The Frontier Adventurers

;**The Frontier Adventurers** were a group of heroes that achieved fame in the 8th century 9E. The members of the group were Älva Val Tÿndûr, Aisha Ceres, Nír 'en Nûmeré and Strelloc of Stillrest. Other occasional members of the party included Sir Bradford Carter. All of whom were members of the Tor Adventurer's Guild.

## Origins

The party formed in the year 742 9E. Alva, Aisha, Nír and Strelloc were resting in the Lazy Pilgrim Inn, just north of Tor. The travellers became acquainted when a man by the name of Stomund Hucrele hired them to rescue his niece and nephew from an ancient dungeon known as The Sunless Citadel.

## The Sunless Citadel

The first adventure that the paryt embarked upon was to the Sunless Citadel. They had been employed by the Hucrele Family to search for Talgen and Sharwyn Hucrele, children of the family matriarch Kerowyn. After meeting with Kerowyn in the town of Oakhurst, the party ventured north to the citadel.

When they arrived at the fissure in which the citadel had sunk into, the party found themselves embroiled in a conflict between the Goblins and Kobolds that had moved into the ruins. After some initial conflict with the Kobolds, the party reached an agreement to help them destroy the goblin tribe that they had been fighting for years.

Whilst fighting the goblins, the party rescued a gnomish priest by the name of Erky Timbers. Erky travelled to the CItadel in search for the magical fruit that was said to grow there. Rumours had been spreading that this fruit had to power to cure any illness. Erky wanted to find this fruit to bring back to his home and cure the sick there. After Erky was rescued from the goblins, he travelled with the party, assisting them as best he could. Whilst fighting the goblins, the adventurers discovered the body of Talgen Hucrele. They recovered his signet ring to return to his mother.

Once they party had killed the goblin chief and scattered the remnants of the tribe, they travelled deep underground until they came to a grove of fungus and other subterranean plants, tended by skeleton gardners. After being separated from the rest of companions, Strelloc was seriously wounded by some of these shovel wielding undead. Fortunately, Alva caught up with him and saved him from a a grisly fate.

After dealing with the skeletal groundskeepers, the adventurers discovered a giant tree, guarded by a mad druid. The druid had enchanted Sharwyn and another adventurer, Sir Bradford, forcing them to fight for him. After a pitched battle, the party killed the driud and broke the spell over Sir Bradford and Sharwyn. The party then recovered the magic fruit and gave it to Erky, to take back to his city. The heroes then returned to Oakhurst and to a grateful Kerowyn. The party was payed for their efforts and Sir Bradford extended an invitation for them to see him in Tor, where he might be able to get them membership to the Tor Adventurer's Guild.

## The Forge of Fury

Whilst exploring The Sunless Citadel, the party discovered a map to ancient dwarven fortress of Khundrukar. The fotress, the location of which was once lost to history, was said to contain weapons of considerable value. Driven by the promise of these legendary weapons, the party ventured further north.

Travelling further into the northern frontier, the party arrived in Blasingdell, a mining community nestled in the hills of northern Torland. There, they gathered supplies and questioned the locals about the legends of Khundrukar. In the town, they met an old dwarf who told them the legendary dwarven smith Durgeddin, and how his people were slaughtered by orcs.

Following the map, the heroes discovered the fortress built into the side of a small mountain. The fortress had been overrun with orcs and the party fought a desperate battle to breach the front gates. Once inside, their progress was impeded further when the rope bridge that lead further into the keep was cut. After clearing all the orcs that inhabited the keep, the party continued into the crypts below. In the depths of Khundrukar, they fought a colony of Troglodytes that had infested the lower level.

Once the troglodytes had been eradicated, the heroes discovered the Forge of Fury, where Durgeddin created his weapons. The forge had become the home of a clan of Duergar, that hoped to continue the legacy of Durgeddin. Although the first contact between the Duergar and the party was hostile, a ceasefire was called and the deal was struck. The Duergar had formed a shaky alliance with a black dragon, who had taken residence in the black lake that sat beneath the forge. The Duergar had surrendered all the treasure of Khundrukar to appease the dragon and were thus unable to continue their work. The party agreed to slay the dragon and in return were allowed to take as much treasure as they could carry.

Having secured passage from the Duergar, the party quietly crept down the narrow path to the black lake. As the approached, they saw the glint of gold from a small island in the middle of the lake. Continuing along the lake edge, the dragon burst from the water and sprayed the heroes with its deadly acid before disappearing beneath the lake surface. Badly hurt from this attack, the party sought cover and developed a plan to take out the dragon. Aisha teleported onto the island, to draw the dragon out. Her thinking was that the dragon would not dare damage its own hoard with its acid attack. Aisha's plan worked and the dragon surfaced to defend its treasure. With the dragon in the open, Strelloc and Nír attacked from cover, while Alva leapt onto the island to engage the dragon in close quarters. Thanks to their skill and cunning, the heroes were able to fell the dragon and recover the treasure.

## The Tor Adventurer's Guild

After defeating the dragon in Khundrukar, the heroes decided to take up Sir Bradfrod's offer and so headed to the city of Tor to join the Adventurer's Guild. After meeting with Symond Tane, the Intendant of the Guildhall, the party were admitted into the Guild at the rank of intiate.

### Farmer's Bane

The first contract that the party embarked upon for the guild came from the village of Haybury; Reports had come in from farmers losing entire flocks of sheep and cattle. A Hill Giant has been attacking the farms an eating the livestock.

After collecting information from the farmers, Nír followed the giant's tracks back to its den without much difficulty. The party then managed to lure the beast out of its cave and launched a deadly ambush to fell the giant and its pet direwolf. They were payed 80gp each for the contract.

### The Briarwood Mystery

The Adventurers Guild received a request from the Alderman of Dalry. Several children have gone missing whilst playing in the Briarwood forest which borders the village. The party travelled to the village to gather information about what had happened. Once they heard the various rumours surrounding the enchanted wood, the heroes ventured in to look for the children.

For several hours, the party wandered through the dark forest. Even with Nír's keen senses and experience, they couldn't help but get lost. While travelling, the party encountered many obstacles in their search for the children. They happened upon a giant oak with a door carved into it. Once inside, the door slammed shut and the roots of the tree lashed out and attacked them. Strelloc and Aisha used fire to defeat these grasping branches and the party were able to escape.

The party also got lost in dale, covered with thick mists, they were assailed by a strange tentacled creature whilst trying to cross a lake, and they had to fight their way through a cluster of giant spiders. Eventually, they made their way to a tall tower, standing in the centre of a clearing. The tower was guarded by dryads, who asked they party to leave their realm in peace. When the heroes refused, fighting broke out.

Once the dryads were defeated, the party ventured into the tower, where they found a kindly old woman, reading stories to the missing children. The woman was kind and offered every hospitality to the party, who were understandably suspicious. They tried to get the children to leave, but they seemed entranced by some spell. When it became clear that neither side was going to back down, the woman transformed into horrible ugly hag. She used her magic to transform Alva and Aisha into woodland animals. Even though she had been turned into a badger, Alva's fury and courage was unwavering. She charged at her foe and ripped out her throat with her sharp teeth. Once the hag was killed, her spells were broken and the party returned the children to their grateful parents.