Now, we fast-forward sixteen years in the future. Thom has grown up and has reached the age of manhood in Goliath tradition. Now he must go on a spiritual quest to appease the Goliath ancients and his tribe father, Thomtham. However, a few hundred miles south of Thom’s tribe, seven adventure-seekers gather in a tavern, heeding the call for employment from the tavern’s owner and prominent town figure. This sparks the main current of The Child, a new three-section story that begins with “The Keep.”
THE KEEP, Chapter 01: Chance Meeting in a Tavern
The ladybug flies through the leaves, dodging the branches and twigs. She ducks and weaves through the pine needles and cones before landing on a thicker branch, fluttering her paper-thin wings. She cleans her legs with her proboscis and chews on some of the sugary sap.
Beneath her, a brook swishes by, the stream running south. It is a modest brook, flanked by a few grey stones and granite embankments. At its widest, the brook measures about two feet across and one foot deep. These tiny streamlets are common for the foothills of the Cairngorn Peaks. And now, in late spring, all of the wildflowers are blooming, and woodland creatures are roaming and foraging, basking in the warm sun near the brook.
The current runs south for miles, passing through thick wooded areas and grass fields. The brook has several names along the way, not being large or important enough to earn a full name for its entirety. At points, it’s known as “Spring’s Tear,” “Termon’s Stream,” and even “Corri’s Fishing Spot.” At most points, however, it’s simply a refreshing stop for lost travelers and thirsty deer.
About thirty miles south of the Cairngorn foothills, the brook widens a few feet and deepens a few more. It flows for about another half-mile and then plummets twenty-five feet into a basin about six feet deep. Behind the waterfall and several heavy boulders is a deep and dark cavern. Those lucky enough to discover it and brave enough to wander inside find braziers on the wall, oftentimes lit at night. Most of the time, no one takes up residence in the cave; however, rumors infer that a nasty gang of kobolds inhabits the cave.
Outside the cave, the basin remains virtually untouched and unused, and only a few streams branch off from it. Most of them taper off after about a mile or two, and only one of them flows for a few more miles. The land begins to flatten, and most of the foothills disappear on the horizon. The final stream originating from the cavern basin dead-ends near a dirt road rarely traveled. The dirt road is only about three feet wide, a footpath leading from a small hamlet in a nearby wood to an offshoot of The King’s Road, the major thoroughfare in the De Marco Barony.
The King’s Road (commissioned centuries ago by Emperor Corellis D’Enign II) is the most traveled highway on the entire continent of Ishan. Though named after a generic human ruler, the road is traveled by men and women of all station and uniqueness. Originating in the De Marco capital of Porto Champlaign, The King’s Road spans the entire Barony from west to east in nearly one straight line. Other major thoroughfares taper from the highway and terminate in other cities. Except for one major bend in the eastern part of the barony, The King’s Road pierces the eastern border nearly on the same latitude as its western origin. Engineers serving under Emperor Corellis D’Enign II originally designed the road to split the north from the south, to divide the tribespeople — mostly Goliaths, Shifters, and a few fledgling bands of Minotaurs — of the northern peaks from the human citizens of the southern cities. It demarcated a line of prosperity and civilization. Emperor D’Enign II was not necessarily a cruel or xenophobic ruler; however, he — much like his predecessors — desired a visual border between those who served him directly and those who required much more negotiation to do so. This way, when any northern tribe swore its allegiance to the Baron, it and its people were allowed to translocate themselves south, where more roads reached, and thus, more economic prosperity was possible.
If you travel the King’s Road as far east as possible, you will eventually find yourself in the neighboring country of Vehenna, a land ruled by a group of arcane practitioners known as The Mages’ Consulate. Just before the border, however, rest two noteworthy landmarks: the village of Winterhaven and a ruined fane called The Keep on the Shadowfell. Winterhaven sits in the shadow of the keep; standing on your rooftop in the village gives you a perfect view of the tower on the horizon, a mysterious structure from an ancient age. The Keep on the Shadowfell, originally constructed by Dragonborn servants of Bahamut, consists of a stone spire, surrounded by a small structure that measures several acres in perimeter. Citizens of the world knew of the Shadowfell, a limbo where the spirits of the dead wander through dark caverns and corridors overseen by the death goddess The Raven Queen.
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[Still from Dungeons and Dragons The Movie]
All Dungeons & Dragons references and images are copyright of Wizards of the Coast, LLC.
Narrative material and story are copyright of Robert C. Beshere.