…from Mars? Ooooeeeeoooo!
Delving In The Dungeon: Part 1 “A bit of backstory”
Erasmus is a second level M.U. on the verge of hitting third level. He is, as most young mages are, dirt poor and full of ambition. About a month ago, his loyal servant, Knute, met a drunken old woodsman down at the local pub. Shortly before passing out, the woodsman told Knute about a cave he had found down south, on the slopes of Mt. Greenstone. There were many carvings of warriors in action near the cave mouth and the whole cave itself looked as though it had been worked on to enlarge the first 30 feet or so. Being a cautious fellow, the woodsman did not enter it and continued along with his regular woodsmanly tasks.
Until he found the next cave. And the next. And the next and the next, until he had found a total of 5 entrances, all looking like the very first. At that point, the woodsman got spooked and decided to head for civilization.
Naturally, Knute told Erasmus about this strange tale. Unsurprisingly (since Knute knew his master well), Erasmus got quite excited at the prospect of exploring a dungeon complex. He became really excited when a bit of research showed that this might be the legendary lair of the Brotherhood of the Bloody Sword, a mercenary army of old, known for their vicious efficiency at dispatching the enemy.
200 years ago, the Brotherhood had poured forth from their secret lair to join in the Goblin Wars. During the final battle, in the fields near Ekarris, the entire Brotherhood was killed in the suicide attack of the Great Green Dragon. With them died the location of their treasure filled hideout…until now.
Erasmus sent Knute to hire a team of veteran adventurers who would accompany the mage into the dungeon. Unfortunately, the dwarf returned with bad news. Apparently, the woodsmans conversation had been overheard by others, including Erasmus’ rival, Horatio. There were no seasoned adventurers left to be hired. The best Knute was able to do was…
Duncan & Fergus: Two strapping young brothers with a few months of caravan guard duty under their belts.
Amalia: A young elf lass who had formerly worked as security for the wealthy, but lecherous, elf mercant Boraddin.
Periwinkle: A halfling who tried to steal Knute’s money pouch…twice.
Erasmus was not at all happy with this turn of events, but also knew that he had no time to look for better helpers. A contract was drawn up…equal shares for all, with Erasmus getting first choice of anything magical…supplies were purchased and they hit the road towards Mt. Greenstone.
More bloggage later.
The Dociverse Blog 
Offhand, I’d say two. One for Horatio, which will be fairly competent and worthy rivals. The other more powerful/experienced than our protagonists, but with much less teamwork, more clashing personalities, to demonstrate what *not* to do.
I voted 1, thinking Erasmus’ and Horatio’s crews were already accounted for, for a total of 3.