THE FIRST PLAYING SESSION
Cast:
Barada,
Neutral male Flannish human mercenary (1st level
Fighter).
Hristo,
Neutral Good male Wesevud ("Central") noniz ex-town watchman and rogue (1st level Fighter/1st
level Thief).
Vlad Kostintov, Lawful
Good male Oerdian human illusionist in service
to the guard (1st level Illusionist).
Abraham the Radiant, Neutral Good male Oerdian human acolyte of Pelor
(1st level Cleric).
Setting: Various locales in the free town of
Readying 8, 581 CY.
Abraham the Radiant was awakened in the early morning by
Cassandra Milnov, traveling priestess of Pelor. She had returned to Prymp
from her missionary work along the Coast, and Abe graciously gave up her old
room at the shrine for the night. After his morning prayer, Abe ran into
Ned Flandev, a carpenter and devout follower of Pelor, and talked Ned into buying him breakfast.
Hristo got up, went to a nearby tavern for
breakfast, and returned to his room to find Gianni Long waiting
outside. Gianni, a fellow thief, told Hristo of
a contact he had made last night who might be able to hook them up with a
thieves' guild. Hristo wished him luck, and took
care of his laundry.
Barada rose early to pursue his daily
regiment of exercise. Passing by the Old Market, Barada
encountered the merchant Devid the Younger. Devid had an offer for the Flannish
mercenary, wanting him to attend a business meeting that evening. Barada bargained up to 2 sp in exchange for his
"intimidation factor."
Vladamir Kostintov
went to the Garrison to join up with his morning patrol. He encountered
nothing more unusual than a puppet show in the Old Market.
Hristo was trying to bargain with a
washerwoman around noon, when he saw a bard and his entourage strolled
past. The bard happened to be on his way to the Tavern of the Grinning
Gargoyle, which Abe was just leaving after hearing the carpenter's problems all
morning. The two bumped into each other, and the half-elven
bard introduced himself as Heironymous Nodd, and though he had come to speak to his friend the tavernkeeper, he invited Abe to come back inside with
him. Abe quickly brought up the fact that he wished to become an
adventurer, and Nodd asked him if he had ever heard
of Skull Keep.
Hristo had parted with his laundry, and
decided to see where the bard went. He wandered into the Grinning
Gargoyle, and found the bard describing an ancient stronghold that had belonged
to the wizard Zenopus. Abe mistook Hristo for another gnome he knew, and invited him over to
listen. The bard spoke of an explosion that had destroyed most of the keep
long ago, and that all that remains now is a lone tower and some underground
levels. Just then, Vlad and some guardsmen who
were off duty entered. Abe knew Vlad because
Cassandra was Vlad's sister, so Vlad
too was invited over to hear this tale. The keep was momentarily forgotten
as Vlad voiced concern that his sister had returned
to Prymp and not visited her family yet.
Barada decided to check out the location for Devid's business meeting early, and the location happened
to be the Grinning Gargoyle Tavern. While he circled around the back, Heironymous Nodd explained how he
was once an adventurer, and had fought giant rats and spiders on two
underground levels below the ruins of Skull Keep.
Barada entered the tavern just as the bard
was finishing his tale. Abe, Hritso, and Vlad agreed that they were interested in exploring this
Keep, but they wanted a strong fighter with them. Everyone recognized Barada as the only Flannish
mercenary in town. They asked him if he would come for equal shares, and
he was glad to do so. Before leaving, Nodd
suggested they talk to the Laird of Prymp, Seron Tapinov, for more
information on Skull Keep, since Tapinov had been the
magic-user in Nodd's party back then.
Hristo and Abe went to see the Laird at the
Town Hall, but were only given an audience with the Laird's advisor, Nemis Coraz. After hearing
them recount the bard's tale, he told them to return the following afternoon to
see the Laird.