In Tir Ezion I took the small fortune I had earned and invested in War Griffons – six to be exact.  Hatchlings now, but growing and training with the Rystars of Spaartha.  I’ve spent many months there, training the Griffons and being trained myself.

War Griffons seemed a wise idea, with four great Dragons threatening Tir Castellan.  I know full well I lack the skill and fortitude to face such ancient beasts – at present.  But like all my companions, we train and study for the day when we face the great wyrms in battle.  With trained mounts, we could face them in the air, where the Rystars tell me Dragons are clumsy fliers.

Nonetheless, after months of training, a letter came from Holly, the Flen Wizard who had trekked with us across Bravenland in pursuit of the snakemen spies.  She was in some kind of trouble, and had taken pains to conceal it – her letter was written in a code only the snakemen used – a trick which she knew that Mauril the archivist could certainly unravel.  We gathered together again from the far countries where we had scattered, and went seeking Holly.

Having no good place to begin, we traveled to Valeska, to the Diviner’s College there.  Here we paid for scrying – not only in the search for Holly, but also in combating the pirates who had been raiding the Spaarthan coast of late.  As you well know, the Kingdom navies are tasked beyond their capacity these last few months, sailing convoys of troops to Caliban to fight the armies of Manath, and sailing other legions to Bravenland to aid in the war with the Redstone Spur.  It was no surprise then that buccaneers would take advantage of the opportunity.

What was strange were the abductions – these pirates weren’t taking loot, they were taking men.  So we scryed upon them as well – and found little.

However, it soon became clear that all was not well at the school of Diviners.  Being a Ranger has some advantages – I might not know when someone is lying, but I can tell when things are being hidden.

We left the Diviner’s College, discussed our clues – and returned and launched a rapid assault under the cover of Mauril’s silence spell.  We slew the guards and those Wizards who were keeping the rest in bondage – and liberated Holly and the rest of the students who were being held hostage here.

This was not the end of the quest; the grateful Diviners showed us what we needed to know about the mysterious pirates – apparently they were coming from Lake Fum in Tantathia.  This seemed impossible – as the lake is landlocked – but we resolved to go and investigate.

The wilds of the Tantathian March were warmer than we had left them in winter – spring had come to the land.  We scarcely paused to enjoy it, traveling fast down the Kingdom high road.

During our travel we came upon a strange house – which I am sure was never near that road before.  Upon closer investigation, we met the occupant – a strange being claiming to be the ‘Fire King’ – an ancient being who had dwelled in these lands for many centuries.

He claimed to have a solution to our problem.  Raiders were coming through some kind of portal which had torn open above Lake Fum – where an ancient portal had once existed before Mount Fum had blown itself apart and become Lake Fum.  Apparently, this weak point was allowing these extraplanar raiders to attack us.

I was not entirely convinced of the ‘Fire King’ and his story, but it fit with the facts, so we investigated.  Mauril was armed with a strange magical device that the King claimed would slowly regrow the mountain, closing the portal.

We traveled on, finally discovering the portal in the lake.  We fought the interlopers and drove them back through the portal – but the magical device was damaged in the battle, and we couldn’t raise the mountain.  We left a guard on the portal and returned the device.  The Fire King claims he will repair it, and the mountain will be raised again.  We shall see – meanwhile, the raids have stopped, and Spaartha is returning to health.

With that emergency dealt with, I returned to training Griffons in Tir Ezion – until your next letter reached me.

Maybe not that last one.

Anyway, from my many hours spent role-playing D&D and Cthulhu, and my current reading of The Dresden Files, I know that vampires aren’t cured by love of some weepy tart alone.  They need to be staked.  Possibly subsequently beheaded and burned.

So, here’s how I think the movie should go:

Weepy teenage girl: “You’re a vampire!”

Vampire dude with bad hair: “Yes, but I’m a wounded vampire.  I’m a strong male character with a flaw.  Your love can heal me.”

{days pass}

Girl: “AAAAH!  You bit me!!!”

Vampire: “Yah, you’ll be my thrall by dawn.”

Girl: “I thought you were a good vampire, though!  I can’t believe this!  I should’ve listened to my mother, and stayed away from the undead!”

Vampire: “Woman, I’ve done this for the past 400 years.  I don’t need weepy teenage hangers-on.  I need servants that can move my furniture and make me coffee.”

THE END

It’s time to bring in the Mentor.

Everybody needs a reason to go on a dangerous Quest.  Your players will have more buy-in to the storyline if they feel like something is in it for them.  Of course, some players don’t engage much with the role-playing part of the story, and others are very reluctant heroes who need a good push out the door.

That’s where the Mentor comes in.  The classic mentor figures are guys like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Gandalf; wise old Wizards who can tell the young hero what he needs to do – and maybe train him a little bit, or give her the special item that’ll give a much-needed edge later on.

They don’t always have to be old wizards.  The Mentor could be the King, or a parent, or anybody with wisdom to share about the coming trial.  (The Ranger who last went to the Mountain of Shadows to get the Pearl Orchid.)  Even a bard with a good story could help out – give the heroes that last bit of advice and a shove of motivation to get them moving along.

The Mentor is your device to give the heroes a compelling reason to take up the dangerous quest; to change their minds if they refused the adventure, to give them advice and make sure they’re properly equipped for the trial to come.  The Campaign worlds we’ve created over the years have usually had plenty of Mentor figures built in; often the same Mentor would appear in different campaigns, giving a new band of heroes that extra nudge out the door.

Now, if all else fails, you can simply use an authority figure for the mentor – the aforementioned monarch, or a military leader, or one of the gods.  That’s your last resort to get the heroes moving – but it’ll work.

Now that they’ve accepted the quest, they’ll need to cross over into the adventure proper – I’ll cover that in Part Five.