The Gathering

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The Hero Guard, a prestigious and often dangerous position that in the end brough wealth and fame to whoever had the pleasure of holding it. However, attaining the position is a hard and often impossible process, but you decided to go for it anyways. Whether you are trying to become the guard out of pure heroic delight or as an arrogant grab at fame, the choice all led to the same place.

To the city of Neverwinter, where the hero had lifted the siege and began the campaign against the undead horde of the dastardly Arch-Lich. Not only was there a memorial of those who had fallen during the siege in the city market place but also a statue commemorating the kobold hero right in front of the gates to greet any who come. It is almost symbolically fitting that the journey of the hero guard should start in the same place as where the hero did, plus the city brought in an exuberant amount of money doing so with all the travelers that would come for ”The Gathering”.

The Gathering is a time where any prospecting adventurer wishes to join the hero guard, this only occurs when the previous guard is getting close to retirement and instead become teachers for the new guard. The event is announced two years in advance, allowing ample time for any from around the world to try and get to the event and get their affairs in order.

As you enter the city, whether it be by boat or by road, you are halted by a guard who asks of your intentions. Your answer made the guard let out a sigh and point you in the right direction. “Good luck,” you hear him mutter under his breath as you walk towards a field about half a mile away from the city wall. You can see a gathering of people being sorted just outside a small wooden palisade at the entrance of a large, forest that stretched for miles upon miles. Of course like any Good Samaritan or by being rude and shoving your way through, waited or pushed yourself to the front of the long line. From there a guard stood and told you to hold out your right arm, he tied a yellow sash around your elbow and told you to go find others of your color. That would be your team, the people who would be in the hero guard with you.

Inside the palisade was a tight fit, only allowing people movement through the crowds or the edges, but it was an enclosed space with hundreds of people, maybe near a thousand, what would one expect? There was a stage with an old human standing, conversing with a few other humans and elves. Then you noticed the kobold, the same one from the statue was in deep conversation with the rest as well. However, any hope of getting closer to the stage would be dashed as guards held people away by at least five feet.

Best to find your team members now.

Bo wasn't sure why he had decided to join the Hero Guard in the first place. It was dangerous, active, and pretty much the opposite of how he worked on jobs back home...Then again, jobs seem to be clearing up quick back home anyway. Bo missed the old days where there was always some sort of thing that needed to be done. Nowadays there's always some random adventurer or traveler showing up to fulfill the task. Even if he knew the people better, Bo knew that it was always a matter of who could do it better. Some urchin from the Gate, or someone who took on more threatening things on a daily basis? Of course they would choose the latter.

So now he's here. He didn't like it, and definitely didn't want to be here at all, but even his higher-named friends back home seem to be short on work. His acquaintances in the Red Plumes suggested either this or an attempt to join their own ranks, but Bo wasn't fond of putting in that much work. Somehow the elf came to the conclusion that the Hero Guard would be the easier vocation...In hindsight, he probably should have thought it through some more.

Regardless, Bo was in Neverwinter with a yellow sash tied around his arm. He'd gone too far to back out now, and the thought of doing so annoyed Bo as much as the fact that he now had to go and others with the same color. He bowed his head and sighed, before looking up and walking off to find or be found by the others of his team. He stretched his arms upward and let out a yawn. Today will be a somewhat long day...

Elya Smallpaw made her way through the large crowd while simultaneously trying to avoid being trampled. Was she annoyed by the hulking orc. or was it a goliath, that backed up and nearly crushed her flat? No, Elya was merely used to being short. Her diminutive stature had not dissuaded her from seeking out any new adventures, however.

The new adventure of the day for her was to investigate this new hero guard selection process. Something about heroes and hordes and fame and glory. This mattered quite little, humor unintended, to Elya....okay it mattered more than she might admit. Sleeping in stables, treetops, and abandoned cellars got old rather quickly. As she made her way through the gathering crowd, Elya thought back to the guard she had asked for directions a short while ago. His expression told her that what she was seeking seemed to be a fairly popular goal, nigh unattainable even. But alas, he had tied a yellow sash around her forearm and told her to look for others with the same sash. She had tried her best to sashay away, a mental joke that she thought outrageously funny even if the guard had not looked amused when she'd unleashed it upon him over her shoulder.

Elya had thought about attempting to change into a beast form in order to try to not have to stand in the crowd entirely, but her nature magic appeared to not be available to her for whatever reason no matter how hard she scrunched up her face in concentration. So it was that she settled for standing in regular boring gnomish form. waiting for something to happen; wondering if she should pull out her flute and attempt to distract the eager waiting crowd with a show tune. Her stand-up routine could always use some practice. The last time she had tried stand-up, a mean black dragonborn had threatened to kick her out the door like a ball. Elya giggled in hindsight at the memory, although she'd been about ready to soil herself back then. Looking down, she remembered the sash on her arm and walked until she found one other person with a yellow sash. Waving in greeting, Elya crossed over to that person trying very hard not to skip. Skipping always seemed to put people off for some reason. Elya wondered why.

A howling wind blew through the busy streets, confining tightly to the streets, roaring from the splitting in trees and post, momentarily it seemed almost a bit cold from the windchill biting at uncovered flesh. Dresses flipped up and men and woman alike held their caps and hoods to keep them on. Following it soon after was a young man. Slouched over, hands tight to his side not casually, but bent as if ready to grip at the Large sword strapped up high on his back at any moment. Those he neared may turn to him before he was upon them from the stench, he smiled like a wild mutt, looked like one too. His hair was matted and wild, his skin, which seemed mostly uncovered, was filthy with dirt.

His stare was enough to move most people, and those who didn't he'd push out of the way. Though for some, it may be a true fear to battle him, for most he was another whelp needing a teaching of discipline, the irony. The true fear was in being put in the stocks for a scuffle that this young man clearly wasn't afraid of, and ending them both in a prison cell while the ever important celebration occurred.

"you...are here for the guard" the blatant surprise in the guards voice let out as they looked at the mangy young man before them. His harsh eyes seemed to glow with wrath at her words, causing the armored lady to shake her head and motion for him with her hand. "Put out your right arm" She groaned and after a moment to slide up the wooden braclets he wore on each arm to cover his scars, he did as instructed. she moved quickly, tying the yellow ribbon around his arm and with that pointed him away. "good luck beast kid. You'll need it" She let out as he walked away, chewing on the tight fabric as if he didn't seem to understand he could untie it.

Sniffing the air did little for him in this situation, and so he relied on sight, scanning until he found a small body, one of perhaps a gnome or child, he had trouble telling the difference. Fortune smiled upon his as she was small enough to have her arm visible and so he pushed to her, moving down to sniff her.
"You're an odd one. Smelling of a beast, but...not. Heh, I am Sif! By the marks on our cloths, we are to be one of a pack! Tell me what you have to offer to our team"

^{CS link}

For years Noxolo had heard rumours, myths and tall tales of The Gathering, and ever since she was a little girl she’d dreamt of the day she’d finally be able to take her place amongst the heroes of legend who started their lives within the walls of Neverwinter, and now finally, with a little ‘divine’ help, she was ready to do her part.

As she approached the city, admiring the tall and mighty fortifications of its walls as only a girl from a small town could, she was a little disappointed to find herself waylaid by a man in an official looking uniform. Corralled off to a field a reasonably safe distance from the city the young warlock soon found herself surrounded by other hopefuls.

“Here for the adventure? Or trying to make a name for yourself?” She asked a weary old battlescarred veteran as he stood waiting patiently beside her. His withering gaze did little to dampen her spirits, and soon he melted away into the crowd in a way which was surely completely beyond his control.

After the first few hours waiting Noxolo finally got bored of being patient and quickly pulling a slip of paper from her pack slipped into the shade of a nearby tent and began scribbling. When she was done she looked down at the very official looking document she’d produced, which looked as close to the documents she’d handled during her long career as a scribe.

Moving up through the crowd she quickly pushed passed the other applicants. “Make way! Make way! Official business!” She declared in a loud voice, waving the hastily drawn up document in front of her as the crowd parted before her. Reaching the front of the queue within minutes she waved the document at the guard, “I have an official decree granting me immediate admittance to the elite guard, whoever they may be.”

The guard stared at her unimpressed for a moment before reaching for a yellow sash and tying it to the young woman’s arm. “Of course you are, dear,” he said in a tone which didn’t entirely sound like she’d heard a similar lines many, many, many times before. “If you’ll make your way inside, you’ll find the other ‘elites’ waiting for you with a similar sash as this.”

With that the guard turned away, her attention to the next applicant. With her place secured Noxolo strode into the palisade, using her slim body and natural charms to easily weave her way through the crowd. Her eyes darted from arm to arm trying to spot anyone wearing the same sash as her own, but everywhere she looked the prospective adventurers all seemed to be wearing different colour.

~We must truly be elite if there are so few of us~ The warlock thought to herself, before finally spotting a small group gathering together in the throng. Quickly gliding her way upto them Noxolo waved her ’official’ decree at her new teammates, just in case they needed her presence explained.

“Hey there, you must be the fellow elites I’ve heard so much about,” she began, bowing just low enough to make it clear what she was doing, while no so low she’d put herself at a disadvantage to any of them. “Noxolo Ferreira, at your service.”

It had been a several years since Hravgar had left his temple for more than a few days, even then it was to travel to someone in need of healing that could make it to the broken God's temple. Still it was an honor to have been chosen to be one of the few to take to the hero's guard and he kept his hopes high knowing he would be able to help others. The lines leading into the area of the gathering were long but he was patient, something he had learned as a young boy in service to Ilmater. His patience paid off as a guard tied a yellow sash to the mailed arm of the cleric telling him to go and find the others with a similar sash.

He moved through the sea of people as only an armored dwarven cleric could, which was slower than most people. He came upon a board looking elf, Hravgar wouldn't have guessed he was older than a hundred and it was hard for him to tell the age of elves anyway so Hravgar was probably wrong. There was also two humans and a gnome. The two humans were young that he could tell for sure, one seemed to be better kept and the other looked like he walked in from one of the local barbarian tribes. The gnome was closer to his own age, maybe older. He walked over to the group, and if any looked his way they would see on his shield two hands bound by red cord and his scale mail was polished and well kept, to a more decerning eye they could see it was hardly even used. He also had a broad smile and an optimistic spring in his step.

"Greetings my fellow adventurers. I see I am to be part of your band of Hero's guard. My name is Hravgar, cleric of Ilmater. How are yoy all fairing this day?"

A shot way above the palisade, an aarakocra could be seen flying overhead from 1 side of the area to the other. Like all other aarakocra, Tekdek did not enjoy confined spaces but very much enjoyed being in the air. And so it was that Tekdek found himself about 20 above the palisade, picking out people from the crowd that wore the same yellow arm sash as he did. With his avian perception, Tekdek spotted the others who shared his sash color with relative ease. So far he had spotted a high elf ranger, a forest gnome druid, a human barbarian, a human warlock, and a hill dwarf cleric. Tekdek was fairly certain there were more yellow sash bearers, but he had become to distracted to properly locate them. The source of his distraction was the kobold standing standing on the stage deep in conversation with those around her. She probably didn't remember him, but Tekdek remembered her all too well. Were it not for her timely intervention 2 years ago, Tekdek would have met his death at the hands of an orc raiding party just 2 months after coming of age. Now he had the chance to repay that kindness by serving under his saviour. Tekdek was joining the Hero Guard, no matter what it took to do so.

Ah...The Hero Guard!

A worthy position for Khan to offer her services and do her duty to the great god of Helm! Mighty protector of all! The half orc paladin had traveled far from home just to prove herself and to try for the chance. She easily noticed how the people granting entrance to the other puny contestants were tying ribbons around the arms. As Khan stepped up, one of the people paled in fear at the tall and imposing figure of the half-orc. The little man squeaked "C-Can I help yo-you?"

Khan simply grinned, showing her fangs before outstretching her arm for the man, her fist clenched as though she was ready to punch him. He yelped, but calmed down when the fist did not make contact with his face. He looked at her confusedly before she asked, "You tie ribbon around my arm, yes?"

"Ah! Y-Yes! Ha-Hang on a second!"

The man hastily tied a ribbon around her bicep before she grunted and answered, "Helm thanks you," He nodded before whimpering Good luck below his breath. She turned to face him in confusion before she continued on her way. She stood for a moment, surveying the area, and noticed that people with the same colored ribbons had gathered together. She looked at her arm and saw that her ribbon was yellow. She looked around and soon found a group with yellow ribbons. She stomped forwards towards the group, her shadow overcasting the tinier members.

She greeted with a menacing smile, "So! We are to work together, ya? Dis is good! You all look like you could use Helm's protection!"
Most probably won't recognize it, but Khan really is trying to be friendly, even if her outer demeanor is quite terrifying.

Elya eyed the newcomers to the group momentarily. What an interesting bunch of characters! She wished she could shock them all by transforming into an animal right then and there, but for whatever reason, the place in her stomach where she could focus on to transform and become different animals seemed strangely absent. Perhaps this was the gods way of trying to get her to socialize in person form for once. Well, Elya Smallpaw was not one to let the gods down in that regard! If it was socializing they wanted, it was socializing Elya gave them!

"Hello! Down here!" she exclaimed cheerily after the large half-orc joined the group. "I can't say I know much about Helm, unless you're offering us helmets! Anyhowsies, I have several talents that you all might find quite useful! Let's just see what we're up against first before I go about yapping, shall we?" She winked, seemingly unperturbed by all the larger beings standing around her in relatively close proximity.

While the team of yellow greeted each other, soon the crowd began to settle as the teams all grouped together. The old human stood, watching over the crowd with Askia by his side and the other humans and elves standing behind him. Then a very loud whistle could be heard, louder than any whistle that could be produced by a creature, but it silenced the crowd, bring the attention to the human and the kobold.

“Hello prospective recruits to the Hero Guard. I am General Aveo, mayor of Neverwinter, and former member of the Hero Guard.” He paused to make sure everyone was still paying attention, “Today you all will be competing to be the team that becomes the Hero Guard. Your mission, will take you through the forest behind me. That forest is filled with creatures and undead left over from the war against the necromancer.”

He took a step forward, his face morphing into a pompous grin, “You will be racing to the Hero’s manner about thirty miles in. You will battling not only against each other, but also against the creatures still remain. And before you ask, you are allowed to kill each other. However, you may only do so after five miles in.”

“Good luck.”

With that Askia turned and the wooden wall of the palisade was blown apart by her psionic will alone.

Then began the stampede.

>All players make a DEX check to begin the race

Whoa, there was a development! Allowed to kill each other? Elya's heartbeat suddenly increased in thumping from calm assurance to flighty fluttering that she felt sure must be audible somehow. She swallowed, a lump suddenly forming in her stomach. With her size, and her being seemingly unable to transform today, this day suddenly got a LOT more stressful.

Elya attempted to calm down, to center herself, and distract herself with the hope against hope that maybe the general was just joking. Surely this wasn't that kind of event? There had to be some mistake! The guard at the entrance seemed bored and unconcerned, like the event did not include anything more than every day mundane failures. Fighting and injuring seemed fair as a fiddle, but killing? The gnomish druid settled into a running stance, trying with all her might to transform, but whatever it was that was her mental block today held fast and she let out a very bear-like snarl of disgust. Being so short on stature, there wasn't really much she could do except stick to the high ground and stay ahead of the stampede for as long as possible. The barrier in front of her disappeared and she tunnel visioned, pumping her arms and legs as fast as she could without looking back.

Once the whistle sounded, Tekdek perched himself on top of a nearby vantage point to listen to the words of the former Hero Guard. He quietly chirped with confidence when it was revealed that the new Hero Guard would be selected through a race. Few land bound beings could keep up with an aarakocra in flight. Tekdek had this in the bag. When Askia destroyed the palisade wall, Tekdek took to the skies and was off towards the forest. But as he soared further and further away from the palisade at great speed, Tekdek couldn't help but feel that he had forgotten something.

In hindsight, Bo should have expected this to happen. People come from far away to join a group that only chooses a few people. They didn't even need to be good people, just strong in some aspect. He guessed that this was where his life ended. He could walk away now, but then he'd just starve in the street once again, and that wasn't something that he was going to put up with anymore. Still, with the old general giving out commands and whatnot for everyone participating to basically race to a finish line to win a spot among the ranks of people willing to put down their lives anyway, Bo couldn't help but feel that he made some sort of mistake along the way to think that doing this was preferable to literally anything else.

He looked to his teammates to see how they took the information. The gnome had adopted a look of shock, and then a look of disgust as she prepared to run off. The Birdman perched up somewhere. It was hard to see what expression he adopted for his own reaction, but Bo decided not to think about it. As for the others...He didn't really get a chance to see what they thought of the new information. A wooden wall exploded, and suddenly the two he managed to look at made a mad dash forward, both being noticeably bestial. One was understandable, the other not as much. Still, he had decided to get going...

Bo's Lackluster Race Start

Dhayn was late.

He could have gone in easily. With his noble status and his ability to just wander into nearly anywhere without being fully noticed, Dhayn was sure he could have easily been one of the first ones in... if he even arrived on time in the first place. It wasn't his fault that the map he had to Neverwinter was rather... dated. And when he arrived to The Gathering, there had already been a line almost as long as Dhayn had spent time planning his revenge. The young rogue had thought about using his name in order to expedite his admission into the palisade, but his own sense of honor told him to just wait, and to be a better man.

...

“Good luck.”

Dhayn tugged at the yellow armband curiously. Of course they would put us in teams, he thought to himself as he made his way in. While heading inside, he heard some sort of screech. Did somebody die, already? Well, that was fast. Looking up, he noticed that the old man on the stage was speaking to the group. Something about a race...

... Wait a minute, is that General Aveo?

Before Dhayn could completely register what's going on, the walls of the palisade had suddenly torn down, and everyone began to charge forward. Standing safely in the back where he wouldn't get trampled by the crowd, Dhayn had started to think a bit faster. If this were a race against the other teams, that means he would need to find his own team, first! Of course, Dhayn only came to this realization a few seconds after the race started.

"Ah, blast, is there anyone around with a yellow armband?!" Dhayn exclaimed as he began to run, looking around at other people's arms. Remembering that Aveo mentioned something about killing any others, Dhayn had drawn one of his daggers immediately, keeping it in his hand, but hidden, in case someone had attacked him first. Right now, he was less worried about taking out his opponents and more concerned with finding his team. And he is already at a disadvantage from the start, with being too behind in the race to properly prepare an attack.

"So much for being a better man..."

>DEX Check: 9

^{CS link}

After spending a few moment in introductions, the party turned to listen to the proclamations. Noxolo felt her blood turn cold as the prospect of killing her fellow applicants was raised, and as she quickly glanced around she could already see several of the competitors waving their handcs as they prepared a spell or applied poisons and potions to their already drawn weapons. It seemed that almost everyone was prepared to do anything they had to for the honour of becoming a member of the Hero Guard, and if that was the case then she'd better not let anyone else beat her to the punch.

Reaching down, the warlock rested her hand on her tome of knowledge, letting the mystic forces contained within flow through her as she carefully muttered the strangely echoing syllables she'd memorised the night before, letting the deep sound of the spell drop from her lips while wabing her free hand in the air in front of her to form the corresponding sigils. A moment later she felt her footsteps lighten, her whole body feeling bouyed as the magical forces gathered around her, quickening her movements with each stride she took.

>Bonus Action: Noxolo casts Expeditious Retreat

Quickly making the most of her advantage the young human darted forwards, getting as far to the front of the pack as she could as the mystical forces leant her extra speed. Weaving her way through the crowd she pushed ahead of the rest of her party, but already a plan was forming which should give the rest of her comrades an advantage of their own.

>DEX check for race start: 22
>Maneuver: Move 30ft through the crowd
>Action: Dash 30ft through the crowd

“Keep clear,” Noxolo called back to the rest of the yellow party as she quickly tried to position herself as close to as many of the race leaders as she could, “I'm going to try something to even the odds.”

roleplayerguild.com/rolls/11433

Sif takes no moment to halt himself, rushing on all fours towards the direction pointed in like a wild animal. Those in his way do not get an attack to them, but instead a shove or a rude remark in giant. He ran fast, sure, but even he knew he was not fast enough as he watched many others run past him. First, that pesky noble that was on his team. He could smell her perfumey musk move past him as he ran at full speed. How she was so fast baffled him. Humanoids where herd animals, sure, but he never thought the nobles really did function like alphas. He didn't care much, she was fast but she was on his time. As he ran through the woods he saw above him the flickers of feathers. This upset him. That damn eagle man barely made himself know to the group and he he was outshowing Sif himself! He growled at the sight of him slowly getting further and further ahead of him. Sif's hands would snag of a root or he'd slow at wincing at the touch of a thorn, that bird had no such deal. He looked to the others: they did alright. The orc would be at a disadvantage with her armor but he knew not what to do for her. The best he could do was slow others down for her to catch up. As for Bo, he had a hunch had a plan, though he may just be foolish. The one he could help was the last two. The gnome was at a disadvantage: slower than the others, and she seemed to have trouble. The other, was a strange sight of yellow behind him. He began to slow down, reaching out for Smallpaw.
"You runt, you're too damn slow! Come on, I'll carry you!" He let out in a way that sounded annoyed.