[OOC] Prelude: Garg's Early Years

2006-03-21T03:31:42Z

(The following is written out-of-character, and is OOC knowledge for any players in the game who may be reading. Garg doesn't even know most of his own history. For Garg's take on the following events, see this journal's info page.)

Garg's mother was a young woman named Leith who grew up in a small woodland village called Hocknell.

One night a rampaging band of orcs and ogres raided the village. Leith was raped during the raid by an especially ugly ogre named Vash, who was killed shortly thereafter by Leith's father, Durgan.

Despite fighting valiantly, the villagers were overpowered, the village was destroyed, and Leith was left for dead. She scrounged sustenance in the wreckage, and was able to survive for a short while.

Soon, she had to turn to the woods for survival. With her, she took some ink and parchment that she found in the wreckage, as well as a water skin, and whatever food she could carry.

Leith wandered through the forest for days. One day, while walking alongside a stream, she heard music. Following the tune, she came across a clearing with a crystal clear pool in its center, surrounded by smooth stones. Sitting on the largest stone was an ancient-looking hermit dressed in brown and russet, playing a shalm -- a double-reeded wind instrument. Lying to his side was a long, gnarled staff. He stopped playing, looked up at her, and smiled.

He told her to take comfort, that she would have a son, and despite her child's monstrous heritage, he would be destined for greatness. However, he warned her, she would die in childbirth and not live to see it. The man picked up his staff, turned, and wandered back into the woods without a trace. For a while, the girl could still hear his music, but soon even that faded away. Comforted yet frightened, she knew that she could never return to human lands. There were plenty of fish in the pool, and herbs and berries to eat. She decided to stay in the clearing and to make it her new home.

Months went by. To pass the time, she started keeping a diary on the parchment she had brought with her. A few nights before the birth, Leith wrote out a note. She left it along with the diary on the stone she had found the hermit sitting on.

When her child was about to be born, the old man returned. He held Leith's hand and placed another hand on her forehead. As he held her, she felt a warmth and calm flow through her body, despite the brutality of giving birth to such a large infant. As the child emitted its first cry, she let out a final sigh and died.

The hermit said a few words over the girl's body, gathered some stones from the nearby forest, and erected a cairn over her. Then he took the child, bathed it in the pool, and said a few words of blessing over it. Finally, he took the infant to a nearby camp of orcs and ogres, where he left it.

Despite not being one of their own, the ogres took the infant in. It they called it Garg, and raised it. However, it soon became apparent that something was different about the child. He was smaller than the other ogres, but much larger than an orc. His features, while not pleasant to look at, were fairer than either as well. He was ridiculed, and beaten regularly. He endured this treatment for years. One day, tired of being constantly mistreated, he ran away into the forest.

He wandered through the forest for a few days. One moonless night, he heard voices in the distance. As he drew closer, through the trees he saw the lights of a campfire. Gathered around it were a circle of men and women dressed in furs, singing and chanting, with their arms raised over their heads. As Garg approached, they stopped their chanting, and turned toward him.

One of the figures, a slender woman with fair skin and a pale green gown approached Garg. She had long blonde hair, pointed ears, and eyes that reflected years far longer than her body seemed to have weathered. In her hair, she wore a wreath of silver leaves.

She extended a hand to Garg and smiled warmly. Confused, Garg took her hand, and allowed himself to be led toward the fire. In the light of the fire, he could see that he was standing in a clearing with a pool of water at its center, surrounded by large stones. To one side was a pile of stones, like a cairn or grave.

The woman, speaking in Giant (though with an accent Garg didn't recognize), introduced herself as Elanna. She told Garg that they had been expecting him. Fifteen years ago, she explained, she had had a vision of Obad-Hai, the god of nature. He had told her that one day, a child of Giant and Man would find his way to her. This child would become a powerful force of nature, and was destined for greatness. However, he would need training, and it would be her duty to provide it, initially. He had handed her a roll of parchment, and said that when the time came, she would know what to do. When she awoke from her vision, she had found the parchment on one of the rocks by the pool.

From a small pouch at her waist, she drew the faded roll of parchment, upon which was written Leith's diary and final words. She handed it to Garg, telling him that as long as he kept it, his mother's love would be with him, and protect him.

Over the next few months, Elanna taught Garg the ways of the woods, the streams, the stones, and the plants and animals that inhabited them. He learned to speak both the common tongue of civilized folk as well as the Druidic language. However, while he could decipher the markings and formations of the druids' language, he never was able to grasp traditional letters or runes.

After a year and a day, Elanna told Garg that he was ready to find his own path. She took him to the edge of the clearing, and bade him farewell.

Garg wandered the forest for many days. Soon, it thinned out into an open plain with rolling hills. He came across a path, which he followed until it became a road. Following the road, he came to the gates of a port city and the ocean beyond.

Here, in Iaria, his adventure begins.

Garg am speak!

[OOC] Prelude: Garg's Early Years