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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mahiro Satsu" data-source="post: 304777" data-attributes="member: 4970">Episode IX Crown of Fire part 3The History of the Selûnite OrderVol. 12, From Bane to BoonCHAPTER THREE: Well Met at ShieldmeetVan joined a merchant caravan heading to Eveningstar as a scout (due to the increasing number of orc raiding parties). There he met a taciturn shield dwarf named Velm Trueforger, on a mission to bring his wayward cousin Bronn (known as Spellforger, a name given to him in jest by has family, but one that he embraced). Their Clanmaster at Thunderstone had decreed Bronn criminal and traitor for continuing to use the Clan name after being cast out, and Velm was determined to uphold the family honor. Van, looking for any reason not to return to Waymoot, invited himself to join up with Velm. No one knows exactly why Velm accepted his assistance, no more than anyone knows why everyone loves a puppy. Young humans must seem that way to the older races at times.In Eveningstar, Velm cornered Bronn at the Lonesome Tankard on the night of Shieldmeet, where Bronn sat in the company of Enina Meliamne, a moon elf Druid and Saeita Neví, a wild elf monk. Bronn nonchalantly dismissed Velm’s contentions of taking him back to Thunderstone and instead invited Velm to drink more ale. Thus began the legendary Company of the Changing Name.The first act of this group garnered them their first name. Kizzaf, the renegade Red Wizard of Thay, had used the festivities of Shieldmeet to kidnap two local boys and sell them to slavers (to further fund her research activities). The new group of companions quickly rescued the lads and brought the Thayan slavers back to Eveningstar for justice, to be greeted with the name The Company of the Coin by the grateful mother of one of the boys.The local Thayan leader, Fezarch Hinnar, hired the group to locate and bring back Kizzaf, who had vanished from the enclave, giving them a simple clue to go on. The Nameless Company tracked her down to an abandoned cave beyond the eastern end of town, where they captured her and killed her companion, a priest in black mail wielding a wicked mace. The company also discovered Daziel and her warrior companion, Corwyn Black, captured while still on their way to Eveningstar.Returning to town with their captive, the unchartered company was arrested by the Purple Dragons and taken before Lady Tessaril Winter, who agreed to grant them a charter and forgive them their trespasses as long as they would assist her in dealing with a demon imp infestation in Starwater Gorge. While most of the company were in favor of this generous offer, both Bronn and Daziel were reluctant, for different reasons: Daziel wished to resume her original mission, yet felt somewhat indebted to this motley crew who rescued her from captivity; Bronn, however, had uncovered news leading to the entrance to Aerunedar, legendary dwarven home of gold. Both realized that they need assistance before engaging in their separate interests, and they agreed to go along with the company.By this time the Company had taken its’ second name, the Company of the Wolf, in honor of the animal companion of Enina Meliamne. (Later, Bronn Spellforger would christen his toad familiar ‘Wolf’ in his typical sarcastic way of showing the others what he thought of their need to achieve renown.) During the first tenday of Eleasias in the Year of Wild Magic, the company engaged in rooting out what became known as the Haunted Halls of Starwater Gorge. The important things for Selûnites to remember from this time are the restoration of the Tempus paladin, Temuel Khiv, missing since the Year of the Prowling Naga (DR 1176); the defeat of the ersatz Corpsecoil, Ruathgrym (a clever imitation designed by the Corpsecoil to keep the undead hand of Rivior from seeking him out); and the final defeat of Kizzaf, who had escaped from captivity at the Thayan Enclave with the assistance of her Banite allies. During this last battle, the “Claw of Bane” managed to kill Temuel Khiv, but the company persevered over their enemies. (Khiv was later restored to life at the Temple of Lathander, and rededicated his services to that patron. For more information about Khiv, and his background, see the companion volume, History of Allied Orders, vol. 17.)It is no surprise that a company of such strange companions, joined by ill-luck and sometimes with ill-will, fought among themselves as much as they fought their enemies in their early days. The stress on several members was strong: Daziel had uncovered her worst fears, evidence of the Banite presence right here on the doorstep to Aerunedar; Bronn was afraid that Velm would one day remember his early purpose, and act before Bronn was able to show Velm the true importance of his studies; and the entire group, who had promised to root out the kobold influence in the area, instead were looked on with certain suspicion in town following a raid that ended with the death of a prominent townsman, Deltar Tummarlin. Worse yet for Velm, his uncle Dorn Trueforger, the Hammer of Moradin, arrived in Eveningstar, working on reestablishing contact with Aerunedar himself, and exiled both dwarves (one for his criminal ways, the other for aiding a criminal).Good luck often comes from bad, though. Dorn's arrival forced Bronn to reveal more about his knowledge of Aerunedar to the company, and his sentence of exile would prove to be a boon rather than a hindrance as Hathos’ curse prevented any dwarf with a clan to enter the city.It wasn’t until Eleint 10 that the Company finally entered Aerunedar, and the loss of time to the Banites nearly proved disastrous. A Zhentarim wizard, nicknamed Leatherboots by Van because of his clear tracks, had entered the mithril mines before them. In the broken city itself, they encountered a race of troglodytes who worshipped a lord called Yss-Fara, as well as a naga who lived in the underground river the separated the city proper from the rest of the cavern. They also discovered Flamecoil, one of the four wizards responsible for bringing about the downfall of Aerunedar, now a lich who dwelt in Hathos’ tower.Other documents reveal the hurried nature of the party in their race against time to remove Hathos’ curse (and obtain the sacred relics left behind) from Aerunedar. One battle had to be fought against the Company of the Scarlet Flame, who had been hired by the Thayans to obtain certain items from Aerunedar, followed quickly by another encounter with Leatherboots. Flamecoil was revealed to actually be the Corpsecoil himself (trapped in Hathos’ tower by a clever trick of the dwarven bard), who needed the bones of his lover, Shieldcoil, to escape his prison.Here they rescued two additional prisoners of the Coil’s ingenious gem prisons, Caramip, a gnomish bard, and Roman Gemmalee, an elven fighter. And finally, when the Company of the Wolf thought they had managed to gain some breathing room, they met their greatest enemy up until then: Zandris Winter, the daughter of Lady Tessaril Winter, and her black dragon companion, Nightscale. It was Nightscale whose searing acid breath took the life of Selûne’s loyal daughter, Daziel, while Zandris shapechanged Daziel’s warrior companion, Corwyn, into a viper. The only reason the Company of the Wolf survived was due to a last minute bargain made by Van Dyksun— Zandris wanted Hathos’ skull, and Van had a bag of bones which he offered to her. Little did either of them realize the trick that was being played. For one, the bones were those of the Shieldcoil, not Hathos (whose bones had been laid to rest by the newly dedicated cleric of Clangeddin, Velm). Nor was what Zandris wanted really a skull, but a dwarven skul, or traditional drum.</blockquote>

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