Chapter 1
It began all in a roadside tavern near the confluence of the Hobbsen and Kaliborn rivers in the town of Khorath. Inside the tavern was dimly lit with the smell of halfling tobacco and stale dwarfish ale filling the air. On the small crudely constructed stage was a red Kobold bard playing and singing in a pleasant tenor voice, the crowd, a mix group of races was enjoying the slightly raunchy tune and singing along with the choruses. Off to the side of the stage partially in the shadows stood another kobold, this one was identical to the bard but instead of being brightly dressed he wore a simple kilt made of various pelts and a human sized longsword strapped to his back. He stared at the crowd with the practiced eye of a seasoned warrior and hunter.
Just as the bard began to launch into another song the door to the tavern flew open and stepping into the bar was a massive goliath. He was bald headed with strange black tattoos on his face along with a single small golden hoop on his left ear, he was not wearing the typical goliath kilts and furs. He wore a well-tailored sea captain’s jacket with gold and silver trim along its edges. His boots were the large floppy sea boots worn by most of the sailors down by the docks, but they were trimmed with bits of silver and gold. He walked with the typical swagger of someone who was more accustomed to strolling the decks of a moving ship rather than the unmoving land. The goliath paused as he entered the dimly lit tavern and let his eyes adjust from the bright outside light before he made his way to the bar at the far end of the room. A small female halfling barmaid looked up from her task of wiping down the bar and smiled at him. “Welcome to the stumbling dragon tavern what will it be for ya?” The goliath looked down at the barmaid and just spoke one word “whiskey.” “All right well we have several types of that here form your light elvish whiskey to your strong dwarfish dragon’s fire whiskey, so I’ll need to you to be a little more specific.” “Give me the strongest you’ve got and keep them coming” He growled. “Right o dragons breath whiskey coming up. You want any food to go with that? We got some fresh mutton stew and bread that just come out of the oven.” “Fine bring me the whiskey first and then you can bring me food.” The goliath said as he threw a few silver coins down and strode over to a table in the corner of the tavern. “Arsehole” the bar maid mumbled under her breath as she took out a small ladder to get the whiskey for the goliath.
The bard had just finished his set and both him and the other kobold made their way over to the bar. “Well, that was an impressive performance if I do say so myself and I do! Well worth a few free drinks, some food as well! What do you think Kakaya?” the bard asked his brother looking purposely at the bar maid. The barbarian just shrugged his shoulders and sat down at a table waiting for his brother Razzik Flamechord to haggle for food and drink. Kakaya was not fond of dealing with people and preferred to let his brother do all the talking. He would rather be out fighting and solving problems with his sword than be in town, but his brother had insisted that they stay in town for a few days as their funds had started to run low. Razzik made his way back to the table where his brother sat and produced two large tankards of ale for each of them. “Good news I have gotten us a room for the next few nights and free food and drinks as long as I keep bringing in the evening crowds. You will have to help break up any fights of course but I figured you would like that.” Razzik didn’t even wait for his brother to answer and continued to lay out all of his plans for their future “we will stay here for a few nights and then we should have enough coin to make our way out of this desert and make it to Grishnon and enjoy the tropical weather. Just think no more sand in uncomfortable places just lush jungle cities and beautiful tropical beaches, no more sand and dust storms to deal with.” Kakaya just looked up from his foaming tankard and nodded his head along with whatever Razzik was saying. Kakaya did not worry about plans and didn’t want to, he just wanted to protect his brother and be with him on his fun adventures. Kakaya was not simple minded, but he was more feral, his protective instincts honed by years of torture and slavery in the illegal fighting pits of Hathir. He still bore the physical and mental scars from his many fights with both wild animals and other gladiators of the pit. Razzik had been separated from his brother for over 5 years, and he had all his time trying to find the whereabouts of his only surviving brother. Razzik had finally found Kakaya near death in one of the back alleys of Hathir covered in blood and barely hanging on to life. Razzik had spent most of his money nursing his brother back to help with the aid of the local healer for several months. While Kakaya’s body had healed his mind was still in a fight or flight state and never fully recovered.
Balazar the Black looked over at the two kobolds as they shared their ale and meal at a table across the room, while the bard didn’t look impressive, he figured the other one would be able to manage himself in a fight. The goliath slowly got up and swaggered over to their table making sure he was not drawing too much attention from the other patrons in the tavern. This was easier said than done as he stood an impressive seven feet tall and weighed almost three hundred pounds. As he approached the table the bard looked up from his tankard and said, “Sorry but I don’t do autographs on the first day in a new place feel free to come back in a day or so and then maybe I will give you one.” The goliath just stared at the small kobold. “May I sit down with you and your brother for a moment?” At the sound of the goliath’s voice Kakaya looked up at the goliath and let out a quiet hiss. “Please have a seat and do not worry about my brother unless you intend to do me harm, in that case you won’t be leaving that seat alive.” replied Razzik with a dangerous smile. The goliath returned the smile and said, “Your brother could try but be warned I might be a little tougher to chew than he thinks.” Razzik looked over at Kakaya and made a small hand gesture that told him that Razzik was safe for the moment. Kakaya just stared at the goliath watching every movement Balazar made looking for the slightest hint of hostility.
“I am looking for some aid in an upcoming venture I have planned, and you and your brother look like you might be able to aid me in this endeavor. If we are successful in this venture, we would all be very wealthy and famous but the dangers in achieving the goal are also extremely high.” Balazar said. Razzik lifted his eyebrow a little bit at this. “Is it legal what you have planned? I will not be up for anything that would put a large bounty on mine or my brother’s head.” “Nothing illegal I promise you!” laughed Balazar. “Just very dangerous and risky.” Razzik nodded his head and looked at his brother, “what’s the job?” “It involves a dragon Vertanix the destroyer to be completely honest, a red, green hybrid that has been spotted in the mountains of Korangar but has also been laying waste to travelling caravans in the area. The local tribes have all petitioned the high seat of Surtran herself to aid them by providing a large bounty on the dragon to hopefully stop its attacks on their trade routes. I am looking to get a group together to take out the dragon and claim the reward plus the dragon’s hoard which is rumored to be vast and holds many enchanted items.” Razzik made a sign to his brother for the word hunt followed by a questioning look. Kakaya took a big drink of ale and then said two words “Kill dragon.”Balazar looked at both brothers and stood up from the table “Very well meet me at the docks when you are ready. Look for the ship the Deadly Hag and ask for me Balazar the Black.,” he then left the tavern as quickly as possible.
Razzik turned to Kakaya and said, “well I guess we are going to go kill a dragon, I hope you are ready for this because I’m not that great at the combat stuff like you. Just joking brother my magic will make up for what I lack in strength. I always am ready to sling a spell or two when the situation requires it.” Razzik winked at Kakaya as he said this, and his brother nodded and gave a slight smile. Razzik was used to people seeing the two of them together and dismissing him in favor of his brother when it came to combat. He preferred it this way so as his brother distracted them, he could weave his magic and catch them unawares. As Razzik talked neither brother noticed the hooded figure sitting and watching the brothers closely. As the two kobolds finished their drinks and headed out the hooded figure waited a few minutes and then carefully headed after them. He had a job to do and though he hated it he had to do it; the life of his protege hung in the balance.
Branar was a half-elf ranger who had spent most of time as a lone hunter, he spent many of his days hunting and trapping near the mountains of Korangar. He had grown up in the hidden valley village of Gala-Keth. Tucked away in the mountains of Korangar, the village had survived by hunting and trapping the animals that inhabited the mountains and by acting as guides in the deserts. Branar had left the village when he was still young, and he had been making his way through the continent since always looking for adventure. He was slender built as was befitting of his sylvan heritage, but his ears were not as pointed as the full-blooded elves of these lands. He had light brown hair and emerald, green eyes, and his skin was lightly tanned from being in the sun for most of his life. He had tried to grow facial hair to help hide and blend in with a lot of the humans but to no avail. For a long time, he had been alone and was content with that life, but he had slowly begun to crave a friend or companion of some sort, someone to share his skills and knowledge with. That is when he found his protégé Vilestrea swiftflight a high elf. She was young and seeking adventure in the world. She had long blonde hair with storm cloud hazel grey eyes and was slenderly built. She had tried unsuccessfully to stalk Branar through the village as he went about his business and had then followed him back to his camp. It was there at Branar’s camp that she had finally asked him to teach her the finer points of being a ranger. Over time, Branar begrudgingly began to teach her all he had learned living alone in the wilds and she had taught him more about eleven cultures. The two of them had travelled the continent of Surtran together for many years hunting and bringing captured bounties to small local towns to earn a living. Finally, the day had come for them to part ways near the town of Hathir. That was the last time that Branar had seen his protégé, that was until he got the mysterious letter. The letter had been left at his campsite one night as he had camped among the dunes of the desert with no tracks left behind. Inside the letter was the message that his protégé was now being held hostage until such time that Branar had found and captured a kobold by the name of Kakaya and had slain the bard brother as well. The mysterious letter had included sketches of the two kobolds and a some of Vilestrea’s hair. It also told him that once he had captured the kobold then he was to take him to the town of Sarakesh and wait for further instructions.
Balazar the Black hummed as he walked through the town making a mental list of items to have his crew pick up before they left for this important mission. He smiled to himself as he thought of all the gold and magical weapons that awaited him at the end of this job. The Goliath sorcerer had been in complete shock when an official envoy from the High seat of Surtran came to his ship with a private message. The ruler of Surtran, Santiana Windstride, had personally asked him to form a group of adventurers to deal with a dragon. The dragon had killed a substantial portion of the main military in the middle of the night and was wreaking havoc on the trade caravans that the continent and the capital relied on. Balazar the black was a mercenary, and some would say a pirate so the promise of vast amounts of gold was music to his ears. In his youth Balazar and his clan had wandered the deserts and scrapped a meager living by trading with other villages and tribes. As he grew older, he started to experience strange things, he would want to start a fire for the village and the fire pit would burst into flames without him doing anything. Then one day he had a sudden surge of magical energy burst forth and caused an explosion in the camp that took out half of his tribe. He had been banished upon pain of death and sent away to walk alone through the desert. Then one night at a small camp near the oasis town of Korvang, he met a mysterious person by the name of Gourmand and told him his story. Gourmand had been sympathetic to you Balazar and decided to help teach him to control his magic and to help give him purpose again. Gourmand had taught Balazar many things including his love for sailing on the Glassen Ocean and the rivers of Surtran. Gourmand then gifted Balazar the vessel he now owned on the day that they parted ways as Gourmand was getting too old to travel as much as he once had. Gourmand then bought a shop in the town of Korvang and called it the Bronze Dragon Bazaar and said farewell to his new friend. Balazar the Black had set sail looking for adventure and riches of his own.
On the other side of the town of Khorath, in the temple of Ramo sat the Halfling cleric Flashbang. Ramo was the god of the sun, and the harvest had a large following on the continent of Surtran, and Flashbang was one of his most devoted clerics. Flashbang was short even by halfling standards barely coming up to about three feet in height. He had chestnut brown hair and glowing eyes. He had earned the name Flashbang due to his propensity to use light spells any time there was a little bit of darkness in the room. He had accidentally blinded a few other novices when he was novice in the order and was given the nickname as a cruel joke and it just stuck. So, when he was made a full cleric in the order he took that nickname as his new name. Flashbang had spent his days in the temple tending to those who came in with injuries and teaching the tenets of faith for Ramo to the townsfolk. He was a nervous speaker with large crowds, so he rarely spoke to large groups and tended to keep to himself when not performing his duties. Flashbang was going over some of the sacred texts when into the temple swaggered a large goliath. Flashbang looked up from the texts and whispered in a barely audible voice, “good past noon sir, how can I help you?” “Well, my good man you can start by speaking up so the grownups can hear you” roared the goliath. Flashbang glared up at loud pirate and suddenly his eyes began to glow brighter. “We do not yell or shout in this temple pirate. If that is something you wish to do, then I will kindly ask you to leave or I will remove you by force.” Balazar looked down at the tiny halfling standing before him and smiled. “Well, my friend I do not wish to anger you so I will keep my voice down if that is what you wish.” “Thank you” replied the halfling as his eyes dimmed slightly. “How can I help you?” Balazar winked at him and said “My name is Blazar the Black, and I am putting together a group of people to take out a dragon that is terrorizing caravans and towns and your name came up as a capable healer and fighter. Considering dragons are formidable foes I figured you would be a good addition to the team. I would be willing to give a donation to the temple for your services of course and the reward for killing the dragon is a vast quantity of gold along with a share of the dragon’s hoard.” Flashbang considered the offer for a moment; he had longed for adventure and the opportunity was right here for the taking. On the other hand, he had his duties to the temple, and it was all he had ever known. “I will do it on one condition Balazar, we will not do anything that is unlawful while you are in my presence, or you and any lawbreaker will be in utter peril.” Balazar raised an eyebrow at that but stuck out his hand and took Flashbang’s small hand in his and shook it. “We have a deal young cleric meet me at my ship the Deadly Hag down at the docks tomorrow morning and we will set off to slay a dragon.” With that Balazar exited the temple on his way to recruit the next member of his team whistling a jaunty tune as he strolled the town.
Fozgod Fasbender was bored. The orc paladin had been trying unsuccessfully to get people to convert to his religion pass-a-fist-ism. Fozgod was large for an orc, he stood about 6ft 5 inches and had yellow eyes with green irises. He had shaved his head as a sign of devotion to his order but had a rough beard of coarse black hair. He had once met a group of clerics for the god Kionset, the god of learning, wisdom, and knowledge, and they had tried to teach him the value of pacifism which he had not understood. While Fozgod was enthusiastic about anything he tried to do he was not very bright. So, when the clerics had said pacifism, he heard pass a fist, which appealed to his rough and tumble manner so from that day on he devoted his life to the Kionset order. He had been expelled from that order shortly after joining because the clerics realized that he was extremely dim. Fozgod did not let that stop him, he still tried to teach the art of pass-a-fist-ism to everyone he met. He had just tried to convert a dwarf who had just used the small wooden shack he had built as a temple to Kionset as an outhouse. In a fit of rage, he challenged the dwarf to a fight to convince him that Kionset was the strongest god and that the dwarf should serve him. The dwarf had beaten him to a pulp and taken the expensive gem that Fozgod had put up as a wager. So now he was bored bruised and almost out of money. As he sat on some steps near the town’s fountain washing his wounds when a shadow fell across him. He squinted up through a slightly swollen eye at the figure. A blurry image of a goliath dressed in a fine captain’s coat and floppy sea boots appeared before him. “Well, I must say that was some fight that you had with that dwarf my good orc.” “You saw that then?” mumbled Fozgod. “I did indeed and it’s not every day that someone can stand toe to toe with a dwarf in a fist fight for as long as you did.” the goliath replied. “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Balazar the Black, and I am looking for a few good fighters to aid me in a mission, and you look like you would do fine. So, are you interested in the job?” Fozgod looked around and just shrugged his shoulders, “I mean I guess I could I don’t have anything else at the moment.” Balazar clapped his hands together and then rubbed them together. “Excellent just come to my ship the Deadly Hag tomorrow and we will be off, oh and make sure to clean yourself up a bit.” With that Balazar mumbled something and pointed his hands at Fozgod, a small amount of magical energy surrounded Fozgod and suddenly all his torn clothes had been repaired and his armor polished to a mirror finish. “Much better, see you tomorrow my good orc” said Balazar as turned on his boot heels and made his way past the fountain in search for a few more members for the team.
Dr. Isabel Helga Anastasia Parvati Wondertainment, the fifth also known as Izzy to her friends, sat at her worktable, her tongue sticking out to the die of her mouth as she focused on her project. Her bright green eyes were magnified by large glasses that she used for her fine clockwork tinkering and inventing. Izzy gently blew a blue bang out of her face as she carefully put the last small cog into place for her latest project. “There it is now to activate the magical core, and we should have you up and running my new friend.” she said to herself. As the magical core hummed to life the small robotic clockwork eyes of the dog began to glow and blink. “Yes! I did it now to test it out, Jeremy, can you hear me?” she asked the small clockwork dog. The dog tilted its head slightly at the sound of her voice and gave a small clanking nod. “Excellent next let’s try a few commands to test your functions out.” For the next 2 hours Dr. Izzy went through a series of tests to make sure Jeremy was able to follow commands and move without difficulty. Dr. Isabel was a gnome artificer who had recently arrived in the city of Khorath and was renting a workshop from some dwarfs at the temple of Thoklin the god of war. She was working on cleaning up her table when a knock came at her workshop door, louder than that of a dwarf she was slightly confused because she was not expecting company. “Jeremy guard mode” she said as she went to the door and opened. She was at once met by a large pair of floppy black sea boots that were chases with gold and silver trim and dark baggy pants. She looked up to see a large goliath well-dressed standing there. “Good past noon my dear Dr. Isabel Helga Anastasia Parvati Wondertainment, the 5th allows me to introduce myself I am Blazar the Black may I come in to discuss some business with you?”. Izzy held the door open and allowed Balazar to enter the room, he had to duck slightly to avoid hitting various bits and pieces hanging from the ceiling. Jeremy watched him cautiously as his clockwork eyes rapidly moved catching every bit of movement the goliath made. Balazar pointed to a large chair in the room as if asking if he may sit, Izzy nodded her head and brought over a small stool to sit on for herself. “My dear doctor first of all may I call you Izzy?” Izzy nodded. “Excellent, now to business I am here because I have heard of your skill with tinkering and enchanting and I come to enlist your help with a large task. I am putting a group together to kill a dragon who has been terrorizing caravans and towns. I have a bard, a few fighters, and a cleric but I need someone who can think and plan besides myself. I have a strong mind but due to the sometimes unpredictability of my magic I need a backup who can help plan and lead if something makes me unable to speak or something like that.” Dr. Isabel Helga Anastasia Parvati Wondertainment, the fifth sat listening and thinking about all that Balazar had said. “Before I give you an answer Balazar, I have a few questions that I need to have answered to my satisfaction. The first, what is the payment for this adventure and what is the expected time frame from start to finish? The other questions I have are exactly what type of fighters we have and how many people are you expecting for this team?” Balazar nodded his head and said, “to begin we will be gone for a minimum of six months due to the distance we will have to travel and then we must find the actual dragon. Second payment will be a large reward from the High Seat of Surtran and a share of the dragon’s horde split among all the party involved. As for the fighters, we have a barbarian, and a paladin so far but I am looking for one more which I have a lead already. Are they any other questions for me?” Izzy shook her head. “Very well my ship the Deadly Hag is docked at the harbor, and we will set sail tomorrow if you are willing to join us.” Blazar stood up carefully to avoid hitting his head on the assorted items hanging from the ceiling and made his way out of the workshop and on to the busy street. The sun was starting to set as Balazar made his way to his last potential recruit. Back in her workshop Izzy turned to look at Jeremy and said, “Well I guess you are as ready for a field test as you are ever going to be so let’s get our stuff together and tell the dwarfs we are leaving for a while.”. Jeremy just looked at Izzy running around the workshop and cocked its head to one side confused to why its creator was suddenly moving quickly.
Garnold Swarzenhammer set down his large set of weights stepping off the stage at a carnival. The large blue eye minotaur stood an impressive seven feet eight inches and weighed 425 pounds. He had mahogany brown fur except for the mohawk on his head that he dyed a bright canary yellow. Garnold wiped sweat from his forehead as he reached for the wineskin that was sitting in the shade just to the left of the makeshift stage. He had joined the carnival as way to see the world and due to his size, he was portrayed as the local strongman. He would perform feats of strength such as lifting a large bench filled with laughing children over his head and walking around the carnival for a few minutes before setting the bench and its passengers back down gently. He loved that part of his job because he just loved to make people smile. Before he had joined the carnival, he had been a fighter in the ring and his favorite weapon was a two-handed battle hammer in the shape of a barbell, something he had designed himself. However, as he had gotten older the blood and violence of the ring had reached the point where he was just sick of it all. He had left the ring to find something that would bring him joy again and he found that at the carnival. As he sat in the shade cooling off with the wine, he saw a large goliath walking over to him. “The next show won’t be for a while and this area is for the performers only.” The goliath walked a little closer and then stopped. “Good evening my name is Balazar, and I come with a lucrative job offer for you.” Garnold grunted, “If it is mercenary work, I left that life a while back and I have no desire to go back to it, as for money I don’t need it I am quite happy here with the carnival.” Balazar smiled and nodded, “what if I told you the job was to help protect the innocent and the young that live near the Mountains of Korangar? The mission is to rid the continent of a vile dragon that has killed many people over the years and is terrorizing the traveling caravans that move goods near the mountains.” The thought of innocent people being harmed stuck a chord with Garnold for a moment, but he shook his head. “I don’t know how much help I will be because I have not fought in years and to be honest with you, I am sick of the bloodshed that comes from it.” Balazar gave Garnold a sympathetic smile. “ I can understand that but think of this if you will for a moment, if we are successful in taking out the dragon then the good people that live near the mountains will be safe and free from fear and that is a noble cause if I have ever seen one.” Garnold sat for a moment thinking over what Balazar had said and then stood up and grasped Balazar’s hand, “very well I will help to end the terror of this dragon but once that is done, we will part company.” Balazar took the offered hand and shook it. “Very well we will all meet at my ship the Deadly Hag first thing in the morning we will discuss our plans, get what gear we need for the journey and then we will set sail.” With that Balazar turned and strolled back off to the ship.
Branar made his way to the docks through the back alleys following the Goliath as he had recruited more members for some mission of extreme importance. Branar had noticed that the people that were being selected for the mission were from all appearances seasoned fighters and tough warriors. Whatever the mission was, it was extremely dangerous, and it looked like a good opportunity for Branar to get close to his prey without arousing too much suspicion as to his activities. As he traveled through the alleys, staying in the shadow as much as possible, he saw the goliath suddenly stop in the middle of the road. Balazar slowly turned towards the alley where Branar currently sat breathing lightly in the darkness. “You have been following me all day now and I will give you 2 seconds to explain yourself or I turn you into a pile of ash. Your choice!” Branar stepped cautiously out of the alley discretely preparing a knife for throwing behind his back in case things went wrong. “I am looking for work and I have noticed you hiring adventurers, and I would like to offer my services.” Balazar’s eyes flashed with a bright orange light for a second and then returned to their normal deep brown as He grinned at the half elf standing before him. “I guess you can join us but be warned these people will not take kindly to any laziness or cowardice. We are heading to face a foe of immense strength and hatred with a high likelihood of none of us coming back. So, if you are still wanting to join us meet at my ship the Deadly Hag tomorrow morning, and no more sneaking in the shadows around me.” Balazar continued his way to the ship without a further word or look back in Branar’s direction. Branar stepped out the shadows and slowly made his way back to the inn and his room thinking what did I get myself into what are we going to be facing? His thoughts shifted to his apprentice Vilestrea, and he hoped that he would be able to save her in time before anything bad happened to her. He arrived back at the inn close to midnight and went straight to his room to rest before heading to the ship in the morning.
