Peering thru the smoke from what was left of the barn the young man coughed, and continued digging. His tack and saddles were ashes, he had no illusions about those. And though they had been expensive and valuable that was not what he was searching for. He had already searched the burnt out house and found the bodies of his parents and siblings. The orcs had left noone alive, and some "choice morsels" had been taken from the dead, probably to be feasted on later. The animals that had been kept in the pasture had been herded into the barn, or at least that was what the signs indicated, and there was one horse in particular whose fate he must be certain of.

     His family had been lords of these lands for as long as they had been managed by men. Before that they had been the sole stomping grounds of a rare and precious breed of intelligent horses, whose population had been diminished drastically in recent years. In fact the lords of these lands had brought about the near extinction of these creatures quite by accident, not having been able to understand the language of the "horse people". It was only the young mans father who had discovered why they were impossible to break and train like other horses, and he had been able to befriend the leader of these magnificent creatures. They were now living under his protection and were starting to increase their numbers. Or at least they had been

     Many of the neighboring lords had noticed that these beings were not "properly" stabled and had petitioned the Lord of Brittain to keep them locked away, for they were blamed for ravaging the farmers crops. And so the entire herd was brought here, to the Greenblade estate and Lord Greenblade was required to keep them fenced in. Lord Greenblade had sent his oldest son and heir to Britain to show Lord Brittish that these were not animals but a rare breed of intelligent equine who should have the same rights as any of his subjects. Upon returning home from his succesful venture Leaf found only the smoking ruins. And now he was searching for signs that some had survived. Or rather he was searching for the remains to account for them.It took many hours for Leaf and the only other survivor, his friend and the son of his fathers advisor, Rockbuster Smyth, to finally find that there was only one survivor of the last herd of the gentle and inteligent equines. The heir of the herds leader, Rrrrefel, was hurt baddly but they were able to nurse him back to health. In the mean time Leaf learned the use of the bow and sword, and his friend learned how to make the tools of destruction needed for revenge. When Rrrefel was healed Leaf and his equine friend went in search of vengence. Sure that they would all die in the attempt, yet they were able to destroy the orcs who had destroyed their familys. In the battle, however, Rrrrefel receieved a mortal wound, and managed to hide it until they were victorious. Then he passed to the pastures of beyond to join with his friends and family, leaving Leaf and Rock to mourn for him and all the people whom they had lost.

     Now having achieved his vengence Leafs anger died, and he had only his battle skills and his friend and servant Rockbuster. They moved to the north, far from their home and Leaf began using his sword and his bow to suport them whaile Rock went to school to perfect his arts in the smithy. They now have a nice place in the new facet of trammel where Rock can practice his art in peace, but leaf has the blood of the warior in him and frequently travels to the old facet, called felucca, to seek out the unjust and help them to see the errors of their ways or die in their ingnorance. He has found a guild of stalwart warriors and mages who feel the same way about the oppression of those who think themselves stronger than others, and has managed to achieve the rank of General amongst them.

     He has never forgotten the father he lost or his friends of equine lineage and in honor of Rrrrefel and his people Leaf now spells his name with two capitol letters, GReenblade, and has sworn that never will he subjugate a horse, or require one to carry him about.

Leaf Greenblade is a General in the Knights of Armageddon, and manages the War Cabin near the Compassion Crossroads.