It seems to me that he is staring into the very depths of my soul in Larry Elmore's depiction. The DragonLance Legends Trilogy is an amazing piece of work. Although some Death Gate Cycle fans may disagree, I feel that Weis and Hickman were at their best when they wrote the Chronicles and Legends. Those books have always been at the heart of my love for role playing. I don't really know when I became a gamer. Suspension of disbelief has always been very appealing to me. Even as a child, I got a great deal of pleasure from sitting under my favourite oak tree in my parent's yard and escaping into an unknown world of an author's creation. Initially, my interest in role playing games probably stemmed from a negative source. I wanted a clean slate, where I could remove all the deficiencies I saw in myself. However, one of the best claims that role playing games can make, in my opinion, concerns their ability to grow with the people who enjoy them. As I grew, gaining more self confidence, I found the games filling a different, although equally important, niche in my life. The freedom of choice, to be able to live your dreams, is at the heart of every explorer. With role playing games, the frontiers I explore are inside me. All my angels, all my demons, are free to live.

In case you are interested, here is where my interest lies with regard to campaign settings.

	White Wolf's Vampire The Masquerade
	White Wolf's Wraith The Oblivion
	TSR's Ravenloft
	TSR's DragonLance    the setting of a campaign I ran a number of years ago.
	TSR's Dark Sun

I came across this character profile some time ago. I decided to add it, in case any neighbours or guests are interested. At a later date, I plan to gather all the significant personalities that have graced my campaigns in the past into a heap and pick the cream of the crop, so to speak. Until then, this will have to do.

Last modified: April 20, 1998

bag_end@geocities.com

Many thanks to my contributors.

The background of a DragonLance campaign I ran a number of years ago.

This campaign begins in 213 AC to the east of the Seeker Lands on the Abanasinian Continent. The party consists of five characters. Layne Rainberg, a cavalier from a noble family in Tantallon, Regar Cain, an invoker under the tutelage of Artemis Montague, Alaradon, a half-elven multi-class mage/thief who studied under the same archmage, Tage Goblinbane, a ranger from Solace, and Tyral Roenick, a noble warrior in the service of Lord Curston of Tantallon, comprise the party.

Layne and Regar have been companions since childhood, having both grown up in Tantallon. The relationship was approved by both parents since Regar showed a healthy respect for the upper class and was quite a prodigy. Tyral and Layne are acquaintances of a few years who respect each others skills in combat.

Alaradon was born in northern Qualinesti to an elven mother and a human father. His father, a native of Solace, decided that the prejudice of the elves would tear his family apart if they remained in Shrivost. Making the hardest decision of his life, he left Alaradon with Tage's parents in Solace, long time friends of his, and fled with his wife from the continent. Tage followed in his father's footsteps, learning the ways of the forest. Alaradon felt he never really belonged in Solace, and tended to drift off by himself as a child.

When Alaradon was eleven, he discovered that the Archmage Artemis was coming to Tantallon to look for new students, and he realized that he could never be satisfied with life in Solace. Leaving on a merchant's wagon the next morning, Alaradon would spend most of the next decade studying hard with dreams of a larger goal to sustain him. He decided that he would return to Solace when he was a mage. He thought that the self respect he would gain in Tantallon would make it easier to live with his peers in Solace. However, Tage's father died with many others defending Solace in a savage attack initiated by the humanoids of the region two years later. When Alaradon did return home, it was with shoulders weighed down by feelings of guilt. And so, when Tage decided to leave to see the world, Alaradon promised his companionship to satisfy his unspoken debt to the family.

Alaradon and Regar were educated together in Tantallon under the Archmage Artemis Montague. There was some healthy competition among them for the instructor's favor, however, Regar's natural talent quickly set him apart. A respect and appreciation for each other's skills developed, and they became friends. Alaradon has always secretly feared and, at the same time, coveted Regar's ability, while Regar has never been able to completely suppress his natural prejudices. Such details have kept them from becoming close, but have not affected their travelling together adversely.

The four travelled east from Tantallon in late Aelmont with a written message for the mayor of Sturmheim, a settlement on the eastern coast of Abanasinia. Heavy snowfall resulted in the party passing Melinir, a town between the two points, and therefore being unable to restore their supplies. Death from starvation and frostbite was narrowly avoided and the message arrived safely.

Now the campaign begins with the PC's adjusting their return course in the hopes of encountering Melinir. Having been detained by drills conducted under Sergeant Ulmos Coffman's attentive eye, Tyral agreed to follow his companions in two days time. The weather has improved greatly by this time, and so Tyral finds himself in Melinir, alone, and with no information as to the whereabouts of his friends. After an uneventful week of scouting, he is again reunited with his companions, who fill him in on their unplanned detour.

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