The Wayfarers
Order of the Dragon, Cormyr
Date: 23 November, 1996 The players received an extra treat tonight: Kent Jenkins supplied a letter written from his character, Verence Gallow, to his family's home. The following is Kent's introduction to Verence and the letter. I thought it made a great addition to the Jade Letters; always fun to see another person's perspective on the events going on. Verence Gallow (of a Westgate vitner family) is a priest of Mystra, and an adventurer to that aim. Most of his view on life comes from his large and probably devious merchant-class family. The following is a letter to his parents, and serves to explain the other characters in the party.
Mystra and her chosen continue to treat me well, in spite of your omen, Father, or was it a curse? Even the elder priest within Arabel is beginning to show signs of uncertainty that there is much left for me to learn under his care. I was aware that home was small, but not so small that even places that seem, by most, quite large are even them dwarfed by other cities.
And so I seem destined to them, to fulfill the role Mystra sees fit for me. I am as amazed as I am proud of my success thus far, and as proud as I am, I am still humbled by my chances to do good. It is, within both your standards and my own, hardly profitable but to touch the face of magic makes mere gold and platinum seem like the harvest or the hunt; necessary to survive, but not the reason to do so.
Presently, my journey has me allied with a company of adventurers. Even as I first met them I would not label them - as you would say Father - "rag-tag", for they most efficiently took a den of pirates out of their black business. (Do you remember the fears you had for the problems the Silver Crown Trading Company were having? I was most brutally captured looking into the matter but am, as you can tell, faring much better.) And yet they were cruel and it took me some time to adjust to their tactics of dealing with many problems - killing them - and their methods of doing so - most straightforward. But we have all changed.
Should you be saving this in the hopes that I shall some day be among the great names of our lands, Father, I will tell you some of the truths of this group that will no doubt become skewed in the unlikely event of our rise to the likes of heros.
From what I could tell, Jade became leader of the Wayfarers because she leads, and the others (with possible exception of Telaran, who often seems ambivalent) wish nothing to do with the responsibility. Yet she is fair a leader to any group of fighters, and knows most her own weaknesses, as well as knowing what she does not know. We do not get along, she and I, for her views of what is best are not mine, and she has wrongly accused me more than once of things I have not done. There is bad with good, and misunderstandings do not make one evil, only misunderstood. I cannot fault her for her bold attempts in the face of, as sometimes hints are dropped, a terrible life previous. Perhaps we are the first party who has ever considered her opinion worthwhile, or perhaps she has erred greatly in the past and wishes to make up for it. I, you, and History may never know.
Borreau, one of Tempus' bloody-minded warrior-priests, has more sense than I would openly give credit to. He is not bright, but he shines with the wisdom of the battlefield and the trap-ridden ruins and I have learned much from watching where he goes, and his intent is so pure even as he finds things to combat that I sometimes find myself wondering if he is this simple or more complex than I can fathom. It should provide an amusing picture to see this huge man with a pack so laden with weapons and tools that he could be mistaken for a war chariot or an attractive troll. (Attractive, which is to say, for a troll.)
Of us all, Telaran is the one who is most humble. He wishes, it seems to me, nothing more in this world than to be in his proper place, an artist among sword-masters, a creator of dance with blades. Not for his own sake, not for the sake of others, but for the sake of the doing itself. This is his one elvish quality, while in all others he is human, and I have found a steady drinking companion in him. I cannot yet explain why I consider him so normal, and therefore relaxing. Should it be brought up to History, his enchanted pet is no damn help at all.
B'rinth, however, is wholly elvish, and a mage, and handy with the locks and beltpouches in need of lightening. And so you do not forget, Father, I am no mage. I am a priest of Mystra. Studying and living magic is wholly different than using it. His greed is necessary, and has found a place among us. You would appreciate him were he human, Father, for his base concept is to increase his personal gain while doing the least harm to others. I would say that his greed has gotten us into trouble - it has - but no more than our own preconceived notions have endangered his life along with our own.
I hesitate to talk about Nory last, for it would make him seem of some great importance that he should be saved. But I could not talk about him first, and putting him after anyone would seem to put him in some sort of place within the Wayfarers. Yet without a doubt he has a place, and fills it all the way to the knee. (Here at least would-be legends are true - he has felled two great drow with one swipe to the knee.) I will say this with no malice, but as source of explanation to my troubles: He is a gnome. He is a trickster, both thief and spellcaster. Not through any malevolence, but through curiosity that defies description, in either the common tongue or even in the most shared language of the surface elves. He confounds me, yet his presence cannot be denied any more than a mime's.
And of myself, you yourself already know, Mother and Father, and History will simply have to do with me what it will, unless Mystra Herself should have something to say of it. And though I have tried to shed light to you all, my family, of what my world is like it is to seed the curiosity to look into mystery.
I shall try to visit the vineyard should I be nearby home. It would be good to taste some real food and wine again.
The Wayfarers
Order of the Dragon, Cormyr
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