Oeric Thorsgil of Grey Forest
DESCRIPTION: Oeric is a tall, thin man with shaggy, shoulder-length
black hair and a
full beard (going prematurely grey at the temples and under his
lower lip). His eyes
are an intense, icy blue and sit beneath a pair of heavy black
eyebrows. He obviously
favors his Human blood, but his Elven heritage is evident in a
slight point to his
ears and well as his thin, fine form and features. He typically
wears a hooded robe
of white wool secured about the waist with a belt of gold plates.
He carries a staff
of black wood in one hand and a scimitar hangs at his side.
BACKGROUND: Oeric was born and raised in a small, rustic village
on the edge of the
Grey Forest. His mother, Fianna, was a herbalist and healer, his
father one of the
sylvan folk who inhabited the forest who saw and fell in love
with Oeric's mother and
she with him. They kept their love and their meetings secret as
the Humans feared the Elves, but Oeric's birth, with his evident Elvish blood (more
evident then than
now...) made his mother and him virtual outcasts (relations were
already strained due
to her pregnancy out of wedlock, and even with no evident father...).
The Elves felt
much the same way about Humans, viewing them as usurping barbarians,
and so Oeric's
father aided his lover and her child but could not bring them
into his community.
This page © Copyright 1997, Scott Alexander
Oeric grew up very lonely, and began to turn into a bitter young
man; his mother and
his father being his only real friends or contact. People still
secretly consulted
Fianna for her healing and herbal knowledge, and this kept them
alive, but overtly the
two were shunned and cursed. When in his late teens, the village's
livestock were
stricken with a wast disease which no one was able to do anything
about. Scared,
and a bit hysterical, someone began the rumor that it was Fianna
who had caused the
plague, with help from her Elven friends. The rumor spread like
wildfire and Fianna
was dragged from her home on the edge of the village, the house
razed and she was
stoned in the village square.
Oeric, who had been gathering plants for his mother, escaped the
village's wrath and,
when he discovered what had happened he fled into the forest where
he lived as a
hermit, surviving by virtue of the woodcraft his mother had imparted
to him. He began
to spring the villagers' traps and thwarting their encroachments
into the forest. He
shunned the Elves, blaming his father for allowing Fianna to be
slain, but through
them came to the attention of the druid Mistrahn. Mistrahn
began to observe the
youth, disturbed by the depth of his hatred and bitterness but
touched by the
compassion he had for the animals of the forest and the respect
with which he regarded
his new home.
Finally, Mistrahn decided that something must be done to redeem
this young man and
began visiting Oeric's camp. At first Oeric shunned him, but eventually
the druid's
gentle overtures won the youth over and Mistrahn was invited into
Oeric's camp and
became his friend. Mistrahn's gentleness and warmth served to
curb Oeric's bitterness
and he listened as the old man spoke of Freya (from the pantheon
on the web-site this
seemed like the best choice, if there's a better one let me know)
and a life of
service. Mistrahn instructed Oeric further in woodcraft as well
as the rituals of the
goddess. He worked to integrate him into the Elven community with
whom he had more
pull and finally restoring some contact with the Humans, reminding
Oeric of the way
his mother had continued to minister to them even when they shunned
her. Much of
Oeric's bitterness and hatred had melted away, though he still
often seems cold and
tends to have more regard for Nature than Man.
Lately, Oeric has been having visions of the Horned Mountain,
a pair of Ravens and a
group of heroes. More and more he has felt himself compelled to
seek them out. After
many nights of prayer and fasting, and consulting with Mistrahn,
Oeric has determined
that the goddess is directing him to seek out these people and
aid them in an
important quest...
Charisma: 15