The kingdom of Xorn has a centuries-old pact with a red dragon, known as Pyropax. Xorn provides suitable virgins of proper breeding (peasants don't have the same juicy tang, apparently) for dragon dinner, and the dragon, in return, aids Xorn in war, burning opposing armies to fine ash.

The problem is that noble births have declined as otherwise-marriageable women have been sacrificed to the dragon. Furthermore, virginity has become a distinctly unpopular option within the population of eligible maidens. Thus, in the last few decades, in order to obtain appropriate dragon snacks, Xorn has been forced to raid its neighbor, the kingdom of Pastel, where a strict moral code and proper chaperoning practices ensure an ongoing supply of nummy dragon fodder.

The Dragon Procurement Corps, though, has thus far failed to obtain this month's tidbit. Every band sent across the border has disappeared. Evidently, someone in the good kingdom of Pastel has gotten Smart, or something dastardly has happened. Either way, King Zedek has run out of trained Procurement Specialists to send, and he's now ordered you, courtiers who made the mistake of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, failing to look busy enough, being around when he thought about this, or otherwise falling out of favor or being conveniently nearby, to go to Pastel and get a virgin -- before the dragon gets really hungry. The dragon, you see, becomes distinctly annoyed when hungry...

Fortunately, the vizier's prophetic powers have pinpointed the month's candidate. It's Duke Humboldt of Pastel's daughter, Yolanthe, and she is, conveniently, holed up in a country manor not too close to any interfering civilization. You've got a map. You've been provided with equipment. Now, you just need to go get her. It should be simple, right?

Oh. Did they mention that they wanted you to deliver her to the dragon, too, and make sure he enjoys his dinner?

He's not too upset. Yet. Really.

You begin as fifth-level characters. You should create characters per standard PHB rules; please remember to do character creation one level at a time (you can't pool all your skill points from all the levels and assign them that way, for instance). You have 500 GP to spend on equipment regardless of character class. You get one masterwork item for free, as well as two potions of healing for free.

You will not roll for attributes; instead, pick one of the sets below. You can arrange them in any order you wish. You can lower an attribute by TWO in order to raise another by ONE; you can do this as many times as you'd like. Adjustments to these base stats should be made before applying any racial bonuses or penalties.

18	18	17	16	14
17	16	14	15	14
13	14	13	13	14
10	12	12	13	12
10	10	11	11	12
10	 8	11	10	12

All characters are attached to the court of King Zedek in some way. They are out of favor in some way, or otherwise did something to draw the king's attention when he was choosing victims for this mission (it might be as simple as having loitered around at the wrong time). You're not particularly important people any longer, though you might have been at one point in time. You should have a reason to dislike the current regime. If you have something personal against the dragon, so much the better.

A note about tone: There is a touch of the cartoonish to this mini-campaign. Evil is Dramatic Evil; it exists in the form of big looming castles shadowing entire valleys, narrow-eyed viziers, and little hunchbacks cackling in corners. Good is Dramatic Good; the colors change to sweet pastel hues when you cross the border, knights have really shiny armor, and they build a lot of things out of white marble. If this were a TV show, Bruce Campbell would be in it. Please create your characters with this in mind.