I posted my summary up over on the WotC boards, and it got utterly bashed almost immediately. However, I happen to be a glutton for punishment, so here it is over here, too
And yes, I know there's a ton of cliches in here. That's what pulp's all about. Plus, I think I can use them all together to make a pretty decent character-driven tale.
The War-Torn: Thief of Years
* A prisoner for longer than he cares to remember, Tolwyn Dunain -- one of a dozen men accused of war crimes and sentenced to a stay in the underground prison known as the Bowels of Khyber -- is finally free. When the Last War ended, they should have been freed. However, the warden, a human man named Skeren, discovered rare ores in the caverns near the prison, and saw an opportunity to line his pockets. Erasing any evidence of the prison's existence, as well as silencing those who might speak of it, he set his scheme into effect. The prisoners were then forced to mine the ores for Skeren, who smuggled them to the surface. This continued for many years, until finally an adventurer exploring the Dragon's Crown discovered evidence of the prison hidden beneath the surface. When word of its existence spread, forces were amassed to finally shut the prison down and set the inmates free.
* In an attempt to help the prisoners readjust to life on the surface, all twelve are granted transport to Sharn and are given enough gold to get back on their feet. Upon arrival, Tolwyn is dropped another bombshell: his sister, his only family and closest friend, believes he is dead. As part of his plan to use the prison for his personal gain, Skeren informed the families of the prisoners that they had been slain during the Last War.
* Not believing this news, Tolwyn immediately boards a lightning rail heading to Rekkenmark, Karneth. From there, he makes the brief trek to the village he and his sister called home. While on the lightning rail, he finds his mind wandering back to the last time he saw Aerlyth, his sister. He remembers telling her that he had to travel to the lands near Sterngate for a few weeks, and he promised that he would be back and wouldn’t leave her alone...
* Arriving home, he immediately makes a beeline for the home they had shared. Having not even taken the time to clean up before setting out, he looks almost nothing like himself. As such, no one recognizes him. Rounding the corner nearest his home, he sees his sister kneeling on the front lawn, possibly crying. In front of her is a tombstone, with his name on it. In shock that what he had been told was true, he turns to walk away, banging into the wall in the process. Aerlyth, hearing the noise, turns her head to look -- but he is already gone.
* Having nowhere else to go, Tolwyn returns to Sharn. Here, while staying at an inn, he sets about cleaning himself up. And to go with his new look, he decides to take on a new name as well: Galvan Rigstone. Satisfied with his new identity, he settles down for the first good rest he’s gotten in years.
* The next morning, he sets out to find work. After all, the gold he was given to get back on his feet will only go so far. While he bounces from mundane task to mundane task, he finds himself flashing back on his last job – the one that landed him in the Bowels of Khyber for all those years. He had been hired to assassinate the leader of Sterngate. In retrospect, he probably should have asked a few more questions on the whys and wherefores, but the pay was good. If only the job had gone right. But instead, he was arrested and sentenced to prison.
* While he is wandering through the streets of Sharn, Galvan brushes past a woman that seems oddly familiar to him. Stopping at an inn for a drink, he is approached by a mysterious man who introduces himself as Ganrick and offers him a job. There is an artifact known as the Eye of Tethines, believed to be somewhere in the Demon Wastes. Still settling into his new identity, Galvan tries playing dumb about why he was sought out for his job, but Ganrick cuts him off, leaning in and telling him “I know who you really are. If anyone can find that artifact for me, it’s you. If you don’t do this for me, I can ensure that the man you tried to kill years ago finds out you’re still alive.”
* Gathering supplies for his journey, Galvan learns that he is not alone in seeking the Eye. There are three other groups seeking it as well. Boarding the lightning rail in an attempt to gain some ground on the competition, he again encounters the familiar-looking woman, whose name is Jeyura Arrick. She is a powerful psionic and former partner of his, whom he believed to be dead. He learns that a) she recognizes him for who he really is, and b) she seems to want him dead! Narrowly escaping with his life, he finds himself remembering the circumstances of her “death.” The two of them were exploring the Demon Wastes, trying to locate an artifact. When they did in fact find it, her greed got the better of her, and she tried to turn on him. In the end, she fell down a pit to her apparent death, taking the artifact with her…
* Arriving in the Demon Wastes, Galvan manages to locate the dungeon where the artifact is believed to be hidden; the same one he’d explored before. The other groups arrive on the scene as well, and the race to reach the Eye turns deadlier as the traps scattered throughout the dungeon start triggering.
* Finding his way to the base of the pit from before, Galvan locates the Eye. However, he loses it to Jeyura, who has arrived on the scene thrilled the competition! A battle of wills between the formers allies ensues, which triggers one of the many traps and brings the cavern crumbling down around them. Galvan barely manages to escape with his life, but Jeyura and the Eye were both presumably crushed by the debris. The Eye of Tethines is lost to him a second time, and he still has no idea exactly what it was or why the men who hired him wanted it…
* Sometime later, he is home, looking once again upon his former abode. Walking up to his sister, he introduces himself as Galvan Rigstone, a “friend” of her brother’s. He tells her that he promised to look in on her, and that if she’d join him for supper, he’d love to hear about what she’s been doing for the last several years…
My 10 pages are done, too, and could really use a good proofreading, if anyone wouldn't mind. I need to get those in the mail in the next few days if I'm gonna bother, but they really need proofread first.
