Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2016 10:18:22 GMT -6
Born in the northern reaches of the Emerald forest, Gylaenon was surrounded by loved ones .Seven generations of the Lerradathan family inhabited a small village that thier ancestors had built .Learning the elven ways and playing in the forest occupied his days.
As soon as he was strong enough Gylaenon was shooting a bow. The village elders passed the secrets of nature down from one generation to the next. They taught the children about the dangers in the woods and how to move silently away from that danger. And so it went, he and his clan living in harmony with nature, for eight years.
No preparation or training could have readied Gylaenon for the day the gnolls came and they came by the hundreds. They wielded clubs, machetes and nets. The peaceful elves took to the trees and began to fend of the wave of clumsy dog-men with spears and arrows. They may have had a chance if it had not been for the brightly colored bird-men that came swooping through the tree tops. They ripped at elven flesh with sharp talons and razor beaks. That day marked the first time Gylaenon used his bow for something other than target practice. He watched his father down three of the Aaracochra, using " The Bow of Might". An ancient weapon crafted by the bowsingers . They chanted magical incantations while creating the bow .A limb from the Great Tree was used for the process and a string was created from fmely braided adamantium to withstand the force of the shots. Tallemann had shown his son how to make the arrows that the bow shot. Thicker and heavier than standard fare. With four fletchings instead of three for stability.
Those arrows flew true that day but the adversaries were too many and one bird struck Gyl's father in the chest with both talons and sent him hurtling over the balcony into the gnoll mob below. The clan was soon overwhelmed and enslaved by the gnolls. His family was forced northward to a mountain at the southern edge of the arctic steppes. There the men were made to work in a mine deep below the mountain, the women and children tended the fields and did the cooking. The gnolls were vicious masters indeed and would set examples whenever they could.
One day in the fields a woman couldnt silence her crying baby so the gaurd ripped the infant from her clutches and ate it alive. The ten slaves in the field mauled the jakyl spawn and tore him limb from limb. The other gaurds moved in soon enough and killed three of the women and beat the rest of the uprisers sensless .
When Gylaenon was twelve he saw his father being marched into the mine shaft with the rest of the men. He ran to his father and wrapped his arms tightly around him . The keepers were soon on him and their whips dug into Gyls back but he would not release his hold. The gaurds clubbed Tallemann and the two fell to the ground holding firmly to one another. The dog-men continued the beating until Gylaenon was knocked out. That would be the last time he saw his father.
When he woke Gyl was in an unfamiliar area. A part of the forest he had not seen before. There were other young men there and of course gnoll masters. He could hear the Aaracochra screeching to one another in the tree tops. No huts were present and the forest was thick here.. It soon became clear that the elves were to construct the huts and clear the vegatation for a new encampment. The dense foliage made some of the boys confident they could escape. Under the cover of night they made thier move but the keen -eyed bird men were vigilant and caught the boys in short order. Thier bodies were returned to the camp and placed on poles where the others could see. The bird-men picked thier bones clean slowly, for all to see. The workers were allowed to have machetes and crude saws to complete thier tasks and work went slowly.
About the time the fIrst hut was built Gylaenon became aware of a creature living in the woods. By the tracks and scat he found Gyl deduced it was a large dog of some sort. The signs were more concentrated around a grove of large thorny bushes. When they were cut through the sap seemed to glow. The sky began to grow dark that day and rain drizzled down on the men, when it did those very bushes began to glow, giving off a faint greenish light. When the gaurds saw this they were glad and said "Now they can see to work at night as well."
By the time the second hut was finished the wild dog had become well known to the elves. She would come in closer now and the
boys would snicker as she slipped within spans of the gaurds without them ever noticing. The dog was a cooshee , an elven dog. Gylaenon was astounded by her size. His great uncle had a cooshee and fully grown it was hardly half the size of this dog. From the green drool that ran from her mouth Gyl could only assume that she had been surviving on the sweet leaves and flowers of the glowing thorn bushes. They must have somehow caused her grow unusually large.
One day as the slaves toiled at thier jobs a gaurd stepped too close to the cooshees den and the dog lunged out sinking its canines deep into the beasts thigh. He wailed in pain , completely surprised by the attack and other gaurds began to move in on them. Gylaenon had not planned this but he saw the opportunity and could not stop himself from siezing it . He turned his machete on the screaming dog-man and slashed the back of his knee open wide sending him to the ground in a heap. As the cooshee released its grip Gylaenon leapt onto the animals back and clung to it for dear life. The black and tan canine bounded into the thick forest, seeming to know what her hitch-hiker had in mind. Gyl trusted in the animals knowledge of the forest and clung silently to her as they raced through dense thickets and thorny underbrush .He urged the critter onward until he no longer could hear the howls of gnoll trackers or the screech of evil Aaracochra .
Even after the sounds of the encampment faded in the distance the cooshee continued to run until she collapsed near a stream where she and Gyl rested and drank the cool water .He named the dog Teelash , elven for savior, and they have been constant companions ever since then.
After six grueling years Gylaenon was free again and he knew that he must somehow free the rest of the slaves and fmd what was left of his clan .He decided to search out the city of Emerald and surely the king would raise an army to end the cruelty to thier people .Gyl and Teelash roamed the forest for nearly a year, travelling southwest, searching for the city.
Along thier journey they came to an overgrown, deserted village nestled deep in the forest, Gylaenon slowly became aware that it was his childhood home. He found bones of his fallen kin and leather armor his oldest brother had worn. While constructing a stone monument at the base of the central tree he found a bow tangled deep in the grass. He recognized it at once, "the bow of might" , lying there where his father had dropped it and nearby his quiver still holding the arrows Gylaenon and his father had crafted. Gyl knew that Emerald was only two Ems south of the village and he and Teelash set out to fmd it.
When they arrived at the city Gylaenon told his tale of suffering to the council. His scars were enough to convince them of his story. They were aware of the mining but had no clue about the slavery ring. An army was formed and they marched northward to free thier brethren. With Gylaenons knowledge of the encampment they were able to surround and destroy the gnolls without a single elven loss. The bird-men must have known they were coming for not one was to be seen during the fray.
When all was said and done only Gyls mother, one uncle and two cousins were found alive. The five of them held each other close and mourned the loss of thier clan .
After helping to breathe life back into thier ancestral home Gylaenon signed on with the Elven Kings army . He studied the art of the javelin and how to make them of straight sturdy branches. There he also learned how to make every possible use of rope. From securing gear to snaring game Gyl found this knowledge very useful in the field .In the annual tournament of games Gylaenon took fIrst place in the lasso event and won a hand crafted elven pipe for enjoying the sweet leaf that grows wild in the forest. To this day he enjoys smoking his pipe in the evenings before rest .
Gylaenon earned the position of wilderness scout and traveled the borders of elven territory serving as the eyes and ears of his people. The trail he blazed came to be known as the Lerradathan trail. Although no signs mark this acheivement it is a well known tale Now and then Gyl and his ranger companions were called upon to escort dignitaries and poloticians to neighboring kingdoms.
On one such journey to the orcish territories Gylaenon met Thaylonseres , son of Gildor , a negotiator of great talent and reknown . He and Thaylon became fast friends, enjoying each others tales of adventure and sharing ideals of the elven ways. That trip ended in tragedy when the arc bastards surprised even the scouts with an ambush. Thaylon lost his father that day and the kingdom lost a great man. Thaylon and Gyl then both had the pain ofthier loss to share. They lost thier dads in very different ways but the grief was very much the same. The two men shared communion and became even closer friends, they now considered one another family. Each knowing the others life story as if they had lived it themselves.
While serving thier king the two shared barracks when Gyl was within the city and whenever possible Thaylon would accompany Gylaenon along the Lerradathan trail patrolling the elven outlands. After sixty years of service to the crown the two decided to shed thier ranks and began providing thier own freelance guide service providing protection through the wilds of the forest for those who needed it.
Now, after working for themselves for more than twentyfive years and each having made a name for himself amongst the elves for more than a century Gylaenon and Thaylonseres have begun to journey into the world of humans to blaze a trail across Skell and explore beyond the Emerald Forest.
As soon as he was strong enough Gylaenon was shooting a bow. The village elders passed the secrets of nature down from one generation to the next. They taught the children about the dangers in the woods and how to move silently away from that danger. And so it went, he and his clan living in harmony with nature, for eight years.
No preparation or training could have readied Gylaenon for the day the gnolls came and they came by the hundreds. They wielded clubs, machetes and nets. The peaceful elves took to the trees and began to fend of the wave of clumsy dog-men with spears and arrows. They may have had a chance if it had not been for the brightly colored bird-men that came swooping through the tree tops. They ripped at elven flesh with sharp talons and razor beaks. That day marked the first time Gylaenon used his bow for something other than target practice. He watched his father down three of the Aaracochra, using " The Bow of Might". An ancient weapon crafted by the bowsingers . They chanted magical incantations while creating the bow .A limb from the Great Tree was used for the process and a string was created from fmely braided adamantium to withstand the force of the shots. Tallemann had shown his son how to make the arrows that the bow shot. Thicker and heavier than standard fare. With four fletchings instead of three for stability.
Those arrows flew true that day but the adversaries were too many and one bird struck Gyl's father in the chest with both talons and sent him hurtling over the balcony into the gnoll mob below. The clan was soon overwhelmed and enslaved by the gnolls. His family was forced northward to a mountain at the southern edge of the arctic steppes. There the men were made to work in a mine deep below the mountain, the women and children tended the fields and did the cooking. The gnolls were vicious masters indeed and would set examples whenever they could.
One day in the fields a woman couldnt silence her crying baby so the gaurd ripped the infant from her clutches and ate it alive. The ten slaves in the field mauled the jakyl spawn and tore him limb from limb. The other gaurds moved in soon enough and killed three of the women and beat the rest of the uprisers sensless .
When Gylaenon was twelve he saw his father being marched into the mine shaft with the rest of the men. He ran to his father and wrapped his arms tightly around him . The keepers were soon on him and their whips dug into Gyls back but he would not release his hold. The gaurds clubbed Tallemann and the two fell to the ground holding firmly to one another. The dog-men continued the beating until Gylaenon was knocked out. That would be the last time he saw his father.
When he woke Gyl was in an unfamiliar area. A part of the forest he had not seen before. There were other young men there and of course gnoll masters. He could hear the Aaracochra screeching to one another in the tree tops. No huts were present and the forest was thick here.. It soon became clear that the elves were to construct the huts and clear the vegatation for a new encampment. The dense foliage made some of the boys confident they could escape. Under the cover of night they made thier move but the keen -eyed bird men were vigilant and caught the boys in short order. Thier bodies were returned to the camp and placed on poles where the others could see. The bird-men picked thier bones clean slowly, for all to see. The workers were allowed to have machetes and crude saws to complete thier tasks and work went slowly.
About the time the fIrst hut was built Gylaenon became aware of a creature living in the woods. By the tracks and scat he found Gyl deduced it was a large dog of some sort. The signs were more concentrated around a grove of large thorny bushes. When they were cut through the sap seemed to glow. The sky began to grow dark that day and rain drizzled down on the men, when it did those very bushes began to glow, giving off a faint greenish light. When the gaurds saw this they were glad and said "Now they can see to work at night as well."
By the time the second hut was finished the wild dog had become well known to the elves. She would come in closer now and the
boys would snicker as she slipped within spans of the gaurds without them ever noticing. The dog was a cooshee , an elven dog. Gylaenon was astounded by her size. His great uncle had a cooshee and fully grown it was hardly half the size of this dog. From the green drool that ran from her mouth Gyl could only assume that she had been surviving on the sweet leaves and flowers of the glowing thorn bushes. They must have somehow caused her grow unusually large.
One day as the slaves toiled at thier jobs a gaurd stepped too close to the cooshees den and the dog lunged out sinking its canines deep into the beasts thigh. He wailed in pain , completely surprised by the attack and other gaurds began to move in on them. Gylaenon had not planned this but he saw the opportunity and could not stop himself from siezing it . He turned his machete on the screaming dog-man and slashed the back of his knee open wide sending him to the ground in a heap. As the cooshee released its grip Gylaenon leapt onto the animals back and clung to it for dear life. The black and tan canine bounded into the thick forest, seeming to know what her hitch-hiker had in mind. Gyl trusted in the animals knowledge of the forest and clung silently to her as they raced through dense thickets and thorny underbrush .He urged the critter onward until he no longer could hear the howls of gnoll trackers or the screech of evil Aaracochra .
Even after the sounds of the encampment faded in the distance the cooshee continued to run until she collapsed near a stream where she and Gyl rested and drank the cool water .He named the dog Teelash , elven for savior, and they have been constant companions ever since then.
After six grueling years Gylaenon was free again and he knew that he must somehow free the rest of the slaves and fmd what was left of his clan .He decided to search out the city of Emerald and surely the king would raise an army to end the cruelty to thier people .Gyl and Teelash roamed the forest for nearly a year, travelling southwest, searching for the city.
Along thier journey they came to an overgrown, deserted village nestled deep in the forest, Gylaenon slowly became aware that it was his childhood home. He found bones of his fallen kin and leather armor his oldest brother had worn. While constructing a stone monument at the base of the central tree he found a bow tangled deep in the grass. He recognized it at once, "the bow of might" , lying there where his father had dropped it and nearby his quiver still holding the arrows Gylaenon and his father had crafted. Gyl knew that Emerald was only two Ems south of the village and he and Teelash set out to fmd it.
When they arrived at the city Gylaenon told his tale of suffering to the council. His scars were enough to convince them of his story. They were aware of the mining but had no clue about the slavery ring. An army was formed and they marched northward to free thier brethren. With Gylaenons knowledge of the encampment they were able to surround and destroy the gnolls without a single elven loss. The bird-men must have known they were coming for not one was to be seen during the fray.
When all was said and done only Gyls mother, one uncle and two cousins were found alive. The five of them held each other close and mourned the loss of thier clan .
After helping to breathe life back into thier ancestral home Gylaenon signed on with the Elven Kings army . He studied the art of the javelin and how to make them of straight sturdy branches. There he also learned how to make every possible use of rope. From securing gear to snaring game Gyl found this knowledge very useful in the field .In the annual tournament of games Gylaenon took fIrst place in the lasso event and won a hand crafted elven pipe for enjoying the sweet leaf that grows wild in the forest. To this day he enjoys smoking his pipe in the evenings before rest .
Gylaenon earned the position of wilderness scout and traveled the borders of elven territory serving as the eyes and ears of his people. The trail he blazed came to be known as the Lerradathan trail. Although no signs mark this acheivement it is a well known tale Now and then Gyl and his ranger companions were called upon to escort dignitaries and poloticians to neighboring kingdoms.
On one such journey to the orcish territories Gylaenon met Thaylonseres , son of Gildor , a negotiator of great talent and reknown . He and Thaylon became fast friends, enjoying each others tales of adventure and sharing ideals of the elven ways. That trip ended in tragedy when the arc bastards surprised even the scouts with an ambush. Thaylon lost his father that day and the kingdom lost a great man. Thaylon and Gyl then both had the pain ofthier loss to share. They lost thier dads in very different ways but the grief was very much the same. The two men shared communion and became even closer friends, they now considered one another family. Each knowing the others life story as if they had lived it themselves.
While serving thier king the two shared barracks when Gyl was within the city and whenever possible Thaylon would accompany Gylaenon along the Lerradathan trail patrolling the elven outlands. After sixty years of service to the crown the two decided to shed thier ranks and began providing thier own freelance guide service providing protection through the wilds of the forest for those who needed it.
Now, after working for themselves for more than twentyfive years and each having made a name for himself amongst the elves for more than a century Gylaenon and Thaylonseres have begun to journey into the world of humans to blaze a trail across Skell and explore beyond the Emerald Forest.