World of Embrel: Knights of Magic - Episode 0

== Summary ==
After playing a decisive role in the defense of Wilderest from invading giants, the party became Knights of the Vanguard, knighted by the king of Oldirin himself. The Vanguard then tasked the party with a new adventure: to find a ship that will carry them south of the Summer Sea. There, they would find an isle with a shrine to the Goddess of Magic, where they might learn why magic in Embrel was dying—and how to prevent that death.
In this episode, the party hired a scribe, bought a membership to a prestigious magic shop, and performed various downtime tasks.
== Cast of Characters ==
=== Linus Vellum ===
Linus was a Goblin, raised on the docks of Aabar in Oldirin. He didn’t know he was a Goblin—No one knew he was a Goblin, as Goblins are unheard of in Embrel. He had been adopted and grew up with a Forceborn and a Wood Elf for parents. His father ran Aabar’s paper factory while his mother was the harbormaster; such a locally powerful family was practically royalty in Aabar, and Linus grew up with the blessings of status, including a home filled with books. He was more attracted to learning than to people and had few friends, but his talent for Arcane magic pushed him into the path of wizardry, specifically the Order of Scribes.
Linus was egotistical, obsessive, and unknowingly manipulative. His inflated sense of self came mostly through the great expectations his family and home had for him, treating him as special. He would insert himself into every situation without heed of others in order to prove that his intellect was superior, but what he needed to realize was that everyone had their own unique skills. He and his party must work together to reach their full potential.
Linus was excited to explore crafting and making unique spells. He wanted to learn more about Lovich Chrem, his mentor in the Vanguard. Linus didn’t understand why Lovich would make the decisions he did, which intrigued him.
=== Xochiquetzal ===
Xochiquetzal, or Xochi for short, was a Circle of Stars druid who came from the far-east rainforests of Ilsum. She was a compulsive liar and a people pleaser, but had been working on that. Colloquialisms went over her head.
Growing up, Xochi had generally been ignored and was considered mediocre compared to her more exciting, famous, or adventurous family. It wasn’t until she started lying about her own exploits that people showed an interest in her. Her deep desire was to be validated and feel worthy, but she feared that the truth of her—that she lies and has faked being a “chosen one”—would push people away. Her need was to accept herself, telling the truth about who she was and having real experiences that made lying unnecessary.
Xochi was excited to make it back to her homeland of Ilsum someday, but in the meantime, she wanted to get to know her friends better now that she realized they actually liked her. She had a romantic partner, Faye, who had a lamb named Mary.
=== Lugo V'Tarre ===
Lugo was a Forceborn Swashbuckler from Záchálas. Growing up, his loving mother used to say that when two Hell Gates opened on opposite sides of the world, the force that met in the middle created him. A cute saying, but not true.
Lugo came from a prominent, industrious family of business people who were focused on making money even in disreputable ways. He was selfish and only did things to his own benefit, unable to understand how other people took manipulation so personally. All the successful people he knew were selfish and manipulative; it’s just the way of the world.
When Lugo was young, neighborhood kids subjected him to a common Záchálas punishment: They put him in a barrel and dangled him over a cliff so that the barrel would fill with water at high tide, leaving him trapped and helpless. Lugo’s uncles saved him and freed him from the barrel, and those kids never picked on Lugo again. Because of this, Lugo gained the desire to respect his uncles and to have the same respect given to him. He would use any approach to reach this goal, however, stepping on people to make it happen. As a person, he needed to learn empathy and to care about people other than himself.
In the coming season, Lugo was excited to learn more about Axle Silverclaw, a poacher enemy who had helped them on occasion. What pushed him forward, where did he draw the line? That’s what Lugo wanted to know.
=== Ferrah Kerani ===
A Wood Elf monk from Merkai-Lash, Ferrah derived her self-worth from the amount of people who considered her a friend. As a monastic student, she saw a peer get injured and visited her in the hospital; when she herself got injured, no one visited her. Since then, she started making friends by any means necessary, even letting people cross her boundaries. She needed to realize that her self-worth wasn’t tied to what others thought of her.
Some time ago, Ferrah died, but absorbed the energy from an ancient dragon egg, which revived her and also granted her unexpected powers. More recently, her mentor died to save her life, leaving her traumatized.
Ferrah was interested in exploring the lands of Mowen and Kregia, the other main kingdoms of A’lune. She also wanted to interact with the dragon consciousness that had begun to inhabit her body.
=== Kartuk ===
Kartuk, known as Tuk, was a member of the Seafolk and came from the Fallen Marshes region near Suvauge. Athletically inclined and quite competitive, she enjoyed mounted sports and had a large raven named Roehelia. One of her greatest joys was proving that she could be better at some things than most people.
Kartuk was egotistical and outwardly overconfident in her skills. With parents who didn’t appreciate her athleticism and a mother extremely dismissive of all Kartuk’s skills, Kartuk never felt good enough, and she would go out of her way to get renown everywhere she went, striving for the validation that she craved. Her goal was to build a library in the Fallen Marshes—in her own name, of course—to prove her worth to her mother. What she needed was to have a more accepting and realistic view of herself.
In the past, Kartuk had enjoyed exploring caves and hoped to visit more. She also enjoyed a bit of mocking at the expense of Gunther, a White Pine Ranger whose accent the group found worthy of mocking.
=== Uno Veracruz ===
Uno was a Human paladin who grew up with a poor family life. At the age of 16, things took a drastic turn when his talent manifested as a pair of wings sprouting from his back. His family called him a freak and made him a pariah. Underlying aggression developed from there. He found himself to be larger and stronger than others, so he beat them up before they could beat him. He became defensive, resentful, rash, and prone to violence. He wanted to be the strongest and the most powerful being so that nothing could hurt him again. To guard himself, he would cut down those around him and had a short fuse. What he needed was an accepting family, to know what acceptance and care felt like.
In his past, he started a children’s program, desiring to protect them from harm and pain. While he tended to hate everyone, he had a soft spot for kids, since he viewed them as uncorrupted.
Recently, his wings were ripped off by a witch.
Uno wanted to explore more and desired to hang out with his mentor, Riff Ironstone, who was bald and punched Uno so hard that Uno threw up. He would also like to become a mentor to Axle Silverclaw’s child. Finally, he wanted to become closer to Hazzel Grix, an ally and occasional chaperone. He felt that their paths paralleled each other in many ways.
== Gaining a Scribe ==
Before heading off on their quest to find a ship that would take them beyond the Summer Sea, the group was given three weeks of rest. The first order of business, however, was that the Vanguard ordered them to appoint a scribe who would record their moment-by-moment actions and aid them in recalling local laws and customs wherever they went.
Three candidates were available: Cyrus Alden, experienced but curmudgeonly; Hope Lowti, somewhat air-headed, yet extremely gorgeous, meticulous, and an established writer who went by the pseudonym Babs Blush; and Ricky Slunts, a cool dude with glorious hair and striking clothes, but whose carefree attitude and poor physical conditioning, coupled with loose drawings being his scribing technique, put his capabilities into question.
After six hours of deliberation, the group chose Hope. Before leaving, however, Ricky got an autograph from the famous sowary rider, Kartuk.
== Downtime ==
The party spent the rest of their free time completing various projects.
=== Uno: Charity and Arms ===
Uno went to the city hall and accepted a job to find a missing pet monkey. He fell out of a tree trying to catch it, but in the end he returned the monkey to its owners. The two children were ecstatic to have their pet back and hugged Uno’s legs.
A smith saw Uno’s good deed and invited him to shop. There, Uno purchased a shield made of angel’s jade which reduced radiant damage received. The shield normally cost 180 ounces of gold, but as a member of the Vanguard, Uno received a 50% discount. Kartuk joined him for the shopping trip, and when she noticed the shopkeeper going out of his way to do whatever Uno—as a member of the Vanguard—desired, she respectfully pulled herself and Uno away before they caused too much inconvenience.
Finally, Uno attempted to craft, adding paralyzing toad spikes to his whip. He made a powerful whip that was ungainly, having a one-in-ten chance to strike himself instead of his opponent. Unfortunately, the paralysis benefit was lost during crafting.
=== Linus: Debts, Letters, and Gifts ===
After paying off a debt of thirty ounces of gold that had been hanging over him, Linus went on a shopping trip. He bought gifts for his parents, a pen for his father and a model ship for his mother. Then he went to a bookstore run by Izizomov Moabit, a Triton man. Linus purchased a pop-up book on demons and devils, along with the tomes Wizard’s First Spells and My Second Wizard Book. He got these for thirty-seven ounces of gold, the shopkeeper begrudgingly giving the Vanguard discount. Linus paid forty ounces total, the extra being a tip. 
Afterwards, Linus wrote letters; some to his parents, sent along with their gifts; one to Mikael, along with Wizard’s First Spells and a plea to return the book intact, since he planned to use it to replace a destroyed copy that once belonged to Lovich; and finally one to Guinx Slunts, the father of Ricky. Linus wanted to hire Ricky as a personal scribe and thus sent a letter of intent along with one ounce of gold. The letter unfortunately read as a bribe and caused a sense of bad blood between Linus and the Slunts family.
Linus spent another week foraging the local woods and found a sticky pink moss. Finally, he attempted to aid Lugo in forging a masterwork épée.
=== Ferrah: Words and Family ===
Ferrah spent her days using her calligraphy skills to craft two Warding Words, one of which she gave to Xochi. Next she donated time volunteering at the temple of Revina, copying pamphlets about body and sexual health. In the process, she learned a lot about herself. After sending fifty ounces of gold to her family in Merkai-Lash, she joined Lugo and Linus at the forge to help create an épée.
=== Lugo: Trade and Blacksmithing ===
Lugo set up a trade coalition between blacksmiths in Ylan and Wilderest, supplying a donation of fifty ounces of gold to establish it. The Ylan smiths supplied devilsbane to Lugo and blueprints to Wilderest, and Wilderest would supply their star apprentices to Ylan.
With Ferrah’s and Linus’ aid, Lugo then forged a faceted devilsbane épée. It was masterwork in craft and had two sockets for gems.
=== Kartuk: Forage, Flight, Fun ===
Tuk spent her time foraging in the mountains, finding lurker’s thistle, an insect repellent herb that could hold enchantments related to fire, but only as strong as a cantrip.
She also spent time flight training with Roehelia, getting the raven used to Kartuk being on her back.
Finally, Tuk reached out to Nikolaj Zoreta, who set up a sowary race she could join for fun and money. Her reputation made most other riders concede before the race began, however, so the rest of the party joined instead. They entertained the crowd, Kartuk winning easily and receiving one ounce of silver as prize money. She immediately donated that silver and twenty-five ounces of gold to a sowary sanctuary. Nikolaj said that was way too much money, so Kartuk split it between two charities. People lauded her charity, though there was an undertone of resentment against how other Vanguard spent their money.
=== Xochiquetzal: Potion-Crafting ===
Xochi used all three weeks practicing alchemy. She infused a cave pearl with the spell of Barkskin, then ground it into a fine dust, utilizing alcohol as a blood agent. The art of her craft was extreme chaos; those who saw her thought she would die. But in the end it was a spectacular success, Xochi having created a Superior Barkskin Potion.
== Magic Membership ==
The group was invited to join two of the secretive, well-regulated local magic stores: The Wandering Well and the Lone Palm. They could only join one and had an appointment with the Wandering Well first, entering the establishment through a well. Inside, a Forged attendant met them and led them through crushed blue velvet curtains to an exquisite private party filled with delights and vices of all sorts.
Kramer Lacroix was the proprietor, a Dwarf with mutton chops on his face and arcane phalanges replacing a hand. He had connections to a shop in Nótosgi, charged 100 ounces of gold as yearly membership dues, and expected the party to spend at least 500 gold a year. He had a Vanguard client whose sister lost her memory and didn’t know what she had been doing during the lost time, but he couldn’t go into more detail. He was also conniving and had bias against the less refined members of the party, calling the group a bad fit for his establishment. The party agreed and moved on.
Next they went to the Lone Palm, where a small wiener-dog led them to a dusty store. The owner was Harold Sharp. He didn’t think the group would show; on the contrary, the group brought the party with them, having liberally taken wine and food from the Wandering Well’s offerings.
Harold was desperate for customers and expected only a fifty-gold yearly membership due, as well as for the group to spend fifty gold per year. His methods of gathering magic items were admittedly underhanded, and he was willing to lie and steal for whatever he needed. He presented himself with little guile. The best item he’d ever acquired was a pegasus. There would be a signing bonus for paying the first year’s membership dues.
Xochi cast Speak with Animals to consult with the dog, whose name was Titus, and who was actually a giant spider morphed into a dog. According to Titus, Harold was a lonely man who cried often; ever since his husband left him to start his own business, Harold had been a wreck.
The group accepted the Lone Palm’s invitation, and Linus bought a socketed ring for forty ounces of gold. They each received a pinky signet ring with the logo of a single palm tree as a membership trinket.
Afterwards, the group treated Harold to a drunken night of fun and debauchery, taking advantage of the law that allowed Vanguard to receive free food and drink wherever they went. The fun included dipping Linus into a fountain, Linus being so drunk he thought it was a cheese fountain.
Next Episode
Knights of Magic - 00