Welcome to Verloren, a fantasy world with vast forests, bustling cities, rural townships, imposing castles, forgotten ruins, looming mountain ranges, and dangerous seas populated by many nations, races, and ethnicities. This is a time of relative peace. While some spy networks and assassins may be consorting in the shadows, there is no open warfare between recognized nations. Citizens and merchants are free to travel across borders as long as they adhere to generally reasonable regulations. A magic based on patterns has brought the world to the cusp of an industrial age as a few rudimentary machines powered by totemic energies have been recently invented. Over the last few centuries, scholars, wisemen, and tinkerers all over the world have discovered that there are certain patterns capable of creating energetic reactions. They call these patterns totems. Certain rudimentary totems are merely two dimensional patterns that can be created with simple lines in dirt or paint on a wall. Other totems are three-dimensional shapes; perhaps knots of copper wire in intricate weaves, or a complex spiral of blown glass with a precise volume. Some totems seem to work with nearly any material. Others only work with one. Still others only work with several materials coming together. Generally, the more complex the pattern and rarer the material, the more powerful the effect, though this is not always true. While some cultures reserve their totems for political, religious, or military use, other cultures share their knowledge with the populace. The magical effects of totems are not usually spectacular or grandiose; often they are practical. Some totems may produce a soft light. Others may ward away mosquitoes. Perhaps the most widely used totemic arrangement in southern Verloren is an intricate hatchwork that produces heat several hundred degrees just above it. Those that have learned this totem most often use it to heat their home or start fires. Some cultures view totems as some sort of anchor or umbilical line connecting the physical world to gods or spirits, and that using the totems is perhaps a form of prayer. Others see it as disrespectful or a display of blasphemous arrogance towards the gods, like a child yanking at the hem of its parent demanding attention. Others view it as an extension of the natural world without any being or consciousness behind it, and that it is to be viewed in the way a lightning rod attracts lightning, the way water and sunlight give life to plants, the way iron rusts when exposed to water and air. Still others suppose that there is no real difference between the different schools of thought. Knowledge of totems has dispersed and spread throughout the world as several ancient Caiteran Empire trade routes have been reconstructed and reopened; the degree of cultural dissemination has risen as a result. You are a member of the White Guard, a reputable mercenary company led by Captain Jaon Valhoa. Two years ago, the White Guard was commissioned to aid in the defense of the city of Belencrest from an encroaching tribe of greyskin barbarians. After ten months of defending supply routes, ambushes, border skirmishes, and a foiled assassination attempt, the barbarians withdrew without ever engaging on the field in open combat. The magistrate of Belencrest was impressed with the White Guard's results and has extended the contract to remain in the city as an auxiliary to the city guard. Three weeks ago, a shipping vessel that had been traveling down the Elkin river has stopped in Belencrest. Its cargo and crew have been organizing an expedition to travel the rest of its journey towards the coastal city of Paolou by land. The caravan leader, Gaivus Hemming, has requested the use of a small contingent of the White Guard to escort his troupe the rest of the way. Captain Valhoa has hand-selected two dozen of his company for the task. You are among that group. Gather your things. You leave at first light. Nineteen years ago, a small group of seventy-five veterans of the Eruben War organized themselves into a band calling themselves the White Guard. In the years since, the White Guard has grown into an international effort of associated mercenary companies led by Captain Jaon Valhoa, one of the original seventy-five. Though the White Guard are generally well trained and supplied, the success of the White Guard can mostly be attributed to business branch - the administrators and representatives responsible for contract negotiations - who are perhaps even more ruthless than those in the field. The White Guard is not one singular outfit, but rather a conglomeration of dozens of smaller mercenary companies who have submitted themselves to the authority and standards of the central administration. The benefits of signing with the White Guard are notoriety, access to requisitions at reduced cost, and the option of pooling together with another White Guard chapter to meet the requirements some of the larger contracts stipulate. That the White Guard typically sends the closest local chapter to fulfill a contract also helps protect the reputation of the organization. Mercenary groups comprised mostly of locals helps mitigate some of the more disagreeable behaviors that foreign mercenaries might exhibit, especially when the land and people they are protecting are not their own. If all the local companies under the White Guard banner were to assemble, their numbers would surpass ten-thousand. This, however, is a theoretical estimation that in reality would be virtually impossible without breaking dozens if not hundreds of ongoing contracts across the nations. The local magistrate in Belencrest has contracted a retainer of one-hundred White Guard soldiers to remain in the city to aid in training and transitioning military responsibilities to the magistrate's footsoldiers. You are one of those one-hundred.