A Meeting of Misfits

Era beginning/end

  On a dark and stormy night, providence of fate contrived to bring together an eclectic and remarkable group of individuals. Meeting for the first time in the galley of the Imperial merchant ship INS Propriety, the gathering consisted of a stout and grizzled dwarf mercenary named Sebastian Grothir, a quirky and wide-eyed human teenager called simply Kit, Tok'ra the towering armour-plated half-orc, an eye-catching Anthroskorpiun named Makaria, a half-elf by the name of Finulfaelin, and a cantankerous gnome of indeterminate age named Barber-Ryan in the company of a hair-cutting crab called Eugene. After dinner and introductions, during which time the group nearly came to blows on several occasions, they met the final passenger on the ship, a mysterious older woman who gave her name as "Katya". She seemed polite and courteous, asking after each person and their story. As the evening drew to a close, the group decided to go above decks and observe an incoming storm. But as they emerged, they found conditions on the sea far more treacherous than previously realised, made worse by the unusual and uncharacteristic lightning splitting the sky. While watching this lightning with Captain Sarkustin, the aged dragonborn owner of the Propriety, the gang noticed figures emerging from the darkened sky. Without warning, this airborne force launched an attack on the ship, spearheaded by their leader, wielding terrible and powerful magics. Before they could be drawn into an unwinnable fight, Katya appeared, beckoning for the gang to follow her below decks, where she offered to transport them to safety using some form of teleportation magic. Just as the spell was about to finish taking shape, the leader of the attackers, revealed to be one of the infinitely dangerous Imperial Praefects, hovered down through the wreckage of the ship, intent on confronting the group. Katya managed to hold of the Praefect just long enough to transport the group through time and space. They emerged somewhat uncomfortably and in a discombobulated state in a patch of woodland somewhere along the coast of Ordayn. Taking a moment to get their bearings, they set off for the nearest settlement; a large, fortified village hugging the cliffside. After dealing with what passed for local customs agents, they were granted access to the village of Thistlebough...

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