Heroes of the Vale

Written by Jerall Toi
Illustrated by Matt Meyer

With Forgegrinder’s fifth automaton on the loose, the chance of outside help arriving shrinks with every passing day. Despite finding themselves in this seemingly impossible situation, there are a few from within the Hidden Vale willing to take action. Brave individuals, from the humblest of beginnings, now set out to find a way, from within, to reconnect the Vale with the outside world.

Forgegrinder’s Apprentice

You’ve always had a talent for magic and the arcane, even though the Vale didn’t provide much opportunity to practice it. You considered Forgegrinder’s arrival as the best thing to ever happen to your secluded home town, despite the tragic turn of events. Though he never accepted you formally as his apprentice, he often managed to purposefully not notice you when you peered through his window or looked over his shoulder. On occasion, he would even absent-mindedly leave the occasional book or pile of notes just where you would find them.

Forgegrinder’s death wasn’t easy for you to process, but you know that he wouldn’t want you to spend your days moping around. Now, you are the only one in the Vale that has a hope of understanding any of his writings. You may not be as skilled or as experienced as Forgegrinder, but your natural talent, sharp mind and Forgegrinder’s collection of books and notes might be enough to help solve the Vale’s automaton problem.

You have no formal training or education, but rather than letting it hinder you, you embrace it. This allows you a freedom of thought that manifests as an insightful, out-of-the-box problem-solving ability not readily found amongst the thought-blinkered formally educated.

Forgegrinder’s books and notes are an invaluable source of information and you’ve managed to retain some of that knowledge. However, there’s simply too much for you to absorb. Thankfully, you’ve managed to puzzle out the Warsmith’s convoluted indexing system. With enough time and access to his texts, you can answer nearly any question pertaining to Forgegrinder’s areas of expertise.

In your backpack, you might find: enough scrap and spares to make minor field repairs to mechanical objects; an improvised warsmith’s toolkit; a selection of Forgegrinder’s notes; and an unlabeled flask of oil taken from a crate under Forgegrinder’s bed.

The Merchant

For as long as you can remember, you’ve been traveling with your uncle and his merchant caravan. His long and winding route would bring you to the hidden vale once a year, during the late spring when the mountain passes were easier to traverse. Your uncle would trade spices, medicinal herbs and poultices, and various luxury items for furs, hides and other produce and products unique to the Vale. Normally, your uncle would only spend a week, maybe two, in the vale. This time, however, you find yourself trapped there, first by marauding soldiers and then by Forgegrinder’s automatons.

Since you’re not used to staying in one place for too long, you now direct your energies towards finding a way out of the Vale. You have learned much on your travels, some of which may prove handy when trying to find a way out of the Vale.

You are no stranger to combat, though you lack any formal training. You’ve needed to defend the caravan, on more than one occasion, against brigands, wild beasts and other dangers of the road.

Watching and working with your uncle has taught you a lot about the power of words. You know how to talk your way past a corrupt guard post, interpret the dangerous legalese of contracts and, perhaps most importantly, dazzle and inspire others – especially potential buyers.

In your backpack, you might find: forged writs of passage through the war-torn lands surrounding the Vale; your lucky coin; a small bag of salt; and a copy of a treasure map, detailing an area that seems very similar to the Hidden Vale.

The Shepherd

The mountains surrounding the Vale can be a dangerous place – especially for a hapless sheep. Looking back on your short life, you realize that most of your martial skill developed through the games you played as a child of a mountain shepherd, and was refined through defending your father’s herd from predators, both mundane and fantastic. You, and your loyal dog, have successfully fended off wild mountain cats, large raptors and the mysterious cave-dwelling beasts of the night.

Though initially wary of the Dwarven Warsmith, Forgegrinder quickly won you over with his various tools and gadgets that made everything, from shearing sheep to getting a scared lamb out of a tight crevice, easier. Now, however, you realize that your original suspicions were well placed.

You are at home in the rough terrain of the mountainside. Despite your size, you are able to move with surprising grace and speed amongst the jagged rocks and slippery slopes. Your ability to navigate through the mountains will surely prove valuable in finding an alternate route to the outside world.

A trained warrior may say that your fighting style seems wild and desperate, but then, how many trained warriors are used to fighting against the dangers of the wild mountainside. Besides, anybody would be desperate, if they had to face your father after losing one of his flock.

In your backpack, you might find: a small musical instrument; a warm, waterproofed blanket; a length of rope; and a tooth from the mountain cat that took one of your fingers (one day, you’ll get that cat).

Heroes of the Vale by Nevermet Press is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.nevermetpress.com/contact.