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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Velenne" data-source="post: 961820" data-attributes="member: 1856">Near the center of Ersadia's vast landscape, cradled in heavily-travelled gulf lies what has simply come to be known as the Free Island.  During the drafting of what would become the Magocracies, no decision could be reached giving the island to one Magelord or another.  Thusly, it was deemed to be governed by no Magelord.  Spanning just under one hundred miles at most to any shore from its center, the island was believed to hold little significance beyond a possible trading port.  Word slowly spread of a place where one could live out from under the thumb of the oppressive governments.  Initially, life there was hard, allowing only the hardiest settlers to survive.  But as time passed, trade routes began to open, ports were established in seven small villages, and the place became a sort of secret haven.  The people of the Free Island had reached a tenuous state of equilibrium with their former rulers, the mages. Each of the seven cities dealt in its own way with the ever-encroaching threat. Some embraced the free trade and flourished because of it, but compromised some of the freedoms offered by other cities. Others passed laws which heavily regulated the sale and use of magic, but were thusly forced into trade with more open-minded neighbors. Still, Hammer liked his city the best. He and his small group had meticulously muscled out every mage in the little town of Darrofall, right down to the hedge wizards and would-be sorcerors.  It was like a little taste of what Lexidon's* heaven would be like, he hoped.Sallinan had arranaged it all. Of all the mages out there, Hammer supposed if he had to like one, it would be Sallinan. The chubby old mage-priest was able to take "whatever it takes" to such a degree the paladin just had to admire him. Here in Darrofall, what started out as their little resistance (a paladin, a ranger, and a thief around a table with Sallinan at the head) had grown into its own municipality. The priest's ability to make money where no money could be made was astounding.  El'Duran managed the day-to-day, Dietri ran the guard, and Hammer sought out more and more individuals sympathetic to the Cause. The four of them, and now many others, maintained an invisible chokehold on the city's burdgeoning population, allowing only certain individuals to take up residence. On any given corner, Hammer could close his eyes, point, and find someone who had a reason to hate Magelords. "Are you going to stand there looking out the door all night?" It was Dietri. She was always blunt and he liked that about her. "I don't like sitting," he answered, never taking his eyes off the path, "it leaves you vulnerable.""Still can't shake that feeling, huh?"The elven woman shrugged, leaned back in her chair and stretched her lithe form.  She was always trying to tempt his flesh with her magnificent body and cascading red hair, but he felt not the slightest twinge of longing.  He was too focused at the moment in trying to find El'Duran.  Somewhere out there, the Night Elf** was supposed to have taken up a watch over the door to the little mountain shack.  It was an extra precaution he hadn't ever felt the need for prior to this meeting.Sallinan was afraid they may have bitten off more than they could chew this time.  The last group they had recruited had raised too many eyebrows in New Tyrsis, garnered too much attention.  To date, their endeavors on the mainland had been small, probing tests on one of three Magocracies whose stability was percieved to be weak.  Now they were going to have to answer to an emmisary who had extracted Hammer's name from one of the captured recruit's minds.  Hammer didn't like to think about what that boy must have gone through, and prayed he had found solace in the end. Two weeks earlier, back in Darrofall, he had recieved a Sending from an Archmage Bythius on the matter.  They had exchanged several brief messages since, and arranged this metting.  The Archmage was investigating the matter personally, or so it seemed.  He wasn't sure what sort of significance the title held, (mages were always tossing about that particular honorary), but he couldn't take the chance.At last, as planned, he saw the light from a small torch winding its way up the path.  Even with his incredible sight, the figure was too far off to be made out.  Worse, he had still been unable to find El'Duran. "Nice new trick you've got for yourself, thief," he said to the trees.  After a pause, he hurrumphed and turned his attention back to the approaching torchlight, the plates of his heavy mail grinding against one another."Thank you.  And I'm a merchant, not a thief.  There's a difference, though I suspect that depends on whom you speak with."Hammer could only shake his head at the sound of the disembodied voice.  Well, at least he had decided to show up.  As good as he was with his hammer, and Dietri with her bow, the two of them combined were almost as good as El'Duran with his damn rapier.  The paladin had never seen anyone move so fast, and he had tested at least a hundred recruits and fought twice that number in enemies by now."Keep your eyes open. No mage comes alone to a meeting like this.""Duly noted," came the voice from a different direction, "thank you for your keen insight into the habits of Archmages."Again, a frown and a head shake was Hammer's wittiest response.  Parlaying with the Night Elf was never one of his favorite things in the world.  He turned to look inside and noticed Dietri was laughing, probably at him."He's coming.  Is everything ready?""The trap is set, milord," she replied after taking a moment to calm herself.  Still smirking, she stood and said, "just give the word."  Like an embodiment of flowing water, Dietri gracefully crossed the short distance to the small fire, stepped onto the embers, and abruptly disappeared. The paladin took a step into the cabin and cast a few cautionary spells from his limited repetoir.  That done, he took a seat at his designated place, leaving the door open, and waited.The game is afoot, mage. Let's see how clever you really are.* - Lexidon is the god of Law, one of Ersadia's five over-dieties who represent the axes of Good, Evil, Law, Chaos, and Neutrality.  Serving him in various capacities are all other gods of all other pantheons whose alignments are partly Lawful.  In the human pantheon (whom Hammer follows), these include the portfolios of Justice, Invention, Duty, Divination, and War.** - Night Elves are the Ersadian equivelant of Dark Elves, or Drow.  Not they, nor any other native race, are considered inherantly evil.  (Nor are any other races considered inherantly anything- good, evil etc).  They are otherwise identical in racial makeup but are found just as often on the surface as they are underground.  Ersadia has three other Elven races: Dawn, Twilight, and Frost Elves.  <a href="http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42238" target="_blank">The Elves were the first race to come to Ersadia,</a> and the first to establish kingdoms and a new calender.  Until the Fiend Wars they were also the most numerous species, with humans rapidly catching up to them.</blockquote>

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