The year is 1369 DR. It was a particularly harsh winter but the snow is starting to melt as Spring has once again come to the lands. Although the Gods themselves have returned to where they came from after their war the people are left behind to deal with the devastation as is normally the case. Families are torn apart, many are homeless, and thousands are dead. Zhentil Keep where most of the battle occurred is nearly entirely destroyed but the Zhentarim continue to exist and insist the Keep is not destroyed and will be rebuilt. However those of Hillsfar are pushing their advantage and claiming territory, though the winter has halted their advance. Mulmaster has positioned their ships to cut off supplies to Zhentil Keep, an effort made easier by the fact that much of the Zhent fleet was destroyed. It would seem that the Zhentarim are weakened considerably right now.
In other areas of the world rumors spread of orcs gathering in large numbers in and around the lands of Cormyr. Another rumor exists of large groups of humanoids gathering in the mountains North of Waterdeep. Yet another rumor speaks of a man who has begun to gather followers to a new god to the Realms, one that challenges the portfolios of Tyr and Torm and other good gods. Strange rumors can be found in a number of the lands of Toril ... but such is always the case. Deciding which ones are true and which ones are not has always been the important and most difficult part of figuring out what is really going on in the world.
But what does all of this mean for the Dalelands where our story begins? Other than a few new inhabitants who will likely be welcomed but watched because they fled from a land known for the evil of the city and its ways little else has changed. Farmers prepare their fields, merchants prepare to start traveling again to take wares where they will best sell and to bring back others that are rare here, and adventurers again get the urge to face the wilderness and the dangers to try to find fame and fortune. The Dales continue on much the same as they always do while other countries push in on the Zhentarim and Zhentil Keep, while humanoids gather and disperse only to do so again in another area and sometimes after causing a bit of trouble for those where they gather.
But one man in particular, a man not of the Dales now calls Mistledale his home. Very shortly after his arrival he has began to gather a small group of adventurers but for what purpose? This man who calls himself Bastion Karameiko, just who is he and what does he want?
From the great city Waterdeep a young man with a troubled past has found his way to Ashabenford. From just down the road in Glen a dwarf whose injuries have pushed him to a life he initially hadn't seen for himself sets out. A young woman who had set out with her brother to travel the world only to have him disappear one night wanders attempting to discover what became of him. A young man running from his role in life also arrives in this small town.
All of these within a week of this young Bastion's arrival in Ashabenford. Is it mere coincidence or is something more going on here? He has reached out to each of them and very shortly after each of them has first entered the city. Further coincidence or is a greater power pulling strings ... pulling this group of young adventurers together ... or perhaps Bastion himself has a hand in these events?
Our story begins here readers, with the varying circumstances of each of these travelers bringing them to the same town all at the same time, and with all of them approached by this one man new to the area as well and within moments of their arrival for reasons yet to be seen.
Where will our story take us readers???
Very cool! I can't wait to see what happens next...
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