As you enter the town hall, a large building in the middle of Malgarav with an eerie looking bell tower rising high above the town, two guards approach you with the black raven of Malgarav on their yellow hauberks.
"Who goes there?" one of them bellows.
"Reevys and Ventus of the Drover's Dreadnoughts. We've been summoned by Mayor Stratvald."
"Caidwald, go and tell the mayor." the guard says to the other guard and he enters the building.
Soon after he returns. "The mayor is waiting for you inside in his office."
"Good." Reevys replies. "Come Ventus."
Soon after you are in the office of Mayor Stratvald.
The mayor, a fat man in green and black noble's outfit with a pelt over his shoulders and a green hat with a large blue feather in it, gets up from his chair behind his table and nods to you respectfully.
Three days later you rode through the barbican of Grymsharn's Northgate. The district of Northgate was a market district and a district with many thieves. The western part of Northgate was known as the Warrens, because the buildings there were built in a way that the narrow streets were more like underground tunnels. South of the Kelpie River the District of Sharnstravos opened up with the Old Skull rising above the rest of the district in the middle, the hill with a cliff-side that resembled a skull. Many nobles' manors were built on Old Skull, overlooking Sharnstravos. One of them was the manor of Lavros Devanas.
The vylshalan in the black jacket with the green glowing sword steps out of the Blazing Stone behind you, accompanied by the two hooded Conclave mages.
"I'll give you one last chance to submit peacefully." he says.
One of the men, a large brawny man with red beard and hair, gets up from the table and draws a twohanded sword which was hanging in its sheathe on the chair he was sitting on.
Logarth almost chokes on the cigar smoke as he begins to laugh too. He then stops laughing and looks at you with a serious gaze.
"If you encounter any trouble such as guards that you can't avoid a fight with or anything like that, just get out of there and return here as quick as possible. Take this cloak. It is a magical cloak which will allow you to hide more efficiently in shadows."
He then hands you a black cloak.
Shadowblend Cloak: +4 on Stealth when hiding in shadows.
A few of the men laugh forced and awkwardly at Ventus' joke. As soon as the tree is moved, you all get back on the carriage and continue your travel to Malgarav.
You soon reach the end of the woods and the town of Malgarav.
"We're here. First thing we need to do is speak with the mayor. Who'll accompany me?" Reevys asks.
Reevys casts Mage Armor on himself, then makes the sign to move in. Jideon chops down one of the three men sitting around the table. Reevys goes straight for Eldren, an elf with black hair and a blue headband, stabbing him with his rapier.
"He is not bonded no. They're sitting around a table talking. And they're all armed."
Reevys magically unlocks a backdoor and you sneak into the house. You're in a hallway, and can hear them talking from the room on the other side of a door.
"Lots of coin to be earned, but we need more men..."
"I don't know. It sounds dangerous, Eldren."
"Since when have you ever been afraid of danger, Velys."
Logarth opened a drawer in his desk and took up a wooden box. He opened the box and offered you a cigar, then took one himself and lit it with his silver dragon lighter. He then leaned back in his armchair, took a puff on the cigar and blew up a large cloud of smoke.
"There are several guards, except for when he is out of town. Then he takes most of his guards with him and only leaves a few at the manor. Fortunately for us, he is out of town for the next week. The manor is walled, so you're going to need something to scale the walls. You can also expect locked doors and traps. I didn't know exactly where his treasury was, so I pulled some strings and obtained an architect's map of the manor. The treasury is on the second floor, next to the master bedroom."
Outside in the street you are surrounded by almost sixty Conclave Mages and magehunters with sniffers, carriages, horses and wagons with cages on them.
As you and Arturos moved through to the other side of the lakeside woods and had the cave in Aeolyn Rock in front of you, you saw a large band of armed brown goblins standing ready in front of the cave. There were at least twenty of them.
"Go away humans! Or die!" The one in front, a larger goblin, a head taller than his fellows, yelled.
As you reach the spot near the fallen tree on the road, you notice several more fallen trees and giant footsteps in the ground. You hear Reevys call out from the other side of the road.
"This was neither a storm nor bandits. Some sort of giant has passed through here. Let's get this tree out of the way in a hurry. We don't want to be here when whatever it was that passed through here returns."
About a mile north of Elbenhart you reach a farmhouse.
"I think this is the place." Reevys says. "Stand ready by the door. I'll look through the windows to make sure we've got the right place."
A few minutes later Reevys returns. "We got the right place alright. Eldren's in there. There are two other men with him. One of them must be Velys. I don't know who the third guy is."
"Good to hear. But we don't have time to wait until tomorrow. We need to get it done as soon as possible. Eldren Miradanis might be gone if we wait until tomorrow. Tonight is our best chance of getting him."
"My brother was no criminal! My brother was a saint! A foolish one at that. But a saint none the less. But he had gotten the craze. Melevarn's madness. I had send the best man to save him from himself. Hadar Doranis. But Eldren Miradanis got to him first."
Reevys looks down into the table saddened by the thought of his lost brother.
"I am going to kill him. But this could be your golden chance to prove yourself Saer Jideon. If you help me kill Eldren consider that you're golden ticket into the Drover's Dreadnoughts. And I'll let you have his magical axe."
"The Drover's Dreadnoughts are as hardy as they come." Reevys replies.
Myrl croaks.
"I was just about to tell him, Myrl." Reevys takes another swig of his ale.
"I am not just here to recruit for the company to tell you the truth. I am also here because the murderer of my brother Fidocho is said to have last been seen here. An elven magehunter by the name of Eldren Miradanis. A mean bastard, I've heard. Carries with him a magical throwing axe. Now, I've asked around and Eldren Miradanis is supposed to be staying at a farmhouse north of here with one of his old buddies, a man named Velys Brassbuckler."
"The Drover's Dreadnoughts aren't your typical mercenary company. We fight for honor and glory. The black bull of the Drover's Dreadnoughts is already known and respected all across the Baronies. To be a Drover's Dreadnoughts is to be among the best. Our leader is Logarth Drover. He's a true man of honor and the most fearless warrior there ever was, and he always picks the righteous cause over the money."
The trail north soon takes you to the banks of Lac Brynsheir, the large lake that the Bravos river runs from all the way to the ocean. Half an hour's march along the eastern shore of the lake later, Morys points towards a large rock in the distance. "That's Aeolyn Rock. The place where the goblin cave is. We'll most likely encounter goblin sentries on the way there."
A short while later you encounter a small gang of seven brown-skinned goblins with armor made from bone and leather and crude spears, axes, and bows. As soon as they spot you they disappear into the treeline.
"Sorry little one, but I have other things to do. But I can explain to you the way to Mossrock cave." Liara then give you directions to Mossrock cave.
Just as she has finished giving you the directions, Hadar Doranis comes out from the Yawning Wyrm. "Ahh there you are Fionnuala. Have you learned anything of Fidocho's whereabouts?"
You don't see anything in the bushes or between the trees. Sigvar, the large Askalgarian mute with the two falcatas and the black pelt cloak makes a gesture with his hand for you to follow him in between the trees. Are you going to move into the trees and sneak forward towards the fallen tree with Sigvar? If that is the case roll a Stealth check.
The man is surprised by your attack and you manage to hit him square in the face with the quarterstaff.
"RUN!" Raijin yells and him and Laija and all the other mages begin to flee the tavern.
"Ilmund's Antimagic Field was simply a safety precaution." The vylshalan Conclave mage says to you, a bit of blood running from his nose from when you hit him, then turns towards the fleeing mages. "All you're going to find out there is an army of Conclave mages and magehunters. Surrender yourselves and no one will get hurt!"
"The Arcane Conclave administers the only help that has actually proven to work, so spare me of your redundant fallacies. If you knew anything about the Arcane Conclave, you would know that we have no prejudice against any races. And don't preach to me about misconceptions, when you are clearly the one who has them. False rumors about the work of the Arcane Conclave has spread through the Baronies like a wildfire. Many are those who think we are the bad ones, when in fact we are the only ones who are actually trying to do what is necessary to fix all the problems caused by the Breaking. You know, the event caused by yet another selfish mage's folly who started this whole mess to begin with. Who do you think are mending the rifts in the Veil? Who do you think are stopping ravaging mad mages all across the Baronies from wreaking havoc and destruction. Too many innocent lives have been lost already because of the Magecraze and mages who think they can stay in control without the Signa and the Conclave. You may be too young to have lived through the Breaking. I am not. Millions of people were killed as a result of the first outbreak of the Craze when Melevarn Thandos usurped Aveila as the god of magic. My parents were among them. We are not punishing everyone for the mistakes of a few. We are protecting everyone from a force beyond anyone's control. The Talent is alluring. The Talent is power. But the Flux is tainted and using the Talent without the Signa means tapping right into the very essence of the Mad God himself and asking for more unnecessary death and destruction. As you say yourself, renegade mages are weak, frightened and desperate, and that only makes them more susceptible to the Craze. The Signa takes all those feelings away. As you will soon learn. Dara, Lars. Field now!"
The two black-robed mages accompanying the vylshalan cast a spell that fills the room with a blue light for a brief moment. (Ilmund's Antimagic Field)
"A sassy tongue on that one. Typical of careless renegade mages to be quick to accuse. If you knew how many vylshalan I've seen eventually lose their minds to Melevarn Thandos and go on a rampage killing innocent people left and right, I bet you'd reconsider your words and your naive worldview. The way I see it, the only responsible thing to do as a vylshalan is to get the Signa voluntarily and join the Conclave for the good of all. The vylshalan who are selfish enough to refuse to do so because of a false sense of righteousness are the true traitors to our kin."
Arturos, the Caeldaran warrior with the short brown hair and the scar in his left eyebrow nodded.
After a night's rest in the barracks inside the carriage (some of the Drover's Dreadnoughts' carriages had pocket dimensions inside of them making them much larger inside than what they appeared to be from the outside) you and your men walked over to the northern trail out of Brynsheir, where Morys was waiting with his men-at-arms, seventeen men, most of them looking young and inexperienced but with a few older more competent men in between them, clad in leather lamellar armor and small round iron helms and armed with everything from axes to sword and shield to crossbow and shortsword. Morys Blackfinch himself was wearing a chain mail and coif over his black clothes, masterwork longsword in one hand and a shield with the black finch that was his family crest painted on it by a skilled painter.
"I am Liara. I overheard you talking to Old Oleg. I saw a faelyn matching the description of the one you're looking for a few days ago heading in the direction of the Mossrock cave. Is he your kin?"
A short while later Filbur comes to your table with a big plate of delicious-smelling lamb and vegetables.
"Here you go, Saer. Oh and one cup of rum and milk, courtesy of the gentleman with the black hat in the bar. He overheard our talk and explained to me what kumis was and how to make something similar, and asked of me that I made you one."
As you look to the bar, a grey-furred faelyn with a black cavalier's hat with a white feather in it and a black raven on his shoulder nods to you.
As you come outside, you see that a fallen (or purposely cut down) tree is blocking the road some fifty feet ahead.
"Might be an ambush," Reevys remarked. "Might have been a recent storm. Let's not take any chances. Ventus, Sigvar, Carnus and Talius. You take the right side. The rest of you, come with me. We're taking the left side."
"You'll be riding Tilda, our fastest horse, so the journey should only take you a couple of days." Logarth replied. The dwerro then leaned back in his armchair and took a sip from his silver cup, before continuing. "Lavros Devanas believes in his arrogance that his newly gained position on Grymsharn's Council of Lords somehow means that he doesn't have to pay his debts. The man is a greedy tightwad of an arrogant stick-up-his-arse highborn. But it is of utmost importance that no harm comes to the tightwad or to any of his servants or guards. You have to guarantee me that. You're simply there to collect what's ours. I know this isn't going to be easy Rhasan. That's why I'm sending you."
"There's a secret vault in the basement, warded from detection. Indrik will show you the..."
Three men appear in a whirling blue light in the middle of the room. Two of them are wearing hooded black robes and black staves and the third is a pale gaunt man in a long black jacket with short white hair and white eyes. He has a scar in the shape of an arcane symbol on his forehead (a signa) and a glowing green longsword in his belt. The man is obviously a Vylshalan and a Conclave Mage.
"I doubt you'd be able to convince the Grimgnasher goblins to anything, to be honest. They're savage and hate humans and will most likely attack you on sight. But you could try." Morys Blackfinch pauses to take a swig of his wine. "Now, regarding the number of the orcs, according to my scouts' reports there's at least twenty of them. There might be more. But with you on my side, I am pretty sure we will outnumber them."
Your origin story takes place after the incident with the Askalgarians and after you left Vardenthaal, but before you joined the Drover's Dreadnoughts and before you got your returning throwing axe.
You recently arrived in the port city of Grymsharn in Dornbrack with a ship from Irifarn, intent on getting far away from your shameful past and starting a new life in the Northern Baronies.
You quickly left the city of Grymsharn as it was a gloomy place, full of crime and poverty, and you traveled northwest. A week later you found yourself in the quaint little town of Elbenhart in the Elbenshade Forest in the Sparrowsong Inn.
A smiling brown-haired halfling in a blue apron was standing behind the bar cleaning some drinkingware, nodding to you as you entered. "Greetings Saer. I'm Filbur Sparrowsong. Welcome to me inn."
"Sounds like life hasn't been easy on you either Kejal. But you're here now. Among friends and kindred spirits." Raijinn smiles. "Far away from the Conclave and..."
An elven man comes bashing into the Blazing Stone. "Magehunters!" he yells. "Conclave mages and magehunters! Has to be at least sixty of them! They have sniffers with them!"
"Oh no!" Laija grabs Raijinn's arm, her feline face wrought with fear. "What are we going to do?!"
"Mages! Get down into the basement! NOW!" the innkeeper yells.
You have twelve men with you. They all have both bows and swords and are trained in both combat and stealth.
"The dungeon below Arongar Keep has a secret escape tunnel that leads to a cave by Lac Brynsheir, but that cave has long been home to a tribe of goblins called the Grimgnashers, so I'm not sure it would be worth the bother." Morys said, rubbing his short kempt black beard with a hand with several rings on it, in contemplation.
A young woman with raven-black hair in white and black clothes and a green cloak standing nearby as you talk with the old man, makes a motion for you to follow her and walks out of the Yawning Wyrm.
"Well everything is quite a lot." the bhakiri laughs. "But I can tell you the story of how me and my varja Laija," Raijinn puts an arm around the white-furred female bhakiri next to him. "came upon Krovan's Creek ourselves." Raijinn gets a gloomy look on his face. "We were taken as slaves by Mirtarni slavers to the city of Vintalas in Mirtarn where we were sold as slaves to a rich Caeldarian land-owner called Findrik Geldarm. We worked the fields of one of his farms in northern Caeldar day in and day out. We both had the Talent, but we kept it hidden in fear that the Magehunters would come and kill us. One day we ran away. We made it across the border to Aedania and we came in contact with a member of the League in the city of Belgriff who told us about Krovan's Creek and how to get here and we set out a few days after. We've been here a couple of months now. How about you Kejal? What's your story?"
An old bald man with one completely white eye says "Haven't seen any other faelyn than you, but there's plenty of places to hide around Wyddanwood, if he is one who seeks to get away. There's Salera's Well, an abandoned hamlet, supposedly haunted, deeper in the woods, there's the ruin of Velsenpran Manor, and there's the cave in Mossrock Mount."
Nice Fio. I like it a lot. If I'm understanding correctly, you'll try to track down Fidocho on your own, before Hadar gets to him? Roll a Gather Information check. 3d6+Gather Information+Charisma.
"I like your attitude Ventus," Reevys says with a smile. The raven Myrl croaks from his shoulder and the grey-furred faelyn produces a dried grasshopper from a pocket in his black cloak and feeds it to him. "Buy in is ten silver this time boys."
After everyone playing has lost some more to Reevys, the carriage comes to a halt and Sigvar the Silent, the tongueless Askalgarian who drives opens the door to the lounge and makes some signs with his hands to Reevys.
"We got trouble boys. Everybody weapons ready and outside."
"Alright. Alright. I'll take you with me. But it might be dangerous. Fidocho's got the Craze. He is tainted with Melevarn's Madness." Hadar says in a hushed voice. He then leans down to you and whispers: "If we are to find Fidocho, the easiest way would be if you claimed to be his sister or cousin and asked around for him."
"A pleasure to meet you both. No, the faelyn I'm looking for doesn't have a snake. And the faelyn I'm looking for is male. His fur is darker than yours and he wears blue clothes and a dark blue hooded cloak and carries a black staff. His name is Fidocho. And at this point I doubt he would be able to even have a reasonable conversation." Hadar takes a sip of his goodale. "You wouldn't happen to have seen a faelyn who fits that description would you?"
