Culain

What is your name?

Culain Fheadha.

What is your quest?

To find a way to see my family once more.

What is your favourite colour?

Black (because blood is harder to see on black)

Race:

Longtooth Shifter.

Gender:

Male.

What is the most memorable thing from your childhood?

The day I was first given a sword.

Why did you become an adventurer?

My family is dead and I am hunted in my homeland.

What would you unconditionally fight over?

Family/friends/pack.

What do you fear, and how do you react in such situations?

That my family/friends/pack mates will fall. I tend to go berserk.

If others had to define your personality with one characteristic, what would it be?

fiercely loyal and protective.

What do you want to achieve in your adventures?

To one day return home.

What do you want to be remembered for once you are gone?

So long as people are telling heroic sagas and singing epic ballads about me I don't care what people remember.

Magic Items

Black Iron Plate armour +1 (phb1) Lifedrinker Broadsword +1 (phb1) Skull Mask (av1) Badge of the Berzerker +2 Executioner's braces lvl 3 (AV2)

Wish List: Boots of Bounding (AV2) Gauntlets of Blood (AV2) Black Iron Armour +2 (PHB1) Lifedrinker weapon +2 (PHB1)

Back Story

The innkeeper looked up as the door opened, letting in the chill night air. A figure was framed in the door against the night time street. The low light from the lamps scattered around the inn and the fireplace was not enough to illuminate the man, for that was what he appeared to be. He could only tell that the man was tall, broad across the shoulders and strong. He appeared to be wearing some kind of heavy armour and was well armed. There was something about his eyes though that was unusual but the innkeeper couldn't say what. The stranger stopped in the doorway and observed the room for a moment before stepping inside as the door was blown shut by the rising wind outside. He walked over to the bar and gestured to the innkeeper to come closer. The innkeeper gave the man an appraising look before going over.

This stranger was indeed tall, over 6 foot and although he was broad across the shoulders and appeared to be well built it was exaggerated by the heavy plate he wore. The armour was black and quite baroque in its ornamentation. Though it was an unrelieved black it's every surface was covered in carvings of bats, wolves and other creatures of the night of fearsome aspect. Around the gorget and pauldrons there was an inscription in tarnished silver, a language the innkeeper couldn't make out but, like the rest of the armour it seemed very sinister. Across his shoulders this stranger wore a great mantle made from the skins of a pair of dire wolves, their heads stretched down over his shoulders. He wore dark leather and more furs under his armour. His gauntlets drew the Innkeepers attention as the stranger gestured to him, they were vicious looking with small spikes along the knuckles with overlapping segments running down over the fingers with the tips of the fingers tapering to slightly hooked claws.

Then the Innkeeper looked at the man's face and despite the impression given by the armour the man didn't look evil or sinister. He was grim and intimidating by all means. Pale skin and longish shaggy dark hair with stubble on his jaw. His nose had been broken at least once at some point in the past and had been well set though it was still noticeable. His face was marred by 2 sets of scars. The first ran down the right side of his face from mid forehead, over the eye to just below the cheek bone, causing the right side of his mouth to be slightly pulled up into a half grin. The other set of scars appeared to have been caused by a set of vicious claws and started from just above the left jaw line and continued down the man's neck and under the armour's gorget. His eyes however were the most noticeable thing about his face, a rich amber colour and very predatory in aspect. He had a broadsword slung across his shoulder and several knives were sheathed about his person. On his belt was secured a helm with the face fashioned into the shape of a leering, fanged skull made of black iron.

"Wine." The stranger requested in a strong, slightly gravelly voice. He placing a gold coin on the bar. "Your best red. Take it to the table in the corner over there." The stranger gestured over to a table in one of the corners furthest from the fire in the relative dark.

The innkeeper took a bottle of the good wine from the top shelf behind the bar and placed it and on eof the inn's few glases on a tray and made his way over to the table. As he manoeuvred through the busy room he observed the stranger un-sling his sword, remove his gauntlets and place them on the table beside him before stretching out his legs.

The innkeeper placed the bottle and glass on the table as this stranger grunted his thanks and as he turned to leave he found himself face to face with an elf. The hadn't been an elf in all night and the innkeeper hadn't seen anyone else enter with this stranger nor had he heard the door open while he was fetching the wine yet here was the elf.

"Fetch another glass." The elf murmured as he passed the innkeeper before he sat down at the table opposite the stranger. As he went off to get the second glass he heard the stranger speak.

"So you found the place then Tharo." The stranger said.

"It wasn't hard, Culain." Replied the elf with a smile.

Culain grunted. "Anyway as you wish to travel with me I think you should know something of me." Culain said. "I do not tell this story often as I take no pleasure in the telling so I ask that you remain silent."

"I was born up north in Norwynn State, the second son of minor nobility. My father had some small holdings along the north coast, a couple of villages and the town around our manor. We had little wealth and less influence. My family carry the shifter trait though in our homeland shifters are distrusted and persecuted. The trait skipped my parents and elder brother though I and my twin sister both have it. It was kept quiet. As a result my elder brother was the favourite. Though my sister and I were both well looked after. My fondest memory was of the day I was given my first sword. I was very young and could barely lift the blade. As my brother would inherit father told me that I needed to become a good warrior so that I could best serve my brother as his right hand. My sister he said was to find an advantageous match to improve our influence, as was I in due time.

"I trained hard, very hard. It largely consumed my life so that I had little in the way of friends. My only real friends were my sister and my trainer. But it all paid off for when I was 15 I entered a tournament held by my father's overlord, Duke Devello. This man was one of the most powerful in the state, rivalling the king and I performed well enough that I won some small renown and was asked to enter his service. I happily accepted. For 2 years I served as a member of the Duke's guard, fighting small skirmishes with bandits and monsters and providing a guard for the Duke and his family as well as his tax gatherers. Over this time I began to gain some small renown and slowly made my way up the ranks until after the 2 years I was made the Dukes champion. Little more than an enforcer really but at the time I was pleased. For the next year I acted on behalf of the Duke, settling disputes with words as often as with violence and representing the Duke at tournaments and acting as his shield and second on the battlefield. It was during this time that I met the Lady Aeslynn. Her family was neighbour to mine and of a slightly higher standing than mine. She was beautiful, intelligent and could always make me smile no matter how bad my mood. Though she enjoyed many pursuits that were considered unladylike. She was a good hunter and handled a blade almost as well as me. The activity she did that her family did approve of was play the flute, which she did so very well. Aeslynn was perfect and I fell in love with her as soon as I met her. I won her favour, though her father disliked me, yet despite that before a year was out we were married and had been granted a small fief by the Duke. Those were the best days of my life, I had a wife I loved, land of my own and honour, glory and some small renown. It didn't last."

Culain paused and emptied his glass before taking the wine bottle and refilling it. A look of great sadness passed across his face as he continued. "Those days came to an end the when the old king died. The old king was strong and smart enough to keep the nobles in check. His son was not. The new king was by no means a weak man and his two grown sons were both of good character yet they were not the equal of the old king and soon the nobles began to plot and scheme against each other and the king. There was a year of politicking and court intrigue as the nobles jockeyed for power and when the dust settled there were only two factions left at court. The king's faction and the Duke's and they were both as powerful as the other. I largely kept out of it consumed as I was in my duties and more so with my family life. We had by now a young daughter and another child on the way. We named the girl Katerine after my sister who was a frequent visitor to our hall.

"Then the kin strife times started. Both the king's and Dukes factions were stalemated at court. Some of the noble's sons from the Dukes faction were out drinking in the Capital one night when they came across a smaller group of king's men and started in on them. It started with insults and ended with blood, there were dead on either side. At court both sides were calling for justice and revenge. The king ruled in his supporters favour and heavily penalised the families of the men who'd participated on the Duke's side. The matter may have ended there. However the king made a terrible mistake and ordered the execution of the two ringleaders of the assault on the charge of murder. It was a step too far. After the executions were complete the Duke called me to his estate and gave me orders. Devello's supporters were baying for blood, for revenge and justice. To satisfy honour I was to take a party of men and raid the estates of two of the most vocal of the king's supporters, the goal was to find and kill the eldest sons of these men to satisfy honour and justice. We were to kill any who stood in the way and burn the estates to the ground. For honour and justice. As if such things were ever just or honourable. But for what I saw as my duty and an just one in my youthful ignorance I took a party of men and carried out this task. Women, children, elderly and infirm, it made no difference to us, if they were in the way we rode them down. That night of blood and fire earned me the scar over my eye.

"That was just the start. The king's men launched their own revenge raid in the name of honour and justice and we replied with another. Both sides ever escalating until we were in a state of civil war in all but name. I fought for glory, honour and duty safe in the thought that my family was secure as our land was in an out of the way corner of Northhaven Point.

"After a year of this fighting and both sides were still baying for blood. The Duke gave me a task, to take a party of men and ride deep into the king's territory and to sack an estate belonging to his brother. The brother was not meant to be there but he was. We attacked at night, breaking into the manor and slaughtering them as they awoke in confusion and terror. I myself struck down the king's brother and his family as they woke in fear. Never have I wished more to take back an action for I have never done anything I am more ashamed of than what I did that night.

"Never before in the conflict had anyone thought to harm any member of the king's family and now both sides were shocked into inaction, brought to their senses at last by the horrified outcry that the action caused. The Duke made peace, in favourable terms in exchange for telling the king of the name of the man who had killed his brother."

Culain gazed darkly at his wine, a deep blood red in the low light.

"Betrayed by my lord so that he could save face and acquire a few more acres of land. I was taken prisoner by Duke Devello and handed over to the king's men, four riders to escort me to the capital. I was beaten, bound and placed on a horse as my captors set of for the capital. The first night when they stopped and made camp I was fed and taunted with the news that a party of riders had been sent to my home by the king to inflict on me the same pain that he had suffered at my hand. I went berserk. My captors had thought themselves safe to remove their weapons and some armour as I was bound. The ropes were badly secured and I slipped free and in a rage I killed them before taking their weapons, armour and horses and rode for home. I rode 4 of the 5 horses to death before I reached my home but I was too late. Nothing but a burnt out ruin remained and the charred bodies of my wife and children. I was being punished for what I had done, killing defenceless men, women and children.

"Though I was now hunted I set out to try to kill the Duke, who had betrayed my family to their deaths. I would seek revenge by taking his life or die trying though I think I hoped for my death more than his." "I failed. Defeated by the same soldiers I had trained with, fought with and had called brother. I was wounded while in the saddle and passed out as my horse bolted. I awoke in the wilderness and, bereft of hope, I prayed for death so that I could see my family again.

"As I passed in and out of consciousness I felt a presence and when I looked up I was confronted by a vision. A shadowy figure that told me that as I had done so much wrong I would not be granted the peace and reunion with my family in death that I sought and would be cursed to a lonely and torturous afterlife. I passed out again and when I awoke I was alone. I resolved that I would see my family again by any means necessary and in my desperation over the next few years sought I out all manner of priest, necromancer and dark mage. Anyone who was rumoured to be able to restore the dead to life or at least comune with them. Many were dead ends and those few that weren't required acts so dark as to damn me beyond hope."

"A few acts, to my eternal shame, I did and did gladly for the chance to see my wife and children again. In the process earning this scar you see upon my neck at the hands of a foul champion of undeath and buying with pieces of my soul the armour and blade I bear, taken from his corpse. In return the necromancer attempted to summon the spirits of my family. All I saw were the tormented and wailing aspects of spirits and I know not if they were my family. I pray they were not."

"In rage and grief for the evils I had committed and that after all I had done I was still denied my family I struck down the foul sorcerer. Again I wished for death and I travelled seeking some creature or battle that would end me. I met none who could fell me though I fought any warrior I could find, whether good or evil. Then I met a holy man, I know not of what god, or even if he had a god but he taught me that no soul is beyond hope of redemption should they wish it. All they had to do was find it. This man restored my hope."

"Since then I have been travelling. I have abandoned the notions of honour, glory and a noble death. It's all lies anyway, used to justify dark acts and everything I've seen has convenced my that no death is ever noble. All men die the same, in blood, pain and fear. Only family, loyalty and the power to protect those you care for truly matter in this world.

"I have few skills other than fighting so to survive I hire out my services for money, always carrying out what I'm contracted to do with a loyalty that I was never shown and I still search for ways to see my family again. And I will see them again whether I have to wrest their souls back from the underworld or redeem my own so that I may join them. I will see them again."

Culain looked down at the mostly empty bottle then reached over and emptied the rest into his glass.

"Innkeeper, more wine." Culain called before turning back to Tharo. "Now you've heard my sorry tale." He smiled slightly as he reached into his cloak and withdrew a silver flute. The names Morgana Aeslynn and Culain Fheadha inscribed down the side, surrounded by intricate ethchings of vines and flowers. Culain smiled as he held it, lost in his memories. He raised the flute to his lips and played a few quiet notes before looking across at Tharo. "So" Culain asked. "What brought you here?"