On the continent of the Fey, far beyond the Southern Sea, Mindereth was one of the most powerful Dukes. He ruled from a castle of iron and stone, that straddled the First and Second Planes.
His reign was long and just, and his people’s loyalty was well-placed. But there were those who schemed to overthrow him.
It was the Duke’s own nephew, Eredun, who set the plan in motion. He was joined by many former vassals - disgraced due to corruption, or disloyalty, or for support of Mindereth’s predecessor - who nonetheless retained some real power.
The conspirators planned to assassinate Mindereth, crowning Eredun in his place and usherin in a new reign of corruption and thievery.
In this, they very nearly succeeded. Mindereth was deposed and Eredun took the throne, but before his uncle could be taken away and executed, the purple-skinned curiosity Mindereth had found unconscious on the beach broke free of its prison and blasted the conspirators with lightning.
With Kal-Tyr’s aid, Mindereth was able to escape the Fey Lands and sail north, to Selentia. Where he planned to travel upriver until he reached the Dwarven capitol, and there beg for aid in recapturing all he had lost.
Unfortunately, thy hadn’t even made it as far as the Dwarven border when the money ran out. And so Mindereth found himself stuck in a backwater town full of Humans:
Riverbend.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Heroes - Kal-Tyr, the Genasi Sword Mage
Kal-tyr is not a native of this world. His people, the Genasi, hail from the Third Plane, another world of volcanic rivers of flame and cities built of eternal ice.
Kal-Tyr was happy there. He served his master faithfully. He had a beautiful home and a garden full of dancing energy sprites.
Then Kal-Tyr was sent away. He does not know why; that memory was taken from him. He only knows that he was sent, because of a mistake that he made. He cannot return until he discovers his mistake, and rectifies it.
Now Kal-Tyr wanders the First Plane, to him a land of strange beings and stranger customs. First he worked himself into the Eladrin Court of Duke Mindereth as a performer and curiosity, sueviving by the fey creatures’ curiosity of his purple skin and unnatural form.
Kal-Tyr did not mind their stares. He was staring back.
When Mindereth was betrayed, Kal-Tyr pushed his way free of the flimsy display case he had been put into, slew Mindereth’s captors with a blast of lightning, and brought the duke to a ship sailing across the sea to Selentia, where a new life awaited them.
Fleeing their pursuers, the pair travelled upriver, until they reached a village far to the north, where for the first time, Kal-Tyr saw something he remembered from before his exile.
It related to his mistake in some way, he was sure of it. A flash, a name..
“Riverbend.”
Kal-Tyr was happy there. He served his master faithfully. He had a beautiful home and a garden full of dancing energy sprites.
Then Kal-Tyr was sent away. He does not know why; that memory was taken from him. He only knows that he was sent, because of a mistake that he made. He cannot return until he discovers his mistake, and rectifies it.
Now Kal-Tyr wanders the First Plane, to him a land of strange beings and stranger customs. First he worked himself into the Eladrin Court of Duke Mindereth as a performer and curiosity, sueviving by the fey creatures’ curiosity of his purple skin and unnatural form.
Kal-Tyr did not mind their stares. He was staring back.
When Mindereth was betrayed, Kal-Tyr pushed his way free of the flimsy display case he had been put into, slew Mindereth’s captors with a blast of lightning, and brought the duke to a ship sailing across the sea to Selentia, where a new life awaited them.
Fleeing their pursuers, the pair travelled upriver, until they reached a village far to the north, where for the first time, Kal-Tyr saw something he remembered from before his exile.
It related to his mistake in some way, he was sure of it. A flash, a name..
“Riverbend.”
Heroes - Malaggar, the Drow Rogue
In the most forgotten backwater corner of the Elven Kingdom, a serious of tunnels runs through the softly rolling ground.
These tunnels extend deep into the earth, twisting and mazelike, forming the massive warren that is home to the Drow.
Within these tunnels, the Drow lead a savage existence. Murder and robbery are the norm. No one is ever safe unless he can defend himself.
Malaggar was never particularly strong, and he lacked the intimidating size that distinguished the most feared and respected Drow. He did, however, have one advantage over his peers: an almost preternatural quickness.
His talents were noticed early on by Urz, one of the many strongarm gang bosses ruling the Drow tunnels. Urz asked Malaggar to serve him as his right hand, striking at rival bosses and expanding his territory all the way to the surface.
Malaggar spat on the offer. He had suffered all his life under the heel of the gangs; why should he serve one now?
Urz sent three of his toughest goons to kill Malaggar for his impudence. He slew all three before they knew he was there.
Suddenly fearful, Urz called for a rare alliance with the other gang bosses, bringing rivals together to take down this rogue.
They did not succeed. But they did drive Malaggar out of the tunnels, forcing him to wander the surface, stealing and cheating to survive.
He made his way across Selentia, taking what he could from each settlement before being driven out and on to the next. It was months before he came to a place where his kind were not immediately viewed with hatred and suspicion:
A place called Riverbend.
These tunnels extend deep into the earth, twisting and mazelike, forming the massive warren that is home to the Drow.
Within these tunnels, the Drow lead a savage existence. Murder and robbery are the norm. No one is ever safe unless he can defend himself.
Malaggar was never particularly strong, and he lacked the intimidating size that distinguished the most feared and respected Drow. He did, however, have one advantage over his peers: an almost preternatural quickness.
His talents were noticed early on by Urz, one of the many strongarm gang bosses ruling the Drow tunnels. Urz asked Malaggar to serve him as his right hand, striking at rival bosses and expanding his territory all the way to the surface.
Malaggar spat on the offer. He had suffered all his life under the heel of the gangs; why should he serve one now?
Urz sent three of his toughest goons to kill Malaggar for his impudence. He slew all three before they knew he was there.
Suddenly fearful, Urz called for a rare alliance with the other gang bosses, bringing rivals together to take down this rogue.
They did not succeed. But they did drive Malaggar out of the tunnels, forcing him to wander the surface, stealing and cheating to survive.
He made his way across Selentia, taking what he could from each settlement before being driven out and on to the next. It was months before he came to a place where his kind were not immediately viewed with hatred and suspicion:
A place called Riverbend.
Heroes - Falcor, the Dragonborn Fighter
The Ancient Dragonborn Empire is no more. The Selentians conquered the northern mountains thousands of years ago, until they themselves were driven out by Khadgar’s army of Dwarves.
Today, what Dragonborn that remain tend to keep to their one remaining settlement: Firetop Mountain, a place so inhospitable that only Dragonborn could hope to make a home there.
Ever since Falcor was hatched, she has heard tales of the ancient empire, driven into obscurity by the relentless might of the humans. She has longed to return their kingdom to its former glory, and she has some idea of how to do it.
The Mallet of Rhogar, stolen by the treacherous king of Selentia many thousands of years ago, the ancestral weapon of the dragonborn people, attuned to the flaming heart within its wielder. With that ancient weapon, Falcor could lead her people against the Dwarves and take back their homeland.
The Mallet was hidden by the human king once he realized neither he nor any of his knights could wield it. For centuries, it has waited, and today no one can be sure of its location.
But that doesn’t stop Falcor from looking. She will begin her search in a village close to the northern border of Selentia. A place known as:
Riverbend.
Today, what Dragonborn that remain tend to keep to their one remaining settlement: Firetop Mountain, a place so inhospitable that only Dragonborn could hope to make a home there.
Ever since Falcor was hatched, she has heard tales of the ancient empire, driven into obscurity by the relentless might of the humans. She has longed to return their kingdom to its former glory, and she has some idea of how to do it.
The Mallet of Rhogar, stolen by the treacherous king of Selentia many thousands of years ago, the ancestral weapon of the dragonborn people, attuned to the flaming heart within its wielder. With that ancient weapon, Falcor could lead her people against the Dwarves and take back their homeland.
The Mallet was hidden by the human king once he realized neither he nor any of his knights could wield it. For centuries, it has waited, and today no one can be sure of its location.
But that doesn’t stop Falcor from looking. She will begin her search in a village close to the northern border of Selentia. A place known as:
Riverbend.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Heroes - Dren, the Dwarf Warlock
The dwarven homeland is a harsh and unforgiving environment of stone cliffs and rocky mountain fortresses.
Dren is the son of a thane, residing in a holdfast east of the capitol. A mighty warrior, the thane has little time for Dren, preferring to drink mead and revel in the great hall, or leave the holdfast for months at a time on a hunt, or to fight in one of the Dwarves’ innumerable territorial conflicts.
Perhaps all this explains why Dren was so susceptible to the call of the Earth. When he was a teenager, Dren began to hear voices - whispers that he was chosen, and that he had a great destiny.
At first he dismissed the whispers as hallucinations, brought on by too much mead. But over time, it became clear that not only was there a real being sending messages to him, but it could give him extraordinary power.
Dren spent months testing his newfound abilities, hunting birds and other small animals of the fields. Eventually, despite all of Dren’s precautions, his father caught him using magic to defend a young girl against the advances of a drunken thane.
Dren’s father was angered. The boy’s powers smacked of infernal magic - an unnatural abomination that Dren’s father was sworn to destroy. He cast his son out of the holdfast, and out of the mountains, never to return.
As the old thane was making his pronouncement, he began to gasp and choke. He was quickly struck down by what would come to be known as the Choking Sickness, a magical plague that soon swept through the holdfast, leaving no survivors - except for Dren.
“Fear not,” the voice whispered. “No mere sickness can kill you. You were meant for far greater things.”
“But where will I go?” Dren whispered back.
And the voice answered:
“Riverbend.”
Dren is the son of a thane, residing in a holdfast east of the capitol. A mighty warrior, the thane has little time for Dren, preferring to drink mead and revel in the great hall, or leave the holdfast for months at a time on a hunt, or to fight in one of the Dwarves’ innumerable territorial conflicts.
Perhaps all this explains why Dren was so susceptible to the call of the Earth. When he was a teenager, Dren began to hear voices - whispers that he was chosen, and that he had a great destiny.
At first he dismissed the whispers as hallucinations, brought on by too much mead. But over time, it became clear that not only was there a real being sending messages to him, but it could give him extraordinary power.
Dren spent months testing his newfound abilities, hunting birds and other small animals of the fields. Eventually, despite all of Dren’s precautions, his father caught him using magic to defend a young girl against the advances of a drunken thane.
Dren’s father was angered. The boy’s powers smacked of infernal magic - an unnatural abomination that Dren’s father was sworn to destroy. He cast his son out of the holdfast, and out of the mountains, never to return.
As the old thane was making his pronouncement, he began to gasp and choke. He was quickly struck down by what would come to be known as the Choking Sickness, a magical plague that soon swept through the holdfast, leaving no survivors - except for Dren.
“Fear not,” the voice whispered. “No mere sickness can kill you. You were meant for far greater things.”
“But where will I go?” Dren whispered back.
And the voice answered:
“Riverbend.”
Heroes - Beleg, the Elf Ranger
Officially, the Elven Army is nonexistent. After the exploits of Commander Paromel in 692, the standing military force of the Empire of the Elves was disbanded for good, leaving the soldiers to return to their families and enjoy a life of peace.
Officially.
Secretly, the Elves have always maintained at least a small tactical strike force, capable of assassination or other covert operations. Under the reign of Queen Selune, this corps has grown, and combined with the Royal Bodyguard, to form a deadly army of highly trained soldiers, capable of striking with extreme force from behind enemy lines, and vanishing into the trees before the enemy has a chance to retaliate.
Beleg has distinguished himself as a personal bodyguard of Queen Selune. He has demonstrated exceptional quickness to perceive threats against Her Majesty and respond to them instantly, with a precisely placed arrow in the gut.
It was Beleg who foiled the Drow ambassador’s plot to slay the Queen with an enchanted necklace. It was Beleg who halted the Selentian general’s advance into the Elven forests, with a single arrow between the eyes.
And when the time came that the Queen needed a spy, it was Beleg who was sent.
The Elves have informers scattered across the entire continent, scattered among the large natural Elven population. So it came as a disturbance to the Queen to learn that something was killing her spies - and only her spies - in a specific region of northeastern Selentia.
Beleg was sent to the center of that region, to learn what he could about this threat, and stop it if poosible. He was to start his search in a small human village:
Riverbend.
Officially.
Secretly, the Elves have always maintained at least a small tactical strike force, capable of assassination or other covert operations. Under the reign of Queen Selune, this corps has grown, and combined with the Royal Bodyguard, to form a deadly army of highly trained soldiers, capable of striking with extreme force from behind enemy lines, and vanishing into the trees before the enemy has a chance to retaliate.
Beleg has distinguished himself as a personal bodyguard of Queen Selune. He has demonstrated exceptional quickness to perceive threats against Her Majesty and respond to them instantly, with a precisely placed arrow in the gut.
It was Beleg who foiled the Drow ambassador’s plot to slay the Queen with an enchanted necklace. It was Beleg who halted the Selentian general’s advance into the Elven forests, with a single arrow between the eyes.
And when the time came that the Queen needed a spy, it was Beleg who was sent.
The Elves have informers scattered across the entire continent, scattered among the large natural Elven population. So it came as a disturbance to the Queen to learn that something was killing her spies - and only her spies - in a specific region of northeastern Selentia.
Beleg was sent to the center of that region, to learn what he could about this threat, and stop it if poosible. He was to start his search in a small human village:
Riverbend.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Heroes - Perrin, the Human Wizard
PERRIN
In the swamplands surrounding the Crystal City, children are tested at birth to see if they have any magic potential. If they do, they are immediately taken from their parents and sent to study in the Crystal City’s Prentice Halls. They are not allowed to see their families ever again.
In his year, Perrin showed the least potential of any of his fellow apprentices. The masters were unsure about whether to take him on at all.
But Perrin eventually surpassed all expectations, making up for his weak natural aptitude with intense discipline and rigorous hours of study. He sought out knowledge wherever it might be found, even studying with the priests of Corellon, in the hope that the god of arcane knowledge might reveal to him some secret that others had missed.
By the time his training was at an end, Perrin had surpassed all those he had once struggled to compete with, becoming the most accomplished new graduate in the Crystal Academy’s 2600-year history.
It was Headmaster Gwyr who suggested to the Council that Perrin be sent North as an agent of the Crystal City.
The civil war in Selentia was approaching dangerously close to the swampland’s northern border, and furthermore, the Order of Seers were giving mystic warnings of a new threat arising from the less enlightened parts of that realm.
Any Seer who looked to the North was driven mad by what they saw. It destroyed their ability to See, leaving them helpless to communicate, apart from one word, repeated over and over:
“Riverbend.”
In the swamplands surrounding the Crystal City, children are tested at birth to see if they have any magic potential. If they do, they are immediately taken from their parents and sent to study in the Crystal City’s Prentice Halls. They are not allowed to see their families ever again.
In his year, Perrin showed the least potential of any of his fellow apprentices. The masters were unsure about whether to take him on at all.
But Perrin eventually surpassed all expectations, making up for his weak natural aptitude with intense discipline and rigorous hours of study. He sought out knowledge wherever it might be found, even studying with the priests of Corellon, in the hope that the god of arcane knowledge might reveal to him some secret that others had missed.
By the time his training was at an end, Perrin had surpassed all those he had once struggled to compete with, becoming the most accomplished new graduate in the Crystal Academy’s 2600-year history.
It was Headmaster Gwyr who suggested to the Council that Perrin be sent North as an agent of the Crystal City.
The civil war in Selentia was approaching dangerously close to the swampland’s northern border, and furthermore, the Order of Seers were giving mystic warnings of a new threat arising from the less enlightened parts of that realm.
Any Seer who looked to the North was driven mad by what they saw. It destroyed their ability to See, leaving them helpless to communicate, apart from one word, repeated over and over:
“Riverbend.”
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