Heartgood Choice

Heartgood Choice, The Benevolent Madman of T'vithes, was a former crime-lord of the Five Senses known as the Tongue, one of Fates Chosen warriors, and a Rider of Ragnarok. After the Converging of Worlds, Heartgood retired to the town of Weelo in the southern territories, married a fellow adventurer Rebecca Marzul, and had four children: Maximilian, Salgood, Pentecour, and Audrey.

Before Frustengrad
Heartgood was born Maximilian Demetri von Exeller IV, to Duke Maximilian III and Duchess Bianca del Antonio of Ariano. Duke Maximilian was the landowner of over 400,000 sq km which included 7 large cities, 37 towns, and 106 villages. When Maximilian IV was 27 years old, he was kidnapped by a pirate crew who held him for a ransom of 10,000 geldings. Duke Maximilian refused to pay and the pirates pitched Maximilian IV overboard. Maximilian IV was tossed through the waves until a he passed through a magical tempest that deposited him on the banks of the city of Vatica.

Vatica City and the Inquirer
Heartgood awoke on the banks of the city with no memory of who he was. He was quickly apprehended by the city guard who questioned him on his name. With his memory being wiped, he named himself Heartgood Choice based on signage that was in his vicinity. The guards quickly deduced that he must be daft and locked him away in the Depths. While in the cell he discovered a picture of a young woman in a red dress hanging on the cell wall. The picture began to speak to him and introduced herself as the goddess of adventurers, the Inquirer. The goddess sought his assistance in freeing her sister the Advocate from a prison constructed by her brother the Trickster. Heartgood agreed with the understanding that the goddess would get him released from prison. The Inquirer unlocked the cell and Heartgood escaping into the Fel Woods, pursued by members of the King's Guard.

Stick, Feather, and the Fel Woods
While in the forest, Heartgood was captured by a pair of bandits named Feather and Stick, an orc mercenary and a sprite burglar respectively. The two threatened to kill Heartgood until he convinced him, with aid from the Inquirer, that he knew the location of a great cache of gold and jewels. Arriving at the location the Inquirer directed them to, the criminals and Heartgood indeed found a small fortune that had been abandoned by some long dead monster. Stick and Feather believed Heartgood to be a man of his word and a good luck charm and thus agreed to travel with him provided he continued to supply them with gold and jewels.

Town of Weelo and Meeting the Trickster
Heartgood, Stick, and Feather traveled several days north of in the Fel Woods, until they came upon a town called Weelo. Heartgood and his party located the nearest tavern to spend the night. Sitting in the tavern was the dwarf Yogiya, drinking heavily. Heartgood spoke with Yogiya and discovered that the dwarf had recently betrayed a good friend and felt deeply sorry for it. His friend had been kidnapped and taken to the criminal city of T'vithes to be sold as a slave. Heartgood invited the dwarf to join his group, as the Inquirer had informed Heartgood that her sister was being held in the same city. Yogiya thanked Heartgood for the chance to redeem himself and offered to pay the groups prices for staying the night.

That evening, Heartgood was awoken by a scream and he found that he was not able to reach out to the Inquirer. Sitting in the shadows of Heartgood's room was man in a black cowl twirling a dark-purple baton menacingly. The man introduced him as the god of mischief, The Trickster. He informed Heartgood that it was unwise of him to involve himself in the affairs of gods and if he would recuse himself from the Inquirers quest he would be richly rewarded. Heartgood refused. The Trickster let out a laugh that made Heartgood to reach for a light and the god of Mischief disappeared.

The Road to T'vithes
The next morning, Heartgood and his party saddled their horses and rode west towards T'vithes. A days ride from Weelo they were intercepted by a group of rogue satyrs in the western Fel Woods. The satyrs captured Stick and Yogiya, holding them ransom until Heartgood and Feather assisted them in catching a pair of wood nymphs that had been evading them. Heartgood and Feather laid a trap but failed to capture the nymphs. Hearing them laughing behind the trees, Heartgood began to sing for them. The nymphs were enamored by his voice and came out of hiding. Heartgood bargained with them into staying with the satyrs for an evening to save his friends. The nymphs agreed and blessed a flute for Heartgood to carry to show that he was a friend of the Fey. When the satyrs were informed that the nymphs would spend a night with them they were so overjoyed that they not only released Yogiya and Stick but also used their magiks to carry Heartgood and his party to the edge of the Fel wood. They told Heartgood that if ever he needed the assistance of the satyrs that he only need to let loose the "Call of the Wild". Without further explanation the satyrs transported the party away. Yogiya took stock of their surroundings and informed Heartgood that they were less than a days ride from T'vithes and well within the territory of the Senses Gang.

The Siege of T'vithes and the Senses Gang
The Inquirer, who had been missing since the Tricksters visit in Weelo, reappeared to counsel the party. She told Heartgood and his compatriots that the Advocate was being held in the deepest cell under the city of T'vithes. Yogiya wished to know where his friend was but the goddess confessed that she did not know. She could only sense her sisters power through the Trickster's shielding due to their bond. She was not able to locate the power of a mortal. Yogiya said that he understood, but he could not be apart of a battle in which he was not looking for his friend. He said his goodbyes and left to find his ally.

Heartgood, Stick and Feather began to plan.