The Young Heroes's - A Narrative

[Sagar]

This thread will contain a narrative detailing the adventures of the Young Heroes.

[Sagar]

Our story begins in the western side of the Barony of Diert. The Baron Manchester had called for a great contest - a test of martial and arcane prowness that would reveal the best and brightest new adventurers in the Barony. The town of Bracken was chosen to host this great contest. The word of the tournament went far and wide and many hundreds of contestants flooded Bracken hoping for glory and honor. After weeks of challenges, five Young Hero's emerge victorious.

Fandango, flamboyant rogue and rapskallion.
Brunhilde, warrior maiden with a big axe.
Trask, cleric of Sehanin and erstwhile ranger of the woodlands.
Amaril, eldritch warlock of the fey, and
Baladir, upright paladin of Pelor.

These new heros were toasted and honored by all in the area. Their reactions to this new fame and the winnings earned varied significantly. Some sought quiet and reflection, others partied well into the early hours. Fandango was particularly eager to spread his "favor" to the many young ladies who sought his attentions.

But all was not as it seemed. The Baron of Diert told the Young Hero's that he wanted to engage their services as special agents of the Barony. Agents that would address situations that the Baron shouldn't or couldn't handle through "official" channels.

The party also learned that the contest was held in western Diert not to honor the town of Bracken, but to lower the coffers of it's increasingly ambitious Lord.

[Sagar]

The morning after the Tournament, the Young Heros met with the Captain of the Baron's Guard who seemed less than impressed with their accolades. The Captain informed the Heros that the Baron's Seers had discovered that something would occur in the western edge of the Barony that, were they present, the Young Heros could resolve in ways favorable to the Barony.

Armed with nothing more than that, the Young Heros were escorted far to the west of Bracken and left at a crossroads in the woods. There, by a rare combination of chance, choice and dumb blind luck, the Young Heros rescued two half-orcs from an orcish ambush. The half-orcs, Ambassador Kalak and his son Lakar, turned out to be agents from the mythical town of Defiance. They were planning to meet the Lord of Bracken to discuss the purchase of arms to help the citizens of Defiance meet the growing threat posed by the orcs in the area.

The captain of the guard rejoined the group and hustled the half-orcs back to Bracken for a meeting with the Baron. The Young Hero's were left to find their own way back to town.

[Sagar]

As evening of the first day neared, the Young Hero's stopped in clearing in the woods and set up camp near a large, fallen tree. During the night, they were attacked by wolves - an attack they readily repulsed.

When morning dawned, the party found a hole at the base of the large tree. Entering, they found an underground complex filled with undead creatures. After defeating the undead in several battles and passing clever traps, the Young Heros found an odd "temple" with biers, everburning candles, and a door bathed in radiant light. After fighting off ever more powerful undead creatures, the party explored further and eventually opened the door - releasing the powerful evil entity trapped therein.

The entity, Malacon, revealed that he had been directing the parties actions - from sending the visions to creating the ambush and even bringing the Young Hero's to find the tree and the underground complex. The party fought the evil creature only to discover that in "defeating" him, they had finally and truly set him free.

Disheartened, the party took two holy symbols and a curious robe (previously worn by Malacon) and departed. Some hours later, they were found by the Captain and returned to Bracken.

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The Haunted Mansion

In Bracken, the party learned that the Baron had left to visit Saltmarsh, a small fishing town on the coast a day's journey east. They proceeded on to Saltmarsh and there, met the Baron and the Mayor of the town. The Baron asked the Young Hero's to be his agents. His unofficial team of investigators and enforcers for things he couldn't get involved with directly (for political or other reasons). The party agreed.

The Mayor asked for help with a certain haunted house and the Baron and party agreed.

The next day, the party left for the haunted mansion. There, they found not ghosts, but a giant weasel and a group of smugglers. The party bested the weasel but were captured by the smugglers. They were rescued, though, by Solak - a tiefling wizard who was denied a chance in the contest due to the bigotry of a contest official.

Solak used an invisibility ring to bypass the smugglers and release the party in the caves. There, they defeated the smugglers in small groups and then met Alfred, a servant spirit living in a flaming skull. After besting the skull, Alfred became the official butler to Brunhilde and her compatriots. Michael, a former smuggler, repented his past indiscretions and offered to work for the party.

All was going well for the party - but the smuggler leader, Sanbalet, escaped. Would that come back to haunt them?

[Sagar]

The Smugglers Ship

From documents found in the smuggler's possession, the party deduced that a ship would be coming soon to bring a new shipment of goods. Working with the town, the party and the militia set up watch from the mansion windows. Meanwhile, the party members worked with the townsfolk, learning to fish and sail and somewhat inadvertantly, setting up a small school to teach martial arts to some of the local women.

Less than an fortnight later, the ship signaled the mansion and the party answered. Then, with the help of the some sailors and the militia, they rowed out to the ship and, in a pitched battle, defeated the smugglers and a few unexpected lizardmen. Trask again fought off a giant weasel. And again, some of the combatants escaped - 2 of the lizardmen dove overboard and were not seen again.

On the boat, the party found a captured aquatic elf, a cache of weapons and a map leading to an old cave system. The elf offered to scout the area and left. The party, with the help of the militia, took the ship back to Saltmarsh.

Back in town, the party was generous in their praise of the militia and provided somewhat more tangible tokens of their thanks to the militia and to Michael who defended the mansion from a group of smugglers. Michael, now the official builder for the party, started work on rebuilding the mansion and the Young Heros threw a big party for the town.

The party barely noticed the disreputable ruffians mingling in the crowds.

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The Rescue

The next day, Wendy - leader of the women learning to use weapons - came to the party worried about her sister. The sister had not come to town as planned and, given the rumors of goblin attacks in the area, Wendy was worried.

The party agreed to accompany her and off they rode.

After several hours of hard riding, the party came to the lane where the sister lived. In the distance, they could see the burning remains of a barn. Following Wendy to the farmhouse, they learned that goblins had indeed attacked and that one of the boys was taken. The menfolk were already out looking.

The party hurried into the woods, leaving Wendy behind to help the wounded. Eventually, they came upon the men in a clearing - being attacked by goblins. After a pitched battle, the goblin leader stabbed the child and left Baladir clutching his bloodied body as the goblins made their escape. Baladir used his holy powers to save the child and they escorted the men back to the farmhouse.

There, they found Wendy wounded. The children were very excited as they told of how she fought off 3 goblins and drove them away. The men and women showered the young heros with praise and thanks as they took the wounded Wendy back to Saltmarsh.

[Sagar]

The Lizard Caves:

Several days later, the aquatic elf returned with disturbing news. A large colony of lizardmen had taken over caves that formerly belonged to the goblins. The goblins, now homeless, were raiding the surrounding areas to survive.

After some discussion, and a bit of divine guidance, the party agreed to work with the goblins, the aquatic elves, and the town's fishermen to investigate the caves.

The goblins and elves distracted most of the lizardmen patrols and the fishermen sailed a small boat to the caves and the party entered quietly through a sea cave.

In the caves, the party quickly cleared the guards, released some captured mermen, and found a wounded lizardman whom they healed as best they could and left behind.
Next, they discovered an old lizardman who was a councilor to the king. From him, the party learned that the current king was an outsider, an interloper who used his pet dragon to gain and keep control of the colony. They also discovered that the wounded lizardman they saved was the "crown prince" of the lizardment.

With the lizard minister's assistance, Brunhilde challenged the king to a duel. During the duel, the party realized the "king" was actually a dragonborn in disguise. Brunhilde disable the magical disguise just as she disabled the dragonborn himself. The prince, however, let the traitor live when it was learned that he had acted at the direction of the now missing dragon.

With a lizardman guide, the party tracked the dragon to it's lair in the swamp. There they confronted and defeated it. They began to suspect that the dragon has been under the influence of Malacon - an influence that must have started even before the party released him from his prision.

The dragon's hoard was somewhat smaller than expected - probably due to the small band of plunderer's the party scared of only moments later. Still, flush from their first dragon kill, the party returned to the lizard's lair. The lizards agreed to leave the lair and return it to the goblins. And the party returned home - heros yet again.

But not untroubled heros. For back in town, evil rumors were being circulated about the party. Some person or persons were attempting to undermine the Young Hero's reputation with the community. Unforunately for the rumor mongers, the party's actions and generosity made the town resistant to the attempts and the rumor peddlars disappeared.