Chapter 1

Midsummer 1368 DR, Year of the Banner

It was a quiet evening at the Old Skull Inn. The blistering summer's heat forced many travelers up north, which took a toll on the Skull's profits. Still, the small inn that resided in Shadowdale, had it's night-to-night regulars, who mostly sat to tell stories or share gossip.

Cleaning off one of the square wooden tables, a tall blue eyed slender young man named Val Rowenmantle, glanced over at a table of young maidens, who were swapping gossip from the lands of Cormyr.

Brushing back his short white-blond hair, Val turned his head to his best friend Roland Heronious and said," One thing I don't miss about Arabel, or rather Cormyr in general, is all the gossip."

Standing a few inches shorter than Val's six and a half foot stature, Roland had black hair that went past his ears, and emerald eyes. "I know what you mean," he said in a low enough voice so that no one could hear him.

After finishing cleaning off the tables, Roland and Val removed the cotton aprons that covered their shirts and dark leather breeches. They then walked over and sat at a large wooden round table that was being occupied by Val's sister (or half-sister to some nobles in Cormyr) Virgo and a young red haired druid named Sawyer.

Unlike Val, Virgo stood a little below five and a half feet, with a curvy and voluptuous figure. Her hair strawberry blond hair was long and curly. No one would ever guess that her and Val were related, except for they both had their mother's eyes.

Sawyer was like the other two young men, tall and slender, though the many faint scars on his arms and legs showed that he had spent a lot of time with dangerous animals and plants in the woods. His dark red hair went down past his shoulders and his eyes were dark green. This evening, he and Virgo wore dark green cloaks over their leathers.

"Have a good night in the woods?" Val asked with a smirk. He liked to tease his sister and the druid about their romantic relationship.

Virgo placed her delicate hand on Sawyer's. "Actually, we were at Storm's house." Val and Roland looked at each other and grinned. "Not like that!" the woman added with a fierce kick to both of their legs.

Both young men let out a painful scream. "I was just teasing," Val said, holding his leg.

"Yeah Virgo, we were only jesting," Roland added with a growl.

Virgo Rowenmantle rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Come on, I didn't kick you that hard."

"That's what you said about combat practice yesterday," Val remarked. After the pain in his leg subsided, he added," Speaking of which, did Bowie tell you both to meet him here?"

Sawyer nodded. "We saw him just before we left Storm's house. He seemed pretty excited about something."

"I'll bet its that Harper mission he has been planning for us," guessed Roland. "My aunt Myrmeen told me that these missions range from guarding a caravan to finding some sort of treasure."

Val sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. It had been over two years since Bowie had arrived in Eveningstar and taken him and Roland to Shadowdale, to train and become Harpers. Along with Sawyer and Virgo, they trained with the halfling and the famous bard Storm Silverhand. The training was mostly combat and history lessons, but it was still extremely hard work. Now it seemed that there was one final task before he and the others became full fledged Harpers.

Still, Val did not like the idea of simply guarding a caravan for the Harper trial, and judging by the looks he had seen, the others weren't too keen on the idea either.

"Ah good evening Beautiful Virgo, perhaps you would like a seat at my table," a musical voice sang from the opposite end of the room. Everyone turned to see Torm the thief, along with his priest friend Rathan, sitting at a small table.

Torm curled his mustache and smiled. "Leave the children, and come sit with a real man." Rathan rolled his eyes and continued to drink his ale. Val and Roland looked at each other, ready to attack, but then a beautiful voice filled the inn.

The Slumbering Siren calls to ye,

Close your eyes so you will not see,

The ugliness of the Siren Lad-y.

The Slumbering Siren calls to ye.

Torm's eyes suddenly shut and his face feel onto the table. Rathan let out a cheer and said," I've been waiting for someone to do that for years. Thank ye Bowie Butterball."

"My pleasure," Bowie Butterball replied as he stepped inside, his evangelistic voice ringing through the inn. "I've warned Torm about taunting my students." The stout halfling shook his head, then winked at the four Harper recruits.

"A round for the halfling and his friends," Rathan cried.

Roland's and Val's eyes lit up. The one grand thing about training with Bowie Butterball, was the free mugs of alcohol he would receive for his services of protecting Shadowdale from drunkards, the lechers, and those who could not carry tune to save their lives.

Bowie walked over to the table and took a seat between the brother and sister. The halfling looked at Sawyer and smiled. "Erilett is asleep in Storm's kitchen."

"I was wondering where the beaver was this evening," said Roland, referring to Sawyer's wolverine animal companion.

A prideful smile escaped from the druid's lips. "I would hardly label Erilett a beaver Roland, especially since her claws can rip most hides to shreds."

"Not to mention she can also rip through orcs and drow," Val added," and there was that giant she took down single handed, I mean single clawed."

Roland sighed, but Bowie put up his hand. "We're not here to talk about beavers or wolverines," he said in a quiet voice. "I called you all hear to speak about your Harper mission, which starts tomorrow morning."

Virgo and Sawyer smiled while Roland's and Val's eyes lit up once more. "Where are we going?" Val asked in an excited voice.

"We're going to Myth Drannor," the bard answered. He sat back, waiting for everyone's reactions. Roland and Val grew more excited. Virgo began to get excited as well.

"The ancient elven city," she said with a whisper. "So much history lies there."

Sawyer looked down at the green bladed sword on his belt. He then looked at Bowie and asked," What's the mission? Are we suppose to find some sort of treasure, or vanquish a monster?"

Bowie shrugged. "All you need to do is survive the set of ruins we explore. Any treasure you find is yours. Any heads you lob off with your weapons are yours."

"What if we find artifacts, like the Scepter of the Sorcerer Kings?" asked Val. "Or the Wand of Orcus?"

"Or the Cormanthor Elf Blades?" added Roland. "Or the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords? Or Crenshinibon?"

The halfling laughed. Hearing the names of famous artifacts like these from the two young men, Bowie knew that they had learned something about history during their Harper training. "If you are lucky enough to find those, you can keep them."

"Sounds interesting," the druid said with a smile. "Is it going to be just us five?"

"Six if you count Erilett," Bowie replied as Val and Roland left the table to get some ale. Their voices could be heard from the other side of the room, talking about finding artifacts like the Eyes of Selune and the Ring of Gaxx. "Seven if you count Sylune," Bowie continued after listening to part of the conversation Roland and Val were having.

Virgo turned to Sawyer and asked," Why the questions love?"

The druid let out a sigh. "I'm sorry darling, it's just I've heard many stories about Myth Drannor. Also, my sword has been wanting us to take a journey to Myth Drannor for some time."

"Well then she will be happy," Val said as he sat back in his seat, his mug full of the Skull's finest ale. "There will be nothing that can withstand us."

"Especially with the strength of Val, Virgo, and Roland," Roland said as he sipped his ale and sat back in his chair.

"Then there's Sawyer's druid magic," commented Val," and Bowie's bardic music."

Roland nodded. "And there's Sylune's silver fire, and the beaver's claws of doom."

The two young men gave a toast in honor of Erilett's sharp claws, then downed their glasses together. It was at this time that Bowie said his goodnight and left the Old Skull Inn.

Sawyer and Virgo looked at each other, then looked at the front door. They knew the halfling had gone back to Storm Silverhand's house to start packing for their journey.

Bowie Butterball sneaked through the back door past the kitchen (he did his best to not to wake the sleeping wolverine) and up the stairs. He could heard the voices of Storm Silverhand and Danilo Thann coming from the study. Danilo was discussing with Storm about reopening New Olamn's Bard College in Waterdeep. Bowie sneered when he heard the laughter in Danilo's voice.

It was from Danilo Thann's mouth (or rather the donkey's mouth as Roland and Val would say) that Bowie learned of how his parent's died, murdered by the Zhentarim wizard Manshoon. Manshoon had promised Bowie's mother Shayna that she could leave the Zhentarim Organization and not worry about Zhents coming after her or her family. Then one night, the wizard came and killed both Shayna and her husband Thomas, right in front of six year old son's eyes.

The memory still brought water to Bowie's eyes, though it was mostly anger he felt, not fear. Someday, he would confront Manshoon, and asked why he killed his mother. Yet now, it was all about training his four charges.

From the study, Storm asked Bowie if he was on the steps, then Danilo said something about Bowie being an adequate bard, but not good enough to be a teacher at New Olamn's The halfling didn't answer either of them, and quickly went upstairs to his room, and began packing for the journey to Myth Drannor.

The thought of Sawyer, Virgo, Val, and Roland succeeding and being inducted into the Harpers, brought more tears to Bowie's eyes. After all the months of combat training, history lessons, and even a few minor missions to help others, it would all come down to this last trial.

"How did they take the announcement?" a dreamy ghost-like voice asked Bowie from behind him. The bard turned to see the ghost of Sylune Silverhand hovering near the doorway.

"Rather well," Bowie responded to his godmother. "Everyone is excited to make this journey, though Sawyer said something about his sword wanting to go to the ruins."

Sylune nodded. "The soul that possess his sword died in Myth Drannor thousands of years ago. It has passed the hands of many wielders, and slain many demons in the ruins of the great elven city."

Bowie nodded, then looked at Sylune. "I told them you were coming with us. I would have asked Storm or Rouric if they wanted to go. Rouric is busy getting Shadowdale's soldiers into shape, and Storm has guests."

Sylune giggled as her god son rolled his eyes at the last few words he said. "I hope that they are ready Bowie."

Bowie nodded in agreement. "I hope so too Sylune, but I know that they will prevail above all obstacles, and vanquish all foes. If not, they will at least die fighting, and I will die fighting along side them."

Sylune's face lit up with pride, and if she could still shed tears, they would be falling to the floor. She was proud of her godson, and knew that Thomas and Shayna would be proud of their son, especially if that could see him now.