Wardens of Heroes Gate

Dawndra Norlandr, a side NPC character I made up some time ago, is becoming one of my favorites. She is unusual looking even in Faerun… 7 and half foot tall, built like giant (likey because she has some giant blood) and white. Her hair is long and white and covering her entire face body, a fine white coat of fur. If you had to guess, you might suspect she was part giant and part polar bear, and you would be right. Except that if you asked her to confirm your suspicion she would be unable.

Dawndra is an “Arktikos” – a word I made up to give the feeling of arctic zone origins. She spent most of her life in the Moonshae Islands living among the Firbolg there. She was not exactly like them, but she felt more at home among the Firbolg than the Ffolk.

In this opening scene, Dawndra is making her way North – far North… beyond the Spine. Her martial skill is in need of challenging if she is to gain mastery and the Frozenfar Fray Games promises to do just that. I had lots of choices on where to begin this adventure… should I start in Treyvigg Monastery? Elder Riandyl needs to encourage her to join the games and I need to draw a line of connection between Riandyl and Tey Emberjaw, sister of Marlowe Emberjaw, head dwarf at the Wardens Guild of Heroes Gate. But that can be done in a recap. I thought about opening mid-way through the games but then the recap would becoming unwieldy and I would miss opportunity for some character development.

So I would start somewhere along the way between Tey Emberjaw and Icewind Dale. I want the Emberjaw’s to remain mostly in shadow until Cycle Three so there is that pleasure of connection when it happens. Without Tey Emberjaw, the journey from Small Teeth to the Spine would take months so magic is an answer. This leads me to consider how portals actually work in world I am “mastering”.

Portals in Toril
Portals are a high level arcane spell so they require a high level wizard. I believe the official version of the spell just requires some visualization. This is weak – imo. So for portal spells to be cast, the caster needs to have been to the portal destination and have marked it magically in order to use it. There is some sort of magical longitude and latitude that gets recorded.
There are also semi-permanent portals, similar to worm holes, that remain in place but closed. These require an even higher level magic user to create initially, but then can be operated by anyone with the knowledge of how to open the portal. This kind of portal is like a door with a key. Someone has to create the door and the locking mechanism but then can give the key to whomever they like.
So then the basic rule.. Teleportation only works to location the caster can see or has previously seen and intentionally marked as a destination.

Tey Emberjaw specializes in portal magic (though she has several specialities) and she knows a lot of people around Faerun. She is rarely at home in Athkatla it would seem – always off to some party or gathering. She has a dear friend in Ravens Bluff with whom she has tea with several times a tenday. For her, traveling between Amn and Luskan is like walking through a door. Though the particular example is poor… Tey Emberjaw has not been to Luskan for some time now.

In any given scene, I expect I should be developing either the plot or the characters (or both because really they are connected). A way of developing characters without directly developing plot is to challenge them with random encounters. I suppose the random encounter can be overdone, and that some might say don’t do it at all… but I think there is value in them if done well. A random encounter should provide some sort of challenge to the character – and I don’t mean they need to be slugfests where only 2 hp remain afterwards. By challenge, I mean finding some aspect of the characters personality, bonds or flaws, and challenging it.

Dawndra does not see herself as a hero – far from it… While she is Nuetral Good, she has also spent her life isolated from common folk. What exactly does “Good” mean? What are some ways to challenge it? The “Good” Samaritan story provides a help… some poor guy gets the ugly end of the ugly stick. Two people who would call themselves “good” walk around the poor guy and then walk away. Another walks by and helps him, dresses the wounds and gives him a place to rest and restore. The moral is simple – only one of the three walkers was truly good, although they all had a G on their character sheet. The poor guy in the ditch is the challenge. What will a character with a G actually do when that goodness is called upon?

Challenging Dawndra’s “G” does not need to advance the plot. The poor guy in a ditch does not need to be a recurring character (although if she helps him, that is always in the pocket for later). And this is why I decided to start with a scene in Luskan rather than Fireshear or along the Ten Trail.

Maybe this is a good time to give Dawndra not only a challenge, but a temptation… hmm….