Prelude

So begins Rise of the Runelords. Four people are heading to Sandpoint for various reasons, but will unite to face a multitude of danger. Here are the four future heroes that will be part of the story, as long as they can survive.

Phain - Having strange powers all his life he decided to eventually try and figure out why. His father always hinted at ties to an ancient civilization in Varisia and even taught Phain the language passed down over generations. Intrigued, he began to travel and examine ancient monuments to see if he could learn anything more about himself from them. He decided that Sandpoint's Old Light would be a good place to start as the bigger cities tended to have strict policies on examining the Thassilonian monuments.

Budwar - Budwar is a human paladin of Torag, which is almost unprecedented. Having grown up and lived in Korvosa, he was finding more and more the oppressive laws and the corruption, including the presence of the Hellknights was more than he could take. He accepted a task to go investigate the western region of Varisia where there was disturbing rumors of Ogres and Giants moving about. He was to take the boat to Magnimar and then make his way north up the coastline gathering any information he could and help those who couldn't help themselves.

He arrived in Magnimar and began to travel north. He met up on the road with a minor Magnimar noble names Aldern Foxglove who was traveling to Sandpoint to enjoy the Swallowtail festival and do some hunting. Always nice to have someone to travel with, they went the rest of the way together.

Preacher - "Preacher" Bloodmoon is a cleric of Pharasma from the Shoanti clan Skoan-Quah. As protector of the Shoanti history and their dead. Most of the Shoanti are uncomfortable around the Skull Clan, and most people react that way to Preacher. Preacher has a half-brother training to be a clan leader one day.

Preacher was sent a vision one night in a dream. When he awoke, he knew that he was supposed to travel immediately to Sandpoint and learn why there were souls not arriving to Pharasma to be judged. Assuming a Varisian disguise he left immediately not telling anyone where he was going, even his brother.

Xantumal - Xantumal is a druid from the forests of Sanos. He bonded at a early age with a wolf that he named Hogie. One day the other local druids called a meeting as there were ogres, giants, and other strange monsters moving about the forest and the surrounding areas. They decided they needed to gather more information so they split off in different directions and sent Xantumal to the cities in the west as he was the youngest of the druids.

Having taken a boat down many of the rivers, stopping through towns he eventually made it to Magnimar, where he found little help from the mayor in getting any answers. He decided his next stop was Sandpoint.