Description
The unkempt brown hair of this savage looking elf is tied back
with a simple leather thong and shell clasp. Another leather
thong around his neck carries a strange rune symbol on it.
The collection of leather he wears looks rough, though well tanned.
And a scent of fresh earth and mushrooms floats on the air nearby him.
Wild looking paint and mud markings daub his face and clothing.
Where mud and paint has washed off in the rain, you see a part
of a line of teardrop tattoos on his cheek. Dangling from a
thong on his left wrist is a crude ivory bear totem.
Role
The first trials (redux from level 1)
Added Tue Dec 16 17:42:02 2003 at level 28:
A new born of the bear clan of elves from the woods
far to the north and east of the Ar'atouldain was left in
the wilds for 3 days and nights. This wasn't barbarism,
though the tribe was often thought to be savages by outsiders.
Rather it was the way of the clan to determine whether the
spirit of life was strong enough for the new one to become
a person.
The normal test was only a single day and night,
but an attack on the village by orcs resulted in the newborn becoming
an orphan and it wasn't until two days had passed that the
village survivors remembered and went to find him.
The new one survived despite the lack of sustenance.
The village took this as a strong omen and dedicated the young one
to path of learning the prayers of the woods.
As Lirionnael grew, his talent for visions led the elders
to send him to study his chants from the Holy One in a small grove
in the Ar'atouldain. It was on his journey there that Lirionnael was
attacked and chased by orcs. The chase led him far astray and the things
he saw dumbfounded his naive eyes. Duergars, orcs, all manner of Sag'ra
walking among the K'der, the wild creatures and the Bach'ri, the
natural born sentients. He could not make sense of this and so
determined to travel more before returning to the Holy One for study.
And so he set out to explore the realm.
The second trial (redux from level 10)
Added Tue Dec 16 17:44:51 2003 at level 28:
After many leagues of travel, and many battles with Sag'ra,
Lirionnael returned to the Ar'atouldain and the Holy One to continue
his studies. As he returned to the small camp deep in the woods, he
drew deep breaths of the wild air into his lungs and relaxed.
The two spoke of the Sag'ra wandering amongst the Bach'ri and K'der.
And the Holy One spoke of the rising tumult brought on by this
unnatural turn of events. He also spoke of the rising winds and
the power of the lightning to strike down Sag'ra.
But before he would teach Lirionnael any more of his chants,
he said it was required for a fast and a vision of the great storm
to occur. So the Holy One helped prepare Lirionnael for his quest
by taking him to a sweat lodge to rid his body of the toxins
accumulated in his travels. He fed him the green berries to
empty him of the things inside him. And finally, the Holy One
sent Lirionnael on his journey across the desert to find the place
where the storms clouds gather their strength.
Lirionnael did as he was instructed and ventured to the storms
and began his fast, ridding himself of his clothes, save for
a loincloth and meditated while his hunger grew.
He cried out to the heavens seeking a vision to guide his path.
And he waited for the winds to blow his sight clear to the vision
he sought.
The fast and the vision.
Added Tue Dec 16 17:48:16 2003 at level 28:
Lirionnael's fast lasted for almost a quarter of a moon before he
saw a vision of the Aftermath of the Storm who spoke of another.
The vision said a Child of the Storm would come and speak to him.
And thus, Pelthaas Legeralas, Shaper of Shrubs, came and spoke
of the storm and the visions to Lirionnael. They spoke of the rise
of the Sag'ra and Lirionnael told Pelthaas of his past and how he
came to that place and of his fast.
Lirionnale spoke of his vision showing him that his place was
the affinity with the Aftermath; the regrowth following the storm.
And that the omens guided him to help all new growth survive.
They also spoke of the coming power of the storm, though while
the Lord of Storms was at the time imprisoned, no force could
long contain the path of the winds and rain and lightning to come.
With those words, the vision of the Aftermath returned and
Lirionnael felt the power of the storm enter him and showed
him the deer paths and wolf scents to follow to bring the storm
and to nuture the new seedlings.
Even with the storms weakened, the power was almost too much
for Lirionnael to contain. He returned to the HOly One who
then taught him some of the chants he would need to care for the seedlings.
And then bade him travel out to the K'der, the natural ones to find
and help them.
And so Lirionnael travelled widely across the lands and oceans,
seeking out K'der and trying to find the Sag'ra harming them.
He found the orcs in the Blackwood swamp, trying to spread
a disease amongst the plants there. And drow scouts spreading
out from the Underdark trying to found a new city amongst the
Bach'ri and the K'der. One forest was so overrun with Sag'ra
that he gathered several others and attempted to wipe them out.
But the Sag'ra kept returning. Still, Lirionnael never gave up hope.
He planted acorns and hickory nuts wherever he could find loose dirt.
and nourished whatever seedlings he happened upon.
As his knowledge grew, he began to become restless with his battles
for it seemed as he fought the Sag'ra, more emerged. So he took his
battle to the source of the Sag'ra, the cities that harbored them.
Despite the loss of comfort of his woods and the K'der, he battled
powerful Sag'ra trying to weaken the force so the storm winds could
blow down the walls and force the Sag'ra back into the darkness.
Then he would plant new seedlings and let the force of the K'der
keep the Sag'ra at bay.
the despair
Added Fri Jan 16 23:24:44 2004 at level 31:
Lirionnael felt proud to be part of the Sylvan Warders even though
there were far fewer of them than he had thought. At times,
He felt only the presence of the ancient bear as he travelled
the wilds, putting out fires, healing wounded K'der, and fighting Sag'ra.
But then, the day came when the pack had dwindled to just Pelthaas Legeralas
and Lirionnael Tu'lasal, both wood-elf druids. Pelthaas, the Captain
began to hear the banshees wail even as both spoke to others who
wished to join the pack. But is was to no avail.
Later, as the moon passed full, the Empire, then the Tribunal
assaulted not only the grove, but all the woods as well.
Plagues began to spread amongst the K'der, some allege from the Empire.
And fires broke out in almost every woodland.
Lirionnael fought the fires in many forests and healed or dispatched
the K'der he found with the plague. But the grove was in great peril
Under a last assault from the Sag'ras in the Tribunal, the bear could
last no more, and the sapling withered and died.
Lirionnael was there at the last, even as the Spire sought his death.
And then the world shifted, and the bear, the ranger and the grove were gone.
And Lirionnael was despondent. It seemed as if the Empire and the Tribunal
had indeed been stronger than those who sought to protect the wilds.
And while he knew the storm winds would continue to blow, he felt
abandoned and adrift, on a deer trail that circled back on itself.
and hence, he wandered off in the woods to try and find his path again.
and thought of himself as the Last Warder.
the determination
Added Sun Jan 18 22:05:10 2004 at level 31:
After wandering aimlessly among the deer paths, Lirionnael found
himself in a swamp in the far south of the realm. The ever changing paths
mirrored his confusion completely. Eventually, he found the Grand Druid
alone, in an altar among the briars. Here, Lirionnael sat, without eating,
without moving, trying to make sense of his world.
The wolf pack had come to an end without warning, save for the omens he
did not trust. The walls of the city and the paving blocks of the roads
seemed to be sprouting like weeds after a fire. While he sat and
tried to make sense of things, he began to look around himself.
White-tailed deer came an went quietly while flocks of butterflies
lent a flash of color to the browns and greens of the swamp.
These things reminded him of who he was, what his tribe had expected of him
when they brought him back as an orphan after his birth trial.
The sense of where he fit in the world returned, slowly but surely.
With it came the realization that in order to survive, let alone hunt
in the realm dominated by cities and Sag'ra, he would have to be
more proficient in reading the omens in the clouds and in the
skills of the hunt. So slowly, he began to study again what he knew
and learn the new chants, if he could convince the Grand Druid to teach him.
And soon, he would return among the Bach'ri and the Sag'ra to hunt.
And they would remember the howls of the wolves when they feared
harming any K'der.