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Website by Dustin Evermore with artwork by Sandy Spilker. Individual submissions copyright the respective authors. This site best viewed at 800x600 or better with an HTML 4.0 compliant browser. Dawn of Legends is a fantasy roleplaying game designed with the Fuzion game system. Here you'll find information on the upcoming campaign book and a freely distributed version of the game
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Search For The Staffby Paul ComstockThe smell of the simmering life brew brought me back to almost my normal state of alertness, as the acolyte of the temple offered it to its patrons. I had almost fallen asleep, delving into the information at this temple of Oghma [Ow-mah], Lord Of Knowledge. This particular temple was at the very edge of Celtic civilization in Britain, and it was very dangerous and exciting. It was the perfect place for one of my talents, and to finish my quest. I had always made it a point to search the archives and scrolls in the temples of Oghma at every opportunity along my journey. Knowledge was power, and I never regretted my time here. Twice the knowledge I had gained in previous temples had saved my life, and countless others it had kept me out of trouble. The temples of Oghma not only provided answers to many of my questions, but also was a source of reliable new information which had proven of use from time to time. Sure, you could find out some things by talking or bribing the street urchins, but the real information was only to be found it these temples, and I always made a point not to anger Oghma, and contributed generously to the temple coffers. This was the farthest north I had ever been. The opportunities had been good in seaport city of Exeter in Dumnonia, but there I had heard many rumors about the location of the lost Staff Of Curing, and they all pointed north. The village where I was born was always in danger of disease. The legend said that the village was cursed by the Cernunnos for a terrible and heinous act. I had no idea what the act was, or how it could be so horrible to warrant a curse of this magnitude because the reason for the curse had long been forgotten, but the people of my village had suffered the curse for almost 100 years. Every ten years, Arawn, Lord of the Dead visited a plague upon my village, and many died, taken by Arawn to serve him. Those that lived were not always lucky, and those that tried to leave became sick no matter where they were. The last time the plague had occurred was eight years ago, and I lost my mother, father, and older sister. Only my younger brother was left, and I vowed on my mother and fathers deaths to make sure he would not die as well. "Young man, would you care for some Life Brew. It will help in your studies," the acolyte said, as he set a steaming mug down on the table. "Yes, thank you." I lifted the hearty mug to my lips and took a large gulp, waking me instantly. The acolyte smiled, and sat down next to me, peering at the scrolls I had taken to examine. "This is very interesting. I have seen you here every day for the last three. Perhaps I may aid you in your research?" The offer was welcome. "If it would save me time, I would accept any assistance. Yes, I would appreciate your help. I search for the lost Staff Of Curing." The acolytes smile faded, and his skin turned a dull gray. I'm sorry, I know nothing of such a staff. I truly am sorry. He quickly got up, knocking over the stool he was sitting upon, glanced at it briefly, and hurried into the main temple. I thought it was strange that he hurried out so. He obviously knew more than he let on. I ignored it, and continued searching the scrolls for more information. Before many minutes had passed, the acolyte appeared with the head Druid of the temple.They quietly made their way to my table, ignoring the stares and disbelief of others who were using the temple. This was an unusual sight. In all of the times I had been in the temples of Oghma, I had never seen a member of the temple of the church higher than the rank of acolyte. The Druid stepped before me, and stated quite simply, "I apologize for this acolyte. He should not have been so rude to someone clearly only seeking knowledge." The acolyte cleared his throat, and apologized for his earlier behavior, "Please forgive me. I did not mean to be so rude." He seemed sincere enough, so I decided to forgive him. "Sure. No harm done." The Druid smiled. "What is your name, traveler?" "Ioan of the Grange, traveling in search of the lost Staff of Curing, as I'm sure you were told." The Druid dropped his eyes, "Yes, and that is the real problem. I am afraid I will have to ask you to leave the temple. The item you seek could well cause a holy war, and we are not prepared for such. Please forgive this affront, and accept this offering for your inconvenience. He pulled out a large sack of coins and set it on the table in front of me, gently grabbing my arm as he guided me from the table." I grabbed the coins, and my belongings. It wasn't worth a fight, and it seemed that I had no choice. At first I tried to shrug off his grip, but even though he was a frail old man, I was unable to break free. Magic was at work here, and I had a great respect for the powers of the users of such powers.. "At least tell me whats going on." "This will explain it all", he said as he handed me a scroll. The Druid didn't exactly throw me out of the temple, but he didn't walk slowly either, as we were outside and on the street in seconds. He turned to me, and in a very sad voice asked my forgiveness. "Forgive an old man, my son, but the Saxon priests of Rheda are much more powerful than we in this city." I didn't have an opportunity to reply, as he walked back into the temple very quickly. I took my bag, and sat by a nice tree in the courtyard outside the temple. It was very pleasant here with the wind blowing through the rustling trees, and moonlight shining down through the branches. I moved slightly, and the coin bag jingled heavily in my hand. I frowned. There was more money in this one bag than I had ever managed to acquire in a year, even with my unusual ability to steal without being caught. It didn't make sense. Churches and temples did not give money away, they collected it. They offered other things in place of the money, but I never remembered of any case where any church simply gave money to anyone for any reason. The scroll laid on the ground next to the bag. I unrolled it, and squinting, made a supreme effort to read with the moon light. It was difficult, but I finally managed to read it all. It said that the Cult of Rheda had hired a thief to steal the Staff of Curing long ago from the lands to the south, and it was now held in the Temple of Rheda in this very city. The scroll further explained that the cultists were said to use the staff to heal their blunders in experimentation on living beings. This allowed them to use the same subjects over and over for their evil research. Only the Cult of Rheda thought nothing of this practice, and every other church in the city were against it, but they were also afraid of the priests of Rheda, and the retribution they and their followers could bring down upon them. Individuals, group leaders, and even the powerful leaders of churches which openly opposed the Cult of Rheda, were often lost and never seen again. The staff was in the possession of a powerful and fanatical Rune Master, named Cryda, who resided in the local temple of Rheda. The scroll went on to say that the money was so that I could hire those that could help me steal the staff, and only asked that it no longer be used for evil. It directed me to seek help in the Golden Ram Tavern. Shortly after completely reading the scroll, it burst into flames and disappeared. The last gulp of the life brew was dissipating, and I couldn't keep my eyes opened any longer. The drink had kept me awake for hours, but my body had taken enough, and I quickly fell asleep, dropping the scroll and money to the ground.
Sleeping under a tree in a frontier city like this one was a stupid thing to do. Luckily, the gods were watching over me, and I still had all my possessions. I got up, picked up all of my things, and went looking for the tavern. The streets were crowded with all classes of people, and most of the races of Britain as well. "Hey, watch where you're steppin", a street urchin said in irritation, as I stumbled over him. "Sorry", I said in earnest. These poor street urchins were the poorest people in all of Britain. They had little to look forward to in the current day, not to mention their future. "I am looking for the Golden Ram Tavern. Could you tell me where it is?" The urchin laughed, "It'll cost ya." I took a coin out of the bag, and held it up in front of him.. It gleamed in the sunlight, "You'll get this when I get the directions." "It ain't far. Just go the way you were headin, turn right at the city market, and you can't missit. Now gimme the loot!" I grunted, and tossed him the coin. It was a large payment, but I believed in passing good fortune around. If you did good things, you were rewarded by the gods. I made my way to the market, turned, and sure enough, the tavern was in front of me. I made my way down the street and into the tavern. It was dark, and it took my eyes a couple of minutes to adjust to the light. My hand was jostled at least three times in that brief time by would be thieves trying to steal whatever I had. Luckily, I was more skillful, and all of the attempts failed. As I looked around the tavern, I noticed that there was a member of almost every possible profession, at those I was interested in, and only one that was out of place. He appeared to be a priest of some type, talking to a bedraggled and unshaven individual. The individual, even though unkempt, was well armed with professional looking weapons. I shrugged, filing the information away for later reference. It wasn't my business. In a tavern, the best way to find something out was to ask the bartender, so I did, "Hey, buddy", I yelled to the guy who I figured to be the bartender. The guy ignored me, so I let a couple of coins jingle onto the bar. He then turned around, and smiled. Eying the coins, he said, "What can I do for you?" He reached for the coins, but I put my hand over them before he could get them. "I need some advice. I need to hire a couple of competent guys to do a job for me, if you know what I mean." The guy frowned, but replied, "You want to speak to that guy", he said pointing to the same table that the mage was sitting at. I took my hands off the coins, which he immediately snatched up. I grabbed his hand as he did so, "And an ale." He growled, but turned and started filling a glass of dark brown ale. I watched the priest, as he finished his conversation with my intended hireling. The mage suddenly got up, pushing the chair back, yelling something unintelligible at the assassin, and then stormed out of the bar. The assassin was noticeably shaken, as he grabbed his ale and slammed down some of its contents. Now would be the time to approach him, as he was off balance. I had learned to take any advantage offered, and the gods were smiling upon me today. I grabbed the ale the bartender put on the bar, and headed over to the table. I sat immediately across from the man, and waited for a reaction. It only took a second, but then the mans composure came back quickly. "What do you want, you little wimpy man?" "I hear you're for hire for shall we say various types of jobs." "Yah, so what?" "Well, I want to hire you to do a little job, but it's the kind only one of your stature would be willing to take on. You see it requires a man of great courage and confidence." The man puffed his chest out, and replied, "Well, you got the right guy here, assuming the pay is good." "It is. See?" I said as I put the bag on the table, open enough so that he could see that it was full of bright coins. "So you got the money. What's the job?" "I need you to delay a certain Rune Master named Cryda, and keep him and his cohorts busy for about ten minutes. Do you think you're up to it, or are you a coward?" The man gulped, but he had been humiliated once already by the priest, and it looked like he was not about to be humiliated again, "I ain't afraid of no priest. I'll take the job." I smiled. The staff was almost mine!
I waited for the diversion. It wasn't really much, and it didn't take long. A big balding man strolled up to the entrance to the Temple of Rheda, and shouted obsenities at the guards. The temple guards just looked at each other, not really knowing what to do. No one had directly challenged them for several months, and they had become complacent. The man just stood there, and voiced a personal challenge to Cryda. Many people had gathered to see the result of the challenge, some obviously hired, others just joining in the fun, but staying farther back so they could not be clearly identified by the guards. Cryda had no choice but to at least appear to answer the challenge. If there weren't so many spectators, I was sure that the antagonist would have mysteriously disappeared as so many before him. This was my opportunity I thought, as I slipped into the temple through a partially opened window I had pried open earlier in the day. The room I entered was some kind of storage area, and looked as if it were not used very often. I quietly made my way to the door, and opened it a crack. I looked out the crack into a hallway, which was deserted. I took a chance and stuck my head out so I could look down to the opposite end of the hallway. The gods were with me, as the hall was deserted. I headed toward the back parts of the temple, which most believed the research was taking place. I took two turns, and went down three other hallways before realizing that there was a strange and disgusting odor to the air. I let the odor guide me to its source. It was disgusting and almost made me sick the closer I came to the location of this strange odor. It led to a room with a strange symbol on the door, and markings of blood on the floor. I took a deep breath to gather my courage, and opened the door a crack to look in. Inside was the most horrendous thing I had ever seen. There were mutated members of almost every race of Britain in the room. Men with animal hides and bodies. Disgusting and slimy slugs of some kind, and I had to force myself to gather the courage to continue further. There was only one rune priest in the room, and he was kneeling before a thing which must have been one of their experiments gone wrong. He was holding a staff in his hand and canting in some language that was unknown to me. I was more afraid than I had ever been in my life, but I knew that if I didn't act now, I could very well be caught and undoubtedly would be turned into one of these things in this room. I moved quickly over to the priest, and hit him over the head with the handle of my dagger. I hit him more zealously than I probably should have, as my anger and fear were fighting for my primary attention. I would have liked to kill all of these fiends, but that would have given me away. I grabbed the staff as the priest fell in the middle of his incantation, and turned to get out as quickly as possible. I was blocked at the entrance by a thing which caused me great terror. It probably saved my life, as I went berserk, and ran full speed into it, knocking both of us over with me rolling out into the hall away from the thing. I scrambled up, and looked down the hall to find more cultists running down the hall toward me. If I was caught now, I would surely live a horrible life in that room, and that was too much. I got up and ran as quickly as I could the opposite way. As luck or a miracle would have it, I picked a hall way with a window in the end, which I did not hesitate to jump through. Better to die than end up as those others. The wood shutters burst apart, and I fell a good ten feet into the courtyard below, which was almost deserted. The fall was a bad one as I didn't realize how high I was. The fall broke my left leg, and was very painful. I dragged myself into some brambles beside the courtyard, ignoring the half inch thorns of the bushes, as they poked and scraped my hide as I climbed into the depths of the bush. I said a silent prayer, and concentrated on slowing my breathing and making no sounds, as the cultists started a search for me. "Check those bushes", one of them yelled, followed almost immediately by the point of a spear which passed in front of my eyes. This was repeated several times before they were happy that I was not hiding there. I breathed a sigh of relief when the search was pressed into other areas than the courtyard. I was in great pain, and I had no hope of getting out of here unless I was in better condition. I didn't really know how to use the staff, but I had no other options. I concentrated, and my wounds and aches were healed. I quietly climbed from the brambles, and snuck out and away from the Temple of Rheda.
I was a good five miles from the city before I stopped with the staff, I wouldn't feel safe until I was a good long way from this city, and I figured I only had a few days at most until the Rhedan cultists found out who was responsible, and the started hunting me down. I needed a good head start if I was going to get the staff to my people in my village, and now was as good a time to start as any.
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