By: John David Anderson
Level: YA
Mason and Cowel come from a town bereft of all heroes but one. The one hero of the town, Duke Darlinger, tells fantastic stories of how he slays the goblins, orcs, trolls, and ogres. Then Mason finds out that the duke is a fraud and has been paying off the various monsters for years but now they want more money and the duke is broke. Mason sets out with a borrowed horse and one hundred gold coins as well as his best friend to find heroes to help protect the town from imminent doom. To pass the time along the way Cowel reads a book written by Mason’s father titled Quayle’s Guide to Adventures for the Unadventurous. The book gives all of the tips and advice you might need for SHB (Standard Hero Behavior). The quest for heroes has many false starts and not a lot of luck finding real heroes but more importantly Mason seems to be on the trail of his missing father. Finding out why Edmond Quayle left his family ten years previously is almost as important a question as how to find heroes who can help the town.
