Shadow (Keenan-Char) Wraithwalker
"Prepare to dance with my spears, wetlander"
Born: 6th
Qyaternary Regress, Pass of 3716
Age: 81
Class:
Rake
Level:
5
Alignment:
Lawful Neutral
Statistics:
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 19
Constitution: 8
Intelligence: 9
Wisdom: 9
Charisma: 15
Last
Reported:
Shadow is searching Charsonnea for the elven kingdom of Rahasia (12th
Primary
Regress, Pass of 3798).
Background:
Keenan-Char Wraithwalker was born to Taisha-Char Wraithwalker in the
midst
of battle. Taisha-Char is immortalized in the memories of the
Wraithwalker
sept by her unquenchable stubborness. The name Taisha in Rhylen means
“immovable
as a mountain.”
When she was nine months pregnant, shee participated in a caravan raid,
refusing to be dishonored by yielding to the pain of labor. In the
midst
of battle however, as Taisha engaged a powerful wet-land elven magic
user
named Illallarin, she fell to the ground, unable to contain the strains
of giving birth. As she gazed upward, her teeth clenched in an effort
to
maintain her stone-faced composure, she awaited the deathblow. Defiant.
Prepared for death. Prepared for the caress which would end her
struggle…
but the blow never came. Refusing to scream, she forced open her
tightly
shut eyes, dreading what she may see. Her worst fears were confirmed as
she gazed upward, her face a stoney mask concealing unimaginable pain,
as her eyes locked with the wizard’s. For the first time in her life
she
saw pity, and it enraged her like nothing ever had before. Struggling
to
her feet, refusing to accept this insult to her pride, she reached for
her spear. Pain washed through her. Pain like she had never felt
before,
and in shame she fell once more to the ground, fighting the urge to
scream.
Without hesitation, the wizard retrieved the convulsing woman’s body
and
brought her behind a burning wagon as he prepared to deliver the baby.
In that night of death, and life, a baby was born. He was named
Keenan-Char,
which in Rhylen means “breaker of mountains”. The raid ended as swiftly
as it had come, leaving behind it a truly strange sight indeed. The
caravan
had been utterly destroyed and ransacked, and the dead lay strewn about
the burning and smouldering remains of the merchant’s wagons. Faint
moans
and sobs periodically eminated from those that still lay dying. And in
the midst of it all, the crying of a newborn babe could be heard
clutched
tightly to the breast of its mother…Keenan’s mother struggled for air
in
ragged, irregular breaths. For the first time that she could remember,
a tear slid down her numbing cheek and into the sand, evaporating
almost
before it landed.
In the silence, the wizard Illallarin studied the baby in stunned
silence.
His mission was of dire importance, yet how could he justify leaving
this
baby behind to die? He wrapped the baby in his fur cloak, making his
way
to the front of the caravan. Gathering any water and food he could he
mounted
the only camel that wasn’t dead or escaped. It had been wounded from
the
battle, and walked with a limp… he wondered how far it would be able to
go in these cursed lands that seemed to offer nothing but death.
7 Days into the journey had passed when he was finally found by the
raiding
party. His lips were dry and cracked and his head pounded. He could not
see straight because of the heat and because of dehydration. 3 days ago
he had realized that they were going to run out of water. He knew he
could
not bear to see the child die, so he had used the last of the water on
the child and the camel, instead of himself. He realized now that it
was
too late for him to save his people. He also knew he was going to die.
He wanted to cry, but he had no tears.
The raiding party stood, waiting as the ragged wetlander lurched
towards
them on his crippled camel. He had been following them for days and
they
had known. At first, they thought he was trying to follow them to their
hidden city of Rhyalis. Another foolish wetlander who thought he could
conquer the desert. Yet this one was different. They had seen many men
try to follow them, and all had died. Yet this old elf had endured the
heat far longer than any before him. What could be so important that
this
man would defy death so to pursue? They knew Wetlanders. They feared
death
like children. But not this elf. It was because of this that they
decided
to make themselves known and confront him. As soon as they reached him,
the man cast them a weary glance, squinting, unable to focus on them.
They
could tell that this man was about to die. Handing them a small Rhylen
baby, the man struggled to recount the story that brought him here with
the child. Falling to the sand the man produced a key from the folds of
his robes, muttering only the words, “Break the curse on the city of
Rahasia”.
His furrowed brow relaxed, and his head fell back. The man was dead.
That
day, for the first time anyone in the raiding party could remember,
they
honored a Wetlander with a burial.
Keenan-Char Wraithwalker was trained as a Rake by his father Jarll
Wraithwalker,
a renown party leader for the Wraithwalker sept. Keenan was given the
name
Shadow, for his elusiveness in combat, like that of a shadow. He had
proven
competent on more than one caravan raid, and when he reached the age of
80, and was no longer considered a child, it was agreed upon by the
Sept
chief that Shadow was to complete the strange old elf’s task, in order
to restore the lost pride of his mother and his family and in
recognition
of the peculiar Wetlander’s honorable actions, to whom Shadow owed his
life. Shadow took an oath not to return to Rhyalis until the curse that
the old wizard mentioned was broken. Leaving the desert he had known as
home for almost a century, Shadow ventured into the strange and
bewildering
Wetlands. Having little concept of either the size of Grandia or the
difficulty
of his quest, Shadow headed for one of the few elven civilizations in
the
Wetlands known to the Rhylen elves, the grey elf citadel of
Llanvair.
Realizing he had little chance of finding Rahasia knowing as little of
the Wetlands as he did upon arriving at Llanvair, Shadow agreed to
accompany
a local grey elf known as Seanna on her travels, hoping to learn
something
that would aid him in fulfilling his quest.