To the Heroes of Thar

"Listen here son, you ever heard the story of the Heroes of Thar?  No.... not them, the real ones.  Met em when they were green, as green as you are right now with that unblooded blade at your hip.  Fancied themselves adventurers, they did, when they had made their way to the little village of Gordondale.

By the time I met them they had already saved the heiress of Glister.  Then the Orcs came knocking, and they save lives, they saved my life, they saved a whole damned town. Followed the thread of evil right on up to it source they did, right on up to where they saved the city of Hulburg itself.  Made themselves bonefide heroes right then they did.  But they weren't done yet, unmasked the Zhentarim agent who had nearly taken the throne of Glister for himself, and freed their lord's mind from the vile magics.  Damned kids saved two cities they did, even swore their allegiance to Glister when hostilities flared.  Knights they were....

One even earned himself a keep and marched at the head of the Glister army to face the oncoming Zhentarim horde.  They single handedly caught to the core of that enemy army and came a breathes width from ending that war then and their.  But the world ain't kind son, and not all stories have a happy ending.  The bad guys prevailed that day, the heroes were slain and Melvaunt fell.  It was a dark time.

But, that isn't the end of the story ya see.  The mighty Black Demon the legends say was sent as punishment against the dark powers of the Zhentarim, na, that was them.  Bastards weren't done, being dead and all, they sicked that dragon on the Zhentarim they did.  That Dragon ravaged their forces at the foot of Thentia where the allied forces retreated to and were regrouping.  The beast wasn't fighting the war, but it took pleasure in casing them pain, and that was enough.

See, now this is the part of the story you probably know.  The Zhents were hurting bad, they their lost a step, and the allies made them pay as only desperate men could. Ground them down, paid a price in blood that'll turn your stomach, but they did it. There the combined armies of Thar, barely a few hundred yards from this spot, aided by Phourkyn and the other "heroes" you think you know about...  You don't know shit boy... there they broke the Zhent's back, and they haven't been back since.

Raise that damned glass to the real heroes of Thar!

To Uthru, Lord Wintergale, master spinner of tales.  He died as he lived, with one hell of a story.  He looked for the good in others, and would rather make of made a friend than an enemy. He'll be missed.

To Varus, pointy eared bookworm.  But a damned good man, smart as a whip, and possessing powerful magics as strong as his taste for firewine. He'll be missed.

To Razerus, devil spawned son of a bitch as he was, he was brave, and tough, and could wield a blade, and as much as he'd try and hide or ignore it, there was a strain of good in him. He'll be missed.

To Ian, the Spellsword.  For someone always so clean, he didn't mind a bit of blood.  He liked the finer things in life, too bad he never got to spend his retirement in comfort like he was saving for. He'll be missed.

To Dawn, sneaky little elven lads.  If you kept an eye on her fingers and a hand on your purse, she was fine company.  No better knifeman or woman around. She'll be missed.

To the others that fell before, to Garen, drug kicking and screaming from this world to the depths of the abyss. To Itachi, who I barely knew.

So now boy, now that you've drunk to real heroes. Learn something from their tale.  You'd better be ready to use that shiny new blade at your hip, and be careful, sometimes the blade will stick in the frost and green mistakes like that'll will cost your life.

Best leave an old man his peace, age has got me good and this knee just isn't what it used to be." -Max, Silver Serpent Drunkard, Thentia, 20 years after the fall of Melvaunt