The Daring Dozen
 

During late summer 2172, the Stone Soules met another adventuring group new to the area.  At the site of ruined Tan-El, the SS Behir Scouts ("The Dynamic Weirdos") encountered a group of a twelve novice adventurers singing as they marched up the Behir path into the city.  When halted by the party, they were very friendly and explained how the Fool at the Wild Wood Inn had suggested that they follow the paths in the wilderness and they would find a city of adventure.  Of course, the Fool had neglected to mention the huge Behir that could have destroyed them with impunity at any point along the many tracks it has in the Greate Olde Woode...  The scouts brought the party, by the name of the Daring Dozen, back to the greater Soules on the other side of the city, where the Dozen were interviewed.  It was suggested that they watch out for the Behir and the Sphinx, and that if they were interested they could head to newly-founded Middle for a hot meal in the wake of their long trip through the Woode.
 

Transcending the Number Twelve

In mid-2173, the Dozen lost three party members to the Sphinx's extortion-gone-awry.  As a result, the Dozen abandoned Tan-El as an adventuring area, leaving it to the SS.  They decided at that time that even if they lost further members that they would remain the "Daring Dozen."  They grew in knowledge and wisdom, acquiring further members, and learning tactics, restraint, and common sense along the way.  Eventually, they conquered many enemies and became respected adventurers in End and Middle.
 

Ultimate Success and Prospects for the Future

In light of their success, the SS offered them a chance to be the first through the Tunnel at Tan-El. Their stalwart adventuring in the Tunnel and City of the Ancients is found here.
 

Who Is This Crew?

The dozen keep a tight rein on the number of members of the party, and are currently adventuring with only the most established members.  Henchmen are not included in their current expedition through the tunnel.  Their party has a maximum size of twelve, including henchmen.

The Current Party

Laire is an 8th level fighter human.  He is from Petethal and trained under Arcus in Teft.  He was one of the disorganized founders, and had a bit of an alcohol problem, but after a harrowing encounter with demonspawn, he sobered up and rapidly became the party leader.  He is stern but friendly in a paternal sort of way.  He doesn't drink, but he loves the food and song of a good party.  He wields Tracker, a bastard sword capable of faultlessly tracking the last person it has hit.

Jessica is an 8th level half-orc fighter.  She is from the island of Ventris where she grew up in the anarchy of war and chaos.  Adventuring came naturally after that youth.  She uses a shield and wields a devastating hammer named Crunch for the disturbingly loud sound it makes with each hit.  The swing makes a whistling sound, leading to a whiz-boom sound.  She is very proficient with the shield and is incredibly hard to hit.  Growing up in the street culture of Ventris City has given her a back-street sense of honor and she has no tolerance of being lied to.  She was one of the original members of the Dozen and one of the more daring members, but she is certainly not fool-hardy.  The foolhardy party members have been dead for years...

Togull is an 8th level female dwarven fighter from Northern Sark.  She is beautiful, tough, and fairly strong.  Unfortunately, she has the brains of a typical house plant.  She has survived because she does so little on her own initiative.  She doesn't know what is smart to do, but she rarely does anything that Laire does not specifically tell her to do.  He has kept her alive through the years, and she would do almost anything to save him if his life were ever to be in real danger.

Nara is a female Auroran cleric level 8.  She is the one original cleric who survived the early years of adventuring.  A strong sense of survival and bright ideas have helped her become an important voice in the party.  She joined the Dozen and accepted their lack of clear purpose because their plans seemed likely to make money for the Auroran church.  After a couple of years, she had become good friends with many party members and now stays because she loves adventuring and hanging out with her friends.  She has no current plans to settle down and build a church despite pressure from some in the church hierarchy.

Hildebrandt is an 8th level human magic-user and one of the more conservative members of the party.  Hildebrandt joined the party because he liked the folks, but rapidly became dismayed at their lack of focus.  He appreciated how Nara and Kline handled adventuring, but was concerned by the overall party attitude.  After a disastrous adventure where a party member insulted a sphinx and got three party members killed, Hildebrandt considered quitting.  Feagol convinced him to stay, and it payed off as things shaped up quickly thereafter. Hildebrandt is almost hopelessly typical for a wizard - he is very smart, fairly creative, and has a particular affinity for spells that blow things up.  He trades spells occasionally, and appreciates being the only one in the party able to use mage magical items...

Feagol is the party druid, a truly onerous position at times.  He is seventh level and an important part of the Dozen's spell-casting power.  His skills in avoiding fights with wild creatures made him unpopular with the combat-happy early party, but are now welcomed by his friends.  He has some frustration with the amount of time the party spends underground and in cities, but takes great pride in his guidance of the group's attitude. Although he was not an original party member, he joined early on and was
instrumental in changing the drunken mob into a more reasonable adventuring party.  He helped rescue Laire from alcoholism, kept Hildebrandt from leaving after the disastrous Sphinx adventure, and helped eject Monton and Jence from the party.

Nief is a 10th level thief and a bit of a rascal.  In the original party, he took nothing seriously.  He considered most of the folks buffoons, ignored most of the adventure, and occasionally stole extra money from drunk party members.  His attitude changed when Laire took over the party and he saw real potential to do really cool things if they worked together. Since then, he has never stolen from party members again, and is one of the most reliable members of the party.  The usefulness of his skills as a scout outdoors and his ability to handle traps and locks indoors have catapulted him into being the first name-level member of the party.
Fortunately, this has not gone to his head.
 
Members Not Present

Fink is a 3rd level woodsman and a relatively recent addition to the Dozen. The spear specialist was signed on in End before the party's brief foray into the Dark Woods to the west of the area.  Although his tracking skills and ability to spot intruders have come in handy, he is so far overshadowed in combat by his fellow party members that it seems unlikely he will advance quickly.

Mary-Anne is a 4th level elven long bow specialist.  She considered going on the current adventure, but the timing was bad for her.  She decided to go to a wedding celebration in Petethal for most of the year (it is an elven celebration, they last a while...).  She is talented, but unreliable, and has almost been thrown out of the party twice already.  She has an active dislike of discomfort and inconvenience, and only her thrill seeking nature and need for money keeps her adventuring.

Holyoke is a 3rd level cleric of Silban.  He has tried to find a niche in the party, but with a high level druid and a high level cleric overshadowing him, he is becoming frustrated.  He rarely gets to do much, and gets left behind.  Despite this, he admires and respects most of the party members. He oscillates between grumbling and fawning, but no one tends to notice his complaints.

Fud is a 3rd level fighter half-orc.  He is not too bright, but loyal and jovial.  Everyone likes him, but he.  Whenever possible, he engages the enemy, even if he is greatly outmatched.  He spends a lot of his combats unconscious and bleeding.  On occasions where the party fights less deadly opponents, his two handed sword destroys his opponents.  He is incredibly proud of killing an ogre shaman on his second adventure.  The huge damage and gaping wounds led to the shaman bleeding to death in an instant, but not before Fud was sent to the ground by a surviving shaman bodyguard.
 
Former Members

Morton is a human short sword specialist who joined the party after its first losses.  He was an amoral voice for profit to support the Daring Dozen's wild parties.  Tensions built between Morton and Feagol over hunting of giant mink in the Greate Olde Wood, and eventually it became clear that both could not stay in the party.  Morton left, and headed to Carse to find other adventuring possibilities, and many hard feelings remain.

Jence was an early cleric in the party.  He claimed to be a Dionysan which appreciated the group's festivities, but it eventually became clear that he was not who he claimed.  When it was eventually discovered by Nara that he was an actually an Anarchist, he was ejected from the party.  Although Jessica voted for his death, the consensus was that he had been quite helpful and saved some party members, so he was simply kicked out.  His current whereabouts are unknown, but the Dozen breathed a sigh of relief when it became clear that "Bruce" who annoys Faranyn in Middle, was not their old comrade.

Huck lives in Mileshigh near End.  The halfling fighter joined the party early on, but lost the use of his right arm in a demonspawn attack.  The devastating blow shattered his shoulder blade and, lacking powerful healing spells, it healed badly.  His days as a bow-specialist were ended, and he petitioned for some money to retire on.  He now runs a leather goods shop and is happily fat and married.  He will probably never use his abilities as a third level fighter again, but Jessica still uses the hammer that ended his career, Crunch.
 
Some of the Deceased

Kline was the party's original woodsman.  His careful watch saved the Dozen many times in its early days, and he was the most powerful member of the party (4th level) when he was slain by the Sphinx of Tan-El after the fighter next to him (Mayon) insulted the sphinx and it used its breath weapon on the party.

Mayon was a second level fighter and the party leader when he died.  The spear specialist from Teft was the party's organizer and the one who thought up the party name.  His defiant attitude saved the party many indignities and got them involved in fights which they would somehow manage to win.  After his death the party became directionless until Laire took the reins.

Jennifer was a first level illusionist from the Republic of Wunca who came to the frontiers of the New World through an exchange program with the Carse Wizard's Guild.  She hated her lab job and ran off to a life of adventure.  A nasty encounter with ogres ended her career before it really got started.

Finn, Huck's brother, was killed by the Sphinx.  A close friend of Mayon, he was not affected by the sphinx's initial attack but died trying to kill the sphinx for revenge.  Huck had already left the party at the time of Finn's death, and it only solidified his resolve never to adventure again.  [Kyle's note: how many Finn's are there in the World of Telvar?  This makes three that the Stone Soules have encountered over the years.]

Pip was the original party wizard.  He died in an unfortunate encounter with a giant jumping spider.  With no cleric in the party cabable of casting slow poison in the party to save him, he died with only a cosmetic scratch from the beast.

Ugwaya was a half-orc short sword specialist who died on the party's first adventure, when ten bugbears attacked with surprise.

Bert also perished on the party's first adventure.  The first level dwarven fighter died from crossbow fire during the retreat from the bugbears.
 
 (The Dozen's roster and character descriptions were designed and written chiefly by Edwin Anderson.)