Dugal had been traveling on the road for the last week. His feet had taken him to the coastal town of Freeport. It was a cool spring day and Dugal was excited about what he could find there. Before leaving his town of Haemstrell Dugal's father had given him the family sword and a decent suit of armor. His trip to Freeport was his first time out into the wide world. He had the looked upon his face of any would be adventurer. That all too recognizable look of excitement combined with the unknown. As he wandered into the town a young elven woman, by the name of Mae, took notice of the young man, and thought that it would be a good idea to follow him.
Dugal entered one of the many bars that were found along the docks. As he entered he saw a garishly dressed halfling sailor. The having immediately spotted him and announced to the crowd that he was going to buy this newcomer a drink. Mae nonchalantly walked in and noticed the halfling chatting the young man up. Mae knew this halfling by the name of Tyree. He was the captain of the ship called the Brandywine. He was infamous for Shanghaing young newcomers onto a ship. Mae felt that this young man would think differently of this come morning. So Mae decided to interject herself into this conversation.
"Ahh... Mae it's been a while since I've seen you," said the ship's captain. "Let me introduce you to my new friend: Dugal McAllister." Mae studied the young man and noticed that he didn't look quite himself. In fact he looked like he was going to pass out. Mae decided to think fast and save this boy from a life at sea.
"I think your friend has had one too many. I'm going to get him a room, and you're going to go back to your ship." Mae approached the bar keep and requested a room. "Come on big guy you've had one too many." Mae assisted Dugal to his feet and escorted him to his room.
When Dugal awoke his head was spinning like a wagon wheel. "What happened?"
"You almost became a sailor aboard the Brandywine" retorted Mae.
"Thank you. Who are you? Did we..."
"No! You're welcome. My name is Mae." Satisfied by the answers Dugal slumped back into the bed and fell asleep. The next morning Dugal awoke the next morning to find his savior gone. He gathered his gear and went downstairs. When he reached the bottom of the staircase he saw a lone elven woman sitting at a table.
"Ahh... I see that you have decided to join us for breakfast," Mae said wryly. Dugal sat in the chair opposite her, and when his meal arrived ate it silently. As he ate his meal in silence he carefully studied this woman. He thought that if that halfling was not all that he was cracked up to be, than just she was the same.
"So what kind of work can a sell sword find in Freeport," Dugal asked. As he asked this question and older gentleman dressed in priestly robes walked in to the bar.
"You can always be my bodyguard," said the priest. "I'm headed to the town of Shoal's Market and I need someone who knows how to use a sword to accompany me."
"Well that sounds good, but I would like to know who you are before I accept your offer," said Dugal. The priest introduced himself as Gordon priest of Mona'et. He explained that he was headed to the town of Shoal's Market to attend the dedicatory ceremonies of the temple. After hearing this explanation Dugal felt comfortable enough to travel with this man. Mae decided to join the group because this young boy definitely needed someone to look out after him.
The next morning the group headed out along the Boardwalk. The day was a
little cloudier than normal, but Dugal thought it would clear up. They made
the shelter by midday and after a quick lunch continued their journey. A few
hours later they heard the roar of a large creature charging up to the Boardwalk.
Standing taller than the Boardwalk an ogre bellowed at them. Dugal drew his
sword in a flash and charged the creature, but as he closed the ogre struck
him with his club. This almost caused Dugal to pass out with pain, but through
it all Dugal slashed the beast mightly. Mae, who was wiser to the world, jumped
down off of the Boardwalk, tumbled behind the creature, and drove her short
sword through the back of the creature and into his heart.
Dugal was relieved that this ogre was dead. He didn't know if he could've
withstood another blow from it. Gordon approached Dugal and healed his wounds
through the power of the goddess.
The next day the continued their journey along the Boardwalk and by midafternoon the reached a small elven fishing community. After finding an inn to stay at they decided to settle in for the evening. Later on that night a cry rang out through the village. Almost without thinking Dugal grabbed his sword and ran out of his room towards the sound. It was coming from down the dock where the ships were kept. Dugal's companions followed suit. As he reached the end of the dock Dugal found a giant crab menacing the fisherman. The Dugal swung at the beast but his sword seemed to do very little. The crab slashed at Dugal with its claws and gave Dugal a large gash in his chest. Before Dugal could swing again Gordon calmly told Dugal to slowly back away. As Dugal backed off he heard the priest ask a favor of his goddess, and he noticed the beast began to calm down. After a time which seemed like an eternity the giant crab crawled off the dock and swam away. "Sometimes Dugal not every combat is won with a sword," Gordon said.
The next few days passed without incident, but when they were about a day outside of Shoal's Market the group ran into a group of traveling lizardmen. After some grunting and moitioning to each other the lizardmen chose one of their number to step forward and represent the group. Dugal stepped forward and accepted the challenge. The lizardman bellowed in charged forward at Dugal. He swung his stone sword at Dugal but his blow bounced off Dugal's armor. Dugal answered the attack with a mighty swing of his great sword and cut the poor creature in two. The rest of the lizardmen howled in amazement. They ran forward toward their fallen comrade. They cut a bag off of his belt and handed it to Dugal, and than began to dine on the fallen lizardman's remains. Dugal and company were little disgusted by the affair and so decided to head on into town.
Once they reached town they opened the bag that they had received and found
that it contained 10 trade bars. This was quite the windfall for them since
they were almost broke. They accompanied Gordon to his temple where he paid
them for their services, and then they found accommodations for themselves.
A few days later they went to the ceremonies of the temple dedication. Dugal
did not realize that these events culminated in a ceremony of combat. Dugal
watched as a dwarf and an elf battled each other. This was one of the most
bloodiest combats he had ever witnessed in his life. In the end the elf came
out victorious.