The Misadventures of the Neden Boys

by Cal "Syruss" Marsden

Arc Sphere Distortions

Arc Sphere Distortions

by Steven "Therian" Matulewicz

Fireside Chat with Saegan

While the winter thaw is upon us, I took the opportunity to travel and meet with someone everyone knows.  Saegen.  While we all know who he is, how well do you actually know him?  Aside from knowing I'd be safe if he is in front fighting the baddies, I don't actually know him very well at all.  

                                                                   ~T

• What are you most proud of accomplishing?

Well it's certainly not solely my accomplishment, in fact I'm really just a small part of it. But I'm most proud of Blackwood, and the strides it's made in becoming the Kingdom it is, and the Kingdom it has yet to become. Watching it grow has been amazing.

•   If you could be granted any wish, what would it be? 

Some time ago Jinx made a wish, that was important, and we expected it to have a price. I would wish that it not have that price. 

•  A bag filled with ten thousand gold just fell on your lap.  Now what? 

First I make sure it doesn't belong to anyone else. Then I probably give it to Tao or Sir K to invest for me, and benefit the Kingdom of Blackwood. Or I pay off Ambrose' gambling debts. Whichever. 

•  What advice do you have for a new adventurer?

Set goals that you can achieve. Set goals you don't expect to achieve, but try anyway. 

When adventuring find a role that suits your person, and helps move the quest forward. Build towards that role, and try to make it helpful for the group of you. Everyone appreciates someone that helps the group, and if you're good at something you can make it useful. 

•  Tell us about your favorite feast dish.

Don't get jealous. I mean I've spent a fair amount of time feasting, and I like good food. But there is only one food that I can think of that makes my mouth water consistently; and as much as I love it, it's not the Blackwood Meatloaf. It's not the Rueben pizzas, and it's certainly isn't gelatinous cranberry sauce. I totally back Zarine on that one by the way. 

No. One year, for the super secret special dessert prize at Feast of Folkstone, Malaki made--- for someone I was fortunate enough to acquire some from--- Croche en Bouche. To be honest I'm pretty sure he stole the ingredients for it from Elysium, because I think we were dealing with an army of angels, pretty much the next day.  But I might be wrong. I hate it bring it up, because I'm pretty sure that the adventurers of these days will never truly understand what in the world is worth fighting for, having not experienced it. 

But you asked, so..

• Explain your personal heraldry to us

This is a complicated question. This is Acteon's Heraldry--

I can't place the meaning of the green and white right now, it has heraldric meaning that's from before my time. I'm not exactly a herald. I can tell you that the star stems from Blackwood, it was added to the old Acteon Heraldry once we joined the Kingdom as a symbol of our allegiance. 

The Stag is representative of Acteon the Man, who was a hunter who got into some trouble with a goddess and she made him all antlered and furry. I keep hearing stories around here how he died in that excursion, but that's not how we know the tale. For us he escaped and went through some weird trials to redeem himself. And I guess founded our nation. That's up to theologians and historians to debate, I guess. 

That's the Acteon Heraldry, though. My Heraldry, if I have one at all, really, is this-

It stems from my time in the Shadow War. It represents the final battle with Jonas Cooke, where Wrath, Guilliam, and I were transformed so that we could resist the force of his Bane weapon. 

I chose silver on black for two reasons, we were made these crazy golem things, so the silver represents the stone in that way, and the black represents the bane and shadow. But Black and Silver are also representative of King K, and his tabard, calling back to his time in Creathorne. A lot happened to Blackwood during that war. Cities burned. It was an important victory for us, and I want to remember it.

• What was your most memorable questing moment?

You might think it was something to do with the Shadow War, since I was just rambling on about that for what seems like forever, and I wish I could say it had something to do with someone else being awesome, because I've seen some really amazing things in my time. But it's about me. I'll be a little cocky for a moment. We were questing in Grimloch, which is a slug fest on its own. I'd never been in their lands before, so it was all relatively new to me. I remember being surprised that even their kobolds are armored. But we, the adventuring party, had been fighting through a bunch of terrible things called Metal Lords, facing different challenges to even be able to fight them, and we needed to beat them all because they were empowering an Ancient named Akakios, and he wanted to kill all of mankind. 

So anyway, the adventurers on the know made stuff happen, and I was just kind of doing my thing fighting off undead as people were trying to do the ritual required to challenge Akakios. I took it as my job to make sure those folks could do the thing. 

But it was a one on one fight. In a ring of what must have been hellfire for all I know, some crazy ritual fire. One by one people tried and failed. There was a break in the fighting of the undead and, they were running out of people able to challenge him. Sir K asked me to fight, I was skeptical because I knew who'd gone before me. They were some heavy hitters. 

Needless to say it took some coaxing. I stepped into the burning arena, contemplating how I'd go about this, Akakios was barely a shadow on the distance, going back to whatever plane he resides on. I called out in my best "I'm gonna challenge you" voice, unsure if he'd even turn back and accept. But he did. 

Now Akakios' carried a sword that would take most men at least another half a hand to wield, maybe two, but he also fought with a shield, and it was some sort of loving shield that could jut out with the force of an avalanche. So I figured if I was going to beat him I was going to strike first, and strike fast. So I did. I channeled some inner storm, and if ever their was a clash between the thunder and the mountains it was that day. I can't remember the specifics of the fight, I went high, I went low. I tried not to die. But I remember when he fell. I remember the dust mingling in the air, and the crackle of the fire. And I remember my body saying "you just took out a titan, you have nothing left" and slumping down. 

The excitement from the others around me, that we'd won, at least for the day. That was something I will always remember. That's probably when I stopped doubting myself, to be honest, and realized I could do anything if I needed to enough. 

• Tell me about your first adventure.

Compared to the other stories it's not as exciting. It was during an evening at Creathorne, some portal opened to I have no idea where. I was new and didn't know anyone really, so I had no idea what was going on. I was a 1 path with heal limb and repair armor, and I was adventuring into the dark. People got stuff done, I'm sure, but the only thing I really remember was  that someone screwed up, and something happened that made the entire questing party flee from wherever we were. It was a true stampede. I was literally almost trampled, and just realize I'd better scamper along with them, else I be left behind. 

In every life, there is a defining moment.  Tell us about yours. Blackwood had been after me to join for an age. They were still Idaris when we were first becoming friends. But I am a man of Acteon to the core. Eventually they asked Toah to join. He and I had been adventuring alone for our people for some time, our country was impoverished, and they asked Acteon to join Blackwood. We accepted, I was made a Squire to the Knights of Blackwood, under Nos, and it had set me on the path to be the man I am today. 

• What was your life like before you began adventuring? 

Well I was born of a household that had fallen out of favor on the Acteon Nobility. We couldn't even claim the title of Thane, really. I made a vow to myself to redeem my ancestors, and along with Toah and some others, we started hiring ourselves out as soldiers. Which might seem like an odd way to redeem your ancestors in retrospect, but I was young and I assumed their would be villains, and gold. Turns out it's been mostly villains. 

• Are you married or courting and if so, to/with who? 

No. And no. Unless you count my constant war preparations as courting. I don't really have time for that stuff. 

• Where and how do you spend your time when you're not adventuring?

I try to take the Sky Bridge back to Acteon, specifically Castle Black Stag in the City of Flying Tree, but I don't get to do that very often. There is a lot of preparations to be made. The Risen Kingdom is on the assault in Chimeron, and that sounds like was war that needs snuffing. My boys Torolf and Vawn keep threatening to go start Ragnarok in some other dimension, and I'm pretty sure that's straight up villainy, so I need to stop that. The Imperium in Ashenmark. The time bandit guys in Verai, and Blackwood's librarian has gone missing. There is just too much going on that needs fixing for me to have time off from adventuring.

• What kind of picnic should we go on?

The kind that has all the teddy bears, what other kind is there? 

Poor Saegan, I guess someone should teach him about picnics.  After this evening's talk, I feel like I know Saegan better.  Hopefully, I'll be able to fight at his side one day, it sounds like a good place to be.
If you are looking for a cozy place to sit and talk about anything, even picnics, just let me know.  I am always up for a good chat.
                                    Love,
                                       Twen  

Question of the Week and Responses

Question of the Week #9 Responses

Hello all. Welcome back to view the responses from our last Question of the Week. We got a little metaphysical on you last time, asking you to think bigger than yourselves, perhaps bigger than the universe in some cases. But you responded to the call well. Check out your responses to "What is the most powerful thing in the universe?" and then scroll down to answer this week's question!

Saegan

The heroes of the Realms

Duke Sir Syruss O'leary

Friendship

Lilly

Belief.  The strength of many can bend reality.

Ananke

Death.  

Gray Erikkson

Magic.  Enough magic can make one a god.

Thoril

Ambition, with that men can be gods and so much more...

Janus

Belief

Jericho Axelthorne

Determination

Elouan

Self actualization.  It's one thing to face a being that wants to be better than everyone they meet; far more terrifying is the being that strives to continually be better than themself.

Bart

I don't know, but I'd love to see it battle the second most powerful thing if I could with relative safety.

Avendar

Time, you can't buy more of it ,with it anything is possible, and eventually destroys everyone and everything.

The Spider

Selfishness

Elric of Rathkeale 

The goddess of Death. Everything will eventually be hers one day.

Radstar 

Friends 

Tao Ya Kang

Light

Kara

If I knew, do you think I'd put it in print?

Tuilli

An immersion break.

Those were some great answers. Thank you, everyone.

This week's question turns its attention back to more specifics about yourselves. As the winter starts to fade, our thoughts turn to venturing out of our homes and getting ourselves ready to quest yet again. So let us ask you this:

Legends of Voraniss: The Story of Osag

As Scribed by Mouse

If you ask around the Realms, people will tell you all kinds of things about spirits. Some adventurers believe that spirits are simply the restless dead, while others will tell you that spirits are their own type of being from another plane of existence. Going farther out there, some people will think you’re talking about booze and they’ll get all excited. In Voraniss we have a special relationship with the spirits; for there are many that have chosen to take residence within our borders. Some of these spirits take the shape of animals, and we have built various shrines to them all throughout our territory. One of my favorite spirits is Osag, the Guardian Bear, and it is he who I wish to tell you about.

Osag’s legend is one beloved by our locals. It begins long, long ago when humanity first arrived within the lands presently known as Voraniss. Never before had they seen such ancient trees, and they felt as dwarves beneath a giant’s heel. Fish and game were bountiful, and so the humans were able to wander free from place to place as they followed after that which they hunted.

Osag was one of these early humans; a proud warrior who led his tribe forward by the point of his spear. Osag’s life hadn’t always been so blessed, however. He had grown up without parents, as many adventurers do. His mother had fallen early on to a particularly harsh winter famine, and his father had died a warrior’s death charging into combat against an enemy tribe. The others helped him as best they could, but he was expected to pitch in often; to prove beyond a doubt that he was more than a burden. The labor made him strong, and by the time he was a young man he was larger than most of the adults. Osag’s size made him a natural leader on the hunt, and the strength and wisdom that came with his experiences made him a fierce opponent.

I tell you this so that you might understand what was going through Osag’s mind when he first entered the forest and saw a wounded bear cub struggling to survive on its own. With no parents in sight the weakened creature mewled and cried out in distress. It was a perfect target for the hunters; easy prey for them to enjoy without risking their health or energy. But Osag couldn’t let them take the creature, for something in him related to its predicament. He remembered how alone he had felt without his parents to guide him, and his heart softened. Instead of dinner, the creature became his companion.

As Osag aged, so did the bear. It grew larger and more powerful, towering far above the men of the tribe when it stood on its hind legs. Many of the others in Osag’s tribe were wary of the creature, for they did not trust the instincts of a once wild animal; especially not one as huge as the bear. Osag didn’t mind though, and he continued to treat the bear as a brother. They hunted together, slept next to one another, and even shared their food.

One fateful winter Osag’s tribe was having trouble finding game. They had traveled northward towards the swampier regions of the land, but heavy snowfall had left them stranded and hungry while the deer outran them. The people began to get restless, and supplies were running low. As desperation grew one man suggested that Osag let them kill and eat the bear so that they might save themselves. Osag refused, and a fight broke out as tempers flared.

Punches were exchanged as the two men brawled to resolve their differences, and Osag threw his adversary to the ground where he got a mouthful of snow. Furious that he could not beat the mighty Osag with his fists, the man got back to his feet and reached for his spear. Raising his arm behind his head, he threw it forward before Osag could arm himself. Only, he didn’t aim for Osag…he aimed for Osag’s beloved bear. Osag cried out in warning, springing to life as he ran for his companion. There wasn’t enough time to get his own weapon, or to hit the soaring spear out of the way. Sorrow swelled up deep within his heart as the realization dawned upon him.

Osag did the only thing he could think of and threw himself into the spear’s path. The weapon pierced his lungs and pinned him to the ground. Everyone was in shock, but none more so than Osag’s bear who no one now dared touch. It stood up on its hind legs to roar, chasing off the scared and confused tribesmen before returning to Osag’s side to lay down and press a nose into his cheek. Osag knew there was no way he was going to live, and so he used the last of his strength to turn his head and smile at his friend.

When his remaining life finally drained from him, Osag’s strength failed and his forehead rested upon the bear’s nose as his body slumped. For days the bear lay beside Osag, not even bothering to get up and eat. Without his friend, his savior, his heart was broken. The spirits of the forest, those that whisper between the trees, were moved by the brotherhood of bear and man, and they took pity upon Osag who had sacrificed himself to save a creature of the wild. Using their great magic, they pulled the essence of the hero back to the woodland and gave him new form. Osag was to become a bear, a guardian spirit of the creature he had given his life to defend. Joy would return to the earth, and that year Spring came early.

To this day, you can find Osag keeping watch over all of Voraniss by his den near the swampland where he fell. He’s more bear than man now that the memories of his former life have faded over time, but they say he’s still always watching out for orphans and lost souls. If you watch long enough, they sometimes even say you can see him playing with the other bears like he’s always been one of them.

The Neden Kazoo January 2018

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The Misadventures of the Neden Boys

by Cal "Syruss" Marsden