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Lylijaan Tomebinder
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Backstory Durrover I barely remember my father. One of my only memories is sitting beside him at his workbench while he meticulously put the spine on a book. That had all ended so quickly. From what Teroth told me, the disease had come quickly and my father had passed away in a matter of months. I never met my mother. She passed away during childbirth. After my father died, a man named Teroth took me in. Teroth worked as a scribe around Dardale and traded books to a few merchants. He often purchased books off my father. The work was good when he had it but it was often weeks between jobs. As a father of seven and his wife pregnant again, Teroth already had a large family. He tried as he could to take care of me but could barely feed his family as it was. One day, Teroth was offered a job to travel with a local scholar far to the West - to the great library in the city of Lokil. The scholar also told of the monastery in Lokil that took in orphans. That night was one of the toughest of Teroth’s life. He and his wife argued well into the night but finally decided that they just could not afford to keep me. That next day, i left Dardale on the long journey to Lokil. When we finally reached Lokil, two months had passed. Teroth took me to the temple of the Closed Book. The Order of the Closed Book is an order of monks, charged with defending the library of Lokil and guarding the great secrets stored within. A young monk greeted Teroth and I. He guided us through the training hall to meet Master Osuu. I watched in wonder as a pair of monks in training sparred, one wielding a quarterstaff and an older monk fighting with nothing but his bare hands. As Teroth and I walked past, the young monk was slighty distracted and failed to dodge a foot sweep from the older monk. I giggled as the older monk helped the younger monk from the floor. Master Osuu didn’t look very imposing. He was middle aged, wasn't very tall and his graying hair was tied in a long plat, which ran down the length of his back. Master Osuu took Teroth aside and had a long chat with him to ensure he understood the decision he was making. Teroth agreed a we had a tearful goodbye. The first few weeks were hard for me. Teroth and my father were both gone and there were only a few other children to talk to. Master Osuu was very patient, telling me that he would wait until I had adjusted to my new surroundings. Only then would my training begin. “Do not hide from your emotions, for they are what guide us, but also be wary of them, as they may cloud our judgment.” After a few weeks, I began my training with another young boy. Sarin was slightly older than I and had only been in training a year or so. Over the next few months Sarin and I became firm friends. Master Osuu saw the potential in both of his students each in different ways. Sarin quickly learned the spiritual aspect to a monks training and spent many hours meditating and harnessing his Ki. This is the area where I struggled. As much as Master Osuu tried to help me, Sarin was always much stronger in the ways of Ki. I excelled in my martial training however and defeated Sarin often, despite being younger and smaller than he. Once I became a teenager, I would often venture into the Library of Lokil where I would spend hours reading through the tomes. Over the years, I befriended the many wizards that studied there. From their stories, I had my interest peaked in the arcane and over the years, learned some arcane secrets. Although I had no training, the wizards always felt I had as much aptitude for wizardry as I did for the ways of a monk. One day, one of the wizards, an old man named Athadian, tried to teach me a few simple cantrips. After a few hours, I managed to get a little light to emanate from a burnt out candle and was beginning to read the magical writings on a small scroll. Athadian always told me, that I should consider studying magic sometime. Once or twice a week, I would come and visit Athadian and learnt the fundamentals and schools of magic. Most of the wizards in Lokil were Diviners, but my interest was always drawn to the more powerful schools. Why study about Divining when you could confuse your enemies with Illusions, change yourself and your surroundings with Transmutations or conjure forth beings to battle your enemies? I was most intrigued with the school of Evocation. The thought of smiting my enemies with raw magic always seemed very appealing. Over the years, Sarin and I became close friends, and I always thought of him as my older brother. Master Osuu knew the strengths of us each, steering my training towards the martial arts. As talented as I was with magic, I continued to struggle harnessing my Ki and was unable to use the Stunning Fist technique with much effect. This continually frustrated Master Osuu so instead, I was taught to how best use my strength when grappling and to overcome even the most heavily armoured opponents. Being a few years older than I, Sarin completed his training some years ahead. For a some time, Sarin stayed at Lokil and served The Order of the Closed Book. Some days, Sarin would return to the training hall heavily wounded. Only after much pestering did I learn of the catacombs of Lokil and the work that the Order of the Closed Book did to defend the city. A few years earlier, obsidian miners had discovered a vast but abandoned Slarecian city. In their haste to retrieve the ancient artifacts from the ruins, they unleashed horrors from within the depths. The Order of the Closed Book has been defending Lokil since that day. Strangely, from Sarin’s accounts the wizards of Lokil were never much help in these battles, as they were mostly scholars, more often diviners than anything else. I always found it strange that in a place so full of arcane knowledge the monks were better at defending the city than its wizards. With a basic understanding of magic and a similar understanding of the ebbs and flows of Ki, I struck upon an idea. Perhaps if I trained as a wizard, I could find a way of merging the two arts together. If I could channel magic through my martial arts the way other monks channel Ki, maybe then, I could help The Order of the Closed Book defeat the evils below the city and re-seal the catacombs. Towards the end of my training, Master Osuu took me aside and told me the legend of an old painting that displayed in the dojo. The painting was of a pearly white temple, sitting amongst a group of cloud covered mountains with a river and waterfall flowing near the base. I had seen this painting many times but Master Osuu had never explained its meaning - not until now. Osuu explained it to be the Temple of the Hanging Cloud. The location of this temple was lost over time but the Master Tisao, Master to Kiaku, who was Master of Daralie - Osuu’s Master, had trained there many years ago. This monastery had existed for many years, back before the Titan's War. Legend has it that in this temple an aged monk makes his home and that he seems older than the mountains and the river. He had traveled there many centuries ago and had learnt to channel his Ki by suffering though a series of great challenges. This monk was the first to channel Ki. Master Osuu told me that nobody knew where to find the Temple of the Hanging Cloud, but if I could find it, then the great master there could surely help to harness my Ki and correctly learn the technique of the Stunning Fist. The last two years of my training flew by. After many hours of studying at the library, I had decided that I would see the world. I spent several days talking to Sarin and finally managed to convince him to come with me. Master Osuu was sorry to see the us leave but was also happy for us. Master Osuu had one last piece of advice before we left Lokil. “One must travel many false paths before one truly finds the path to enlightenment". Before I left, Athadian, gave me three books. “You have shown great potential in the ways of magic, young one. Even though you are going to be a very skilled monk, if you ever decide to try your hand at magic, you will need these. You have picked up enough in your sessions with me to complete your studies if you wish”. The first book was small and worn. After briefly glancing through it, I realized that this book would teach me to read magic, the most fundamental of all spells. The second contained a series of diagrams and lab notes from an old evoker detailing the flows of magic and how to turn that into fire, ice, electricity and other forms of energy. I glanced up at Athadian and smiled with glee. “I had to go to lot of trouble to find that and I had to call in a few favours. You always had such a passion for evocation.” The final book, the heaviest of the three was a spellbook with a few spells in it. I thanked my two mentors and then turned and left Lokil. Leaving Lokil Sarin and I headed east, back towards Durrover. I had always wanted to see Teroth again to thank him for looking after me all those years ago. The journey took many months and it was not without its difficulties. Each morning, I would spend an hour reading by the fire and each evening, I would spend an hour meditating. Finally, I reached Durrover and after a few days, managed to track Teroth down. Teroth, now nearly seventy, welcomed us warmly. That night we had a great feast with Teroth, his eight children and seventeen grandchildren. We talked into the wee hours of the morning. The next day, Sarin and I bade farewell to Teroth and left Durrover, heading North to Vesh. One night a few weeks later, things turned for the worst. A group of Calastian raiders sprang out of the night and attacked us just as we were taking our evening meal. Sarin sprang up, stunning the lead raider before turning and knocking another out. I hit one squarely in the head and another with a quarterstaff. “They're using saps, they must be slavers!” shouted Sarin just as I felt a sharp blow to the side of my head. The last thing I saw was a rogue’s sap hit Sarin in the head before and then I slipped into unconsciousness I awoke in a cage that was moving slowly on a cart. Sarin was nowhere to be seen. By the position of the sun, we were slowly moving West. From what I managed to gain from the guard who provided the slop they called food, I was to be sold beyond The Wall of Bones, and that a beautiful girl like myself would bring a tidy sum for house Ausarus. I slowly fought for the first few days and tried frantically to escape but it was no use, the bars were way too strong for me. Over the next few weeks, the slavers were headed through Calastia, close to the capital, Vashon Late one evening, my circumstances changed. Halfway through the night, the door to my cage was opened by one of the guards. A second guard was dragging a half-conscious dwarf. Just as the guard lifted the him to the door of the cage, I noticed the dwarf’s hand dart out and steal a key off his belt loop. The dwarf tucked the key into his shirt before being thrown in with me. The door slammed shut and the first guard locked the door. After a few minutes, the dwarf awoke. Very quietly he said, “Well met, I am Ruegoth Ulgon.” Ruegoth briefly explained that the last thing he remembered was eating dinner with some companions at the temple of Corean. He explained that he was awoken as the guards dragged him back here and had decided to play along. Ruegoth reached for the key stolen from the guard and opened the door to the cage. Quickly checking that the coast was clear he and I stepped from the cage. Unfortunately, just as we did so, the cage door fell shut and alerted the guards. Ruegoth turned to me as seven guards approached drawing their saps. “Run” shouted Ruegoth, “I will be able to escape by myself, but you won’t. I will try and hold them off long enough for you to get away. Go to the temple of Corean. Find Aravin and Fatso”. With that I grabbed my few possessions and ran into the night to search of Ruegoth’s companions. Goals and Ambitions To rescue the dwarf that helped free me. Likes Reading a good book in front of a warm fire. Dislikes Sleeping on the cold ground. |
