Alberia's Story!
Originally posted by Zen_Pollo:
Concerning Alberia Dorthansdotter:
Alberia’s story truly begins with the tale of her father, Sir Dorthan Lhal – Paladin of Tyr and former Purple Dragon Knight. Dorthan was born in DR 1316, the Year of the Gulagoar. A distant cousin to the House of Lhal of Arabel, Dorthan was trained as a squire and a page from a young age. Early in his life, Dorthan felt a calling to the god Tyr – a calling most unusual because Tyr is not widely worshipped in Cormyr. Upon reaching maturity in DR 1333, the Year of Striking Falcon, the young squire left his homeland to seek out worshippers of Tyr in order to further his understanding of the deity and to answer the calling he felt. He eventually found an order of Paladins of Tyr in Turmish and indentured himself as a squire to them in exchange for training. After a few years of training, Dorthan was granted the title of Paladin of Tyr and decided to return home to dispense Tyr’s Justice in the Year of the Highmantle, DR 1336—the same year Azoun IV was crowned King of Cormyr.
Dorthan’s first major crusade was along the Northern Border of Cormyr during the period when King Azoun IV was just beginning to herald in Cormyr’s golden era. He frequently helped local townships and municipalities dispense the King’s Justice in this otherwise untamed land. However, he quickly gained notoriety for combating the agents of the foul Zhentarim whom were attempting to establish a foothold in this region.
After numerous exploits, Dorthan was recognized in DR 1340, the Year of the Lion, for his work in the area and King Azoun IV offered him a commission in the elite Purple Dragon Knights which Dorthan readily accepted. Furthermore, the King charged Sir Dorthan with the duties of eradicating the presence of the Zhentarim along the Northern Border. Realizing the task was beyond the abilities of a single man, Sir Dorthan enlisted the aid of several companions and men-at-arms to help him during his investigations. One of his most devoted followers was a young man named Chelsum, whom Sir Dorthan later named as his squire.
During the Year of Moonfall, DR 1344, Sir Dorthan and Company uncovered a man whom they thought was the head of the Zhentarim in Northern Cormyr and they engaged him and his minions in a vicious battle. Although Sir Dorthan carried the day, his victory was not without loss – most of his companions were slain and young Chelsum had had his left leg severed below the knee. As a reward for his apparent defeat of the Zhentarim (unfortunately, the cell-like nature of the Zhentarim thwarted Sir Dorthan’s effort and Zhentil agents still plot away in Northern Cormyr to the present—albeit in secret), King Azoun IV granted Sir Dorthan the use of a small estate near the capital of Cormyr, Suzial. Furthermore, Sir Dorthan named Chelsum as the steward of the manor to help manage the estate following his grievous injury.
With Chelsum at home to watch over the land, Sir Dorthan was free to continue his quests and his adventures. During this time, Cormyr enjoyed great prosperity under the beneficent rule of King Azoun IV. Therefore, Sir Dorthan left Cormyr to dispense Tyr’s Justice in other parts of Faerun. It was during these travels that Sir Dorthan began to gain the notice of his deity.
In DR 1347,the Year of The Bright Blade, Tyr decided to dispatch one of his half-celestial followers to the Knight in order to advise and to guide him. The half-celestial, named Erthylain, was well versed in the arcane arts and took the guise of a young maiden. Before she left her home plane, Tyr made Erthylain promise not to reveal her divine nature to the Paladin because the deity did not want to make his intervention known to his worshipper. Erthylain then left for Toril where she arranged for a “chance” meeting with the Knight and convinced Sir Dorthan to undertake a dangerous quest in the name of Tyr. Upon completing the mission, the duo continued their partnership. They had a series of adventures--eventually falling in love and consummating their union. Hence, early in DR 1348, Alberia Dorthansdotter was conceived.
Unfortunately, their actions angered Tyr because he had not sent Erthylain to Toril to have dalliances with his paladin. Tyr came to Erthylain in a dream and told her that she must return to her home plane and that she must undergo penance for her transgressions. However, Tyr understood the fault did not lie entirely with Erthylian and that Sir Dorthan shared blame for the illegitimate conception. Therefore, Tyr told Erthylain that she would give birth to the child, but Sir Dorthan would have the duty to raise the child on his own. Moreover, Tyr decided that until the child had grown to maturity, Sir Dorthan would lose his status as paladin. However, if Sir Dorthan raised his daughter properly, he could absolve himself and satisfy his duty both to his child and to Tyr. Greatly saddened, Erthylain agreed to Tyr’s judgement and once again swore to uphold her promise not to reveal her nature to the Knight.
When Erthylain told Sir Dorthan she was with child, the Knight—never realizing her half-celestial nature—asked her to marry him. However, Erthylain refused, stating she had an obligation to another Lord (though she didn’t tell the Paladin her lord was Tyr). Enraged, Sir Dorthan demanded to know whom this Lord was and what sort of unnatural claim this Lord had on Erthylain.
Thus, Erthylain faced a powerful dilemma; on one hand, she had sworn not to reveal her true nature to the Paladin, but on the other hand she did not want to lie to her lover. Therefore, she said only that she must depart to serve her Lord after the child was born and that it would be the Knight’s duty to raise their child properly after she had gone. Although Sir Dorthan was heart-broken by this pronouncement, she made him swear to do as she asked.
Alberia Dorthansdotter was born in DR 1349 on Midwinter’s Day. When her daughter was born, Erthylain, upholding the terms of her penance, departed Toril and has yet to return.
Upon the birth of his daughter, Sir Dorthan felt the grace of Tyr leave him and he knew he was being punished for his indiscretion. Seeking atonement for his deed, Sir Dorthan consulted with a half-crazed cleric of Tyr whom was reputed to have oracular powers in order to divine what sort of penance the Deity required of him. The zealous cleric, after casting divine divinations, told Sir Dorthan that he must raise his child in the manner of Tyr and if she grew to be a faithful follower of the Deity, Sir Dorthan would regain his paladinship.
Thus in the spring of 1349, Sir Dorthan returned to his estate in Cormyr with the infant, Alberia. He dedicated himself to raising his daughter and instructing her in the ways of his god. He decided to tell Alberia that her mother died during childbirth in a faraway land and that he had given up his paladinhood to be a good father to her.
However, fate had other plans…
Although Sir Dorthan had lost his paladinhood, he was still a loyal member of the Purple Dragon Knights and he had many duties to draw him away from home. As an emissary of Cormyr, He charged with the Barbarians of the Ride when they crushed the Zhentarim en route to Glister during the Year of the Dragon, DR 1352. After the Knight returned to Cormyr, he found the Zhentarim had been active once more in the region south of the Moonsea, culminating in the cult’s overthrow of Yulash in DR 1355. In response, Cormyr seized Tilverton during the Year of the Worm to cement their northern border and to guard against the depredations of the Zhentarim. In his capacity as a Purple Dragon Knight, Sir Dorthan was given command of a company during the battle of Tilverton.
During these years, Sir Dorthan frequently set out to thwart agents of the Zhentarim and went on other business for Cormyr – leaving Alberia under the care of his former squire, Chelsum the One-Legged. Although Chelsum truly attempted to school young Alberia as a proper lady, she had no mother figure as a child and grew into a tomboy. Moreover, Alberia, ignorant of her celestial heritage, found that she had an unusual degree of compassion and greater a sense of self than her peers at a young age. Therefore, she found she preferred the company of the adults around her – primarily the men-at-arms under the employ of her father. Moreover, her father faithfully instructed her in the doctrines and the teachings of Tyr. As she grew up, Alberia’s greatest desire was to be strong like her father.
This vague ambition took root during the Time of Troubles beginning in DR 1358, when Alberia had just turned nine. When the Gods walked Toril, great calamity followed in their wake. Moreover, clerics and paladins throughout Faerun went without their divine powers – leading to further misery and to great suffering by people whom were used to such aid. During this time and the years of chaos that followed, Sir Dorthan crusaded. He felt that during this time of chaos, people needed the Justice of Tyr more than ever.
Alberia chose to confront her father on this issue. She wanted to know why he had to go since he was no longer a Paladin of Tyr. Sir Dorthan’s reply stayed with her for the rest of her life: “It is not the Power that makes the Paladin. A Paladin merely uses the Power to help him do what must be done.”
He went on to explain that he didn’t worship Tyr for the sake of worshipping a deity. Rather, he followed the cause of Justice, and he loved Tyr because Tyr’s crusade was his own. Even though Tyr no longer answered his worshippers prayers, the need for Justice abounded in Cormyr. Sir Dorthan believed that Tyr’s name still was a powerful symbol for Justice and, by crusading in his name, Sir Dorthan felt he could lead people to remember what Justice was.
For the next several years, Sir Dorthan carried out his crusade, and Alberia grew up with out his presence. As he fought with King Azoun IV against the Tuigan Horde in DR 1360, Alberia was first beginning to blossom as a young woman. It was during this time that she first began to learn the arts of horsemanship. She had always favored the outdoors and she managed to convince Chelsum, whom had a soft spot for the young girl, to teach her to ride. It was during one of his infrequent sojourns home that Sir Dorthan began to realize that his daughter was not only growing up without him, but she was growing up to become a warrior!
Not wanting his daughter to follow the hard road that he had taken as a Paladin and a Knight, Sir Dorthan forbade her to study horsemanship and denied her request to begin the study of fencing. In the Year of the Wyvern, Sir Dorthan married a noble widower, named Lady Twethyl, in the hopes she could school his daughter as was proper for a young Cormyrian Lady.
Taking her duties quite seriously, the Lady Twethyl immediately enforced several strictures. First, she made Alberia burn all of her riding clothes and the boy’s apparel that she favored. Second, the new lady of the house replaced all of Alberia’s clothing with suitable dresses. Third, she had Sir Dorthan sell Alberia’s favorite horses. Then, she tutored the growing young woman in the courtly arts of diplomacy and healing (“The only place a proper Lady has in a battlefield is tending to the wounded,” she would say).
However, by this point, Alberia had entered into her rebellious, teenage, years and she defied her stepmother whenever she could. If her stepmother told her to wash behind her ears, she would roll around in the dirt. If her Lady Twethyl told her not to ride, she rode a carthorse when the Lady was occupied elsewhere. Alberia even convinced Chelsum to secretly teach her a little about the ways of combat late at night.
Nevertheless, almost in spite of herself, Alberia learned a great deal from Lady Twethyl. She slowly matured into a stunningly beautiful Lady with an incredible amount of presence for such a young woman. However, Alberia’s greatest life lesson was that just because she didn’t like someone, it didn’t mean that person was evil. Though she would never come to love Lady Twethyl like a mother, Alberia, in later years, found that she could respect her.
A major turning point in her life occurred in DR 1366. That year, her father celebrated his fiftieth birthday. A very special guest visited the party – Alusair Obarskyr, the Steel Princess. At the time, King Azoun IV still held the throne and the Princess was just beginning to make a name for herself as a warrior and an adventurer. When she had heard that Sir Dorthan was celebrating his half-century mark, she decided to visit the aging Knight whom she had heard tales of from her father. In addition, she came bearing a gift from her father to his faithful servant -- a fine young colt named Slovack.
When Alberia first met the Princess, she was awe-struck. Finally, she had met a woman who was a warrior. That night, after the house took to bed after the festivities, Alberia snuck into Alusair’s room in order to beg the Princess to allow her to join the group of young nobles following the Steel Princess which was to be known, in later years, as The Blades. However, Alusair wisely denied the young girl’s plea citing her lack of experience and proper training. Alusair told Alberia that she must school herself in the ways of combat before becoming a warrior and the life of a soldier is not like the stories in a book, but very arduous instead.
Alberia was not dissuaded, however. The night after the Princess and her Blades left the manor, Alberia took matters into her own hands. She stole two horses from her father’s stable. One was an old carthorse that later died on the road, and the second was the young colt, Slovack, given to her father by the King. In Alberia’s still juvenile mind, it was just for her to steal the animals because her father had sold her favorite horses some years before without asking her permission.
Although she was upset by the Princess’ refusal of patronage, Alberia was just wise enough to see the truth in her words. She decided to set out in search of proper training in the ways of a warrior. She remembered Chelsum’s tales about how her father had received training from an order of Paladins of Tyr in another country. Therefore, she ran away from home that night setting out for the far-off land of Turmish.
Upon arrival at the order’s stronghold, Alberia claimed the right to training since she was a legacy of her father. Although skeptical, the Paladins agreed to take in the young girl and began her training. Secretly, they corresponded with her father regarding Alberia’s whereabouts. Her father, torn by feelings of both pride and fear, realized that Alberia was truly his daughter and would follow her own road. Hence, he simply replied, “Train Her Well, Brothers.”
For the next five years, Alberia learned the trade of a Paladin of Tyr. She found the charisma and the wisdom which had set her apart from the rest of the children at home worked in her favor as a Paladin. Additionally, she discovered new gifts, such as the ability to call light, keen vision in the dark, and great tolerance to cold--gifts she attributed to Tyr’s blessing.
Alberia also became more sapient in the worship of Tyr. Whereas she had previously followed Tyr because her father was a paladin of the deity, she came to love Tyr in her own right. Eventually, she realized the error of her theft of the horses. She became determined that she would return Slovack, now a full-grown warhorse, and pay for the cost of the other horse as soon as she completed her training as a Paladin.
In the Year of the Unstrung Harp, DR 1371, she completed her training as a Paladin and was given leave to dispense Tyr’s Justice in the world. She traveled to Cormyr intent on returning Slovack and reconciling with her father, whom had not spoken or corresponded with her during the five years of her apprenticeship. However, she was sidetracked when she heard that Myrmeen Lhal, a distant cousin to her father, was planning to retake the city of Arabel, which had been sacked and occupied earlier that year by a horde of orcs and goblins.
Swayed by thoughts of adventure and being somewhat hot-blooded, she quickly enlisted in the cause of her kinswomen. However, the bloody street battles for Arabel quickly disabused her of the notion of Glory in combat. After all these years, she finally understood why her father had not wanted her to pursue the life of a warrior. Nevertheless, she is still hot-blooded when it comes to fighting and has yet to develop the patience found in more experience and tested combat veterans. As a reward for her part in the retaking of the city, Myrmeen Lhal bestowed upon Alberia a fine suit of banded mail and a finely crafted longsword.
After the siege ended, Alberia finally returned home only to discover from her distraught stepmother that her father had left his estate to search for her! Apparently, when Alberia enlisted with Myrmeen Lhal, the so-called Lady Lord wrote her kinsman, Sir Dorthan, informing him that his daughter had joined her cause. Fearful of his daughter’s safety, the Knight left his semi-retirement to take arms again at her side.
Unfortunately, by the time Alberia returned home, the winter had set in making travel hazardous. She decided to wait for her father until springtime. When the Spring came, her father still had not returned and Alberia decided to track down his whereabouts. While she was preparing for her journey, a Cleric of Lathander visited the manor with news of her father’s travels. Apparently, the Cleric met her father while Sir Dorthan was on his way to Arabel. The Cleric told her that her father had been beside himself with fervor because Tyr had granted him divine grace after an absence of nearly 24 years. In fact, as soon as he felt the divine presence of Tyr once more, Sir Dorthan realized that Tyr wanted him to undertake a quest of some immediacy in Turmish.
Now, it was Alberia’s turn to fear for her father, whom was now 56 years of age. She quickly set out for Turmish. She stopped by her old training order, Castle Grimjaws, founded by Corwin Freas, and discovered that her father recently had visited the stronghold . The paladins said he told them he had been given a divine quest and that he planned to travel to the Orsraun Mountains in pursuit of it. Alberia quickly followed suit, ending up in the small hamlet where she met her current companions....
D ) explains that the boar attacked them first and in accordance with the law of the wild is now dinner. 
