Wildmyth? No, Wildermyth!

[Izulde]

Gather round, and I shall tell you the story of how things once were... long, long ago. When the world was yet new and its fate still hung in the balance. When everyone still believed in magic and all things seemed possible.

Best you get a drink and some snacks before starting. I'll wait.

Welcome back.

Now, the tale begins with three young farmhands who had not yet settled down in life, but dreamt of going out into the larger world and seeking their fortune. Their names were Metyssa Slendergoth, Dunius Wiskyton, and Milillia Shovelstokk.



Metyssa was a River child, born and raised to water. She considered herself very fortunate to have been born in such beautiful natural surroundings and she had a reputation around the village of being a girl who kissed back if you kissed her - especially after a bottle of whisky.

One nightly romantic encounter was with Dunius, who often said he was as unlucky as Metyssa was lucky, though the truth was, his own laziness had a lot to do with his misfortunes. Like many virile young men, he lived for interludes of the physical kind. Where he differed - his best friend died at a tragically young age of a winter fever, leaving behind a daughter Dunius felt quite protective of.

Lastly, Milillia. The odd one out in the connective tissue of our heroes and the oddest person in the entire village. Legend has it that when she was born, all the men in the village became sick. She also often spoke of a dream where a rare sirloin appeared and prophesized her fate. No one thought that steak had any stake or say in how the blonde girl would turn out, though. Other than believing she'd soon be changing farms - to the funny one in the capital city.

How these three came to band together?

One fine, sunny, cloudless spring morning, Metyssa walked to the village, musing on Dunius's failed schemes. The breadbaking business that failed to rise. The dice-making venture that no one was interested in. The newfangled printing press that broke the first time he tried to use it and proved unrepairable.

And then she smelled the smoke.

To her horror, the town was ablaze, fire consuming every rooftop she could see.

Metyssa's first thought was Dunius. Had he accidentally started a major fire by trying to make breakfast as he had the morning after their tryst? It was absolutely wretched, she remembered - undercooked to the point of later diarrhea. Had he gone the complete opposite way this time? That would be like him.

She scurried through the town, beating out a few small fires with her woolen tunic before entering Dunius's house. What she found: He didn't start the fire, but he was locked in his bedroom and armed with a bow.

"What did you do?!" she shouted after he let her in.

"I didn't do anything! There's a monster trapped in my garden, though! Grab a weapon!"

She wanted to argue, but instead, betrayed by her breakfast-musing brain, grabbed the frying pan that for some inexplicable reason wasn't in the kitchen where it should be.

They rushed outside, where they found the monster - a weird cross between a wild boar and a deer. Duniu's first shot missed, but his second struck home. Metyssa ran forward and promptly killed the creature with one swift swing of the frying pan.



"You look tense," Dunius quipped as he walked up to the corpse.

Metyssa glowered.

"That's because I was ready to jump out of the way if it was still alive. Nothing's ever going to hit me again after I kill something, I can tell you that much."

"Um, okay. Sorry you had to get up close and personal. I've got some quellingmoss I picked the other day. Guess I'll start dipping my arrows in it so hopefully things will just die without you having to do it."



Metyssa didn't ask why he was picking poison, but when they cleaned and skinned the beast later and found a belt with intricately woven metal links inside its stomach, she immediately claimed it as hers. Dunius didn't argue.

They later sold the pelt for an ingot.



As the townspeople emerged and began cleaning up from the fire, which thankfully went out of its own accord a short time later, Metyssa remarked, "We should probably go check on Milillia. That weirdo probably is trying to make one of those things a pet or something and is in trouble."

"Milillia?" echoed Dunius. "Nah, she's probably out at those old ruined tower writing one of her creepy stories."

"We're going to look for her anyway. That tower is creepier than any of her stories. It's real."

Dunius was on the verge of arguing the point when he spotted monster tracks heading in the direction of the tower. The pair walked on silently, following the lead.

The truth Dunius didn't dare admit - he actually loved Milillia's stories and knew she valued her alone time for writing. Though Metyssa was amazing in bed, when he tended to himself, it was always that weird blonde girl he thought of. No matter how hard he tried not to. It annoyed him, but there it was.

As if reading his thoughts, Metyssa broke the silence.

"You've got a thing for her, don't you?"

"What? No!"

"Liar. You're always laughing at her jokes."

Dunius scowled at the taunt in smirking Metyssa's voice.

"I laugh because she's weird, okay? Weird people are funny."

"Uh huh. Sure."

[Izulde]

Not much was known about the old tower ruin that stood outside the village. All the people knew was that it was here before Blessedtown was built, and would probably be there long after their own bones were interred in the earth.

Nor did many people know, or care, that it was Mililla's favorite place in the world. She spent hours in it, exploring, writing, stargazing when at night.

And no one but she knew that a beast was chasing her in the dark depths. In an amusing parallel to Dunius locking himself in his bedroom, Milillia had barricaded herself in a small library she'd somehow not found before.

As the beast hissed and roared outside, the young blonde's fingers traced over the dusty, ancient texts. One caught her attention and she pulled on it as she carried on a conversation with the angry beast lurking on the other side of the door.

Wildermyth, proclaimed the suddenly glowing book's title.

As she paged through it and read with the paradoxical speed of a bookworm, Milillia was struck at the odd, mesmerizing stories that spoke of legends and tales before Blessedtown, before even the tower itself was built.

At the end of the book were blank pages.

Milillia, with a writer's instinct, started penning an ominous story about a beast lurking in a sinister wood, borrowing the beast outside the door as her model. She feverishly wrote on, inspired.

And then she fell asleep mid-sentence.

She awoke to the bright sun of late morning, the sudden flood of light in her eyes migraine-inducing. But nothing could have prepared her eyes for what they saw next.



Although she didn't understand how it happened or why, seeing her words, so breathtakingly illuminated, filled Milillia with a sudden sense of power and confidence. Spying a tall branch underneath the rubble, she tugged it loose and announced to the chittering birds, "I am Milillia the Mighty, and this is my staff!"

She rushed outside the door, heedless that the beast might be immediately outside.

Fortunately, it wasn't. Instead, it huddled sleeping in the corner.

That same surreal sense spoke to Milillia, telling her that she could draw energy from the objects in the room. She listened, and spying a coatrack next to the slumbering beast, sent her energy into it.

Instinctively, she sent the energy out, splintering the coatrack and sending shards into the beast. It startled awake with a scream, then scurried to another corner.

A table destroyed later, the beast lay dead.



She waited until she was certain there would be no more movement. Then, she took a step and fleeting thoughts of more powerful knowledge swirled through her mind - all these different possibilities of abilities.

But she knew. She knew from the staff in her hands, the remnants of the former coatrack and table that littered in the floor in the distant darkness. She knew that wood called to her, and so there could be only one choice.



She heard the chittering and skittering of more beasts, but quietly picked her way through the ruins until she was able to at last feel the blinding, yet welcoming sun full on her face. As she stepped out into the fresh, life-giving air, she was able to see more fully the pretty, green gemstone-studded strap and the scrap of animal hide she'd picked up as she made her escape.

She put the strap on, tucking the hide away in her satchel.

"I'm Milillia the Mighty," she whispered to herself in delight. "Mistress of Mystic Magic!"

She clapped her hands and danced, careful to do so quietly so as not to attract the attention of more beasts.

"MILILLIA?!"

Dunius and Metyssa broke out from the underbrush, rushing towards her.

"Oh, hello, Dunius and Metyssa," the young blonde said with a smile.

"Are you all right?" Metyssa's face expressed concern.

"Oh, I'm fine!"

"The town isn't," said Dunius. "It's burning."

"What?"

The other two quickly caught her up on what had happened, while Milillia related her own experiences.

"I'm Mililla the Miiiiiiiiiiiigggghhhhttttyyyy!" she sang at the conclusion.

"We should clear out the tower."

Milillia nodded at Metyssa's grim face.

"Yes."

"Let's go!" grinned Dunius.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Interesting.

I like the concept of the game, just dunno if I like it $25 worth (sadly, it's not part of the Steam Summer Sale)

[Izulde]

Of the battles in the tower, there is little to tell. There were only two true beasts - the rest were ordinary vermin. Dunius's arrows slew one by themselves and the other was dispatched by the combined efforts of the two girls.

But afterwards, when the trio stood outside in the late afternoon, Metyssa spoke the words that would change their destinies forever.

"We've saved the town and cleaned out the tower. I'd say that makes us adventurers. We should form a company and get out of Blessedtown. Go on the road and really seek our fortune."

"Yes!" clapped Milillia.

"Sounds good. You ladies come up with a name." Dunius was still savoring the memory of his one-shot kill and didn't want to be interrupted.

They batted around some ideas when Dunius interrupted them.

"Hey, I was just thinking about the Opal Mother."

The women laughed. The Opal Mother was a nickname given to an elderly woman of the town who talked of nothing but opals - the different varieties, their values, where they could be found. And if she happened into a conversation about another topic, she would find a way to steer it back to opals.

"What if we called ourselves The Knights of the Opal Mother?" Dunius suggested.

More laughter.

"Totally!"

"That's so stupid," protested Metyssa mid-laugh. "But because it's so stupid, why not? Nobody else will get it but maybe some people in the town, and who cares what they think?"

And so The Knights of the Opal Mother was born. On the wings of a joke, as many things in this life are.

Over the next month and a half, Metyssa and Milillia set to clearing out the old tower, while Dunius traveled back to Blessedtown to look for recruits. There he found a gruff miner's son, Arni Wardmaker, whose wanderlust had him longing to leave the village and explore the world. To find wealth and experience the finer things that life had to offer. Things that couldn't be found in a backwater town, no matter how pretty its river.

Of course, dreaming of those things and being able to realize them were two different things.

"Why are you carrying a frying pan?" asked Dunius.

"Because I heard your leader does, too. I want to be like Metyssa," said Arni.

Dunius laughed, called him an idiot, and said Arni needed something better. Unfortunately, it took several weeks before they located a retired lumberjack who was willing to give up his ax in exchange for two bottles of the town's best whiskey.

The Knights of the Opal Mother then journeyed out, ridding some areas of infestations and building a bridge and mountain pass to make traveling much easier for those rare Blessedtownians who dared or needed to venture forth.

Then, one day, while Dunius and Metyssa were climbing a mountain, an ethereal voice spoke to them of a destiny - a pact made long ago by an ancestor that now offered a certain one of them a choice.

Dunius reacted with disbelief and confusion - even moreso when he saw the hesitant expression on her face.

And then came the words...



"This is madness, Metyssa! Don't do it!"

She smiled sadly, gazing at the ground. All along, she'd thought her love of the river was for the water itself. But hearing the Wolf God, she knew deep within her that it was another calling.

And it explained things. How she wasn't afraid of wolves like the rest of the villagers. How one even sat and calmly watched her by the fire one cool spring night. How she hated being in town; really only went to get drunk and have a partner for the night.

"METYSSA!"

She turned, gazing at the distraught Dunius.

"Will you still be my friend?"

"...You can't seriously be considering it."

"It's who I am. Who I've always been."

"That's crazy talk! Is this because you don't want to sleep with me anymore?"

Foolish boy, she thought. She would always consider him friend, but she'd never forget how he reacted in this moment. Still, it crystallized things.

"I accept, Lochias."

Dunius wept as green light surrounded Metyssa, growing and killing the flowers and grass around her. Another beam shot from the Wolf God's rock, touching her head.

But she felt peace, even as the contours of her face and mouth shifted. Yes, she was home in a way she'd never been. And when the lights faded, her lupine head smiled at Dunius.

He said nothing the entire way back to camp. As for Milillia, she accepted it as another wondrous happening like happened to her in the tower. Anri didn't know what to think, so he, too, said nothing.

Some days later, while they were building another bridge, Dunuis found himself lost in thought. If wolfhood was home for Metyssa, for him, home would be a family.

The next afternoon, while Milillia was away gathering plants to use as bridge binding, Dunius spoke of his desire for a family to Metyssa, saying, "I understand it a little now - wolfkind is like family to you. The woods will always be your home. But I want a home, too, one where I can protect my family."

"Then let's go find you a home!" she replied. "Anri, you're coming with us!"

Now, Dunius already *had* a home, of course. But not one he could protect easily. Still, in his childhood, he'd had a friend in the north who protected her home with something called Havensbeam wood. And so the group set off to find a Havensbeam grove.

When they did, Dunius began chopping down a tree, rousing a Forest Guardian - the most mighty foe the Knights of the Opal Mother had yet faced. Still, they won the day, thanks to Dunius's sharp, poisoned arrows.

Still, he felt guilt at committing what was an act of sacrilege. But he also realized, during their trek back with the cut wood, that defeating the Forest Guardian had given him unprecedented short sight. No longer would he need to hide or switch to his dagger. He could accurately hit anyone from point-blank range. And through their battles, his skill with the bow had increased to where he could shoot farther and harder.

And over the ensuing days and weeks, Dunius's initial guilt gave way to resolution. He'd done the right thing, the moral thing. In a world of monsters, you had to look out for yourself.

After all, isn't that what Metyssa did when she so selfishly became a wolf?

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Interesting.

I like the concept of the game, just dunno if I like it $25 worth (sadly, it's not part of the Steam Summer Sale)

I hemmed and hawed on it for a few days before I finally bit. So far, I'm feeling like I'll get my $25 out of it - especially since it seems like the devs are really involved on Reddit in listening to the community there.

[Izulde]

The Knights of the Opal Mother continued their program of building infrastructure and removing menaces in the area around Blessedtown. Then, one day, while they were exploring a cave, Dunius fell down an open hole caused by a rockshift.

When he reached the bottom, he saw a rough-hewn statue whose center was dominated by a large, glowing gem. This was sure to be worth a fortune. While previous experience with the Havenbeam and the Forest Guardian taught him trying to remove the gem would invite trouble, he reminded himself of the First Principle - to protect one's self. The money from selling the gem would doubtless go a long way to providing for himself and those he cared about.

Only as Dunius pried the gem loose, it abruptly emitted rays of blue light... and launched itself directly into his eye.

His screams drew the attention of the cavern's monsters and Knights alike, the two groups rushing to clash in battle. Like many, it was a comparatively swift affair.

But as for Dunius... the gem-eye was permanently embedded.

This led Metyssa to refer to him as Shiny One-Eye and her constant taunting caused Arni to snap at her in defense of the one who'd recruited him into The Knights of the Opal Mother. But then, the Wolfgirl and the Miner's Son were secretly - unrecognized even by themselves - vying for leadership of the group.

And things came to a head when they were deep in the south, ridding an area of enemies.

Arni misstepped and fell into a deeply set hunter's pit.

"I'll rescue him!" chirped Milillia.

"Absolutely not! Let's be safe and use a rope."

Metyssa laugh-barked. "We all know you want to get into Milillia's hole, but no. Let's just leave him as bait. Hunter's pit has to draw a hunter, right?"

Dunius's face flushed at being called out, while Milillia promptly sided with Metyssa. Arni bellowed his outrage, but he was outvoted 3-1 when Dunius sullenly voted the way Milillia did.

Thus when the beasts attacked, as they will when they spy seemingly easy prey, the Original Knights were able to ambush and defeat them handily. In the aftermath, the Knights found an impressive greatsword.

"That's mine!" declared Arni after he was finally hauled out from the pit. "I deserve it for what you put me through!"

"Fine," chuckled Metyssa. "I'll allow it."

And in that moment, everyone knew. Metyssa was now the unquestioned leader of the band.

All of these stories that I tell you took place over the course of four years. And they reached their ultimate conclusion when the Knights of the Opal Mother discovered the source of the rise of monsters - a race of powerful entities called Gorgons.

In the Battle of Tanner's Grove, Milillia was violated by one, her right eye turned Gorgon Blue in the aftermath. You might think this odd girl would embrace the uniqueness, but she felt ashamed that she'd allowed herself to be caught, and became even more prone to taking her alone time as much as possible - even distancing from Dunius. Her former beauty was also marred, and many recoiled at the sight of her serpentine eye.

The First (Almost) Decade After the Battle
The gorgonoid infection grew - covering the entire side of Milillia's face.

Dunius constructed a small monument in the southernmost territory to commemorate the Knights of the Opal Mother's victories.

Metyssa continued much as she had - preferring the wilds, the river, and nature to Blessedtown. Lochias's blessing grew as the Gorgon's curse did for Milillia - the wolfgirl's right leg turned from human to lupine.

A Gorgon stone was also discovered - the Epicryst, which Milillia realized was its name when she was assaulted by the Gorgon. They also learned the name of the Supreme Gorgon, but that will come another day.

In the quiet years, Dunius studied the Epicryst intensely, but it would not yield its secrets... until he realized that the stone contained a story - a legend of a great weapon.

And we'll pick up next time with the tale of that grand quest.

[Izulde]

Dunius's shoulder cracked as he worked on stringing his bow. Early middle age had come for him and the original Knights of the Opal Mother. So, too, had personality changes. He'd become more studious, more curious.

Metyssa? More disinterested in the goings-on in the village. No longer with the hot-blooded desire to run the company. It was he who had taken the lead to bring them all back together. Milillia was still sweet, but the memory of the Gorgon had not only physically scarred her, but mentally. She avoided the townspeople whenever possible. Anri? Hard to get a read on him.

Who wasn't hard to get a read on was the newest member of The Knights of the Opal Mother - the dark-souled 20 year old girl named Avellen Magmay. Her brunette hair was short and cutting as the sardonic jibes she spat out to instigate fights in Rollingbarrens.

Needless to say, her personality meant she lost jobs as quickly as she gained them. In fact, Dunius had found her shortly after she was fired as a baker's apprentice for burning the day's bread. As she rattled off all the occupations she's had - however briefly - Dunius couldn't help but inwardly smile - reminded of all the times his own entrepreneurial endeavors of youth had similarly fizzled out.

Bonding over their shared miseries, the caustic young girl had also informed him that she'd grown up with a young apothecary: "Sweet, sickly boy. I loved him, I think. But he couldn't heal himself. He died." Since then, she'd found herself seething with anger, taking pleasure only in seeing others hurt as much as she did.

"Be a hunter like me, then," Dunius suggested. "I mean, we're clearly so much alike, we should both fight with bows, too."

"Fine."

And so Avellen became the fifth Knight of the Opal Mother and its second hunter.

It was also a time of plague in the city of Rollingsbarren. Disease stalked the streets, striking many. Some lived. Some died. But on the longest night of the year, with the miasma literally floating in the air, that Dunius and Milillia found themselves alone.

"My destiny is calling me," she said simply.

Dunius considered. Though he still felt the aged pangs of love, she'd never given any sign of returning his interest when they were young. And in peacetime, he'd been too busy with the Epicryst to pursue further. Perhaps her destiny was his opportunity.

"Let's go!" he said at last, grinning like days of old.

As they slipped out into the darkness, Anri, who'd been watching from the inn they were staying in, silently snuck out and followed them.

The trio's journey took them back near Blessedtown, where, in the crumbling ruins of a tannery, they found the source of the stinking disease - a glowing, egg-shaped altar of some kind.

As Dunius and Milillia prepared to destroy it, they heard the hissing of a Gorgon behind them. The monster appeared not to see them. Shall we attack it? asked Dunius's eyebrows? No. The altar. answered Milillia's grimset face.

"I'll take care of the Gorgon," whispered Anri behind them. And with a mighty yell, he rushed forward, swinging his greatsword and cleaving the beast in one blow while the others destroyed the altar.

And suddenly, the sickly green mist vanished as if it never existed.

And yet, Milillia looked pensive.

"What's wrong?" asked Dunius.

"...I don't know what to do now. I don't hear the sirloin's voice anymore."

Dunius laughed, then changed to a small smile after seeing his love's continued frown.



Milillia sniffed, "I was and am *not* a crazy, babbling dope!"

"I don't know about that... but I like crazy, babbling girls."

She sighed. "I can't promise anything, Dunius. I still feel ugly and old, now, too."

"I'll wait as long as I need to."

They left it at that.

As a reward for saving Rollingsbarren, the town commissioned a portrait of the party:



L to R: Avellen, Metyssa, Anri, Milillia, Dunius

Shortly thereafter, the Knights of the Opal Mother found the legendary weapon and defeated its guardian before it had time to even raise a tentacle. Anri, as the company's greatest warrior, claimed the mighty spear.

But it was not the same Anri who took this spear. The Knights had discovered a font of magic and out of sheer curiosity, he'd touched it. While he was aware of the interconnectedness of all things in that mystical moment, he was now... completely blue-skinned.

And so peace reigned for another seven years. Anri took to joining Metyssa in the woods, exploring his newfound awareness of the universe.

What I neglected to mention due to the younger ones in the audience last time: Dunius and Milillia had done the deed years before, on a rain-soaked night of passion, and during at least part of their adventuring years, they were also raising a son - Drak Shovelstokk - who unlike either of his parents preferred the warrior's path.

In these interim years, Drak came of age and joined his parents in the Knights of the Opal Mother - the first legacy to be inducted into the society.

The peace found itself broken by the oddest of things - rain.

****

Okay, folks. With six characters on board, only five will feature due to max party size. Thus far on Storyteller difficulty, not a single combat has been even slightly challenging, so I don't anticipate any deaths happening any time soon.

So who gets booted out of the main party?

Dunius?
Milillia?
Metyssa?
Anri?
Avellen?
Drak?

Cast your votes for who gets benched!

[Chas in Cinti]

I find myself reading this fascinatingly with nary a clue of what's going on... LOL

But I'll vote Metyssa...

[BYU 14]

Great choice for a dynasty and this is a top notch game, really enjoying it and well worth the price, though I got it long ago in early access and sat on in it until release

[Izulde]

I find myself reading this fascinatingly with nary a clue of what's going on... LOL

But I'll vote Metyssa...

It's a mix of D&D/choices matter/tactical strategy with procedural events/quests. Quite unlike anything else I've played before. I'm on the most forgiving level - Storyteller - though I'd probably bump it up to default difficulty for later campaigns, because right now, the tactical side has been squash matches.

Glad it's fascinating you. I agree that Metyssa seems the logical drop right now. The Wolf form is really fun to play, but storywise she seems the least engaged with fighting and her retirement age is actually the lowest except for the new people.

Great choice for a dynasty and this is a top notch game, really enjoying it and well worth the price, though I got it long ago in early access and sat on in it until release

Agreed. What excites me is how much potential it has. Right now, there's only three baseline classes (with a lot of permutations you can take with those classes) and I've heard eventually quests, etc. can get repetitive. But because they've opened it up to the modding community, there's a lot of room for more things/stories, in addition to whatever DLC comes out.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Vote Metyssa

Fits a "lone wolf" archetype, she can go off and do ... stuff ... whilst the story remains focused on a larger group that has more connectivity

[Izulde]

Rain, rain, and more rain. There were rainy seasons before, but not like this. This was a deluge that threatened to drown the world. A mysterious group of strangers came to Dunius and Milillia's house one wet evening to warn that the Gorgons had once again arisen and were behind the menace.

And so The Knights of the Opal Mother set out again.

For the first time, however, it wasn't as a solitary group. Metyssa volunteered to work on infrastructure missions - building projects. When Dunius asked her why, she said, "I'm tired of the fighting and the blood. I'd rather work towards the positive. And if I'm honest, I don't think I'll be adventuring much longer. It wears on me."

Lethe Trapper, a 25 year old prankster with a love of theatre, joined The Knights of the Opal Mother. In tune with the mystical energies of the world, the unkempt-haired girl fell naturally into the rhythms of the company, having grown up around mercenaries.

Though the primary enemy was the Gorgons, Anri, Milillia, and Avellen defeated a group of bandits posing as heroes - a mission that re-dedicated Anri to the Knights when he was thinking of leaving.

A similar contradiction existed with Metyssa. Despite her efforts to be peaceful whenever possible, a charming young lover spoke of his family being trapped by monsters. Unable to resist, the wolfwoman went with him to save them. As ever, Arni joined in, and Avellen decided to go along as well.

Only the lover turned out to be a slavefinder. Fortunate it was Anri joined, for the heroic windwalker quickly and singlehandedly made short work of the ambush party.

"You were right," Metyssa admitted over their corpses.

"I thought so. You were too blinded."

"It makes me want to fight again, though. We were able to - well, *you* were able to take care of them. But others won't be so fortunate."

Anri grunted and the three of them headed back to Rollingsbarren.

Later, when they were in Metyssa's favorite tavern...

"You're always coming along on everyone's adventures."

"It's what a leader does," Anri answered.

"Wait -you- think you lead the Knights?" Metyssa scoffed.

Anri nodded. "I let you think you led us for a while. Then I let Dunius think he did."

"But why?"

"Because sometimes being a leader means letting other people think they lead."

Metyssa's response was interrupted by Avellen's getting into it with a burly farmer on the other side of the bar.

A new dynamic arose then for a time. Metyssa, Anri, and Avellen journeyed together to rout infestations, while the rest of the Knights hunted the source of the Gorgon Rain.

In a battle to meet someone who could provide them information, theatre-loving Lethe nearly died. Fortunate it was she survived, for in Delvia Plain, she met her mercenary mother, who'd left Lethe's father. Words were exchanged, but on Milillia's intervention, Lethe decided to speak with her mother again. And so they were reconciled.

Ulystryx, the Lord of Gorgons, was the final enemy - a towering beast. Foolishly, the Knights of the Orchid Mother attacked pre-emptively with Dunius, Milillia, Lethe, and Drak. They did not wait for Anri, much to his rage when he found out. And in doing so, the couple nearly saw their son killed. But he survived... barely.

It was months before he healed and some scars still exist to this day.

But the war was won. Ulystryx was defeated. The rains stopped, and over a century of peace ensued.

Of the aftermath, Avellen disappeared for a decade, but returned unaged even a single day. A mystery no one can yet explain.

Dunius spent his days in the tavern, relating adventures, or going out with a hunting club he'd formed. A simple life, but a happy one.

Milillia, as you might expect, set down the adventures of The Knights of the Opal Mother. What you won't expect - Anri was the illustrator.

Anri also visited the previous people they'd helped and found them in good spirits and health.

Lethe often went to Denvia Plain to visit her mother and tell the stories of everything that happened before, and the recent goings on in her life.

Metyssa was unchanged - still preferring the woods, but sometimes dragged into town.

But the oddest of all belonged to Lethe. Somehow the theatre-loving mage became the goddess of pickle brine.

And so ends the tale of the Knights of the Opal Mother.

More stories to come - of other heroes and other groups.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Vote Metyssa

Fits a "lone wolf" archetype, she can go off and do ... stuff ... whilst the story remains focused on a larger group that has more connectivity

"Lone wolf" - I see what you did there.

[Izulde]

So I can pick a hero to promote from Folk Hero to Local Legend... and I have no idea whom to choose.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Izulde

So I can pick a hero to promote from Folk Hero to Local Legend... and I have no idea whom to choose.

My gutshot response is Anri.


"Anri also visited the previous people they'd helped and found them in good spirits and health."

Anri was the one who most remembered the people, and thus it was that Anri was the one people most remembered.

[Chas in Cinti]

Same here.. Anri

[Izulde]

And so it was that Anri became a Local Legend whom tales are still told of today.

For my next story, I'll be telling you about flame drape-haired Calico Nettelwood, the prankster wanderer; Elinssun Yellowbeard (so-called because he had no actual last name); and Jagsen Gwaldergrayl, who was fiercely proud of his work ethic when he was forced into labor at an early age due to the premature death of his parents.



Over one thousand years ago is when our story begins. Even in the centuries before that, there were whispers of the dreadful soulless who lurked deep in caves, in waters, waiting to consume people foolish to venture so far. So were the three heroes I just spoke of talking about one fine summer afternoon, when strange robotic entities suddenly attacked their village.

The bots were quickly defeated, and even more swiftly, the three young heroes decided to form a band to hunt the robots. Since water shorts out robots, they called themselves The Rams of the Rain.

A young, pixie cut brunette named Elly (she was the bastard daughter of an illiterate blacksmith) soon joined The Rams of the Rain. A studious girl, her tutor was an ancient tree spirit who gifted her a giant cudgel out of one of its branches. She was ashamed of her own illegitimacy and the unlearned, rough tongue of her father. Her mother she never knew.

In a high mountain located in a swamp of all places, the Rams of the Rain found a giant bird's egg in a nest. Elinssun - who'd already revealed himself as a hothead poor shot with a a longbow (resulting in him switching to a crossbow) - eagerly wanted to egress with the egg. He was shouted down by the others - principally flame-haired Calico. The giant mother eagle appeared almost immediately after, and in thanks, she gifted Calico with a single golden feather talisman.

While the four were escaping down the mountain, they were attacked by goblins, and in that fight, they hit upon what would later be called the Jagsen-Elly Tactic. The former shouted to the latter, "Move forward and prepare to strike!"

Once she was in position, the bald-headed mystic summoned mystical energy and pulled the last remaining enemy into Elly's reach, whereupon she smote the foe in one blow.

Elly's legend grew all the more when she singlehandedly slew a group of foes after she was ambushed. While that was happening, Calico was using her winsome charm to talk a group of bandits into giving up the life, and in consequence, a young warrior named Gylvish Crook joined The Rams of the Rain.

The Rams of the Rain eventually reunited and rescued a woman named Fern Li - another warrior who had discovered an unusual robot, but was under attack by those who were trying to claim that curious entity's body. The Rams of the Rain rode to the rescue and saved her.

In the intervening years of peace, Calico found a bright-eyed, bearded village boy she fell in love with, Gylvish became a treeplanter, and Elly and Fern met frequently to discuss the metaphyics of consciousness and try to solve the riddle of the robot.

Which they were not able to... then, at least.

[Izulde]

The ambition of the Rams of the Rain? To hunt down the source of the sentient robots. Shortly after they started their journey, none other than Drak Shovelstokk, son of Milillia Shovelstokk and Dunius Wiskyton, who had traveled away from his parents in search of more adventure, joined the group. The former Knight of the Opal Mother was a lucky bit of fortune, indeed.

Especially for flame-haired Calico Nettelwood, who instantly forgot her village love and became smitten with the dashing young folk hero. He felt the same and a relationship burned as hot as the leader of the Rams of the Rain's hair.

Not so lucky - Elinssun, who like Elly was ambushed alone. Unlike that mighty warrior, however, he sustained a serious, grievous wound - only barely escaping with his life. Little wonder, given he was the weakest and most worthless Ram ever to have lived.

And yet, it was Elinssun who continued to fight. Gylvish stayed behind when The Rams of the Rain journeyed out, preferring to keep his brother Pavlish company.

The source of the bots was finally found and the battle joined. Calico and Drak sustained rather serious injuries in the fighting but unlike the blonde archer everyone hated, they did not fall.

Destroying the workshop from whence the bots sprang granted 11 years of peace.

During this interim, Drak helped construct a fallen townhall, while restless Elinssun returned to his hometown to seek what he knew not.

But just because the workshop was destroyed didn't mean the end of the bots... whom, it turned out, were once people who wanted to avoid death...

[Brian Swartz]

There is not enough rage in this dynasty ...

[Izulde]

Because it's not FootballMyth.