You still remember that day. You were just a child when they strode through the gate of your father’s dusty farm and asked for water and a place to sleep for the night. There were five of them, each radiating a weary confidence. The broad-shouldered warrior, casually bearing the weight of his heavy, weatherbeaten armor. The bearded wizard, his thin arms a chaotic mass of tattoos, his face gnarled with the creases of premature aging. You were smitten by the young god-speaker, whose blond ringlets matched the color of the vestal stole painted onto her breastplate. Then you saw the dark elf-woman, who drew her flowing cloak around herself like she’d clad herself in the night sky, and fell in childish love with her, too. Then there was the last one—you’d never seen his like before, with his strange red eyes and greenish skin.     Your father seemed a little afraid of them, but not you. You knew, from the instant you saw them together—observed their easy joking, their sense of comfort in each other’s company, the shared exploits etched into the lines of their faces—that you would do anything to join their ranks.     That night, as they sheltered in your father’s teetering barn, you asked them a thousand questions. You asked the warrior how he found his sword. Quizzed the wizard on the origins of magic. Gently hinted that the inhuman one should tell you the forbidden secrets of his people. But most of all, you wanted to know how a stick-legged young weed such as yourself could possibly aspire to be like them. To wander this dangerous world unafraid, to plunge into its darkest crevasses, to bring forth treasure and glorious tales. Most of all, to find the sense of unshakable comradeship the five of them had, together.     “It’s simple, son,” the warrior replied. “Be brave. Make yourself strong. And, when you are old enough, join the Raiders Guild.” To learn more about the Raiders Guild and Axe Initiative Games, listen to our pod cast [10.4meg 11:20 mins mp3] here Our livejournal blog, http://community.livejournal.com/axe_initiative/ has a RSS & Atom feed to help you stay up to date with our latest developments.