The Unfated Wanderers Canto 1
Fern Quickstream suffered such sadness that she sought the means to put an end to death, so that no one should suffer such grief and heartbreak as she had. Fate betrayed desire and she caused the greatest catastrophe of the Span of Ruin: the Demon Plague.
Two strangers, born elsewhere, from beyond our shores, enslaved by our people, freed by chance and burdened by the Children of the Gods, set things right. By seeking their freedom, they secured the freedom of all humanity from the curse of the Demon Plague. Their names must be praised forevermore: Billet Stormstone and Vilerend Skymarch.
Tong Shatterbone made them members of his horde. He gifted them a bit of land in his village and money to build a home.
Tong was the founder of the Learned Scholars of Icebrunt. This group sought and studied artifacts and texts from the Elder People that lived during Spans of yore. His studies revealed the existence of equerries, entities enshrouded in endless mystery. This lore was vague, telling not much more than their name. His many impenetrable inquiries remained unanswered.
A former member of the Learned Scholars had an ancient clay tablet. Tong knew that this tablet may reveal the remaining revelations required to further his research. Alas, for their broken relationship made access to this tablet impossible. Raiding was always an option. Tong set forth an order to the newest members of his horde, two doughty warriors, already heroes of great renown.
“Go to Sprybull,” Tong said. “A woman named Sunny Cloudgrass has an Elder People tablet with information that I need. Sunny has the same penchant for studying the Elder People that the Learned Scholars do. But she is not one of us. She has no desire to share her information with anyone. One might think she is a dragon with the way she hoards her artifacts.”
“She will not sell the tablet. She will not even let me see it. I need you to go to the village of Sprybull where she lives. Take this chalk and paper and make a rubbing of the tablet. You will have to enter her home. Do not break in. Do not steal anything, not even the tablet. Make the rubbing and get out.”
Tong exclaimed, “She MUST NOT know that you were in there. She knows that I want it. She will blame me if she knows that something is amiss. She will cause much trouble. Sunny is a notable person in her village. She is a witch and she works as the village’s healer. If you ask around for a healer, someone will point you towards her house. You may need to lure her outside, or wait until she goes somewhere. But DO NOT get caught.”