In Which Our Heroes Begin Their Adventures
It's a fine, bright and warm morning in early spring, and only a few patches of snow, the lingering remnants of great drifts, remain on the heath.
But the villagers of Breakwood are unable to appreciate the fortunate weather, for last night, the village beadle, one Edmund Ross, doomed them all.
After a fine night of carousing at the Lumberjack, Edmund departed with a torch to perform his duty of inspecting the "corn-box", the communal shed in which the village's seedcorn is kept. In his drunken state, Edmund tripped, torch and all, and set both himself and the corn-box aflame. Rye and oats, sealed in oiled skins to prevent water from spoiling them, burnt even faster than the chubby beadle, who paid for his error with his life.
Without seed for the coming spring, the prospect of certain starvation has led most of the village to the green near the Lumberjack this morning, where Peter the Reeve has tapped a fresh barrel of shandy, and is busy serving it out to exhausted and hopeless villagers, trying to encourage them without much success.
A party of men led by Sir Randall has gone to inform the baron of the loss, though no one seems hopeful that he can rectify the situation. The baron is broke, and he let it be known nearly a month ago that he would defer all improvements to the estate until next year.
A few local shepherds have also come by with their flocks, though they seem more interested in drinking for free than commiserating with the villagers. They form a huddled band with one another and tastelessly light a cookfire on the green to warm up a root stew to share amongst one another.
Eventually, one of the older shepherds comes by where you sit, bringing a half-full mug of shandy he slurps from in between sentences.
"Not from around here, are you? Don't look much like farmers," he says with the approving tone of an itinerant man recognising his fellows.
The shepherd is a ruddy-faced, brown-haired and middle-aged man in good health wearing sheepskins and woolens. He has a walking stick, a satchel slung over one shoulder, and a wooden mug with a strap attached.
Anyone who doesn't have their character sheet up, please post it ASAP. Once you've got that done, feel free to jump in and introduce your character!