The Ironguard

The Ironguard is a mercenary group that is active in Pegias. They take on various jobs and adventures as long as there is a reward involved for their trouble. However, due to the kind nature of their leader, Spring, they tend to take jobs just to help people in tough situations... but usually they want the money.

In 999, the group agreed to secretly join the Black Guard in order to save Bindi Hoppletopple from the executioner. Since then, they have been secretly carrying out jobs for King Kosta IV.

## History

The founding members of The Ironguard included a genasi cleric named Spring, Vegas the gnome rogue, Kreyak the dragonborn fighter, and Marco the elf ranger. Although they rarely got along, they worked together to reach their goals and complete quests for a fee. Tensions grew between Vegas and Marco after a fight with some cave spiders led to a dispute over what turned out to be fools gold. Before their next job, Spring suggested that Vegas take some time to herself before rejoining them in Yley City. Vegas agreed and found herself a brothel where she could indulge in her vices.

### The Killer in Yley City

The Ironguard took on a bounty to find Jester Thorne, a convicted murderer that escaped his inevitable execution in Yley. The group hunted him down and captured him alive. They returned him to the Yley City Guard and, as they awaited their fee, they met Lord Raymon Cortez.

Lord Cortez offered them a job to track down a serial killer that held his city in fear. They took the job and within less than a week of investigating they were able to track down the cult responsible within the Church of Cleansing. The Church tried to cover it up, but with the support of Lord Cortez they kept it very public.

### Dark Waters

During the Harvest Festival in 998, The Ironguard was in Erey City. They were celebrating in the Commons when pirates attacked the city. They saved as many lives as they could and eventually joined forces with Lord Cortez in his pursuit to find the ones responsible and retrieve a stolen gemstone on behalf of King Kosta IV.

At dawn the following day, Cortez and the Ironguard, aboard the Isadora, caught up to the first ship. He was rejoined by the rest of his crew and Darneus in the battle. They were able to defeat the pirates of the first ship and moved on towards the second ship. To everyone's surprise, they lost the ship at the King's Blockade, why has been destroyed somehow.

As they continued their search, they came across some merfolk that were under attack by a party of sahuagins. The crew defeated the monsters and saved the merfolk. In return for their aid, the merfolk told Cortez that the pirate ship was heading south and was aided by another ship with red sails.

Isadora caught up to the second ship and boarded it. They defeated the entire crew and captured the captain. Spring was able to ask him nicely and learned the location of Pirate Island and that their leader was the Dread Captain. With the location in hand, Cortez set a course for the island.

At the island, the Ironguard went in under the cover of night. They defeated a majority of the pirates there and found the cave base of the Dread Captain. He seemed to know Spring and was very unhappy to see her. He managed to escape while the Ironguard was occupied with the pirates. However, they were able to retrieve the stolen Star of the Jungle and handed it over to Lord Cortez.

When they returned to Erey City, The Ironguard recieved an audience with the king. They were all dubbed with the honorary title of Knight of Erey and given a copper ring that signified their loyal service and heroism to the Levidor Kingdom. Darneus wanted to learn more in the ways of the druid, so the King sent him to meet with Dulebus at the Mage College.

### The Druid's Maze

The elf Saglyn had been hard at work decoding the text found on the ancient maps that the Ironguard recovered from Pirate Island. She sent a raven to Spring and the others as soon as she found something. By the time they arrived, she was able to tell them that the code spoke of a machine that could show them some new land. However, the machine was broken into five pieces and hidden throughout Pegias. She was able to identify the location of the first piece in the mountains north of Highhand.

Spring, Bindi, and Zanosh went out on their own to find the cave. When they did, they learned that an dwarvish druid, sickened by the war torn world around him, took to the caves and swore never to return to the surface. As a reminder of the infinite beauty of nature, he created an elaborate hedge maze. He had long since died and the maze was left without anyone to tend it which meant that it had become overgrown.

As the three heroes began to navigate the maze, they soon found that they were not alone. A beast was stalking them and attacking them through the hedges. Bindi managed to climb to the top of one of the hedges and identified the creature as a displacer beast. They did their best to fight it but they were failing at every attempt.

Kreyak, who had been left in Highhand, managed to find their trail and track them to the maze. He quickly maneuvered the maze and found his companions in dire need of aid. With his help, the four heroes defeated the beast that guarded the maze. After that, they were able to easily find their way through the maze to a small chamber. Inside the chamber, sitting on a pedestal, was a brass stand of some sort with a shaft sticking straight up, as if something would slide on top of it. They took it and left the dungeon so they could take the stand to Saglyn in Edgebay.

### The Trial of Bindi Hoppletopple

Following breaking the curse of the armor and saving Graysummit from the undead, Bindi seeks atonement for her unintentional crime. The elder of the village, Ellis Exeter, gives his advice to the group and tells them that they would serve themselves well to find a noble that would take their side. The group immediately thought of Lord Cortez in Yley City and Ellis agreed that he would be an excellent person to have on their side. He writes them a letter to Lord Cortez and puts his seal on it.

Avoiding cities and towns, the Ironguard went directly to Yley City. There they found Lord Cortez at his tower after recently returning from his campaign against the pirates. He is greatly concerned about the situation and talks to Spring, Kreyak, and Zanosh alone to get their opinion of the situation and whether or not Bindi was worth defending. They give him the letter from Ellis, which he reads and locks in his desk. Then, with their reassurance, Cortez agreed to help them but needed to take Bindi into custody in the meantime.

After Bindi was taken away, she was locked in the dungeon and orders were given not to let her talk to anyone. Cortez also introduced the group to Jak Ironhoof, a very large minotaur that loved to talk. He said that he met Jak on his travels and felt that he would make a valued member of the group in the upcoming trial. Kreyak and Spring told him everything about was going on and he began considering their options.

Jak works with Kreyak and VV to develop a plan of subterfuge where they would plant doubt of Bindi's actual involvement. They planted a longbow and costume in Highhand and then found a naive half-elf named Fae that had just wandered into Yley City from Highhand. They convinced her that the wrong person was about to take the fall for the murder and planted the idea in her head that a half-elf committed the murder. She then went and filed a report with the Yley City Guard that she witnessed the crime and claimed that a half-human killed the boy.

During the trial, Jak starts off by attacking the credibility of Lord Arturo Delnar of Highhand. He is seeking for Bindi to be executed for the murder. Jack reveals to the panel that Henning Delnar, who murdered a pregnant woman, is actually not at Castle Barnacton like he should be, but actually "imprisoned" at the family lake house outside of Highhand. Cortez and the mysterious man on the panel discussed it amongst themselves and decided to remove Delnar from the trial altogether.

Jak continues to lead his defense of character for Bindi and uses the letter from Ellis, Cortez's testimony, and the Tome of Curses from the Library of Yley. It was a very convincing case until it came to proving that the curse did in fact exist. VV offered to check the armor for a curse but the panel said that they had an unbiased cleric to do the job. When the armor was checked, they found no trace of a curse.

After a brief deliberation, the panel passes their judgement. Without evidence of the curse existing, it was just a legend and an identical suit of armor in appearance. However, it is obvious to the panel that Bindi did not intend for anything to happen, even if they can't actually prove it. So the unnamed man revealed himself to be Jornrath and sent by the king. He says that he is recruiting Bindi into the Black Guard, a secretive unit of the Royal Guard that carries out missions for the king. He says that he also wants the Ironguard to join him. Reluctantly, the group agrees to the terms of her release.

### The Temple of Auril

Saglyn marked the location of the next artifact on a map for the group. At a high ice-capped peak in the southern part of the mountains, there was once some kind of temple. Somewhere within the temple they would find the artifact; most likely it would be some kind of shelf that would attach to the stand that they found in the Druid's Maze.

They entered the temple through a hole in the side of the mountain and fought two manticores that were guarding the entrance. With the beasts dead, they began searching the room. They found two bookshelves and one of them contained a book giving a written history of the temple. Auril was once a fey princess that was corrupted and turned into a lesser deity of ice. When the great war broke out, she wanted nothing to do with it, so she sealed her temple and any unfortunate souls that remained inside with her.

It is possible that the temple is haunted. Footsteps were heard walking down the corridor but when they were followed they led to an empty room with no exits. After further investigation, Fae found a hidden door behind a banner featuring Auril's seal. Before they could go through it, they were attacked by a winter wolf and an ice mephit that they managed to do away with.

Moving deeper into the dungeon, Zanosh finds the throne room of Auril. In the room, Spring investigates a statue of the goddess and realizes that she knows who it is. She remembers that Auril was once a Fey princess that was turned into a demigoddess of winter that despises Eldath, Spring's patron deity. That is when Kreyak finds the chapel and a note presumably written by the last remaining survivor in the Temple. In it he damns Auril and confesses to cannibalism to survive; he also mentions a great war that Auril wanted no part in.

Back in the throne room, the group realizes that the statue is hiding something. Spring and Zanosh work together to push it down and discovering a stone door that is locked. They open the door and move into a lit room where Auril is seen lounging on a padded sofa with a white dragon. She is bored and willing to negotiate until she realizes that Spring worships Eldath. The goddess attacks along with her dragon and at first it appears that the Ironguard is going to be fine until she summons a second dragon out of thin air.

Spring and Bindi fought for their lives and Kreyak struggled to save them from the remaining dragon. At the same time, Zanosh fought Auril one-on-one. Fortunately, the vessel that the demigoddess was using was weakened after so many centuries without anyone worshiping her. Zanosh defeated the winter goddess and Kreyak slew the final dragon. The group retrieved the second piece of the artifact, which was a bronze orb that opened and closed.

### The Fae Stone

After the riots in Edgebay broke out, the Ironguard escaped the city along with Saglyn and her nephew thanks to the aid of Desmond Murik. They traveled by sea and arrived at Erostey, a hidden village in the southwestern forests that is a refuge to escaped elves from Castle Barnacton. They met Mayor Oriben and his wife Magbella who told them about *Lord* Murik's generosity to the village and how he helped to establish it nearly a decade ago.

Desmond spoke with Spring and the others the following day. He informed them that he had been a secret benefactor to Saglyn's work for many years and that he was behind the funding of her research. He has been tracking and following the movements of the Ironguard closely and knows about their work with the Black Guard and details about their quest for the artifact. He wants them to complete the artifact so that he can use it as a bargaining chip to gain his freedom and protection from The Brotherhood. If the Ironguard is willing to help him, he would use it to bargain for their freedom as well since they are now wanted in connection to the riots.

With little choice on the table, they decided to work for Murik. Saglyn then told them about how there are three stones that went into the artifact that would power it. Each is represented by a symbol but only one of them is recognizable. She calls it the Fae Stone and that it can be found in the Feywild, but she doesn't know where the portal is to reach it. Fortunately, there was an Eladrin in the village named Minykos that told them that portal was in the top of a giant tree in the Horn Desert in a village named Tarmane.

Murik introduced the group to a secret underground cave system called The Underdark. Using its dark and dangerous tunnels, they could navigate their way across the kingdom without being seen. They spent three weeks traversing the Underdark, encountering dwarves, drow, hobgoblins, and bugbears before emerging from the Northern Passage.

## The Black Guard

The Ironguard had no real choice but to join the Black Guard as a result of Bindi's trial in Yley City. They would work for the king under the direct supervision of Jornrath. He told them that they may keep their freedom but would be required to serve the king whenever he asked. Also, if Bindi ever broke the law again, he had the authority to kill her and anyone that tried to stop him. He also made it very clear that they are not allowed to reveal the existence of the Black Guard to the public.

### The Red Daggers

Immediately after being forced to join the Black Guard, Jornrath told the group that they had to remove Myrin the Red from Yley City. He is the last of the crime lords in the city and he is the most brutal one of all. The Black Guard is to find him at his base of operations in the slums of Yley City and remove him.

They group confronted him as The Ironguard and Myrin attempted to have them killed by his gang. However, the Red Daggers were greatly outmatched. The killed dozens of daggers and their mastiff war hounds as well as executed Myrin in the streets. It was a public slaughter and those who witnessed it were terrified of the sheer brutality of the Ironguard. Regardless of the public impression, the mission was a success and the last of the crime bosses was dealt with in the city.

### The Workers in Edgebay

After heading back from Auril's Temple, Jornrath found them about to leave Yley City and stopped them with a new mission. Lord Jasper of Edgebay was having problems with the local chapter of The Workers. Bindi was to report to Lord Jasper and help him solve his problems at all costs.

Upon arriving to Edgebay, Bindi and Spring went to go and find Lord Jasper while Kreyak and Zanosh went to see Saglyn. Bindi was given the mission to discreetly arrest or kill Gridor, leader of The Workers in Edgebay. Meanwhile, Saglyn begs Kreyak and Zanosh to get her nephew out of The Workers before a riot breaks out. All four of them work together to try and negotiate a peace, but in the end none could be had.

As The Workers began their march on High Town, the Guard and Lord Jasper began their counter-attack on Low Town. Bindi managed to assassinate Gridor and was preparing to leave when Kreyak assassinated Lord Jasper. With both men dead, Zanosh and Spring managed to rescue Saglyn's nephew and take him back to her at the library in Low Town. Desmond Murik was there with her and told them that he would get them out of the city.

## Notable Events

### The Cave Spiders

One of the first adventures that The Ironguard went on was by complete accident. Spring, Vegas, Kreyak, and Marco stumbled upon a cave. When they explored it, they were enticed to go deeper into the cave where they saw the glint of a golden metal. They were ambushed by two cave spiders and nearly died if it wasn't for Spring saving the group constantly.

Afterwards, Spring and Vegas were able to identify the metal as fool's gold. Vegas tried to trick Marco and Kreyak into thinking that it was worth something and the two nearly left the group. Fortunately, Spring finally stepped in and told them what was going on. Marco and Kreyak decided not to leave, but they had a serious problem with Vegas after that. Spring suggested that Vegas take a break from the group and rejoin them in Yley City.

### The Second Arrest of Jester Thorne

The first real job that The Ironguard took was a bounty to find and arrest the escaped convict Jester Thorne. Vegas was off carousing in a brothel, so it was just Spring, Kreyak, and Marco. They managed to capture him after a brief scuffle and drag him back to Yley City.

### Spring's Attack on the Brotherhood in Yley City

Lord Cortez was cracking down on crime in Yley City. The gangs were getting far too much power and starting to run his city for him. The Brotherhood was the largest and most secretive group in the city and Cortez knew that Spring had some knowledge about their actions that he could potentially use against them.

Spring willingly gave up their base of operations as well as the name of Yley City's chapter boss: Desmond Murik. In the days that followed, a formal investigation into the philanthropist noble went public and Murik's reputation was in ruin. Before any charges could be brought on him, he escaped the city. Not long after this, there was an assassination attempt made on Spring by a halfling. The attack was thwarted but the would-be assassin escaped.

### The Rescue of Sir Soto

A traveling knight named Sir Soto was captured by a green dragon wyrmling. His squire, Horatio, frantically went into Yley City searching for heroes to save him. He found The Ironguard. Spring and Kreyak agreed to fight the dragon but first wanted to try and get Lady Queslyn Eldermoore to come along in case they needed to speak to it.

Lady Eldermoore did not think that she would be able to help them very much, but instead introduced them to a tiefling named Darneus that could speak draconic. He agreed to help for a fee. The trio left to fight the dragon in the forest outside of Yley.

They face the green wyrmling outside of a tunnel that he had made. His name was Svetreth and was very proud of the fact that he had captured Sir Soto and was forcing him to dance to his death deep in his hole. The group tried to peacefully end the conflict but it resorted to combat where they slew the dragon. Sure enough, they found Sir Soto exhausted from dancing at the end of the tunnel. He was grateful and wanted to leave to find the wyrmling's mother.

### Jester Thorne's Fate

Before leaving Yley City, the Yley City Guard tried to hire The Ironguard to go out and recapture Jester Thorne, who escaped for a second time. They could only afford to offer 20 GP to bring him in alive. Darneus scoffed at that and refused the job. Spring and Kreyak, on the other hand, decided to take the job.

Thorne took refuge on an abandoned island not far off the coast of Pesias. It was once a nobleman's private island, but once he died with no heirs, ownership of the island has been in limbo. As a result, bandits took control of the island and dubbed it Bandit Island.

The group arrives under the cover of night and they easily deal with the guards on the coast. As they make their way to the top of the mountain where the hunting lodge was located, they were attacked by kobolds. After dealing with them they found a terrified Jester Thorne who was the last of his gang left alive. A green dragon wrymling attacked his gang and toyed with them as he killed them one-by-one.

Before they could escape the island with him, they are attacked by the dragon named Ryluth, apparently the son of a green dragon named Tyrath the Clever. Ryluth was a very cruel dragon that sought to make Bandit Island his lair. Thorne assisted Spring and Kreyak in the battle with him, but died during the combat. Kreyak managed to slay the beast.

When they returned to Yley with Thorne's corpse, the guard was very unhappy. Kreyak explained that they were attacked by a green wyrmling on the island and it killed all of the bandits, Thorne included. The guard captain was displeased, however his new concern was if there was a nest near Yley where these dragons were coming from.

### Kreyak's Past

On the road to Highhand, The Ironguard was ambushed by a group of thieves looking just to capture Kreyak and retrieve the scroll that he stole from them. The group refused and fought them and captured one of the thieves named Chase.

Chase was indeed a member of Clan of the Raven, the largest thieves guild on Pegias. He told them that Kreyak and the scroll both belonged to his Clan and that they would stop at nothing to get it back. Kreyak killed him in a fit of rage. He told the group that he was raised in the Clan and that he escaped with the scroll and was on the run from them.

### Fury of the Goliath

When The Ironguard first arrived in Highhand to investigate the troubles at the mine, they found a noble named Henning Delnar that was scared for his life. He claimed that a goliath named Magak was trying to kill him and offered 30 PP for the group to kill him. When they went to investigate, they found Magak who told them that he was seeking justice for the murder of his wife and unborn child at the hands of Henning, who was angry having lost a fair contest against him.

The group aided Magak in calling out Henning in front of the public and his father. They presented evidence of the murder in the form of the bloody dagger with the Delnar family seal on it. Lord Delnar had no choice but to have his son arrested. He then pardoned Magak of all charges against him. To show is gratitude, he pledged his allegiance to The Ironguard.

### Highhand Iron Mine

Investigating the iron shortage in Highhand revealed that some sort of monster was killing all of the miners in the largest iron mine on Pegias. The Ironguard took the job of going into the mine and finding the beast. After four days deep in the shafts of the mine, the group found a troll that tried did it's best to kill them but to no avail when Bindi realized that they had to use acid to stop its regenerative health.

After clearing the mine of dangers and collecting their reward, the Ironguard takes a job from Furtado to protect an iron shipment to Yley City. Along the way, they are ambushed by goblins and pick up an absentminded hitchhiker named Delleck, who seemed very interested in Spring being a cleric. After arriving in Yley, he went his own way.

### The Mysterious Machine

Kreyak met with Jenkins Ironfist in regards to the mysterious machine that they had left with him to investigate. Jenkins informed him that after some tinkering and research at the library that he had identified it as an ancient weapons from the Old World. It was called a pistol and as far as anyone knew, this was the only one in existence.

Meeting with the rest of the group, Jenkins proposed a business venture with the Ironguard. They would leave the gun with him as an investment into his business, and in return he would begin production of his own pistols for sale. After a year, he would give the Ironguard their investment as well as a percentage of all of the profits from their business for the year. After some negotiating, a deal was struck and they left the weapon with Jenkins to begin production.

### The Scroll

While in in Erey City, Kreyak took his translated scroll to Whitley at the Mage College. Whitley looked it over and told him that it was indeed a summoning ritual that could be preformed only with the aid of someone from the Norixius dragonborn clan. The ritual would summon an evil black dragon known as Rhaegos the Dark. The summoner would be able to control the dragon for a short time.

Later, outside of Highhand, three gold dragons dropped in on the group suddenly. They were searching for the triplet green dragons when they learned that the Ironguard killed two of them already. They warned them to beware the third one who was the strongest of the siblings. They were about to leave when Kreyak asked them about the scroll.

They at first thought that he was a member of the clan Norixius and were prepared to kill him until he swore that he wasn't. He told them that he just wanted to learn more about his past since he has never seen another dragonborn. They struck a deal with him, if he destroyed the scroll, they would tell him where to find more dragonborn. He agreed and the scroll was burned; they told him of a hidden village in the farthest reaches of the Horn Desert where only dragonborn lived.

### The Artist

In Erey City, Kelfira from the Mage College invited the group to go and see the famous artist Daris Osoldan perform at the theater. The group accompanied her and watched the rather morbid show. At the end of the show, Daris was attacked by a raving halfling. Magak threw Bindi onstage and she stopped the halfling while Spring came up and restrained him.

The Halfling's name was Barmo and he swore that Daris killed his friend, Hew, back in Vegas. Daris claimed that he knew nothing about it but that Barmo had been following him since Vegas and swearing to kill him. He asked the Ironguard to protect him during his upcoming shows in case Barmo tried to kill him again and they agreed to.

Daris performed a show in Yley City without a problem and the group traveled south to Pinewater City for the first time. Here, the group protected Daris from yet another attack by Barmo. This time, the city guard took him and locked him away in the dungeon for good. Daris thanked Kreyak for being the one to save his life and gave everyony a bonus for that show.

### The Murder of Magak

While in Highhand, Magak wanted to show Daris where his tribe lived before he left to join the Ironguard. The two left and said that they would be back by that evening. The group enjoyed a night of drinking and carousing and never noticed that they never returned. The next morning, Daris ran to the the bar and found them. He was covered in blood and exclaimed that Magak was in danger and that someone named "Henning" attacked them.

They quickly went and found a blood trail. They followed it to a cliff where they saw that his body had been thrown over the edge. When they recovered his body, they saw that he had been stabbed multiple times, his arm had been eaten down to the bone and there were humanoid teeth marks, as well as an amputated toe that was carefully removed to prevent damage to the bone.

The approached Lord Delnar and accused his son. Lord Delnar told them that it wasn't his son and took them to where Henning Delnar was locked away in secret under the watch of guards. The group then assumed Daris was responsible but when they questioned him they could not help but believe. Only Zanosh remained skeptical of Daris while Bindi insisted that it had to be Henning Delnar. They were unable to find his killer.

For a time, the investigation had hit a dead end. A few months after the murder and joining the Black Guard, Jornrath produced their first big lead. It was a collection of parchments that detailed similar murders over the past few years. Bindi carefully studied the documents and found that not only did they make a circuit around the kingdom that it also appeared to start and finish somewhere between Gloommere City and Vegas.

The last murdered happened less than a month ago in Gloommere City, so the group began searching there. Along the way, they stopped in Vegas and tried their hand at gambling. There, Zanosh lost a card game to a shepherd who happily pawned off his daughter as Zanosh's new apprentice. From there, they continued on to Gloommere.

Reaching the dark city, they went to The Spire, a great tower that was a library, and consulted the local historian. What they found was that the last murder happened at the same time as Daris Osoldan was in town. With some further investigation, they found that the murders lined up with the dates that Daris was doing his tours. With that information, they tracked him down to his cabin outside of Vegas.

The confrontation was deadly. Daris was much stronger and faster than anyone had thought and was practicing some sort of necromancy, reanimating corpses that would mindlessly attack the group. Bindi nearly died in the conflict but they managed to kill Daris and his zombies. When they investigated the cave under his cabin in the woods they found that he was collecting bones from each of his victims to make whole skeletons for each race on Pegias.

Also in the cave they found a chained and gagged Dragonboorn named Deek. Deek had been an orphan living on the streets of Gloommere City. He was kidnapped by Daris who kept telling him that he "wasn't ripe yet." Deek decided to stick with Kreyak, the only other Dragonborn that he's seen since his mother died when he was a young boy.

### The Cursed Armor

The armor that Zanosh stole for Bindi had a terrible consequence: it was cursed. Terrible nightmares plagued Bindi before they even entered The Druid's Maze. After taking the artifact to Saglyn, the nightmares became far more powerful. On their way to Highhand, Bindi became overcome with a madness and need to kill the most innocent creature that she could find.

While in Highhand, she broke off from the group and stalked on the outskirts of town. She found a cottage with a sleeping family inside. She opened a window and loosed and arrow into the room, killing a sleeping child. As the panic inside the home grew, she escaped into the darkness. Unbeknownst to her, a half-elf named VV witnessed the crime.

The next morning, the city was gripped in fear. VV revealed to the Highhand Guard that the killer was definitely a halfling archer. Spring, who was greatly concerned about the murder, invited VV back to their home to talk. There he told the group, Bindi included, what he saw. He also revealed to them that he detected powerful dark magic emanating from the armor that Bindi was wearing.

Bindi was reluctant to remove the armor but finally did. She admitted that she did not know what came over her and that she did kill the child. She told them in detail about the nightmares that she had been having and expressed how she wanted to get out of Highhand and find the source of the curse in order to destroy it. By this point, Kreyak encountered a Guard who was looking for Bindi and told him that she had been missing for a few days and acting strangely.

With the help of VV, they sneaked Bindi out of the city and headed for Yley City. While there, they consulted Luna at the library and found that the armor was indeed very cursed and had been for some time. For at least the last century, it was associated with the murder of innocent victims and legend said that it came from witches in Graysummit.

As the group headed towards the northern mountain village of Graysummit, Bindi's nightmares became excruciating and she nearly died in her sleep. She refused to sleep until the ended the curse and went three days straight without sleep until the arrived in Graysummit.

They were greeted by a very untrusting man named Ellis, who was the elder of the village. He told them that he knew of the armor and thought that it had been done away with for good. He told them that the village was plagued by the undead at night and that it was controlled by the witches that lived in the crypt in the center of the graveyard. He told them that he would allow them into the graveyard, but if they did not end the undead curse as well, he would kill them when they attempted to return to the village.

The group had no choice but to accept and enter the graveyard. At the center they encountered two night hags named Maude and Antha that hated each other. They attempted to kill the group but they ended Maude, the creator of the curse, which freed Bindi. Antha offered to make a deal with them: if they let her leave, she would lift the curse on the village. The group was very divided on the matter, but they finally decided to take her offer.

The skeletons readying an attack on the village fell into piles of bones as Ellis watched. He welcomed the Ironguard back into his village and allowed them to rest.

### Venia the Dragon

Before heading south to Edgebay, Spring was found by a childhood friend, Isa Caskwater. Isa came with terrible news that her [Spring's] mother had been eaten by a green dragon and was demanding that The Ironguard come. Spring gave this news to her friends who all agreed that they needed to address this before handling anything in Edgebay.

In Glimmerwater, Spring received a package that her mother had left for her and she inherited her small childhood home. As she spent some time alone, Bindi began to investigate the area and found that the landscape was beginning to be warped by magic: the dragon was forming a lair right next to the village. She went and informed everyone of this and when she did, the group told her more about the dragon triplets and that this was Venia, the last of the siblings. They also told her that their father was a dragon named Tyruth the Clever, which was the dragon that killed her former master.

In the morning, they tried to sneak up on Venia but failed to. The dragon spoke with them and told them that she was seeking Spring, Kreyak, and Darneus for the murder of her two brothers. She had tracked down where the blue genasi came from and knew that if she kept killing villagers that she would eventually kill someone that Spring cared about. The group attacked her and she felt outmatched. She flew away and a swarm of kobolds engaged the Ironguard.

Once the kobolds were handled, screams came from the village. The group ran back to find everyone running from the Temple of Eldath. The large temple had only one entrance and the Ironguard filed in to find Venia and her kobolds inside. A battle ensued and Venia began filling the temple with poison gas. Kobolds and the dragon began targeting powerful members of the group Kreyak and Spring. Spring was seriously injured and fell. In a desperate attack, Bindi seriously wounded Venia and then Kreyak delivered the fatal blow.

### The Battle for Orc Watch

The Ironguard, on their way to the Horn Desert, had to cross through Orc Watch. When they arrived, the siege was already underway and they assisted the humans in wiping out the last of the hobgoblins inside the fort. Speaking with Guard Captain Lobo they learned that the Battle for Orc Watch was underway. The orcs had united and were seeking a way into the kingdom.

The group discussed it and decided that they didn't want a part in the battle. Kreyak spoke with Lobo again and lied to him, saying that they were bounty hunters sent for a criminal hiding out in the desert and they could not take part in aiding them. When Lobo asked on who's authority that they were working for, Kreyak showed him the ring given to them by the King that signified him as a Knight of Erey. Lobo agreed to let them through and wished them luck on their hunt.

### The Beast of Tarmane

After getting lost in the desert, they finally found their way to the remains of the village of Tarmane. They broke up and explored the destroyed village and couldn't find much. It appeared to have been ransacked and they found skeletons of tieflings. As they moved towards the great tree, the sands shifted and a blue dragon rose and created a sandstorm with its wings. The fight that followed was deadly and brutal as electricity shot from the beast at our heroes but they managed to put it down and claim its large treasure.

## Current Members of The Ironguard

### Clara "Spring" Riverwind

Spring is a blue water genasi cleric from Glimmerwater Village. She began her journey as a pilgrimage of sorts. It was while she was on this journey that she found Vegas, who was on the run. They traveled together and eventually found Marco and Kreyak. She was the person looked to in order to hold the group together and thus formed The Ironguard.

King Kosta IV made her a Knight of Erey and gave her a copper ring signifying her title due to her role in retrieving the Star of the Jungle.

### Kreyak

A black dragonborn fighter, Kreyak was once a member of the Clan of the Raven, a thieves guild. He escaped the Clan and stole a scroll written in Draconic from them as he left. He was on the run from the Clan when Spring first found him. He thought that he had escaped them, but his fame from his actions in Yley and Erey spread quickly.

Kreyak is a constant member of The Ironguard. On multiple occasions he has saved the life of Spring on a few occasions and helped Marco on the morally questionable business. He is most famous for having boarded a pirate ship and nearly dispatching the entire crew single-handed. King Kosta IV made him a Knight of Erey and gave him a copper ring signifying her title due to his role in retrieving the Star of the Jungle.

### Zanosh

Zanosh is a young Half-Orc orphan that grew up on the streets. She managed to survive by taking up a life of crime but was never the most effective criminal. Now she tries to manipulate situations to benefit herself. She once had a dog named Lucy, but she was killed during the Harvest Festival Massacre.

King Kosta IV made her a Knight of Erey and gave her a copper ring signifying her title due to her role in retrieving the Star of the Jungle.

### Bindi Hoppletopple

Bindi first met The Ironguard in Erey City during a bar fight. She immediately formed a bond, to the distaste of Kreyak, with Spring. The halfling ranger is a dragon hunter from the village of Oldlight and was traveling to Yley City on the rumors that there might be a nest of green dragons in that area. This knowledge led to her finding out that Spring and Kreyak had actually killed two green dragons in the area already. Bindi, along with her mount, a mastiff named Squish, decided to travel alongside The Ironguard on their way south.

Zanosh stole some powerful armor that enchanted and gave it to Zanosh as a gift. The armor turned out to be cursed and drove her to madness. She killed an innocent child in her madness. Although she was able to kill the creator of the curse and break it, she is still wanted for the murder. The guilt eats away at her night and day.

### Jak Ironhoof

Jak is a minotaur bard from a distant land. He is the only minotaur known to exist on Pegias so he sticks out like a sore thumb and many people are intimidated by him when they first spot him. He is a talented talker and very diplomatic with an affinity for human culture. He was first introduced to the Ironguard by Lord Cortez who thought that Jak could help them with Bindi's trial in Yley City.

### Fae River

Not much is known about Fae the half-elf. She was first recruited by Jak, Kreyak, and VV in Yley City when they convinced her that Bindi was on trial for a crime that she didn't commit. They talked Fae into going to the Yley City Guard and making a report that she witnessed a "half-human" commit the murder in question. Later, she was in the slums when The Ironguard faced Myrin and his Red Daggers. She saw how the daggers attempted to kill the group so she decided to help them the best that she could in battle.

### Deek

A not very impressive thief, Deek is a blue dragonborn that was rescued from the clutches of Daris Osoldan. His only real options after they rescued him was to go back to living on the streets of Gloommere City again or travel with the Ironguard. He was particularly fond of Kreyak since he was the only dragonborn that he's seen since his mother died long ago.

## Past Members

### Lillianna "Vegas" Rose

Lillianna was on the run from The Brotherhood in Vegas when Spring first found her. Spring was able to help her escape the criminal organization and the two traveled for some time alone before finding Marco and Kreyak. In that time, they formed a bond that Vegas did not have with the others. The two continued to help each other out on quests but eventually Spring could not calm the tensions between Vegas and Marco.

The last that The Ironguard saw of Vegas was outside of Yley City. She was supposed to regroup with them in the city but has yet to be seen again.

### Lady Queslyn Eldermoore

A noblewoman from Yley City. She was found in the sewers after being kidnapped by her demented brother. The Ironguard saved her life. She felt obligated to aid them on their quest to find the Killer in Yley City. Using her shallow knowledge of combat, she aided the group in stopping the Cleansing Spirit and saving Yley City from an evil cult. After that, she retired from the group but aids them in other ways.

After the Pirate Raid of 998, Lord Cortez left on a campaign from the King to hunt pirates. While he was away, he named Lady Eldermoore Representative of Yley City. She took charge of all affairs within the city.

### Marco Forestwalk

Marco is an elven ranger and werebear from around Nighthaven in the north. He seems to hate everyone almost as much as he hates elves. After their first big job in Yley City, Marco took his payment and disappeared. The last known account of Marco placed him in the southern forests after having freed VV from Castle Barnacton.

### Darneus

Darneus is the newest member of The Ironguard. He was introduced to Spring and Kreyak by Lady Eldermoore in Yley City. He is a tiefling druid that seems very comfortable being around dragons.

During the Dark Waters, Darneus reconnected with the Ironguard aboard the Isadora. When he did, he immediately attacked Zanosh despite Spring telling him not to. His rampage went on and in the process nearly killed Spring. It was later revealed his true hatred of orcs. Orcs had killed his family, tribe, destroyed a sacred tree, and killed the dragon that they worshiped, not to mention that they tortured him. He refused to trust Zanosh and Lord Cortez nearly threw him off of his ship for his reckless and dangerous behavior.

After returning from sea, Darneus was able to meet King Kosta IV. He was given the honorary title of Knight of Erey and given a copper ring with the seal of the Knights on it. He expressed his want to learn more on the ways of the druid. The King sent him to the Mage College to meet Dulebus, a powerful druid, that he could study under.

### Magak Rockbreaker Kalikigala

    Magak first met The Ironguard outside of Highhand. They were hired to kill him on behalf of Henning Delnar, son of Lord Delnar of Highhand, but they felt that Henning wasn't telling them something. Magak’s told them that he was indeed seeking justice against Henning because the noble murdered his wife, Ageneo, who was pregnant with their child. Delnar did it out of vengeance because Magak bested him in a contest of strength.

The Ironguard discussed it and quickly agreed that they would aid Magak in getting his justice. They confronted Lord Delnar and his son in public and presented the evidence against him. Lord Delnar had no choice but to have his son arrested and pardoned Magak for all charges against him. As his sign of gratitude and devotion to the group, he pledged his allegiance to The Ironguard from that point on.

In 999, Magak and Daris left together from Highhand to see where Magak once lived. While they were away, they were attacked and Magak was murdered. Daris was the last to see Magak alive and claimed that the killer's name was "Henning." Henning Delnar could not be implicated in the murder, however, and his killer remains a mystery.

### Ridget Buttsnobber

Ridget is an apprentice of Zanosh's who is currently training her with a handaxe and longsword. She was left by her father, a shepherd, in the care of Zanosh because of a card game that the half-orc lost. She aspires to one day help animals but must first overcome her morbid fear of the sheep that haunt her dreams. When Kreyak learned this about her, he decided to begin tormenting her whenever he got the chance.

While the group was in Oldlight, they were enjoying a pleasant meal. It was a rare chance for them to relax and unwind. However, it wasn't to last and the town was attacked by bugbears. Ridget was one of the first to die very suddenly. Deek tried to avenge her death but it was to no avail. The rest of the group managed to defeat the bugbears and save the village. They buried her in Oldlight and decided not to bother telling her deadbeat father.

### VV

VV is an odd half-elf that was subjected to cruel experiments that gave him his abilities as a sorcerer. He was freed from his prison by Marco Forestwalk. Marco led him out of the forest and sent him off on his own. Hunted by his former captors, VV fled north.

While in Highhand he witnessed the murder of a child by a cursed Bindi. He helped the Ironguard in breaking the curse and fighting off the night hags the tormented the village of Graysummit.