A Hunter's Tale

[Ambaryerno]

Name: Æðelþryð (Aethelthryth)
Race: Half-Elf
Gender: Female
Class: Ranger
Alignment: Chaotic Good

Æðelþryð was born to the wild. Her mother was a Wild Elf, her father a human hunter. The village in which they dwelt could only loosely be described as such: No more than a collection of a few rough cabins and a common building at the edge of the wood. She was the youngest of four children, the others being three brothers.

At an early age she showed an interest in following her father and brothers into the wood, but found herself kept behind in the care of her mother. However Æðelþryð would learn little of her. The isolation of the scattered hunting communities made them a favored target of Orcish raiding parties, who often attacked for plunder and slaves. One night, when she was very young, an Orc party raided their village. The children were already secured in the basement of the common building, but in the confusion of the fighting Æðelþryð's mother was among several people taken hostage. Her father led a band of hunters in pursuit, but when they caught up the Orcs chose to slay their captives rather than see them rescued. The loss would leave Æðelþryð with an indelible hatred of all Orcish kin.

Æðelþryð learned some of the Elven tongue from her mother, and her brothers helped finish her instruction, but of her mother's people and culture she learned little else. Instead, as she grew older, she embraced her father's heritage. At first she was kept at home in the care of another woman of the village while her father and brothers were abroad to hunt, but soon she began to follow. From her father she learned to read the tracks of beasts, how to stalk them in silence and move unseen, how to trap them, and the use of the longbow. Her brothers instructed her in how to skillfully wield a knife and in swordplay. She learned woodcraft and how to survive on her own, to tend her own wounds, and what plants were harmful, and which could be of benefit. In the isolation of her village she had little need for a formal education, and never learned her letters.

Eventually she began to go abroad alone. Her independence, courage and curiosity at times got the better of her, once leading to her becoming trapped in a cavern for some days before her brothers finally rescued her. The experience left a permanent mark on her, and Æðelþryð from thenceforth was left uneasy away from the open air of the woods and fields.

As she neared her 21st year, the wanderlust that led her on forays further and further from her home finally took a firm hold on her, and with a tearful goodbye to her family, she packed her belongings and set off for wherever the winds would take her. She hunted and trapped to sustain herself along the way, trading in skins to provide a modest income, until finally she arrived at the towering stone walls of Baldur's Gate.

[Ambaryerno]

In her first few days at Baldur's Gate, Æðelþryð found employment with Jorn the farmer. It seemed that wolves were making a nuisance of themselves to the south, and he was paying a bounty of wolf hides.

Packing up her bow and a full quiver of arrows, Æðelþryð made her way south of the city and vanished into the wild, stalking through the grass and between the trees. Despite her efforts, there seemed to be no end to the number of wolves south of the city. She found this curious, as seldom do wolves, even in times of desperation, venture so near human settlements. Furthermore, the wolves she encountered were all alone, with no sign of a pack.

These thoughts troubled her as she hunted, but thus far she could see little sign of what might be driving so many of the beasts towards the city.

As she hunted, she had a chance encounter with an elf named Siomir and his two companions. Though she acknowledged her mixed heritage, the Elves nonetheless welcomed her as if a cousin, and invited to show her the way to the Elven settlement of Doron Amar. Intrigued of learning more about her mother's kin, and finding a place away from the city, Æðelþryð accepted the invitation, and resolved to meet with them again once she was better prepared for a journey which Siomir warned would be difficult. As they parted, Æðelþryð was stunned by a generous gift from the Elf, which she pressed into better outfitting herself.

She continued her hunting, whiling away the time between forays by sitting about the communal campfire outside the city, working on small carvings. Æðelþryð was received distastefully by a bard who also frequented the fire, who looked down upon her for her rustic upbringing. However an incident at the bridge in which he fled in terror from a mere insect proved to be a just comeuppance to his self-ascribed superiority. What use was being so cultured if one was unable to take care of oneself?

Unfortunately, he was not the only denizen whom Æðelþryð found objectionable. In the space of a night she saw no less than TWO creatures of Orcish kin join the campfire. One, a fully-blooded Orc, was promptly slain upon being seen by members of the Flaming Fist. His body was dragged away and dumped into the river. The other, a half-blooded mongrel, was ultimately left in peace, despite protestations of his presence. Disgusted that such a creature was allowed to remain at the fire, Æðelþryð packed up her belongings and moved south.

She wandered some ways down the road, beyond the shrine of Silvanus and the ruins overlooking the road, until she came to a temple on the eastern eaves of the Cloakwood. She found little game of value, and only Gnolls. To her pride, she slew two of the creatures, but found them more than a match for her on her own and she soon withdrew back to the north again.

As she resumed her hunting of the wolves she encountered another of the region's inhabitants, who had also witnessed the slaying of the Orc at the fire that night. Unfortunately, he told her the Half-Orc remained. Their conversation soon turned to the wolves harassing the farmers and travelers, and though he could offer little guidance, Æðelþryð nonetheless expressed an interest in lending her skills to determining why so many had invaded the lands surrounding the city. He directed her to a nearby Druid circle of which he was a member further south, where she might find a place to apply her skills.

Their conversation was interrupted by the appearance of the Orc she had previously seen slain--or perhaps he was merely knocked unconscious?--and profanely attempted to address her and her companion. Despite repeated warnings he was unwelcome--and Æðelþryð's bow in hand, nocked and ready--he persisted. Eventually a member of the Flaming Fist appeared and put an end to the Orc, leaving him writhing in misery as his life slowly drained from his wounds. Unable to stomach the suffering of even such a fowl creature as that, Æðelþryð drew her knife and cut the dying Orc's throat to speed its passing.

Meanwhile her companion needed to part on other business, and made his farewell. Resolving to look into the Druid circle further, she made her way back to the campsite in the north, and set her tent alone as far from the mongrel, who remained seated at the fire, as she possibly could.

[Ambaryerno]

Æðelþryð's time on the Sword Coast had been a flurry of activity. Much of her time had been spent hunting; first the wolves and bandits just south of the city, and later the Gnolls around the old Temple of Bhaal. She met a number of inhabitants of the city, particularly among the Elves, and developed a quick friendship with a Paladin of Tyr named Tomar. She even found a new companion in the form of a young wolf she tamed, and named Æsctírwulf.

Perhaps among the most exciting of adventures in her brief time in the area was an expedition she joined, including two Elves named Aearion--whom she had met before--and Leonia, north of Baldur's Gate and into the mountains. Æðelþryð found she could provide little real aid to her companions, though did help track the giants and trolls. Her arrows mostly bounced off the thick hides of the Stone Giants, but she did manage one good shot that pierced one of the monster's eye sockets. On the return to the city she also managed to destroy one of the trolls with a blow from an enflamed dagger.

Back at town, she resumed hunting quarry more within her skill, frequently stalking the Gnolls along the Trade Way, alone or at times with other travelers. She joined another expedition into the Wood of Sharp Teeth, where she found Orcs in great numbers.

The Orcs and Half Orcs along the coast quickly became a source of frustration to her. Much to her surprise, the creatures were often tolerated even within the surrounds of Baldur's Gate itself--by Elves, no less! She was nearly drawn into a fight at the merchant camp itself when and Orc--weapon in hand--boldly walked up to the fire and took his place near Æðelþryð, Tomar, and several of his other friends, as if he were invited! Æðelþryð was left deeply angered when the Dwarf who finally took it on himself to rid the camp of the creature was himself shot down full of arrows by the city guard! Though her hatred of the animals was not tempered, she took the warning of the Flaming Fist to heart: There was no justice in Baldur's Gate for victims of Orcish depravity.

Æðelþryð finally found the opportunity to make her first visit to Doron Amar for the weekly meetings held in the growing Elvish town (to which Æsctírwulf invited herself along, not showing herself until after the formalities were at an end). There she saw Siomir and Aearion, and also was introduced to may of the other Elves, as well as several humans who were involved in the community. There was even a Dwarf, come to discuss construction plans for the town. As Æðelþryð's eyes wandered the peaceful, tree-lined paths and listened to the song of birds and insects, she hoped that whatever buildings were erected would not spoil the natural beauty of that part of the wood. She volunteered what aid she could offer to help protect those who would be working on construction, and was appraised to see what useful skills she possessed.

As she was escorted back to the Trade Way at the meeting's conclusion, Æðelþryð smiled at the thought of having found a place on the Coast where she belonged.

[Ambaryerno]

Æðelþryð awkwardly regarded herself in the mirror, self-consciously studying the image reflected back to her while the man named Aello, with pins held in his teeth, fussed with the fabric of her skirt.

Her face was washed of the dirt of the road and wild, and her hair was cleaned and freshly braided. The red dress trailed to her ankles--impractically long in her mind--and fit her snugly above the hips. She chewed her lower lip as the clothier finished and stepped back to appraise his work. Æðelþryð nervously turned her attention to him. "Am I pretty?" she asked.

Æðelþryð's face colored abruptly at the words and she shyly turned her eyes back to the mirror. Aearion's love, the woman named Alison, had said so when they were introduced. Tomar had implied as much as well. She herself had never thought much of her appearance before. Any suitors who might have agreed were often put off by the protectiveness of her brothers, and her father had raised her as he would have another son. All her life had been spent learning to hunt and track and being self-sufficient in the wild, not in the sort of pursuits that women of the village would practice. Her life was the wild, and she had no need to worry about what others thought of her appearance.

Aello appraised her and smiled broadly. "My lady, you look lovely."

She looked at her reflection again uncertainly. "I do not feel different."

"You look like an entirely different person, now! An upstanding and civilized woman now that we have you out of those old and filthy rags you came in with."

Æðelþryð twisted her mouth into a scowl at the word "civilized." She lifted the skirt away from her legs. "I do not understand how anyone can wear such a thing. This would tear within minutes on a hunt, and I cannot even move freely."

"That is not the point, my dear," Aello said as he gathered up a few scraps.

She sighed in exasperation. I will never understand city folk.

"Now, should I dispose of these...things for you?" Aello asked as he lifted her travel-worn leather jerkin and woolen cloak.

"Absolutely not!" she said. Æðelþryð strode awkwardly across the shop and hastily rescued her garments from the clothier. " She disappeared into a private room Aello had allowed her to use as a changing room and quickly dressed again in her old clothes.

As she emerged again, Æðelþryð fished into her pouch for Aello's fee. "I do not know what use such a thing would be for me, but thank you."

She then unceremoniously stuffed the dress into her pack--much to the man's shock--and hurried from the shop, eager to be away from the crowded confines of the Gate and back into the open air of the surrounding woods and fields.