Chapter One

The **First Chapter** of Fields of Ren happened on August 29th, 2019.

This session told the story of two freedom fighters breaking three prisoners out of the dungeon of Castle Alandos, while the stone fortress was being attacked by the Rebellion.

## Appearances

**Heroes:**

* Naasimakawa'oni
* Corzo Erynfarr
* Eli Mistmore
* Cringleborb Whizard
* Dolf

**Villains:**

* The Imperial Army

**Locations:**

* Castle Alandos

## Story

A wizard, a halfling, and a dwarf are all awoken in a cell beneath Castle Alandos when a man in bronze armor brings them a tray of food. None of them remember how they got there. None of them even know each other's names. All that they do know is that they have none of their weapons, and none of their clothes. Instead they have simple leather tunics, and no clear way to get out. Once the man leaves, the wizard stands up.

**"Greetings."** The old wizard says. **"My name is Cringleborb, the *mightiest* mage in the world. My purpose as an incredibly powerful wizard is to stop evil at all costs. You two weaklings can be my grunt apprentices while *I* do all the battling and claim victory every time. But alas, I appear to be trapped in a small room."**

**"We're all trapped in here."** The halfling replies. **"And I don't wish to be the apprentice of a wizard."**

Cringle scoffs at the refusal and says: **"Fine. Suit yourself, short one. Just remember that you have turned down a chance at greatness. Not as much greatness as *I* possess, mind you, but greatness nonetheless!"**

**"Whatever you say, *'Tall One'*."** the halfling says under her breath.

The groggy old dwarf looks over to his cellmates. **"Shall we quit this nonsense arguing and collaborate on a solution?"**

**"That would be rather beneficial, yes."** The wizard responds. **"Now, although *my* name carries far more significance than either of yours, I would like to know what to refer to you as other than *'Short'* and *'Shorter'*."**

**"Eli Mistmore, since you *apparently* needed to know."** The young halfling states before falling silent once more.

**"Dolf."** The dwarf mumbles before continuing to look around the cell.

The three cellmates sit in silence until they hear voices from the end of the cell block. **"Hey you guys! Check *this* out!"** Followed by a crackling sound and a small explosion, to which countless voices react with a synchronized ***"Woah."***

**"They're using my staff for parlor tricks."** Cringleborb says with a snarl. **"It is decided. We break out, and kill them all."**

Eli looks around the cell and notices and air vent on the ceiling. **"Getting out will not be easy. The walls are firm, the only thing we could possibly access is the vent. If I was lifted into that vent, I could sneak around and free us from this *building*."** The word building was spoken with such distaste that it was extremely apparent to everyone.

Cringle turns to face Eli with a bright face and an idea. **"What if I were to stack you too dwarves on top of the other, and climb into the ventilation shaft *myself*..."** The old wizard is interrupted by a group of soldiers running past the cell. After a moment of pause, the three prisoners hear crowds of people outside the window yelling and shouting.

***"Pssst! Up here!"*** a voice carries softly into the room from the vent. A small tool drops from the vent and clatters to the ground. ***"Use this to remove the vent. Then meet me in the storage closet. Take a right and then the first left."***

Eli picks up the tool, and turns to face her cellmates. **"I can crawl through the vents faster than either of you. Lift me up."**

**"Well, you *are* already holding that small utensil. And it would be easier on my aged, yet *mighty* bones..."** Cringle states reluctantly.

The two older men stack onto each other and lift Eli up. The young halfling is unfamiliar with modern tools, but through pure determination, and hatred of confinement, she manages to remove the vent cover, and climbs into the ventilation shafts above. Eli begins to navigate the vent system as previously instructed by the mysterious voice.

***"Make haste! I have evil to defeat!"*** The wizard yelled loudly at the open vent, not sure if he was heard. He was. Not having to worry about seeming rude anymore, Eli rolled her eyes before dropping through the hole she had been guided to.

A tall, fair-skinned man in a green and beige tunic stood leaning against the wall next to an open crate of all items confiscated from the prisoners, with Eli and her cellmates' equipment all resting on the top of the pile. **"Ah, so the halfling is the first to escape."** The tall man said, a smile forming within the frame of his bushy chestnut beard.

Instead of speaking to the man partially obscured in shadow, Eli walked up to the crate and grabbed her items, making sure to secure them on her person. A few more loud booms cause the castle to rumble.

The man in green speaks up. **"Yeah, forgot to mention this sooner, but the castle's under attack. Some kinda rebellion rising up in these parts, and they don't seem to like tyranny. Can't say I blame 'em. Anyway, I'm here to break you and your 'friends' out."**

The young halfling nods. **"Okay. Lead the way for this breakout. They're not my friends though."**

**"Fair enough. Could still be useful as shields."** The man said with a slight chuckle. **"I'm Corzo, by the way. Corzo Erynfarr."**

**"I don't want them to be hurt, though."** The girl looked down, her fingers rubbing her yew wand for reassurance that she actually had it. **"Eli Mistmore. Lead the way, please."**

**"Heh. You've got heart, kid. Probably more than I've got left by now..."** The man's eyes filled with pain as he began to reflect on all he'd done to survive the past twenty years. He snapped out of it and laid out the plan. **"Alright, let's grab all this stuff, head back to the cell, see if any of this is useful for breaking the lock, and get up to the roof."**

**"I'm not a kid, but okay."** Eli said while assisting her new ally in carrying the equipment from the crate.

Cringle continues beating on the cell door with his bag of spare teeth. Dolf watches as he scrapes up all the molars and incisors that have fallen out in the process. The dwarf shakes his head in disappointment. **"Disclaimer, Dolf. If you question the nature of my teeth bag, I will be forced to take yours."**

As the sounds of cannon fire and shouting grow louder and closer, and the shaking of the ground increases by the second, Corzo and Eli dash into the cell block. **"C'mon, uh, y*oung lady...*"** the aging thief said to his youthful companion. **"We need to get them out of that cell before this whole place goes under!"**

Eli approaches the cell holding a staff and some brown and purple clothes. **"I'm back, found someone, there's a revolution, these aren't mine..."** she places the clothing on the floor within the cell, and hands Cringle his staff. **"Unlock the door, please."** the halfling looks down, falling silent once again.

The old wizard scrambles to grab his clothes, not yet noticing Corzo, and goes behind the toilet curtain to change. He emerges in a purple hat and robe in an unrealistically short amount of time. His gaze then falls on Corzo. **"Ah. A man of reasonable height. Perhaps you would be more... *apprentice-y* than the short ones."**

**"Afraid I'm not known for following orders, old-timer. Speaking of orders, we gotta leave. *Now.*"** The bushy-haired man passed the rest of the items through the bars.

**"I would certainly like to leave now."** Eli softly remarked, gesturing to the cell door.

**"Fine then, open the door."** Cringle grunts after having his offer denied once more.

**"Unless you can magic me up a key, it looks like you're gonna have to poof it down."** Corzo replies, his patience growing shorter by the second.

**"Good thing I, *The Great Wizard Cringleborb,* can do anything I desire with my spellbook! Now, unless you want to be blown away in more than one meaning, I suggest you move aside while my magic does it's work!"**

Corzo cartwheels to the side as Eli simply steps to the side, knowing that she needn't show off to survive. The half-drunken acrobat smiles. **"A few too many ales can't stop me today!"** A wave of thunder launches the door off it's hinges as the wizard appears surprised at the might of his own magic. Having not used such a powerful spell in a long while, the great wizard gracefully collapses to the ground with a loud *thud* before being dragged into an enchanted bag in the pile of items retrieved from the crate.