Chapter One

This page tells Chapter One of the Saga; the chapter in which a band of heroes is formed from those men pressed to action by the vagaries of destiny.

It begins on the 28th of March in the 571st year of the Kingdom of Emberglow.

Sweetwater
In a busy tavern in the city of Sweetwater, three men who had never met sat with their drinks: Loras Justinian, a junior member of the Order of Vaskr; Torben, a magically able traveller; and Calamior, a roguish Ranger with an eye for profit.

A brash young man was boasting of his valorous deeds to a crowd of admiring travellers, when there came a screaming from outside the tavern, and the sound of attack. The patrons barricaded themselves behind the bar (the brash boaster was first to dive to cover), leaving our heroes exposed when the door burst open.

What greeted them was a grim and terrifying sight; animated human skeletons lumbered into the bar, towards the exposed heroes. It was not a long fight, for although the skeletons were strangely resilient, they were ultimately no match for the combined attacks of the heroes.

The fight continued as our heroes took to the streets, and found themselves fending off a pack of forest goblins, who were assaulting the city with uncharacteristic boldness. Once again, Loras, Torben and Calamior prevailed.

Shortly thereafter, the knights and watchmen of the city charged down from Sweetwater Hall, led by Lord Darius, and drove back into the forest those goblins they did not ride down.

The next day, the three were summoned by Lord Darius, Loras' uncle. Lord Darius chided his son, the brash young man who had been so cowardly in the tavern, and told the heroes that he had no idea the source of the invasion, and was particularly disturbed by the presence of the walking dead; such magic had been gone from the world for centuries, as far as anyone knew.

He rewarded them for their heroism of the night before, and charged them with a task; they were to take some of the bones from the animated skeletons to Snapdragon, there to confer with a renowned expert on esoteric magics, Wisdom Chevalyetísh. Loras knew well the way to Snapdragon, for his father was Lord Antonius, the count of Snapdragon.

With an enigmatic quest, and new companions, our heroes left Sweetwater.

Journey to Snapdragon
The journey to Snapdragon was not uneventful, for within an hour the heroes were called to rescue a traveller from bandits. An elderly woman named Ysolde had become trapped beneath her now quite dead horse, and was being robbed. The heroes dispatched of the bandits, and Ysolde was very grateful. As it happened, she was journeying to Snapdragon herself, where her son was the castle smith. The party happily accompanied her.

As the heroes approached county Snapdragon, they spied a queer sight: the sky over Snapdragon was dominated by roiling grey cloud. Although there was no wind, high above a drama unfolded. Warily, they continued. Before long, they heard screams of panic, and hurried along the bank of the river, to see a Kalrashi family being harrassed by strange creatures. Among them were goblins, or rather something goblin-like. Not the squat, bulbous-headed, pallid forest goblins which attacked Sweetwater, but taller, lanky goblins with grass-green skin. The attackers were easily defeated, and the family rescued.

Another, similar assault near an inn in which the heroes had taken rest raised yet further questions, and on this occasion they managed to capture some kind of magical worker who was intent upon digging a pit. This worker refused to answer questions, seemingly preferring death to betraying whatever master it had come from. When killed, it (like others before it) left no body, but exploded into a shower of cyan sparks which seemed to be drawn into the earth.

Exploration with an earth elemental, to find out what the beings were digging for, revealed that the ground itself was enchanted (or cursed); the earth elemental could not burrow farther than a few feet, and when she tried rather more insistantly, she was violently expelled.

The three continued their journey, and within time the sky cleared. Before long, they had reached the hilly haven of Snapdragon.

Snapdragon
Snapdragon had clearly seen some harassment itself, and although the strange events had occurred the day previously, evidence of it was still visible. The heroes pressed on to Snapdragon Hall, there to meet with Lord Antonius.

Dire news awaited Loras, however; his father had died the day before, or so everyone supposed. His elder brother Taris now sat the throne of the Lord of Snapdragon, and was most distressed. Evidently, his father had embarked upon some misadventure connected with the previous day's events, and it had cost him his life. His knowledge of this derived from nothing more than a diamond amulet which belonged to their father, which was now in his possession. Taris regretfully informed Loras that he was forbidden to give any information. Privately, he indicated that a disgraced minister named Iorleth may know more.

Wisdom Chevalyetísh was not much more helpful on that front, but he told them that the bones resonated with dark and long-forgotten magic. He promised to take them personally to the Magisterium in Goldenreach. Chevalyetísh warned them that there would be no point visiting Iorleth, while making it quite clear that in fact this would be a good avenue of investigation.

Journey to Snapdragon
A band of around a dozen travellers left Fluttershine for Snapdragon. They were a mixed bunch; wandering traders, Kalrashi gypsies, even a wizard. Two caused quite a stir: a Dwarven bounty hunter named Regin, and his prisoner, bound in irons and kept in a caged cart. The prisoner, the travellers were told, was Hargrym Kinslayer, and was a very dangerous man who was not to be trusted at all. In spite of these warnings, Hargym said not a word to anyone.

On the final night of the journey, the camp was attacked by brigands. They took several of the travellers hostages, and made their demand clear: "Give us the prisoner." Four of the travellers, who had been on watch, responded to this situation with considerable skill and courage: Regin, whose prisoner was in danger of being made off with; Tarion, a young hedge wizard; Van, a somewhat private individual; and Merin, a squire of the Order of Vaskr. Although Merin and one of the hostages was mortally wounded, they were both saved from death. Hargym had not reacted when the bandits arrived, and gave no indication that he had noticed anything.

Though the travellers were grateful, and relieved, the atmosphere on the final day of travel was cautious. Before the third hour of the afternoon, the party arrived at Snapdragon. Hugs were given, hands were shaken, fond farewells made and finally the companions split up.

Snapdragon
Regin and Merin immediately took Hargrym to Snapdragon Hall, where a middle-aged and noble-countenanced Lord Antonius gave them permission to stow the prisoner in one of the castle cells. Merin continued on his journey, being a pilgrim and keen to get underway.

Regin searched for accommodation, eventually happening upon the Hawk and Glove, a middling inn. Having secured a room for the night, he espied two of his erstwhile companions: Tarion and Van. The three took meat and drink together, and enjoyed a brief game of cards with a swarthy, merry old man named Kellen, before finally retiring.

On the next morning, they arrived in the inn's common room to find two of Lord Antonius' household guard. The three were summoned to an audience with Lord Antonius, though His Lordship had not said for what. When they reached him, Lord Antonius seemed to be under a certain amount of stress. Nevertheless, he was kindly and courteous. He asked the three companions if they would consent to a task: locating the wizard Iorleth and asking for his help. His Lordship acknowledged that it was an odd task, but assured them of its necessity. Having told them the name of a priestess who may know the location of Iorleth's home, His Lordship made his excuses and hurried off.

Iorleth
The priestess, Sister Yara, was reluctantly persuaded to tell Regin et al. the location of Iorleth's home, and only on the promise that they not harm the old man.

On the way, they passed a rather distinctive inn called the Sign of the Marble Arch, which sat opposite a grand marble shrine to the Last Mother. Although this place was little more than a pretty landmark now, it would later become a very memorable location indeed.

Iorleth's hut was found, on the edge of Snapdragon Wood. Iorleth himself, while shabby and living shabbily, seemed perfectly willing to invite the three in, even offering them tea. Iorleth did not believe that Lord Antonius had sent them, and continually insisted that they had arrived a day early. He gave the strange prediction that they would return tomorrow, whereupon they would meet a young hero, and his companion. This hero would go on to become Vaskr's greatest living champion. Unfortunately, that was about as clear as Iorleth became, and after an hour of circular discourse, the three left Iorleth, and made for Snapdragon.

The Sign of the Marble Arch
It did not take the three long to notice, as they left Iorleth's hovel, that the sky overhead had changed dramatically since they met Iorleth. What had been a clear, azure sky populated by a few fluffy clouds was now a silent, roiling storm of brooding grey menace.

The Sign of the Marble Arch, that quaint attraction which they had passed on their way to Iorleth, was under attack. A goblin raid, it seemed, though the goblins were skinny, and grass-green, and accompanied by giant insects. The vile creatures were summarily defeated (not before the insects' stings had weakened several of the heroes).

The final goblin was not killed but ran, seemingly towards the shrine to the Last Mother which was on the other side of the road. Upon setting its leather-wrapped foot upon the threshold of the shrine, the goblin abruptly disappeared. Regin volunteered to investigate, and he, too, disappeared when he stepped onto the shrine.

From his own perspective, things seemed very different. When he arrived at the shrine, he could see that the marble floor was no real floor, and that instead a staircase of grey stone descended into the earth. He cautiously descended, noticing that the steps were unworn by the ages. The descent was dark, but he noticed that the way back was still open.

The steps were fewer than imagined, and Regin emerged in a strange dark room, cast in flickering orange torchlight. He left the strange place when he heard the distinct sound of a large number of goblins on the other side of an oaken door.

Meanwhile, Tarion had returned to Iorleth, who did not seem interested in receiving visitors. Van rushed to Snapdragon, but encountered resistance in the form of mroe goblins, and a strange, fire-spitting lizard. Between the three heroes, they managed to do away with the goblins and their fiery pet, and with the innkeeper and his family relatively safe, the heroes made for Snapdragon with increased urgency.

While on their way, the sky cleared, almost as if the clouds were being magically dispelled. Snapdragon, it was clear, had been attacked. Bodies, both goblin and human, littered the streets, and bizarrely, piles of bones were being gathered up.

The heroes rushed to Snapdragon Hall to report to Lord Antonius, but he was nowhere to be found. Instead they met a young man, gazing mournfully into a diamond amulet he held loosely in one hand. He told the trio that he was now Lord Antonius, for his father had died. He said nothing more about it, and left them with his minister, Wisdom Chevalyetísh. The minister indicated that they had stumbled into something they ought not to speak of carelessly, and that they absolutely should not visit Iorleth tomorrow.

Naturally, they did just that.