Rhea Erinnia, Purifier of the Dragons' Lair

Greetings, reader. I was narrating the tale of Rhea Erinnia and her failure to eradicate the aura of death in Ferran Mountain here. Join me as I recount how she managed to redeem herself in this final tale which leads us to how Ferran Mountain came to be the empty mine we know today. 

From a protector of a monastery to a bodyguard of a Necromancer King, Rhea's worst nightmare. When others ventured into the king's dominion, it was her who issued orders for his undead army; to slay any intruders on sight. She knew she had also slain other members of the Shields of Vitem, she still recognised their armour. This she mourned, she had slain her companions; people she knew and even grew up with.

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Day and night, she tried to break the curse, until one day she felt that Donshu's hold over her mind was more relaxed than usual. It seemed like he grew too confident that she was under his complete control. However, she had not regained full control of her body, she couldn't escape or fight back. Her brain drifted in and out of control periodically, at times she was back under his control, barely able to think for herself. When she was able to think clearly for herself, she decided to hide the fact that Donshu was not able to control her so easily from him as long as possible, she pretended to be under his complete control even when she wasn't. Her plan was to fool him into a false sense of security, hoping that he would loosen his grip on her even more, until she could act freely.

This plan worked.

After months of this routine, Rhea started to feel like she was herself again. For a whole week, she felt like she had full control over her mind and body. When she felt she could do whatever she wanted without giving Donshu any chance to react, she reached for her sword, drew and struck at her king, chopping his head off in a matter of seconds. In less than a minute, the undead army that had raided towns and villages for years collapsed to the ground, leaving only full sets of Ferrani armour and weapons behind.

The Ferrani King had been slain, and his army eradicated. This is what Rhea had learned to wield a weapon for; stopping any evil the world may be harbouring. Leaving the mountain, her prison, was a triumph she would carry with her forever. No one really knew who had purified the mountain; she would never tell anyone, for it was her own failure that imprisoned her. Returning back to mercenary work, she vowed to protect anyone in need, till death took her from this realm.

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Rhea Erinnia, Shield of Vitem

Greetings, reader. I was recounting the tale of the Legend of the Dragons' Lair, join me as I continue the tale, with the story of Rhea Erinnia, Shield of Vitem. You can find the start of the tale here and the tale of Donshu Sarco here.

Rhea Erinnia spent most of her life as a paladin of the Monastery of Sanaret, in the realm of Solum; serving as one of the Shields of Vitem, the guards of the monastery. Bandits attacked the monastery for its riches, while politicians wanted the Order of Sanaret to be eredicated for their vocal opinions on their way of ruling over Solum. Rhea's payment came from defending the monastery and attacking hideouts, camps and fortresses of the Order's enemies.

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However, she could not keep up this life forever. She had been working for the Order, surviving countless battles, for over fifteen years when she was exiled. The Order wanted the Shields to attack an innocent village under the pretense that they were part of the Army of Mendax, the lord who ruled over the East of Solum. Rhea and five other members of the Shields of Vitem protested that this was not how the Order or the Shields operated, and that they would not have any part in the slaughter of innocent villagers. For this, they were exiled, and threatened that they would be hunted down by the rest of the Shields should they ever interfere with the work of the Order.

So the group left, and made their way to the North, were they found work as mercenaries, protecting caravans as they travelled from one city to another. They kept up this up until one day they were attacked by undead warriors clad in the unmistakable black armour of the Ferrani Dwarves, when they were travelling close to Ferran Mountain. They survived the attack, but the caravan was destroyed and the merchants slain. Although they beat the attackers, they felt defeated for having failed to defend their employers. The way they felt they could redeem themselves was by destroying the source of these monsters; inside the Dragons' Lair.

As they entered, they were immediately attacked by waves of undead warriors. Countless in numbers, these skeletons were too much for the paladins, one by one, they were struck down until only Rhea was left, her abilities in magical spells combined with her skill with sword and shield kept her alive for days on end. However, she was eventually severely wounded and surrounded by undead warriors on all sides. Ready to die, she laid there waiting for the killing strike, or to bleed out. However, before closing her eyes, she saw the skeletons surrounding her fall to pieces.

Next thing she knew, Rhea was guarding the Ferrani king, Donshu Sarco, who had taken over the mountain from the Dragons with the help of the undead horde of Ferrani warriors at his command. Although she tried to attack him, Rhea couldn't, she felt bound to protect Donshu, bound to protect her king. Although she was cursed to do his bidding, she knew what had happened, and was constantly trying to break the curse.

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Donshu Sarco, Commander of Death

Greetings, reader. I was recounting the tale of the Legend of the Dragons' Lair, join me as I continue the tale, with the story of Donshu Sarco, Commander of Death. You can find the start of the tale here.

The few Ferrani Dwarves who survived the attack by the dragons, fled from their home beneath Ferran Mountain. One of these survivors was a young dwarf from the Sarco family, named Donshu. From a young age, Donshu was attracted to the arts of war, learning to wield a battle hammer and striking down enemies with ease, as well as moving around with heavy armour without slowing down at all. However, this all changed when he fled the mountain. 

Accompanied by two other young dwarves who exited the mountain at the same time, he ventured south towards the city of Rali; governed by men. This city had close business ties to the Ferrani Dwarves, purchasing weapons, armour, and other metal works from the dwarves. This suited Donshu and his mates quite nicely, they immediately found work as blacksmiths in Rali; being paid quite handsomely for their fine work. After over ten years working in Rali, Donshu decided it was time to exact vengeance against the dragons, be it ethical or not. The only way he could think of was to raise an entire army of undead Ferrani warriors from within the mountain itself. He looked for books on Necromancy and once he was confident he could complete the ritual he had found to raise a large number of dead soldiers, he decided to leave on his own, but was joined by his fellow Ferrani dwarves; for they knew of his plan and wanted to help.

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Having arrived at Ferran Mountain, the three moved as silently as possible, entering the mountain and travelling to its very center, where the harshest fights had happened. Avoiding any large spaces where dragons were sleeping, they found a sheltered area, where the dragons could not see or reach them, and performed the necessary ritual. Upon uttering the last word of the ritual, dwarven skeletons in Ferrani armour started standing up almost immediately. These undead warriors, having been killed by the dragons, had only one objective, returning the favour. Donshu and the other dwarves remained hidden, constantly raising more undead warriors to replenish their numbers when they were mowed back down by the dragons. One dragon after the other was being slain, more undead dwarves being raised constantly to continue the attack.

After hours of constant battle, a deafening roar could be heard even outside the mountain, the last dragon inside Ferran Mountain had been cut down by the dwarves, their home land finally taken back.

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Vician Tenebor, the Illusionist Assassin - Part II

This post is the second of a two post story, the first can be found here.

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Having left the college of Arcane Knowledge, Vician relied on his skills in Illusion magic to trick people into helping him, providing him with supplies and a place to stay; mostly for free. He spent his days observing what people do during the day, where they go and what they wear; you can learn a lot simply by looking at people. After a couple of months, he knew who the richest people were, and which of them would be easy to relieve of said riches. So he started tailing these people, taking in as much as he could about their daily lives, their families, where they go during the day and where they live. He started off with a tax collector and a blacksmith, both these men spent most of their time around the city, having their houses practically unprotected. Vician planned his moves ahead of time, knowing when his targets where surely to be outside, and entered their homes while they were busy. He cleaned their homes of their valuables, leaving barely anything that may make others believe these men were rich, from jewellery to golden statuettes. These riches he hid, under a lose floor board in his room at the tavern. Eventually he started breaking into homes under the cover of night, entering through windows which were left open for the evening breeze, clearing bedrooms from any valuables while his Silence spell cancels any sounds he may make, thus not waking any residents of the target house.

However, although his skill was great, others of the same skill and lifestyle noticed his doing. One night, returning to his room, he could sense that he was not alone, even though it was dark. Casting a great light in the room revealed a man hidden in the corner of the room, Vician quickly drew a dagger a held it against the intruder's throat. Not having enough time to react, the intruder said he was part of a group of thieves which would welcome Vician's skills to the group. Vician did not feel like this was the best way they could have invited him to join, nor did they show they were the best there is, considering the intruder was easily detected and beaten; but he did agree to meet with the leader of the group, information would be useful. Thus, Vician met Deon Shea, the leader of the group, who provided him with a lot of information about the city, ways to get around and which houses have the best loot or are easiest to break into.

At this point, Vician decided not to join the group, but he did sign a contract where Deon would assign him a job, retrieving known items of extreme value, and was paid for handsomely. Vician kept this up for over a year, until one night, the owner of the house Vician had broken into woke up in the middle of the night and noticed someone was in the house. Instinctively, Vician cast a spell which made him invisible, hiding him from the resident's sight, who called for the intruder to show himself. At one point, when the house owner had come close enough to Vician, he outstretched his hand and grabbed the thief by the collar, claiming that Vician wasn't the only Illusionist in the house. Panicked, Vician reached for his dagger and stabbed the man, who released his grip. Seeing his moment, Vician left the man to die and returned to Deon, not knowing how the leader of the group would take the news. To Vician's surprise, Deon was not upset, he did not seem to really care how Vician acquired the requested goods, so long as they arrived at the group's hideout in one piece.

So Vician kept up his contract with Deon, until one night, arriving back at the hideout, he was greeted by the rest of the group, with the dead body of Deon himself in the middle of the room. They told Vician that he was found a few buildings away from the hideout, with multiple stab wounds in the back. They also found a not in one of his pockets saying that should anything befall him, Vician should take over his place as leader of the group. Although hesitant, Vician eventually accepted this request, taking over leadership of the group and organising them as they never were before. Firstly, the group was finally given a name, the Sons of Shadow. The group pooled there efforts and established themselves in an abandoned manor on the outskirts of the city. They renovated it, making it fit for kings on the inside, but still looking decrepit on the outside. Any contacts that Deon had before his death were forwarded to Vician, who took over all control of the contracts the group had. Vician also set up a set of rules which were to be followed by all members of the guild. For instance, should a member betray the rest, they were to be hunted down and executed. The same was to be done to clients who betrayed the trust of the guild. Thus, the Sons of Shadow grew in repute with people of similar interests, as well as their victims.

Assassination and theft, these were the expertise of these men and women, clothes in dark garments, with hidden faces; wits as sharp as their blades. Since Vician took over leadership of the Sons of Shadow, never has a contract been dishonoured.

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Vician Tenebor, the Illusionist Assassin - Part I

This is the first of a two post story, the second part can be found here.

Join me as I recount how Vician Tenebor, the son of a respected Scholar from the College of Arcane Knowledge, became a Master Assassin of the Sons of Shadow, the most feared criminal organisation in the realm.

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Ralor Tenebor was a man who devoted his life to the studies of anything related to magic, learning as much as he can and teaching young apprentices of the College of Arcane Knowledge. Knowing his son, Vician, had great potential from a young age, he took him in as one of his apprentices. However, he never favoured him above the others, he treated him as one of the other apprentices. However, Vician felt this disconnection with his father was unnecessary; especially since he never knew his mother. He felt abandoned, like one of the orphan apprentices at the College, although his father was in the same room as him most of the time, every day.

During their time off, the apprentices could do anything they liked, Vician would wander around the city, observing the day to day life of nobles and commoners alike. One day, he noticed a lady passing through, clad in exotic clothing and countless jewels. On her way to the city market, she dropped her coin purse, something Vician quickly noted. He went over and picked it up to return it to her, but seeing her pushing aside commoners with no respect, a smug look on her face as if nobody around her was worth anything, made him keep the purse. He lingered about, to see what would happen next, until he noticed the lady walking around, trying to find her purse on the ground and then shouting that someone had stolen her money. Not wanting to have anything to do with it, he left and he never saw the lady again.

As time passed, Vician grew in power, learning all he could about Illusion magic, casting high level spells at a young age. At the age of 28, he left the College, and never returned, stealing some books on Illusion from the College, disguising them as his own scrolls and parchments. When he left, he no longer had the support of the College; no place to live and no supply of food. Thus, he booked a room at the tavern and started looking for a job, but given the political conflict between the mages at the College and nobles of the five Great Families, which had great influence on the commoners' opinions.

Vician had to rely on his skills in Illusion magic to trick people into helping him, eventually turning to theft to earn his only earnings. This however, did not go unnoticed. Although he always did a great job in tricking his target, others who spent their lives preying on the rich knew there was a new thief in town.

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Teraqa Akil, the Egyptian Earth Mage

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   Teraqa Akil

   Elementalist: Earth, Water

   Occupation: Sem Priestess
   Age: 43 years old

   Origin: Valley of Kings 

Teraqa Akil, born to Lepore and Ursa, ia a 43 year old Sem Priest from the Valley of Kings in Upper Egypt. Lepore, Teraqa’s father was a respected Charm Maker in the Valley, making charms for adventurers and official guards of the Pharaoh. Her mother, on the other hand, was a talented Shape Shifter, her favourite form being that of the bear. This is what earned her the name Ursa when she was still young. She left her shape shifting ways back at home when she met Lepore and married him, and never told him of her little secret. However, one faithful day, she was confronted by a group of bandits who tried to rob her and her family of all their riches; this was when she lost control of her powers. She turned into a fierce bear, killing all of the bandits and saving her family. However, Lepore was not impressed; he left her and took Teraqa with him and away from her, in fear for her health.  

Growing up, Teraqa learned how to build magical charms, learning this skill from her father. However, she later found out she had other powers. Enjoyed long walks in the woods, going further from home every time, she felt in tune with nature. One time, she encountered a pack of wolves, her only defence being her wooden walking stick. Wishing she had something harder to deal more damage, her staff turned to stone, heavier but a much stronger weapon. After beating some of the wolves and escaping, Teraqa investigated the new skills she found out, learning more and more about Earth magic. Having this new found power, she started worshipping Geb, the god of Earth, learning much when researching about him through hieroglyphic runes and old scriptures. Through these readings, she also learned about Water magic, learning some of the spells she read about and practicing them along with Earth magic when she was in the woods. Through the long times she spent out in the wilderness, she also became capable of tracking animals and knowing if she was a prey of any dangerous beast she had to be aware of, also identifying abnormalities such as traps in the wilderness from a safe distance.

When asking around for more resources about magic, she was told that the priests of the temples had the largest libraries with vast collection of books, scrolls and more. So, when she was 30 years old, she joined the priests at the temples at the Valley of Kings as an Initiate, earning a promotion to a scribe, earning another promotion to a Sem Priestess at the age of 40. As a priestess of Geb, she learned more and more, taking advantage of the priests’ knowledge on Earth magic, gleaning as much information from their libraries as she could. Earning the respect of fellow priests and commoners alike as a Sem Priestess, she took up the responsibility of performing rituals alongside other priests as they embalmed and mummified the dead, not dealing with the dead herself, but blessing them for the afterlife.  

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Fighters of Midgard - Part 2

These are characters my friends created for a session I Mastered. After the session, I took it upon myself to give them a bit of context and bring them to life through a bit of history. Their background is useful to understand the following post - The Strike of Saarii. 
This post is a continuation of the previous post, which can be accessed here.

Uuragan Oakwale was born on a cold winter night to dark elves Ertrilgor and Uurgael Oakwale, around 150 years ago, high up, somewhere within the range of the White Mountains. His father having the ability to control water and ice, while his mother controlled air, Uuragan inherited a balance of the two. Not much the social type, Uuragan spent his time practising air and frost spells, some times with his older brother, Uuniath. However, during one of they adventures, Uuniath fell to his death off a ledge while the brothers were practising some air spells. Uuragan never knew whether it was his fault or not, nonetheless, he always blamed himself. The only thing left of his brother was his ice sword, the reason why most of their tribe believed Uuragan's story of his brother's tragic death. However, there were those who never liked him, and much less upon learning of his brother's death. Playing a prank on him, these elves almost killed Uuragan in a similar way; only to be saved by a dark elf called Laenia. Becoming the best friendship Uuragan ever had, Laenia taught him much, as she was much older and experienced, especially in air spells. After some time, they decided to move down to civilisation, their road leading them to the city of Enligt; where they eventually joined the army, as it was in dire need of mages to complement the sword and arrow of the rest of the soldiers.

Born to Lord Ansgar Dalgaard of Enligt, Dean Dalgaard had to endure the misfortune of a brutal assault on this noble family for their wealth, at the age of three years old. Dean's sister, Sandela, seventeen years old at the time, managed to escape with him while their parents fought off the brigands who attacked their home. Sandela took her little brother to Bjorg, an elven friend who offered to protect the kid as long as he lived in the White Mountains with him. Dean never saw his sister again, but he did find out his parents were massacred on the night he left Enligt for the first time in his life. Growing up, Dean learned how to wield bow and arrow, hunting bear and wolf for meat and fur at the foot of the mountains, returning home in the snow with enough resources to help the tribe that helped him all his life. During one of his hunting trips, Dean was assaulted by bandits, who took all his loot, money, arrows and his bow. During his return to the mountain, he ended up surrounded by four bears; and without his weapons, defenceless. A dire wolf, chased away the beasts, saving the hunter. Naming his new friend Vargo, Dean returned to the mountains with his new companion who followed and helped him in all his adventures, During his time as a hunter for the tribe hi lived with, Dean found out that the men who attacked his family in Enligt were mercenaries from the island of Saarii, south of the mainland. He also learned the Lord Runo of Enligt was planning an invasion of the island, the perfect opportunity of the Dalgaard family to finally find vengeance.

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Fighters of Midgard - Part 1

These are characters my friends created for a session I Mastered. After the session, I took it upon myself to give them a bit of context and bring them to life through a bit of history. Their background is useful to understand the following post - The Strike of Saarii. 
This post is continued in the next post, which can be accessed here.

Dan Scott, son of Dun, from the dwarven family Scott. Dun was one of the famed Fighters of the North, from a dwarf from Joki. From a young age, Dan learned what he could on the art of war, hunting for orcs who dare camp close enough to the military base with his father's guild. Learning how to ride a horse without falling off, he joined the Joki Cavalry when he was 68 years old, he joined in the hunt for frost trolls closer to the mountain range North of Joki. At the age of 76, he was cut off from the rest of the fighters on a hunt when his horse died, facing then a group of five trolls, each about twice as tall as he was, each of them ended up beneath his feet after a massive strike of his trusty two handed war hammer. At the age of 130, he joined the Army of Joki, being enlisted to any war Lord Runo declares and to protect the lands of Midgard from invaders.

The dark elf, Duryraen dar'Vuzmur, son of Filaren and Ahlysaaria, should have been dead a long time ago, which was the plan of the bandits who attacked his family when they were travelling from Portti to Enligt when he was still very young. Unreal as he thought it was, a group of large spiders emerged from the woods , killing most of the bandits and scaring off the rest, saving the young dark elf. Unfortunately, he was the only survivor of the the family, The spiders took Duryraen and raised him as best they could, but he left them at the age of 19 for civilisation. Capable to defend himself, he continued the journey towards Enligt, the journey that led to the death of his parents and little sister. Having nobody to help him on his arrival, he turned to the Thieves Guild of Enligt for help; he helped them acquire whatever they wanted, giving him a cut of the profits, which was more than enough for Duryraen. Although it was not what he intended to turn to, at times, he did resort to killing people who stood in his way, driving his daggers into a man's chest or slitting his throat if it was necessary. Learning of the prize set by the Lord of Enligt to every able bodied man or woman to join the army for an attack off the shores of the mainland, Duryraen quickly left the Thieves Guild and joined the army, where he could make a fortune while earning a living as one of the noble warriors of Enligt instead of being the face on a wanted poster.

Of human descent, Amal Cal grew up with the priests of Eir, the Goddess of healers, in one of the temples in Enligt. Many warriors came back from battles with grievous wounds and hunters with bites and scratches were healed at the temple, impressing the young Amal, he started learning alchemy to help them in making revitising potions and other cures to help the recovering patients. However, when he was of age, it was revealed to him that he possessed magical power, and given aid by the priests, Amal gained the much revered skill of healing magic. Never knowing who his parents were, he never had any ambition to find them, the priests of Eir were his family and he became a healer just like the men who raised him, using the spells he learned to cure illnesses and wounds alike. At the age of 48, he joined a group of soldiers from the Army of Enligt who landed in Kalastaja to help get back to Enligt to report back to Lord Runo.

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Aíma, the Blood Mage

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        Name: Aíma
        Race: Drow
        Class: Blood Mage
        Age: 120

        Father: Istorvír
        Mother: Elviira

Istorvír, a powerful warrior born in Orithea, had been tasked to help defend Trekhom Tower, where he met Elviira, an ice mage who had been posted there some time before. Together they worked hard to quell any attack posed by orcs, goblins and other creatures that thought of trying to make it to Orithea. They both excelled in their duties, enough to be promoted to leaders of a squad, specializing in hunting for orcs and goblins in the mountains. They were taken back to the city when Elviira started feeling sick, leading to their discovery of her being pregnant. Once settled, living in a small home in Orithea, the couple got married, both working in the city, a quiet life at last.

Tuinír, son of Istorvír and Elviira, inherited his mother's prowess in the magical arts, managing to bend water to his will at a very early age. However, the happy family was torn apart, when Elviira was found dead in her bedroom, the room an entire mess, blood everywhere and things broken and toppled over; and a note in scribbled writing 'paying you in kind, meet you back in the mountains'. After the terrible loss and at the message from the goblins, Istorvír broke down and headed back to the mountains to hunt for his wife's killers, leaving his son to live with his brother, Tuinír's uncle.

Growing up without his parents, Tuinír grew a habit of going back to his parents' home and hanging out at the abandoned house. Until the fateful day when he heard scrambling noises and sounds of objects being broken downstairs. Terrified of what he and his father had found back when his mother died, Tuinír froze on the spot, unable to move a muscle until the door burst open and a goblin jumped in to find the young drow staring at him. After a few seconds, Tuinír's instincts followed those of his father, going into an aggressive stance as soon as he saw the goblin's teeth with saliva and dark eyes shining in the low light of the room. The only power Tuinír knew, water magic , was useless in the situation as there was no water in the room, or so he thought. The first spell that came to mind was to freeze water, he instinctively cast it and to his amazement, his opponent froze on the spot. The look of horror in the goblin's eyes told Tuinír exactly what had happened and that he had enough time to flee through the window before the rest joined them. Looking back before he jumped off the window ledge, Tuinír noticed that the goblin had started to twitch, learning that his power was not permanent.

Curious about this new-found power, Tuinír tried performing the same spell on small animals, being successful in freezing them temporarily and stopping the effect voluntarily, as well as controlling said animals. As time passed by, Tuinír discovered and developed more and more spells and powers related to blood, calling it blood magic. At this point in life, he decided to start over anew; he changed his name to Aíma, a name derived from the word 'blood', and ventured to the mountains to hunt for orcs and goblins, making them suffer along the way.

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Yor'Aves, wielder of the ethereal flame

This time round, the DM decided to create a a Gaslight Fantasy world for us to venture through; Fernia, the capital, was described as 'similar to Victorian London'.

Fernia, the capital city of Fern, ruled by the Governor Lord Graham Pierce,  a city of emergin capitalism, economy and industry. Many farmers and villagers left their lands long ago to start a new life in Fernia. The capital is busy, noisy, dirty; however, this is the best place to be for any person who wants to make a fortune. 

Yor'aves lived in the capital of Fernia with his family when he was young. Not the loud kind of person, at the age of twenty five, he took up and undertaker post at the edge of the city for some peace and quiet. After a couple of years at the post, he found an amulet, with what seemed to be an ethereal flame inside it. He tried and tried to destroy the relic, for he sensed great power within it, power which could lead to disastrous events should it fall in the wrong hands; but to no success. 

He decided to carry it around his neck at all times to secure the relic; but its power reached out to him, leading him to kill an entire family, the family which had had an ancient feud against his ancestors. The amulet granted him the ability to draw flames out of it, striking down his opponents and burning them to death. He tried to hide these events, but his brother was in the area, and saw the entire event from a distance. Upon confrontation from his family, Yor'aves lost control of his new-found power, killing all of his family members. 

Shocked by this power and the lack of control he had over it, he fled the city. He moved to Artemis, a city rumoured to house magic wielders and historians; he would not give up this powerful amulet but he vowed to find out what it is and to master is powers. Over the thirteen years living in Artemis, Yor'aves heard rumours of a "dark figure who suddenly draws flames from his chest and burns people alive"; but given the scepticism of the citizens about magic, he still yet has to be threatened by the authorities. 

Living in Artemis has over the years proved to be quite a good hideout. During the time spent in this city and researching the power of the amulet Yor'Aves met a scholar by the name of Sir Sorsken. Without fiving this stranger too much detail about his goals, he found much help and guidance from Sir Sorsken's knowledge, learning how to master and control much of the amulet's power over the time he spent in the scholar's company. Then all of a sudden, Sir Sorsken had to leave off for one of his urgent expeditions across the continent, and little more did Yor'Aves hear of him.

At the age of forty five, the mail man knocked Yor'Aves' door and said he had a letter for him. A surprising event, to say the least, as he barely had any acquaintances, let alone friends. The following was written in the letter:

Mr Yor’aves,

Whilst hoping you are well and still in control of yourself, I can finally and happily tell you that I have an opportunity you’ve long been seeking.

The matter is of slight urgency, and of the kind of nature which I’m sure you will accept with open arms…. unless you’ve changed so much.

To discuss this special meeting we have a reserved table at the Silver Bull & Momma’s in Fernia in 1 week hence, at 6 in the evening.

I will see you then,
Your friend,Sir I Sorksen.

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Drolme, Limb Cleaver and Skull Splitter

Born and raised in the city of Neuval, the City of Stone, home to the Dwarven kingdom, Drolme don of Tolgan, grew up to follow the same profession as that of his father and their ancestors. His father, a proud mason who maintained the city walls, was famed to be one of the best there was in the city. Building houses and barracks, Drolme gained the skills he needed to earn the respect of other masons and be considered as one of them. He then started working on sculptures, ending up working on a pair of 40 foot statues of Dwarven warriors guarding the city gate, along with a team of highly experienced sculptors. 

However, he always dreamed of being one of the famed warriors in fine armour and striking down their enemies with their axes, dripping with their enemies' blood. He eventually started to venture out as a guard with trade route caravans, being paid much more than he would as a mason or sculptor; carrying shield and axe and some basic armour for protection. Bandits were a common problem, thus the high wage of a trade route guard, but they fell down, often cleaved in two, to Drolme's axe, earning him the title of Limb Cleaver. After each journey, he would always go back to Neuval to continue his work, but the thrill of battle always pulled him back out on the road. He never joined the army or left for the mainland for he was the one to take care of his father in his old age, but it was always a dream to visit the capital of Vallingard. 

When Drolme was about 90 years old, his father died in his sleep, leaving him with no real ties to Neuval except for his profession; but a mason could find employment wherever he went. But Drolme wanted something more, something that could get his blood pumping; he dreamed of joining a mercenary group or even the army of Vallingard. At the age of 102, he boarded a trade ship to the mainland, landing at the capital of Vallingard, a city of men, his first challenge being that of finding a mercenary that would accept a Dwarf. Days passed, and finally such a group was found, venturing out to hunt for bandits and claiming bounties became Drolme's profession. Money was never a problem, as bandits were even more common this side of the canal. Some years later, he even joined the army of Vallingard in its continuous war against the dark elves in the North, earning the title of Skull Splitter, although such titles were pointless in Drolme's opinion, he did like the fact that he felled hundreds of enemies and never was he injured enough to be taken out of battle. At the age of 185, he left the army, retiring to his home in Vallingard, to a peaceful life as a revered veteran. 

However, he was again drawn to a new expedition; a small group composed of men, elves and even a halfling were looking for a warrior for added protection, Drolme was the man for the job.

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Málion, Ice Arrow Master

This was the first character I ever created for D&D, the first time I joined my friends and played the game.

Málion, born to a couple of ice mages forming part of a tribe of nomadic elves, grew up to appreciate nature and to care for it, but also capable of surviving it even if alone. The tribe's history fraught with magical battles and gruesome deaths, led his family to move away from the rest of the elven mages to seek shelter in the forests. Finding himself face to face with innumerable dangers within the forests, Málion learned to hunt wild animals for food, leather and fur, tracking them for hours, laying traps and shooting arrows at his prey. His preferred method for hunting is archery, securing a kill from miles away. He also developed heightened mobility skills in rough terrain, together with a keen eye, prone to rapidly spot prey and hunter alike.

Although his parents tried to shelter their son from magic, as it was the source of all the mishaps they endured while living with the tribe, Málion discovered that the little he had already learned could be highly useful for his everyday hunting duties. He used the power to manipulate ice to create arrows out of thin air, creating an endless supply. These arrows also freeze the area they hit, be it land or animal, making it easier to track larger animals such as bears.

As he grew up, he decided to leave his family to go and live in a city, however, he soon found out why the tribe his parents used to live with was primarily made up of mages. Magic was frowned upon in every city in the area; and once people noticed that Málion used magic, he was immediately cast out. Returning to the forests, he could not find his parents again, assuming that they had moved to somewhere new to find better conditions, or worse, he decided to adopt the nomadic lifestyle and move around the forests according to the climate and hunting possibilities.

As he reached adulthood, he had mastered most of the ice techniques known to elves, turning to other elements to challenge himself. He learned how to create arrows out of rock, losing the properties of the ice element, but gaining a sharper tip, penetrating even the thickest of skins.

I could not find an image of a male archer using ice arrows, so this was the image I gave the rest of the group for the to get an idea of 'who I am'.

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