This is a campaign that I have been running for almost 3 long years.  The original premise was that 3 friends, myself, Joey, and Charlie went out behind Charlie's house to the sand pit to get messed up...er... you know... anyway, on our way back from the sand pit we got lost.  Now that's a pretty impressive thing, considering it only takes about 3 minutes to get back to Charlie's house from the pit.... and after we realized we had been walking for about 10 minutes just chatting and such, we had not even seen the railroad tracks..... so, we turned about, and followed the path back to the sand pit.... which was now an outlet for some lake... we knew there was problems.  Turning to follow the only path, we walked for another couple of hours and finally came upon civilization.  It was a 30 foot tall wooden wall that surrounded what seemed to be a medieval village.  The guards informed us that they couldn't open the gates till daybreak, but they would drop us blankets if we needed them, which we did, and gratefully accepted.  After spending the night outside the wall, we entered the town of Hegnal.
    Realizing we we not in Mass anymore (it's where we are from), we decided the first order of business was food, shelter, and survival.  So we took a look around this village and figured out it must of contained between 50-100 people, unless some of the houses were empty and such... So, we went to the village blacksmith, since I had some experience with that, and Joey and Charlie are quick learners.  In there we met the smith, and his introduced himself as Master Smith Halcus Metalbender... and then he told us to close our mouths, and then demanded to know what we wanted.  I casually asked if he had enough apprentices, and he told us that his last two just left, and then he needed more... but we looked to old to start.  At the time, I was 25, Joey was 22, and Charlie a young 21.  So, we started to talk amongst ourselves, and we found out to our surprise, that the smith didn't understand English... we had been speaking in the Common tongue, without knowing it.
    After decided to tell the Halcus the truth, he looked skeptical at first, and after awhile he started to believe when we told him stuff about ad&d, you see... none of us, had forgotten anything... and I have a near photographic memory.  We then realized how much of a boost that gave us... if it was true.  Anyway, to make a long story shorter... (yes, shorter.. not short), we were hired on as his apprentices.  After a couple of days, we noticed something else.... Charlie and I were getting shorter.... I mean we both lost a couple of inches the first day.  I was 6'2", and Charles was 6", and after the first day, I had lost 4 inches, and Charlie lost 6.  Not knowing what to say, or even what was going on, we decided to wait.  The next day I awoke to pain... around my ears and eyes.  I had lost another couple of inches, and about 100 pounds.  (I was about 250 lbs when the game started), and when I looked into the mirror, I noticed my eye sockets had changed shaped, and the lobes of my ears were almost gone... I was turning into an elf of some sort... and turning to look at Charlie, I noticed he started to look alot like Halcus.  Joey was just Joey.... still human, but starting to get into better shape.  Both Charlie and Joey missed their cigarettes, and they were both a pain to be around when the habit started to kick them in the ass.  I forgot to mention how we introduced ourselves, since I am writing this in English, I only have to worry about people using magic to read it.  *sigh*  Well, I am now known as Corwyn of Amber (yes, I loved the series, so I named myself after him), Charlie is Willame Pathfinder (his last name is Willaim), and good old Joey is Joseph of Emerson ( Joey's last name, is Emerson).
    So after a couple of months of this intensive training, we all started to get into better shape, and one night at a local tavern we meet a couple of people who would change our lives.  Jrenrale Silverwing, Renathalos, and Larnath.  Jren is a mage/cleric of Athena, Ren is a thief (one of the best), and Larnath was a Barbarian... (he was very impressive.. I don't know how he fit in the building).  They told us they guarded caravan's and such, that went to the capital of the kingdom.  Realizing we didn't know the Kingdom name or it's capital.  We found out that our answer was one word.... it was the name of the kingdom and it's capitol... Springfield.  No, we didn't go with them... we just met them, that was enough.  They stuck around in town for a couple of days, and I started to get to know Jrenrale very good.  I missed her alot when they left for their next assignment.  Everything went back to normal, until a man walked into Halcus's shop in full plate mail.  He was impressive, noble, and must have been dammed strong.  He spoke to Halcus for a couple about a blade that should have been made, and when it was retrieved we found out that Halcus was a Master Smith in truth.  The blade gleamed... it was made of a silverish metal, graven with runes, and the edge had a shine all its own. (we found out later it was a mithril blade, that had a diamond edge to it).  After some haggling, the knight (he could be nothing else), who pointed at Joseph a couple of times during it, paid Halcus a large sum of gold coins, walked outside and casually leap onto his horse and was gone before it seemed possible.
    After that, Halcus spoke to Joseph about that the man had said, basically Sir Valandil had liked what he saw in Joseph, and had offered to make him his squire.  Joseph declined stating he wanted to stay with me and Willame, so we went on as we had for another month or two.  Then, a couple of things happened at once; one, Jrenrale and Ren came back with news that Larnath was dead.  He died protecting them and the caravan against 8 bugbears, which he killed before dying of the wounds himself.  Two, they wanted to know if we wanted to start to travel with them, as myself and Jrenrale had gotten really close, and another couple of people would be helpful, as they wanted to get the money to raise Larnath.  Last but not least, Halcus announced he was organizing a caravan to go to Springfield to meet with his master Balin.  He told us he would release us from our apprenticeship when we got to the capital if we wished, or we could stay on with him.  Halcus then hired Jrenrale and Ren to be our guards, and we left in a day or so.
    On the way to Springfield, we got attacked twice, once by bandits, and another time by wolves.  The wolves were dealt with rather easily and made us relax slightly.  The bandits changed that almost immediately.  During the fight, Willame, and myself got hit with crossbow bolts, and I have to admit, that was the one of the most painful thing I have ever experienced.  (at that time, since then, boy I have felt some stuff since then)  After a fierce battle (to us), we defeated the bandits, and we got our first taste of loot.  We each got a couple of gold and a weapon.  We noticed that the weapons were of average quality, but the were ours.  The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, and I got to know Jrenrale even better, and I finally told her everything about me.  I was afraid that she would leave, but she didn't, and in fact it made her feel even more for me, because of my truthfullness.  I had just not said anything before, because I don't believe in lying.  Anyway, we made it to the city, and it was amazing.  We could see if from a distance.... the almost shining white city walls, the large tower to the west, overlooking the Great Inland Sea to the east... it was incredible... and huge.  I'd have to say it looked like it was well over a couple of miles large.  Little did I know that there was well over a million people in there.  I looked to Willame and Joseph and gave them both a grin, and said, "Only in a fantasy world, my friends.... "
    The next couple of days were a haze, as we got there on the first day of Banapis, which is usually only a day long celebration (note: their holidays are actually 2 days long, but they consider it one), but since it was the birthday of the King, and the Celebration of the 200 year of the Kingdom, it was made into a week long celebration.  Boy did we have fun.
    Then on our fourth day there.. our lives changed.  We had been partying all day, and we got lost looking for a place that Ren suggested we go for some gambling, and we ran into two cloaked figures.. we spoke to them for a moment, and found out they were females, and were just looking for a place to have some fun, and they wanted us to leave.  Shrugging we looked at each other, bowed and then left.  Not a minute later, we heard a scream from girls, as 6 other figures stepped out of the shadows, and attempted to grabbed them.  Not wasting a moment, I lead a charge into the 6 people, laying about me with my sword, followed by Joseph, and Willame.  Ren started to throw daggers like a madman, hitting them with incredible shots, and Jrenrale cast a magic missile or two.  That was a very tough fight for us at the time, and after knocking down the last man, we turned and made sure the two women were ok, which they stated they were.  Then they told us who they were.... the Princess Jalena, and the Princess Illmarin.  Sighing we tried to figure out what we were going to do, when the Royal Guards showed up.  We got dragged to the King, along with the figures on the ground who weren't dead.

cont.

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