Role

Chapter 2

background
Added Thu Jan 1 16:24:39 2009 at level 2:

Angale is the youngest child in a family with a long history of
military service to the ancestral home of his race. His father, and
his father's father before him, were both guardsmen who dedicated
their lives to the protection of his people. The same is true of his
elder siblings. Perhaps due to his position as the youngest, though,
Angale tended to work a little harder, train a little longer, and be
just a little more dedicated to whatever task he set himself to.

His parents were stern, but not unnecessarily cruel or unloving.
They realized the value of education in addition to more martial
pursuits, and so Angale was set to spend time in the academy,
learning arithmetic, language and the history. This he took to with
his typical gusto. It quickly became evident that despite all the
physical training to which he continued to subject himself, Angale
was perhaps the most bookish of all his siblings. This would prove
significant.

As he studied the history of Thera, and its great Heros, he paid
particular attention to the warriors among them. As he did, he began
to notice a pattern emerge. Those who were most feared, and most
effective, tended either to shun magic entirely, or to embrace it to
the fullest extent. And yet, Angale also learned about some of the
terrible calamaties that had befallen Thera in the past, and how they
were intimiately linked to the use of magic. To name but a few, the
destruction of Tar Valon, the perversion of the Valley of Veran, the
current unfortunate state of Maethien, the creation and subsequent
enslavement of the felar race, and the manifold undead which can be
found all across Thera.

As he devoured the scrolls housed in the small arial academy, Angale
began to develop a more "global" mindset. It no longer seemed
sufficient simply to train in the Emperor's city to be a guardsman,
and perhaps protect his kinsman from a few brigands or the Loke's
jaettes. While the service of a guardsman was not to be despised,
he coud not help but feel that he was capable of much more. But he
was determined to do so without relying on magic which, he had come
to beleive, was responsible for much of the world's ills. If he was
to become the best warrior he could possibly be, Angale knew he would
have to leave the cloud city.

And so he did, striking out alone one night, leaving only a note to
inform his parents of his decision. They would not understand at
first, he knew, but perhaps in time they would come to respect his
decision. He hoped so.