“Gather around children, it’s time fer
gran’pa to tell you a story.
“Now lemme see… I know jest the story.
It’s how I met the heroes of Covington Dale: Thia’s Troublefinders. I
don’t think many people called ‘em that way back then. I know many
people still call ‘em Thia’s Troubleseekers but I don’t. I met ‘em and
know they don’t go lookin’ fer trouble; it jest finds ‘em.
“This was a long time back an’ I was
jest a l’il boy. See, they’d been away from home fer almost
half-a-year, on a quest to save an elven homeland. Now, I ain’t a
friend of ‘em pointy eared folk, but no one should have their home
taken away.
“A shipwreck ‘ad stranded ‘em on the
far side of Alemine Swamp! As I always tell ya rugrats, the swamp is
certain death. No one goes more than a mile inta the swamp and walks
out alive. The Troublefinders walked across the swamp and none of ‘em
died. They even found a new member: the halfling, Dar.
“But it was not easy, not even fer heroes. They fought armies of lizard
men who came in endless waves ridin’ on massive, tentacled
lobstrosities. And giant spiders bigger than oxen.
“Their last week in the swamp began all violent like, with the group
attacked by a giant man-eatin’ plant hungry fer Lilly the cleric. Now
this was still early on, and the Troublefinders hadn’t found out the
truth ‘bout Lilly or the dreams, so things weren’t too bad fer her yet.
So they didn’t hesitate to leap into action, severin’ leafy tendrils
and such. The fires of Dar and Roderic quickly charred the plant and
freed Lilly and Thia, who was paralysed and a l’il chewed-on.
“Resting fer the night it was then that Thia, still stiff from her
fight with the plant, met her first animal friend. It was a large
viper. I saw it once with my own eyes, big as yer arm and poisonous.
Acted like a kitten around Thia. Eat anyone else’s face off their
skull, but friendly around Thia.
“From there they ‘ad a deadly choice: continue through the deep waters
of the swamp or risk the unknown dangers of a fogbank. Ever brave, they
chose the mists and spent days wanderin’ blindly through the whiteness
until Roderic was attacked by a phantom foe.
“I’ve always heard Roderic described as a mage who happened to be a
noble. Havin’ met the man I’d say he’s a noble who happened to be a
mage. And he sure acted like a nobleman when grabbed by the ghost:
hollarin’ and screamin’ and carrying on. Mind you, he was still more
than a mite soft back then.
“Lilly tried and fails to cow it with the light of her god, as Dar’s
spears proved equally useless. Like fightin’ a mad bull with a broom.
Only Lanaya the paladin had weapons that could hurt the fog. She dueled
fer hours with it, armed with her golden blade and faith. Finally, the
beast fled. Now, some say it was because it was satiated after drinkin’
Roderic’s blood fer so long, but I say it knew it ‘ad met its match.
“Weakened by bloodloss and moving on, they reach a bog of deep, dark
water. Halfway across the pool they were attacked by a giant crocodile,
larger than a two horses! Thia, new to magic, entangled the creature
while Dar’s dog, Sparrow, began to savage the reptile. As mighty and
relentless as the beast was, even it barely slowed down the heroes; it
sunk into the bog covered in arrow and sword wounds and badger claw
marks and dog bites.
“It was then Thia was struck blind, diseased by the horrors of the
swamp. She was known fer her biting tongue back then, I suppose she
still is, and being blind did not help her temperament. Even with all
their mighty arcane and divine powers they could not yet cure her
blindness. But this did not even slow ‘em down. They continued forward
and emerged from the swamp.
“This is where I come inta the tale. I was picking mushrooms with
two friends when they emerged from the swamp. Back then we ‘ad no idea
who they were. And even if we ‘ad we would not recognise ‘em as human.
All covered in mud and slim and such. So we ran and grabbed our huntin’
crossbows. I don’t know which of us landed the blow but one bolt hit
Roderic as Sparrow bounded forward, urged on by Dar.
“Back then Dar was still a savage, never having seen a city or even a
town. He barely even knew what children were. Sparrow rushed up and
mauled me, dropping me to the ground. Only through the light magics of
Lilly was I brought back from the brink of death. You can still see the
scars, although they’re very faint now. Even after she touched me they
seemed old, as if I’d ‘ad ‘em fer years instead of seconds.
“But thas enough yarn spinnin’ fer today, ya’ll have chores in the
mornin’. Tomorrow, if yur lucky I’ll tell ya ‘bout the Ogre an the
farmer’s daughter.”