|
Character Description:
Hunter is a native of the great nation of Rashemen, and was pegged at a very early age to be groomed as a witch-guardian, destined to be the right hand of the wychlaran or Rashemen. A sword was put in his hands at the age of 5, and he has rarely been away from one since. He was soon paired with a talented young ethran-in-training by the name of Helenya. Helenya was a very serious, focused young lady, with the imperious manner common to many wychlaran. They grew up in each other's company, forming a friendship that would endure for years.
At the age of 19, Hunter got his first taste of adventure when he accompanied his charge, then 16, through the dangerous Ashenwood in Rashemen. There, he and his witch charge were confronted by monstrous spiders, ettercaps, and a half-blind troll, all falling before his blade and Helenya's divine magic and morningstar.
Over the next few months, the two gained a certain infamy amongst some circles of witches, and gained some small acclaim during a Thayan invasion, where the Red Wizards tried to overrun the city of Mulsanter with a horde of undead. During the battle, Hunter and Helenya were always found in the thick of the fight, cutting wide swathes through the skeletons, zombies and dread warriors of the enemy horde. At one critical moment, a circle of Red Wizards were preparing to summon a great spell of destruction from within a circle of fire that repelled most attempts to stymie them. Helenya commanded Hunter to jump through the wall of fire, girding him in magic to protect him from the flames. Leaping through, Hunter was confronted by a Thayan knight, sneering at this new challenger, and gesturing to a pile of heads before him, the remains of previous challengers. Taking his courage in both hands, Hunter strode forth to duel this evil warrior, ultimately defeating him, as Helenya faced one of the Red Wizards. The distraction was enough to allow the witches to disrupt the Thayans' enchantment. The Red Wizards were soon after repelled completely, and slunk back to their enclaves in Thay proper. Following the invasion, Hunter and Helenya came to the attention of the Othlor Oveleana, who sent them on a mission to track down the renegade Trotzi, a smuggler and dabbler in magic, which is forbidden to all male Rashemi except the vremyonni. Their hunt proved fruitless, their wily quarry evading them numerous times, and leading them into near-death situations, such as a pond haunted by two spirits, one the ghost of a young girl who had drowned in the pool, and the other the vengeful shade of a slain Rashemi warrior, wielding a magical blade that could be lifted and manipulated by spirits. Hunter faced the warrior-ghost in single combat, besting it after a long, grueling battle. He claimed the sword as his own, and soon discovered that, despite its rusty, unassuming appearance, the blade contained a powerful enchantment.
Following the debacle of trying to hunt down the renegade Trotzi, Helenya was summoned to the witch convention at Immil Vale, and assigned a one-year post at Citadel Rashemar as resident witch. This proved to be, for the first months, to be a boring and uneventful post, and Hunter found himself spending much time hunting alone in the surrounding countryside. Hunter had never quite fit in with the warriors of Rashemen, being a quiet and reserved individual, a precision fighter much in contrast to the berserker lodges most warriors belonged to.
The boredom ended quite abruptly, however, when the Time of Troubles came upon the world. Rashemen was, by comparison to other parts of the world, sheltered from the brunt of the effects of this chaotic time, but did not escape entirely unscathed. The Citadel, during this period, fought off hordes of trolls, impossibly large wyverns, and an invasion of frost giants during an especially harsh winter. It was during this time that Hunter began garnering a name for himself, separate from his witch, among the warriors of the Citadel. His battle prowess turned the tide of many battles with trolls, and it was he, accompanying Helenya and her newly-recruited guardian Gundar, that drove off the giant wyvern that had been plaguing the countryside. During the frost giant invasion, Hunter learned true fear at the hands of these gigantic warriors. These were some of the few times that Hunter has ever had to retreat from a fight. Hunter's true acclaim among the warriors of the keep came on the heels of a great tragedy. When the situation with the giants had become desperate, the general in command at the Citadel, Bolveshov, commanded Hunter to accompany him on a mission to slay the giants' leader, in the hopes that this could break the invaders' morale and drive them back. With much apprehension, Hunter agreed (not that he had much choice), and, strapping on a full suit of plate armor for the first and only time in his life, set out with the old general. While traversing a mountain pass, Bolveshov spotted a pair of frost giants further up the slope, who had apparently not seen the two humans. Bolveshov, a storied fighter, indicated to Hunter that they should ambush the two giants, "for practice." Hunter's usually-sharp instincts gave him certain misgivings to this course of action, but had little choice but to follow his superior into battle. The first giant fell to the two Rashemi, but Hunter's instincts proved true when Bolveshov was slain by the second giant, leaving a very nervous Hunter to face the giantess alone. In one of the closest calls of his career, Hunter managed to drive the giantess off, and carried his fallen leader back to the Citadel. That same night, Hunter was bequeathed Bolveshov's equipment, including a magical chain shirt and greataxe, and was commanded to avenge the general. Alone. Hunter set out, tracked the giantess to her place of rest, and slew her, gaining the respect of the captains of the Citadel and all its warriors.
Following the Time of Troubles, Hunter and Helenya were again summoned the the witch convention, and dispatched to Cormyr for their dharjma, a one-year trek outside of Rashemen that all young witches (and their guardians) undertake to gain life experience outside of Rashemen. They made a sort of base of operations in Arabel, and from there made forays into the Stonelands, exploring an old Netherese vault inhabited by medusae and a darktentacles, into the Hullack Wood, where they thwarted, on numerous occasions, a band of lycanthropic Malarites who were bent on defiling a secret shrine to Eldath, and into the Vast Swamp, where a lich named Durziell kept his lair and performed horrible experiments for his Dragon Cult allies. Over the next year, Hunter and Helenya made many friends, and many enemies. After getting enmeshed with the schemes of certain Cormyrian Purple Dragon knights and War Wizards, Hunter and his witch began working against the Zhentorrim as well, raiding a border fort of the Zhentorrim in the northern Dalelands, which the Zhents used as a waypoint for caravans into the desert of Anauroch. This raid began a back-and-forth series of offensives, with the Zhents sending assassins to slay Hunter and Helenya, and the two responding by once again raiding the fort. In the final raid, Hunter and Helenya were met by a new enemy, the Magedoom. Having heard of this creature before, Hunter knew that this time the stakes had been raised to a new level, but overcame the abomination with the help of his new guardian-partner, another Rashemi named Thundruil. Hunter has faced and bested dragons, golems, giants, the dreaded two-headed fell troll, beholders, medusae... The stories of the battles Hunter has witnessed would be a year in the telling, and that with heavy editing. He has, in his travels with his mistress Helenya, seen the worst horrors, and the greatest wonders. Great cities and dark crypts. Now lies before him his greatest challenge. Helenya has been charged by her goddess Mystra to enter fabled Myth Drannor, there to reconsicrate a special shrine to Mystra. Hunter has heard stories of the dead, enchanted city, and sees this new adventure with some reservations, but as always, will follow his charge, to the grave if need be, and beyond; Hunter is not unfamiliar with the cold embrace of death. Songs have been composed about Hunter, describing the cold determination and colder gaze that comes to those who venture, beyond the world of the living too often..... Hunter is no stranger to death, and feels little fear of it now, as he knows in part what awaits him, and knows as well that the cold peace of the grave will not be his until the Hathran are finished with him.....
This is a song composed by Jarin "the Yoke," a half moon-elf from Shadowdale that Hunter encountered after fighting by the King of Cormyr's side at the Battle of the Golden Way against the Horde. Hunter met Jarin in the Dalelands, and spent a night frankly recounting stories to the bard of battles won and battles lost in his career. Hunter is no stranger to death, and has been called back from the grave by the witches of Rashemen several times now. The pall of the grave hangs over Hunter, and is felt by those around him, who find his presence disturbing at times. Jarin composed this song with this in mind:
Hunter's Requiem
"grim men know what death doth toll
to send your enemies down below
young men see beyond their years
when blood doth flow more than tears"
this is what was told to me
by a bold young Rashemi
I swear I didn't change a word
so let me tell you what I heard
along the Lake Ashane his tale began
a young man walking with a friend
the spirits fill the land they say
in Rashemen's wilds, far away
and this my subject swore was true
his very eyes saw what they do
they wait and watch and warn the folk
when treachery comes, red in cloak
the land of berzerkers keep busy swords
against the Thayan's invading hordes
sixteen times, its said, Thay's marched to war
but never conquered Rashemen before
and this warrior who spoke unto me
said he looks forward to war #3
which means he's fought not once but twice
on autumn shores, and breaking lakes of ice
and his land was not left alone
when the gods were outcast from their homes
this warrior Hunter explained it well
the battles at the citadel
but these boasts you won't believe my friends
the tales of slaughter to defend
the walls of fair, gone Rashemar
where Yamun Khan came from afar
and this Hunter's also been abroad
in Cormyr fair he got the nod
from the King, it's said, and true - know why?
A paladin told me that, and they don't lie!
I've seen the axe from Netheril
and heard the names he sent to hell
he promised me not to repeat to you
the infernal names of his dispatched retinue
from time to time I've been a scourge
and earned a beating well deserved
but this man has such enemies
if you knew you'd get right on your knees
and thank your god his serving was not shared
for to risk such risks you'd never dare
he said many men might not survive
the tasks which made him feel alive
and all night long he told his tales
as I tried to go blind with ale
for the tales of gore he told to me
were something you don't want to see
how can such horror man endure?
he told me so I'd know for sure
the steely glint borne in the eye
is what the strong find when they die...
|
