Role

Chapter 1

Barthomel's earliest memories were of his hometown, and growing up there. He
hailed from the Storm Giant settlement of Loch Terradian which aught come as
no surprise, being himself a member of the race of kindly blue giants. From
childhood he had lived there with his mother, Reeia, in a quaint but
comfortable little house, by giant standards. His mother had once been a
Priestess of Lady Bria, a goddess long dead by the time Barthomel had been
born.

Now his mother tended a memorial of Bria and other lost gods at the Temple of
light worship, passing along knowledge and teachings of their ilk. She was
especially kind and encouraging, and Barthomel always felt safe and inspired
with her. Their life was comfortable but humble, Reeia's life of service
afforded the pair a good deal of charity from the pious folk of Loch
Terradian who were both generous and grateful to the old priestess for
helping maintain the Temple as well as stewarding the old religions that many
of the Elders still adhered to.

Many times as a boy, Barthomel asked after his father and he could tell that
there was much more to that story than he was ever told. His mother always
had a look of consternation when seeking to explain that situation, and
always Barthomel felt that she held back much. "Suffice it to say that he
does not care to embrace the trappings of civilized life." Reeia told him
that his father was alive and he did not live especially far from the Loch,
and that he would one day meet the man. While Barthomel was curious, he also
had grown to trust his strong and loving mother implicitly, and so he was
content to wait on her word that the time had come. Most of the folk of Loch
Terradian treated one another as family so there were no lack of noble role
models for him to aspire toward.