Character Background:
Darence Krown was born into a mililtary family. He was the fifth Darence Krown to don the colors of the Kingdom of Boroniff. His father, his father's father, and so forth for at least a century had all been professional soldiers, and he was no exception to his family's military tradition.
When he became 15, standard age for enlistment in the Boronian armed forces, he bid his mother farewell as was expected of him. She stood in the doorway of their humble cottage, tearful, but full of pride as her boy marched off into manhood. He hiked for a day to reach Wannikur, the capital city of Boroniff, and immediately reported to the first guard station he saw.
The next two years of his life was spent in the military academy, where he was put through the standard rigorous training required of all cadets. He became bigger, stronger, tougher and learned to fight with the standard field weaponry, a long sword complemented by a spiked gauntlet on the opposite hand. In properly trained hands, it was often a deadly combination. However, it was common for new recruits to occasionally suffer a head or face wound within the first weeks of weapons training, before they got used to the sharp spike always sticking out of their gauntlet.
Darence grew close to the other young men in his unit, many of whom were legacies like himself. The Kingdom of Boroniff had a long and proud record of military service by its subjects, who knew that they fought to preserve the freedoms guaranteed by their King.
When he reached the age of 17, Darence was put into active duty. His unit was sent across the sea, to assist the Kingdom of Pastafara in defending their weaker nation from invading hordes of goblinoid barbarians from the untamed West. Darence's people, the Boronians had enjoyed a long and productive commercial relationship with the Pastafarians, and did not hesitate to send their troops to help as needed.
Darence's Arrival in the Valley
As the transport ships drew nearer to Pastafara, Darence nervously sharpened his sword, the metal singing against the whetstone in his hand. Some of his fellow soldiers paced the deck, or stood watching the waters, waiting to see what lay ahead.
"Land HO!" called the lookout from above. All eyes turned toward the east, where the island Kingdom of Pastafara was just barely visible on the horizon. Sergeant Maygere immediately emerged from the deck below, his ebony pipe gripped in his clenched teeth. Darence and the rest of the privates snapped to attention.
"At ease, men," intoned Sergeant Maygere, "we'll be making landfall in a short while, and I want you all to know that I have the utmost confidence in you. You're the best damn unit I've seen come out of the academy since I was a private, and I'm sure we'll be wiping the blood off our swords and raising a mug of Pastafarian Ale by the day's end."
Angmar, who had been standing next to Darence, suddenly ran to the port side railing and began retching over the side. A murmur of stifled laughter rippled through the other privates. "That's alright, Angmar," said the Sergeant, "better to have it come out now than on the battlefield. Everyone make sure your gear is secured, and your weapons are at the ready. We don't know exactly what conditions we'll be landing in."
A moment later, another cry rang out from the crow's nest. "Incoming! Abandon ship!" Every eye on board immediately started darting around, until they all saw it. A ball of fire in the distance to the south, growing larger as it soared through the sky, headed straight for the ship. Cries of terror erupted from the young men on the deck, and they started running for the railings in every direction. Packs thudded to the wet planks alongside the clatter of dropped weapons and rapidly stripped armor as the privates started diving overboard.
Darence took three steps toward the railing, and stepped on the hilt of a discarded sword. His foot shot out from under him, and he fell over backwards, cracking his head hard on the deck. As his eyelids fluttered, he saw the immense ball of fire descending toward the abandoned ship, but also noticed a large ball of blue energy approaching just as rapidly from the opposite direction. As the two projectiles met the ship and his consciousness faded, it seemed as though everything was bathed in an intense white light...