Story of the Fellowship of Virtue

Introduction
The Story of the Fellowship of Virtue is still being written each day, by every gallant act performed, by every great battle won and by every story told amongst friends down at the tavern. And it will continue to be written so long as there are those who would seek and uphold the Virtues.

Part I - The Formation of the Fellowship
In the Britannian year 336, there lived a warrior named Belgarath, who, alone, sought to fulfill his duty to the Virtues by sacrificing his fame to redeem the lost souls of liches in the forests east of Yew.

One day, he noticed another noble warrior engaged in battle nearby. He, too, was also slaying the evil creatures and sacrificing his fame to redeem those that he could. This person was Tancred RedStar.

The two warriors soon made an acquaitance and discussed the finer points of the life of adventure, the way of the warrior and the practice of the Virtues. Tancred was already a Knight in the Knights of the Eternal Star, a noble group of warriors.

During this discussion, another hardy soul was quietly watching nearby. He soon joined the discussion. This was Dracolich. They all decided that the Path to Virtue was best accomplished together, and that an organization of people dedicated to seeking and upholding the Virtues should be formed.

That night, standing round the stone in Tancred's tower, the Virtue of Fellowship was formed by the three men and Belgarath chosen to be the first leader of the guild.

Part II - The Early Days of the Fellowship
Within days of the creation of the guild, there were many people eager to become members in the Fellowship. The Laws of the Fellowship were drawn up and codified. These were deliberated over carefully, taking into account years of experiences of many of the members from former orders and associations they had been a part of.

The first two houses of the guild, the House of the Red Gryphon and the House of the Blue Dragon, were founded. The seasoned Tancred leading the former, the powerful mage Orobas leading the latter.

A council for governing the guild was also formed. It's purpose was to review the actions and deeds of the guildmembers as well as to review or create laws as necessary. It was composed of the leaders of the Houses, the guildmaster and a group of people selected by Belgarath.

It was at the first guild tournament, held in fair Trinsic, after many riveting one-on-one battles, that Tancred emerged as the first Guild Champion.

Part III - Change
The guild had seemed to take root and was soon to flower, but then something happened - nothing. All of the members had pledged and committed themselves to the guild and to the Virtues in the heady days shortly after the guild was formed. Over time, some remained deeply committed, while others seemed to waver and lose interest. A small crack formed and soon began to grow. With time, it steadily lengthened and deepened.

Finally, something had to give, and so it did. After many discussions between the active guildmembers, action was taken and Tancred RedStar was chosen to lead the guild. Voting took place by each member, one by one, at the guildstone. For some, it was a difficult thing to do, but everyone recognized it was a necessary action to keep the Fellowship alive and vital.

Part IV - The First Age of the Fellowship
Under the new leadership of Tancred RedStar, the guild grew in size and prestige. Many of the new members were found in the most unlikely of places - fighting daemons in the darkest depths of Hythloth, wandering the streets of Britain in search of adventure, and hunting titans in the Lost Lands among others. All the new recruits turned out to be warriors and mages of the highest resilience and soon proved themselves worthy of being proclaimed a Virtue Knight or Mage. Soon, the guild was distinguishing itself at tournaments both with its skill and valor.

The Virtues were well serviced with many Virtue Knights and Mages attaining the highest Paths in several of the Virtues. Tancred and Shainsung were among the very first people to attain Knight of Sacrifice on the shard. As more and more Virtues became available, the Fellowship was only too eager to serve them well.

The guild coffers grew through many successful ventures and guild hunts. This in turn allowed for the funding of many events and quest adventures for the Fellowship, both within the guild as well as to inter-guild events, some drawing scores and scores of people. In time, there was even talk amongst the Knights of founding a small settlement near the Yew/Britain/Minoc crossroads if enough settlers could be found and properties procured.

But, as with all great eras, time soon comes to take it's due toll and the sounds of battle and revelry soon grew fainter and fainter til they were but a memory of a whisper. Several of the Knights, such as Tancred, Chod, Shainsung, Sinoval and others went beyond the frontiers of the realm on missions of their own, some never to return or be heard from again. A small number of the Knights kept the memory of the Fellowship alive and continued to serve the Virtues. However, knowledge of the Fellowship became more and more a noteworthy sighting than an common presence in the lands of the realm. The Fellowship was slowly slipping from a happy memory into forgotten lore.

Part V - The Second Age of the Fellowship
One day, the perhaps most devout of the Virtue Knights, Shen, was stopping by to collect payment from his vendors at the old Potions N' More, Tancred's old shop. The shop was quite dusty as almost no one had used the place much in months. As he counted out his gold, a man on horse approached from up the road. As Shen looked up to render a warm welcome to what was likely another traveler passing through en route to Yew or Britain, he noticed at a glance the fine red sash and familar broadsword the man wore. It was Tancred RedStar, returned from his long voyage to many far away lands beyond the realm. Tancred was just as suprised to see his good friend Shen, and they soon began speaking in earnest about restoring the Fellowship to it's former glory and to serve the Virtues once again.

As messengers were sent out, Shainsung and Chod were found nearing the realm, also returning from great journeys. Sinoval was found unconcious and slumped over in a corner of the Blue Boar tavern in Britain, smelling of cheap ale and vodka. Barrick and Rycca had gone into shopkeeping and lived together in a new house, but still kept their weapons well oiled and sharp, hung over the mantle. While many Fellowship Knights were found, some unfortunately were not, the gallant Topher among them. But with the return of so many of the Fellowship's great members of the past, the future looked bright indeed.

With the discovery of the lands of Malas, the Fellowship evaluated it's collective holdings in the lands of Trammel. They had a small, but well utilized, guild tower in the forests south of Britain. All the members had quaint homes of their own, but the call of vast tracts of open wilderness in Malas was too inviting to ignore. With this in mind, the guild determined that everyone should seek to build a bigger, brighter future in the new lands. When the day came that people could journey to the new lands, the Fellowship struck out to realize the vision.

Tancred was the first to arrive, claiming a large plot of land in the name of the Fellowship, south of the Paladin city of Luna. Shen was the next to arrive, laying down a plot just a stone's throw away to the east. Shainsung next arrived, setting up a plot just a house away to the east of Shen. Next came Sinoval and Chod, late in the evening. Sinoval managed to place a house to the right of the new guild tower, Chod just behind Shen's. Lastly, Tancred placed a plot for his abode to the left of the guildtower. The guild had succeeded in realizing it's vision of not only acquiring larger homes, but also of strengthening the bonds of their community, perhaps even to give rise to something greater. Many of the Knights in the guild also began the study of the newly discovered skills of the Paladin at this time.

When the First Anniversary of the Fellowship arrived, a huge celebration was held in the new guild tower, complete with a tournament, banquet, speeches and even fireworks. Tancred, as guildmaster, presented each of the Knights with a suit of fine valorite plate armor. The celebration was followed by a triumphant hunt which lasted the remainder of the evening.

Part V - The Second Year of the Fellowship
After a few months had passed, Tancred decided it was time for him to stand back and let another step forward into the position of guildmaster. A general guild meeting was called at which the future of the guild was discussed for a long time. After serious deliberation, Shen was proposed as candidate to be the next guildmaster and was confirmed shortly thereafter by a guild vote. He accepted the position with honor, thanking Tancred for his leadership and promised to continue forward the greatness and tradition of excellence of the Fellowship.

Shen brought a new and different angle to leading the Fellowship yet still bore the same and tireless devotion to the Virtues and the traditions and heritage of the Fellowship. Efforts on recruitment and event hosting were examined and made better to encourage guild growth and participation.

These efforts bore fruit as soon new members began joining the Fellowship and it began to grow again at a speed not seen since much earlier in it's life. Lissa Eldi, Kara, Jon, and Hunter were among some of the new members in this wave of growth. Also, one of Shen's pet projects, the Chesapeake Regatta, was also begun to encourage realm-wide participation and seamanship. A guild calendar was also established to provide a more orderly and regular flow of events for the guild as well as the public. Scavenger Hunts also became monthly affairs and grew in popularity and excitement.

All during this period, the guild flourished and was prosperous once again. Yet nothing lasts forever and after nearly 6 months in the vanguard, Shen found himself at a crossroads due to his responsibilities elsewhere. At a guild meeting which was near capacity seating, Shen announced that his time to lead was coming to an end. Everyone gratefully thanked him for his distinguished service to the Fellowship and ackowledged the great accomplishments which had taken place under his leadership. He reassured everyone that he would still remain in the service of the guild, but with a reduced amount of time.

With the leadership of the guild again in question, Tancred announced that he would be honored to serve once more as guildmaster of the Fellowship. After a period of deliberation, he was confirmed by a vote on the guildstone. Tancred ceremoniously took his place in the chair of the guildmaster when Shen shifted over to the chair of the champion. Tancred thanked Shen for his leadership and vowed to lead the guild ahead into continued prosperity and to uphold the Virtues.

One of his first tasks as guildmaster once again was to call for a meeting of the guild in which goals were drawn up and plans to achieve them were laid out. Increasing the guild treasury, reforming the rank system, continuing recruitment and enlarging events were the primary goals set forth of this important meeting.

It was but a few weeks later at the next guild tournament, that another landmark event in the Fellowship's history took place. Shen had long reigned as the undisputed, unbeatable Guild Champion. This tournament was particularly well contested given that many of the newer members who had joined in the preceding months were now becoming seasoned combat veterans and training hard. At the end of the night, as so many times before, Shen and Tancred were the sole remainders of the tournament. But in a climatic battle, Tancred finally wrested away the title of Guild Champion from Shen which he had held with a superior dominance for over 6 months.