Four novice adventurers are hired by the Protectors' Guild to investigate the deaths of several workers in the infamous Stillmire Swamp. A simple investigation turns into an adventure that leads to mysteries and dangers beyond their experiences.
- Morganna: A newly graduated Gray Robe mage with a strong will, a short
temper, and a disregard for good, evil, or any kind of balance between
them. Haunted by a strange need for adventure,
she put together a strange group of adventurers - a boastful
male cleric, a gentle female novice ranger, and a quite possibly dangerous gnome
illusionist.
Lance: A cleric of Thor with a natural tendency toward good and lawfulness. Once a slave, he abhors the practice, as well as anyone who enslaves others. Already assigned duties within his chuch, he is puzzled to find himself signing up a the Protectors' Guild and joining an apparently quite disorganized novice mage, a very shy and quite lovely novice ranger, and a very strange and quite possibly insane gnome.
- Giovanna: A ranger without a land to call her own. Shy and
quiet, with a deep fear of
taking risks. She grew up and took training in the mountains, and thought she was
just passing through the lowlands on her way to find her own
highland stomping grounds, but she signed up a the Protectors' Guild on an
odd whim, and on an even odder whim, joined a strong willed
female Gray mage, an overbearing but attractive male cleric, and
a strangely bizarre and slightly frightening gnome illusionist.
- Frizzle: A gnome illusionist, and secretly a thief, who seems to embody chaos. He uses his nimble fingers to their utmost, whether casting spells, picking locks, or conducting torture. He found himself alone in Thule, in need of friends and an income, so he joined the Protectors' Guild one day, and immediately chose to join a domineering but strangely alluring female Gray Robe mage, an indecisive and rude male cleric of a questionable deity, and an incredibly timid and frail female ranger.
No sooner have the four oddly matched adventurers assembled together when the Protectors' Guild sends them to investigate the grisly deaths of several workers in the Stillmire Swamp. Their investigation leads them to a dangerous creature within the marshes. There they discover an abandoned tower deeper within the swamp. Exploring it, they find themselves outnumbered by undead and are forced to retreat. They return, more prepared, and are eventually victorious against the horde of undead. But ridding the tower of its unsavory residents is only the beginning. Soon they find the tower holds more adventure and mysteries than fits within its walls: such as the strange device hanging in the center of the ground-floor ceiling; that there are no stairs leading upward, yet from the outside they can see there are windows high in the tower; and once they reach the the top floor, they learn that it contains the strangest mysteries and biggest dangers of all - and is only the beginning.
Anxious to explore the vast areas the tower gives them access to, they must first protect the secret of the tower from the greedy powers in Thule and a Black Robe mage who would take it from them, even if they have to do so over their dead bodies.
Of course, things don't just happen on their own, someone - or something - has to cause them to happen. Who or what brought these four very different adventurers together and is manipulating their fates? And why?
The question isn't, "Can they survive?" it's "Can their world survive?"
Available in a variety of formats and from several outlets:
Amazon
5.06" x 7.81" trade paperback:
Createspace publishing by Amazon
Kindle:
Amazon Kindle store
Lulu
4.25" x 6.88" pocketbook paperback
PayHip
Kindle: Kindle
EPUB: Ebook
PDF: PDF
Word document:
Word
Smashwords
Kindle, Epub, PDF, Word, RTF, online reader:
Smashwords