The Adventure takes place in an area I modified from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (Western Heartlands), and while I will be using some of the flavor from that setting, I have made liberal changes to suit my needs, and much is still in the process of being created.  The Heartlands in my campaign are located to the west of Cormyr (a self contained kingdom that is nowhere nearly as advanced as it's FR namesake), and to the north of Amn (a very old kingdom that the region used to be under the dominion of, but has now been mostly abandoned due to a calamity (plague) that befell that kingdom long ago).  It is now a frontier land that has been populated by folk mostly from Cormyr along the "West Road" that runs from Comyr to the western coast.  

The PCs are:

Luna Galanodel (Elven Female Healer)
Aust Galanodel (Half-Elven Male Rogue)
Barias Galanodel (Human Male Fighter)
Sir Ronick (Human Male Paladin of Helm)

PCs + DM:


The story begins with the Galanodels:

Luna, Aust, and Barias are from the town of Lain, on the outskirts of the Brithimbor Forest (home to the Amina Elves).  The Galanodels are siblings, children of an elven father high in the councils of the Amina Elves, and his human wife.Â

The elves have lived in the forest since ancient times, and only in the last few hundred years have men dwelt outside of the forest.  The elves welcomed men when they arrived, giving them stewardship of a small portion of the forest.  Over the years, greed and uncontrolled growth have stripped the town's portion of the forest to a shadow of what it once was, rendering it incapable of providing the timber and game that the town has grown to depend on.  In the past ten years, men have crossed the Laughing Brook (border of the elven forest), to harvest timber and hunt game.Â

Although ill tolerating the affront, the elves remained passive and grew reclusive until a small elven hunting party was waylaid by human bandits.  The males were tortured before they were killed, and the females were raped to death.  The bandits, fearing the elves wrath after the crime they had committed, quickly fled the forest.  When the victims were found, the Amina Elves were outraged, and struck back at the human community swiftly and indiscriminately.  A group of loggers were slain, with evidence left as to no mistaking who did the slaying.Â

Tensions have grown worse since then, and the Galanodels father sent the siblings, along with a valuable history of the Amina Elves, to Candlekeep (a renowned library located off the Western Coast) to keep them from the surety of a race war.  He instructed them to be in no hurry, to explore the world outside of Lain and the Brithimbor Forest (he said this with regret, as he felt it was his place to introduce his children to the greater lands), and to await his summons at Candlekeep.  In the meantime, he would take their ailing mother into the forest to relative safety.

Background for Sir Ronick:

Born to a simple family of farmers in the eastern countryside of Cormyr, he was soon tossed into a world of survival on his own after slavers destroyed his tiny hometown and slaughtered his friends and family (those who weren't taken captive).  Taken in by the Church of Helm, he soon became a student of their teachings.  Over the next few years, his zeal and devotion would impress Headmaster Selucia (overseer of the orphanage) enough to offer the young man a position in the church.  The next few years would be spent in harsh training of the body and spirit, while anytime not spent training would be spent in the library to study.  While other young squires would return home to visit loved ones or attend to personal business, Ronick would continue to train and study alone.
After many leftseat/rightseat quests with the older paladins, he finally received a chance to prove himself in the small town of Saxon.  It had been of many targets along the penninsula of previous raids by slavers and criminals hoping to use the area as a resource for a large scale operation involving the export of slaves.  Ronick was one of the many squires who would accompany a few of the vereran paladins to try to defind the town.  The slavers, however, were not just humans as the intellegence reports had indicated, but bolstered by goblins, orcs, and ogres.  The strike force found themselves outnumbered, as they drew the enemy into the town and engaged in vicious close range fights.  With the paladins dead, the only thing between the town and the maruaders was a handful of squires.  While no leader, Ronick managed to rally the few remaining squires into a final stand around the town hall.  With no real chance, the squires put up a gallant fight against the odds, managing to kill three times their number.  During the middle of the battle, Ronick was impaled in the left shoulder with a spear, passing out due to blood loss soon after.  When he finally awoke, it was in the safety of the church in Suzail.  The mission had failed, and the town was wiped out of existence.  Over fifty paladins and squires had died in the massacre, and Ronick was the only survivor found among the mangled bodies.  His devotion did not go unnoticed, and he was granted the rank of Paladin for his unwavering resolve in the face of adversity, and following orders to defend the town against unwinnable odds.  The victory was a hollow one, but he accepted his rank and position.
As a paladin, his judgements are often somewhat harsher and colder than the majority of Helm's order, executing criminals without mercy.  He holds little faith in Gods and Dieties after his prayers and the prayers of so many others went unanswered on the battlefield.  Personal feelings aside, he views his position as that of a soldier following the orders of the church.  Small acts of charity and kindness along the way help to balance  out his merciless executions and judgements.  The church frowns upon some of his judgements, but they allow it due to the fact that he has never broken a law of the church, or stepped out of line, following orders and regulations precisely.
Upon achieving the rank of Paladin of Helm, Ronick was outfitted with gear appropriate to his rank, and given orders to travel to the church in Brindinford, located at the halfway point on the West Road in the frontier land.  Along the way, he was instructed to help others as he saw fit, and above all, to bring order to an unruly land.

Portriat of Luna:

Luna's strongest interest is in the art of healing and regeneration.  She is very devoted to the preservation of all living things, and has spent countless hours studying magic in a futile attempt to learn to prolong the degenration of human bodies.  She is a child of the forest and loves nature.Â
Her greatest fear is not being able to protect her brothers.  She has looked after them all of  her life, and strives to protect them from all harm, even when it doesn't seem like it.  Luna has a problem with being a little controlling.  She always wants to take control of the situartion, regardless of whether or not she is suited to the job.  On the flip side, Luna is very kind and is willing to  help anyone in a time of need .Â
She is very charismatic - not only in personality, but she is blessed with exotic elven features.  Growing up in town full of humans required her to be very social and a diplomatic.  Playing games as a child she was always the enforcer, and the settler of disputes.  Always having to deal with her brothers is another outlet for her charisma.
Luna is not exactly the stronges of elves.  Growing up having to learn the elven traditions (being the only elven sibling), doing her studies, tutoring her brothers as they got older, and socializing among the mixed populace has caused her to neglect physical training.  At an early age, she realized that the life of the mind is infinitely more  powerful and interesting than that of the body (at least to her), though there have been many times when she has been glad that her brothers focused on it more.
Luna feels that all races are worthy of life, otherwise they never would have been granted it in the first place.  She grew up among humans, and knows that they can be virtuous and valiant.  She does think that humans are a little headstrong and over-driven, but she associates that with their shorter lifespan.

Barias (Character Dossier)

 

Class: Fighter

Race: human

Age: 26 or 28

Hair: light brown

Eyes: green

Weight: 230

Height: 6’1

Skin: white

 

With the combination of elven discipline and human ambition, Barias excelled in forming a powerful physique that is a necessity of his profession. Like his older siblings, he has a sound education.ÂHowever, there were a few problems during his younger years of being a pupil of his sister, Luna. He felt that her teaching was too rigorous and consumed much of his day. He was also frustrated that Aust could finish his studies a quarter of the time it took to finish his. Because of this, Barias would constantly sneak away in early morning to play with the other human boys, which was difficult because elves never sleep. He barely ever managed to get away because Aust would always seem to hear him leave. Of course, he eventually grew out that stage and embraced his studies.

His favorite studies were those on the epic heroes of the past- stories of dragon slayers, troll hunters, warriors of might and valor took hold of Barias. Poetry of these warriors favored by the gods had great influence on the man he has become. He was always fascinated with the flail and its design, thus becoming is weapon of choice. He views fighting as a way of writing his own story or poetry. As such, he values his flail and shield as a poet would his pen and ink. Barias approaches challenges in a confident manner. He is also passionate and outspoken about life. He usually seeks Luna’s approval before he makes any important decision and still goes to her for any counsel he may need. This comes from many years of letting his passion getting the best of him and ending up in a bad situation that his family has to bail him out of.

Barias is not quite so confident in a situation when alone. Being the youngest of a large, close family had a profound effect within Barias. The love and support from such a family seems to be the source of Barias’s great confidence and positive attitude. In fact, his greatest fear is losing his family and ending up alone. Leaving his mother and father was hard for him. Another great fear is disappointing his parents, especially by not fulfilling the quest appointed to him and his siblings.
Besides epics and fighting, Barias enjoys hunting, fishing, and good ale, although he has cut back on ale since the adventure began. He also has an appreciation for fine clothing and art.

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