Russel of Tamlane

Sir Russel of Tamlane, Knight of the Peacekeeper LG Human Knight [Al Bradford]: True to long-established form, Al's creation owed less to the PC's training and belief than to his player's own sense of the absurd.

Al's original intent was to play a paladin, a class I'd decided long ago was not at all suited to my campaign world of Minarra. So, he chose the next best thing: a Knight of the Rifkis the Peacekeeper. An unfortunate choice, given Al's inspired portrayal of Sir Russel's alignment of "Lawful goony." Imagine a PC possessing the most obnoxious habits of Mighty Mouse, Beetlejuice, and Dudley Do-Right all rolled into one, then stuffed beneath a helmet two sizes too small...

But having said that, no one could ever accuse the Knight of any real vice. Sure, the check valve on his mouth was often out for repairs, but Russel was always cheerful, good-humored, and brave as a lion. One might question his judgment, but never his loyalty.

Sadly, Sir Russel was the only Companion to lose his life in the course of the quest. Deeply mourned by his comrades, Russel was buried beneath the icy waters of Minarra's southern ice cap...gone but never forgotten. The void in the party was filled by the inimitable Argus Slickfinger, a "character" of a novel yet oh-so-familiar stamp...

Author's Note: Al is also the artist of that wonderful portrait of the Companions, as well as all the other artwork for this web site (except where noted). Please feel free to take a moment to check out more of his fantasy work!

A role-playing sampler:

On his very first day in Leander, Miren's four-star City of Evil, our intrepid hero hired a horse and wandered the alleys in search for those elusive Wrongs to Right. You could almost hear the strains of "Here I come to save the daaaay!!" drifting on the breeze...
In the city of Thyrrist, Sir Russel has been introduced to His Serenity, Malcolm Quickskitter, for the first time. This was an audience months in the planning, and a rare opportunity for a young Knight to make a name for himself. And so it was—until our hero suggested that Quinathuli, a 900-year-old dragon and one of Malcolm's closest friends, was probably the source of the Serenity's fleas...
After one particularly harrowing encounter (where a festive country fair became a scene of terror and chaos), a fellow Companion returned to her true form after spending a frustrating day as a yowling orange tabby. Rilka's clothes, however, hadn't made the transformation with her, and a bug-eyed Sir Russel was oh-so-casual in offering his cloak to the tall blonde Valkyrie before him.
So who says chivalry is dead? Mortally wounded, perhaps...

Argus Slickfinger CG(N) Human Thief

From the get-go, Argus was the kind of rogue you couldn't help but like—that is, if you have a hankering for a heapin' helpin' of inspired impertinence, ill-timed impulsiveness, and laugh-out-loud lechery. Perhaps it was fitting that the Companions found him on a barren rock in the antarctic, stranded there for two years with a woman who wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot polearm; it would be his sort of luck. Still in all, you knew deep down that he didn't mean a tenth of what he said, and that he would never cheat or rat on a friend.

A role-playing sampler:

Perched upon a ship's mast, the rogue was trying his damnedest to peer down the blouses of the female Companions as they sparred on deck. (I know he hadn't any warm company for two years, but really...)
At a royal reception for Dweomermist in his capacity as Lord Governor of Leander, the thief quickly realized that there were black hooves where the Cruelty's feet should have been—hooves of the nightmare, rare devices of the most unholy might and a symbol of the highest prestige among the Servants of Darkness. So, of course, Argus just had to put the question: "Miss your toes?"
In fairness, it must be said that Argus was an equal-opportunity ball-buster: his first comment to Malcolm—"Want some cheese?"—was met with equally slack jaws...