January 1st - 5th, 570:

Argent departs Pyris City and arrives in Timberline.

Argent departs Timberline and arrives in High Guard.

Argent leaves High Guard and arrives in Elcadan by days end. She makes it to the High Road Inn and meets up with Lyra Stinson again. The two share dinner at the Inn. Its night time by the time they are ready to depart for the Sallavarian Estate. Thugs approach the two women, but Lyra stops them with a Sleep Spell. Lyra then teleports Argent directly to the Estate instead of riding at night. Argent is understandably shocked by all of this, but that wasn't the biggest shock of all. Lyra reveals that she is really Jallarzi and explains her reasoning to Argent. Argent reluctantly agrees with Jallarzi's reasoning, even if it was an annoying trip. En route to the main house, Argent meets Jallarzi's familiar Edwina. Reaching the main house, Argent meets Sherwood properly and a party of adventures accompanying him. These include Shaunil, Jallarzi's first apprentice, Neiron, an elfin ranger/Priest of Ehlonna, the dwarven warrior Durkin Trollcrusher, the ranger Sharantyr, Rufus, a halfling finder, and Killian Thalamar, a rogue and Priest of Tymora. Argent is shown to her room and meets Kharyna of Mystra, Jallarzi's other apprentice. Kharyna is of Alphatian descent and speaks the common language with an accent. Shaunil comes up to Argent's room while she is getting to know Kharyna better. Shaunil reveals that Sherwood has learned a clue about the location of Thiondar Nightstar, an ancient elfin mage. The adventurers that Sherwood has gathered is going off to find him. Argent turns in after a very long day for a good night's sleep.

GM Notes:

The High Road Inn was the starting point for players in the Borderlands game. Its literally the first building on the north side of the High Road when you reach Elcadan. Gottman runs the Inn. As noted in the Swords of Cynalon story, the Inn and indeed all the Inns that Argent stayed at on her trip are owned by the Sallavarian Family. Its a great source of information about new adventurers and they are places that those working for Sharadin, Sherwood or Jallarzi can use. Those three can use all of these Inns as a teleportation destination. Oh, and Gottman was promoted over the years. During the Swords of Cynalon story Nightmist noted that Gottman was the a young lad working in the Inn's stables.

One of the other things I did in preparation for Argent's Adventures was to actually design the Sallavarian Estate. If you go back to all the times that it appeared in New Frontiers it was vaguely described with some unnamed staff. I now actually have a map for it and I used Argent's Adventures to describe it and some of the more important staff.

This also seemed like a good place to set up Sherwood's quest that gained him Lifeshield. With the exception of Killian, all the other adventures with Sherwood were NPC's from his game. Shaunil became Jallarzi's first apprentice, while Sherry and Terry and the next two before Kharyna. Argent was fifth, Kylie sixth, and there is a brand new one named Tinuel, who was mentioned in Tower of Magic #1 - Kharyna. Sherwood's quest added something interesting to happen during this part of Argent becoming familiar with the Sallavarian Estate.

Argent begins her first day at the Sallavarian Estate. After breakfast she is fitted for clothes and shoes. After lunch, Jallarzi gives Argent a tour of the estate. Out behind the house, Argent is nearly run over by Farthon, installing a great dislike of the griffon in the Invoker. After that, Jallarzi shows Argent the small tower she trains mages in and gives her the texts she'll need to learn magic.

Argent begins her study of magic at the Sallavarian Estate.

GM Notes:

I have written some of the first chapter of Book 2 of Argent's Adventures, but its not finished as of yet. Book 1 was called Travels and Trials, as it was what she did. Endure trials and did a lot of traveling. Book 2 is called The Apprentice and this is where she will learn magic. It will also give me a good excuse to delve deeply into how using mage magic works in this world. Book 2 will also focus on Argent's and Kharyna's friendship. Argent's Biography will outline what happens to her during this year. This information is reproduced below and essentially covers what Argent did for the rest of this year:

While trying to learn the magical script, Argent settled into her role here at the estate. In the mornings she would work in the kitchen and then train in the afternoons. She started out by peeling potatoes, a task she found to be menial. Her hands were cut and sore after her first morning at work because she was unfamiliar with that sort of labor. Between that and her inability to pass Mystra's test, Argent started to get frustrated and was on the verge of leaving when Jallarzi suggested that everything here was just another test and that she was letting her emotions get the best of her. She just needed to step back, take a deep breath and think.

On her way back to her room, Argent passed the outside patio area. It was a cold night and it was snowing. Kharyna was outside without a coat on and just wearing her priestess robes, seemingly just enjoying the snow fall on her. Puzzled and amazed by this, Argent grabbed her coat and joined her fellow apprentice outside.

The two chatted for a long time and Kharyna revealed her story to Argent. How she grew up in the land of Everwinter and came to become a Priestess of Auril, the Goddess of Cold. In time, Kharyna realized the evil she was serving and destroyed the artifact the Cold Maiden was using to lock Everwinter into a perpetual winter. After that, Kharyna was accepted into Mystra's priesthood and upon doing so restored her ability to not feel the cold. The snow reminded Kharyna of home and the cold never bothered her. The two grew closer after the long talk and would eventually become close friends.

Kharyna's tale allowed Argent to forget about her own troubles for a time. It allowed her to step back, as Jallarzi had suggested, and view things from a fresh perspective. When she returned to her room, the magical text seemed to make some measure of sense to her. Argent guessed that she was trying to hard to learn it instead of letting just come naturally to her.

Starting the next day, Argent took a new approach to her training and started to look for solutions to her problems instead of being frustrated by them. Instead of using a paring knife to peel potatoes, she used a cantrip that allowed her to peel just by using her hands. That solution worked very well and that humbling task was never again a big inconvenience. In time Argent started to appreciate working in the kitchen and started to learn how to properly cook.

Jallarzi would lecture Argent in the afternoons on a wide variety of subjects. In time, Jallarzi revealed that learning how to cook was part of her approach to training. While not identical, there were similar procedures between the two. So learning one would help with the other. Not long after this, the method of reading magic came into sharp focus in Argent's mind. Realizing that she know had the ability to read spells, Argent recorded her very first spell into her book: Read Magic.

Relieved that this first test had been past, Jallarzi decided to celebrate. In her guise as Lyra Stinson, she took both Argent and Kharyna out for evening in Elcadan. It allowed Argent to relax and blow off some steam.

Things started to get easier from there. Argent did well with her studies, both in the kitchen and with things magical. As her cooking skill increase Miriam, the head of Jallarzi's kitchen staff allowed Argent to cook more demanding dishes. Argent made friends among the staff and felt at home at the Sallavarian Estate.

There was one dark stain during this time. Lord Sherwood returned from his great quest and was in possession of a marvelous sword he called Lifeshield. But this weapon was gained at great price. Shaunil, Jallarzi's first apprentice, had been killed. This sadden Jallarzi for several weeks and Lord Sherwood stayed away.

Argent continued to work and study while Jallarzi was working through her grief. Having learned how to cast Read Magic, Argent began working on the beginners spellbook she had been given and feels that she is close to understanding them. At the same time she was reading many of the history books in Jallarzi's library and learning the Alphatian language with Kharyna's help. The weeks rolled past and Argent happily learned all she could.

Lord Sherwood returned from his long exile from the estate, but he was not alone. Be brought with him a half-elf girl by the name of Kylie Lanthorn. Jallarzi announced that the new arrival is yet another apprentice and that Argent and Kharyna should try to help her out. Kylie had lead a rough life, but Jallarzi doesn't specify much beyond that.

Kylie started her mage training right away in the same manner as Argent did. They worked in the kitchen together and then were both trained in the afternoons. The young girl was quiet at first, as if unsure what she was getting herself into. But Argent was nice to her and in time she learned Kylie's story.

Kylie had grown up on the rough streets in the slums of Elcadan. Her mother, an elf by the name of Allurien Feador, left when Kylie was a child. There something about her getting sick and having to leave. Kylie fell into a bad crowd and learned the art of 'finding' from a halfling known as 'Rat', a so called Master Finder.

Kylie had learned of a mysterious tower protected by a seemingly magical fog. She broke into the tower only to find that it was Sherwood's tower! Realizing that this intruder had some magical talents to have made it inside tower, Sherwood brought her to Jallarzi for training. Kylie was understandably cautious at first, but in time became comfortable in her new surroundings. She wasn't a bad girl, but rather had fallen into a bad situation.

Not long after Kylie's arrival, Argent learned her next magic spell: Magic Missile. The invoker immediately fell in love with this spell and practiced it all the time. Having learned this new spell, and with Kylie having learned how to cast Read Magic, Jallarzi took all her apprentices out for a night on the town. It was during this gathering that Kharyna announced that she was going to be leaving. Her personal training was now complete and it was time for her to continue to adventure with her companions.

Argent was greatly sadden by her friend moving on and made the best of what time they had left together. With Kharyna's help, Argent finished her studies of the Alphatian language and could read and write it fluently. Another celebration was had when Kharyna finally did leave in the late spring.

With Kharyna gone, Jallarzi move Argent's schedule to now have morning studies and work in the afternoons. By this time, Argent didn't mind at all. When not working in the kitchen or practicing new spells, Argent was typically found in the library devouring all the knowledge that she could.

The months flew past and Argent was very happy with her life. Winter rolled around and the end of the year was at hand. Jallarzi suggested that Argent go home for the holidays, but declined. This dismayed Jallarzi, but she wouldn't reveal why at this point. Lord Sharadin and his daughters, along with Lord Sherwood did come to the estate for the holidays and the new year and Argent joined them, learning all she could from these powerful people. Argent was disappointed that Burant wasn't with Lord Sharadin, but then she learned that Burant had completed his training and was now out in the field. By this time, Argent had been at the Sallavarian Estate for a year.