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By Jaap-Peter Hazelhoff
This is the main page for The Silver Marches PbeM. The author of this work and DM of the game is Jaap-Peter Hazelhoff, please email him at the link below with any queries you have regarding The Silver Marches. The material contained here is the property of J P Hazelhoff and is used with permission by Candlekeep. Candlekeep claim no rights of ownership to The Silver Marches and associated material.
How to Subscribe
The Silver Marches is an ongoing Play-By-Email game set in the Forgotten Realms campaign. The game is DM'd by Jaap-Peter Hazelhoff. Currently no players are being accepted to the campaign, but anyone wishing to join will be currently added as a "lurker".
The email address for submissions is: FR-Silver-Marches-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Credits
This story would not have been possible without the cooperation of a group of wonderful and enthusiastic players. Some have contributed their time and moved on, while others continue to be a part of the ongoing story. In alphabetical order (with the character names in brackets), they are:
K Amaloo (Grey), Veronica de Boer (Gwendolain), David Bowser (Svent), Jason Breton (Branith), Erica (Kitira), Adam Freitag (Pinker), John Harbord (Elenariel Ithiluar)Jeff Hoffman (Alabain), Christian Izrail (Bagaudas), Shadi Khoja (Kerith), Lauren (Lleuad), Carey Sauerbrun (Mac), Mary Staples (Vaitha), Jeffrey “devilboy” Williams (Aunnabroke)
Introduction
The following is an introduction to the Silver Marches PbeM, giving a brief overview and requirements for playing the game:
The Silver Marches A vast frontier fraught with endless peril, haunted by malicious dragons, hordes of orcs, and other ferocious creatures, the relentless cold and unforgiving terrain of the Silver Marches promise undiscovered riches and unspeakable danger to those bold enough to venture there. The inhabitants of this northern land share their territory with dangers that lurk in every forest, alpine valley, and mountain passes. Folk who leave the shelter of the city walls must go armed and go carefully, lest they fall victim to one of the many horrors waiting to claim its next victim. Olostin's Hold The only human settlement of any size in the High Forest, Olostin's Hold is a fortified keep protecting a small village of about two hundred people, and extending its protection to as many as six hundred more farmers, woodcutters, and homesteaders in the immediate area. The hold’s folk are very careful not to anger the powers of the forest; the woodcutters take only dead or dying trees, sometimes ranging far into the forest to find trees safe to bring down. Of late the folk of Olostin's Hold have been much troubled by trolls driven south from the Evermoors. These marauding monsters have made the Yartar – Everlund road much less safe than it used to be, and so less traffic passes near Olostin's Hold than it did in previous years. The Game The Silver Marches Campaign is a Play by e-Mail game (PbeM) set in the region of the same name and will start in the small village of Olostin's Hold. The game will be focused more on role-play then combat, though the later will still occur and be potentially lethal; this to reflect the harsh nature of the area. The style of the campaign can be classified as: Mature Gaming (MG – rating see Dragon Magazine 300 for more details). I’m not fond of power-gamers, munchkin-gamers, and evil-characters. People who fit these categories are better off joining another game. The game will start at 1st level and for the character submissions I expect a decent background which can function as a further basis for the game. The game will be opened for 4 – 6 characters initially. The Characters All races and classes from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (FRCS) are allowed. Character creation uses the point-buy system on page 20 in the DMG (table copied below). All initial characters will start at 1st level and I would advice those who want to pursue a prestige class to pay attention to the prestige class’s requirements. All characters start out with the class’s maximum starting gold, yet equipment bought in Olostin's Hold has a cap of 100gp. (No items available over 100gp). Those characters that qualify for a regional package receive the full benefits of that package, though in some cases I might require a background explanation. Before adjusting hit points (hp) for Constitution, all characters start out with a full Hit Dice (a fighter starts with 10 hp, a sorcerer with 4 hp). Note: I would prefer at least 1 gnome character in the group. Recommended Sources
Background I expect a decent background for each character submitted. The background should contain some information about the character’s family and upbringing, as well as some clarification of some of the character’s abilities (skills, feats, powers). Try not to be too fancy with the background, keep it realistic within the normal expectations (any special ‘cases’ can be allowed after DM’s review and approval). A well written background will provide me with possible future adventure hooks either for boon or bane of the character and the party. Also the better the background, the more bonus starting experience (xp) a character receives. For those who want to have their characters hail from distant (Faerûnian) lands, keep in mind that the character is only 1st level. Any travel of more than 200 miles from Olostin’s Hold requires a very good explanation in the background. Journals I strongly recommend the players to keep a journal for their characters. The nature of the PbeM game makes keeping a log relatively easy (cut & paste from the e-mail) and sometimes invaluable. A DM’s version of the story is to be available as chapters linked from this page. Point-Buy system All characters receive 32 points to buy the scores for the six abilities.
Damage and Hit Points Wounds a character receives in the game will be described in the mail, and a summary will be posted under the text listing all damaged characters and visibly hurt NPCs. Standard terms to described wounds will be used to describe the damage in the summary. The following table lists these terms and their hitpoint percentage equivalent. Details can be added to the term to further indicate the level of damage. For example ‘badly scratched’ or ‘moderately hurt’.
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Cast of Characters
Names and brief description of the characters will follow:
Alabain Wildhair
Alabain Wildhair (male air genasi, fighter, lvl0) Player: Jeff HoffmanAlabain Wildhair is now in his late teens and doesn’t look very much like his mother; where she is brown and tall, he is fair skinned and of medium height. His long hair is very blond, almost white, and can’t be contained in any tie or band; it seems to be constantly stirred by small breezes.
He has made a number of friends among the hunters and gatherers who make their living off the woods around Olostin’s Hold due to his willingness to drop everything and go see something new in the woods at any time. There is an informal informational exchange set up among these people. A hunter may spot a rare plant and will pass this information along; a plant gather may see animals gathering in a new place and will pass this along. Alabain is more than happy to share information on whatever he has spotted. And at all times, this group of people knows the importance of treading lightly in the High Forest. His mother is poor (in material items) and Alabain’s initial equipment is old and well used.
Gwendolain Tinu En’me’urra
Gwendolain (female half-elf, ranger, lvl1) Player: Veronica de BoerGwendolain Tinu En’me’urra is a rarely seen inhabitant of Olostin’s Hold. Those who live there don’t know better than that she’s mostly ignored and called names by the younger occupants of the town. She can be seen visiting Aedelvana now and then and it is know that she helps the woman in turn of learning something. Several rumors go around about this strange young woman. They say the elves marked her for evil deeds, for she has a strange tattoo covering a part of her face and neck. They say she was banished by the elves (where she used to live) and send therefore to her father who is a ranger living in the woods near Olostin’s Hold. They say her father tried to hide her, for it was only after years she finally was seen in town a bit. There also goes a rumor she’s a mute, although some claim they’ve heard her speak. The last rumor about her is that she’s next to a mute also stupid. But that’s often more an excuse used to taunt her than it’s considered to be true.
Bagaudas Babad
Bagaudas Babad (male human, druid of Eldath, lv1) Player: Christian IzrailVery handsome young man whose appearance is both pleasing and dignified, he appears peaceful, but too feral to be merely passive. Bagaudas wears either a series of sheer robes, each in shades of blue & green (Cleric’s/Druid’s Vestments), a Cold Weather Outfit, or an Explorer’s Outfit. Bagaudas has a pair of animal companions; Roudo and Vulpes. They are a pair of red foxes. Roudo is the male fox and Vulpes is the vixen. The two of them are more than just pets to the young druid; he considers them friends.
Kerith
Kerith (male human, fighter, lvl1) Player: Shadi KhojaKerith arrived in Olostin’s Hold two days ago. It had rained for all of that day and he arrived looking like a drowned rat. His clothes were soaked through and his shoulder length, brown hair was drenched.
He has a fighters build, muscular but not overly so and his eyes are blue and always seem to attract peoples attention, the kind that are difficult to look away from. He is quite young, barely twenty years old, but he knows how to take care of himself. He is wearing travelers outfit with a warm hooded cloak. The clink of chain-mail can be heard from underneath his tunic and a long sword is attached to his hip.
Since arriving at Olostin’s Hold, Kerith has been suffering with a cold, spending most of his time in the taproom of the inn with a handkerchief close at hand. As is his nature, he did not let this get him down; in fact he has been socializing with the patrons of the tavern, often making jokes of himself by trying to say “She sells sea shells on the sea shore” in his extremely nasal voice (thanks to his stuffed nose).
Kerith appears to be one of those people that have no particular place to be at a certain time. The type that wanders from town to town and from village to village depending on which way the wind is blowing. He will stay at Olostin’s Hold for as long as he feels like it, and then will move on.
Nestor MacDuun
Nestor MacDuun (male human, sorcerer, lvl1) Player: Carey SauerbrunNestor, a very recent arrival in Olostin’s Hold, is a well-built young man, with curious blue eyes and a ready grin. He is just below average height, with dark brown hair and an average frame. He wears traveler’s garb, and frankly doesn’t look all that impressive. He carries a utilitarian crossbow for mundane protection, and he also wears a pair of matching daggers on his hips for when events get out of hand. An odd rod also hangs from his belt, looking like nothing so much as an iron shod dowel (club, 1 ½ inches diameter, 2 feet long). His accent and manner proclaim him to be a foreigner; that is not one native to the Silver Marches.
Svent Darastrix
Svent Darastrix (male human, fighter, lvl1) Player: David BowserAn average looking, clean shaven man with short hair and sharp features, born William Burrstar in Waterdeep. While training with his father to become one of the Watch, William received news of his brother James and his sister Ellen having died at the claws of a ‘Man-sized Green Dragon’ out in the Silverwood. The report being made by the only survivor of the group, a friend of the family named Kurt.
William intensified his training; for the next six months he spent his days sword in hand, and his nights at the Library studying all he could of dragons: Their language, habits, motivations, strengths and weaknesses. William left city life and his old name behind to journey to Olostin’s Hold. He plans to stay there to learn the lay of the land, and after he feels he is ready, he will go to face the beast that killed Ellen and James.
Pinker
Pinker the Gnome (female rock gnome, bard, lvl1) Player: Adam Freitag
Lleuad
Lleuad (female wood elf, cleric of Eilistraee, lvl1) Player: LaurenLight coppery skin, long white hair in a ponytail and green eyes. She wears a white cloak with hood over loose fitting pants and blouse. Lleuad is equipped with a backpack, longbow, longsword and a silver dagger.
Aunnabroke Tor
Aunnabroke Tor (male human, ranger of Shaundakul, lvl1) Player: Jeffrey Williams
Vaitha Goldentree
Vaitha Goldentree (female human, ranger, lvl1) Player: Mary T StaplesVaitha is a young women hailing from Olostin’s Hold with a preference for the quiet of the forest, spending most of her time under the High Forest’s canopy. Vaitha is the oldest of the four Goldentree children. All three of her younger brothers still live with their mother, as Vaitha does when she is in town. Her mother Ciray is a weaver in the village. Her father Leth was a woodcutter. He held the respect for nature common in Olostin’s Hold.
Vaitha’s father was killed when she was fourteen. He became separated from his fellows during an early winter storm. His frozen body was found several weeks later, ripped apart and gnawed on, but not consumed. Many still wonders what killed him that winter day. Vaitha took his place on the work crews, going deep into the forest to gather dead wood. As her knowledge of the forest grew, she was often assigned to scout for danger. She has become quite skilled in tracking creatures in the wilderness, and remaining unseen.
Her brother Leth has since taken Vaitha’s place among the woodsmen and helps support the family, along with the money Vaitha brings or sends home. Vaitha has spent much time lately with rangers and druids in the community, learning more about the dangers in the High Forest and surroundings, in particular Trolls.
Branith Stonebiter
Branith Stonebiter (male shield dwarf, cleric of Moradin, lvl1) Player: Jason Breton
Gray
Grey (male human, ranger, lvl0) Player: K AmalooGrey is a hulking tall barbarian, nearly topping seven feet. He has reddish-black hair, golden-green eyes, skin tanned by outdoor living, a lean and narrow face, and the slight edge to his ears that seems to indicate some distant elven relations. He has a tendency to make odd grimaces, he squints. He has long, ropy muscles and moves with an odd if graceful lope, and he speaks in a growling voice; his Common has a distinct and strange accent.
Grey wears a strangely decorated but well-kept suit of black studded leather armor over two simple, patched and worn tunics, the outer one a charcoal gray and the inner one a color that might once have been white). His musty, loose brown leggings have been patched and re-patched as well, tucked into his high boots wrapped with cloth to keep them warm and in place. (Picture Viking-style boots, but with wraps instead of string ties) The armor itself is oddly mottled to look at and studded with what appears to be arrowheads, and in or out of it Grey wears a deep-hooded charcoal gray cloak, heavy leather gauntlets, dark bracers and a double-looped belt, from which depends a sword and a quiver of crossbow bolts. Over his cloak he wears the shaggy hide of a black bear, head, claws and all. He carries a skinning knife (dagger) in his boot and a light crossbow case slung across his back along with his knapsack, which is apparently the skin of some animal and still bears tufts of hair (and a little clawed foot) here and there.
Kitira Gildragon
Kitira Gildragon (female half-elf, ranger, lvl1) Player Erica
Elenariel Ithiluar
Elenariel Ithiluar (female moon elf, rogue, lvl1) John Harbord
Silver Marches Campaign Logs
This section contains all chapters of the PbeM. This campaign is still ongoing and updates to this section will appear as and when they are forwarded to us by the DM. Keep an eye on the What's New section for updates, or sign up with the Traveling Minstrel to be notified by email.
Tales of Silver and Emerald
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