Dhoesone campaign (long!)

[Mark A Vandermeulen]

In reply to your request for good sources of medieval stories and
characters I refer you to the Brother Cadfael mysteries written by Elis
Peters. Look for them in your local library in the mysteries section. They
are an excellent source of information, characters and even story ideas
(some of my stories have been lifted so baldly from the book that I was
afraid that the Palagarism Police were going to come bursting in).
The books focus on a character who was a soldier in the first
Crusade and then became a marine and finally sea captain in the Middle Sea
(Mediterranean) before coming back to his homeland of Wales, and becoming
a monk to spend the rest of his years. However, he is still very bright
and knowledgeable in the "ways of the world" and cheifly uses the healing
skills he learned on Crusade to heal people and discover murders (he's
seen a lot of death, so his "medieval autopsies" are respected).
The series, there are about 20, have very good character
development, and some excellent plots. I highly recommend them.

Mark VanderMeulen
vander+@pitt.edu

[Colleen Simpson]

Have a few ideas that might help. For ease of identification I have numb=
ered your pre-prepped characters:
1 =3D 'the character who will probably become a ranger'; 2 =3D 'a charact=
er who will either become a bard or a priest.'; 3 =3D 'a grim girl that =
will probably end up as a thief'; and 4 =3D 'a character that will probab=
ly become a mage'.
1 may meet 3 and intervene on her behalf while on a visit to the royal =
household. 1 may then continue to keep a benevolent eye on her (which =
may cause some interesting character interaction). 1 may meet 2 when 2 =
is passing through his 'neck of the woods' so to speak or camping there. =
4's master/mentor/mage boss/whatever may be involved in political affair=
s or may even oppose the current king secretly while not supporting (but =
not openly opposing) him. These actions could lead to master;s imprisonm=
ent (perhaps symaster wishes to rescue him for, although spymaster may =
serve current king he is sworn to 'true'/rightful ruler and has uncovered=
enough evidence to disprove current king's rule but not enough to work =
out true heir, although he knows one exists. 3 may draw the attention =
of the royal assassin or spymaster depending on her actions and possibly =
apprentice to him. This could lead to Morgenes/X and the mission. Hope =
these have some relevance..