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Lyram's Book--Aelwynn Recruiting a Leader
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<blockquote data-quote="Maddness" data-source="post: 5560306" data-attributes="member: 6676089"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: white">[OOC]Sorry for the lenkth, I'm not yet sure how to do that indent thing that others have been able to do in their posts. Feedback welcome.[/OOC]</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="color: white">Gerok was born in the dwarven town of Kereg, deep in the mountains north of Mallanas, although much of the produce from the settlement’s mines ended up in the markets of Lochcastle. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">At birth he was marked to become one of the clerics of Moradin, patron god of all dwarves, and spent much if his early life training to serve in the towns temple, one of the focuses of worship for all followers of Moradin in the mountains and beyond. However, like many other dwarves he also assisted in the smithies and workshops, learning to forge metal, mainly to honor his patron god. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">His mother’s family had been a prestigious line of weapon smiths, and whilst Gerok was always going to be a cleric, he also learned much about the way of weaponry from his mother’s brothers, forging fine weapons to either be exported to the rest of Aelwynn or to be part of the monthly sacrifice of metalwork to Moradin.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Life was simple, and Gerok grew up to honor and respect his family, his ancestors and his God. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">He was made a cleric of Moradin at the age of 20, being sent out to other communities or with trading caravans to preach Moradin’s word, and help heal the sick in communities that lacked their own holy shrine.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Although a devout follower of Moradin, Gerok was always open to discuss his faith, especially with those who followed other faiths, especially those who followed gods of a more unaligned nature, such as Kord or Melora. However, this lack of fervor was noted by his superiors in the clergy, and he was chastised many times for what they saw as a lack of commitment to the faith, although his continued dedication to the faith never allowed the punishment to be too harsh, normally being sent to distant shrines for protracted periods to watch over Moradin’s flock, usually between the death of the old cleric and the appointment of his replacement</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">After spending over a decade in Lochcastle, helping tend the small shrine to Moradin there, Gerok returned to Kereg to wed, marrying Verska, a fellow cleric of his order. They lived together for almost 40 years, bringing up 7 children to become members of Moradin’s order (Although their youngest son ran away at 18) and rising to a respectable height within the Clerical order. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">However, at the age of 80 Gerok’s wife passed on after the community was infected with a miasma that the order theorized came from deep within the mines. Despite the cleric’s efforts many died, including Verska, who refused to treat her own declining health whilst others needed her aid. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Gerok was deeply arrived by her death, and whilst he was happy that she had passed into Moradin’s hall was still desolate from the lose of his wife. After presiding over her burial ceremony he left to preside over a small community shrine on the coast of the Cold bay. Conditions were harsh, and life brutal for the people of this settlement, but Gerok endeavored to help wherever he could, from healing the sick and laying the dead to rest to help bring in the fisherman’s catch and sow the fields with rough barley. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">He lived in this self imposed for solitude for 16 years, seeing almost no-one from the outside world and spending his free time in prayer.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">In this time he also had to fend of several raids from pirates that plagued the northern coasts. Whilst they usually avoided the small settlement they sometimes docked in plunder if they were running short of supplies. Then Gerok would take up his dusty mace, wielding it in anger against the raider’s skulls (or most usually their kneecaps). Whilst he presided there no villager ever lost their life in violence, a fact of which Gerok was very proud,</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">However, 21 years after his self imposed solitude something unexpected happened out of the blue to change Gerok’s life. Late one evening a villager ran up to the shrine, shouting for Gerok to come and help after finding a traveler collapsed in one of their fields, badly injured. When Gerok attended he found that it was his youngest daughter, herself a cleric of Moradin, who had received a deep gash in her shoulder and a blow to the head. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">After spending the night healing her injuries Gerok was finally able to revive his daughter from her unconscious state. However, what she had to say next was far from comforting. Apparently Kereg had been attacked, some sort of spell being cast in the mines to release ravenous beings on the town at night. They were almost as incorporeal as shadows, but could do massive harm to an individual even when armored, tearing at them with claws made of shadows. Most of the townspeople now hid in the temple of Moradin, the beings seemingly incapable of breaching the Dwarven god’s holy wards. They believed that only a senior cleric Moradin would the power to destroy the besiegers utterly, but most of the senior clergy in Kereg had left for Lochcastle on a pilgrimage and would not return for many weeks. Gerok, in his place of exile, was much closer, and so his daughter had volunteered to get the message to him</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Gerok made his daughter comfortable, then took a Horse and set out armed only with travel rations, his old chainmail and his mace. Kereg was 4 days ride away, but the Dwarf rode hard, riding his horse into the ground and having to set of at a run, not stopping to sleep and eating on the move. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">At nightfall on the fourth day Gerok crested a rise, and saw Kereg lay before him. The buildings of both brick and wood had been cast down, with only a few remaining upright and most in ruin, almost indistinguishable from one another.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">The temple, built into a nearby cliff could still be seen, and its lights still shone, singling that the defenders still held out within. Gerok made his way through the streets, his anger building as he saw the bodies, mutilated and discarded that lay in the street untended whilst carrion fed on their flesh. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">His rage built as he approached the temple, seeing the religious icons defaced by inhuman hands. He finally saw the shades, almost invisible against the gathering darkness, dancing about and cackling in a hideous language as they taunted the defenders huddling in the temple. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Gerok even saw a pair of the shades taunting a wounded dwarf as he tried to drag himself into the safety of the temple. Finally they stopped taunting and moved in for the kill as he was a foot from the door, falling on him and pulling him apart as he screamed in agony. Gerok recognized him as he died as the brother of his wife, a headstrong younger dwarf who always acted without thinking. Gerok had never gotten on with him, but seeing him killed in such a brutal manner drove his rage beyond even hatred. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">The Shades hadn’t yet noticed him, but they would now. From within Gerok came an unearthly light as the wrath of Moradin spilled forth, the dwarf’s eyes glowing with a white light as the head of his mace was encased in radiance painful to look upon. He unleashed a thunderous bellow as he charged the shades, which turned suddenly to see the new threat.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">All the weariness of the last 4 days was washed away in that golden light that shone from Gerok’s very soul. He struck the amassed enemies like a hammer strikes an anvil, his mace striking down to obliterate the shadowy forms about him, striping them of their substance as he struck, casting them back to whatever plain they came from. It was as if day had come in the middle of the night, and Gerok’s Devine wrath scattered the dark shades from in front of the temple, smiting many of them as he went. The beings fled, returning to the mines as Gerok scattered them. His charge finally ended before the great doors of the temple, which parted to show the stunned townsfolk regarding the divine apparition that appeared before them. Gerok only spoke three words to the onlookers, His voice booming in the quite night. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">“We must Fight.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">The people of Kereg gathered their weapons and charged after the shades, heading for the mines with a roar, their fear extinguished at the sight of Gerok channeling the might of Moradin. They fought fiercely through the dark mines. Their weapons, whilst not as strong as Gerok’s mace, still cause the creatures harm, and forced them back, deeper and deeper until they reached the source of the evil.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">The people of Kereg finally entered a cavern where the last of the shades stood, surrounding a strange totem that stood at the caverns center, glowing with dark light. Surrounding it were three black robed sorcerers, all chanting in an unknown tongue. Here the Shades fought to the last defending the totem, and many townspeople were killed. However, the shades were finally banished, and Gerok charged in ahead of his people still shining with Moradin’s light. Without touching the sorcerers he struck the totem, which shattered with a scream that rent the ears to hear it. The sorcerers vanished in a puff of eldritch smoke, and the shades vanished where they stood, leaving the stunned dwarves to recover their senses and take stock.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">As the totem died so did Moradin’s light, and the strength left the weary Gerok, who crashed into unconsciousness, dead to the world before he hit the floor. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">He spent the next 18 days unconscious, the villagers tending to him as they buried their dead and tried to rebuild their lives. On the 19th day Gerok awakened and was able to take stock. Many of the townspeople were dead, killed in the 10 days of the shade attacks or in the final fight in the mine. Among the dead were Gerok’s oldest son and daughter, both killed providing time for Gerok to reach the totem and destroy it.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">The loss weighed heavily on Gerok, and he questioned many things, of how this could have happened and why he was not able to protect the ones he loved. When the clergy returned they offered a high ranking post in the priesthood to the cleric for his actions. However, Gerok felt he could not accept. A year after the battle he set out after the Sorcerers and bring them to justice, although the trial has now grown cold and he must search hard to find the perpetrators of the crime.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Gerok’s children in age order:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Akred-Deceased</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Kirik</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Vskma-Deceased</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Tolrin</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Losha</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">Garma</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white">(Foeli) Disowned</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><span style="color: white"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Maddness, post: 5560306, member: 6676089"] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=white][OOC]Sorry for the lenkth, I'm not yet sure how to do that indent thing that others have been able to do in their posts. Feedback welcome.[/OOC] [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=white][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white][SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=white]Gerok was born in the dwarven town of Kereg, deep in the mountains north of Mallanas, although much of the produce from the settlement’s mines ended up in the markets of Lochcastle. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]At birth he was marked to become one of the clerics of Moradin, patron god of all dwarves, and spent much if his early life training to serve in the towns temple, one of the focuses of worship for all followers of Moradin in the mountains and beyond. However, like many other dwarves he also assisted in the smithies and workshops, learning to forge metal, mainly to honor his patron god. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]His mother’s family had been a prestigious line of weapon smiths, and whilst Gerok was always going to be a cleric, he also learned much about the way of weaponry from his mother’s brothers, forging fine weapons to either be exported to the rest of Aelwynn or to be part of the monthly sacrifice of metalwork to Moradin.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Life was simple, and Gerok grew up to honor and respect his family, his ancestors and his God. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]He was made a cleric of Moradin at the age of 20, being sent out to other communities or with trading caravans to preach Moradin’s word, and help heal the sick in communities that lacked their own holy shrine.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Although a devout follower of Moradin, Gerok was always open to discuss his faith, especially with those who followed other faiths, especially those who followed gods of a more unaligned nature, such as Kord or Melora. However, this lack of fervor was noted by his superiors in the clergy, and he was chastised many times for what they saw as a lack of commitment to the faith, although his continued dedication to the faith never allowed the punishment to be too harsh, normally being sent to distant shrines for protracted periods to watch over Moradin’s flock, usually between the death of the old cleric and the appointment of his replacement[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]After spending over a decade in Lochcastle, helping tend the small shrine to Moradin there, Gerok returned to Kereg to wed, marrying Verska, a fellow cleric of his order. They lived together for almost 40 years, bringing up 7 children to become members of Moradin’s order (Although their youngest son ran away at 18) and rising to a respectable height within the Clerical order. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]However, at the age of 80 Gerok’s wife passed on after the community was infected with a miasma that the order theorized came from deep within the mines. Despite the cleric’s efforts many died, including Verska, who refused to treat her own declining health whilst others needed her aid. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Gerok was deeply arrived by her death, and whilst he was happy that she had passed into Moradin’s hall was still desolate from the lose of his wife. After presiding over her burial ceremony he left to preside over a small community shrine on the coast of the Cold bay. Conditions were harsh, and life brutal for the people of this settlement, but Gerok endeavored to help wherever he could, from healing the sick and laying the dead to rest to help bring in the fisherman’s catch and sow the fields with rough barley. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]He lived in this self imposed for solitude for 16 years, seeing almost no-one from the outside world and spending his free time in prayer.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]In this time he also had to fend of several raids from pirates that plagued the northern coasts. Whilst they usually avoided the small settlement they sometimes docked in plunder if they were running short of supplies. Then Gerok would take up his dusty mace, wielding it in anger against the raider’s skulls (or most usually their kneecaps). Whilst he presided there no villager ever lost their life in violence, a fact of which Gerok was very proud,[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]However, 21 years after his self imposed solitude something unexpected happened out of the blue to change Gerok’s life. Late one evening a villager ran up to the shrine, shouting for Gerok to come and help after finding a traveler collapsed in one of their fields, badly injured. When Gerok attended he found that it was his youngest daughter, herself a cleric of Moradin, who had received a deep gash in her shoulder and a blow to the head. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]After spending the night healing her injuries Gerok was finally able to revive his daughter from her unconscious state. However, what she had to say next was far from comforting. Apparently Kereg had been attacked, some sort of spell being cast in the mines to release ravenous beings on the town at night. They were almost as incorporeal as shadows, but could do massive harm to an individual even when armored, tearing at them with claws made of shadows. Most of the townspeople now hid in the temple of Moradin, the beings seemingly incapable of breaching the Dwarven god’s holy wards. They believed that only a senior cleric Moradin would the power to destroy the besiegers utterly, but most of the senior clergy in Kereg had left for Lochcastle on a pilgrimage and would not return for many weeks. Gerok, in his place of exile, was much closer, and so his daughter had volunteered to get the message to him[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Gerok made his daughter comfortable, then took a Horse and set out armed only with travel rations, his old chainmail and his mace. Kereg was 4 days ride away, but the Dwarf rode hard, riding his horse into the ground and having to set of at a run, not stopping to sleep and eating on the move. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]At nightfall on the fourth day Gerok crested a rise, and saw Kereg lay before him. The buildings of both brick and wood had been cast down, with only a few remaining upright and most in ruin, almost indistinguishable from one another.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]The temple, built into a nearby cliff could still be seen, and its lights still shone, singling that the defenders still held out within. Gerok made his way through the streets, his anger building as he saw the bodies, mutilated and discarded that lay in the street untended whilst carrion fed on their flesh. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]His rage built as he approached the temple, seeing the religious icons defaced by inhuman hands. He finally saw the shades, almost invisible against the gathering darkness, dancing about and cackling in a hideous language as they taunted the defenders huddling in the temple. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Gerok even saw a pair of the shades taunting a wounded dwarf as he tried to drag himself into the safety of the temple. Finally they stopped taunting and moved in for the kill as he was a foot from the door, falling on him and pulling him apart as he screamed in agony. Gerok recognized him as he died as the brother of his wife, a headstrong younger dwarf who always acted without thinking. Gerok had never gotten on with him, but seeing him killed in such a brutal manner drove his rage beyond even hatred. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]The Shades hadn’t yet noticed him, but they would now. From within Gerok came an unearthly light as the wrath of Moradin spilled forth, the dwarf’s eyes glowing with a white light as the head of his mace was encased in radiance painful to look upon. He unleashed a thunderous bellow as he charged the shades, which turned suddenly to see the new threat.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]All the weariness of the last 4 days was washed away in that golden light that shone from Gerok’s very soul. He struck the amassed enemies like a hammer strikes an anvil, his mace striking down to obliterate the shadowy forms about him, striping them of their substance as he struck, casting them back to whatever plain they came from. It was as if day had come in the middle of the night, and Gerok’s Devine wrath scattered the dark shades from in front of the temple, smiting many of them as he went. The beings fled, returning to the mines as Gerok scattered them. His charge finally ended before the great doors of the temple, which parted to show the stunned townsfolk regarding the divine apparition that appeared before them. Gerok only spoke three words to the onlookers, His voice booming in the quite night. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]“We must Fight.”[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]The people of Kereg gathered their weapons and charged after the shades, heading for the mines with a roar, their fear extinguished at the sight of Gerok channeling the might of Moradin. They fought fiercely through the dark mines. Their weapons, whilst not as strong as Gerok’s mace, still cause the creatures harm, and forced them back, deeper and deeper until they reached the source of the evil.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]The people of Kereg finally entered a cavern where the last of the shades stood, surrounding a strange totem that stood at the caverns center, glowing with dark light. Surrounding it were three black robed sorcerers, all chanting in an unknown tongue. Here the Shades fought to the last defending the totem, and many townspeople were killed. However, the shades were finally banished, and Gerok charged in ahead of his people still shining with Moradin’s light. Without touching the sorcerers he struck the totem, which shattered with a scream that rent the ears to hear it. The sorcerers vanished in a puff of eldritch smoke, and the shades vanished where they stood, leaving the stunned dwarves to recover their senses and take stock.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]As the totem died so did Moradin’s light, and the strength left the weary Gerok, who crashed into unconsciousness, dead to the world before he hit the floor. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]He spent the next 18 days unconscious, the villagers tending to him as they buried their dead and tried to rebuild their lives. On the 19th day Gerok awakened and was able to take stock. Many of the townspeople were dead, killed in the 10 days of the shade attacks or in the final fight in the mine. Among the dead were Gerok’s oldest son and daughter, both killed providing time for Gerok to reach the totem and destroy it.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]The loss weighed heavily on Gerok, and he questioned many things, of how this could have happened and why he was not able to protect the ones he loved. When the clergy returned they offered a high ranking post in the priesthood to the cleric for his actions. However, Gerok felt he could not accept. A year after the battle he set out after the Sorcerers and bring them to justice, although the trial has now grown cold and he must search hard to find the perpetrators of the crime.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Gerok’s children in age order:[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Akred-Deceased[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Kirik[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Vskma-Deceased[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Tolrin[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Losha[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]Garma[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white](Foeli) Disowned[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE] [/QUOTE]
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