The Honorable Mayor Todd Silverbeard
Before Crosswald was Crosswald or Crosspath, it was the tiny farming village of Kilner's Green. Old Marny Kilner, the first settler at the spot, found the area quite conducive to farming. With resources on all sides it wasn't long before word spread of the fertile plain situated in the valley between the sea, mountains, forest and desert.
There were several farms already situated there when I arrived, amazed at the beauty of Kilner's Green. What had drawn me there was what had drawn me to any place - the prospect of trade. Being a merchant in those early days was a difficult business traveling between Bywater and its environs was both perilous and lucrative. But this place, this green, was enough to make a restless trader think of settling down.
On subsequent visits, I noticed the farmers using specialized farm implements for tilling the soil and clearing land. Unfamiliar were the designs, and when I asked them where they got them they told fabulous tales of Dwarves that lived beneath the earth and skittish Elves that might sell you things if you showed the proper respect for nature. I was completely taken in by the stories and decided to set up a trading post.
It wasn't long before I made the acquaintance of the Mud Dwarves that dwelled within the mountains to the southwest. Hardworking they were, but they held craftsmanship and durability to the highest esteem. It was from them that you could purchase the finest steel tipped plow in the land. My search for the Elves took me deep into the forest, as is their nature to stay concealed, but all cultures speak the language of wealth, and it was from them I bought my first delicate elven saw. Such a device you would not think capable of falling a tree, but it cuts like a sword through an ogre's hide.
My prosperity was ensured, and being the focal point of the trade in Kilner's Green, I became known to all. After hours, the trading post turned into a sort of tavern where the locals would come to have a pint and tell stories of the most fantastic. The one that stuck me as amazing was that of flaming men that lived in the desert. They were rumored to destroy any challengers but not attack ungoaded.
I gather up a few of the more adventuresome farmers and rode out into the desert in search of the rumor. We found no flaming men, but we did encounter a patrol of the Order of the Flame. They demanded to know what we were doing and made us swear allegiance to the local Lord. They seemed quite aggressive, but seeing I was only a merchant, they knew there was no honor in battling me. I did manage to secure a nice shipment of bluesteel daggers to sell at my post. It was the following day when a large regiment of soldiers approached with wagons and flags, saying they had much to sell, that there was money needed for a competition in their neighborhood. I needed no convincing, and added weapons to my stock.
It was around this time that the town grew so that it included many other merchants, some guards on my payroll and a tavern or two. There was the local blacksmith, brewer and herbalist as all towns had, but the thing it lacked was leadership. The original farmers, long since moved away from town centre, took up a vote to have me set up as local Lord. Not being a fighter myself, I begged them to reconsider, but seeing the whole town turn out in support of me, I took on the responsibilities of Mayor, and left the military to a good friend Sala, a former Order of the Flame commander. He had retired once he found a land of peace like Kilner's Green, bought a small unused barn and started up a training academy.
Kilner's Green became Crosspath as it grew, because that was how people referred to it. Kilner didn't resent it - he actually enjoyed the place not being named after him anymore. With the advent of government and military, Sala thought it prudent to send exploratory missions throughout the countryside to learn more about our neighbors. It was one of these missions out onto the sea that discovered the strange Servants of Water.
I don't pretend to understand their spiritual ways, but the potions the expedition brought back with them were more than enough to convince me we needed them as trading partners. It wasn't long before Crosspath possessed several potion shops for any kind of use you could imagine. From love potions to hair tonic, strength enhancers to sleeping drought, any could be purchased, provided you had the money for it.
It's saddening to remember this time of peace and prosperity that I had witnessed grow up in Crosspath over the five years I had lived there. It was at the end of that time that fights began to become the norm in taverns. They tended to be along racial lines, motivated by accusations that I did not fully understand at the time. There were reports of larger scale battles being fought across the countryside and to protect the town and all inside of it, I ordered construction of a wall around the town. This was greeted with skepticism, and even Sala questioned me motivation, but it was none to soon, for without it we would have been overrun in the ensuing war that broke out between the elements.
Walls were constructed by each domain to keep the other out, and most of the inhabitants of Crosswald, as it was now called, had moved back to their prospective domains. The strife that followed was impressive indeed, and if it hadn't been for that small band of warriors that Sala had found to help protect the city, there would be nothing left.
Former Order of Flame Soldier Hanson Strongarm
I met up with the adventurers when they came to my fort in the desert. I had been ordered to remain there by a Lord who subsequently disappeared. I found out later that it was Sala, but he told me that he had dismissed all of his soldiers before he retired. Nobody notified me.
So they came and found me and I decided it would be better to go with them, then starve at some empty boring fort. I didn't realize at the time that they were on such an important quest or that there was so much going on. I had only been to Crosswald once or twice to accompany a trade caravan or something and it was exciting to travel to each of the elemental domains.
After meeting the then ruined Todd Silverbeard (he had been kicked out of office when the whole war started) it was up to us to get the elemental lords to come together and begin some peace talks. I was skeptical, but the group managed to do it. Don't tell me how, but they did. Being a former member of the Order of the Flame, I was most impressed how they got a hold of a Brightblade. We actually got to meet the Lord of Flame, which was a true honor, though getting there was rather difficult.
Down with the Mud Dwarves, deep in their caverns, I don't know how long we walked around the Crystal Emperor's stupid labyrinth. That thing must go all the way to the underworld. But when we finally found him, he was the nicest of the lords, giving us a horn to call together the lords and telling us he'd help in any way he could.
I wasn't with the group when they me with the Wisp, the master of the Green Elves of the Wood. There was big time magic involved, and they tell me they had to fly to get there, thought I'm not sure if I believe it. We saw some pretty wild stuff, but I don't know. I also didn't witness the visit to the Enlightened One of the Servants of Water, but they said they had to do this big ritual to see it.
To make a short story shorter, they found everybody and convinced them to meet at Crosswald. They climbed the tower, blew the horn, and they all came together. It was quite a spectacle. All these immensely powerful beings in once place! They got to talking and realized they had been set up. The Chromatic Dragon, Chromos, had pretty much played them all like a lute, pitting them against each other. Right after this realization there was a fight of such power that I ran and hid in the stables under a pile of hay. I saw the magic bolts of the Wisp and fire of the Lord of Flame consume the dragoon army that had been sent by Chromos. Talk about dragonfear! Sheesh.
But I survived and things quieted down for a while after that.
Master Mage Zan Ghostbeard
Six months after the battle of the dragons in Crosswald, more dragons were seen in areas that had never witnessed their power. It was quite disturbing, and seeing what I could, I knew it was now time to strike. Luckily, I did not have to reveal my vision, as the same group of adventurers grew weary of city life and were sent to scout and see what they could discover about Chromos.
In the time between the battle of the dragons and the leaving of the heroes, much had happened. Foremost, the Lord of Flame had been slain. Ambushed by ice dragons on the way home from the summit she slew dozens of them but was eventually overcome. Entombed under her previous castle, all in the Order of Flame and the other elements as well, mourned. Soon after the Order of Flame split, warriors clamoring for power as they always have and always will. Three so called Kings emerged, Henry, William and Charles, who each proclaimed to be King of the domain of fire.
In their search for adventure, the heroes were asked by Mayor Silverbeard to end the civil war, mostly because it was hurting trade I suspect. But the heroes succeeded either by wiles or force, to dispatch the three kings. Then, to pay homage to the fallen Lord of Flame, they paid their respects at the tomb. Met by an angry spirit of the Lord, they were appalled and amazed. It demanded revenge, and re invigorated by hate and lust for revenge, the Lord and slain followers were resurrected by claiming the bodies of some still loyal followers. As I watched in my orb, I was amazed at the display of power.
After that event, with the Lord vowing revenge, the hunt was on to find the lair of Chromos. It was then that I met the heroes and told them it was folly to face a dragon army with specialized weapons and armor. In their search for components they met up with the lizard people, one of the few civilized in habitants of the mire. There is not much there except swamp and acid spitting slime blobs, but the lizard people seem to prosper. With their help, they acquired the necessary components and battled their way through a narrow mountain pass guarded by dragons, finally coming to a piece of land isolated from the path by an acid lake.
Having found the lair, they hurried home and tried to convince Silverbeard to give them more resources for a final strike, but unwilling to dispense his already scarce resources the adventurers went home empty handed. I did manage, however, to secure help from many various peoples near Crosswald to aid in the destruction of Chromos. After returning home, it was moments after they began a long recuperation from their trip, that a Demon Assassin materialized and made a frenzied attempt on the heroes life. They dispatched it, though not without trouble, and decided then and there, that an army must go against Chromos. Teaming up with the Lord of Flame, the lizard people and my ragtag group, we set out on a final do or die mission.
As for the genesis of Chromos, I am the only one who knows. Alas, there were seven great wizards who drew together from all over the Realmz to tame dragonkind. The plan was to create such a dragon, under our control, that could master all others and contain their greatest attributes. We succeeded in the combination, but in that joining, the beast gained such intelligence that it escape our magical prison.
Soon after, members of that group began being murdered. It was a slow process, methodically planned, until I was the only one remaining. I fear something special is in store for me, begin the greatest and last of the seven. But such is my lot. I have been curse by many for the creation of the Chromatic Dragon, but I regret nothing. From mistakes come knowledge, from success comes pride, but few people understand.
King of the Lizard People Yar Hazar (translated by Zan Ghostbeard)
Now is the time to ride ourselves of the dragon menace. Allied with the Order of Flame, with the might of Zan Ghostbeard and his allies, and with the indefatigable heroes of Crosswald, we will strike at Chromos and strike hard. The dragon armies have descended on Crosswald and the surrounding domains to finish the plan of destruction that was foiled by the heroes. We will not take this laying down. We will NOT! We will fight back, fight until there is nothing left of the Chromatic Dragon but dust and blood.
With the location of Chromos' lair known, our army cannot and will not fail. Though the outcome is uncertain, we will either defeat the terror of Chromos, or die looking it in the eye.