Tarren's Junction and the legend of the Pheonix

On the 359th day of 1789E, the Valley was plunged into chaos. Demons poured from the sky, and the undead walked the land. While the focus of this aggression was the tiny Dalish territory known as the Calelen Dominion, there day was full of hardship all across the Valley.
Possibly the least hit was Tarren's Junction. The Skorrian mining and port town is wedged between a bay and a small mountain range, and is quite defensible. Skor's good fortunes had meant that the local army were well trained and well equipped, and able to handle the skeletons, zombies and occasional babau. In truth, anywhere in the Valley where people planning on mining to any real depth must have a standing military force, in case of the miners accidentally breaking into a cavern filled with oozes, stirges or worse.
Tarren's Junction also had a patch of powerfully consecrated earth (a relic from the first Righteous March) on which they built their church (the Temple of Stone) and their graveyard. When the undead rose, those in the consecrated earth where immediately destroyed, saving everyone a lot of hassle and/or having their faces chewed off. There are also not many population centers near Tarren's, and so the whole place got off lightly. 
Boranthar
"Everyone you knew and loved are dead." -Kruin
Those aren't the best words to hear after being unfrozen from stone, but that's Kruin for you. Boranthar was a citizen of Tarren's Junction from just after the first Righteous March. He lead a small group called the Fifth Council Rangers (the Fifth Council being the fifth election since the March). On the trail of what they thought was a solitary medusa, Boranthar and his group (including Lady Mogriss) instead found a nest of basilisks and got petrified for a few centuries.
Boranthar was a battle-bard by trade (which is a good background for a mid-ranking officer), and played a mean set of bagpipes. Unfortunately, Boranthar had dropped his bagpipes before he was petrified, and his 'pipes had rotted away by the time he was restored. After being rescued by The Great Downward, Boranthar returned to Tarren's Junction to find that Kruin's words were completely true: Everyone he knew was dead, and his family had fallen on hard times, before either dying or marrying into other clans.
Bagpipeless and broke, Boranthar had no choice but to re-enlist in the one part of his heritage that had survived to the current day: The Council rangers (although they'd long stopped counting). Even then he was faced with hardship. Bagpipes (while thematically awesome) are a terrible thing to carry into combat. They require the use of the mouth and both hands, and also sound like bagpipes. Oratory or Singing bards were the present fashion, and had the advantage of leaving the bard's hands free for weapons, spellcasting or signalling. Boranthar showed his designes for a blowpipe-bagpipe, where darts could be inserted into the tenor drone, and fired every time he played an appropriate note, but they were sadly shot down.
His commanding officer tried to get him to play a drum. Boranthar preferred a hammer in melee, and it seemed a logical fit, but Boranthar said no. Drums were goblin instruments, not proper for dwarven musicians. Boranthar was left to "figure it out" by his commanding officer, and figure it out he did. Goblin drums were beast hide tightly stretched across a wooden bowl. Primitive and harsh, they lacked the care and craftmanship Dwerfater expected of his chosen people. 
Boranthar convinced his commanding officer to allow him to forge himself a mithral-bodied drum, with a skin made of basilisk hide. A shoulder strap of reinforce cloth and a few months practice, and Boranthar could drum acceptably, alternating his his swings between the skin of the drum and the heads of straw targets. It was not (by any stretch of the imagination) pretty, but it got the job done.
By the 360th day, Boranthar was in charge of 48 other soldiers. After the last of the attackers had given up, Boranthar announced his intention to march south to protect the Dominion. To him, it wasn't a matter of being a hero, it was simply duty. The Great Downward had dragged him out of a hole, and he was at least going to try and square the books. His suggestion, however, won him an unlikely Ally
Azathraine of Harrowfel
After the Fire-hawks disastrous attack on the Talon, followed by their fatal retreat into the Ways, the adventuring party decided to call it a day. Mezuryk, Azarthraine's lieutenant, was a mass of nerves and odd nervous tics that were beyond the reach of a cleric's magic. Azarthraine was a shadow of his former self, his confidence and pride damaged beyond repair. The duo retired to Tarrn's Junction after liquidating their remaining loot. Mezuryk was learning the jewelers trade, which his keen eye and steady hand gave him a good advantage. The work was quiet and forgiving of his occasional need to sit quietly in a dark corner until the shaking had stopped. Azarthraine became a spellcaster for hire (as all retired wizards do), fabricating, mending and entertaining. The two were happy enough just to be alive, and their story may have ended there.
When the undead attacked, Azarthraine stepped up to aid the town's defense, after first sedating Mezuryk with a deep slumber spell. After they were fought back, he heard Boranthar announce that he was taking his unit to defend Greyton. Azarthraine most definitely did not want to go, but he knew that if Greyton fell while he cowered he'd end up just as much of a wreck as Mezuryk. It was a simple matter to give Lord Marcone (the Mayor of the town) a bag of gold in exchange for the loan of one of his units. Marcone is not a greedy gnome, but Tarren's Junction would need gold to rebuild, and the unit was happy to go along. Azarthraine pulled on his grey robes (with carefully embroidered flames), and rose again from the ashes, at least for one more day.
So it was, by midmorning on the 360th day, Captain Boranthar, Azarthraine and 96 of Tarren Junction's finest arrived at Greyton, in defense of the righteous