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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
 Posted - 28 Jul 2014 : 21:58:30
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quote:
Originally posted by The Arcanamach
Jeremy, reading through this thread and your War Wizard thread I gotta ask. Have you ever considered running a game on rpol? I'd happily play with such a detailed and creative DM.
Thank you. 
Maybe I’m showing my age here, but I’m not sure what ‘rpol’ is. Something like Role Playing Online?
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Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
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The Arcanamach
Master of Realmslore
1842 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2014 : 03:10:28
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Yep rpol.net it is. I'm in a few games there including one Hoondatha just started up. PaladinNicolas should be joining us soon and Dark Wizard was/is (not real sure if he's still joining). Anyway, I like rpol. My only complaint is it's a slow way to game, but if you have active players it's pretty good. Anyway sorry for hijacking your thread.  |
I have a dream that one day, all game worlds will exist as one. |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2014 : 03:44:29
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No worries. I don't consider your post as derailing this scroll at all.
On the contrary I'm honored you'd consider playing a game that I ran.
Speaking of: I don't have any plans to play on rpol.net. Well, not unless I could clone myself; there's just too much going on (work, one six month old and another on the way, moving soon...).
In the meantime I'll keep at it here, as this is the best way to keep my DM muscles in shape. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 29 Jul 2014 03:46:57 |
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 01 Aug 2014 : 14:52:10
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| Good stuff Jeremy. |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 04 Aug 2014 : 09:20:18
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quote:
Originally posted by The Masked Mage
Good stuff Jeremy.
Thanks!
*****
Doing edits and adding new names to the list at the start of this scroll. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2014 : 08:59:36
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Darthal
(Lawful Neutral Fighter 5, Cleric 1 of Tyr)
Darthal wanders the coastal roads and trails of the Dragonmere on horseback.
Once a far-ranging mercenary and bullyblade for hire, Darthal found his calling in the worship of Tyr and has begun to hunt others like his former self: individuals who observed no code and desired coin more than honor.
His faith is personal. Therefore he carries no tome to record judgments as he eschews that role in favor of bringing justice to brigands and those who commit acts of banditry, all by way of a choice: discard their thieving, murdering ways and join Darthal in bringing order to the roads, or face the sword of Tyr’s justice.
He seeks news of the doings of highwaymen, monstrous activity and other road dangers from passing merchants, as travelers are eager to point the way to trouble for anyone desiring to do something about it.
On the night after Darthal gained his first convert he began receiving spells from Tyr. He is still a novice cleric and travels on horseback with a coterie of three converts, but has left ten times as many bodies in his wake.
Darthal's current whereabouts lay along the Skeleton Shore between the Cliffs of Karthaut and Accardi, where his small force is chasing rumors of a bandit lord that's teamed with a necromancer or priest, the later said to be raising up the dead for use as expendable troops. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 23 Aug 2014 03:33:41 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 16 Aug 2014 : 09:59:47
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Cymbrarra
(Lawful Neutral Cleric 8)
A black haired woman just entering her middle years, Cymbrarra is a faithful servant of Kelemvor active in that part of Cormyr that exists north of the shores of the Wyvernwater.[1]
For a few coppers Cymbrarra will collect the bodies of outlaws, the unknown dead and the homeless, and inter them in simple burial sites (usually square-shaped affairs, with stone walls erected by Cymbrarra near the shade of one or more trees).
She is on good terms with the local lords of most small settlements, and has negotiated fees for the collection of bodies believed to harbor poisons or disease, lingering magic (especially necromancy) and the corpses of the magically mutilated and slain.
These she burns while offering prayers to Kelemvor, along with prayers of supplication and mercy to Azuth, Bhaal or Myrkul, depending on the circumstances of the fate of the deceased.
A handful of nobles have made use of Cymbrarra when dealing with the eccentric requests of family members who wanted to be buried in basement wine cellars or interred in upper-floor rooms whose walls were covered in paintings of still-living family members, and so required spells and blessings to deter pests and preserve the resting place of the dead.
Expert at determining causes of death, Cymbrarra is unafraid to pronounce the deceased murdered when others are certain a death was caused by accident, calamity or other circumstance.
Cymbrarra winters in Arabel.
NOTE: I found an image on Instagram that fits better what Cymbrarra should look like, HERE
[1] Cymbrarra will travel anywhere in the northern half of Cormyr, as death favors no place over another. However, she will not set foot in Manyghosts, per tradition owing to a decree handed down by Kelemvor over half a century ago. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 14 Oct 2015 06:13:46 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 21 Aug 2014 : 08:51:53
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Mordgrandgur
When the popular fashion in Arabel is a function of its own doings,
and no longer follows in the wake of Suzail,
rebellion is not far off.
--From a royal identified as "Old Paunch" in the tell-all chapbook
"No Longer In Confidence: Courtly Utterances, Wisdoms and Opinions Overheard".
First published anonymously in Arabel in the winter of the Year of the Blazing Hand (1380 DR).
Much is notable about Mordgrandgur’s appearance: skin the color of yellowed parchment; a pockmarked face on which one eye sits lower than the other and is always slightly closed; wrinkled hands with long, pointed fingernails.
Mordrandgur fixes his upper eye on those he deals with, his lower eye on his work when bent over the powder and liquid festooned worktable situated in the back rooms of his simple residence in the heart of Arabel.
His windowless home is squat and square, and made of thick cut stone blocks better suited to a castle wall. A stone chimney breaks through the flat stone roof, on which winter snow collects in a great round pile that is dimpled by the warmth emanating from the chimney, which never stops emitting smoke.
A tall door made of thick wood panels banded horizontally by flat black iron plates fronts the home, and is the only visible entrance or exit. It opens into a small receiving room that is bare of anything save a pair of stone chairs, one of which Mordgrandgur does not so much sit in as slouch[1] when receiving clients.
As a maker of potent elixirs and various alchemical concoctions, Mordgrandgur’s creations are much sought after in Arabel. Unlike other alchemists who own shops and sell wares off the shelf, Mordgrandgur prefers to meet his clients personally in order to assess their needs that he might create for them precisely what they need.
Amongst the youthful, moneyed lordlings of Arabel, an offering of Mordgrandgur’s known as “Tendays Rest”[2] is in high demand. Older and more formidable matrons of houses high and low seek him out to enjoy his company as much as the simple balms (of the wrinkle smoothing and ache soothing variety) he gifts them with before they depart.[3]
Appointments are required if one wishes to do business with Mordgrandgur. These can be made by seeking out his factor Essard[4], who can be found at any of several respectable establishments in Arabel catering to the needs of courtiers, wealthy merchants and the highborn (i.e. nobility), and sometimes in the offices of the king's lord of Arabel.
Mordgrandgur has been in business for the last twenty years and none can recall ever seeing him outside his home. He is popular and well connected enough that few have considered testing his home’s defenses. Many speculate that one or more lower levels exist beneath his stone residence, that likely connect to other nearby buildings.
[1] If you happen to own a copy of Gary Gygax’s Insidiae (written by Dan Cross and produced by Troll Lord Games), see the illustration on page 33 that served as the inspiration for Mordgrandgur’s appearance.
[2] A bitter smelling cream consisting of powdered gemstone, starfall herb (a hallucinogen), oil derived from fat of thimdror (thimdror are a kind of oxen) and select other ingredients based on the needs of the client. When applied liberally to the face, temples and chest of humans or halflings, Tendays Rest causes a slumber so deep as to make the recipient appear dead, that lasts—just as the name suggests—and average of ten full days.
While under the influence the recipient’s heart rate and breathing slow considerably, he or she needs no food or water, and save for the mind, lungs and heart, all bodily functions are rendered inert. The recipient awakens as though having just experienced a deep, restful night’s sleep and is left feeling energized and alive (this feeling lasts for at least five days, results in the near loss of desire for sleep, and is accompanied by a bottomless hunger for food). Users of the cream report experiencing vivid, lengthy dreams filled with much joy, happiness and success.
Upon awakening the recipient's skin retains a sparkling sheen the color of whichever gemstone was used in the cream. In Arabel this look is considered a mark of great wealth (as Mordgrandgur charges from 1,000 gp to 10,000 gp per cream made) and is oft copied by mask dancers, servers and festhall workers of both sexes in that city.
[3] Mordgrandgur is eager to provide exactly what his clients need, and this sometimes requires getting to the truth of matters better left between his clients and the gods. He refuses to do business with those who will not speak honestly, and his success at never betraying a confidence has made him a trusted confessor and a successful business man.
[4] A tall, hecticly busy man with long arrow straight hair the color of charcoal. He is the only person permitted to enter Mordgrandgur’s home without an invitation, he escorts clients to and from Mordgrandgur’s residence, and is known to personally deliver supplies and payments to Mordgrandgur, as well as completed alchemical items to their intended recipients.
Essard is constantly in need of capable agents (read: adventurers) to discreetly, but quickly, procure a nigh-endless and ever changing supply of rare plants, vines, liquids, monster parts, gemstones and miscellaneous items (hair from the chin of a bearded noble, for example) from all over Cormyr, and pays handsomely for successful delivery.
“One of Essard’s”, as well as, "the next to die", are common phrases used by Purple Dragons, war wizards and agents of the crown to describe the latest group of adventurers in Essard’s employ that they’re assigned to keep tabs on. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 24 Aug 2014 05:51:20 |
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The Arcanamach
Master of Realmslore
1842 Posts |
Posted - 21 Aug 2014 : 13:30:21
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Once again good stuff here Jeremy.
I move to give Jeremy a section all his own in which to post his stuffs. And yes, I am serious about that. I could say the same about several other scribes as well (dazzlerdal, Markustay-should he return, Sleyvas, etc). |
I have a dream that one day, all game worlds will exist as one. |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 21 Aug 2014 : 23:18:30
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quote:
Originally posted by The Arcanamach
Once again good stuff here Jeremy.
That’s awful nice of you to say, considering I wasn’t being all that friendly to you over on the General Forum.
No hard feelings.
quote:
Originally posted by The Arcanamach
I move to give Jeremy a section all his own in which to post his stuffs. And yes, I am serious about that. I could say the same about several other scribes as well (dazzlerdal, Markustay-should he return, Sleyvas, etc).
Part of why I post to the Running the Realms section is that it leaves me free to ignore and abuse canon in my write-ups, in the manner DMs would do (however unwittingly) when they’re trying to create content for their Realms D&D campaigns.
If my work was moved to a new section of the forums, I’d want to make sure people understood that this stuff doesn’t adhere strictly to canon like so much of the other content posted at Candlekeep.
I’d want them to know my work uses the hell out of canon, twists and shapes it and mashes it together, and ignores anything that gets in the way.
Also that I hope anyone who uses this stuff does the same. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 22 Aug 2014 01:07:53 |
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Garen Thal
Master of Realmslore
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 22 Aug 2014 : 01:54:46
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| I'll point out--and I do so as both a D&D player and as "the Cormyr guy"--that Jeremy is doing exactly what everyone should do with published Realms material. Take from it what is most important to you, excise or alter the rest, and run as far as it will take you. He has a freedom with the material that I envy, sometimes, but he absolutely makes it all work. |
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The Arcanamach
Master of Realmslore
1842 Posts |
Posted - 22 Aug 2014 : 02:02:35
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No hard feelings here either. The comments in the other forum have no bearing on the quality of your work and I call it like I see it.
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I have a dream that one day, all game worlds will exist as one. |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 23 Aug 2014 : 03:34:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Garen Thal
He has a freedom with the material that I envy, sometimes, but he absolutely makes it all work.
Thank you very much. It means a lot to me that you should say this.  |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 24 Aug 2014 05:31:10 |
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Eilserus
Master of Realmslore
USA
1446 Posts |
Posted - 23 Aug 2014 : 03:49:15
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| This IS great stuff. Love it! |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 24 Aug 2014 : 05:31:26
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Doing edits as a means of working up to writing something. Stay tuned. :)
*****
Something about doing edits that I like is trying to tie sentences together. I like to turn a paragraph of two to four sentences into just one or two, if I can, because I think that ideas and especially the images I'm trying to put into a reader's mind better form when there are fewer breaks in the reading.
It's hard because you're doling out information, so each fact or idea starts as its own sentence. Because of this I've learned not to try to smooth things out at first (which for me was a roadblock for a long time--I didn't realize I was trying to write perfectly right from the start, which as a writing strategy is ideal for conjuring up writer's block).
Instead I try to get the ideas down and then go back over a piece again, again and again, trimming away the fat, re-writing whole parts I'm unsatisfied with and merging sentences where I can.
Not sure what prompted me to write this. Perhaps it's as much for the sake of having a reminder of my process in the heart of the work I'm doing, as well as an explanation to you, dear reader, as to why it is that I tinker with these write-ups so much.
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Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 24 Aug 2014 05:42:18 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 24 Aug 2014 : 07:45:02
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The Hound and the Huntsman
(Ranger 4, Thief 4)
I went looking
for a farmer’s ghost
‘neath the light of the moon.
Spectral teeth
and a howling snarl
greeted me with doom.
I stood my ground
I sang a song
of fields, seeds and sky.
And when the ghost
of the werewolf lunged
I conjured up his wife.
Borrowed the light
of the moon
to craft a ghost of my own.
The man-beast froze
would do no harm
to she the heart of his home.
The creature howled
made the change
from beast back into man.
But by his side
there sat another
its snout in the farmer’s hand.
A great old hound
alert and close
as hounds are want to do.
There I beheld
by the light of the moon
the werewolf split in two.
--from the book "Tall Tales Told by the Dead: My Wanderings in the Forest Kingdom", by the Lady Bard Naranralee of Manyghosts
By the Crown and the Moon, I so swear.
--The oath of the Huntsmen
On the ring of road encircling Arabel, the Hound of the Huntsman runs free, traveling from one city gate to the next sniffing the hard packed earth, the air and the many carts and wagons that make their way to the city. Traffic slows as one approaches Arabel’s gates, where the stench of padocks greet the visitor before a Dragon ever calls out to them, but the hound does not slow as it winds its way through caravans and livestock to its master, somewhere in the shadows inside the wall of the city.
The Huntsman is a hulking man in black leathers, his face a mask of shadows beneath the hood of his black cloak. Day and night he observes the flow of traffic in and out of Arabel.
When the Hound of the Huntsman runs away from the gates wise travelers take note, for soon the Huntsman will be seen with a captive in chains, the pair traveling on foot back to Arabel.
******************
The transient nature of Arabel’s population oft puts thieves on the road, less to escape the law and more for the sake of moving on before their thefts are noticed.
Arabel is not without means to combat thieves; the overlapping arms of the king’s justice present itself in the form of a garrison of Purple Dragons under the command of the local lord, who also commands the local militia, plus more Purple Dragons under the command of the Warden of the Eastern Marches, and these forces are bolstered by war wizards, highknights and other agents of the crown.
The priestly faiths have their own enforcers, the nobles their bullyblades and the merchants their hireswords, and ready for hire adventuring companies are a common sight.
The people of Arabel have themselves as their own best defense. They are known for watching out for each other.
And in Arabel—unlike most other parts of Cormyr—swords are left unbound, meaning thieves caught are likely thieves skewered.
All told there is an ever-looming threat of danger in Arabel for those who make a living by stealing from others.
Yet Arabel boasts a nigh-endless collection of wares, goods and coin, all of it housed in a succession of warehouses and buildings that see much foot and cart traffic. The nobility and the merchant class are not without piles of coin and trade bars, for how can they do business otherwise? And the priests house great wealth in their temples—monies collected as payment for any number of services[1], notably for safekeeping valuables and coins for the people of Arabel.
A rat will scamper through a room full of cats, if the smell of food is strong enough.
And sometimes the rat succeeds. When this happens and the lawful array of forces cannot track down the miscreant, the Huntsman is sometimes called upon to help.
X stands alone. He favors no one. He is an ally of no one. He is the quintessential ranger.
X is in the business of retrieving stolen goods. He does not dole out punishment and he takes no prisoners. Instead he retrieves what was taken, overcoming all resistance to his efforts, and returns the stolen goods as quickly as possible to their original owner.
X’s work sometimes puts him on the trail of dangerous foes: adventurers, skilled agents of powers operating outside Cormyr (he’s developed a taste for killing Zhentarim) and operatives in the employ of nobles, wizards and merchants living within Cormyr.
Most often, however, he can be found on the roads and trails of Arabel, hunting lone individuals who do not yet realize the danger they're in.
Despite his reputation as a an unrelenting slayer who can run as far on foot in one night as a rider on horseback can travel in a day, X spends most of his time "hunting" in and around Arabel. I.e. he watches, listens and takes mental note of all he observes.
If he sees the Purple Dragons massing for a ride into the wild lands around Arabel, he notes who is commanding them and the direction they ride off to. He counts wagons out of long habit, remembers faces and names, looks for people who don't fit in, tracks the movements of mercenary companies and above all watches out for adventurers.
Adventurers are X’s chief tool for getting work done that he cannot do himself.[2] He spends the favors owed to him on the hiring and misleading of adventurers, then trails them as they head off into danger.[3]
He’s seeded caches of weapons, minor magic items, clothing and disguises in hidden locations for fifty miles in every direction around Arabel, supplying them with the gear of those he’s slain, and will sometimes use these as a lure or ruse to “prove” to adventurers that, for example, Zhentarim agents are nearby, and so push them in the direction he needs them to go.
What coins or valuables X keeps on his person are never held for long: on the first night of the full moon he gives them up in prayer to Selûne by burying them in the earth when he’s outside of Arabel or leaving them as an offering at her shrine when inside the city walls. [4]
[1] Other services include what one might expect, such as providing healing spells for a fee or the sale of potions of healing and other restorative magics. However, Arabel sports a higher than average number of altar sworn priests, given that merchants cannot always be trusted to deliver items of great value, and the oath of a priest sworn on the altar of his or her deity to deliver an item safely no matter the circumstances is a service that commands a hefty fee.
[2] X has taken to manipulating adventurers in the employ of a factor working for a popular alchemist in Arabel. That factor—one Essard by name—is very good at finding new adventuring companies and doesn’t appear to care how often they die or disappear.
[3] X collects no coin, gems or property as payment. Instead his fee for services rendered is the promise of future assistance. He has a reputation for getting paid in full, as those who fail to recall a debt owed soon discover themselves bereft of their most valuable possessions.
[4] In return the goddess renews her blessing, that he may control his lycanthropism and bend the change to his will. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 03 Dec 2015 08:42:59 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 27 Aug 2014 : 07:36:44
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Gelliard “Gell” Salrikoat
(Cleric 1 of Bhaal, Fighter 2, Thief 4)
A former mercenary[1] turned thief who knows his way around northern Cormyr, Gelliard is a follower of Bhaal, Lord of Murder, and preys upon the transient population of Arabel, targeting outlanders and others not native to Cormyr.
Bhaal desires a slaying each day and Gelliard strives to meet this demand. However, when investigations into his killings show signs of catching up to him, Gelliard hires on[2] with any of the numerous adventuring companies that make Arabel their base of operations and departs with them as soon as possible for dungeons and ruins Gelliard claims are likely full of treasure.
In most cases these locations are little more than empty mines and natural caverns that lead nowhere, or are abandoned holdfasts. Gelliard knows these setting intimately and uses them to his advantage to slay his companions[3] one at a time. He always saves the strongest opponent for last and makes sure his opponent knows he or she was betrayed before engaging them in battle.
These locations serve as convenient hiding places for treasure and gear, and Gelliard has secreted away an eye opening collection of coins, armor, swords and miscellaneous minor magic items in several of them. These caches can be "discovered" by Gelliard and used as helpful distractions to occupy his companions while he plots how to slay them.
Gelliard has had great success in joining, and then slaying, the bands of adventurers employed by the always in demand alchemist Mordgrangur of Arabel, and Gelliard will sometimes allow one or two of his fellow adventurers to live long enough to return to Arabel with the goods the alchemist requires. After delivery Gelliard lures them to an empty warehouse or other quiet location in Arabel, announces his betrayal and then slays them.
Lately Gelliard has received nightmare visions that he is certain come from the Lord of Murder Himself[4], and has awakened from these terrors to the sensation of minor spells hanging in his mind (0-level spells and sometimes a single 1st level spell).
Gelliard now considers himself a true Deathbringer, and is slowly coming to accept the idea that he is destined to one day become a part of Arabel’s government.
He keeps a trio of Bloodgem Shards[5] on his person in the form of a pair of matching rings worn on each hand and a codpiece with a Bloodgem set into it, and relies on these and other magic to gain temporary strength with each slaying made, especially when he must slay more than one foe in quick succession.
[1] Formerly of Selemchant’s Blazing Banners, a mercenary organization based in Amn that met a bloody end far afield in the Stonelands north of Cormyr.
[2] He never formally joins an adventuring company if he can help it, preferring to stay off the crown rolls of chartered adventuring companies operating in Cormyr. He fast talks his way into a group, promising to take only a half share of any treasure gained, and insists that his eagerness to join while avoiding becoming a full member allows him to fulfill his “oath to Tymora to put a life of danger ahead of all material rewards.”
[3] Bhaal frowns upon slaying with brute force traps made to look like accidents. Thus Gelliard arranges obstacles, terrain and traps that divide up his fellow adventurers (traps might include rock falls, sliding walls or deadfall pits that Gelliard “failed” to discover) that give him the opportunity to face his targets alone and slay them with grace and precision.
[4]These nightmares usually start with him running for his life from Purple Dragons and war wizards chasing him, while all around citizens of Arabel point fingers and shout the names of those he’s slain. Right before the many reaching blades and spells overwhelm him, the dream shifts and he finds himself in the garb of the king’s lord of Arabel, issuing commands to the Dragons and wizards of war to round up and slay the many “traitors” to Cormyr hiding in plain sight.
[5] See the Adventurer’s Vault 2, by Wizards of the Coast. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 29 Aug 2014 07:37:52 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 29 Aug 2014 : 08:47:20
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Mazryth
(Fighter 6, Thief 2)
A veteran mercenary and Moonsea native, Mazryth commands twenty men-at-arms and hires his force out to Cormyrean merchants as warehouse guards and protectors of small outbound merchant caravans.
In truth Mazryth maintains an extensive roster of contacts in Sembia, Westgate and the cities of the Moonsea, and works on behalf of trading cabals, merchant costers and other organizations with an interest in manipulating or hindering Cormyrean trade by use of dirty tricks, brute force and murder.
His small force is based out of Arabel, and for a stiff fee will arrange for accidents to befall specific wagons, cause surprise falls off of wagons by their drivers (who unfortunately land on their heads and break their necks, and/or become trampled under the next horse and wagon to pass), and create roadside impediments that delay whole merchant caravans they happen to be protecting, thereby hindering their progress to market and allowing for competitors outside of Cormyr to gain the advantage.
If the caravan is headed out of Cormyr along the East Way, the work of creating roadside hazards is done by the other half of Mazryth’s forces. This banner is comprised of fifteen woodlands-experienced fighters under the command of a charismatic and ruthless ranger called Raskival, that occupies the ruins of a partially fallen down tower and its extensive undercellars located ten miles into the forest, due east of Hillmarch.
Mazryth and Raskival keep in touch via magic to coordinate their activities, and sometimes remain in contact even as a faux ambush takes place. Thus have Mazryth’s men gained a reputation for driving off “the honorless brigands of the Hullack” while the caravan they’re protecting works to fix whichever wagons were damaged or destroyed by Raskival’s men.
In the cold months or when they are not engaged in roadside treachery, brigandry or the work of shoring up and expanding their woodland fortress, Mazryth has left orders with Raskival to dispatch pairs and trios of men to the towns surrounding the Hullack[1] to gather supplies and to sow rumors of the recent discovery of treasures and defensible holds in the Hullack just waiting to be claimed by the next bold adventurer or noble desiring to advance in station by taming the as yet untamable forest.
Luring adventurers into the woods has proven an easy side business as well as a way to eliminate the more meddlesome adventurers that could prove to be the undoing of Mazryth’s employers.
Wintertime in Arabel finds Mazryth's men hired out as live-in occupants of warehouses belonging to the merchant costers they protect in the warm months. This allows his men to keep tabs on the merchants of Arabel and their goods, and allows Mazryth to pass along this information to his employers.
Mazryth has plans to field a third banner, but has not yet decided whether to place them in the King's Forest or the Hermit's Wood.
[1] Hillmarch, Sunset Hill, Hultail and Thunderstone. See the entry for Uktar (November), 1481 DR, Year of the Grinning Halfling. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 08 Oct 2014 04:51:10 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 30 Aug 2014 : 07:48:39
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quote:
Originally posted by Eilserus
This IS great stuff. Love it!
Thank you!
********
Doing edits and adding names I've thought up while writing other entries.
There need to be more bards in the list. Time to remedy that. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 02 Sep 2014 09:57:12 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 08 Sep 2014 : 07:43:14
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Orm
(Fighter 4)
A mountainous sword swinger with enormous fists capable of crushing skulls with one well placed blow, Orm was one of the first to join the Company of the Errant Gauntlet.
Possessed of a bad temper and quick to find offense, Orm is the polar opposite of his father, the popular and well liked carpenter Baalimr "Brund" Selmarr of Arabel. Though he was brought up in the family business, Orm found himself not quite fitting the mold of carpenter or crew leader that his seven older sisters so naturally took to.
He struck out on his own with the intent of starting his own firm, but bad luck and his own sensitive ego proved a recipe for little work and poor business relationships. Bereft of customers, Orm refused the open door offer his father gave him to return to work. Instead he wandered Arabel's streets for a full season, living the life of a homeless day laborer.
Starving and on his last coins, Orm paid the 2 sp entry fee to the Hungry Man in Arabel, intending to purchase one final meal on the fruits of his labors ere he returned to his father's business the next morning.
The out of work carpenter ate enough for three grown men and washed it down with flagon after flagon of bullock juice[1]. As the night wore on his temper soured, and when a fight erupted between a trio of cargo loaders and twice as many mercenaries, Orm rose up, picked a side and grabbed the nearest mercenary, throwing him bodily into his fellows.
Orm spent the next three days and nights locked up in the Citadel, replaying the fight in his mind as much for his own emjoyment as to avoid pondering the hard punishment certain to be levied on him. On his last day behind bars he was surprised to see no Purple Dragons come to carry him off to whatever legal doom awaited him, but a pair of diminutive noblemen. The nobles informed Orm that he had been given special dispensation to walk free of the stockade, provided he willingly joined them and agreed to train in the arts of swordplay under their tutelage and instruction.
Sensing an opportunity to taste more of what he'd experienced at the Hungry Man, Orm agreed and walked out of the Citadel more or less a free man.
In the months that followed Orm found his calling as a vicious fighter that gives no quarter in battle. He wields a hammer in each hand, carries a short sword with a spiked pommel and a wide, flat blade, and wears a mix of chain, leather and plate armor. He is first to join any fray unless commanded otherwise. He obeys the leaders of the Errant Gauntlet (Garlamond Anvilstone and Vorast Illance) absolutely, but cares little for the other adventurers in the company and holds a barely concealed hatred for Mythandra Jhansibur, who painfully[2] rebuffed his clumsy advances.
Orm has taken Brorn "the Young" under his wing and looks forward to the day when he can break away from the Gauntlets and found his own adventuring company.
[1] See Volo's Guide to Cormyr, pages 60-61, for information on The Hungry Man and its "beverages." 
[2] Orm's palms, fingers and face are covered in tiny white scars from the thorncloak Mythandra keeps as a defensive spell on her person at all times. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 06 Jan 2015 08:29:04 |
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 08 Sep 2014 : 15:00:07
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| Hulk smash! I like it. Can you imagine having seven older sisters? Poor guy. |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 20 Sep 2014 : 07:04:08
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10/7/2014: Doing edits.
11/2/2014: Adding names to the first post.
11/5/2014: Fixed a broken link. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 06 Nov 2014 06:48:30 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 18 Dec 2014 : 08:49:28
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Nararanralee of Manyghosts
Your father gifted you a brand new horse.
I borrow an ass and wagon.
Your uncle gifted you a sharp new sword.
I found a wooden flagon.
Your mother bought you sheets of silk.
I sleep in moth-eaten lagen.
Someday you’ll become a Stag,
And I’ll become a Dragon.
From Act I, Scene III of the play
The Stag and the Dragon: A Play In Four Parts
by Lady Bard Naranralee of Manyghosts,
first performed in the Year of the Strangled Jester
(…all I have for now. It’s a start.) |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 06 Jan 2015 08:54:15 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 18 Dec 2014 : 09:02:41
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Dalatha of Wormtower
(Fighter 3)
Though she claims the village of Wormtower as her home, Dalatha is a native of the Archendale. An orphan claimed by the church of Tempus, she grew up to become an assistant to the Battle-Chaplain at the Shrine of Swords at Swordpoint[1], a position she won through acts of endurance and strength, and the lone slaying of monsters.
Dalatha’s reasons for departing Archendale are a secret she shares with no one, and she argues strenuously against any travel into the Dales. Her fellow adventurers in the Company of the Errant Gauntlet are unaware of her history[2], though all have noted that talk of the Dalelands is the only thing to cause Dalatha to show anything like concern or worry; at all other times she is utterly fearless.
She may be found wearing spike-covered field plate the color of gray stone, and is as comfortable in her armor as others are in well-worn leathers. Dalatha rarely removes her armor, save to mend torn or broken pieces of plate or bathe herself, and readily goes to sleep in it.[3]
In battle she favors the greataxe.[4] She eschews shields and swords, though her skill at arms affords her the ability to wield any weapon with deadly confidence. She will readily drop her greataxe to smash and impale foes with her armor when mobbed by several foes at once. She is expert at disarming enemies when she is weaponless, and prefers to wield a foe’s weapon against him after she has dispatched his comrades.[5]
Dalatha stands six feet tall and is covered in slabs of muscle. Her armor is made to flex and stretch over her massive shoulders and thighs, and she is capable of overturning wagons, hurling blocks of stone and felling several foes at a time by rushing headlong into them.
Assembling and repairing weapons and armor, tending the wounded and looking after the battle-weary are all skills Dalatha utilizes daily. Otherwise she practices with her greataxe or prays silently to Tempus.
She does little else, preferring deeds over words in all things.
[1] A fortress that overlooks Archenbridge.
[2] She avoids her fellow adventurer Orlagar of Tempus, except in times battle when she addresses him as "idiot priest."
[3] Dalatha is not fatigued by sleeping in armor that she has either personally assembled or modified for her own use.
[4] Dalatha’s greataxe is a +1 greataxe of sharpness.
[5] Treat Dalatha as having proficiency in any weapon she wields, regardless of type. If Dalatha slays a foe with his own weapon, she will keep it as an offering to be made to Tempus. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 06 Jan 2015 07:55:23 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 19 Dec 2014 : 09:01:51
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Nars Whitesail
(Thief 4)
One a profligate dealer of slaves in Sembia and living under a different name, the adventurer Nars Whitesail was expert in the swift and quiet relocation of captured spies, servants who grew to know too much about their master’s business, and the unwanted bastard children of Sembian merchant princes, Cormyrean nobles and the moneyed of Westgate (all desiring to rid themselves of their undesirables, and preferring a less brutal solution than murder), and selling them into servitude at inflated prices to interested buyers throughout the Inner Sea.
His ability to swiftly and discreetly move people around Sembia won Nars much business, which in turn expanded to the abducting or otherwise “disappearing” of individuals in nearby Cormyr and Westgate. In some cases those sold into slavery by Nars never set foot in Sembia: one day they were in Cormyr, the next they were in chains on a boat sailing out of Marsember and destined for Thay.
Awash in coins and confident in his ability conduct business without handing off work to other, trusted agents, Nars made poor choices in whom to hire, as well as to whom to sell his abductees, which resulted in not a few individuals returning to seek their vengeance upon him.
Having never planned for such an eventuality, Nars was forced to flee Sembia--a handful of coins and the clothes on his back his only possessions. He found passage by boat to Suzail where he elected to assume a new identity and forge a new life, having no interest in returning to Sembia to start over.
In his current role as an adventurer, Nars has resurrected the self-taught thieving skills he plied as a youth before clawing his way to power and prestige as a slave trader. He is loyal to both Garlamond and Vorast (in his mind they are like a pair of customers that must be looked after) but Nars cares little for the other adventurers in the Company of the Errant Gauntlet save for Semphra, with whom he shares a rivalry that has left him torn between a desire to treat her as an equal (and possibly even a friend) and a desire to have her abducted and shipped away.
Nars is amoral, but not cruel. To his way of thinking, all of life is one opportunity after the next that is either seized or lost. Those who grasp first win; those who do not are prey to whatever fate the gods have set aside for them. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 06 Jan 2015 08:27:12 |
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore
1965 Posts |
Posted - 20 Dec 2014 : 18:52:29
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| Jeremy, I really liked your rough draft of the ranger X. I'd wondered if you had gotten farther in the development of him. In your footnotes you mentioned lycanthropy. I'm toying with an idea about a werehound (dog) PC and thought that might fit well with your description of the, as yet, unamed ranger. Your stuff is excellent and I would love to see you expand upon this character. |
Misanthorpe
Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises
Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out
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Edited by - Fellfire on 21 Dec 2014 00:23:09 |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 21 Dec 2014 : 16:19:12
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I have not thought about X in awhile, but I am happy to give him another shot.
Thank you also for your kind words, Fellfire. Keeps me going. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 23 Dec 2014 : 08:36:29
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Voruld
(Fighter 2)
A crafty old fighter of some fifty winters, Voruld is shorter than average and wider at the waste than the shoulders, with hair gone gray at the temples.
He relies as much on his wit as his sword arm to survive, and has developed a healthy relationship with drinkables—one he renews on a nightly basis.
Voruld served for fifteen long years in the Purple Dragons. Some of that time was spent in the stockade, the rest in far off posts on the border with hostile nations or roaming humanoids not far away, and far too little of it closer to Cormyr’s heart, where warm beds and willing wenches are easier to come by.
The years taught Voruld how to pass the time through small talk and storytelling, how to pick his battles and how to diffuse a fight using calm words or intimidation. But the years also took the lives of Voruld’s closest comrades, and with it a desire to remain a Dragon.
He left the Purple Dragons and wandered south into Cormyr, spending a decade in Arabel before moving on to Suzail where, at the House of the Lynx, his status as regular customer was soon elevated to head queller of troubles.
Voruld’s ready wit and confidence impressed many customers, including a pair of lordlings who precipitated a brawl that found Voruld in the position of hurling the nobles into the waiting arms of the watch. The pair returned to make amends and pay for damages, but not before making off with Voruld and one other member of the Lynx’ staff.[1]
Voruld tells stories whenever the chance presents itself and he does not care if the story has been told before. Most involve his exploits as a Dragon and a door guard, and revolve around him outwitting someone or finding the time to bed a customer while on duty. He flirts constantly with the female members of the Gauntlets, but pays only compliments to the wizard Mythandra.[2]
In battle Voruld is a dependable, if predictable fighter. He prefers to let the younger sword swinging Gauntlets wade into battle ahead of him, while he assesses the enemy before joining the fray. He is loyal to all of the members of the Company of the Errant Gauntlet, but he believes time will finish killing off the more hot-headed members. Randelio is his only true friend
Voruld thinks of Garlamond and Vorast as young Purple Dragon commanders in need of the patient council that only a veteran First Sword can provide, and he walks a careful line between obedience and criticism in his interactions with them.
[1] Randelio the fighter.
[2] She cast a spell to shrink his manhood and did not dispel it until Voruld succeeded in passing a tenday without speaking a single word. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 06 Jan 2015 07:56:37 |
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore
1965 Posts |
Posted - 23 Dec 2014 : 08:56:24
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"She cast a spell to shrink his manhood and did not dispell it until he succeeded in passing a tenday without speaking a single word."
That's harsh. I'd be nice to her too.
Looking forward to it.
Where is the spell thorncloak detailed? |
Misanthorpe
Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises
Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out
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Edited by - Fellfire on 23 Dec 2014 09:24:22 |
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Folk of Cormyr
