May or June 1996
                       THE COMING OF THE ZIOTH
                              TURN ONE


   Once Ziedon had purchased his items and taken stock of the other
members that he has met up with, he decided to make a suggestion.
   A low grating sound emerged from within the confines of the black
hood.
   "Perhaps you all should move yourselves to a local inn or tavern and
see if there are any callings for a group of our caliaber..  I shall
endevour to see if there is a guild here where I can make such
inquiries..  You others, who belong to guilds, may wish to check there
as well to see if there are any suitable quests for us.  I wish to
travel and become quite wealthy and powerful, I do not think I can do
so in the square of this town.  I shall meet with you all at dusk at
yonder drinking place [Ziedon indicates the Red Eye Tavern on the other
side of the town square].  Good Hunting.."
   With that, Ziedon looked around briefly and then walked off, looking
for a town crier. Within ten minutes, he found one, who gave him a few
bits of interesting information. On that day, Dmerzig reached its
seventy-third year of independance from the Diure dynasty. The nations
of the north were soon to select a new emperor; King Diure LXIV was a
likely candidate. Sages predicted that Dmerzig would explode in a burst
of flame with the upcoming Zioth.
   Ziedon dwelled over these ideas for a while, and then decided to
look for a mage's guild, and information on how to put his newfound
companions to work. A guild he did not find, but work he did. A local
burgher was looking for adventurers to escort him to a nearby town and
protect him if nesesarry. Unfortunately, he was only willing to pay one
or two adventurers.
   Ziedon returned to his companions, and discussed the matter. This
new chance for adventure fed the wanderlust in each of them. After
minimal dispute, they all agreed to accept the job, no matter how
little their pay.
   Ziedon and the dwarf Brinn went to the burgher's home.
   Taking advantage of the burgher's haste, Ziedon convinced him that
all five adventurers should be brought along, as they did not require
extra pay and would be useful if battle was nesesarry. After a bit of
haggling, Ziedon extracted two hundred gold coins, to be paid on
arrival in Grenzig, a town two days' travel away.
   Brinn was elected temporary leader of the party. He was surprized at
the honor, but accepted it.
   They left immediately. Ardith had barely enough time to donate all
but twenty of her gold pieces to the local temple, in the name of
Andritha. The priest of the temple thanked her warmly, and it brought
happiness to Ardith's heart to know her gold had gone to benifiting the
poor of Dmerzig.
   The five adventurers climbed into the back of a wagon, and the
burgher sat next to its driver. The trip went smoothely for the several
hours until nightfall. The wagon rode on as long as it could, until it
was too dark to see the road. Even then, the burgher tried to continue,
but the driver would not. An argument took place, and the driver, who
was in a much better position to argue, as the burgher could not drive,
won.
   The adventurers helped drape a sheet over the top of the wagon, and
all seven of them sleped under it. Their packs and bags were used to
make a wall between men and woman, at Ardith's request.
   The next morning, their journey continued. No sooner had they
traveled twenty feet then a band of armed thieved bounded out of their
hiding places in the woods. Four of them threw a log in front of the
wagon, tripping the two horses and throwing the burgher and driver out.
The driver died in his fall. The momentum of the wagon pushed it
foreward, and it hit the horses, crippling them and shattering the
front wheels of the wagon.
   There were a dozen thieves surrounding the wagon by the time the
five adventurers could climb out...


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   Sorry, I had no time to edit this, so there might be some
not-so-elegant language. :)

   In your response to this post, each of you should again vote for
your top three choices of leaders (not including yourself). This will
be repeated every turn, so that no one will get bored and everyone will
have a chance to be leader. If a particular adventure is especially
suited to one of you, I might chose the leader for that turn. Remember:
if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or criticisms, please
tell me.