Lion and Dragon, prologue ...
Game Systems: Lion & Dragon byRPG Pundit
Tools: Ironsworn oracle, GameMaster Apprentice Cards.
[Town or settlement -> Bleakcrag]
Anno Solis 1391 - The town of Bleakcrag, Cumbria
The late summer was already giving way to an early morning frost. In the family orchard, Aerthur was picking the last batch of summer apples. This would give Aerthur a chance to spend some time with Celest, a young housemaid for Lady Esmeralda DeWick. Lady Esmeralda, an aging widower and matronly kind woman, treated both Aerthur and Celest as hers. Her former husband, Sir Edwin DeWick, also known as the "White Dove", was a kind and gentle soul known to be a fierce warrior in the heat of battle. Unfortunately, the "White Dove" lost his life in the fields of Liege, Frankia, several decades earlier. A perfectly aimed enemy arrow slipped through the eye slit and encased itself in his brain. Now, Lady Esmeralda passes her time alone, longing for the love of her life.
With the basket filled to capacity, Aerthur readies for the journey back to town. Midway through the journey, he hears a gentle whisper in the wind. Enchanted words in a language he cannot comprehend, the whispers now beckoning him to investigate. Dropping the basket in a clearing near the river Aerthur, she enters the thick of the forest. The soft whispers multiply in melodious undertones. With a misstep, Aerthur tumbles into a dark dirt pit. The soft ground appears to shift and slither, and to his horror, the whispers are coming directly from a den of vipers. Aerthur screams as the vipers strike at the exposed body; mocking laughter can be heard in the distance. Blackness falls, and Aerthur slips into a strange dream...
From high in the clouds, a bright, saintly knight appears, his shield a golden sun. The spear on his left was topped with two impaled vipers wriggling in pain. The knight sits on a regal lion. A booming voice from above speaks, "Quote nati magnitudinis", and the world falls dark once more.
Does he survive? Likely Odds Even -> Yes! I made the odds even after the possible saintly intervention.
A year later, Aerthur, the Viper Slayer," or "Lucky" as he's called by some of the town folks, did not remember much from that fateful day. As the story gets told, his almost lifeless body was discovered by several shepherds nearby. Aerthur spent over a month struggling between life and death. Lady Esmeralda, anguished, prayed and spared no expense, even calling on a famous healer from a nearby town. Aerthur's miraculous survival is fully attributed to the intervention of Saint Apollonius. The scar on his neck has turned into a reddish circle resembling a sun, a clear sign of the Sun God's favor.
[I will note a +1 save vs. poison for such a brutal encounter.]
"It's all set!" exclaimed Lady Esmeralda. "You are ready to be welcomed as a ward of the Ordus of Swords. I have made all the necessary arrangements, and here is a letter of introduction directly from me. Provide Grandmaster William with this letter, and I am sure he will take good care of you. Now, you know that I love you like my own son. This is your chance to make a mark in this world. Make us all proud". With a hug from Esmeralda and Celest crying nearby, young Aerthur departed for the next big chapter of his life.
