The Tale of Raelthos the Wise
Raelthos Dalore grew up as the youngest of 3 siblings and as such was often overshadowed by his older brother and sister’s antics. He led a rather peaceful life inside the walls of the Tarrenhall minding his own business learning tales of adventurers and practising with the weapons and armor of his Elven heritage. With his older brother and sister barely around, always off adventuring and helping their father run the land Raelthos was left to mingle with the commoners and other nobles and to appreciate life’s finer details! It wasn’t long however before Raelthos was off adventuring and making tales of himself as he went.
He started small, dealing with the odd stray wolf or goblin that wandered too close to some of the nearby villages, but he soon rose up and had a small band of adventurers he could call his own, dealing with more dangerous and bigger foes the party of Tol Acharn ventured forth to slay foes and free the people of the evil’s lurking in the dark and on the edges of civilisation. After several years adventuring together Raelthos and fellow human companion Aressia, began to show feelings of love for each other and it wasn’t before long that a full blown romance ensued.
On what was to be their toughest mission to date Tol Acharn camped near what was thought to be the lair of a marauding band of lizard men. During the night Raelthos had a dream, a vision of his destiny, of the great deeds he was to accomplish and of the happy life he was to lead alongside Aressia. The dream offered him power to help tackle the lizardmen and to achieve his destiny, and in that dream state he accepted this seemingly harmless gift of power. As dawn broke the adventurers set off once more to reach the cave and fight their enemy. It wasn’t long before the lizardmen were decimated and they stood victorious however their victory celebrations were cut short by a deep rumbling growl that filled the cave. As mid-day approached and more light entered the cave there atop a mound of gold was a green dragon, it’s eyes fixed upon the group!
Not before long the cries of battle erupted in the cave, the sounds of swords, arrows and spells lit up the air as the dragon roared and fought it’s invaders. It wasn’t looking good, little did Raelthos notice that as the fight drew out more of his party were being either blasted aside by the dragon’s breath or smashed into the ground by its clawed hand he looked over to Arissa making sure she still lived. She did, hurt but alive he called for a retreat away from the Dragon’s cave so that they may live to fight another day. Dragging the bodies of the fallen out of the cave made both of them an easy target for the dragon and were on their toes dodging as many blows as possible to get their badly wounded allies and friends to safety! The mouth of the cave approached and the last group of friends were being saved at which point the dragon flapped it’s wings and flew over to the entrance blocking Ralethos’s path! As the dust settled from the impact a brief moment of respite occurred as he looked up towards his doom but now was not the time for thoughts of the end, his friends needed saving and to escape and he needed to either defeat his foe or provide enough time for them all to escape.
His sword redrawn from its scabbard now crackling with lightning and his eyes emanating a pale blue glow as he thundered towards the dragon, intent on smiting his foe. Moments of battle later and the sudden burst of power allowed him to push his target back and allow enough time for his allies to escape before he did himself, leaving the dragon to his domain. Sitting around the campfire as his companions lay either dead or dying he gazed up into the night wondering where his life would go from here after such a setback, he thought back to the dream, of the promise of power and ability to achieve his destiny and quietly muttered under his breath “Grant me the power to have vengeance on my foe.” Not a moment later crackling blue arcane energy began to swirl around him trashing the camp as he watched in horror as the storm manifested into some apparition and proceeded to consume the souls of his former companions, their bodies raising up into the air before disintegrating, the only body to be left alone was that of his precious Arissa who lay asleep peacefully and unknowing of the horrors all around her. As the tears rolled down his face there was only one thing left in his heart and that was revenge. He was going to kill that dragon whether it took his life in the process he didn't care “Tol Acharn” he said “ Vengeance comes!” He doesn’t quite remember what happened in the cave, all he knew was that he walked out with a sword in one hand, dragon head in the other. Upon learning of her companions demise Arissa was overcome with grief and after handing in the bounty grew distant and laid down her bow.
Months later an opportunity came up for Raelthos to head to the elven capital of Varlant on the isle of Arentin and investigate their apparent silence these past few hundred years. Leaping to action he had a ship and crew prepared and only waited for his now engaged companion to come with him however when he went home he found she was missing, no sign of struggle, no note no nothing, as if she hadn’t existed at all in the first place. Pushing dark thoughts and immense grief to the back of his mind he pressed forward and set off, hoping to find his wife to be when he returns from his mission.