Episode Reviews
Other Commentary
Legal Info
E-mail the webmaster
©2005, Joshua Harrison
Revised April 15, 2005
Riders on the Storm
The Heroes
Bearclaw -- Human Journeyman
Bearclaw came from a small village Named Talon Vale high in the north spur of the Throal Mountains. The first of his village since the Scourge to travel to the outside world, he arrived in Bartertown only to get caught up in the machinations of the Veiled Society.
Bearclaw continued to travel with the group after this adventure. A valiant (if somewhat dim) fighter, he stood on the front lines whenever physical danger threatened the group. Tall and thin with deeply tanned skin, he wore the traditional animal hides of his village. He also wore leather bracelets decorated with beads and colored rocks. Although brave and self-confident in his own village, Bearclaw was out of his element in large towns and cities. He clung to his core beliefs of honesty, bravery, and loyalty. He didn't give his loyalty easily, but when he did it was absolute and forever.
During his travels, Bearclaw had the opportunity to ask the Shivalahala Syrtis when he would know when it was time for him to return to Talon Vale. The Shivalahala answered:
When the stone that was silenced sings again,
And the crossroads have chosen which way to go.
When the trust has been broken,
And the dragon's daughter returns home.
Bearclaw pondered this riddle for some time, but never learned its meaning. He was slain thwarting an assassination attempt on his companion, Mica. His body was returned to Talon Vale, where a funeral ceremony was held. He has, on occasion, visited the others in their dreams as a spirit guide, and has passed on the Shivalahala Syrtis's message to them.
Brighton Truthseeker -- Human Troubadour
Brighton is the son of a moderately wealthy merchant family in the city of Urupa. As a youth, he became fascinated with old books and missing lore, and developed a penchant for getting himself into trouble while trying to uncover the "truth" of things. One particular instance involves his nearly getting decapitated by a blade trap that he avoided because he bent over to pick up the light quartz he had dropped. He came to view this item as his "lucky charm" and has carried it with him ever since.
Brighton went to Bartertown seeking information and financing for his historical projects. While there he became involved with the Veiled Society. Brighton traveled with the Riders for some time afterwards. Brighton disappeared while the company traveled the Serpent River Pilgrimage Route.
Several months later, the group was hired to investigate the loss of some merchant ships on the Aras Sea. They discovered one of the missing ships near an island with a breached kaer. Inside the kaer, they encountered Brighton -- or what used to be Brighton. He had been corrupted, and was now a vicious and devious Horror construct. There was a brief battle, which Brighton escaped from by ripping open a portal into astral space.
Tomas Runecarver -- Human Wizard
Tomas's journal entries written by Caleb Cousins.
If you ask him, Tomas Runecarver is a brilliant Wizard with cutting-edge theories about the nature of magic. If you ask his wizardly contemporaries, most would say he has inhaled too many book-mold spores and is soft in the head.
Tomas believes that at one time in the past, all of the spellcasting Disciplines were one. Elementalism, Nethermancy, Illusion, Wizardry -- they all fell under the umbrella of one lost spellcasting Discipline. It is Tomas's goal to prove this theory, and he has tried learning all of the Thread Weaving talents from the various spellcasting Disciplines in Barsaive. Despite having learned Illusion and Elementalism, he has yet to make the breakthrough he desires.
Tomas originally hoped to gain access to the Great Library and their collection on magical lore. He hopes at some future time to journey to the Eternal Library in Thera for the same reason. While in Bartertown, however, he was caught up in the machinations of the Veiled Society. He has traveled with the Riders since, and has come to act as their intellectual leader.
Mica -- Dwarf Swordmaster
Mica's journal entries written by Doug Campbell.
Mica (pronounced with a short "i" sound) is a dwarf with no recollection of his past. In fact, he is convinced that he is a human. His memory extends back about two and a half years to his training as a Swordmaster.
Mica was assigned to the Riders by Magistrate Clystone of Bartertown -- more to get Mica out of Clystone's hair than for his investigative abilities. Finding the company to his liking, he continued to travel with them after the investigation was over.
Some clues to Mica's identity have surfaced. In Bartertown he witnessed the death of a dwarf who looked just like him, and narrowly avoided being killed himself by Veiled Society assassins. His mentor, the human Swordmaster Erasmus, revealed that he was a former Society member who had abducted Mica to "save him from those dark hearted fiends."
In a later meeting with the leader of the Veiled Society, a mysterious individual known as Lazarus, Mica learned that he was the spirit of a dead Name-giver bound into a magically created body. He (and the other duplicates) had been created as an experiment in prolonging life. Mica's true, "original" identity, however, remains unknown.
Mica has a "brother" of sorts -- the dwarf Thief Hatch. Hatch is another one of the Veiled Society duplicates, and he has a knack for getting himself -- and by extension the Riders -- into trouble.
Silar -- T'skrang Archer
Silar's journal entries written by Matt Constantine.
Silar is a t'skrang from an independent village on the North Reach of the Serpent River. Raised in the same village as the legendary t'skrang explorer T'skriss R'scrimon (see The Book of Exploration), he was enchanted by stories of his cousin's exploits and decided that he too would become a famous explorer. He undertook training as an Archer, specializing in the crossbow, and when his training was complete left his village to track down T'skriss, who had not been heard from in some time.
Silar met the Riders in the village of Chimney Rock when the ork cavalry he was riding with came to the aid of the village, under attack by the Dreamstalker's corrupted ogres. He joined the company in their search to track down the source of the attacks, and continued to travel with them after they had saved the missing villagers of Cliffside from the Horror's influence.
Silar's search for his missing relative ended in the Servos Jungle where he found the village that had delivered the remains of T'skriss's journal to the Great Library. After learning his relative's fate, Silar became rather withdrawn and began looking for new goals.
Unhappy with the group's pursuit of the Veiled Society, Silar left the company about the time they swore their group oath. It is rumored that he has entered the service of the Great Dragon Icewing.
Ulm Curvehorn -- Troll Weaponsmith
Ulm journal entries written by Dennis Mason.
Ulm is a troll from the foothills of the Delaris Mountains. His village was destroyed by Theran slavers not long after he completed his training as a Weaponsmith. As there was nothing left of his home, he began traveling the land in search of some distant relatives.
Ulm encountered the company when they entered the Servos Jungle in search of T'skriss R'scrimon. Through the trials they encountered together, Ulm has come to see the companions as his new family. When the Veiled Society sent assassins after Mica, Ulm was by his side driving them off with his blade, Blood Drinker.
Bearclaw's death hit Ulm especially hard. He felt that he should have been able to do something to prevent it, and partly blames the Throalic Navy for letting the assassin escape when he had originally been placed in their custody.
When Dorra was assigned to the company by the Eye of Throal, Ulm was uncertain of her abilities. Dorra has since proven her worth many times over, and Ulm has accepted her as one of the company.
Ulm has two goals; protect the members of his new family, and avenge Bearclaw's death. He acts as the moral and spiritual leader of the Riders.
Rensil -- Elf Illusionist
Rensil journal entries written by Mark Neal.
Rensil remains something of an enigma. He staggered out of the Servos Jungle into the arms of the company, feverishly muttering about a crashed airship. When he had been nursed back to health, he guided them to the site, only to find that the crew had all been captured by a band of slavers from the t'skrang house K'tenshin. Unknown to the company at the time, one of the missing crew was Neden, the Crown Prince of Throal.
The companions successfully rescued the prisoners, and they have performed many tasks for Throal since then. Rensil continues to travel with the company for reasons that remain a mystery.
Rensil seems to possesses the mysterious ability known as "Bard's Tongue" -- the things he says tend to come about, though not always in the manner he expects. Despite the mystery that surrounds him, his ability with Illusion magic and his almost supernatural insight have earned him a place in the Riders.
Dorra Nightstar -- Human Sky Raider
Dorra journal entries written by Sean Cousins.
Dorra is a lieutenant in the Throalic Navy, assigned to the group as a liaison officer to the Kingdom. Her family has a long tradition of service to Throal, primarily as navigators. Dorra had been stationed on a vessel for several months as an assistant navigator, but had been recently reassigned to the Eye of Throal, the Kingdom's intelligence service.
Dorra is very businesslike -- a military mind through and through. She usually wears a Throalic Naval officer's uniform without rank insignia. Soon after she joined the Riders, the companions were visited by Bearclaw in a dream, where Dorra was surprised to learn that her destiny was also tied to the approaching storm.
Dorra has a young daughter, Merlinda, which came as a surprise of the other members of the company. That Merlinda was an ork surprised them even more. The toddler is cared for by a kindly old dwarf nurse while Dorra is on assignment, and has been unofficially adopted by the other members of the Riders.
