PROLOUGE

1

Mid-MIrtul  1347 (Year of the Bright Blade)

            A small patrol of Cormyrian Purple Dragons and a pair of War Wizards out on a routine patrol near the Hermit Woods in Southern Cormyr, stumble upon an orc attack on a druidic circle. A group of druid followers of Silvanus are trying to keep the tuskers away with various magics. A briar patch and a number of patches of entangling plants and several "walls" are keep most of the tuskers away. The ones that are making it through are being dealt with by the druids and a number of local beasts.

            Swordlord Tellos Ironbrand, commander of the patrol, immediately orders his men to attack the damned tuskers. After a short but intense battle, the Purple Dragons along with the few surviving followers of Silvanus manage to drive the tuskers back. The orc band is in full retreat, escaping in every direction into the woods. The Purple Dragons split up and give chase. Unfortunately the grove is all but destroyed as a result of the battle, with fully half of the druids dead or grieviously wounded.

            Coren Silverthorn, a half-elven Royal Scout, finds himself during the battle, rescuing a young half-elven druidess by the name of Lauren Oakenford. He immediately becomes enamored by the beautiful lass and she of him.

            The patrol stays near the grove for an entire tenday, in order to ensure that the tuskers don't return. Coren and Lauren spend most of their time together traveling thru the woods and getting to know each other. Everyone could see that they were getting closer and so it was really no surprise that when the patrol volunteered to track the tuskers down, Lauren went along with them.

            They managed to track down the largest group of surviving orcs and they did battle with them, chasing them all the way into the Stonelands, before having to turn back. Lauren as a druidess was a welcome asset to the group, for her spells varied from those of the War Wizards, and helped the patrol out on more than one occasion.

            After an unlucky campaign against a particularly stubborn and tenacious orc tribe, the patrol returned to Suzail and were soon assigned to a small outpost on the eastern side of the Starwater River, next to the Hermit Woods. Coren was free to be with Lauren and the two lovers were soon wed at the Druidic Circle. They were blessed with five children, three sons and two daughters.

Early Tarsakh  1348

            In love and newly married, it's no wonder that the first couple of children came so soon and so close together. Gareth, the oldest and first son came to the happy couple in early Tarsakh of the next year.

Late Kythorn  1349

            Kathryn, the first daughter and second child arrived with the first flowers of Kythorn the following year. 

Marpenoth  1350

            Lauren and Coren welcome their second son, Jacen, into the world.

21st of Nightal  1351  (Year of the Crown)

            On the latter part of Nightal of the following year, Lauren gave birth to a healthy baby girl. They gave her the name Larissa, and it is with this newborn babe that our story truly begins. The first couple of years of her life were spent in the joy and comfort of her family. Nothing of import to our tale, save that the young girl welcomed a baby brother when she was three.

Ches  1354

            They named the young boy Brand, and his birth was signaled by the druids as a good sign. For as Lauren lay in labor, her companion Grunt brought in a young wolf cub recently orphaned in the woods. So it was with some amusement that the cub and Brand hit it off from the start. Larissa, was at this time three and was fiercely protective of her youngest sibling. Most of her youth, it seems, was spent keeping young Brand out of trouble.

2

             Gareth had grown to be a tall, kindhearted young man. He was greatly interested in their fathers trade. Though all the Silverthorn children spent some time helping their parents out with the silversmithing business, only Gareth appeared to plan to follow in his fathers footsteps. All his time was spent working at the forge learning tricks of the trade.

            Kathryn on the other hand had grown up to be an intelligent, beautiful lass. Unlike Gareth though, she was vain and constantly cursing her fate for having been born in such a remote outpost, when she should have been mingling with other nobles in one of the larger cities. Jacen spent most of his early years apprenticed to the local scribe. A quiet, studious young man. Brand, funloving and adventurous, was particularly interested in the Druid Grove and the worship of the Oak Father. Though he has none of the patience common to the druidic order, under the guidance and tutelage of his father, he is showing great promise as a wilderness scout.

            Larissa, by this point in our tale, is 5'5 about 136 pounds, hazel eyes, short dirty blonde hair. Pretty, though not quite as much as Kathryn, but not vain like her sister. Funloving, easygoing, wants to travel and enjoys fighting. After all, she's been doing it since a young age, protecting Brand. She's close to Gareth and seems to idolize him for he seems to be good at everything he tries.

            Growing up in Cormyr is never easy, but even moreso when you grow up in a wilderness outpost/town. The women of Cormyr are encouraged to learn how to wield weaponry and are often accepted into warrior roles. So it was no surprise that Larissa was interested in battleskills and practiced quite a bit with an old sword of her fathers. Her "Uncle" Tellos helped to train her in some of the more complex instructions of swordplay. Larissa was skilled and was constantly at drills and always practicing. Eventually she was able to wield the heavy and cumbersome bastard sword with only one hand. She began going out on routine patrols with some of the men and she was ferocious and unforgiving in battle and would charge headlong into the fray. Only her skill with the blade and her oddly graceful movements prevented her from ever suffering any serious injury.

            During a particularly peaceful time, a traveling troupe of acrobats, and entertainers passed thru town. Larissa was enraptured by an illusionists act. Going home she kept trying to reenact his movements and speech throughout the show but she wasn't able to conjure up a single thing. Only on her last try did she succeed at creating a feeble lightsource. When she asked the War Wizards about it, they had her run through some tests. They learned that she had a latent magical talent, but it appeared to be ingrained in her being. Unlike them, she would never need a spellbook or spend time memorizing her spells. For her, spells could be cast as easily as she wielded her sword. But it would be a long and difficult path, and she would never learn as much or be as competent as an actual mage.

            Disheartened by this news, Larissa decided that if she couldn't be as competent a mage as the War Wizards, then she would walk a different road. She literally began training all over again. This time she practiced mixing swordplay and magic. And though she got results, once in a while her spells would just not work. The gestures being to complicated to properly perform while wearing heavy armor. She sought ways to bypass this, without having to forsake the protection from armor. Thats, when she remembered the Illusionists traveling troupe and remembered the bard. He had danced and sang to accomplish some minor magical effects. Larissa already graceful, and posessed of a clear strong voice, incorperated all these things into her training.

            When King Azoun IV, mobilized the Purple Dragons and marched to stop the Tuigan Horde, many of the young knights from the outpost marched with him, also including Coren and Swordlord Tellos. They marched to war in 1360 and it was in northern Thesk, where the two armies met in battle. They forces of Cormyr were joined by allies and the Horde was defeated when King Azoun slew the horsemens leader, Yamun Khahan. The army returned to Cormyr to great praise.

            Shortly after her fathers return, Larissa and her childhood friend, Zell, became sweethearts. It was in the spring of 1370 that Zell asked Larissa to be his bride. She agreed and the townspeople rejoiced! The wedding was to take place the following year on Midsummers day, when they would both be 21. Alas it was a date that would never come to pass.

            The following year amidst a drought and the unexpected attacks from ghazneths, ancient enemies of Cormyr, an orc horde of countless thousands led by the great  dragon Nalavarauthatoryl the Red. King Azoun and the Royal Magician Vangerdahast rode out to battle summoning every ablebodied fighter in the kingdom. Defeat after defeat demoralized the army, and the Royal Magician disappeared in the northern reaches. Azoun and the Steel Princess, Alusair, kept on fighting, while Crown Princess Tanalasta defeated the ghazneths, but at the cost of her own life. Arabel was lost to goblin forces, and many of the noble families committed treason and refused to fight for Cormyr. By the end of the crisis, King Azoun and the Devil Dragon had slain each other in combat, Crown Princess Tanalasta had perished leaving behind an infant son, and Cormyr had also lost a great number of its finest warriors and wizards and every noble family had suffered some loss.

            Coren returned from the war with a severe limp and it would never heal. Swordlord Tellos returned mostly unscathed, while Gareth, always quiet, came back with a haunted look in his eyes. He seemed to withdraw into himself and would hardly speak in anything more than a low voice. Larissa who had been stationed with a company of War Wizards near the Sembian border, came out of the war without seeing much action. Unfortunately for her Zell was not so lucky. Coren was able to return with his body. Needless to say Larissa was heartbroken and would not eat or speak. It wasn't until a full three weeks after Zell's funeral that she seemed to return to normal.

            Soon after that, Larissa bade her family goodbye and stated that Cormyr held nothing but bitter memories for her at the moment. So she left early one morning with the wind at her back. With some belongings including a newly forged blade from Gareth and Zell's medallion around her neck. She headed east and after a few months on the road and at sea she arrived in Thesk, where she met up with a group of adventurers like herself. A pair of dwarven twins, and their guide a dwarven paladin. Once they arrived in Phent, they met a couple of fighters and a couple of mages and one very drunken half-orc. They decided to compete in a tournament and they recruited a simple half-orc sitting outside the jail eating corn.

Played by Frankie Traslavina