A principal character from the Ring of Steel, a Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign set in and around Harrowdale. “Ruckus and rowdy at the best of times, the Pushy Pixie, Velarsburg’s only tavern, was always packed when the Flametresses came to town. Although not a regular amongst the troop of her sister priestesses of Sune, Tassyl often joined their performances when their paths crossed. Whirling through the increate dance routine, she could not help but notice one small table that stood out because it had only one occupant; an oddly dressed young man, barely of age by his look, yet the rough-and-tumble crowd gave him a wide birth. Finishing the final routine of the night, the dancers received a wild standing ovation, but Tassyl noticed that the young man still bore the solemn look of a stranger amongst a crowd. Watching the dancers prance of the floor, Kaulen noticed the flame-haired beauty that seemed to stare at him, but dismissed her interest as just another gawker getting a good look at the freak, and set to draining his tankard of ale. The crowd was still thick when he rose from his table, but parted as if on command to let him pass. Outside, the cool air of the early spring night was refreshing, and he paused to savor it. “Did you not enjoy the performance?” a lyrical, female voice drew his attention to one side. There, near the rear of building was the same red-haired dancer he had noticed before, still garbed in her sheer, red silk costume. “Your performance was excellent,” he replied with a bit of stammer. Kaulen wasn’t use to anyone speaking to him if they could avoid it, particularly such a gorgeous woman, and could help but let his eyes roam across her scantly clad, curvaceous form. “Yet you do not seem to have enjoyed it?” she returned, slinking toward him seductively. “It was the company that I found unappealing. Not the performance,” he answered, trying not to sound as flustered as she was making him. Now only a few feet away, Tassyl studied him intently. He was barely of age, though seemed well toned, with attractive, boyish features. She also noticed that as other patrons left the tavern and saw him standing there, they immediately turned and scurried away. “Why do they avoid you?” she asked, seeing the hurt in his eyes that he tried to hide. “I am Kaulen Dundragon,” he said as if it was an answer. Then, seeing her lack of recognition, he added; “The sorcerer… the mad-mage!” “Oh,” Tassyl said with mock homage, “and what is it that makes you ‘mad’?” Nodding toward the latest group of locals to exit the tavern, catch sight of him and bolt in the opposite direction, he replied; “Them mostly…”” Born with the sorcerer's gift to work magic instinctively, Kaulen was all but shunned by the magic weary Harrans when he nearly burned down his family’s farm in his youth. Banished to the, then still under construction, House of Mystra in Harrowdale town to learn to control his “gift”, he was deeply hurt by his own family’s rejection. Still little more then a youth, he relishes his reputation for being dangerous and unpredictable, and though he is not quite the mad magician he often seems, he delights in playing the part to the hilt. Kaulen is still very much a little boy in search of acceptance. Something he has rarely found outside the Ring of Steel. He is often moody and solemn, and is the most chaotic and unpredictable of the group. But is dedicated to serving the greater good, if for no other reason then to prove his family, and everyone else, wrong about him. The seventh and final principal character from my second pass through the Ring of Steel. Thanks for looking... Hope you enjoy! Comments and suggestions always welcome and appriciated!