Association of Non-Specialized Wanderers, Explorers and Rogues
ANSWER is founded in the town of Melldad, which is nearby to Doring (about a 1 day ride).There are all the fundamental spots in town:
Ubiquitous Bar
Amorphous Inn
Obligatory Tavern
Church of Convenience
Hammer &Tongs Blacksmith
Stable Stable
There is a good sized building near the center of town. This is the local headquarters of ANSWER, who's goal is to promote multifunctional things, especially people. While in town, the party members will be free to stay at the lodgings within the answer building, or at any of the inns.
The party all came to the city of Melldad, all drawn there because they had heard of ANSWER, the Association of Non-Specialized Wanderers, Explorers and Rogues. They came because they have heard that ANSWER is accepting new members, and they all hoped to finally get past the mocking of the "pure" classes, they came to prove that versatility can be more powerful than specialization.
The group met up with Veronda, the leader of ANSWER. He told them they would be accepted into the guild after a quick test of their abilities. They were sent out for a short mission - removing some highwaymen that had been causing trouble for the town.
The highwaymen turned out to be a rogue group of Centaurs. A ferocious battle ensued wherein Julian distinguished himself by making sure that the underside of the party's cart was secure. The Centaurs were all dispatched and Veronda welcomed all the party members to ANSWER.
Veronda then explained that the high council of ANSWER determined that the association needed to establish a better name for itself. To that end, they have decided that a quest be completed, one that once accomplished would bestow great fame on ANSWER and it’s members.
The Quest
Word had spread of the troubles with the undead in the town of Doring to the south (2 days travel). Veronda explained that the lore of ANSWER tells of a talisman that will fend off undead. They don't know the full details of what it was, but the legend is that there was once a family of 2 parents, 3 sons and a daughter. They lived well, the children grown to young adults but all still stayed in the manor, plying their crafts there.
There was a wizard in the area that saw the daughter and desired her. Not being big on social skills, he met with the father and offered to buy the daughter - and was denied. The wizard then did what any self-respecting evil wizard would do and kidnapped her. The parents and three sons snuck into the wizards tower and got the daughter back, which of course enraged the wizard. For his revenge, the wizard killed the parents and caused them to return as ghosts, haunting the sons and daughter.
The children, to hold off this haunting, crafted a ward, each one making a part of the whole. Once assembled, any undead would be unable to approach within 4 miles. This gave the children peace from their haunting parents without being forced to destroy them.
The combined talisman, known as the Ward of Kalen (Kalen was the father) worked perfectly for the children and they used it to gain peace from the haunting. The wizard was ignoring them at this point, believing that the haunting would keep them preoccupied for the rest of their lives. He was wrong. The children, with the ward activated, set about solving the problem, not just keeping their parents at bay. The made another talisman that was used directly against the wizard. They used the talisman to banish the wizard, condemning him to a lasting banishment, neither dead nor alive, forever insubstantial. Not quite a ghost like their parents, he was too powerful for that - but he was gone.
With his banishment, the curse on the parents was broken. They were too far gone to return to the living - but then no longer were forced to haunt the children. The Ward of Kalen was broken up to its four parts so the parents could come and visit - in a friendly manner - with their children. And so they faded into history...
The party, having completed the mission against the highwaymen/centaurs, were then sent out to gather the first part of the Ward of Kalen. They would seek the orb first, as Veronda believed he knew where it was located. That was in a town named Fiver, a few days ride to the west. It was believed that the orb could be found in a church there.
The Road to Fiver
The trip to Fiver was not without some issues, those coming in the form of Harpies and then some Wargs. Both groups were dispatched with minimal problems. The harpies turned out to have some valuable feathers, the wargs had some fine pelts. Sadly, in this group with so many multi-talented beings, no one knew how to make hats.
Once the party had dispatched the wargs, it was clear sailing into Fiver. The town was fairly non-descript (ubiquitous even). In the church in the center of town there is a largish tower. In the top of the tower, there was a stand, upon which rested the Orb of Jessa. The townspeople, led by Runik would not willingly give up the orb, but they would happily trade for it. It seemed that they used to have a crystal there in the stand, but it was stolen by a band of marauders a year ago. If the party would recover the crystal, they could have the Orb of Jessa. The townspeople knew the marauders lie to the North, and the general location, but not more than that.
The Marauders
The band of Marauders that raided Fiver and stole the Orb of Jessa were led by Chalos, a big, mean bastard of a guy. Chalos is actually a half-elf, but that was very difficult to tell - he was large. Very large - almost 8' tall. He led his band by brute force. Their base was a cave complex, which the party was able to find by the expedient of a ranger that actually had the tracking skill.
When the group arrived, they find a corral outside a cave complex. There were 4 guards outside the complex, and an unknown amount inside. The party then actually used strategy, and snuck around the guards and released the marauders horses. While most of the marauders were away recovering their horses, the party entered the caves to search out the missing crystal.
Inside the caves, they discovered that not quite all the marauders were gone - there were still 4 of them - including Chalos - left inside. A mighty battle followed with the party being victorious, Chalos grieviously wounded and his few remaining men killed. The crystal was located, as well as a magic shield (+1), magic ring (+1 protection), Boots of Elven Kind and a total of 4200 gold pieces worth of treasure.
With the marauders dispatched or scattered, the party had an easy trip back to Fiver, where they presented Runik the crystal and were given the Orb of Jessa in return. The group then returned to Melldad, proud of their great success in their first real mission.
Next
More parts of the Ward of Kalen
