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The Kordovian Adventurers Guild
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 6677973" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 1: AN AUDIENCE WITH THE KING</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Castillan Ivenheart, elf bounder 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Darrien, half-elf ranger 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Gilbert Fung, human wizard 1</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Ingebold Battershield, dwarven cleric 1 (Moradin)</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 8 August 2015</p><p></p><p>For this first game session, we spent a little over an hour building the PCs (most had already been started, at least as far as ability scores and physical attributes go), then jumped straight into this first, introductory adventure. This one was different from anything we'd ever done before, as it involved absolutely no combat but was rather a means to get everyone together as an adventuring party. Of course, as such, this didn't take much time either, so from here we jumped into the second adventure and actually got it finished off as well. But first things first: the story of how the initial members of the Kordovian Adventurers Guild got together.</p><p></p><p>I started out by handing each of the players a piece of paper with their initial encounter, which I'll reproduce below.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>As each of the summoned individuals arrived at the castle, they were sent to wait in a side chamber until King Galrich was ready to see them. Looking amongst the assembled group, they saw a rather eclectic bunch: an armored gnome, a scruffy-looking human in patchwork robes, a half-elf ranger, and two full-blooded elves – a swordswoman and a roguish-looking male.</p><p></p><p>Finally, the door opened and a dwarven castle guard entered the room. "The king is ready to see you now," he replied, leading the way to the throne room. "Now remember, you call him 'Your Majesty' when you talk to him, only don't speak unless you’re spoken to. Anybody got any questions before we go in?"</p><p></p><p>"I do," piped up Gilbert. "What all of this about?"</p><p></p><p>"King Galrich will explain everything to your satisfaction," replied the dwarf. Arriving at a set of double doors flanked by a pair of dwarven guards, the escort opened them wide and ushered the band of five curious individuals inside. "Remember what I said," he muttered quietly to them as they entered the room.</p><p></p><p>A red carpet bisected the lengthy room, at the end of which sat a pair of thrones. In one sat the unmistakable form of the King of Kordovia, the battle-scarred half-orc Galrich Slayer himself. Standing to the side of his throne was yet another dwarven castle guard.</p><p></p><p>"Welcome!" boomed King Galrich in a strong voice, beaming down at the group of new recruits from his throne. "I suppose you're all wondering why I brought you here. As you know, we've been suffering from sporadic waves of orc and goblin attacks for the past decade or more. We've been able to hold our own, but we don't have enough manpower to bring the fight to them, and the Vesve Forest is a mighty big place. We're still not sure where they're all coming from, and if we were to divert enough of our forces to try to flush out their main base of operations, we'd be opening the rest of our small kingdom to being overwhelmed by the next wave of attacks. Our neighboring kingdoms are all pretty much in the same boat as we are.</p><p></p><p>"What we need," continued King Galrich, "is a band of heroes. I'm sure you're all aware that I was an adventurer long before I took the throne of Kordovia. Aerik here" – and here he pointed back at the dwarven guard standing at attention by the side of his throne – "he was an adventurer as well, and he kept me alive long enough to get me to my coronation. Truth is, I still miss those days. But anyway – back to you guys.</p><p></p><p>"I've decided to pull you five away from your families, away from your normal duties. Effective immediately, you will be the official adventurers of the kingdom of Kordovia. I want you going out into the broader world at large. You'll no doubt find monsters to kill, evil to thwart, and – perhaps the most important at the moment – treasure to loot.</p><p></p><p>"I don’t need to tell you that Kordovia needs gold. We need gold to pay for the mercenaries helping to keep the orcs and goblins at bay. We need gold to buy weapons and armor for our troops, and for the raw materials for our smiths to craft more of the same. We need gold to keep our kingdom fed, since the blasted goblins don’t seem to want to leave our farmers alone to tend to their crops for very long.</p><p></p><p>"I can tell you from experience that the life of an adventurer is a dangerous one, but it can be a lucrative one as well. I want you going out, seeking out adventure, learning from your experiences, and gathering up as much treasure as you can to help your battered kingdom. Kordovia needs gold, and I need heroes. You've each been carefully selected as my heroes. Now, let's see who we've got as the first five members of the Kordovian Adventurers Guild." With that, King Galrich stepped down from his throne and approached the five, who had lined up before him. Aerik trailed behind him, seemingly unwilling to leave the king's side, especially since the ruler had insisted these new recruits all show up armed.</p><p></p><p>Darrien was the first in line. "And who are you?" asked the king.</p><p></p><p>"My name is Darrien," the half-elf responded, and then quickly added, "...Your Majesty. I'm good with a bow, I should be able to keep us fed out in the wilderness."</p><p></p><p>"Excellent!" enthused King Galrich. "I adventured with a half-elf ranger, name of <strong>Chalkan</strong>. Good guy, Chalkan -- he was my 'bink-partner.'" Then, seeing the confused look on the young half-elf's face, he waved a hand in the air and replied, "Never mind. Good to have you on the team, Darrien!" And then he stepped up to the next in line, a little gnome in chain mail sporting a ridiculously-sized - for him, at least - glaive.</p><p></p><p>"And who are you?" he asked the gnome.</p><p></p><p>"My name is Binkadink Dundernoggin," Binkadink said, but before he could get a further word out there was the raucous sound of a juicy, wet fart practically being ripped from the very bowels of the little gnome's buttocks: <em>SP-P-P-P-L-L-U-R-R-R-R-R-TCH!</em></p><p></p><p>Binkadink's face reddened immediately. The others in line next to him each took an involuntary step away, but despite the high volume there was no accompanying smell. The gnome knew immediately what had happened, recognizing in hindsight that his cousin had cast a <em>magic mouth</em> spell on him immediately after he had received his summons, and swore under his breath, "I'm gonna kill that Jinkadoodle for this!"</p><p></p><p>But King Galrich wasn't offended - quite the contrary. He burst out laughing, holding his sides as the tears rolled down his cheeks. "'Binkadink?'" he roared. "I'm going to call you 'Farty-Gnome!'" He put a hand on Binkadink's shoulder to steady himself, then moved on to the next in line, still laughing. The gnome just stood there, scowling and make plans of vengeance against his cousin, who had just amped the back-and-forth prank war they'd been waging against each other for years up several notches.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, a thought struck the king. "Wait a minute: 'Dundernoggin?'" he asked. "Are you the potion-maker's son?"</p><p></p><p>"His nephew, Your Majesty," Binkadink replied. King Galrich nodded his head as if agreeing with a decision he'd just made, and focused his attention back to the next person in line.</p><p></p><p>"And you?" asked King Galrich. "Who are you, and what do you do?"</p><p></p><p>"My name's Castillan, Your Majesty. I'm skilled at climbing, opening locks, that sort of thing."</p><p></p><p>"Ah, good, good!" replied King Galrich. "We had a fellow in our adventuring group, <strong>Rale</strong>, who performed similar services for us. I'm sure your considerable skills will be put to good use as an adventurer."</p><p></p><p>"Yes, Your Majesty," agreed Castillan.</p><p></p><p>The king moved on to the next in line: a rather heavyset human in patched robes. "And you are?" he asked.</p><p></p><p>"My name Gilbert Fung," replied Gilbert Fung - who preferred using both of his names whenever feasible - in his pidgin version of the Common tongue. "My mother want me be druid like father, but I no have green thumb like him. I study magic, learn to cast spells. Someday, I be very powerful wizard!"</p><p></p><p>"A wizard, good," replied King Galrich, mentally ticking off the roles covered thus far by his adventuring team. Then he stepped to the last member and stopped short. "You look very familiar," the king declared, looking at Finoula, then turning back to address Aerik. "Doesn't she look like <strong>Feron Dru</strong>?" he asked.</p><p></p><p>"Feron is my sister, Your Majesty," replied Finoula.</p><p></p><p>"You're Feron's little sister?" King Galrich gasped, clearly tickled at the idea.</p><p></p><p>"Her older sister, actually, Your Majesty," Finoula explained. "And she's really my half-sister - we have the same elven mother, but her father was human."</p><p></p><p>"Well, I'll be," King Galrich said to himself. With Feron's sister on the team, he had high hopes indeed. But then he noticed he was at the end of the line of adventurers. "Wait a minute - is this it?" he asked, turning to Aerik.</p><p></p><p>"Yes, Your Majesty," replied the dwarf.</p><p></p><p>"But there's no cleric," King Galrich insisted. "You know how much we always depended on <strong>Cal</strong> to keep us healthy – and, sometimes, even alive."</p><p></p><p>"I believe it was decided that the clerics were needed more here, Your Majesty, to tend to our own warriors."</p><p></p><p>"That's no good," complained the king. "Aerik, your daughter, Ingebold – she's a cleric now, right?"</p><p></p><p>Aerik’s stoic expression hardly changed. "She...just recently completed her temple training, yes, Your Majesty."</p><p></p><p>"Fetch her!" commanded King Galrich. "She's on the team! Oh! Hey! And you can house them in your keep! You still have those empty towers up front, right?"</p><p></p><p>The dwarf paused only a moment before admitting, "...Yes, Your Majesty."</p><p></p><p>"Great! Then it's settled: Battershield Keep is now the Kordovian Adventurers Guild Headquarters! Page! Page!" A page came scrambling into the room.</p><p></p><p>"Go to the Temple of Moradin, and send Ingebold Battershield to me at once!" commanded the king, and the page bowed and departed without a further word.</p><p></p><p>"While we’re waiting, let me tell you a little about what you can expect as an adventurer..." began King Galrich, settling back into his throne.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>After some time had passed, during which King Galrich had reminisced aloud about his adventuring days, a disheveled female dwarf rushed into the throne room, flanked by a castle page. "Ingebold Battershield," announced the page, before bowing and closing the door as he left.</p><p></p><p>The dwarf wore a confused expression on her face, and was still winded as if she had run the whole way from the dwarven Temple of Moradin. "...You sent for me, me King?" she asked hesitantly, throwing her father a sidelong glance. Aerik didn’t move, remaining at attention, his face seemingly carved from solid stone.</p><p></p><p>"Indeed I did," bellowed King Galrich. "Ingebold Battershield, meet your new adventuring companions!"</p><p></p><p>"My-- my what?" she demanded. Ingebold had had absolutely no intentions on becoming an adventurer; rather, she envisioned a life as a temple cleric, tending to the wounded. However, she was her father's daughter, and if her King was telling her to go be an adventurer, then she would do as commanded. Aerik, likewise, was worried sick about his daughter following into his footsteps as an adventurer, but he'd never gainsay his liege.</p><p></p><p>After introductions were made all around, King Galrich gave Aerik leave to bring the group back to his dwelling and show them around their new "Headquarters." They were provided a small wagon pulled by a pair of sturdy mules, <strong>Franco</strong> and <strong>Tantrum</strong>. Aerik was taciturn during the entire trip, with his daughter silent and brooding beside him. Gilbert Fung was enjoying himself, though, as he sat in the back of the wagon, watching the landscape amble on by. "This going to be great fun!" he announced.</p><p></p><p>Once at Battershield Keep, Ingebold showed her new compatriots-in-arms where they'd be staying. Battershield Keep was rectangular in build, with a three story, 15-foot-square tower in each corner. The two in the back were where her parents slept and the kitchen and storage areas, respectively. The tower at the northwestern corner was unused; the northeastern tower had been all hers. Now she claimed the lower floor for herself, and had her teammates help her move the contents of the two upper floors down into her ground floor room.</p><p></p><p>"We'll have to get some beds and dressers and such moved in here," announced Aerik. "And ye're all free to bring over whatever ye like from yer own homes."</p><p></p><p>"And who are all these fine folk?" asked a feminine voice from behind Aerik. Turning, he saw his wife, <strong>Helga</strong>, and made the introductions, after which he explained, in brief, King Galrich's edicts of the day.</p><p></p><p>"So, ye're all going to be staying here? Permanently?" asked Helga.</p><p></p><p>"That looks to be th' way of things, yes," admitted Aerik, mentally readying himself for an extended discussion on how the king's decisions overrode the wishes of good and loyal dwarves. But he needn't have bothered.</p><p></p><p>"Why, this is WONDERFUL!" exclaimed Helga, reaching forward in an attempt to hug all the new adventurers at once. "I'll need to get baking! Do you like apple pastries? Of course you do - who doesn't like apple pastries? Ingebold - give your mother a hand in the kitchen, will you?"</p><p></p><p>"Mother, I've got my room to straighten out--" began Ingebold.</p><p></p><p>"Time for that later!" announced Helga, in a tone that brooked no argument. With a sigh, Ingebold handed her mace to her father, and followed her mother, who was practically dancing her way to the back of the keep in her excitement.</p><p></p><p>"That's a good lass," muttered Aerik, opening the door to his daughter's room - now cluttered with three rooms' worth of furniture - and tossing her mace onto her bed.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>The next day was spent in moving the adventurers' belongings over to their new rooms in Battershield Keep and putting their affairs in order.</p><p></p><p>Feya Cloudshadow, an elf with several centuries of life behind her, was proud to see her firstborn following in the footsteps of her youngest daughter, whose half-elf heritage was responsible for her speedier development. Feron had made quite a name for herself, having retired from the adventuring life and become one of the Sisters of Ehlonna. She still came home every year or so for a visit; wouldn't she be surprised to hear that Finoula was beginning the path Feron had first tread all those years ago?</p><p></p><p>Gilbert Fung's parents were both worried for their son and proud that he had been selected as one of the kingdom's first professional adventurers. "You do us proud," said his father, <strong>Verdant Gristwold</strong>, with a face devoid of expression, and Gilbert was unsure if that was a statement or a command. But either way, his response was the same: "I be good adventurer, do whole kingdom proud!" His mother, <strong>Harriet Fung</strong>, fussed nervously over him for a bit, then gave him a kiss and her best wishes for success.</p><p></p><p>Darrien's human mother was beside herself with pride. "My boy--an adventurer!" she gushed for what must be the tenth time since hearing the news. This was the best possible news she could have heard, for she had secretly longed for the life of an adventurer herself and looked forward to living vicariously through her son for many years to come. "You write as often as you can!" she demanded. "And don't forget your raisins!" She passed her son a tied handkerchief containing a handful of dried raisins.</p><p></p><p>Binkadink took the small chest containing 28 different potions from his uncle. "Giving 'em away for free," grumbled Winkidew, "on the orders of His Majesty himself. Well, you remember what I said about them healing potions. I put a little mark on the two that I didn't take no shortcuts on - you save them two for yourself. And you take good care of yourself, Binky." Binkadink shook his uncle's hand, and looked around for any signs of his cousin, but Jinkadoodle had wisely stayed well away since his <em>magic mouth</em> prank. <em>That's all right</em>, he thought. <em>He won't make any moves against me until I've paid him back for this last prank. And it'll have to be a good one....</em></p><p></p><p>Castillan was estranged from his father, <strong>Aroben Ivenheart</strong>, and stayed at a variety of inns and taverns throughout the kingdom, using the opportunity to hone his pick-pocketing skills to keep him in spare coinage. But he did take the time to say farewell to his mother, <strong>Daerdis</strong>, and his younger brother and sisters. Who knows? Perhaps the adventuring life would be just what he was looking for: a way out of the kingdom and into his own fortune, one that had no ties to his father at all. And if he ended up being a hero? Well, there were worse things to become....</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>I've decided I'm also going to record one final bit of information about our game sessions. For many years now, I've tried to coordinate the T-shirt I wore to game day with some aspect of the plot of that session's adventure. So, as a final bit of topical information, of interest to me if to nobody else:</p><p></p><p>T-Shirt Worn: solid gray, with no image. I specifically wore a T-shirt with no image on it, to represent the "clean slate" a brand new campaign provided us.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 6677973, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 1: AN AUDIENCE WITH THE KING[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 1 Castillan Ivenheart, elf bounder 1 Darrien, half-elf ranger 1 Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 1 Gilbert Fung, human wizard 1[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Ingebold Battershield, dwarven cleric 1 (Moradin)[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 8 August 2015 For this first game session, we spent a little over an hour building the PCs (most had already been started, at least as far as ability scores and physical attributes go), then jumped straight into this first, introductory adventure. This one was different from anything we'd ever done before, as it involved absolutely no combat but was rather a means to get everyone together as an adventuring party. Of course, as such, this didn't take much time either, so from here we jumped into the second adventure and actually got it finished off as well. But first things first: the story of how the initial members of the Kordovian Adventurers Guild got together. I started out by handing each of the players a piece of paper with their initial encounter, which I'll reproduce below. - - - - - - As each of the summoned individuals arrived at the castle, they were sent to wait in a side chamber until King Galrich was ready to see them. Looking amongst the assembled group, they saw a rather eclectic bunch: an armored gnome, a scruffy-looking human in patchwork robes, a half-elf ranger, and two full-blooded elves – a swordswoman and a roguish-looking male. Finally, the door opened and a dwarven castle guard entered the room. "The king is ready to see you now," he replied, leading the way to the throne room. "Now remember, you call him 'Your Majesty' when you talk to him, only don't speak unless you’re spoken to. Anybody got any questions before we go in?" "I do," piped up Gilbert. "What all of this about?" "King Galrich will explain everything to your satisfaction," replied the dwarf. Arriving at a set of double doors flanked by a pair of dwarven guards, the escort opened them wide and ushered the band of five curious individuals inside. "Remember what I said," he muttered quietly to them as they entered the room. A red carpet bisected the lengthy room, at the end of which sat a pair of thrones. In one sat the unmistakable form of the King of Kordovia, the battle-scarred half-orc Galrich Slayer himself. Standing to the side of his throne was yet another dwarven castle guard. "Welcome!" boomed King Galrich in a strong voice, beaming down at the group of new recruits from his throne. "I suppose you're all wondering why I brought you here. As you know, we've been suffering from sporadic waves of orc and goblin attacks for the past decade or more. We've been able to hold our own, but we don't have enough manpower to bring the fight to them, and the Vesve Forest is a mighty big place. We're still not sure where they're all coming from, and if we were to divert enough of our forces to try to flush out their main base of operations, we'd be opening the rest of our small kingdom to being overwhelmed by the next wave of attacks. Our neighboring kingdoms are all pretty much in the same boat as we are. "What we need," continued King Galrich, "is a band of heroes. I'm sure you're all aware that I was an adventurer long before I took the throne of Kordovia. Aerik here" – and here he pointed back at the dwarven guard standing at attention by the side of his throne – "he was an adventurer as well, and he kept me alive long enough to get me to my coronation. Truth is, I still miss those days. But anyway – back to you guys. "I've decided to pull you five away from your families, away from your normal duties. Effective immediately, you will be the official adventurers of the kingdom of Kordovia. I want you going out into the broader world at large. You'll no doubt find monsters to kill, evil to thwart, and – perhaps the most important at the moment – treasure to loot. "I don’t need to tell you that Kordovia needs gold. We need gold to pay for the mercenaries helping to keep the orcs and goblins at bay. We need gold to buy weapons and armor for our troops, and for the raw materials for our smiths to craft more of the same. We need gold to keep our kingdom fed, since the blasted goblins don’t seem to want to leave our farmers alone to tend to their crops for very long. "I can tell you from experience that the life of an adventurer is a dangerous one, but it can be a lucrative one as well. I want you going out, seeking out adventure, learning from your experiences, and gathering up as much treasure as you can to help your battered kingdom. Kordovia needs gold, and I need heroes. You've each been carefully selected as my heroes. Now, let's see who we've got as the first five members of the Kordovian Adventurers Guild." With that, King Galrich stepped down from his throne and approached the five, who had lined up before him. Aerik trailed behind him, seemingly unwilling to leave the king's side, especially since the ruler had insisted these new recruits all show up armed. Darrien was the first in line. "And who are you?" asked the king. "My name is Darrien," the half-elf responded, and then quickly added, "...Your Majesty. I'm good with a bow, I should be able to keep us fed out in the wilderness." "Excellent!" enthused King Galrich. "I adventured with a half-elf ranger, name of [b]Chalkan[/b]. Good guy, Chalkan -- he was my 'bink-partner.'" Then, seeing the confused look on the young half-elf's face, he waved a hand in the air and replied, "Never mind. Good to have you on the team, Darrien!" And then he stepped up to the next in line, a little gnome in chain mail sporting a ridiculously-sized - for him, at least - glaive. "And who are you?" he asked the gnome. "My name is Binkadink Dundernoggin," Binkadink said, but before he could get a further word out there was the raucous sound of a juicy, wet fart practically being ripped from the very bowels of the little gnome's buttocks: [i]SP-P-P-P-L-L-U-R-R-R-R-R-TCH![/i] Binkadink's face reddened immediately. The others in line next to him each took an involuntary step away, but despite the high volume there was no accompanying smell. The gnome knew immediately what had happened, recognizing in hindsight that his cousin had cast a [i]magic mouth[/i] spell on him immediately after he had received his summons, and swore under his breath, "I'm gonna kill that Jinkadoodle for this!" But King Galrich wasn't offended - quite the contrary. He burst out laughing, holding his sides as the tears rolled down his cheeks. "'Binkadink?'" he roared. "I'm going to call you 'Farty-Gnome!'" He put a hand on Binkadink's shoulder to steady himself, then moved on to the next in line, still laughing. The gnome just stood there, scowling and make plans of vengeance against his cousin, who had just amped the back-and-forth prank war they'd been waging against each other for years up several notches. Suddenly, a thought struck the king. "Wait a minute: 'Dundernoggin?'" he asked. "Are you the potion-maker's son?" "His nephew, Your Majesty," Binkadink replied. King Galrich nodded his head as if agreeing with a decision he'd just made, and focused his attention back to the next person in line. "And you?" asked King Galrich. "Who are you, and what do you do?" "My name's Castillan, Your Majesty. I'm skilled at climbing, opening locks, that sort of thing." "Ah, good, good!" replied King Galrich. "We had a fellow in our adventuring group, [b]Rale[/b], who performed similar services for us. I'm sure your considerable skills will be put to good use as an adventurer." "Yes, Your Majesty," agreed Castillan. The king moved on to the next in line: a rather heavyset human in patched robes. "And you are?" he asked. "My name Gilbert Fung," replied Gilbert Fung - who preferred using both of his names whenever feasible - in his pidgin version of the Common tongue. "My mother want me be druid like father, but I no have green thumb like him. I study magic, learn to cast spells. Someday, I be very powerful wizard!" "A wizard, good," replied King Galrich, mentally ticking off the roles covered thus far by his adventuring team. Then he stepped to the last member and stopped short. "You look very familiar," the king declared, looking at Finoula, then turning back to address Aerik. "Doesn't she look like [b]Feron Dru[/b]?" he asked. "Feron is my sister, Your Majesty," replied Finoula. "You're Feron's little sister?" King Galrich gasped, clearly tickled at the idea. "Her older sister, actually, Your Majesty," Finoula explained. "And she's really my half-sister - we have the same elven mother, but her father was human." "Well, I'll be," King Galrich said to himself. With Feron's sister on the team, he had high hopes indeed. But then he noticed he was at the end of the line of adventurers. "Wait a minute - is this it?" he asked, turning to Aerik. "Yes, Your Majesty," replied the dwarf. "But there's no cleric," King Galrich insisted. "You know how much we always depended on [b]Cal[/b] to keep us healthy – and, sometimes, even alive." "I believe it was decided that the clerics were needed more here, Your Majesty, to tend to our own warriors." "That's no good," complained the king. "Aerik, your daughter, Ingebold – she's a cleric now, right?" Aerik’s stoic expression hardly changed. "She...just recently completed her temple training, yes, Your Majesty." "Fetch her!" commanded King Galrich. "She's on the team! Oh! Hey! And you can house them in your keep! You still have those empty towers up front, right?" The dwarf paused only a moment before admitting, "...Yes, Your Majesty." "Great! Then it's settled: Battershield Keep is now the Kordovian Adventurers Guild Headquarters! Page! Page!" A page came scrambling into the room. "Go to the Temple of Moradin, and send Ingebold Battershield to me at once!" commanded the king, and the page bowed and departed without a further word. "While we’re waiting, let me tell you a little about what you can expect as an adventurer..." began King Galrich, settling back into his throne. - - - After some time had passed, during which King Galrich had reminisced aloud about his adventuring days, a disheveled female dwarf rushed into the throne room, flanked by a castle page. "Ingebold Battershield," announced the page, before bowing and closing the door as he left. The dwarf wore a confused expression on her face, and was still winded as if she had run the whole way from the dwarven Temple of Moradin. "...You sent for me, me King?" she asked hesitantly, throwing her father a sidelong glance. Aerik didn’t move, remaining at attention, his face seemingly carved from solid stone. "Indeed I did," bellowed King Galrich. "Ingebold Battershield, meet your new adventuring companions!" "My-- my what?" she demanded. Ingebold had had absolutely no intentions on becoming an adventurer; rather, she envisioned a life as a temple cleric, tending to the wounded. However, she was her father's daughter, and if her King was telling her to go be an adventurer, then she would do as commanded. Aerik, likewise, was worried sick about his daughter following into his footsteps as an adventurer, but he'd never gainsay his liege. After introductions were made all around, King Galrich gave Aerik leave to bring the group back to his dwelling and show them around their new "Headquarters." They were provided a small wagon pulled by a pair of sturdy mules, [b]Franco[/b] and [b]Tantrum[/b]. Aerik was taciturn during the entire trip, with his daughter silent and brooding beside him. Gilbert Fung was enjoying himself, though, as he sat in the back of the wagon, watching the landscape amble on by. "This going to be great fun!" he announced. Once at Battershield Keep, Ingebold showed her new compatriots-in-arms where they'd be staying. Battershield Keep was rectangular in build, with a three story, 15-foot-square tower in each corner. The two in the back were where her parents slept and the kitchen and storage areas, respectively. The tower at the northwestern corner was unused; the northeastern tower had been all hers. Now she claimed the lower floor for herself, and had her teammates help her move the contents of the two upper floors down into her ground floor room. "We'll have to get some beds and dressers and such moved in here," announced Aerik. "And ye're all free to bring over whatever ye like from yer own homes." "And who are all these fine folk?" asked a feminine voice from behind Aerik. Turning, he saw his wife, [b]Helga[/b], and made the introductions, after which he explained, in brief, King Galrich's edicts of the day. "So, ye're all going to be staying here? Permanently?" asked Helga. "That looks to be th' way of things, yes," admitted Aerik, mentally readying himself for an extended discussion on how the king's decisions overrode the wishes of good and loyal dwarves. But he needn't have bothered. "Why, this is WONDERFUL!" exclaimed Helga, reaching forward in an attempt to hug all the new adventurers at once. "I'll need to get baking! Do you like apple pastries? Of course you do - who doesn't like apple pastries? Ingebold - give your mother a hand in the kitchen, will you?" "Mother, I've got my room to straighten out--" began Ingebold. "Time for that later!" announced Helga, in a tone that brooked no argument. With a sigh, Ingebold handed her mace to her father, and followed her mother, who was practically dancing her way to the back of the keep in her excitement. "That's a good lass," muttered Aerik, opening the door to his daughter's room - now cluttered with three rooms' worth of furniture - and tossing her mace onto her bed. - - - The next day was spent in moving the adventurers' belongings over to their new rooms in Battershield Keep and putting their affairs in order. Feya Cloudshadow, an elf with several centuries of life behind her, was proud to see her firstborn following in the footsteps of her youngest daughter, whose half-elf heritage was responsible for her speedier development. Feron had made quite a name for herself, having retired from the adventuring life and become one of the Sisters of Ehlonna. She still came home every year or so for a visit; wouldn't she be surprised to hear that Finoula was beginning the path Feron had first tread all those years ago? Gilbert Fung's parents were both worried for their son and proud that he had been selected as one of the kingdom's first professional adventurers. "You do us proud," said his father, [b]Verdant Gristwold[/b], with a face devoid of expression, and Gilbert was unsure if that was a statement or a command. But either way, his response was the same: "I be good adventurer, do whole kingdom proud!" His mother, [b]Harriet Fung[/b], fussed nervously over him for a bit, then gave him a kiss and her best wishes for success. Darrien's human mother was beside herself with pride. "My boy--an adventurer!" she gushed for what must be the tenth time since hearing the news. This was the best possible news she could have heard, for she had secretly longed for the life of an adventurer herself and looked forward to living vicariously through her son for many years to come. "You write as often as you can!" she demanded. "And don't forget your raisins!" She passed her son a tied handkerchief containing a handful of dried raisins. Binkadink took the small chest containing 28 different potions from his uncle. "Giving 'em away for free," grumbled Winkidew, "on the orders of His Majesty himself. Well, you remember what I said about them healing potions. I put a little mark on the two that I didn't take no shortcuts on - you save them two for yourself. And you take good care of yourself, Binky." Binkadink shook his uncle's hand, and looked around for any signs of his cousin, but Jinkadoodle had wisely stayed well away since his [i]magic mouth[/i] prank. [i]That's all right[/i], he thought. [i]He won't make any moves against me until I've paid him back for this last prank. And it'll have to be a good one....[/i] Castillan was estranged from his father, [b]Aroben Ivenheart[/b], and stayed at a variety of inns and taverns throughout the kingdom, using the opportunity to hone his pick-pocketing skills to keep him in spare coinage. But he did take the time to say farewell to his mother, [b]Daerdis[/b], and his younger brother and sisters. Who knows? Perhaps the adventuring life would be just what he was looking for: a way out of the kingdom and into his own fortune, one that had no ties to his father at all. And if he ended up being a hero? Well, there were worse things to become.... - - - I've decided I'm also going to record one final bit of information about our game sessions. For many years now, I've tried to coordinate the T-shirt I wore to game day with some aspect of the plot of that session's adventure. So, as a final bit of topical information, of interest to me if to nobody else: T-Shirt Worn: solid gray, with no image. I specifically wore a T-shirt with no image on it, to represent the "clean slate" a brand new campaign provided us. [/QUOTE]
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