Introduction
Disclaimer:
The Ramtop mountains are taken inspirationally from Terry Pratchet's Discworld novels, and the idea belongs strictly to him.
A bit of science behind the names:
1. This series (yes, it will be a series, and a long one at that) happens in an imaginary campaign world- Gaiapalego,(GAI-A-PA-LE-GO) which is a combination of "gaia," the latin word for "world," and "palego", which I believe means "piece". Together they mean "part of the world".
2. The Campaign revolves around The Sponge Quorum- translated from the Hebrew word "minyan" which mean "a minimum number of people required to perform a certain act," and that is precisely what this mediocre bunch of adventurers is - just enough.
3. The country "Lyrasia"(LEE-RAY-ZHA) is coincidentally related to the word "Laurasia," which is the name of an ancient super continent that ended up joining to make Pangea. Lyrasia is the base from where the first adventure begins.
There, that should satisfy all you nerds out there.
Introducing the mediocre, the weak, the dim, The Sponge Quorum!
Gilbert Apelycus (GIL-BERT--AP-PE-LIE-CUS)
"If you have no doubt, you must be mistaken."
Race: Dwarf.
Class: Cleric.
Gender: Male.
Age: Around 150 (Dwarves live to about 400).
Bio:
Gilbert's father, Apelycus, founder of his clan, is crucial to understanding his son.
In his youth he went by the name Apel and was a rebellious-minded cleric in the West Lyrasian village of Thirally. The power-hungry human Cleric, Drezner wanted such open minds as Gilbert's repressed so the charismatic cleric banned poor Apel from the village. Soon afterwards the village was destroyed in a battle between Orcs and Goblins, who inhabited the land as raiders.
Having gotten lost in the mountains separating Lyrasia from the neighboring El-Retania, Apel was rescued by local elves (in my game the elves are closer to Tolkien's lower elves than the higher ones) and renamed "Lycus". Eventually, called back to his village (now rebuilt in the southern-Lyrasian moors), Apel-Lycus was continually persecuted by Drezner till his final breath.
Named after his mother's father, Gilbert Apelycus has been sentenced to death to end his father's troubling legacy….
Aradiln Therdinal (A-RA-DILN--THER-DI-NAL)
"I used to think I could control nature, then I became a druid"
Race: Elf.
Class: Druid.
Gender: Male.
Age: Around 150 (Elves reach adulthood at around 50 and live to about 700).
Bio:
Born to a noble family in the elven village of Inbar in Ingan forest, Aradiln lived a pretty sheltered - okay, comfortable to the point of nausea - life until his 50th birthday. At approximately the same time a crazy (i.e. bored) mage was razing the country with a bunch of ice giants. They happened to come across the village and decided to kill everyone, just because that was expected from a demented mage's army.
Aradiln escaped with his life, but couldn't live as an outcast forever, no matter how much the forest supplied his needs. He was eventually found and taken in by Druids, and when his master died (note: in my world Druids don't die, they become gnarled trees and join the natural consciousness) he inherited his patch (some Druids own small patches of land which serve as their homes).
Soon afterwards Aradiln found a worg and foolishly decided to try and train it, until a couple of adventurers stumbled upon his land…
Islan Felanus (EYE-LAN--FEL-LAN-US)
"A sword cannot kill. I can!"
Race: Human.
Class: Paladin.
Gender: Male.
Age: Around 25.
Bio:
Islan was found as a baby by a pious couple in a small village in the southern moors. He was raised by foster parents in a religious environment until he decided to go searching for his real parents.
Having left religion and safety for adventure, Islan spent nearly a year scavenging food from the moors until a Paladin found him with his fingers in his pocket, trying to get something to eat. Instead of killing him, the Paladin decided to take him under his wing and tutor him. After finishing his training at around the age of 20, Islan set out on his own as a Paladin serving the king.
He had been posted to lookout duty over the southern moors, and had just received a letter straight from the king of Lyrasia himself…
Grud Toornick (GRUD--TOOR-NICK)
"Approaching the sound barrier… now!"
Race: Gnome.
Class: Rogue.
Gender: Male.
Age: Around 60 (Gnomes reach adulthood at 40 and live to about 350).
Bio:
Grud Toornick grew up in a normal family of gnomes who lived under a mansion of a rich aristocrat. Having been raised on stealth and crime (there isn't much to do living under someone else's house if you intend on living an honest life), Grud eventually grew up and left to join a tribe of thieves based in the Khrak desert.
It turned out that life in a thieves' tribe is not as exciting as Grud thought, and looking for an even richer and more interesting lifestyle, he left the tribe and joined a wizard who was a victim of the economy and couldn't get a job. After a spell of very successful crime, they were stopped by three goody-goody adventurers…
Demorish Sarlar(DE-MOR-ISH--SAR-LAR)
"I don't really give a damn"
Race: Human.
Class: Wizard.
Gender: Male.
Age: around 30.
Bio:
Demorish is a cheerful person, as can be ascertained from his bright and lively history.
Demorish's father was abusive and so he killed him as soon as he reached his mid teens. Self orphaned and poor, Demorish wandered the streets until he found a wizard who was prepared to teach him the secrets of magic. Soon afterwards the wizard was killed by a crime lord who had decided he didn't like magic.
Demorish started to hide his scarred features using illusion, and continued stealing because he was simply economically retarded.
Learning from stolen scrolls, he wandered the streets for years and eventually teamed up with an eccentric Gnome until they made the mistake of stealing in front of a Paladin…
Lyra Tiberleon (LIE-RA--TYE-BEER-LEE-OWN)
"Yeah, I lied. So what?"
Race: Human.
Class: Fighter.
Gender: Female.
Age: Don't you dare ask!
Lyra seems to be the only person among the Quorum who actually had a normal childhood. Born to an economically comfortable family, Lyra was always a tomboy and decided to join the military when she grew up.
Lyra seemed to show huge promise - she was strong, decent looking and intelligent, but she had one major shortcoming - she was a woman, in an extremely chauvinistic world. So instead of joining the army she ended up as a bodyguard to Mwain in Lellion Town, at the foot of the Ramtops. She led a peaceful career until a mysterious man called Drezner came to town…
There you have it. All six incompetent adventurers, stuck together by pure chance, some might say bad luck. Now… let The Beginning… er… begin!