Gloomspear's Saga: Part Three

When last we left our unfortunate hero, he had been released from prison at the tender age of 12, only to be enslaved by a conquering force that reduced his home city to ashes.

Table 539: Enslaved! is one of the more complex entries in Heroes of Legend. First of all, you have to generate your character's owner. So, let's see who bought poor Gloomspear. I roll a d6 to determine gender (getting a 6): a female owner. Next, I roll a d10 to see if this woman is from a different Culture, and get a 3, meaning she's also from a Civilized-Decadent background. Then I have to generate her Social Status by rolling a d20 and adding 83, then checking table 103: Social Status. I get a total of 96, meaning she's Wealthy, but not Nobility. Finally, I need to determine her Occupation on table 423D: Upper Class Occupations. I roll a 7, indicating that she's a Merchant, and then have to roll on table 425: Merchants to see what sort of business she's in. I roll a 16. She's a Slaver.

Okay, so young Gloomspear is enslaved and sold to a slaveress. Next, I'm told to roll a d6 to determine the duration of enslavement. I roll a 4, meaning Gloomspear serves this woman from age 12 to age 16. This also means that some Adolescent Events, which I still haven't gotten to quite yet, might happen to Gloomspear while he's a slave. I also roll a d3 to determine how many "Enslaved! Events" I need to roll up, and get a 6! (Jeez, Zocchi, are you sure these dice are "more random" than the competitors'?) 3 events on the chart, d20 roll for each: 17, 13, 5.

17 means "Character is branded." On a 5 or a 6 on d6, the brand is large and unmistakably a slave brand. I roll a 5. Great. Gloomspear is now literally, rather than just figuratively, scarred for life. Now I have to go to Table 867: Body Locations to see where his mistress had him branded. I roll another 17 on d20, indicating the brand is located on his left hand. I could roll to see when this happened, but it just makes sense to me that he'd be branded as soon as he was bought, so that's age 12 again.

My roll of 13 indicates that Gloomspear was "promoted to a position of authority", and determine that this happened in his third year of slavery by rolling a d4. Gloomspear evidently served his mistress well, and was rewarded with a better position at age 15. Creepy.

"Owner dies" on my roll of 5, and I'm going to assume this happens in Gloomspear's final year of enslavement (age 16). I'm to roll a d6 to determine the consquences, and get a 3: "The owner's last request is that all of his or her possessions be interred in his or her grave. The character escapes." I'm then directed to roll a d8 for the fallout of the escape, getting a 2: "1d6 slaves accompanied the character." Upon learning their mistress' morbid last will, 5 slaves escaped with Gloomspear - possibly ones for which he was in charge.

On to Significant Events of Adolescence! I roll a 4 on d3, meaning Gloomspear gets two rolls on this table. My first roll of 12 indicates that Gloomspear gains a friend, generated on table 750: Others. I also add a Lightside Trait to be rolled later. Finally, Gloomspear gets a break. I roll a 19, indicating "A Nonhuman", determined on table 751: Nonhumans. I roll a 7, which means he befriended a dwarf. 12+1d6 to see at what age he made this friend gives me a 15, so Gloomspear met his buddy when he was still a slave. Presumably, this dwarf was a slave, too, and was probably one of the five that escaped with Gloomspear the following year.

My second roll is also a 12: Gloomspear gains another friend! Certainly beats being cursed or enslaved, right? Another Lightside trait to be rolled later, then. This time Gloomspear befriended somebody at age 18 (the end of his adolescence). I roll a 4 on table 750: Others... it's a "wielder of magic". What kind of spellcaster? I roll a d4, getting a result of 1: "A wondrous wizard." Things started off sword & sorcery for Gloomspear, but his life is getting pretty high-fantasy lately! Heck, he's basically got an adventuring party already.

Next, we'll see what happens when Gloomspear the boy becomes a man...