Drannon, East of the Town of Vala’Lia
“Papa?” a tiny voice asked, “when are we going to be there?”
Tal Megarson looked down at the tiny face that looked up at him from his right on the bench seat of the wagon. He couldn’t help but smile, his daughter’s tiny angelic face never failed to elicit a happy response from deep within him.
“We should get there within the hour Tara,” he replied as he went back to looking out at the road ahead of his team of horses. The wagon rattled along the road seeming to find far to many of the ruts that had been caused by the heavy rains of late.
The little girl went back to sitting quietly on the bench seat and idly played with a cloth doll in her hands. Tal glanced again at his daughter and was amazed at how so much like her mother the girl was becoming. Strange since her mother had died when Tara was only 2 years of age; he sighed at the memory of his wife, gone now these last 5 years.
Tara was growing to look so much like Elisa; blond hair which grew in ringlets down to just past her shoulder, thin of build, her face was so beautiful that most people found it hard to believe she was the offspring of the harsh faced man sitting next to her. Tal thought it was a good thing she didn’t take after him, he had high hopes that she would be able to escape this simple life of a farmer and perhaps marry some nobleman; she deserved a better life than he could provide her.
He looked to the road as a particularly nasty pothole rocked the wagon, he cursed under his breath, he didn’t want to break a wheel and be stuck out here after dark. They should have been to Vala’Lia by now but Tara had wanted to stop awhile back to play in a field of wildflowers that she had exclaimed about how wild and beautiful they had looked. Tal could deny his daughter nothing; she was all that he had left in this miserable life.
He knew stopping might make them get to Vala’Lia about sundown but figured they would be close enough to the town that he could make it before it got too dark; he now hoped he hadn’t miscalculated. It was growing dark faster than he anticipated; worry began to grow upon his face.
Suddenly the horses began to grow nervous as if sensing their master’s trepidations; he slapped them on the back but instead of picking up the pace they pulled up and began to whinny as if afraid. Their eyes grew large as they glance about in fear; they sensed something out there, Tal thought.
Wolves? Or something worse?
He slapped the horses again with the reins but to no avail, they grew even more afraid and their movements became frantic. Tara looked up noticing that something wasn’t right now, she looked from the horses to her father with a concerned look upon her face.
“Papa? What is wrong with the horses?” She asked, a hint of fear creeping into her voice.
“Nothing dear,” He said as he tied off the loose reins and jumped down from the wagon, “The horses just got wind of something they don’t like and I am going to lead them on. You stay there and don’t worry.” He tried to keep his fear out of his voice but didn’t know if he was successful.
He walked up next to the horses and grabbed their bridles and tried to calm them, but whatever they had got wind of was not to be denied. He tugged at them to move forward and they inched forward a little bit but he wasn’t having much luck.
Suddenly a sound split the night air, a fierce cry, almost a roar; everything seemed to stand still for a second, then everything erupted into chaos. The horses reared in fear and a hoof lashed out and struck Tal alongside his head and he went flying backwards to fall hard upon the ground.
He heard Tara scream in fear; he looked up towards where she was and saw her for a moment standing up in the wagon looking towards him in fear. Then a large shadow rose up behind her; he tried to shout a warning but it was too late. The shadow reached out and Tara was gone, he didn’t quite see what it had been. Something large and bulky, taller than a man, he saw large muscular arms ending in clawed hands and he wasn’t sure but thought he saw a furry thin appendage … a tentacle of some kind?
“TARA” he cried and jumped up as the horses broke and ran; he had to jump out of the way of the speeding wagon lest he be run down. Throwing himself to the side he was struck again by the hub of one of the wheels as it narrowly missed running him over.
“TARA!” He yelled as he stumbled to his feet, and glanced around.
He wasn’t sure what had happened, something had grabbed her but what he couldn’t see clearly. He stumbled in the direction he thought it had gone; but he couldn’t be sure as the night was growing darker by the minute and he was disoriented and wasn’t sure of his bearings.
“TARRRRAAAAA!” He yelled one last time into the night before he collapsed to his knees and began to cry. The one good thing left in his life was gone; and there was nothing he could do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok a little blurb here to set the stage for recruitment. I am looking for at least 4 players, but will entertain as many as 6 for this adventure.
AD&D 2nd edition rules (some house rules apply, such as I use a point system for spells, cleric and mage. Ask for details.)
Basic classes: Warriors, Thieves, Clerics, Mages, etc. If you want something special let me know what and I will consider it. I would like to have all the bases covered; i.e. you need a thief in case you come across that door you just can’t bash down.
Character creation: You can submit me a character you play already on here if of appropriate LV and class or you can generate one using any of the standard methods. I will entertain suggestions on what method any interested parties might like to use. I prefer 4d6, drop one; point system to buy your stats; etc.
Low level (2nd level with maybe one 3rd lv mage character; only one spell caster, other than cleric). No magic items. You can pick our your type of armor (nothing higher than Chainmail) and one main weapon for free; you will get 100 gp ea. for miscellaneous equipment.
Races: Just the usual, Sils, Khords, Human, or Half-elves (No Cidals or Brathunspar)
Ok hope I didnt forget anything.
Please post interest here please.
You can ask me questions here if it is something everyone might like to know or through PM is you wish to keep it secret.
Note: The place of Cleric has already been reserved; but the other positions are still available.
Shadows of the Empire Q&A
Shadows of the Empire
Neva
