The winds of the north were howling their fury as the woman, her child of seven winters, in tow, escaped the massacre of her tribe. Roars of warriors where drowned out by the blasting of horns and savage cries of the orc horde that flooded the valley home of the Tribe of the Boar, descending upon the barbarians in a tsunami of sword and axe. Her eyes blurred with the tears of shame and pain, as she would have rather died among her people then flee, but her man, her love, had sent her away. He knew that death was coming and wanted nothing more than to give his young progeny a chance to taste life.
As they fled south amid the flurry of snow and whipping winds, she was saved the horror of seeing her life mate cut down beneath a wave of rabid Garguran scum, but so too did she miss the wave of an advancing army coming from the west, their thick boots, axes on shields, and howling rage swallowed up by the sounds of a furious nature and slaughter of her tribe. When she finally collapsed from exhaustion and the wound she kept hidden from her son, the valley was miles behind them and the tears would no longer come. Over the next several days the two humans traveled south, the two more than capable of hunting down small game and surviving off the northlands though the woman was growing weaker day by day.
On the fifth day, the high trees of the Moonwood far behind them, they came upon a patrol of warriors on horseback, the Knights in Silver, guardians of the large northern city of Silverymoon. As the men approached the two travelers, the woman collapsed upon the snow, her hand falling from that of her young son. Try as they might to help the barbarian female, the knights were unable to keep death from claiming her. As they began wrapping the body of the dead woman for transport back to the city, they discovered a symbol of Sune, in the form of a necklace about her throat. So her body carried respectfully between two of the horses, her son sitting behind the leader of the patrol, they returned to the Gem of the North, where both were turned over to the Priestess of Sune who resided over the Shrine there.
There they discovered that the young barbarians mother had once served as an acolyte of Sune, who'd given up her life of worship to pursue her life mate into the frozen waste of the northlands. They also discovered, from a messenger sent from the north, that the Tribe of the Boar had been wiped out, prior to the arrival of the dwarven army out of Citadel Adbar, who were hunting the orc horde and in turn destroyed the evil Garguran and the shaman who had driven them into their murderous frenzy. Orphaned and alone, the High Priestess of the shrine took the young barbarian boy into her family. Renaming him Mourn due to the sadness that shown in his storm grey eyes, he became of Ward of Sune.
When it became apparent that he wasn't fit for city life, the Priestess retreated to her home on the outskirts of Silverymoon where Mourn was allowed to grow without the constraints of civilization. Though she imparted language and the teachings of the Lady of Light, she allowed the wildling youth his freedom to roam the surrounding countryside without supervision. Having no where else to go to, he returned nightly to the manse of the Priestess, preferring the solitude of the stables to the large comfortable furnishings within the large manor. And so it would go on and on for the next seven winters with the Priestess, and her Paladin husband who had returned from his journey's east, continued to teach the young barbarian of his people, of Sune, of fighting for what is right and just, and of the world at large.
At the age of seventeen, Mourn, now a squire of the Paladin, set off with his mentor to the north, to see if anything remained of his once proud people and the tribe of the boar. When they came upon the valley of his birth they were surprised to see that the small village he'd been born in was once more teaming with life. A new tribe had taken up residence in the valley of the Boar. At first this desecration of his people angered Mourn, had his mentor not been with him, he would have ridden down into the village and attacked those who would leech off the memory of his people. But instead, both men rode down the trail to the village. At first they were greeted with suspicion, but after speaking to the elder of the tribe, it was decided that Mourn would remain there for a time, to impart his youthful knowledge upon the Tribe of the Deer. This had been his mentors plan all along, to allow the barbarian in his young charge to flourish once more, so he could choose for himself his own path.
Accepting the barbarian into their tribe, he underwent the marking of the warrior, but instead of allowing them to tattoo him with their tribal mark, he demanded and received the warrior markings of one of his own clan, pulled forth from memories of his chieftain father and imparted upon the shaman of the Deer tribe. This did a lot to change his view of those who had invaded his homeland and he grew to realize that they had never meant to disgrace his own tribe, but simply sought a fertile land for their own children to be raised. Over the next year, he remained among the new tribe, learning their ways, which differed greatly from what he remembered of his own war-like tribe. The Deer tribe were evolving into shepards, farmers, and breaking away from the old ways, that Mourn at first was once more disgusted, but as time passed and he grew to see the value in such a way of life, he began to speak against the gods that the tribes had followed so diligently and instead spoke of Sune, of the goddess of love and light, and so it was that he found his path in existence. He also realized that he could no longer stay with the tribes. That an entire world was out there, that the evil that had destroyed his people was still out there. Not the orcs who had committed the act, but those creatures who would instill such evil in the hearts of all.
A months later, the young barbarian paladin found himself aboard a caravan heading to the largest city on the swords coast, Waterdeep. He hadn't had enough for the passage so instead, he offered up his sword arm as a guardian for the caravan. From Waterdeep, he caught another job guarding yet another caravan, this one heading north toward the frozen tundra of Ten-towns. It was on this caravan that he met Lovise Cue, a beautiful half -elf and a warrior to boot. The two obviously having more in common then the merchants he was escorting, struck up a conversation that slow developed into a friendship of sorts over the course of many days. And when they reached the small village of Oakhurst, they were met by a small contingent of dwarves who took over the duty of caravan guardian. Handed some thirty pieces of gold for his diligent work. Mourn bid the caravan good-bye and turned his attention to the small village.
As they fled south amid the flurry of snow and whipping winds, she was saved the horror of seeing her life mate cut down beneath a wave of rabid Garguran scum, but so too did she miss the wave of an advancing army coming from the west, their thick boots, axes on shields, and howling rage swallowed up by the sounds of a furious nature and slaughter of her tribe. When she finally collapsed from exhaustion and the wound she kept hidden from her son, the valley was miles behind them and the tears would no longer come. Over the next several days the two humans traveled south, the two more than capable of hunting down small game and surviving off the northlands though the woman was growing weaker day by day.
On the fifth day, the high trees of the Moonwood far behind them, they came upon a patrol of warriors on horseback, the Knights in Silver, guardians of the large northern city of Silverymoon. As the men approached the two travelers, the woman collapsed upon the snow, her hand falling from that of her young son. Try as they might to help the barbarian female, the knights were unable to keep death from claiming her. As they began wrapping the body of the dead woman for transport back to the city, they discovered a symbol of Sune, in the form of a necklace about her throat. So her body carried respectfully between two of the horses, her son sitting behind the leader of the patrol, they returned to the Gem of the North, where both were turned over to the Priestess of Sune who resided over the Shrine there.
There they discovered that the young barbarians mother had once served as an acolyte of Sune, who'd given up her life of worship to pursue her life mate into the frozen waste of the northlands. They also discovered, from a messenger sent from the north, that the Tribe of the Boar had been wiped out, prior to the arrival of the dwarven army out of Citadel Adbar, who were hunting the orc horde and in turn destroyed the evil Garguran and the shaman who had driven them into their murderous frenzy. Orphaned and alone, the High Priestess of the shrine took the young barbarian boy into her family. Renaming him Mourn due to the sadness that shown in his storm grey eyes, he became of Ward of Sune.
When it became apparent that he wasn't fit for city life, the Priestess retreated to her home on the outskirts of Silverymoon where Mourn was allowed to grow without the constraints of civilization. Though she imparted language and the teachings of the Lady of Light, she allowed the wildling youth his freedom to roam the surrounding countryside without supervision. Having no where else to go to, he returned nightly to the manse of the Priestess, preferring the solitude of the stables to the large comfortable furnishings within the large manor. And so it would go on and on for the next seven winters with the Priestess, and her Paladin husband who had returned from his journey's east, continued to teach the young barbarian of his people, of Sune, of fighting for what is right and just, and of the world at large.
At the age of seventeen, Mourn, now a squire of the Paladin, set off with his mentor to the north, to see if anything remained of his once proud people and the tribe of the boar. When they came upon the valley of his birth they were surprised to see that the small village he'd been born in was once more teaming with life. A new tribe had taken up residence in the valley of the Boar. At first this desecration of his people angered Mourn, had his mentor not been with him, he would have ridden down into the village and attacked those who would leech off the memory of his people. But instead, both men rode down the trail to the village. At first they were greeted with suspicion, but after speaking to the elder of the tribe, it was decided that Mourn would remain there for a time, to impart his youthful knowledge upon the Tribe of the Deer. This had been his mentors plan all along, to allow the barbarian in his young charge to flourish once more, so he could choose for himself his own path.
Accepting the barbarian into their tribe, he underwent the marking of the warrior, but instead of allowing them to tattoo him with their tribal mark, he demanded and received the warrior markings of one of his own clan, pulled forth from memories of his chieftain father and imparted upon the shaman of the Deer tribe. This did a lot to change his view of those who had invaded his homeland and he grew to realize that they had never meant to disgrace his own tribe, but simply sought a fertile land for their own children to be raised. Over the next year, he remained among the new tribe, learning their ways, which differed greatly from what he remembered of his own war-like tribe. The Deer tribe were evolving into shepards, farmers, and breaking away from the old ways, that Mourn at first was once more disgusted, but as time passed and he grew to see the value in such a way of life, he began to speak against the gods that the tribes had followed so diligently and instead spoke of Sune, of the goddess of love and light, and so it was that he found his path in existence. He also realized that he could no longer stay with the tribes. That an entire world was out there, that the evil that had destroyed his people was still out there. Not the orcs who had committed the act, but those creatures who would instill such evil in the hearts of all.
A months later, the young barbarian paladin found himself aboard a caravan heading to the largest city on the swords coast, Waterdeep. He hadn't had enough for the passage so instead, he offered up his sword arm as a guardian for the caravan. From Waterdeep, he caught another job guarding yet another caravan, this one heading north toward the frozen tundra of Ten-towns. It was on this caravan that he met Lovise Cue, a beautiful half -elf and a warrior to boot. The two obviously having more in common then the merchants he was escorting, struck up a conversation that slow developed into a friendship of sorts over the course of many days. And when they reached the small village of Oakhurst, they were met by a small contingent of dwarves who took over the duty of caravan guardian. Handed some thirty pieces of gold for his diligent work. Mourn bid the caravan good-bye and turned his attention to the small village.
