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Sir Allen's Service
On the road back to Foreschmidten, young paladin Arthur and elf swordsman Fingalad parted ways with Lutz the druid—the ogrun said something about finding a wood elf maiden to share his life. His former companions set out for town to pay the trapper who tipped them off to the lair of the goblin gang they had just rousted.

Late in the day they heard gunfire ahead. Coming around a bend, they saw a wagon stopped in the road and a frightened family under guard, along with a huge ogrun who had stumbled on the scene, by four Khadorian soldiers. There had been rumors that Khador might invade this area, but nobody gave them much credence. Until now.

Khadorian rifleman.

Enraged, Fingalad rushed forward to surprise the soldiers, who were intent on their captives and trying to break into the wagon's locked door. Arthur ducked into the woods aiming to flank the enemy—and promptly ran into a stranger wearing a coat and carrying a pistol. After short greetings it was clear neither of them were friends of the soldiers; the stranger, Rohan, was travelling with the ogrun.

Rohan stepped closer to the road, leveled his pistol at the Khadorian officer, and shouted for the Khadorians to drop their weapons. The force of his shout intimidated the officer, who blinked indecisively as Fingalad and Arthur rushed his men.

It was a short, ugly fight. The family luckily dropped to the ground and stayed there despite their panic. The ogrun took a bullet trying to tackle a soldier, but it failed to drop him. He retrieved the warcleaver the soldiers had ordered him to drop in the road, then he, Fingalad and Arthur killed all three rifleman and their officer.

The grateful family went on their way—they were fleeing Foreschmidten, which had been sacked by Khadorian soldiers. As the four new companions searched the soldiers and wondered what to do, they heard a horse approaching: a messenger of Sir Allen, the knight charged with protecting the region. The messenger asked the four to join Sir Allen at his hunting lodge, where he was gathering men for counter-attacks against the invaders.

At the lodge they found a pitifully small band of mercenaries and refugees. The next day the messenger returned with Sir Allen, and said they had a special mission for the four adventurers: to capture a train loaded with Khadorian supplies stolen from the region, then drive it on into Khadorian territory to meet with allies there who needed the goods. It would be a hundred-mile hike to reach the train, and they had only a week before it would leave its station. They set out at once.

Game date: 4 March 2006. Arthur: Jon Ivey; Fingalad: Bryan Crowson; Fortiscule: Matthew Crowson; Rohan: Shane Ivey; DM: Kevin Pezzano.