They left Tarrish in mid-morning, after the initial rush of incoming farmers and tradesman had already cleared. Sherat moved her horse to the front of their line, I’har falling in next to her, leaving Toinet trailing behind with the guards and servants. The elven archer behind her waited until the city had disappeared behind a curve of road before speaking. “We could yet go back,” I’har told her, “and you could see her-”

“No.” She stopped, jaw clenching, making herself take several slow breaths before continuing. “No, I cannot. We cannot risk going to the jail directly. Erqua will either figure out a way to save herself, or she will hang.” She said it as flatly as she could manage, kept her eyes trained straight ahead at the road before them. “Besides, we have to move now – we have lost the girl already, we cannot tarry and risk losing the Robiane.”

I’har was silent for a few more miles before he said softly, “I know how you feel, Sherat.”

No, you do not, she thought to herself. After all, I’loz’s death on that beach was more a matter of family pride to him. I’har might be insulted at the thought of his brother falling to the humans who came in search of the Freeman, but there would be no grief. Surema had been more … even Erqua, half-blooded and debt-marked, had been more. Three sisters, Sherat thought. The middle one dead, and the oldest riding north to leave the youngest to hang.

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She said her farewells a good week before boarding. Her father picked her up to lift her onto the horse, and then stopped, holding her close. She could feel his breath against her hair. “I would tell you to be brave,” he whispered, “but I know how hard it is.” His arms tightened around her. She understood why he was sending her away – he had told her, after all, since he wasn’t one to lie to her – but yes, it was hard. “Instead I will ask you to give this hug,” his embrace tightened again, “to Daned.”

“I will, Papa,” she whispered back, and then let him set her on the saddle behind the grey-haired woman. “I will safeguard her,” the woman said, touching the insignia of Hamal on her cloak. On the ground, her father nodded, not speaking again. Maeva turned her head to watch him and the three who stood with him, until she could see them no longer. Then she buried her face in the folds of the cloak, sobbing.

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Meet Boeden Narwin’s family:

• His father, Draedon Narwin the Elder
• His mother, Arene Narwin
• His older brother, Draedon Narwin the Younger
• His younger sister, Ariel Narwin

Meet Cassick’s relatives:

• His grandmother, Marguerite Arnaud

• His cousin, Crevan Arnaud

• His younger sister, Finnella Arnaud

• His baby sister, Amalia Arnaud

• His brother-in-law, Eitri Hethin

• His nephews, Penn and Cadell

Back here I commented that John rewrote Duran’s history on me between one week and the next. To explain and clarify:

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In “real life” play, I like to use artwork of photographs as illustrations—in the campaign handout (the text of which is now in the Wiki), or in other “in game” documents (such as notices posted in the Vind Hall. For instance, DeviantArt has been a great source for NPC character portraits _(“Here, this is what Lodur, Son of Rigg looks like.”) However, in posting material to this Web site, I am not willing to use what is clearly copyrighted material.

Thus, the search for things licensed under the Creative Commons license. Unfortunately (for me, but understandably for the artists), only a few things on DeviantArt carry a Creative Commons designation. Though the AvatarArt offer is tempting, I can’t justify the cost of custom-made artwork for every NPC who crosses through the campaign.

So I’ve been spending some time over the past couple of days trawling the depths of Flickr’s creative commons photographs . Searching on “renaissance faire” or “renfaire” photos with a Creative Commons designation has yielded some viable candidates for my photographic mangling. Some of the NPCs now have thumbnail portraits, with attribution to the artist/photographer and link to the original source material in the biographical sections for the NPCs.

I’ve also been toying with modifying the photographs to look like sketches, but being new to Photoshop Elements, my efforts have been a little hit or miss. At least I’ll have something to toy with until I get to run my campaign again.

At this point, I’ve uploaded all the background information from the hard-copy campaign handout into the Wiki, and the weekly “running summaries” into the Adventure Log. I’ve listed all but a couple of the background NPCs in the NPC tracker (though right now, everyone has only a tagline and a race), and am backtracking through the logs to add the slugs.

So, Michael, if you’re wondering what all those “update” alerts mean—there’s nothing substantive being changed. (However, I have put hints of things to come in some of the NPC descriptions and Wiki pages.)

A. But First, Taking Out Some Easy Targets.

In the middle of the night, the PCs find themselves under attack by the team of brown cloaks. First, the campfire blazes up and gives off a roiling cloud of back, choking smoke, which has little effect on anyone. The PCs spread out to take on the attackers individually; although the Middle Redding horsemen make good use of trampling with their mounts, Athron “commands”at least two to move into areas threatened by his compatriots, who are able to finish them off. Within a minute, the fight is over.

B. The “Fortress”.

The next day, the PCs come within sight of the makeshift “fortress” used by the Middle Redding tribes for the annual contest.

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A. Information Gathering.

1. What Duran learns from his sister.

Duran spends some time having dinner with his sister, Gabria, who seems quite taken with Athron and asks Duran to tell her everything he knows about the cleric. Duran also learns from Gabria what life has been like for his family since he left. Some people gossip that he must have stolen the three horses set as the wergild price for his cousin’s death, or that he was too much of a coward or too arrogant to accept the punishment set by the tribal council.

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A. Duran Reports In.

Duran goes to his family’s tents, where he is greeted by his two older brothers Breen and Cullen. Both are surprised to see Duran – though Cullen seems glad, Breen’s attitude is unfriendly. They allow Duran to enter the tent where he finds his father seated among incense, praying. Duran learns from his father – as Cassick and Vermillion learn outside from Cullen and Breen – that his father delivered the three horses set as the wergild for the killing of the chief’s son. However, the chief denies having received the payment. Duran also learns that his mother, Alena, is out trying to finalize marriage arrangements for his sister, Gabria, in the hope that she can join another clan and take a dowry with her before the family loses all of its holdings. Duran then reports to the tents where the Council of Tribal Chiefs is meeting, to present himself and declare his intentions to claim the highest Warrior’s Laurels during the Conclave.

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