You can see that the road splits a short distance ahead, one path heading east and trailing the forest, the other south to a series of switchbacks that lead up to the keep, sitting high up on a hill. "Hurry! I want to be inside the keep before sundown." "Ah! At last!" Rellun says as he wraps his cloak tighter around him. Large flags whip and turn about in the strong wind at the tops of the towers, the blue and white colors mixing to form a blur. To your east you can see the swamps and fens of the Witchlight, though you are far enough away that at night it's little more than a phosphorous glow.Īs the sun is crouching down, getting ready to set, you turn a bend and finally see the towers of the Keep. It's been three days since you turned off the Kings Road and the whole time the mass of towering green in the distance has gotten closer each day, the unnamed forest that marks the border between this land and the next. His names Rellun and you know he's a liar as he's mostly bringing silks, jewels, and other luxury or finished items that the Keep can't make itself.
The merchant won't shut up about the cold, keeps complaining that it's ruining his stock. The last of the subsistence farms were where the road passed the Cloak Wood after turning south towards the Keep, the only people you've seen are the ones with you. There's no taverns, no small towns, no farmers with a warm barn to offer. It follows the western edge of the forest and then wanders through the plains and low hills that rest between Gadbury Downs and the Witchlight Fens. Though not as often used, there is a turn off one can take just past the Cloak Wood. Somewhere nearby, amidst the dark forest and tangled fens, are the Caves of Chaos where fell creatures lie in wait.įrom Fallcrest the Kings Road runs past the Cloak Wood and through the Gadbury Downs, forking at Winterhaven to both head north around the Cairgorm Peaks and west past the Ogrefist Hills. Here, at one civilization's bulwarks between good lands and bad, you will base yourselves and equip for forays against the wicked monsters who lurk beyond. The road has climbed higher as you enter the forested and mountainous country.Īhead, up the winding road, atop a sheer-walled mount of stone, looms the great KEEP. Farms and towns have become less frequent and travellers few. You have travelled for many days, leaving the Realm and entering the wilder area of the Borderlands. Now you must fend for yourselves your fate is in your hands, for better or worse. There is much to learn, and you are willing and eager to be about it! Each of you has come with everything which could possibly be given to you to help. You have it in you to become great, but you must gain experience and knowledge and greater skill. Of course you are inexperienced, but you have your skills and a heart that cries out for adventure. You are indeed members of that exceptional class, adventurers who have journeyed to the KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS in search of fame and fortune. True, some few who do survive the process will turn from Law and Good to serve the masters of Chaos, but most will remain faithful and ready to fight evil wherever it threatens to infect the Realm. They will be tried in the fire of combat, those who return, hardened and more fit. Here, these exceptional individuals will become skilled in their calling, be it fighter or magic-user, cleric or thief. Such adventurers meet the forces of Chaos in a testing ground where only the fittest will return to relate the tale.
It is these exceptional individuals who, provided they survive the challenge, carry the battle to the enemy. Yet, there are always certain exceptional and brave members of humanity, as well as similar individuals among its allies - dwarves, elves, and halflings - who rise above the common level and join battle to stave off the darkness which would otherwise overwhelm the land.īold adventurers from the Realm set off for the Borderlands to seek their fortune.
If it were not for a stout few, many in the Realm would indeed fall prey to the evil which surrounds them. Always the forces of Chaos press upon its borders, seeking to enslave its populace and steal its treasures. The Realm of mankind is narrow and constricted.