SHENANIGOONS

“THE FIRES OF VALDARA”

Ashport, a city on the brink. The winds of the Restless Sea are thick with the soot and grime of “progress”. The continent of Valdara is a land of adventure and magic. This land of kings, of monsters, of heroes, is being dragged kicking and screaming into a modern age. While common people struggle for survival, politicians congratulate themselves on being a testament to enlightenment and crime lords battle for control of the city’s underbelly.

The Birchfield Institute, a shining beacon through the smoke, leads the way, merging science and magic to improve the lives of those who can afford it. The divide between the common and privileged is growing wider, day by day.

Eager to shed Ashport’s uncivilized past, the Powers That Be dismiss adventurers and heroes as mere mercenaries, charlatans, and pirates. Only a select few, through sheer nerve and talent, become sanctioned by the Institute to recover ancient knowledge and artifacts for study and safekeeping. While the city shifts and strains amid this clash of power old and new, a series of distractions, and a case of mistaken identity, have left Adelaide Chaucer chasing entirely the wrong man for her latest bounty.

Adelaide is a native to the city of Ashport. As a child, she tore into any book she could get her hands on: stories of adventure and heroes, histories, tomes of science and arcane magic. She absorbed as many as she could, wanted to master it all and one day find her own name within their pages. As a young woman, every hour was spent tirelessly working to be the best archer and scholar she could be. Determined to reach greatness in something. Her family drilled into her that the world was not a fair place, and that one could only rely on one’s own strengths to get by. Which is why, against her family’s wishes, Adelaide leapt at the opportunity to become one of the Proctors, a private arcane police force run by the Birchfield Institute. Proctors were just about the closest thing to adventurers there was to be found in Ashport anymore, and they earned respect and fame while protecting the people of the city. A perfect fit, she thought. But Adelaide’s audition did not go as planned. Rejected from entry into the ranks of the Proctors, this proud and talented young woman was forced, for the first time in her life, to contend with absolute failure and shattered dreams.

A ray of hope appeared in the form of a recruiter, Roben, who offered to assuage Adelaide’s frustration with an alternative career path. The Birchfield Institute did not always like sending out their best and brightest for fetch quests or low profile missions. These ‘fetchers’ didn’t get paid as well, didn’t have the Institute’s resources, and didn’t get the prestige of hunting down magical artifacts or monsters. They were mercenaries. Bounty hunters. But fetchers, Roben promised, could apply to the Proctors after a few years if they had proven their talent. And Adelaide is ready to do just that. Though, she doesn’t plan to take that long.

Arthur spent his life travelling with his parents, Gunther and Harriet Dunbar, who are archaeologists known for contracting with different museums and historical societies all around the continent of Valdara. That is, up until recently, when he began to become restless and decided to venture out on his own. Seemingly unknown to Arthur, his parents had similar desires for him and encouraged his idea, falling just short of packing his bags. His arrival in Ashport provided him with purpose that coincides with desire and the rest is, as they say, unfortunate history. He enjoys long walks in underground ruins, bird watching, and stealing from the dead. In no particular order. They say that a wise man can learn a lot from a fool, and Arthur may be your greatest teacher.

Bonnie was born to a young human mother, a product of a tryst with a visiting elven sailor who never returned. Her mother married soon after Bonnie’s second birthday to a kindly dockhand who happily raised Bonnie as his own. Ever since her youth there was nothing more that Bonnie wanted than to explore the world beyond her island. Growing up in a tiny isolated fishing village, the elders would weave tales of pirates and treasure waiting to be found off the shores of Ashnar’s Tooth. She took the stories and shanties to heart, earning extra coin with the embellishment of tune or tale at the fireside, burning the magic of them into her mind. She spent her days working on the docks and in the shipyards, learning the craft of carpentry, dreaming of the day she would be able to captain a ship of her own. A lady pirate, bold and daring, charming, coquettish, fierce of heart. And maybe meet her father, whom she imagines to be a dashing pirate captain himself. When she finally came of age, Bonnie boarded a ship bound for the mainland with her parent’s blessing, ready to make her mark on the world. Her parents give her a month before she returns home, certain that Bonnie will come to her senses someday.

Marric has never known life outside of the crime families of Ashport, and he has never wanted anything else. Adopted at a young age by Lyara Strider, Matriarch of the Lotus Pad crime family, Marric was raised to be a consummate thief, spy, and sometimes assassin in service of the Pads. While he takes serious pride in his ability to contribute to the family and in his skills as a rogue, his attitude and demeanor are jovial.

Val was born in the small village of Horsforth to a human mother. Her mother, Calla, is a paladin of Weuna and a member of the Knights of Joy and Sorrow. Calla always made sure to encourage Val to embrace her orc ancestry. Her father is the leader of the RedFang Tribe which once fought beside the Knights against a horde of Undead. Calla spent a night with him after the battle high and never saw him again. Eventually, Calla married a fellow Knight, an elven paladin of Weuna named Folwin Elaven, and had Val’s half sister Belladonna. Val was raised amongst the Knights from an early age and idolized her mother and stepfather, who is also a Knight. She grew quickly, as half-orcs do, and went into her first battle alongside them at the age of 14.

Val has travelled to a few different outposts during her duties as a Knight. Always working hard to increase her skills with both her scythe and her healing magic, in an effort to prove herself. She strives to be as accomplished a Knight her mother and stepfather. Wanting to leave their shadows and stand on her own. Her most recent assignment is in the city of Ashport. A much larger town than she had been to before. She has been there for about a half a year, her longest assignment since becoming a Knight of Joy and Sorrow.