Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kryptonian Scion 11-21-05, 02:20 PM	Empire of Dust – Campaign Journal Saturday, November 19th, 2005 Session 1: Prologue – A Fortuitous Meeting. The Triton’s Tankard inn and tavern was rarely crowded, and tonight was no different. The tiny, dockside bar had half a dozen patrons: a human boy no older than thirteen years of age, a changeling woman and her warforged companion, whose chest bore the holy symbol of Dol Dorn, a silent and stoic Valenar, and a pair of explorers-for-hire, a human ranger and a khoravar, who stood with tankards in hand while pinning flyers to a corkboard. The peaceful atmosphere of the bar was shattered when another khoravar, preceded by four human and half-orc thugs who could only be pirates, flung open the heavy entrance doors and strode in from the rain-soaked streets of Newthrone. The newcomers ignored most of the tavern’s occupants, making their way across the room toward the small human boy. When questioned by Whistler the innkeeper, the half-elven pirate simply replied that the young man was wanted by “Lord Vermillion,” and he intended to deliver. The khoravar explorer—a regular at this tavern by the name of Yannis—intervened, claiming that he was a bounty hunter and that the boy was his quarry. He moved into the lad’s corner and whispered to him, ordering the youngster to play along. Long minutes of parley, banter, and insults were exchanged with the half-elven pirate, who stood at the door behind his men, until finally a fight broke out. Yannis’s companion drew his blade and leapt at the kidnappers’ leader, while the deft and graceful khoravar fought off half-orc brigands. Yearning for a good fight, the Valenar hefted his double-scimitar from the corner, finished off his glass of wine, and charged at one of the human pirates who had attempted to flank Yannis. Whistler ducked into the storeroom, cursing the patrons for bringing destruction upon his tavern. He had seen his share of brawls in this taproom, and knew them to be expensive. The changeling woman, who had remained quiet until this point, had jumped over the bar and discreetly urged the boy to follow. After a moment of hesitation, he bolted across the room and joined the gray-skinned female. Moments later they had traded cloaks and she had changed her own appearance to mimic the young man’s. A thrust of the human explorer’s blade nearly slew the half-elven pirate, but also exposed a gut-wrenching secret: the leader of this group of kidnappers had bright blue, curving lines traced above his right collarbone. The Mark of Storms. He was a scion of House Lyrandar! Noticing the human’s glance, the khoravar grinned. “You’re in trouble now, human,” he jeered. “To tell you the truth, I don’t really care!” The ranger pressed the attack on the half-elf, whose henchmen were losing the battle against Yannis, the Valenar, and the warforged. He pursued his Dragonmarked foe into the street where they fought one-on-one—until a well-placed thrust to the chest sent the human into a crumpled heap upon the wet cobblestones. Inside, the brigands had been soundly defeated, although Yannis had been felled by a blow to the chest from a half-orc’s wickedly serrated falchion. Striding over to the unconscious khoravar, the warforged placed an adamantine-plated hand upon the silver-tongued half-elf’s shoulder and quietly prayed. As his wound healed, Yannis got to his feet and looked for his human friend, Daerion. The ranger was quickly found and healed by the warforged, who identified himself as Strong. His changeling companion, Wren, had spent the last several minutes consoling the young man behind the bar and trying to ease his nerves. He pleaded with the strangers to help him escape Newthrone, as many “terrible people” had been chasing him across Khorvaire. His name was Cyr Tal, and he had a wealthy uncle by the name of Oraius who sold goods in Stormhome. All five strangers agreed to help the boy, who promised Daerion and Yannis that his uncle would pay them well, once they arrived in the marketplace at “the Pole” in Stormhome. Wren, Strong, and Cyr Tal maintained a low profile at an inn far from the Triton’s Tankard, while Daerion visited the local Jorasco House of Healing, Yannis went to the local piers to find a ship willing to take on six passengers with little gold, and their Valenar companion took the pirates’ weapons and armor to market and sold them for a handful of Galifars. The half-elf first attempted to gain passage aboard a House Lyrandar Stormship that sailed the waters of the Lhazaar Straits between Newthrone and Q’barra, but the captain of that vessel rebuffed Yannis’s attempts to persuade him. He was instead directed to a passenger and cargo ship further down the docks, captained by a flamboyant human known as Captain Merrygold. After a brief conversation with the sailor, who was dressed in a feathered hat and surcoat of a bright mustard hue, passage was secured and the party set sail for Stormhome.
inspired 11-24-05, 07:25 AM	compelling! give us more...