Author: Dargarth

By: Dargarth
(used with permission)

Once, long ago, Lord Dorag was a young and powerful knight in the service of King Belvor. Dorag was the Champion of Furyondy and won all the King's tournaments; defeating knights of renown from as far away as the Great Kingdom and Keoland. So great was Dorag's prowess that King Belvor made Dorag his personal champion and named him the "Lance of Furyondy". As time went by, the two men became good friends; so close in fact that King Belvor ignored advise from the Noble Council if Lord Dorag deemed it unsound. Lord Dorag became King Belvor's most trusted advisor and dearest confidant.

After a few years, it was decided by the Noble Council that King Belvor should take a wife. An heir was needed and the nearly forty year old King had shown no interest in women, or any other activity that did not deal with warfare or tactical studies. Bowing to pressure from the Noble Council, King Belvor agreed to marry the Lady Roshelle of Dyvers; a virgin beauty of twenty that had been taken from her home in Willip and schooled in the finer arts in Dyvers.

King Belvor, unable to go to Dyvers to bring back Lady Roshelle himself due to the tension between Furyondy and its former capital, sent Lord Dorag in his stead. Upon King Belvor's command, Lord Dorag immediately left Chendl with his personal retainers to serve as escort, protector, and honor guard for the future Queen of Furyondy. When Lord Dorag arrived in Dyvers, he marched to the gates with the arrogance of a great knight. Dorag entered the City with his twenty men-at-arms each carrying two standards upon their lances: The pennant of Furyondy and the emblem of the Golden Lance, Lord Dorag's personal standard. Without hesitation, Lord Dorag paraded his knights through Dyvers and directly to the estate of Lady Roshelle. This, of course, infuriated the Magistrate and Nobles of Dyvers, but Lord Dorag did not care.

Upon Lord Dorag's first glance at the Lady Roshelle, his heart was sundered. Lady Roshelle was the most beautiful woman Lord Dorag had ever seen, and he immediately fell madly in love with the fiancée of his best friend and King. All thoughts of loyalty, chivalry, and friendship were washed away by his burning desire to have the Lady Roshelle as his own.

The twenty-five day trip from Dyvers to Chendl was the canvas upon which Lord Dorag would paint his picture of love to Lady Roshelle. At first Lady Roshelle was resistant to Lord Dorag's charms, but it did not take long for him to wear down her resolve. After all, Lord Dorag was a young and powerful knight; the Lance of Furyondy. King Belvor, on the other hand, seemed old to the young woman, and the tales of his disinterest in anything non-warlike were well known. Three days from Chendl, Lady Roshelle succumbed to Lord Dorag's charms and took him to her bed. Their union was not very discrete, and the next day everyone in the camp knew what had transpired between the Lord and Lady. So powerful was Lord Dorag's love that he intended to ride into Chendl and ask King Belvor for Lady Roshelle's hand in marriage.

Three days, and three nights, later the honor guard rode into Chendl and directly to the King's Palace. King Belvor and the Noble Council were awaiting the party on the steps. Lord Dorag quickly dismounted, saluted his King and friend, and then went back to the carriage to escort his beloved to the King. Lord Dorag had all the confidence in the world that King Belvor would grant him Lady Roshelle's hand.

When Lady Roshelle stepped from the carriage, she quickly pushed Lord Dorag's assistance away and regally strode forward to greet King Belvor and the rest of the Noble Council. Lady Roshelle walked directly to King Belvor, gave him her most regal bow, and then gave him the same smile that had sundered Lord Dorag's heart. King Belvor, overcome with emotion, quickly knelt in front of Lady Roshelle and declared his undying love for her. Only Lord Dorag saw the malicious smirk on Lady Roshelle's face.

Overcome with emotion, Lord Dorag excused himself from his King and retired to his chambers. For five days he would allow none to enter, not even King Belvor. On the sixth day, Lord Dorag left his chambers and marched off to talk to King Belvor. He found the king in the map room contemplating what to do about the land of Iuz to the north. Lord Dorag saw a change in his friend that he had not expected. King Belvor beamed with happiness and good cheer. It was quite obvious that the King had fallen under the seductive spell of Lady Roshelle and was deeply in love with her. Lord Dorag was about to blurt out his misgivings about the Lady, but then thought better of it. If Belvor was happy with Roshelle then he should have her.

Lord Dorag knew that he could not face Lady Roshelle. He was still emotionally distraught and did not know if he would renounce her or demand her love. Looking down at the table, Lord Dorag noticed that the King was planning on setting up a keep in the northern border town of Izlen. Seeing this as an opportunity to continue serving Belvor, as well as putting distance between himself and Lady Roshelle, Lord Dorag agreed to take his company to the north and become the guardian of the northern passage.

Things went well for the next few years. King Belvor and Queen Roshelle appeared to be happily married, and in time Roshelle gave birth to a fine baby boy which they traditionally named Thrommel. Lord Dorag, isolated at Izlen with his loyal men-at-arms, repelled numerous assaults by humanoid forces, and the Kingdom prospered during this time. King Belvor often wondered why his dearest friend never returned to Chendl, but was content in the knowledge that Lord Dorag was defending the kingdom.

It was at that time that the rumors began to circulate through the nobility and the palace. One of Queen Roshelle's serving maids let slip to a guardsman the information of the infidelity of Queen Roshelle with Lord Dorag. The guardsman told his companions, and in a matter of weeks the news finally reached the King's ear. At first the King did not believe the rumors. Dorag was his dearest friend and Roshelle was his beloved wife. The idea that either of them would betray their loyalty and duty was preposterous to Belvor and he dismissed the speculations. In time the rumors, and the rumormongers, grew bolder and King Belvor had to do something to set the minds of his people at ease. Calling upon Archbishop Davin Blethod, the High priest of Cuthbert, King Belvor demanded that his wife declare her virtue before not only the High priest of the God of Truth, but also the assembled nobles of the city. Queen Roshelle declared her innocents before the assembly and thought that her impassioned speech had succeeded until she saw the tears in Archbishop Blethod's eyes.

King Belvor was outraged at his wife's premarital infidelity and had her imprisoned in the dungeon. Belvor then sent word to Lord Dorag that he must return to Chendl and face a trial of honor to expose his lack of Chivalry and disloyalty to his King and Country. The messenger King Belvor sent to Izlen returned with a grim reply stating that Lord Dorag had surrendered his holdings to the witch Iggwilv, mother of Iuz, and that his lands were now part of the kingdom of Iuz.

With the aid of a dozen renegade knights, Queen Roshelle was able to escape the dungeon. Roshelle's forces made an attempt to kidnap Thrommel from his wet-nurse and guard, but it failed. It was at this time that Queen Roshelle exposed her ruse and revealed herself as the witch Iggwilv. If not for the timely arrival of a young group of wizards led by Karzalin, Iggwilv would have succeeded in the kidnapping of her infant son. Seeing her opportunity to get Thrommel destroyed, Iggwilv and her bastard knights slipped away into the night.

King Belvor immediately sent scouts. Their reports were that a vast force of humanoids had taken up residence in and around Izlen. King Belvor's war counsel decided that a military confrontation would be of no benefit to the Kingdom and would cost thousands of lives. King Belvor was so outraged that Lord Dorag had managed to side-step justice that he decreed that the name of Dorag was to be stricken from all records in the Kingdom of Furyondy, and that his name was never to be mentioned again.

In time Lord Dorag would become one of the greatest enemies of Furyondy, but his evil deeds would never be as painful to King Belvor as was learning the true nature of his beloved wife and Queen.

Lord Dorag, the Spear of Iuz (Hero Stats)

Val Characteristic Cost 19 Strength 13 14 Dexterity 12 15 Constitution 10 16 Body 14 15 Intelligence 5 13 Ego 6 18 Presence 8 12 Comeliness 1 6 Physical Defense 2 3 Energy Defense 0 4 Speed 16 7 Recovery 0 30 Endurance 0 40 Stun 6

Characteristic Rolls: STR: 13-, DEX: 12-, CON: 12-, INT: 12-, EGO: 12-, PER: 12-

Run: 6", Swim: 2", Jump: 4", Lift: 665 lbs. Cost Powers END/Roll 35 Spells of Iuz @ = Granted: -1/2,

Incantation: -1/4, Full Phase: -1/2, Concentrate 1/2 DCV: -1/4, Var. Limitation: 2x end or OIF symbol: -1/4 9 Lifebane; @: -2¼ 2d6 Energy Blast; Range: 150;

Continuous: +1; No Normal Defense: +1 3 7 False Image; @: -2¼ Images (Normal Sight, 2" radius); Range: 120; Observer PER Penalty: -3, +9 2 6 Turnbane; @: -2¼ 8d6 Mind Control;

Communication: Verbal, +0; Undead Only: -1 4 8 Crushing Burden; @: -2¼; Target must be wearing armor: -½ 2d6 Drain Strength (Return/turn); Range: 150; Ranged: +½ 3 5 Iuz's Blessing; @: -2¼ 3d6 Healing (Fade/turn, Max. 18) 1 Cost Skills, Talents, Perks Roll 10 Human Package (1) AK: Furyondy; EM: -1 11- (0) KS: Furyondy Customs; EM: -1 8- (2) KS: Furyondy History; EM: -1 12- (3) PS: Painbringer; EM: -2 14- 4 Ferrond Language (1) Ferrond (Native Accent); Literate: +1 (2) Aerdi (Completely Fluent w/accent); Literate: +1; DL: -2 (1) Velondi (Fluent Conv.); Literate: +1; DL: -2 (0) Ancient Oeridian (Basic Conv.); DL: -1 11 Iuzian Package (2) AK: Iuz 11- (3) KS: Laws of Iuz 12- (1) KS: Iuz Customs 8- 3 Euroz Language (3) Euroz (Completely Fluent w/accent) (0) Kell (Basic Conv.); DL: -1 (0) Urzen (Basic Conv.); DL: -1 (2) Tanar'ri Language (Fluent Conv.) 52 Knight Package 20 Knight Fighting Style; Swords: +1; Lances: +1; Spear: +1 (3) Combat Strike (OCV +1, DCV +0, 5½d6) (5) Destructive Strike (OCV -2, DCV +1, 7½d6) (5) Jousting Strike (OCV +1, DCV +0, 3½d6+v/5) (4) High Saddle (OCV +0, DCV +0, STR 33) (3) Breakfall 12- (3) Bureaucratics 13- (3) High Society 13- (3) KS: Heraldry 12- (2) KS: Etiquette 11- (1) KS: Order of the Hart 8- (3) Oratory 13- (3) PERK: Knight (3) Riding 12- (5) Tactics 13- (2) WF: Common Melee (1) WF: Lances 15 Iuzian Paladin Package (3) KS: Iuz's Religion 12- (3) KS: Iuz's Enemies 12- (3) PERK: Paladin (6) +3 level w/Spears 30 +6 level w/HTH Combat 50+ Disadvantages 5 Age (40+) 10 Dark Secret (Major) 10 DF: Knight; Concealable 10 ENR: When treated dishonorably (11-, 11-); Common 20 HUN: Knights of the Hart (11-); AP, NCI: Extensive 20 HUN: Sir Anstin Silvermist (11-); AP, NCI: Extensive 15 PSY: Hatred of Belvor (Common, Strong) 10 PSY: Code of Chivalry (Common, Moderate) 10 PSY: Vengeful (Uncommon, Strong) 15 REP: Spear of Iuz (11-, Extreme) 10 RIV: All Furyondian Knights; Position: Superior 10 Vow (Honor to Iuz) (Major) 15 WAT: Church of Iuz (14-); MP, NCI: Extensive

Weapons Lance of Furyondy (2½d6K, OCV: +0); DC: 7; STUNx: 0; STR Min: 13; Weight: 2.20; Long weapon Medium Spear (2d6K, OCV: -1); DC: 5; STUNx: 0; STR Min: 10; Weight: 1.70; 1½ Handed Dagger (1d6+1K, OCV: +1); DC: 2; STUNx: 0; STR Min: 8; Weight: .40; Can Be Thrown

Equipment Weapons Large Shield (DCV +3); Weight: 7; STR Min: 15; STR Min: 18 Armor Full Helm (3-5) 6 DEF; Weight: 0.47 Corselet (9-15) 6 DEF; Weight: 6.95 Gauntlets (6-7) 6 DEF; Weight: 1.16 Greaves (16-17) 6 DEF; Weight: 0.42 Shoes (18) 1 DEF; Weight: 0.01 -2 DCV and 1 End per turn OCV: 5; DCV: 5; ECV: 4; Mental Def.: 0; Phases: 4, 8, 12 COSTS: Char.: 93 Disadv.: 160 Powers: + 153 Base: + 50 Exp.: + 36 Total: = 246 Total: = 246

Height: 6'4", Weight: 255 lbs, Sex: Male, Age: 56,

Race: Human of Oeridian Stock