Description
An adolescent storm giant stands here with skin of palest blue. Except
for a few cobalt colored freckles it reminds you of the sky on an
especially clear day. Long, vivid green hair is gathered at the back of
his head and fastened with a simple bone clip. Some loose strands have
escaped, however, and hang down around his shoulders. These have been
braided and incorporate some colorful seashells. Very little of his
clothing is visible beneath the heavy armor he wears, but what you can
see is simple and homespun; clearly not the work of a skilled tailor.
His face is symmetric and modestly attractive, but often displays
evidence of distraction, as if he were listening for some far off sound.
Role
The Hunt
Added Sat Oct 10 02:08:26 2020 at level 1:
Aewir removes his boots, one by one, and sets them down some ways away
from the cliff's edge. Glancing over at his father, he grins in
anticipation. He is excited.
"Do you think the hunting will be good?" he asks.
His father squints and, with narrowed eyes, scans the foamy waters
below. It is all Aewir can do to restrain himself from asking a second
time. Then, after what seems like an eternity, his father grunts and
bends down to pick up a massive bone spear.
"Argaes willing," he says, before setting off at a sprinter's pace
toward the cliff's edge.
Taken by surprise, Aewir picks up his own spear and runs after his
father. The vigor of youth prevails and the two giants reach the edge
at exactly the same time before leaping forward into open space.
For a brief moment their two bodies, one the mirror of the other, are
suspended against the backdrop of the morning sky, blue against blue,
and then gravity draws them downward toward the choppy seas below.
The spirits of the Aryth look on and smile at this perfect moment, rejoicing
that their children have returned to them at last.
Other spirits also notice, in the deeper waters where the giants
fear to go. And they do not smile. They seethe.
Tragedy
Added Sat Oct 10 02:11:14 2020 at level 1:
Swimming along side his father, the two giants begin to scan the waters
for their prey: the vast schools of fish that migrate across the Aryth
at this time of year when the waters warm and currents shift. It does
not take long before they spot a school of tuna.
Approaching the great mass of fish, father and son veer off in opposite
directions in order to perform the maneuver that will drive one or two
fish close enough to be speared. Aewir whispers a brief apology to the
spirits of the fish, one of whose life he is about to claim.
It is at this moment that he first notices they are not alone, but it is
a instant too late. He has only the dim sense of a dark shape at
furthest periphery of his vision before feeling a piercing pain at the
small of his back.
He cries out, but one cry is all he can manage before the creature's
paralytic venom takes effect and he is rendered helpless.
The dark shape emerges from behind him and he is now able to tell that
it is some sort of string ray, but unlike any he has ever seen before.
It is impossibly large, for one, and, although it makes little sense,
the creature seems to regard him with undisguised hatred.
Aewir has little time to ponder this, however, as his father swims in
front of his field of view and engages the creature in a pitched battle.
For a time the elder giant seems to have the upper hand, but the
creature's unnatural speed and resistance eventually prove too much.
As its prey breathes his last, the creature shimmers and blurs into the
shape of a slim, dark-skinned woman. She smiles at Aewir, then,
floating there in the water next to father's broken body, and despite
the temporary paralysis it sends shivers down his spine.
He watches, unable to look away or shut his eyes, as she skins the older
giant's body and fashions it into crude implements. Her gruesome task
complete, she flashes him another wicked grin before blurring into her
previous shape and swimming off into the distance.
Laid to Rest
Added Sat Oct 10 02:23:07 2020 at level 1:
The sky is dark gray and the clouds are lit only dimly by the last rays
of the setting sun.
His father's body rests on a raft made from driftwood. Feathery green
seaweed obscures the places where the skin was stripped away. His great
spear lies beside him and a garland of seashells rings his brow.
Surrounding the craft is a semi-circle of giants, their massive blue
frames naked except for seaweed loincloths and necklaces of shell and
stone. Aewir stands alone in the center.
Lightning dances in the clouds and leaves behind soft murmurs of thunder
that rumble off into the distance. As the sun finally dips below the
horizon the wind picks up and the seas begin to churn. Even so, a
strange quiet descends on the beach as if all creation held its breath.
Aewir steps forward. Placing a single sea flower at his father's breast,
he bends down and begins to heave the craft out into the water. This is
his task alone, and one only a giant could perform.
Behind him the priests begin to chant. Their arms reach up toward the
heavens even as they raise their voices in song. It their task to
summon the storm that will blow their kinsman out to sea and, ultimately,
to his resting place in the depths.
Aewir stands silently. Watching. Not being of the priesthood, it is
not his place to call the storm.
A New Voice
Added Sat Oct 10 02:24:26 2020 at level 1:
The craft moves swiftly away from the shore. No longer content to
dance among the clouds, the lightning now strikes the ocean's surface
directly and is greeted by resounding "booms" of thunder.
As the chant reaches its crescendo Aewir sees that a whirlpool has begun
to form, ready to welcome his father's remains. This is how his people
have always honored their dead. And, yet, he hears another voice.
This voice is higher than those of the priests, but more subtle. It
does not overpower theirs, but rather entwines with them in exquisite
harmony. Where the priests' voices are plaintive, this new voice is
wild and tinged with anger. And yet, despite that, it is also filled
with indescribable joy, as incongruous as that may seem.
Then, all at once, Aewir is aware of many other voices: the stones on
the beach, the sea grass at his back, the sand beneath his feet and even
the sea itself. Each of these joins its song in support of the one new
voice, until Aewir can bear it no longer and must add his own.
Song bursts out of him and, as if in answer, the sky ignites with dozens
of lightning bolts that arc down to simultaneously connect with his
father's foundering craft, causing to explode in a burst of bright blue
flame.
Then the light fades, until only the afterimage remains in Aewir's
memory. The many voices gradually still. They seem to hum now at the
very edge of his ability to perceive. The priests glance around in
concern, wondering at what these events migth portend.
Summary
Added Sat Oct 10 02:25:38 2020 at level 1:
+ Aewir hails from a tribe of storm giants that lead a relatively primitive
existence on the shores of the Aryth Ocean.
+ The tribe worships a deity, "Argaes", which is actually another name for
Ergush even though they don't know him as such.
+ After witnessing his father's murder at the hands of a Reaver, Aewir
has a religious experience during the subsequent funeral.
+ Because he violated tradition and because of the miraculous events
at the funeral, Aewir is sent out to learn the truth of the matter.
+ After interacting with those on the mainland he is forced to conclude
that "Argaes" is almost certainly "Ergush". This information is
difficult to digest, but in no way dims his devotion.
+ Other than their reverence for "Argaes", Aewir's people's beliefs are
largely animistic, and so he has always had at least a token belief in
"spirits". However, until the funeral he had never "heard" them or
communed with any direclty.
+ Aewir considers the wicked to have abdicated their responsibility (as
recipients of the divine gift of sentience) to nurture life, and as such
refers to them as "betrayers".
PK Wins
Oct 15, 2020|Lv 29|The Plains of Arendyl|Goantun vs 1: [29] Aewir (100%, lightning bolt)
Oct 23, 2020|Lv 41|Galadon|Omugug vs 2: [47] Leuoa (21%, throw), [41] Aewir (78%)
Oct 28, 2020|Lv 51|Voralian City|Omugug vs 1: [51] Aewir (100%, torments)
Oct 30, 2020|Lv 51|Fortress of Light|Inacha vs 1: [51] Aewir (100%, torments)
Nov 5, 2020 |Lv 51|Outlying Villages|Zraldar vs 2: [51] Garful (26%, dispel evil), [51] Aewir (73%)