins and says, “As always, Roxana of clan Diamondshard, you have the gratitude of the people of Acoroc and especially of the victims family.” He present the sack of coins to her, she nods, and takes her position at the bottom of the stairs to ensure nothing goes wrong at the very end. The paladin unrolls a scroll to read and looks up at the crowd and is startled by the grinning wolfen towering over the crowd. The paladin grins and motions to Krimp to meet him at the base of the platform when it is finished. He returns his focus to the scroll and bellows, “The people of Acoroc have found the accused, Vali Torati of the village Rolling Oak in the southeastern foothills of Iron Mountain, guilty of the murder of his fiancée, Malisa Gratovi. In accordance with Acoroc law, a human convicted of murdering another human is sentenced to hang by the neck until dead.” The paladin rolls up the scroll and descends the steps as the executioners position the prisoner.

After the hanging, the crowd thins out. The dwarven paladin shouts to Krimp as he wades through the crowd, “What are you doing here?! I heard you had some trouble with a haunting at Gate Manor!”

Krimp strides toward his old mentor, “Nothing we couldn’t handle.” Krimp turns to Wronski, “This is my mentor, Sir Serafim. He taught me what it meant to be a paladin.”

“Oh! I’m sorry! I want you to meet someone. Roxana this is my friend Sir Krimp, Champion of Kym-nark-mar, and the Lords of the Northern Gate. Krimp this is Roxana Diamondshard the greatest bounty hunter in all of Timiro.” The heroes nod and shake hands with the dwarven woman. “That reminds me. Roxana, the Duke wants you to stop by the castle he has a big job for you. All I know is that it is a magic-user.” At the word “magic-user” the heroes notice a serious contemplative look comes over the bounty hunter and a tension fills the air. The paladin adds, “The Duke said you might need a team for this one.” and looks toward the heroes.

“Oh we are just here to do some shopping.” Injects Father Wronski.

“Yes, we are here to look up your cousin that you told me about back in Credia, Serafim.” Krimp adds.

“Well, my cousin’s shop is in the “real” city. You’ll need permits from the Duke to go underground. You might as well travel together. Krimp, I have business at several of the temples today but I hope to see you again soon.” Krimp smiles and nods in respect to his mentor. The paladin turns and kisses Roxana once on each the cheek, “Roxana always good seeing you.” He turns before striding off, “May the gods of light be with you and evil feel the sting of your steel!”

Now Malachi, Wronski, and Roxana get more acquainted in dwarven. Krimp again is left out of the conversation and finds himself looking around the city square at the bustling people. He has noticed that the kobolds here have the same complexion as Malachi who is from the Old Kingdom Mountains, who is darker skinned then Wronski who is from Algor Mountain Range. Suddenly, he notices a kobold that looks a lot like Wronski so similar that not only could he be from the Algor Mountains but possible the same clan. Krimp abruptly interrupts the dwarven gibberish , “Wronski! Excuse me, but I think a kinsman of yours is visiting this city. I saw a kobold of your complexion that looks strikingly similar to you just enter that shop over there.”

“Really? My people seldom travel far from home, lets go say hello.” Father Wronski lets Krimp lead the way. Wronski explains to Roxana what is going on and ask if she would mind a slight detour on the way to seeing the Duke. She decides if it won’t take long she could spare a few moments. No one notices the tense look on Malachi’s face as they head towards the shop.

Everyone walks into the tea shop. There is a rotund dwarf behind the counter smoking a pipe with a scowl on his face. The room is filled with delicate ceramic tea pots, tea sets, and glass jars of dried tea leaves. As they enter they see the back of a muscular kobold wearing studded leather armor. Before a word can be uttered, Malachi suddenly pulls his sword!

Everyone’s attention is drawn towards Malachi! Wronski throws up his hands, “Malachi, what are you…”
“YOU!” comes from behind Wronski, he is almost petrified with bewilderment, Wronski looks at Malachi and realizes his angry eyes are not focus on him but on the kobold behind him. Wronski turns to face his identical twin brother, Kasimierz, that he had thought was dead. The kobolds, Malachi, Wronski, and Kasimierz erupt into shouting, pointing, and make threaten gestures towards each other.

Roxana understands some of the kobold language from her constant visits to Acoroc but they are shouting, using obsinities and talking way to fast for her to ketch everything but she listens intently to try and pull out the facts. Kasimierz is Wronski’s brother. She suspects they are identical twins but it is obvious from Kasimierz build that he was the more physical of the two. She also notices from his callus hands, bitter snarl, and weary eyes that his life has been hard and filled with bad choices. Kasimierz blames Wronski for some misfortune… prison… she thinks she hears. Something about a business deal that resulted in Wronski going into exile. Malachi is talking about a troll and a job that he and Kasimierz were on together… now they are back to swearing.

Krimp, who has not understood a word since this has begun, roars, “Will someone please tell me what is going on!”

The dwarven shopkeeper shouts, “OUT! All of you OUT!” He pulls two heavy crossbows out from underneath the counter. Nibell and Roxana exit immediately. Krimp lifts Wronski and Malachi by the back of their collars and walks out of the shop as they continue to yell at Kasimierz.

Wronski explains to the rest of the heroes that his brother blames him for being thrown in prison even though his brother did commit a crime. Kasimierz has sworn vengeance and Wronski advised them to be on their guard. Wronski hopes to leave Acoroc without a confrontation with his brother.

Roxana leads the group up the hill to Castle Acorok, home to Duke Fredric Acorok. The human personnel at Castle Acorok are very friendly and helpful. They are taken through the castle, past an empty throne room to a modest office filled with scrolls, papers, and a desk. A young human male sits behind the desk he seems intent on his work but has a calm, strength about him. He looks up at the heroes and smiles cheerfully, “How may I help?” he stands and extends his hand. The heroes are unsure and ask if they may speak with the Duke. The young man laughs. “I am the Duke! Please sit down.”

to be continued...

XIII: Guards of The Obsidian Throne

To be continued...

XII: Vampire Girl

to be continued....

XI: Crypts and Tombs

To be continued....

X: Necrom vs. the Lords of the Northern Gate

to be continued....

IX: Conversations with Trolls

to be continued....

Session VIII: The Northern Gate

The heroes stay in the capital city, Credia, for little over six months allowing the fall and winter months pass before heading north to their new land. Since the heroes are renowned for their part in saving Timiro from the ogre invasion life in Credia is easy on them.

The heroes spilt up for a time to pursue their own agendas. Devin announces that he will depart for the Old Kingdom Mountains in an attempt to gather elven people to populate and work their new land. He tells the others he will rendezvous with them at their manor in the spring. Krimp approaches the Church of Light about learning to be a Paladin. He is referred to a dwarven paladin named (blank). Nestor receives formal military training from the Timiro army garrisoned in Credia. Wronski studies with clerics from the Church of Light to deepen his spiritual connection with Kormath. Norda tries to keep a low profile knowing the bounty is still on her head but still manages to exercise her skills while in Credia.

The beginning of spring: The heroes charter a ship to Erat. The people of Erat are glad to see them and are hopeful that they have come to stay. The heroes only pass through and continue on to Sino the nearest settlement to their new home.

The Heroes arrive in the village of Sino. This small community boasts a population of almost 600 residents. It is the beginning of spring and again travelers heading north into the Eastern Territory and merchants heading south to the sea pour through the little village dropping nuggets of prosperity that will keep Sino going for another year. Sino is much further north then Ibi and Erat but news of the thwarted ogre invasion has made it’s way up the trade road.

When the heroes are identified as “The Defenders of Timiro” they are welcomed with enthusiasm and discounts at the local shops. The heroes begin to ask about their new estate. The people of Sino refer to the plantation as “Gate Manor”. They seem shocked, some even horrified, when they realize the heroes are now the lords of Gate Manor but then quickly recover with politeness and congratulations. When the heroes question the villagers about their initial reaction, the villages respond with, “it has been 20 years since anyone lived there, is all.” And they quickly change the subject. Finally they corner the elven wheelwright into letting them know something is not right with Gate Manor but he refuses to give any details. Instead the elf refers the heroes to the Sino Brews saloon, the last building on the left before leaving the village, across from Gustoes’ Baskets. They are told that an old grizzled storyteller named Ishmael Orenstein will tell them all about… well anything… for a pint.

Sino Brews is a shabby dirt hut of a saloon consisting of a few tables with short backless chairs, a fire place, a short bar and two occupants, a shifty bartender and wild old man that looks homeless and insane sitting by the fire. The old man by the fire turns and looks at the heroes, “The Defenders of Timiro!” he coughs as he laughs out the side of his mouth. The heroes are taken aback by the old man’s uncanny knowledge. They begin to speculate if he is a diviner, a great bard, or a mad wizard. The old man guzzles his first couple of pints and tells the heroes of their new home.

To Be Continued.....