I was born in a far distant land, the grandson of a mighty knight who was king of his small island nation. He served under his leige lord, the mightiest king of all time. But that is another story, often told by those with far better bardic skills than I. My father's name was most mysterious to me as I grew up because no one would speak to me of him. My mother died when I was very young (some whispered that it was of a broken heart) so my memories of her are vague. A halo of golden hair, a warm embrace, a loving touch, such are the memories of my mother.
I was raised by my grandfather, taught in the skills of a knight, the lore of the wild, the tricks of the sea and the arts of ruling since I was the eldest male of his lineage, and would follow him on the throne of my island home. This was despite the fact that people looked at me askance as my elven blood became more apparent. But I was still my grandfather's heir and they treated me with all due honor or else (and there were many or elses over my early years).
My favorite sport was racing our small boats along the beach and among the treacherous shoals that lay off shore of our island home. On the water there were none that could best me. It was whispered that even the winds and waves bent to my will, and in truth, there were times when it seemed to be true even to me.
Life had settled into a routine of sorts, consisting of my arms training, schooling, chores. I was however left a bit of time to myself that I usually spent on the beach wandering and daydreaming, staring out to sea and wondering what the strange hold was that the sea had on me. The sounds of the waves rolling up on the shore spoke to me of far distant places.
One day I was on the beach practicing my forms with my grandfather's longsword. This was the ancient knight's longsword that had come down his family line for many years. It was a fair sunny day and I was surprised to notice a mist forming on the surface of the ocean. I paused in my practice and watched as it slowly moved towards me, uncertain as to whether I should flee or stay and see what this mystery was. Curiosity won out and I stood my ground as the mist swirled around me (not without some degree of trepidation I might add).
' When the mist finally surrounded me and sealed me off from the rest of the world, a strange but friendly looking elf walked out of the mist and smiled at me. "Greetings" he exclaimed, "You have nothing to fear from me as we are kindred." His demeanor put me at ease and I saluted him with my longsword. This brought a smile to his face. "I see life among the humans has not affected your courtesy" he said. "But that is not why I am here."
He continued "I am of a far off land which is in need of noble adventurers to restore a sense of justice that has been greatly diminished over the last many years. I believe you are such an individual." I was interested in this possibility for adventure since my life had been somewhat dull having been raised on an island in a land at peace. I was also somewhat intrigued by an adventure that would get me away from the sidelong looks of the others. "Tell me more!" I said.
He shoke his head. "I can tell you no more, you must decide on the basis of what I have told you. Do you wish to be of service to this land?"
But at last the possibility for a true adventure won me over. I had younger relatives that could wear the crown of my homeland, and better than I could, they being of full human blood. I smiled at the strange elf and said "I will go."
He smiled at me again and said "I would expect no less of you knowing of your heritage. But be wary for things are not as they seem and you shall be totally on your own in this land til you make friends. I wish you good fortune." With that he bowed to me and started to walk back into the mist. Just as he was on the verge of vanishing he turned on last time. "When you have proven yourself worthy, I shall visit you again. There are things you shall then know and things you shall have."
At that he vanished and the mist began to dissipate. When it had vanished I looked around and found myself here at the promentory. Alone and unarmored, with only my grandfather's longsword to my name.
All of a sudden a strange critter rushed out of the underbrush and set on me with it's short sword. I was sore pressed by its sudden and ferocious attack, specially since I had no shield to defend myself with. It was a long and bloody struggle but at last I prevailed. The onslaught of the beast had left me sore wounded and bleeding heavily. I knew without help I would soon die since at best I could only slow the rate of bleeding with my own skills.
I followed the path that led westerly from this spot being vigilent for another encounter when I spied the gates to a town. I must admit to worrying that the town was filled with more of those strange creatures but my blood was running short. I had little choice so I prepared myself for combat, believing at least I could die in a noble fashion rather than bleeding to death cowering behind a tree. With my last bit of energy I burst thru the gates, but I was too far gone and collapsed from my wounds.
When I came back to myself I was looking up into the face of a kindly elf who was magically taking my wounds onto her own body. I learned later that the critter that attacked me was only a Kobold but at my age it seemed very nasty. That is the tale of my arrival in the realms, but it does not end there. Not long ago I was once again sitting at the promentory, gazing at the sea and pondering the many mysteries of my life. Once again the strange mist began swirling on the sea. This time I felt no fear but a sense of eager anticipation since I had been promised a return of the strange elf.
The mist swirled around me and the strange elf once again stepped into sight. "Greetings cousin Gwalmachie," he said "for I am your cousin, and I am here as I had promised since you have proven yourself worthy. As I told you those many years ago there are things you must know and things you should have." He paused and looked at me. "You may have noticed an affinity that you have for the open sea. Since I find you sitting here rather than swilling ale in a tavern I believe that to be the case."
I nodded my head in affirmation.
He smiled at me and said "There is a reason for that. Your father was a sea elf, or more properly, Ta'Ashrim. As am I although I am lowly among our kind, being a scholar and not a mighty explorer or wizard. For those are the areas where we excel."
He continued "Sorcerors were not held in high esteem among our people since torture and causing pain are the work of barbarians, and we always considered ourselves the most civilized of the many houses, focusing on understanding nature and exploring the world about us."
"Indeed," he continued "that is the only reason I stand before you here today, or you are here at all. Your grandfather, known to all as the "Hawk of the Sea" was the younger brother of the leader of our people. He was far more interested in exploring then government. Being freed of leadership duties he focused on exploring, going on long voyages of discovery seeking strange lands and people. He spent long spells at sea exploring to the east away from the known lands. He claimed there were other lands out there but his voyages had not located them.On one of these journeys he decided to take your father and I so we might see the world so to speak.
A far off look came over his face before he resumed his tale. "It was a long journey and we saw many interesting things. But there came a time to return to home to see our family once again.
"We Eagerly looked forward to cresting that last wave that would reveal Ta'Ashrim in all her splendor to us. But ....., but ...." and here he sobbed quietly and took a minute to gather himself before continuing.
"When our home came in sight it was not lit by the warm glow of many happy hearths but rather but the unchecked conflagration that was burning our homes to the ground. Your grandfather true to his nature armed for combat and urged his ship into the harbor at full sail. At this my cousin's hand curled around something in the satchel he was carrying. "When we arrived in the harbor it was empty except for the still burning hulks. Your Grandfather drew his longsword and rushed down the quay, followed closely by your father and I.
"This very sword he exclaimed" as he pulled an ancient sea elven longsword from the satchel and waved it over his head.
A tear grew in the corner of his eye. "We arrived at his home only to find the corpses of his family scattered in front of it, their weapons in their hands. As he searched among the corpses he saw a movement and pulled the bodies away from the pile. He found your grandmother still with breath in her but on death's door. She tried to speak but had not air for words. Your grandfather bent down and kissed her gently on the lips and held her tight."
Again he had to pause for a moment to gather himself but finally did and continued "Her eyes grew dim as he held her, trying to keep death from claiming her, but at last her hold on life slackened, but before she died, she found breath for on last exclamation. "She exclaimed "The Faendryl, the faendryl, they killed my babies and spitted them for sport ......" and she died. Your grandfather was in a towering rage and uttered oaths the like of which I will not repeat.
He stalked from his home searching for other survivors but to no avail. As utter despair was setting in he spied a patrol of Faendryl sorcerors stabbing the bodies of dead children with their weapons. Despite being severly outnumbered he rushed them with the fury of ten men, casting spikethorn at them and smiting them with his sword as they futilely tried to cast their magics at him, all of their spells deflected by his own magics.
The last one, realizing his plight, cowered on his knees before your grandfather begging mercy, still holding the sword covered with the blood of the baby he had just skewered.
Your grandfather roared "Mercy you shall have as mercy you gave!" He then removed every limb from the faendryl swine with surgical precision so that at the end the swine was still limbless but alive. He then staunched the bleeding but did not heal the missing limbs.
He ordered your father and I do hoist the begger which we did, carrying him between us. We followed your grandfather back to the ship where he began to make a cradle of rope. Finished, he placed the faendryl in it and hoisted him to the top of the mast and stated "There you shall stay". And he did till the last time I saw the ship.
"Having done so, he ordered sail set and we left Ta'Ashrim never to see out home harbor again. The course we set was straight into the raising sun and we held that course for many a day, sighting nothing but open sea. Finally we began to encounter strange lands that we stopped and explored from time to time, discovering many odd and wonderful things in the process.
"But we continued to sail on the same heading as your grandfather set on that first day, never deviating by so much as a degree except to sail around obstacles, but always returning to the same line.
'One day ...." and here he paused and shivered "... the sea and sky took on a strange and ominous aspect, the very texture of the air becoming thicker, the sky becoming overcast so the sun and stars were not visable. Time seemed to pass in a strange fashion, someone on the stern of the ship would think only a half hour had passed while someone on the bow would believe it had been an entire watch. Finally all aboard were lost in time and moving to their own internal clock since the sun had faded from view for a long time and there was no way to track time. Just as all except your grandfather had given up hope, the haze parted and the sun began to shine. Your grandfather decreed a day of celebration and opened the last cask of the good Ta'Ashrim brandy for the crew.
"The joy was short lived however. That night the constellations were there in all their glory, but twisted as though the stars had been moved in space. We plotted the star locations and realized that many years had passed since we entered that foul area, thousands in fact as it turned out. The next day we sailed on but in a somewhat more somber mood when Lo, there on the horizon, we sighted a fair island, all green and with a castle on top of a hill. Since we were low on water, your grandfather decided we should risk a stop and get water even though it was clearly populated. He summoned a light fog to cloak the ship and sent your father in to seek water, but only after cautioning him to exercise all possible caution.
He paused for a moment and looked up at the sky and seemed lost in revery. I did not want to break his mood so I waited patiently while he gathered his thoughts. After a while he smiled and me and said "What happened on that Island I learned later from your mother and this is what came to be."
Your father was a proud man and not given to skulking in the shadows unless necessary so he boldly strode ashore dressed in his finest battle kilt. The air ws fresh and crisp for it was early autumn. He found a fresh pool of water and was about to dive in from the joy of seeing that much sweet water in one place when he heard a noise. He paused, still as an oak tree, quiet as a shadow. He noticed a fair human female sitting on the other side of the small pool trailing her fingers through the water and singing a soft, wordless song to herself. He was smitten with her beauty, and as though she had magic, the lady raised her eyes and peered deeply into your father's eyes, plumbing the very depth of his soul.
He stopped with a strange look and his face and finally smiled at me before he continued. "I have heard at love of first sight but never experienced it myself, but that is what it was. Your father waded thru pool towards the lady, oblivious to all about him, their eyes locked together. On reaching the shore he bowed and introduced himself, his eyes never leaving hers. She curtsied and gave him her true name. They talked of small matters as they slowly came closer until the edge of this blade would not have fit between them, still lost in the depths of each other's eyes.
'Their lips touched in a kiss that was only a prelude to the passion that they were about to experience. Modesty prevents me from telling much detail of what followed. However, mark ye well, on that day and hour you were conceived in your mother's belly from the seed of your father, a blending of two ancient and noble lines. They lay there entwined in a lovers embrace on a soft bed of fallen leaves, gently exploring each other's body and soul.
'Suddenly, your father heard the wind increase in intensity and shouts coming from the direction of the ship. He leaped up and saw a wind tossed sea and your grandfather's ship drifting before the gate, the victim of a broken anchor chain. Your father kissed your mother one last time and ran to the shore. He fought the waves in the ship's longboat until he reached the side of the ship.
"He climbed the rail of the ship, noticing that the wind was howling even more than before. It had reached a point where the masts were beginning to sway from side to side, the sails shredding in the wind. He and your grandfather manned the wheel trying to hold the bow into the seas but losing control as the winds doubled and redoubled thier force.
"By now the ship was at the mercy of the wind and waves and was being driven hard towards a rock outcropping, the masts snapping in the wind and showering the deck with debris. Soon, only your father, grandfather and I remained alive on the vessel still straining at the wheel in a futile effort to hold the ships course." He paused and wiped a glistening tear from his eye. "Then there was a mighty *CRACK* and the mainmast fell across the wheel, smashing your father and grandfather, missing me only because your father pushed me out of the way of the mast, taking the blow I should have.
A sob wracked his body as he struggled to maintain his composure. 'Their bodies were battered although their souls still burned bright. I tried to get them out from under the mast but they were injured to a point where the pain of the act was not worth the chance of survival.
"and they realized it.
"In a final act of nobility and command, your grandfather ordered me off the ship. But telling me to bide a second first. He removed his satchel and gave it to me. With his last breathe he said "When you find him to be worthy of the contents, give this to my grandson that was conceived today. It may bring him solace and add him in his task.
'I looked at him and realized I could do no more, nor could I aide your father. So I secured the satchel to my body and dove over the side of the ship, trusting myself to the tides. I reached the shore more dead then alive, still clutching the precious satchel. Your mother found me there and nurse me to my recovery.
"I watched her belly swell as you grew inside of her, despite the great sadness that had overcome her when she realized your father was dead.
'You were born on a warm and sunny day in the month of May in your homeland, so your mother gave you a name that means "Hawk of May in your native tounge, which is fitting since the hawk was the sign of your grandfather and father both.
"After your birth I determined to continue my journey so I constructed a small craft and after bouncing you on my knee one last time I set sail on the same course your grandfather set. I finally found what he was looking for, a place of quiet and peaceful comntemplation where other survivors of our house have gathered, biding their time til a proper moment to extract proper vengence." At this point a wicked smile crossed his face for a second as his eyes glowed in eager anticipation. "And it shall come when they least expect it."
'but for you dear cousin, it is time for the last of your patrimony, for I deem you worthy to receive the last gift of your grandfather, the contents of this satchel.
'First was his longsword" he said as he handed me the ancient sea elven longsword."
I accepted the longsword as he handed it to me awed by the history contained in that blade. I could almost feel my grandfather's hand wrapped around mine as I hefted the blade.
My cousin next pulled out a kilt and shook it out before he handed it to me. "This was your father's battle kilt which we saved after the wreck and he would like you to have it." He handed it to me and I could feel the essence of my father impressed in the kilt, memories of desperate struggles swirling in the air.
Next my cousin pulled something wrapped in oil cloth from the satchel afore he handed me the satchel. The satchel was very old, and made from very supple, thick, scaled skin of unknown origin. Ancient salt stains crust the seams. It is lined with sea thrak hide, which adds to the overall toughness. The flap is securely clasped by a heavy brass insignia, which has been etched with runes that, faded and worn with age, are now unreadable. Stamped squarely in the center of the clasp, worn, but still clear, is the striking image of a proud hawk's head.
Truly the satchel of an Ashrim explorer and ranger.
Finally, my cousin weighed the package in his hand and looked at me in funny way. "This is probably the most important of all that you are receiving for all of the remaining members of Ta'Ashrim. As I told you, your grandfather was the brother of the ruler of Ta'Ashrim and this is an honor and duty that passed by blood. When we arrived in Ta'Ashrim, his brother was dead and all of his family, slaughtered by the faendryl dogs as they gathered at the main pier in their ceremonial garb to welcome them to a peaceful gathering."
My cousin muttered something that sounded like perfidious swine as a dark look crossed his face.
"Your grandfather gave them a proper burial but before placing them in the ground, he removed this from the neck of your great uncle." He paused and tapped the package. "Your grandfather would not wear it but put it in here for safe keeping claiming that one would come who should wear it."
He looked deep into my eyes for a long time. He continued "I believe you are the one he meant. Wear it in good health." He handed me the package and said 'but please wait til I leave to open it." I nodded my head in assent.
"Now you know the other side of your heritage. Be proud of it and remember the motto of Ta'Ashrim "Charity and Honor above all"! There are more of our clan about that need to be aided in the quest to reestablish our home. "
"And with that I must leave, it takes much energy for me to be here and I shall be many months recovering from this expenditure.
'Be well Cousin and prosper."
With that he waved, smiled and faded back into the fog. My trembling fingers opened the package revealing a hint of gold. As I tore it the rest of the way open I saw a golden royal torc. The torc showed unmistakable signs of heavy wear, but still gleamed brightly. It is etched with ancient and noble Ashrim sigils. The ends of the torc are shaped in the form of fierce-eyed hawks, their eyes inset with red rubies which glow as if they are lit with an inner fire. I eagerly fit it around my neck where it sat as though it had always been there.
This concludes the tale of Gwal, how he came to be and came to the lands, the rape of Ta'Ashrim as related by those as who were there and the artifacts of Gwal and their origins. As life is a work in progress so this tale is a work in progress and who knows what the future will hold.
Gwalmachei, The Hawk of May
