Knightfall
World of Kulan DM
Knightfall's Tales of the Companions [AD&D 2E]
Greetings fellow story hour enthusiasts! This thread details my campaign in my homebrew campaign setting, World of Kulan. And while I'm not going to try and compete with P'Cat or the other story hour veterans (you know who you are), I do hope to find an audience for this story hour.
Now, if you haven't visited my World of Kulan Yahoo Group, that's okay. You don't need to know everything posted on that group before reading this but it will help you better understand my world in the long run. you can also find more information about Kulan from my World of Kulan Wiki here on E.N. World.
This story hour started out mainly from Bactra's point of view, but the story hour is beginning to evolve more into a full-blown narrative.
NOTE: I've taken a lot of creative license on the exact details of the adventures since our group was sort of a kill the monster, collect the treasure, and move on kind of group. We were heavy on roll-playing, not roleplaying.
===================================
World of Kulan Threads
* Kulan: The Fallenlands
----------------------
* Knightfall's Fiend Lexicon
* Mirror, Mirror...
===================================
Now before I get into the nitty-gritty of the first adventure, I thought I'd give a little background on the first three PCs and two NPCs (in alphabetical order).
Bactra Redwind (elf wizard) - This character comes from the forest elf community known as Woodknot. Born a poor tailor's son, Bactra grew up without very much to look forward to. He took to the adventuring life as soon as he came of age, determined to expand his magical skills beyond the mundane cantrips and spells the Elders of his community allowed him to learn. Exposed to human culture by Dabuk Tigerstorm, his half-cousin, and Mesik Tindertwig it didn't take long for Bactra to remake his image with the best clothes he could buy and a weakness for human women.
Dabuk Tigerstorm (half-elf ranger) - This character was conceived after I sold my friend G on playing a ranger and showing him my AD&D Ranger's Handbook. He immediately started salivating over the Stalker kit and Dabuk was the result. Dabuk is as good a tracker in urban environments as he is through the forests of the Eastern Shores including the Great Forest. Dabuk's father is a human ranger and his mother was a forest elven druid from Woodknot. She was brutally killed by ogres when Dabuk was an infant. He watched it happen and has never been able to keep the images from haunting him to this day. As a result, Dabuk hates ogres with a passion that fuels his need for revenge. He doesn't go looking for ogres to kill but won't retreat from a fight if an ogre is involved. He is frustrated with his father, Garth Tigerstorm, because of his father's friendship with the good ogre, Kellin One-Eye. He can't understand why his father would betray his mother's memory by associating with one of the brutes.
Dvalin Thunderstone (NPC, dwarf fighter) - If I hadn't been the DM then Dvalin would have been my first PC. Of course, since Kulan is my world and I wanted to be the DM, Dvalin became my first NPC. Dvalin is not a typical dwarf in that he likes to spend time with humans and elves. He met Jeddar Silversun first then Bactra and Dabuk. For a long time, Dvalin was the big brother of the group. He tended to bail the others out of jams they got into. Sometimes this meant actually bailing his friends out of jail. Dvalin is not an official member of the Tiger Guild but became close to the Tigerstorm family regardless. Carl Tigerstorm knew that Dabuk and Bactra were in good hands when they went off adventuring with Dvalin watching their backs.
Jeddar Silversun [half-elf bard (blade)] - Jeddar was more like my PC than my friend's. I created the character concept and did up all the stats. (That alone should have told me that he wasn't all that interested in playing D&D.) Jeddar is the adopted half-elven son of the ruler of the Kingdom of the Silver Leaves. The boy's life wasn't easy under the scornful eye of his adopted elven mother and the Silver Council. It's no wonder that he chose to leave the silver elf kingdom and learn the bardic life at the Bardic College of Thallin, in the city of Fruen. Once there, Jeddar soon met Dvalin Thunderstone and the two became fast friends. Eventually, the pair came across Dabuk and Mesik Tindertwig in the same back alley under difficult circumstances. The foursome came out cut and bruised, as well as fast friends. Jeddar then began to become influenced by the teachings of the Tiger Guild and learned to love the way of the blade.
Mesik Tindertwig (NPC, halfling rogue) - Mesik was a throw in NPC to give Dabuk a fellow, long-term member of the Tiger Guild. Mesik is to Dabuk what Dvalin is to Jeddar. For years, the two were inseparable, sharing the same room at the Tiger Guild through their early years. Mesik even tagged along with Dabuk when the ranger went to Woodknot to visit his mother's grove and Bactra. Mesik was instrumental in getting Bactra to open up and risk leaving his home to visit Fruen once in a while. Bactra was soon visiting Dabuk more often and hanging out with Mesik as much as possible. Mesik's past is a bit of a mystery and not even Dabuk knows the whole story.
* * *
RUDWILLA'S STEW
From the Journal of Bactra Redwind, son of Minonus
Griffondale:
My friends and I were walking the streets of Griffondale in the Duchy of Minar when a noble gentleman named Jelmark, an emissary for the local Duke, approaches us about a quest. While hesitant, we agreed to listen to his story in exchange for a meal at the local tavern. Once there, Jelmark told us of the quest.
A lair of bugbears in the Sunus Mountains warred with the peoples of Minar and the Barony of Wolffire six years ago. Duke Brookwater and Baron Hault's combined forces drove the bugbears back into their caves beneath the mountains.
Fearing another bugbear incursion, a senile old crone named Rudwilla Grumb concocted a stew for the bugbear king, as a gift of homage from the bugbear King’s human neighbors. Her stew was so well received by the bugbear king, Brulok, that he decided not to renew his attack against the humans. Brulok demanded that the stew be brought to him every year as a tribute, just in time for the bugbear King's birthday.
The bugbear tribe hasn't attacked since.
The time has come again for the stew to be delivered. Jelmark contacted the old crone and found out that the stew wasn't ready yet, as she requires several ingredients. He needed our help to gather the ingredients for Rudwilla and then deliver the stew to the bugbear tribe. He offers 1,000 gold pieces for our help.
Dabuk, of course, tried to wrangle more gold out of Jelmark and supplies for the journey. Jelmark was unhappy but agreed to request the additional gold and supplies from the Duke. He then gave us a scroll to present to Rudwilla that proved we were acting for the Duke's.
As Jelmark left the tavern, Dabuk decided to tail him just to make sure that the mission wasn’t a setup. (He's like that.) Jeddar, Dvalin, and I stayed behind to continue our feasting and Jeddar put on quite the show.
Dabuk and Mesik came back several hours later. Dabuk told us that he and Mesik tracked Jelmark to a local brothel. There, they trapped the Duke's man insisting that our demands be met before we’d help with the quest. Dabuk encouraged Jelmark to be very forthcoming. It would be a shame if the Duke found out about the man's extracurricular activities. Jelmark quickly agreed to pay whatever we wanted, as long as the Duke and his wife never find out.
We left Griffondale by morning, traveling to the old crone's isolated hovel across the Duke's River near the town of Severton. We arrived just in time to save Rudwilla and her apprentice, a human girl named Carrie, from two strange undead creatures wrapped in bands of cloth. They were covered with a sticky substance that could be best described a grey-white paste. Dabuk and Jeddar's weapons stuck to the things and the old crone had to dump boiling hot water on the weapons to free them.
Luckily, I didn't have to suffer the hot water.
The old woman thanked us for our help and invited us inside for a snack. We explained that we had been sent by Jelmark and presented the Duke's scroll as proof. She gave it a once over then presented us with a list of three ingredients that she would need to complete the stew. She tells us that an old friend of hers, an alchemist named Nellus Alakart, has all sorts of things on hand in his home, and old stone fort called the Keep of Ewerwell. He should have what is needed but that we only have three days to find the correct ingredients.
Dabuk took the list, as well as a sketched out map of the area, and we headed for the Keep of Ewerwell. Along the way we were ambushed by a small pack of gnolls. Dabuk outwitted them, easily, sending the gnolls on a wild goose chase through the woods without their breeches.
Several hours later we arrived at the Keep of Ewerwell, which looked abandoned at first. The drawbridge planks were rotted and after Dabuk surveys the Keep from the outside we soon discovered a broken wall and the body of a man in the moat, obviously it was this Nellus Alakart person. He was quite dead and we worried that Rudwilla might blame us if we couldn’t locate the culprits who killed him.
Slowly and carefully, we entered the Keep with Dabuk and Dvalin in the lead. Jeddar and Mesik watched the rear, as well as my back. Inside, we found the lower half of the Keep in ruins, but not abandoned. An old hag named Hezra Blacktooth and her three half-orc sons had occupied the Keep. They retreated to the upper level, attempting to ambush us. We easily succeed in killing the half-orcs but had a little more trouble with the old witch. She kept blinking in and out of existence, harassing us while we explored the keep for the ingredients Rudwilla needed.
Eventually we got lucky. She took a wrong step and walked right into my color spray spell. After that Dabuk and Jeddar made short work of her despite her pleads for mercy. Ha! Mercy after what she and her sons did to the old alchemist. I don't think so. The best part, for me, was gaining her spellbook and wand of fear.
Once the foul family was dealt with, we concentrated on finding the ingredients needed – troll warts, black gretchen moss, and witchroot. Luckily, the first item wasn’t too hard to find. We found the troll warts in two jars on an old wooden table in what was left of the kitchen.
The third ingredient we found in the dead alchemist's lab on the second level. Oh, what I could do with that lab!
The second ingredient had us stumped until we found a note addressed to Rudwilla telling her that getting the moss wasn't a problem for Nellus, as it grew in his well in the kitchen of the Keep! I could have kicked myself. Moss... water... well. Damn... I should have known that.
We take the ingredients, and the note, back to Rudwilla so she can make the stew. Although, why anyone would want to eat such foul things as troll warts, moss, and witchroot is beyond me.
Rudwilla put the awful concoction together then directed us to travel up the road past Chorlette to the bugbears' lair to deliver it. We entered the mountain and ran into two large bugbears, Kull and Garg, guarding the bridge over a chasm, which lead into the lair. The two guards ordered three bugbear skeletons to attack us, to test our strength and courage. I think they were just trying to amuse themselves.
After defeating the undead trio, the bugbear guards allowed us to take the stew into the lair and present it to Brulok, the bugbear king. He was an awful smelling individual, but I kept my mouth shut, as peace depended on our success.
The tribe’s shaman, a bugbear named Crud, poisoned the stew in hopes of breaking the agreement with the Duke. Brulok's taster, Iggy, died from the poison and we were soon forced to explain ourselves. Luckily, Dabuk had been suspicious since we arrived, watching the stew like a hawk. He had seen Crud put something in the stew and didn't believe it was “seasoning”. We exposed Crud and the bugbear King declared him banished “forever and a day”.
The bugbear shaman attacked us in frustration. Jeddar and Dabuk made short work of the shaman dispatching him down the chasm for his crime. Surprisingly, the bugbears were pleased and let us go. I was sure we were going to end up in the stew.
We returned to Griffondale to receive our reward and were offered a chance to fix up the Keep of Ewerwell, and become servants of Minar. We gladly accepted the Keep, but Dabuk soon becomes bored and we left it unoccupied to head south into the unknown…
Below are brief descriptions of four new NPCs that the characters encountered during this adventure.
Brulok (NPC, King of the Sunus Bugbear Tribe) - Most underestimate Brulok’s intelligence, which he uses to his advantage. He tries to appear dim-witted during first encounters with those he considers a threat. Then he leads such opponents into cleaver traps or military ambushes. Brulok is both respected and feared by the members of his tribe, as well as most intelligent foes. His love for the stew brought each year, as tribute has become an addiction for him. He has been considering demanding the stew more often to sate his appetite and force the human's to decide what's more important to them, the peace they crave so much or their pride.
Carrie of Samari (NPC, Apprentice Transmuter) - Carrie comes from an alternate prime material world called Samari and speaks with a heavy accent. Carrie is naturally shy and is superstitious about dark, enclosed places such as dense forests. This is due to the fact that Samari is a barren world and is known for its wide-open spaces. The encounter with the adherers didn't help her fears either. She is devoted to Rudwilla and has dedicated herself to learning as much as she can from her mistress. Rudwilla saved the girls life after she was accidentally transported to Harqual by a spell gone awry by her old master on Samari. Carrie hasn't any plans to return to her world, as her old master was a mean old brute and she finds Harqual much more to her liking. She had never seen snow before and absolutely loves winter.
Jelmark (NPC, Emissary of the Duke of Minar) - Jelmark is a portly man who has a tendency to eat too much and spend his coin on loose wenches. His wife would be angry to the point of violence if she ever found out about his philandering. He goes to great lengths to ensure that neither his wife nor the Duke finds out about his habits. Jelmark would be shocked to find out that the Duke is well aware of his habits and considering whether or not to dismiss the man outright or confront him first. Jelmark was glad to see the characters leave Minar, along with their knowledge of his secret.
Rudwilla Grumb (NPC, Transmuter) - Rudwilla is a lanky, long-faced woman with tangled silver hair and large, jutting while teeth. She isn't nearly as frail or absentminded as she lets on, and her vitality and humor haven't waned over time. She is good-natured towards those that visit her and goes out of her way to entertain guests. Rudwilla came upon Carrie being threatened by a group of bandits and saved the girl from a fate worse than death. She took the girl home, fed her, took care of her and soon came to realize that the girl was gifted in the magical arts. She let the girl stay and become her apprentice. Rudwilla is very fond of the girl and considers her more like her adopted daughter than her apprentice.
-----------------------------
[Next up... the journey south.]
Greetings fellow story hour enthusiasts! This thread details my campaign in my homebrew campaign setting, World of Kulan. And while I'm not going to try and compete with P'Cat or the other story hour veterans (you know who you are), I do hope to find an audience for this story hour.
Now, if you haven't visited my World of Kulan Yahoo Group, that's okay. You don't need to know everything posted on that group before reading this but it will help you better understand my world in the long run. you can also find more information about Kulan from my World of Kulan Wiki here on E.N. World.
This story hour started out mainly from Bactra's point of view, but the story hour is beginning to evolve more into a full-blown narrative.
NOTE: I've taken a lot of creative license on the exact details of the adventures since our group was sort of a kill the monster, collect the treasure, and move on kind of group. We were heavy on roll-playing, not roleplaying.
===================================
World of Kulan Threads
* Kulan: The Fallenlands
- Kulan: The Lands of Harqual
- Kulan: Year of the Return (749 N.C.)
- Kulan's Cosmology (Diagrams)
- World of Kulan Maps
- World of Kulan: Monster Compilations
----------------------
* Knightfall's Fiend Lexicon
* Mirror, Mirror...
===================================
Now before I get into the nitty-gritty of the first adventure, I thought I'd give a little background on the first three PCs and two NPCs (in alphabetical order).
Bactra Redwind (elf wizard) - This character comes from the forest elf community known as Woodknot. Born a poor tailor's son, Bactra grew up without very much to look forward to. He took to the adventuring life as soon as he came of age, determined to expand his magical skills beyond the mundane cantrips and spells the Elders of his community allowed him to learn. Exposed to human culture by Dabuk Tigerstorm, his half-cousin, and Mesik Tindertwig it didn't take long for Bactra to remake his image with the best clothes he could buy and a weakness for human women.
Dabuk Tigerstorm (half-elf ranger) - This character was conceived after I sold my friend G on playing a ranger and showing him my AD&D Ranger's Handbook. He immediately started salivating over the Stalker kit and Dabuk was the result. Dabuk is as good a tracker in urban environments as he is through the forests of the Eastern Shores including the Great Forest. Dabuk's father is a human ranger and his mother was a forest elven druid from Woodknot. She was brutally killed by ogres when Dabuk was an infant. He watched it happen and has never been able to keep the images from haunting him to this day. As a result, Dabuk hates ogres with a passion that fuels his need for revenge. He doesn't go looking for ogres to kill but won't retreat from a fight if an ogre is involved. He is frustrated with his father, Garth Tigerstorm, because of his father's friendship with the good ogre, Kellin One-Eye. He can't understand why his father would betray his mother's memory by associating with one of the brutes.
Dvalin Thunderstone (NPC, dwarf fighter) - If I hadn't been the DM then Dvalin would have been my first PC. Of course, since Kulan is my world and I wanted to be the DM, Dvalin became my first NPC. Dvalin is not a typical dwarf in that he likes to spend time with humans and elves. He met Jeddar Silversun first then Bactra and Dabuk. For a long time, Dvalin was the big brother of the group. He tended to bail the others out of jams they got into. Sometimes this meant actually bailing his friends out of jail. Dvalin is not an official member of the Tiger Guild but became close to the Tigerstorm family regardless. Carl Tigerstorm knew that Dabuk and Bactra were in good hands when they went off adventuring with Dvalin watching their backs.
Jeddar Silversun [half-elf bard (blade)] - Jeddar was more like my PC than my friend's. I created the character concept and did up all the stats. (That alone should have told me that he wasn't all that interested in playing D&D.) Jeddar is the adopted half-elven son of the ruler of the Kingdom of the Silver Leaves. The boy's life wasn't easy under the scornful eye of his adopted elven mother and the Silver Council. It's no wonder that he chose to leave the silver elf kingdom and learn the bardic life at the Bardic College of Thallin, in the city of Fruen. Once there, Jeddar soon met Dvalin Thunderstone and the two became fast friends. Eventually, the pair came across Dabuk and Mesik Tindertwig in the same back alley under difficult circumstances. The foursome came out cut and bruised, as well as fast friends. Jeddar then began to become influenced by the teachings of the Tiger Guild and learned to love the way of the blade.
Mesik Tindertwig (NPC, halfling rogue) - Mesik was a throw in NPC to give Dabuk a fellow, long-term member of the Tiger Guild. Mesik is to Dabuk what Dvalin is to Jeddar. For years, the two were inseparable, sharing the same room at the Tiger Guild through their early years. Mesik even tagged along with Dabuk when the ranger went to Woodknot to visit his mother's grove and Bactra. Mesik was instrumental in getting Bactra to open up and risk leaving his home to visit Fruen once in a while. Bactra was soon visiting Dabuk more often and hanging out with Mesik as much as possible. Mesik's past is a bit of a mystery and not even Dabuk knows the whole story.
* * *
RUDWILLA'S STEW
From the Journal of Bactra Redwind, son of Minonus
Griffondale:
My friends and I were walking the streets of Griffondale in the Duchy of Minar when a noble gentleman named Jelmark, an emissary for the local Duke, approaches us about a quest. While hesitant, we agreed to listen to his story in exchange for a meal at the local tavern. Once there, Jelmark told us of the quest.
A lair of bugbears in the Sunus Mountains warred with the peoples of Minar and the Barony of Wolffire six years ago. Duke Brookwater and Baron Hault's combined forces drove the bugbears back into their caves beneath the mountains.
Fearing another bugbear incursion, a senile old crone named Rudwilla Grumb concocted a stew for the bugbear king, as a gift of homage from the bugbear King’s human neighbors. Her stew was so well received by the bugbear king, Brulok, that he decided not to renew his attack against the humans. Brulok demanded that the stew be brought to him every year as a tribute, just in time for the bugbear King's birthday.
The bugbear tribe hasn't attacked since.
The time has come again for the stew to be delivered. Jelmark contacted the old crone and found out that the stew wasn't ready yet, as she requires several ingredients. He needed our help to gather the ingredients for Rudwilla and then deliver the stew to the bugbear tribe. He offers 1,000 gold pieces for our help.
Dabuk, of course, tried to wrangle more gold out of Jelmark and supplies for the journey. Jelmark was unhappy but agreed to request the additional gold and supplies from the Duke. He then gave us a scroll to present to Rudwilla that proved we were acting for the Duke's.
As Jelmark left the tavern, Dabuk decided to tail him just to make sure that the mission wasn’t a setup. (He's like that.) Jeddar, Dvalin, and I stayed behind to continue our feasting and Jeddar put on quite the show.
Dabuk and Mesik came back several hours later. Dabuk told us that he and Mesik tracked Jelmark to a local brothel. There, they trapped the Duke's man insisting that our demands be met before we’d help with the quest. Dabuk encouraged Jelmark to be very forthcoming. It would be a shame if the Duke found out about the man's extracurricular activities. Jelmark quickly agreed to pay whatever we wanted, as long as the Duke and his wife never find out.
We left Griffondale by morning, traveling to the old crone's isolated hovel across the Duke's River near the town of Severton. We arrived just in time to save Rudwilla and her apprentice, a human girl named Carrie, from two strange undead creatures wrapped in bands of cloth. They were covered with a sticky substance that could be best described a grey-white paste. Dabuk and Jeddar's weapons stuck to the things and the old crone had to dump boiling hot water on the weapons to free them.
Luckily, I didn't have to suffer the hot water.
The old woman thanked us for our help and invited us inside for a snack. We explained that we had been sent by Jelmark and presented the Duke's scroll as proof. She gave it a once over then presented us with a list of three ingredients that she would need to complete the stew. She tells us that an old friend of hers, an alchemist named Nellus Alakart, has all sorts of things on hand in his home, and old stone fort called the Keep of Ewerwell. He should have what is needed but that we only have three days to find the correct ingredients.
Dabuk took the list, as well as a sketched out map of the area, and we headed for the Keep of Ewerwell. Along the way we were ambushed by a small pack of gnolls. Dabuk outwitted them, easily, sending the gnolls on a wild goose chase through the woods without their breeches.
Several hours later we arrived at the Keep of Ewerwell, which looked abandoned at first. The drawbridge planks were rotted and after Dabuk surveys the Keep from the outside we soon discovered a broken wall and the body of a man in the moat, obviously it was this Nellus Alakart person. He was quite dead and we worried that Rudwilla might blame us if we couldn’t locate the culprits who killed him.
Slowly and carefully, we entered the Keep with Dabuk and Dvalin in the lead. Jeddar and Mesik watched the rear, as well as my back. Inside, we found the lower half of the Keep in ruins, but not abandoned. An old hag named Hezra Blacktooth and her three half-orc sons had occupied the Keep. They retreated to the upper level, attempting to ambush us. We easily succeed in killing the half-orcs but had a little more trouble with the old witch. She kept blinking in and out of existence, harassing us while we explored the keep for the ingredients Rudwilla needed.
Eventually we got lucky. She took a wrong step and walked right into my color spray spell. After that Dabuk and Jeddar made short work of her despite her pleads for mercy. Ha! Mercy after what she and her sons did to the old alchemist. I don't think so. The best part, for me, was gaining her spellbook and wand of fear.
Once the foul family was dealt with, we concentrated on finding the ingredients needed – troll warts, black gretchen moss, and witchroot. Luckily, the first item wasn’t too hard to find. We found the troll warts in two jars on an old wooden table in what was left of the kitchen.
The third ingredient we found in the dead alchemist's lab on the second level. Oh, what I could do with that lab!
The second ingredient had us stumped until we found a note addressed to Rudwilla telling her that getting the moss wasn't a problem for Nellus, as it grew in his well in the kitchen of the Keep! I could have kicked myself. Moss... water... well. Damn... I should have known that.
We take the ingredients, and the note, back to Rudwilla so she can make the stew. Although, why anyone would want to eat such foul things as troll warts, moss, and witchroot is beyond me.
Rudwilla put the awful concoction together then directed us to travel up the road past Chorlette to the bugbears' lair to deliver it. We entered the mountain and ran into two large bugbears, Kull and Garg, guarding the bridge over a chasm, which lead into the lair. The two guards ordered three bugbear skeletons to attack us, to test our strength and courage. I think they were just trying to amuse themselves.
After defeating the undead trio, the bugbear guards allowed us to take the stew into the lair and present it to Brulok, the bugbear king. He was an awful smelling individual, but I kept my mouth shut, as peace depended on our success.
The tribe’s shaman, a bugbear named Crud, poisoned the stew in hopes of breaking the agreement with the Duke. Brulok's taster, Iggy, died from the poison and we were soon forced to explain ourselves. Luckily, Dabuk had been suspicious since we arrived, watching the stew like a hawk. He had seen Crud put something in the stew and didn't believe it was “seasoning”. We exposed Crud and the bugbear King declared him banished “forever and a day”.
The bugbear shaman attacked us in frustration. Jeddar and Dabuk made short work of the shaman dispatching him down the chasm for his crime. Surprisingly, the bugbears were pleased and let us go. I was sure we were going to end up in the stew.
We returned to Griffondale to receive our reward and were offered a chance to fix up the Keep of Ewerwell, and become servants of Minar. We gladly accepted the Keep, but Dabuk soon becomes bored and we left it unoccupied to head south into the unknown…
Note: As a result of the PCs failing to stay and watch over the keep, the Duke grants it to another group of adventurers several weeks later.
Below are brief descriptions of four new NPCs that the characters encountered during this adventure.
Brulok (NPC, King of the Sunus Bugbear Tribe) - Most underestimate Brulok’s intelligence, which he uses to his advantage. He tries to appear dim-witted during first encounters with those he considers a threat. Then he leads such opponents into cleaver traps or military ambushes. Brulok is both respected and feared by the members of his tribe, as well as most intelligent foes. His love for the stew brought each year, as tribute has become an addiction for him. He has been considering demanding the stew more often to sate his appetite and force the human's to decide what's more important to them, the peace they crave so much or their pride.
Carrie of Samari (NPC, Apprentice Transmuter) - Carrie comes from an alternate prime material world called Samari and speaks with a heavy accent. Carrie is naturally shy and is superstitious about dark, enclosed places such as dense forests. This is due to the fact that Samari is a barren world and is known for its wide-open spaces. The encounter with the adherers didn't help her fears either. She is devoted to Rudwilla and has dedicated herself to learning as much as she can from her mistress. Rudwilla saved the girls life after she was accidentally transported to Harqual by a spell gone awry by her old master on Samari. Carrie hasn't any plans to return to her world, as her old master was a mean old brute and she finds Harqual much more to her liking. She had never seen snow before and absolutely loves winter.
Jelmark (NPC, Emissary of the Duke of Minar) - Jelmark is a portly man who has a tendency to eat too much and spend his coin on loose wenches. His wife would be angry to the point of violence if she ever found out about his philandering. He goes to great lengths to ensure that neither his wife nor the Duke finds out about his habits. Jelmark would be shocked to find out that the Duke is well aware of his habits and considering whether or not to dismiss the man outright or confront him first. Jelmark was glad to see the characters leave Minar, along with their knowledge of his secret.
Rudwilla Grumb (NPC, Transmuter) - Rudwilla is a lanky, long-faced woman with tangled silver hair and large, jutting while teeth. She isn't nearly as frail or absentminded as she lets on, and her vitality and humor haven't waned over time. She is good-natured towards those that visit her and goes out of her way to entertain guests. Rudwilla came upon Carrie being threatened by a group of bandits and saved the girl from a fate worse than death. She took the girl home, fed her, took care of her and soon came to realize that the girl was gifted in the magical arts. She let the girl stay and become her apprentice. Rudwilla is very fond of the girl and considers her more like her adopted daughter than her apprentice.
-----------------------------
[Next up... the journey south.]
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