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ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quantarum" data-source="post: 5088759" data-attributes="member: 56773">Erdus the Oathkeeper: A warrior of a great and ancient order, Erdus fell in battle and was captured by the cruel Baenations and taken in chains to their city on the high plains to fight in the arena for their amusement. To earn the freedom of a few of his countrymen, Erdus swore an oath to obey his captors and fight with all his skill as a gladiator as long as he lived, but his also swore one day to put Baenai to the torch, end slavery on the great plain and destroy the high born bloodlines of the city for all time. The Baenations did not believe he could keep both oaths at once and were amused by his defiance and let his countrymen go.  Years later Erdus had become a legend of the arena, undefeated and beloved by the high and low born alike. He learned to inflame the crowd to spare those opponents he found worthy and mock his masters as much as one could dare. The day came when Baenai was besieged by the hobgoblin armies of the Blood Moon kingdom, all seemed lost as the city was surrounded and the powerful siege engines began dismantling the ancient walls. So many defenders perished that the Baenations made their slaves man the walls and defend the city. When the guard captain was slain Erdus took command and managed through a series of almost miraculous raids to temporarily break the siege by damaging the catapults. The slaves encouraged Erdus to lead them in revolt, but he said the freedom to die on hobgoblin pikes was no better than slavery. He swore to them that by the setting of the next sun they would be free or dead.  Erdus went before the nobles and told them the city would not endure another day, the walls were too badly damaged and too few remained to defend it. They despaired and offered him any reward if he could spare them the coming fall. Erdus told them to gather all their kin and most precious wealth, they would set the city ablaze and use the smoke as cover to escape. He told them the slaves would flee the city and distract the hobgoblins long enough to ensure their safety. The nobles gladly agreed to the plan. Erdus ordered the slaves to burn one building in five, making sure the smoke was as thick as possible by pouring thick oils into it and making sure the flames did not spread. He then lead the high born and their kin out of the city under cover of the smoke, laden down with their ancestral fortunes. They did not make it far, the hobgoblins spotted the unwieldy caravan and set upon it like wolves. All were slain or carried off and Erdus died fighting atop a pile of goblin corpses. The hobgoblins assumed the city was lost to fire and that the fleeing nobles carried all the best loot, they left the smoking ruin and moved on to new conquests.   Erdus was lost, but by his actions he had fulfilled every oath he had sworn. Among the modern Baenations he is a patron saint and his story is so well known the term "as Erdus kept his word" is used throughout the region to express certainty or determination.  Just a bit from my homebrew, feel free to change the names to suit your own needs. -Q.</blockquote>

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