To Worthchestor!
"My name is Halfang, Grey Knight of our King Darius II. And
you?" You tell him, and he smiles again. "It is an honer
to make the aquaintance with one such as yourself," he replyes.
Your continue riding together. After being accidentally kicked by
Halfang for the umptenth time, you resolve to get yourself a mount of
your own in the next town. At long last you come to Worthchestor.
Halfang guides his steed to the door of an inn, hopps out of his bulky
saddle, and hollers "Quirk! Fathom! Rowanor! Come get those
lazy bones of your's out here with a welcome worth of a weary
Knight!"
He turns and grins mischieviously at you, and in a moment three men
stumble rather unceremoniously out of the inn's door. The first, a
tall, lanky fellow with a mop of thin blond hair is the first to reach
Halfang. He shakes the Knight's hand vigorously. "Halfang,
friend Halfang, it has been too long!" "Aye, what be you
a-thinkin' by keepin' away all this time?" says the second, a
shorter, rougher fellow with several gold hoops adorning his left ear.
The third, a man of average height with curled, earth-brown hair
simply smiles for a moment, and then embraces Halfang.
All the while, you sit there atop of Halfang's horse, feeling rather
invisable until the silent brown-haired man says something quietly,
which non the lkess causes the other two and Halfang to glance in your
direction. "Who's that?" asks the man with the earrings.
"Oh, please forgive me for not introducing you before!"
Halfang exclaim, returning to your side and beckoning for you to
dismount. "My friend, allow me to introduce to you my friends.
This lanky fellow here is Quirk, and that old seadog is Fathom. The
soft-spoken one there is Rowanor. My friends, I have brought you a
Dragon-slayer."
The three stare at you for a moment, unmoving, until Fathom steps
forward and gives your hand a hearty shake with his own large,
calloused one. "Any friend o' Halfy be a friend o' mine,"
he says, winking. Quirk follows suit in welcoming you; Rowanor nods
and smiles shyly.
"Quirk, my friend here could use some training," Halfang
hints as you all walk towards the inn. Quirk looks quizzically from
the Knight to you. "You mean... your dragon-slayer there doesn't
know how to fight?" Halfang shakes his head. "At
all?" "Nope." Quirk runs his long fingers through his
hair. "Well! I suppose between Half and me as your trainers,
you won't come out so bad as a fighter..." he says at last.
Fathom pushes his way between Quirk and the Knight. "I be
knowin' a bit aboot fightin' meself, I'll have you knowin'! 'Twasn't
the fairies as fought off them raiders when me and the crew were afar
off at sea on The Pearl Daughter, and them commin' up from behind an'
trying to blast a hole in her hull and all...why, if it hadn't been
for me an' my quick thinkin'-"
Fathom is suddenly silenced by Quirk tackling him from behind.
"Alright there, you old seadog," he laughed, "None of
us wants to hear about THAT battle again... sheesh, I've hear it so
many times, I practically feel like I'd been there myself!"
"That's because you WERE there, yerself, you lazy,
good-fer-nothin' excuse for a cabin boy!" Fathom grumbles and
mutteres as he pulleds free.
"I shall go to Worthchester - perhaps your friends can aid me in
my quest to conquer the Dragon!" you reply enthusiastically. The
Knight smiles. "So you shall help us then? I am glad. I
believe you were chosen for this task - how else would you explain
having that-" pointing to the pendant about your neck "-in
your possession? My friends and you will get along splendidly, I
think," he muses rather happily.
