Level: 4
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Patron Deity: Brandobaris
Nationality: Deepingdale
Residence: Fletcher Hall, Belabell, Deepingdale
HP: 20
AC: 15

For a little more than two years now, Tain has worked as an independent messenger and courier across the Dalelands region, particularly across the Thunder Pass. His mount, Laduryn, is a halfling pony deer, and from a pole on his saddle Tain flies his standard. “Pen for Hire, Hooves for Hire,” it says, under the mark of a nocked quill.

Before setting out on is own, Tain spent 15 years apprenticed to the noted halfling Bard Jandoc Ashnap. Jandoc had retired from a life on the road to his abandoned family hall in Belabell, only to find the young orphan Tain squatting in Fletcher Hall, passing himself off as a distant relative of the Ashnap family. Jandoc took in Tain, training him in the old family craft of fletchery before beginning his instruction as a Bard. Eventually, Jandoc formally adopted Tain as his heir, leaving him as master of Fletcher Hall when Jandoc set off on a final quest to find Luiren.

During their time together, Tain had the opportunity to aid Jandoc in several adventures, including helping to defeat the tyrant Lashan in the Scardale War. Tain, who lost his parents to an undead horde on the Daggerdale frontier, thinks of Jandoc as his father.

Lately, Tain has found himself in the company of a band of six adventurers. Finding their company both interesting and profitable, Tain has resolved to travel with this band for the time being.

“Of course, I’ll need to know something about the delivery before I can quote you a price. But as I said, I guarantee the confidentiality of the job.

“Well, while your assistant puts the papers together, let me tell you a story about this group of travelers I ran into last week. Oh, I didn't run into them by accident. No, I was following them to deliver a message to one of their number. Enough said about that. Trouble seemed drawn to these folks like crows to carrion. They followed a charismatic priest of Tymora. They called him ‘Luckbringer,’ and with good cause. I never saw him lose a wager.

“I finally caught up with this group at Thuwabalade, just across the Thunder Pass on the road to Highmoon. I delivered the message, then went out to meet my contact at a trading coster there. My friend at the coster told me about a bounty the local merchants were looking to put up to run a syndicate of thugs out of town. You see, a group of criminals, wearing black sashes, had descended on the town. They went from merchant to merchant, offering 'insurance' against the likes of themselves. Those who paid were rewarded with demands for more gold, while those who refused found beatings and arson awaiting them. The local constabulary was already stretched thin, what with a festival going on and the Dales Council descending on the town for emergency meetings.

“As for the sudden Council meeting, that’s anther story. I heard out my friend. Thinking of the party I had just met, and the dozens of bodies they had left in their wake across northern Cormyr and the Thunder Pass, I told my friend I might be able to put him in touch with a hardy band capable of running off these Black Sash bandits. We agreed that I would contact the adventurers, while he would confirm the bounty.

“These Black Sashes sounded like Iron Throne thugs to me, but the adventurers were eager to take on the gangsters. Seeing as how I had put them together with the bounty, and that the coming Dales Council had put an end to courier jobs heading out of Thuwabalade, I decided to accompany them on their mission to clean out the Black Sashes. There were seven of us, including myself. Now, I pride myself on my skill with a bow, but I’ve never shot at anything I didn’t intend to eat

“With a little reconnaissance we discovered that the bandits used the sewers to get around without detection. So we descended into the sewers. It didn’t take long to find a pair of the bandits, relaxing in misplaced security. To tell the truth, they were bathing, right there next to the flowing river of refuse. My six companions surrounded the poor saps, ready to dispense the most deadly justice. But I persuaded these Black Sash criminals to surrender to us and lead us to their hideout.

“Of course, the headquarters were above ground. Common thugs may be willing to wallow around in the sewers, but comfort is always foremost on the mind of a general. Even a general whose army is nothing more than a band of crooks. We let the two underlings who led us there go free. We’d put a real scare into them; I doubt they'll return to a life of crime anytime soon. The Black Sashes had set themselves up in an abandoned temple. We decided to split up and surround the compound. We would then strike from several sides, throwing their guards off balance and collapsing the defenses into the building.

“Led by as unlikely a pair of friends as you'll ever see, an Elf woodswoman and a Dwarf warmaid, half of our party approached the rear of the compound. They encountered a party of guards, which turned out to be the main force of defenders, and quickly compelled the surrender. Among their number was Celeste; we discovered that she was the concubine of Kade, the halfling leader of these thugs. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

“I and several others in the party, including the priest Luckbringer, made our sortie against the front door. There we discovered a nest of guardian harpies. Four of them, in fact, which was truly extraordinary. As you well know, harpies tend to nest in twos and threes, rarely more than that. These shrill beasts tried to work their singing magics on us, but I managed to talk them down to face us honorably. Then we poured our attacks into them without mercy, felling all four in seconds. Squint, a gnomic mancer in the party, ignited the dying harpies with incinerating flames. And I can say that no small number of my own arrows pierced the harpies’ fearsome hides.

“While the rest of my companions circled around to meet for a joint assault, I went straight up to the front door and let myself in. I found a room full of brigands sleeping off the effects of some uncouth revels, and carefully made my way to the back portico. It was there that I met the captured Celeste, and persuaded her to surrender to us. We subdued the sleeping gangsters and made our way upstairs to confront Kade.

“On the second floor, the Elf sorceress Sha’el subdued a room full of Black Sash criminals engaged in a gambling contest. The rest of us made our way to Kade’s private quarters, and there we found a room full of armed guards. The rakish Artemis, another of our band, unleashed a powerful magic on these foes: a hound of hell leaped forth from the ether and set upon our enemies. We compelled most of the guards to surrender, but Kade, who had shown himself and thrown his cowardly daggers at Artemis, turned and ran. Artemis followed Kade into the room beyond, and it was there that the halfling confirmed that he had established his gang at the behest of the Iron Throne.

“But still he wouldn't surrender, and continued to both attack and try to flee. He threw down flames behind himself, hoping to rally a counterattack, but Artemis simply jumped through the flames and drove home a killing blow against the master criminal.

“Thanks to the kind assistance of a local farm woman, who lent us the use of her mount, we returned quickly to town and called out the constabulary to gather up the prisoners we had captured.

“And that’s how a circle of seven defeated several times seven servants of darkness. For while we were seven, seven times seven dared not stand against us, nor made retreat while we lived. Seven comrades were we who were fearsome, seven mighty comrades from whom flight gave no protection, seven who would brook no evil.

“What? Oh, yes, your packet is ready. If you want this delivered to your business partner in Sembia, might I suggest that you employ a more secure code? A wax seal is easy enough to fake. For an additional premium, I’ll put your text into a code that none but your partner can read.”

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Released under the OGL and d20. Free to distribute.