Scourges of war - The first EN's World Dragonlance Story hour

Guilberwood · 3rd September 2005, 05:33 AM

Hi guys,

I have decided to give this story hour thing a shot, and so I am posting the prologe from the Campaing I have been runing for more than a year (almost two by now)

It's a Dragonlance game (something unique in this boards) and it takes place some 10 to 20 years after the war of the lance, but I have not included th summer of chaos or the war os the souls into the cronology yet (maybe in the future). So, the world is basicaly as it were after the legends trilogy, given the logical consequences of time.

The story spins arround the consequences of the war of the lance..Ansalon is still hurt from the war, and Dragons (and draconians) are back into the world, and they wont accept a passive roll in the history of Kryn...besides, their Dark Queen has lost the war but she's not quite finished yet.

We have 4 players, and we generaly play twice a month, on sunday afternoons.

The characters started at 1st level, and they're currently at 7th level.

The characters are:

1- Dante of Hillfall (Human fighter) - Dante was still a teenager when we started, he was only 17 . He's a boy who grew up in an orphanage in the city of Hillfall. A exiled knight of Solamina who lived in Hillfall trained him in the arts of war. His quest is to rid his city of the opression it's currently been suffering from a misterius lord called Ogrimar Darkcloak. Dante has a dubious feeling about the knights of Solamina, although lately he's been feeling more hate than awe. As the campaing stands now, he's a killing machine with his greatsword (a present form the knight who trained him).

2- Lua Azul (Elf fighter/Ocult slayer) - Lua is a Kagonesi (wild elf) who lived in the woods of Southern Ergoth until he became a slave (like many of his race) of the more "civilized" elves during the war of the lance. He served a White robed mage called Nimb. After a few years of servitude, he was release, although he had already become a civilized elf, and so he decided to adventure into the world. His history is full of tragedies and, in the end, his life is all about finding his true identity.

3- Elliot (Human Ranger/Fighter) - Elliot is a man who did not know his parents. He was raised in a forest of Southern Ergoth by a woodsman, and eventually he started walking with his own legs, after learning a lot about nature from his foster parrent. Elliot was kind of naive when the Campaing started..almost too good to be true, but events seriously changed the way Elliot saw the world, for the better....

4- Lynn (female Gnome/Rogue) - Lynn was the character my girlfrined (yes, she plays with us, and yes, she is pretty) used to play in the campaing, but, somewhere during the 3rd level she decided she wanted to swicth, and started playing a monk. Lynn was a gnome whose life quest was to be famous....somehow, she never managed to get famous, even though she did things that deserved it. I liked her a lot, and she's still an important npc to this very day

5- Catarina of Mantus (female Human Monk) - Catarina is my girlfriend's new character, a monk of majere. She is the religious vein of the group. She was also an orphan (what a lack of creativity guys!) who grew in a monastery. She had never been out until her master assigned her with a very important mission, which eventualy led her to join the rest of the party. I'll not say much abou her right now, for she's not in the party yet.

If you guys enjoy reading it, Ill keep posting, if noboddy reads this..well....I'll accept my insignificance and stop wasting everyone's time (including mine).

Here we go!

ps: Now with some drawings. The first one is Elliot as a 1st level Ranger (This drawing was made by Ronin, Elliot's player, a most talented artist, as I'll see). Interesting to see how he'll change over the campaing. The second one is Dante (pay attention to the sword) and the third one is Sir Hedderick, Dante's Mentor.

Bryon_Soulweaver · 3rd September 2005, 07:05 AM

Count me in. *front row seats*

Guilberwood · 3rd September 2005, 01:35 PM

Prolog

“Well, I guess this is it, this wheel is not taking us nowhere” said Darrien, the priest to the elf that accompanied him on this trip. As a matter of fact, it was more like a thought than the beginning of a dialog. During the whole trip, the elf had said very little. Darrien had already heard that this race was a quiet one, most were very reserved, but that was already too much. After a second thought, this creature didn’t even look like an elf, or at least not like the elves he had known. The clothes he wore made him look more like a barbarian form the north than like an elf. Not even his name made any sense: Lua azul (blue moon in the common language). “What the hell…Kryn has tree moons and none of them is blue! What’s this freaking name supposed to mean?

Anyway , his intuition had been right. It was a good thing he hired the elf. The roads had been a dangerous place in that region, and the elf’s sword could have proved extremely useful at any moment. Thinking of the sword, his thoughts came back to the elf “even his sword is weird” he said to himself. As a matter of fact, the weapon Lua carried was indeed weird. It was a two-bladed sword, held by its middle by the warrior. “I can’t even imagine a scabbard for this thing”. Deep inside, the priest was having fun with the exotic appearance of his traveling buddy.

At that exact moment, they were both stuck in the middle of the road, because one of the wheels from their wagon had just broke. Worse than that, it seemed like there was no way to fix it. “Why did it have to break now, specially when we’re so close to Hillfall” – Darrien was mooring to himself.

The old priest (he was more than fifty years old) had traveled with his old wagon to the city of Ker-vakt, to buy some items for the orphanage he managed, and sell some gifts he had gained from favors and small blessings he had done to the citizens of Hillfall. Darrien regretted having to sell this gifts, but the orphanage he ran was very very poor, and every single steel piece was more than welcome.

On his way form Hillfall to Ker-vakt, the priest had made the poor donkey that carried the wagon suffer, for he didn’t want to risk any kind of encounter along the road. The animal ran like he had never done is it’s life. Sadly, upon arriving at its destination, the animal was half dead already, and would never be able to do the same thing on his way back.

Yet, on the road he heard stories that were less than cheering: as if the road bandits were not problem enough, the goblins had started pillaging caravans too. The rumors, people told him, were that the goblins were an organized crew, led by a new leader called Ragash,, bloody hand, who dwelled in the city of Gulfport.

The priest’s stay in Ker-vakt was as short as possible. He hated to stay away form the orphanage, even if only for a small period of time. “Dante can take care of everything while I am away”, he thought, but, still, it was better not to push his luck.

The problem was that the donkey would never be able to go as fast as it did on his way to Ker-vakt. Besides, the wagon was fully loaded with rations and a new set of pots the priest had bought, and it was entirely impossible to expect more than a few hours of forced march from the animal.

“My way back will take a little longer” and, as he thought about the dangers of the trip a cold feeling ran trough his body. All of the sudden he started to have a very bad feeling about the whole thing. Darrien did not believe in a thing such as luck, nor in chance, his training as a priest and his whole life had always told him that whenever ho felt like that it meant a warning from his God Habbakuk, the blue phoenix, lord of land and see, who always helped him in his times of trouble.

So, the priest decided to save his last steel coins and hire a bodyguard, someone who could protect himself and his precious wagon. It was not without regret that he came to this conclusion “This money could be spent on the orphanage, to buy new beds for the boys. Although, what use are this coins is I don’t come back alive to Hillfall”.

However, unfortunately hiring a scout had become a tougher job than he had first thought. His 20 steel pieces were not nearly enough to hire even the most inexperienced adventurer. As it seemed, that money was not enough to convince anyone to risk their necks at the roads of Northen Ergoth.

He was almost giving up when fate finally smiled at him, “Or was it a curse?” he wondered.

In the small docks of the city, an elf carrying a two-bladed sword looked from one way to the other, seeming utterly lost. This foreigner didn’t look like any of the elves Darrien had seen before. Rustic clothes, blue hair, greenish skin, e, to top it all, he had an enormous scar in his forehead.

Sometime latter, the priest would find out that this was a Kagonesi, wild elves that inhabit the forests of Southern Ergoth.

At that time, Darrien had never heard about this Kagonesi elves. But he realized that the elf had never been to a city before (at least a human one) and, he had certainly never interacted with humans. All the noise and action of the city seemed to deeply bother him.

At least, the elf knew how to speak the common language, even tough he spoke with a huge accent, as if he spoke some kind of ancient form that nobody had used for centuries.

Be as it may, something about that elf called the priests attention (and he took it as another sign form his God) and, without a second thought, Darrien decided to hire the elf as his bodyguard. After all, the elf was strong and carried a massive sword. However, those were only rhetoric arguments he used to convince himself, for the truth is that he was already despaired for help, and the elf was his last hope.

After a few minutes of conversation (mostly gesticulation), the elf agreed to travel with the priest. In the end, Darrien was almost certain that the elf (whose name, now he knew, was Lua Azul) had not understood the conversation very well, specially the payment stuff, for the elf did not know what steel pieces meant.

And so, after three days on the road, they were stuck with a broken wagon, and neither of them knew how to fix the dam wheel.

The last thing the priest wanted was to stay idle on the road, an easy mark for the road robbers…

Something had to be done, they couldn’t just stay there waiting for the worst to happen. Something had to be done, and it had to be done fast

Bryon_Soulweaver · 3rd September 2005, 01:57 PM

Trees? Tools in wagon?

Guilberwood · 3rd September 2005, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryon_Soulweaver

Trees? Tools in wagon?

?????

I did not understand what you meant....and, by the way, thanks for reading it!

See ya

Guilberwood

DantetheDestroyer · 3rd September 2005, 03:20 PM

Good writting skills, man!

Hey, how about telling more about the human fighter that seems to be a state-of-the-art character soon to rise as a hero of Kryn?

Guilberwood · 3rd September 2005, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DantetheDestroyer

Good writting skills, man!

Hey, how about telling more about the human fighter that seems to be a state-of-the-art character soon to rise as a hero of Kryn?

Oh man, I can't belive you came here just to brag about yourself!

Rest assured, your time will come pretty soon...

See ya

Guilberwood · 3rd September 2005, 08:05 PM

Chapter I – The meeting

It was a very hot summer in Northen Ergoth, and not even a single drop of rain had fallen in the last few days, a very unusual fact in that region. The heat punished both man and their roads, which, in times like these, where filled with dust.

That’s why neither the priest nor the elf had any trouble sighting the cloud of dust that appeared on the horizon.

Anyone who traveled trough those roads knew that a cloud like that was caused by running horses. Perhaps a lonely traveler, or perhaps a band a outlaws coming their way, fast.

“The time has come. Certainly we’re the new target of this road robbers”, Darrien thought. Lua, on the other hand, raised his sword and got ready to the conflict that would soon begin.

At each moment the dust cloud got bigger and bigger, approaching the travelers, and soon the image of their adversaries would be visible in the distance. The tension was enormous.

As the image got clearer, the priest and the elf gave a sight of relive. Behind that dust cloud there was no dangerous group of bandits. As a matter of fact, for their surprise, all that noise and all that dust were created by a single horse and his owner, who, as his appearance led to believe, was a traveler too, perhaps even a ranger.

As he saw the miserable state in which those travelers were, the ranger slowed down his horse e got closer, as to have a better understanding of what was happening.

Now that both sides knew they were not in danger, a small talk erupted. To tell the exact truth here, Darrien and Elliot (that was the ranger’s name) chatted, while Lua watched as they spoke. Sometimes, the priest could swear the elf did not understand a word they were saying.

Elliot was a young human, apparently 22 years old, his black hair was long and straight, at the height of his shoulders, he had a keen look in his eyes. Yet, he seemed like a good man, even though his light beard gave him a serious look. He bore a travelers outfit under a chain shirt. In his scabbard, a long sword. In his left hand a wood shield. As if he wasn’t already armed enough, there was a spear in his back. Certainly, they stood in front of someone who knew how to defend himself.

Fortunately, even the first look in his eyes showed that Elliot was not there to rob wagons form a defenseless old priest. Surprisingly, he actually looked like someone who was willing to help them out.

However, for their bad luck, Elliot didn’t have any skills in woodwork and, therefore, had no idea how to fix a broken wheel.

All the joy the priest felt when he saw the ranger had disappeared when he realized that the he could not help them in anyway. After all, ranger or not, the wheel was still broken and they were still stuck in the middle of the road.

But, even tough he could not fix the wheel, Elliot was young and willing to help, with a valuable asset at the time: a fresh horse. So, they decided the ranger would help the priest and his scout in another way.

Darrien took the last piece of parchment he had and wrote a hurried note. After finishing, he handed it to Elliot and said “Take this note to a boy called Dante, in the city of Hillfall. The village is less than 2 days ahead of here. Climb the mountains, you’ll spot the windmills. Look for him in the orphanage, it’s not difficult to find it.”

Moments latter, Elliot left, heading straight to Hillfall, helping out strangers he had never met before in his life, people he just met in the middle of the road.

********************************

“Those red beared man are coming again, I should hide somewhere around here” Said Lyn to herself as she saw the town guards of Hillall headed in her direction. Lately, the gnome was not on speaking terms with them, and avoiding the guards was a good thing at the time. The escape was not without reason: her last experience with them had not been a pleasant one, and she would still remember it for a long time.

Lyn had abandoned her house in Mount Nevermind in search of her lifequest: become famous all over Ansalon. A life quest is something every gnome has, it’s a tradition handed form generation to generation, from father to sun.

Lyn’s father had already tried to become famous for his inventions, just like her grandfather did, and her great grandfather before, but, somehow, for some reason, none of them managed to receive the due credit for their inventions and, just like that, the mission was herded by the future generations.

She was, just like any young gnome, determined to stop this series of failures. According to the legend, if she was successful, she, and all her ancestors, would finally reach paradise and meet their God, Reorx.

Sadly, history was already repeating herself, and the failures from the past already hunted the young gnome. When Lyn was still a teenager (she was forty at the time), she developed her first invention: a crossbow that loaded itself automatically, and could shoot five time before one needed to recharge it. Actually, the gadget was truly amazing. Lyn inserted a clip with 5 bolts next to the trigger, and, as the first one was launched, the second one was already in place for the next shot. Together with all the bells and a thousand other parts, it made a incredible feat of engineering.

She was not yet satisfied, and so she installed a aim to help measure how deep the target was, for distance shots, and, since it’s better to be safe than sorry (and gnomes are very worried about their safety) she also created a spear clip, just in case the first one got stuck right when a goblin was charging ate her .

When it was finally over, Lyn decided to show her masterpiece for the other gnomes, feeling certain that her merit would be recognized, and soon would become famous for this marvelous achievement, honoring her family. Unfortunately, as the gadget went for the inspection of the long-distance-weapons-committee, after been approved by the safety-and-beauty syndicate, the result was not what she had expected.

After a lot of discussion, the counselors decided that the weapon was not a new one, but a variation of an existing weapon, whose creator was a gnome that lived centuries before. So, technically, it was not an new invention, but a recreation of an existing one, and it meant that Lyn would receive no credit at all.

Feeling angry as she had never felt before, she abandoned Mount Nevermind, and decided that she would become famous not because of her inventions, but due to her heroic deeds.

That’s how she ended up in Hillfall, after a few time wondering randomly throughout Northen Ergoth. She was mesmerized by the giant wind and watermills, things she had never seen before, and was eager to understand its functions to, of course, improve it with some gnome technology.

And that’s how she got in trouble with the city guards. One day, she was making her bed at her new home (hidden inside one of the city’s Windmills,) when the guards appeared (attending to the nearby citizens warning that a gnome was stealing the mill) and threw her out. She fell directly at a mud pool, and the guards threw her belongings in the mud too. “They were not very nice”, she thought a few days latter, as she still tried to clean her things, specially her clothes, now stained with mud.

Lyn had every reason not to meet the guards again. She was still snooping around the windmills, and the guards were after her, but this time to throw her out of the city. So, when she saw the guards coming, hiding was the first thing that came to her mind.

She hid behind some barrels outside a house that, by the looks of it, seemed like an artisan’s house. Spread in the backyard were lots of tools and wood items. None of these caught her attention, as it seemed someone was heading to that specific house. “Must be the owner, I’d better get going, or else he’ll scream for the guards” . Strangely, she noticed that the owner (and her daughter) were inside of the house. Curiosity took her over, and she decide to wait for a few more minutes “just to see what happens here”.

********************************

Elliot followed the instructions the priest had given him, and it was not difficult to find the city of Hillfall. Nestled in the mountains of Northen Ergoth, Hillfall was a strategic point, for it barred the passage from the mountains (where goblins, ogres, and other creatures lived) into the plains.

The city was filled with mills, mostly windmills, but there was a watermill too. A small stone wall circled the city, and from the outside he could see the few houses, the numerous farms and a Castle, more like a keep, in the uppermost area of the town. “This city must have no lord” he thought, seeing that the keep was kept in a horrible state.

As he entered the city, he soon found a square with stables to place his horse. Just ass he got out of his mount, a small boy, maybe 10 years old came his way, offering to take care of the horse.

Elliot gave the boy (named Jimmy) a few small coins and asked him where the orphanage was. Luckily, the kid lived in the orphanage and knew Dante, the man Elliot was looking for.

A few minutes latter, Elliot found the building that was supposed to be the orphanage. It was placed in the southernmost, poorest region of the city, and the building itself was very old, and definitively needed lots of repairs.

As he knocked at the door, he heard several children running to answer it, but who opened the door was a tall, young man, in his late adolescence. He had a short brown hair and no beard at all. His expression was a clean one, and he still carried some of his childish features….”this boy still have a lot to grow” people said. Children were all around him, holding his leg.

“I am looking for a man named Dante” Elliot said.
“Well, you’ve just found him, I am Dante” the other replayed.

Quickly, Elliot told Dante everything that happened on the road. “This comes in a terrible time” he said only to himself.

Dante was just waiting the priest’s arrival to tell him that he was leaving…for good. He had no desire to replace Darrien as the orphanage manager. Yes, the priest had helped him a lot. And yes, the priest had raised him, sheltered him, nursed him when he was sick, but that was not the life Dante had chosen to live.

He had heard Sir Hedderick (an exiled knight of Solamnia who lived in the city for a few years) talk about his adventures, the thrill of the combat, the glory of victory, the power to do good and help people. That’s what he wanted, that’s why he asked the knight to train him in secret.

Dante was such a good student that, realizing his potential, when the knight had to leave the city (a tale to be told at another opportunity), he gave the teenager his sword. A massive great sword with a bull’s face as it’s hilt, alongside two horns. In the hurry to escape, the knight had left his horse too, and Dante took care of it.

When the news of the wagon came, Dante was just waiting the priests arrival to tell him of his decision of becoming an adventurer. When Elliot knocked at the door, Dante thought Darrien had arrived, for he was already late.

Given the circumstances, there was not much he could do unless follow the instructions the priest had written in the note. He asked Dante to go to mister Quilches’ house tell him that he was stuck on the road, so he could go there and repair the wagon. Ms. Quilches was the town’s wagon crafter, and things like that used to happen all the time.

So, Elliot and Dante went to look for Ms. Quilches, who usually was found at home with his daughter. As they got closer to the house, they noticed something was strangely amiss: all the windows and doors were shut (even tough it was a hot day) an a creepy silence was all around.

After knocking innumerous times at the door and receiving no answer whatsoever, Dante started screaming, for they knew Ms. Quilches was inside.

Minutes latter, Dante finally realized what that was all about. Lately, Darrien had been a little unpopular among some of Hillfall’s citizens, because he was, as a sort of local leader, taking some aggressive actions against the city lord, Ogrimar Darkcloack, and his actions had enraged the lord, who, in response, had just raised all taxes. That’s why some people where not talking to Darrien or anyone related to him which seemed to be the case.

Realizing that Mr. Quilches would not open the door, they saw that they were in dire trouble, “We need someone to fix the wagon, and our only hope is now lost”, Dante mourned to Elliot, trying to think about what to do next.

“Who needs a wagon fixed?” said a thin childish voice as Lyn, who had been hearing the whole thing, jumped out of her hiding place, putting her small, fragile hands at her waist, in an attempt to create a great entrance. A huge smile in her face.

After the initial confusion caused by the jumping gnome, Dante and Elliot quickly told the gnome their tale. Lyn heard it without the slightest interest in the story. When they were over, she just asked:

“Will there be a lot of danger?” almost in a scared way
“Yes, probably” Elliot replied, sure he was loosing any chance they had of convincing the gnome to help them.
“Than count me in!” the gnome’s answer surprised them both.

Less than an hour latter the trio was heading into the direction the wagon had broken. Elliot and Lyn were on his horse, while Dante rode in Sir. Hedderik’s. Strangely, the gnome had charged no money for her help, all she wanted was that they told everyone of her marvelous deeds.

Catarina of Manthus · 4th September 2005, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guilberwood

4- Lyn (female Gnome/Rogue) - Lyn was the character my girlfrined (yes, she plays with us, and yes, she is pretty) used to play in the campaing, but, somewhere during the 3rd level she decided she wanted to swicth, and started playing a monk.

Hi, I´m the sotryteller´s girlfriend. First, some minor corrections concerning my characters´ names: Catarina of Manthus, spelled with a "C", and Lynn with double "n".

Second, isn´t my boyfriend a great DM and an awesome writer?!!

Anyway, let me tell you all reading about our campaign that it´s great: it´s a lot of fun playing it! I´ve been playing RPG and D&D for many years now (long before I started dating "Guilberwood" - no, I didn´t started playing by his influence) and I can assure you all it´s a great campaign.

I´ll let you get back to enjoying this fine story. See ya!

DantetheDestroyer · 5th September 2005, 03:20 AM

Well, folks... I was about to get there but I guess that now is needless to say who is the DMM (Dungeon Master's Master)

"Long live the queen and let us live forever in peace!"

Hahahahaha. I am kidding but whenever our noble Storyteller tries some "smart moves" which put the players into serious danger there is a chance that he gets knocked out by a flurry of blows!

I am probably digging my own grave here but I am addicted to irony, so there isn´t much I can do. I just can´t help myself.

Sorry Guilber, Sorry Cat. Find in your hearts the kindness to forgive DANTE, THE DESTROYER!

Guilberwood · 5th September 2005, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catarina of Manthus

Anyway, let me tell you all reading about our campaign that it´s great: it´s a lot of fun playing it! I´ve been playing RPG and D&D for many years now (long before I started dating "Guilberwood" - no, I didn´t started playing by his influence) and I can assure you all it´s a great campaign.

Well, it's most fun to run this game too. In fact, the only reason this game exists is because we all have so much fun playing it!

It's easy to do it with such great players. All my inspiration comes from you guys!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DantetheDestroyer

Well, folks... I was about to get there but I guess that now is needless to say who is the DMM (Dungeon Master's Master)

"Long live the queen and let us live forever in peace!"

Hahahahaha. I am kidding but whenever our noble Storyteller tries some "smart moves" which put the players into serious danger there is a chance that he gets knocked out by a flurry of blows!

This is a serious acusation young man!

I'll let Cat reply as to wherther she is favoured in my games or not.......

Soon the readers shall read chapter 24 - "The one in which Dante "the former Destroyer" gets his ass kicked by an unnarmed Kobold, and comes home crying to his mama!"

Guilberwood · 5th September 2005, 04:11 PM

Lua sat with his eyes shut, feeling the morning’s sun embrace his body. In spite of his elven blood, he was starting to loose his war against the need to sleep This was the beginning of the 3rd day since that traveler had approached them, and during these three days Lua had not slept more than a few hours.

Ever since the stranger left, Lua saw in the nearby woods that greedy eyes were watching them, as if waiting for the best time to attack. The elf could not tell from that distance what kind of creature lurked around them, but it certainly meant trouble, and his travel would not be uneventful after all.

Honestly, he didn’t care at all. His only thoughts were about getting to a city called Lancton, some sort of big human city at the south. He had left his tribe in the woods of Southern Ergoth just to go to this city. In Lancton, people told him, there was a College of Bards, a place renowned for their lore. “Perhaps there I can find the translation to this riddle I carry”.

The riddle was given to him by his former master, a very old Qualinesti elf called Nimb (this was actually his nickname), who was a famous white-robed wizard. Lua had asked Nimb to train him as a wizard, and, in response, Nimb gave him that riddle and told him to come back after he had discovered what it meant.

Lua had caused shock in both the Qualinesti and the Kagonesi societies with his strange request. “A Kagonesi, a wlid elf, trained as a wizard? That is impossible. These creatures are wild, uncivilized, and would never understand the ways of the three moons” thought the Qualinesti.

On the other hand, the wild elves too were dazzled by the situation, and accused Lua of defying their tradition, becoming civilized, joining force with the enemies. “We already lost many of our people during the War of the Lance, when our brothers were enslaved by these city elves, and eventually became just like them. We must not walk out of the path of our father Kagonos.” his tribe leader explained to him.

It didn’t matter, no one understood him. No one seemed to realize he was doing that exactly to protect the Kagonesi as they were. He wanted to learn from the enemy, to understand how they worked, so he could fight them. In Lua’s mind, the best medicine against the civilized elves was to fight fire with fire, and that’s what he would do, even if it meant going out of his forest and entering in the world of men.

And that’s exactly what he did, he entered the world of men in the city of Ker-vakt, with a riddle in his hand and a belly pack in his back.

He met the priest at the docks of the city, just a few hours after arriving in that crazy, fast-spinning environment (the city was just a small hamlet). All that noise and movement made him sick. He just wanted to get out as soon as possible.

Apparently (for he did not understand all the words Darrien said), the priest was headed south too, and wanted some company on his travel. The elf was still a little reluctant to speak with humans, specially those who stared at him because of his unconventional appearance. But this was not the case with the old priest. He seemed like a nice person, and, besides, he did not know the way to Lancton, and he would not be able to get there just by himself.

Darrien also spoke about some thing called steel pieces, but Lua didn’t understand what they were used for.

As the elf remembered this events, bathing in the morning’s sun, he realized he had to open his eyes, and to do so quickly. Lua was a second away form sleeping, which would be the end of them.

Whether he wanted it or not, he had to stay awake, he fought with all his strength to stay awake . Darrien’s old body could not whiststand any more vigilance, and the priest was already snoring loudly at the elf’s side. Their safety relied on the elf alone.

Neither had slept that night. Worried about the eyes lurking in the dark, both had stayed awake, for the second night in a row, and a fifty-year-old man could not do this kind of thing anymore.

Still, each moment made is harder to control his need to sleep. Deep inside he knew that, sooner or latter, he would loose control of the situation. The stranger with the horse had to come with the rescue quickly, or there would be no rescue at all.

Finally, when all his strength was gone, the creatures decided to attack!

The small bastards made no effort to hide themselves. They had patiently waited for days until the travelers were completely out of strength to attack. They would be an easy prey, and so there was no need for secrecy. It was best to enjoy the desperate look on their faces before they started screaming, as the wicked knifes slashed trough their bodies.

Yes, this goblins were vile creatures.

In a matter of a few seconds, 6 goblins surrounded the broken wagon. Almost crouching, the goblins slowed walked towards the elf. These creatures were no fools, and they knew a hit from that giant sword could still knock out a few o them.

Branding his sword desperately, Lua’s keen eyes saw hope on the horizon. A cloud of dust was coming their way. It was just a matter of time. He HAD to buy some time.

And that’s exactly what the elf did. Using his skills to keep the goblins away (been coward creatures as they are, and lacking a ranged weapon at the time) Lua and the old man bought themselves enough time to be rescued by Dante, Elliot and Lynn.

As Darrien saw a chance of survival, he intoed a prayer to his Blue Phoenix God, and it was so beautiful and so moving that touched everyone’s heart, giving them an extra will in their fight.*

“Strange”, the priest still thought, “where’s Mr. Quilches? I see no sign of him…OH great, this means we’ll still be stuck here. And what is a gnome doing here anyway?” He kept this to himself tough. Right now, the goblins were all that mattered.

As the rescue party arrived, Dante and Elliot both dismounted (neither would risk injuring or loosing their precious horses). As soon as they were on the ground, both unsheathed their blades and ran into the melee.

Shortly after, a strange sound echoed. The sound was a mixture of bells and some sort of clockwork. No one had ever heard such weird noise before. Amazed, everyone looked around to find the origin of the sound, but the mystery was soon solved…

In the heat of battle, Lynn had jumped inside the broken wagon and was firing her repeating crossbow. In fact, one of the goblins fell with a shot on his chest, and the gnome gave a small cry of joy.

She was not happy with the goblin’s death, she was just glad to see that her invention really worked. In all this years, she had never tested it in a real combat.

The goblins were a menacing band, but no match for the fighters they faced. Dante’s greatsword ripped the creatures apart. Elliot’s blade killed with easy, and everyone was impressed with the elf’s strength and skill with such an exotic weapon.

As the goblins started to fall, the few who where still alive ran for their lives, leaving the party mostly unscathed. The rescue had been a success.

After the proper introductions, Lynn started to fix the wheel, much to the priest’s surprise. Not someone who just fix things, Lynn also installed an extra safety system, and put some belts to the wheels. “It’s an alarm” she said “this way you’ll know if the wheel is broken again”.

The way back to Hillfall was a light-hearted one. “job’s done” everybody thought. Elliot accepted the invitation of the priest to have a meal with them at the orphanage in Hillfall. The offer was the least Darrien could do after such a display of generosity. Only Dante had a huge weight in his heart, because he knew the time to say goodbye was coming.

Arriving at the city they were greeted by the children of the orphanage. With Dante and Darrien gone, there was no one to take care of them. The place was a mess, and all the kids ran to the wagon to see what goodies “uncle Darrien” had brought home this time. Unfortunately, most of the wagon was filled with rations (a meal the kids hated to eat) and other “not fun!” stuff.

Shortly after, they ate at the dining table. The priest served a thin soup. That was all he’s got to offer. It was at that moment that the visitors started to realize how poor these kids were, the terrible conditions they lived in, and how suffered must had been Dante’s childhood.

Even tough the priest tried, there seemed to be no way to make Elliot accept a reward for his help. Lua had no problem accepting the money the priest gave him, although he still didn’t know what these metal was. Probably, if he knew it back than, he would not have accepted it either, but Lua still had a lot to learn about the world of man.

Lynn’s payment was quickly done, as the history of the rescue was told to the orphanage’s children. “Good” the gnome thought “I am already reaching out for the future generations…my path to the legends is clear!”.

Since it was late, everyone stayed over and slept at the orphanage. The night was still not over yet, as one of the boys (Jimmy, actually) tried to steal Lynn’s tools. Luckily, she found out soon enough and managed to keep her equipment. All was well tough, because the gnome was not offended at all. “The price of being famous” she said.

Still, Dante did not miss the opportunity to reprehend the boy. Jimmy growing to be a dangerous teen, one of the few who gave him any trouble.

The next morning, they woke up with the noise that came form the outside. It was not the usual morning talk. A lot of people were gathered somewhere nearby, screams could be heard. It was like some tragedy had just happened.

All of them got out of their beds and went outside to see what had happened. In the front garden of a house nearby the whole neighborhood stood shocked. It was impossible to see anything, as a circle of people blocked the view of what was going on. Lynn made her way trough the people’s legs. Dante, Lua and Elliot forced their way into the center of the crowd.

At first, Lua and Elliot could not understand what had caused such a commotion. The house was a simple one, and it’s wooden door was closed. All was silent inside. The noise came exclusively form the people who stood in front of the house.

Strangely, there seemed to be nothing to be worried about. The only thing that looked out of place was a dagger, a fancy, red, beautiful dagger, which hung from the wooden door. Not realizing the gravity oh the situation, Elliot stepped forward and took out the dagger.

This move was followed by a collective scream. Everybody said “oooohhhh!!!”.

As he looked back, the ranger saw that perhaps he shouldn’t have done that. As he held the dagger in his hand, he watched as Dante stood completely frozen, just as horrified as everybody else.

Still, Elliot did not know what the hell was wrong with the dagger…..

*****************************************
* Blessing – The most powerful spell the party would see for a long time!

NEXT: Chapter II – The curse of the Red Dagger

Guilberwood · 2nd November 2005, 02:04 PM

Chapter II – The curse of the Red Dagger

After the initial shock caused by Elliot’s daring move, the crowd started to go away. The residents of Hillfall were starting to get used to this kind of tragedy.

Elliot still held the red dagger in his hand, trying to figure out what it meant. Dante was not helping him much, as he still was speechless. Lua and Lynn clearly had no idea about what that thing meant either.

It was only about half an hour latter that Darrien arrived at the scene, and things finally started to get clearer.

With the arrival of the priest Dante calmed down, and started to think rationally again. Together, he and the priest explained to the others what the dagger meant.

Since the arrival of the new lord of the city, Ogrimar Darkcloak, a new set of rules had been established by the local authority. First, he had replaced the city guards, employing his own warriors: red-haired barbarians from a nomad tribe from the north. Second, the taxes had been brutally raised, and now 50% of the crops harvested by the citizens were given to the lord as payment for a dozen different taxes. And last, there was the red dagger.

As the local landlord, Orgimar had the right to pick any women in town to serve as his company for a night. People hated it, but it was his right nonetheless, and many other cities in the Ergothian empire had this very same rule, and the people knew they could not do anything against it. “He’s a noble, he was born a better person then us, we have to accept the will of the gods”, they always thought.

A red dagger in front of a house meant that Lord Orgimar had chosen the woman that lived in the house to be his partner for a night.

However, that was not the worst part. As if the suffering of delivering your wife to sleep with another man wasn’t enough already, a darker fate awaited the “victims” of the red dagger, for none of the women chosen by the dagger had ever returned.

Since Orgimar’s arrival, five women had already gone into the castle to spend a night with the lord, and none of them were ever seen again.

That was “the curse of the red dagger”, and that’s why the town was shocked to realize that a new women would disappear forever in the castle.

And soon it became clear to the foreigners (Lua, Elliot and Lynn) why Dante was so shocked when he saw the dagger. Apparently, he knew the women who would be next victim. As a matter of fact, he knew her very well.

The girl’s name was Gisele, and she was married to a good friend of Dante, called Gordon. He and Dante had been friends since childhood, and both still remember the days spent playing “knights” or “rescue the princess”. Gordon was a little older, and did not have live in the orphanage, for he had his own family. In his childhood, Gordon had learned how to read and write, eventually becoming the city’s scribe…such a happy ending was not for the orphans such as Dante, and it depressed him.

Therefore, when Dante saw that Gisele was “cursed” and that he would never see her again, that his good friend would become a 25 years old widow, that their children would have no mother for the rest of her life, all because of a Lord’s petty right, he was shocked…and very angry.

As he regained control of himself, he slammed at the door of the house, desperate to talk to Gordon and his family, to offer them a little comfort (if any was possible), to see if there was anything he could do for them.

For a long time, no sound came from inside. Dante’s hands were already hurt after hitting the door so many times. The door itself was starting to complain, cracking loudly.

Finally, a shout came form inside “Go away”, it said “go laugh at someone’s else tragedy”. By the looks of it, whoever said that had been crying for a long time.

It took Dante the whole morning to convince Gordon to open up the door. As Dante, Darrien and the others entered the house, they immediately became more saddened than ever. A beautiful blond woman cried in a corner, with a 2 year old child in her lap, a poor creature who probably did not understand what was going on.

Gordon and the visiting party talked throughout the whole day, but all Gordon wanted was that Dante and the others to leave him alone (seconded by the priest, who agreed with this). Enraged, Dante wanted to do something against the incoming tragedy. Ellitot did not like any kind of injustice, and was sympathetic to the cause. Lynn was more than happy to help, thinking of the whole thing as “another adventure to give me fame” she thought. Lua did not care, he wasn’t understanding much of the talk anyway, and if helping them would mean going in the direction of Lancton, he would gladly help.

Against Gordon’s better judgment (his intuition told him this would not end well), after hours of continuous talk, the villager decided to let Dante and his new friends help him in some way. In the end, he would not behave like a sheep, allowing his beloved wife to be stolen without a fight.

Now, it was just a matter of how to escape the curse of the red dagger.

According to the previous experiences with the red daggers, the city guards would come in 2 days to pick Gisele, and she was supposed to return in 2 more days, something everyone knew would never happen.

Many plans were discussed. Bribing the guards, wrecking havoc in the whole town, insufflating a riot among the villagers, and many others, but none seemed good enough.

Only after a long time planning, the group came up with a reasonable strategy (although they all agreed it was not a good one, it was just the less likely to fail).

This was the plan: Gordon and his daughter would abandon town, claiming they could not withstand what was about to happen, and had decided to leave the city once and for all. They would take the priest’s wagon, along with all their belongings. Lua, Elliot and Lynn would accompany them, in an attempt to evade security.

Gordon and his daughter would than head towards the city of Gulfport, while the other secretly went back to town, by climbing the city walls (they were not that big) or swimming trough a river canal.

Meanwhile, Dante would act as an escort to Gisele, supposedly awaiting beside her until the guards came to pick her up.

Latter, they would secretly reunite at Gordon’s house, and when the time came, the plan was to fight the guards and run outside the city. Unfortunately, they knew that once the guards realized Gisele was trying to escape the dagger, the city’s gates (located south) would be closed and the path blocked, leaving only one option: the forbidden forest – a dangerous and haunted place north of town nobody dared to enter. In his whole life, Dante had only been at its borders once, and that was enough to convince him never to come back again. Sadly, that was the only way, so they decided not to think about it until the time came.

It was late night when the party left Gordon’s house. Darrien had already left a long time ago to take care of the orphanage. To their surprise, a red-haired guard was already lurking nearby, patrolling the house, in case anyone tried something “funny”.

With all the details solved, they went back to sleep at the orphanage, knowing they would have tough days ahead of them.

Their plans were executed with perfection on the next day. Elliot, Lua and Lynn escorted Gordon and his children out of town. The guards at the gate were intrigued by this sudden decision from Gordon, but they did not have any real reason to stop them (even though they wanted to). On the other side, Dante stayed home with Gisele the whole day. She was extremely quiet, and cried a lot. They did not exchange many words during their wait.

Elliot and the others walked a half-day journey escorting Gordon, and them turned their backs and headed back to town. They got back just in time to see the sunset and the 2 moons (white and red) appear on the sky, alongside the other constellations of Gods.

They secretly climbed the city walls and joined Dante and Gisele at Gordon’s house. Luckily, the guard posted in the front didn’t notice their entrance trough the back, and so they all went to sleep (or at least they tried to), waiting for the next day, when the guards would come to pick Gisele up.

In the next day, it was almost night when the red-headed guards knocked at the door. It had been a very stressful day, and although nobody wanted to face what was to come, they almost felt relieved when the guards came….at least this damm waiting was finally over!

What came next was a complete mess. There was not much tactics implied, nor much thought about what do after the initial surprise attack was over.

When the door opened everyone busted through the entrance, knocking down most of the guards around. Unfortunately, a few of them were still awake, and so they blew their bells and whistles, calling for aid from other guards nearby.

As the party finished off the remaining guards (most of them surrendered) and stared their escape, more of the red-headed brutes came to help their fellows. The party moved along trying to dispatch the guards with as few hits as possible, but there were too many of them, and soon they would be overwhelmed.

They had to do the exact same thing they did not want to do. They had to go to a place none of them wanted to, the one thing they were delaying, hoping something could prevent it…but that “something” never came.

“What the hell, any place is better than here right now” they thought. Realizing there was no other way, they headed straight north to the forbidden forest, clearing the guards along the path.

Even though the guards made a good opposition to the party plans, luckily no one got seriously hurt (not to the point of falling to the ground at least) and the five of them arrived in one piece at the forest borders.

Running trough the city had attracted a lot more attention from other guards, and now a real mob of law-enforcers were right at their heels. It would not take long until Gisele got fatigued ant started to stay behind, but something stopped the guards from running forwards.

As the party entered the woods the chase was abruptly over. No guard dared to enter the forest, and so the party entered the woods undisturbed (or at least they thought).

Feeling strangely safe in the most dangerous place possible, they moved for an hour or two into the forest, but their mussels could not take it anymore, and begged for a well deserved rest…

They did not know what awaited them, they did not know what creatures lurked nearby….

Next: Chapter III: Escape into the Forbidden Forest!