Dorn and Keely

Dorn and Keely were raised as slaves in Na'Dor in the rich dwarven city of Xylon's Crest. They belonged to a secretive and wealthy sun elf family, House Aeradireil, who basically were the truth behind the suspicious dwarves' reasons for leaving Na’Dor for the Crag.

Keely is a normal human girl born into slavery under House Aeradireil. Small and wiry, she's always been a scrapper, her quick mind and agile body taking her quickly to the top of her slave house's pecking order. The only reason she was not selected for the secret breeding programs is because Sybilla Aeradireil, youngest daughter of her House, had formed an attachment to Keely and spared her.

Dorn is a result of human and orc cross-breeding. Raised in strict captivity and trained from birth to be the strongest and wiliest fighter he could be, Dorn was unaware of the wider world until his 13th year when Keely stumbled across his field of vision. Keely was also taken with the sight of Dorn, with his direct stare and hugely muscled torso—he was being bathed at the time. Dorn had been trained as a fighter and showed tremendous promise as a gladiator; in fact, by the age of 13 he was only a few years short of his full adult growth and had already made his owner a great deal of profit in the underground arenas. His owner treated him like a prized stallion; he was well fed, kept in relative comfort (compared to the squalor of some of the house slaves), and even bred regularly in an attempt to preserve his bloodline.

When he saw Keely, with her intelligent eyes and wearing her house-slave raiment, the contrast to his life of harsh bloodshed and the unforgiving reality of one who must fight to survive from one day to the next came crashing down on him. He went to his stall that night full of new ideas and, for the first time, dreams.

Keely, for her part, had no idea that the House she served maintained such an ugly truth underneath its refined exterior. For her, it was a new viewpoint on her situation. From birth she had been a house slave, trained nearly her whole life to be a lady's maid— she was very nearly as polished as the lady she served. Still, she had started out in the kitchen and had never forgotten the fights over who had to work as a scullion and who got to dress up and serve table. Until seeing Dorn, she had thought she was tough.

It was on a shopping outing that the dwarf approached Keely and her mistress in the nobles' bazaar. He asked some careful questions about slavery and the history of elven breeding programs which Burolia Aeradireil handled with smooth charm. The dwarf left with no more information than he had come with. When she knelt to pick up the day's packages, the dwarf also stooped to help. It was done so professionally that it wasn't until halfway home that she felt the crackle of the note tucked into her robe's sleeve. And so it began.

Keely started to gather information on the house's slave trade and funnel it to her dwarven contacts in the shopping bazaar. She got quite good at being invisible to the household, learning when to lurk and when to blend in and always how to listen and watch. She even found more excuses to go to the gladiator quarters at bath time—totally work related.

The day finally came when her contact in the bazaar informed her of the jailbreak. A contingent of anti-slavery dwarves with connections to Kymia would be sneaking into the house with Keely’s help in the middle of the night. With them they held undeniably proof of the elves' dark breeding programs. The dwarven nobility would have to listen and kick the elves out of Na'Dor.

Keely led the dwarves through the house perfectly and showed them to the gladiator stables. Dorn was already awake, having heard the commotion in the normally quiet stables. When he saw Keely backed by the dwarves, sweaty and eyes sparkling with excitement, his heart was immediately hers. They were nearly all the way out when the alarm went up. The escape into Xylon's Crest was a blur for Dorn, who had never been outdoors his whole life. Just seeing the moon and stars was nearly more than he could take, and even the sleeping city sparked such a feeling of agoraphobia that it was all he could do to clutch Keely's hand and put one foot in front of the other. The dwarves led them to a house on the Bayfront, and for a while they were able to rest. Still, the sound of running feet and shouting elves ousted them from their hiding place, and they were forced to leave their temporary sanctuary and head toward the harbor.

The plan was to put them on a boat and out to sea for two weeks while the hubbub died down; the elven slavers couldn't exactly go to the authorities concerning the break-in and probably had some explaining to do about the uproar in the night. The ship was unremarkable, and it turned out, so was the captain. The two weeks at sea turned into two months. When the pirates came it was almost a relief.

Dorn and Keely had spent the time becoming better acquainted. They learned they suited one another quite well, on top of the obvious physical attraction. Dorn proved to be an able student, and Keely taught him how to read and write and do simple sums. After Dorn nearly killed an overly-amorous, drunken sailor for laying his hands on Keely (the captain had the sailor flogged so hard you almost couldn't see the bruises), Dorn began teaching Keely some of the dirtier fighting tricks he had been up against in the arena. Keely showed herself to be a talented fighter, though she truly shined when working with Dorn in tandem.

The pirates appropriated the ship and sailed their new acquisition straight to the Boneyard. Since the passengers hadn't caused them any trouble, they were released when they made dock. The pirate captain (actually a very nice lady) even gave them 10 silver each and directions to a cheap inn. It turned out that the Boneyard had a gladiatorial tradition as well, though the combatants were well compensated for their efforts. Dorn and Keely became quite the sensation, earning enough money to maintain quality accommodations and even purchase good equipment.

Over the next five years, they perfected their tandem fighting strategy, and have never lost a fair fight. Keely kept the ledger, and they never became so desperate that they ever needed a sponsor; neither one of them had any intention of being beholden to any "owner" ever again.

And this is the state of affairs when the party arrives at the Boneyard.

An elven-looking girl stands up at the bar and attempts to give a rousing speech about the slavery that still persists in Vanya. Most don't seem interested, already too deep in their cups to follow more than a few words. Others seem apathetic. Keely and Dorn listen to the words of the elf-girl and take in the friends that surround her. They seem to come from all different backgrounds. Finally, the girl calls for action, and Dorn is spurred into lifting his almost-empty cup in a salute.

At this point, a halfling comes to their table—a friend of the elf-girl, and begins going about properly recruiting the duo. It doesn't take much convincing, as this is the Boneyard's dry season and patronage to the fighting pits has waned. The thought of an adventure in the name of freeing slaves, while also having the opportunity to partake in any spoils, seems enough to spur Keely and Dorn into action. They conscript themselves into the ramshackle gang of friends and set out the next day for open waters.

Weeks of adventuring go by, and Keely and Dorn have risked their life for a fine reward. After taking down Rolph the Butcher, they find their pockets full and their thirst for adventure sated. They retire back to the easy, predictable life of the Boneyard with future dreams to open a tavern of their own. Perhaps their new friends can find a slave ship to add to the Boneyard that would allow them to do just that. In the meantime, their room was kept waiting for them and new patrons to the fighting pits have yet to see them spar.