Quird of Men-ji the Watermarked Gardener, Harbinger of Thar-Eris

Role

Chapter 7

Among the giants of the Clouds and Mountains, news travels slowly. Removed
from the rest of the world in an attempt to find spiritual solice, they still
gain rumours and whispers via the peddlars that reach their remote habitats.
One such rumour has caused a great stir amongst the people.

Religious to a fault, the tribe of the Men-ji claim a long and distinguished
bloodline. Their numbers spread across the ranges of the North, beyond into
the cold wastes, where they can live a harsh nomadic life. Believing in a
rite of passage to adulthood that involves walking out into the inhabited
world to the south, each giant has always brought back tales of what they had
found and how it has shaped them. Commonplace is it to bring the faith of a
new God or Goddess, so it might be tested amongst the people. But rarely is
it that a new one blooms - for the Giants are far removed from the politics
that hold the immortal's attentions. Amongst the exceptions, is the faith of
the Hammersong. The harsh environment and his stories of testing, forging and
perfecting have fed the pride of the Men-ji to a greater level than that of
the average giant. Believing that their environment makes them stronger both
physically and spiritually, it became a popular faith to adopt amongst the
families and soon few saw the benefits of another philosophy.

It was not long after Quird left his tribe for the Rite of Adulthood, that
these rumours reached his home - just weeks after reaching his own ears. The
Hammersong has returned. The fires of his forge heat the earth once again.
Years of tradition weighed on Quird's shoulders as his ancestors glorious
tales of Dwarves that knew the way drew his youthful curiousity. What are
these creatures so strong yet small? What great tests is it they endure to
have spawned such a hardy philisophy?

Questions that needed answers. And answers that would be found far from home.

So it begins.

Role

Chapter 6

Across mountains, wastes and forests that could not deter any of the Men-ji,
Quird travelled until he reached the Ancient mountainholm. Akan - Capital and
seat of the Dwarven Monarchy.

Like an amethyst geode, it's beauty lay not on the surface but within. From
the air, Quird saw little but peaks, troughs and dents in the rock. But lower
still, and the runletts became streets. The domes became houses. From the
very mountains, their home has been scooped and shovelled. Turrets and
battlements dam the valleys and small bearded creatures peer out from under
shining mithril helms. Quird flew lower, and lower still, into the valleys
until he found himself in a populated place he could ask for directions.

Apparently not unaccustomed to visitors from far away lands, the dwarves
obliged him with a jovial politeness. Most could guess his purpose from his
manner, as even those of other faiths could share the joy of having the Thane
return. An air of excitement amongst the young, and that of relief among the
elders, the pleasure of having their patron return making even those amongst
Ysaloerye's devout more proud! Though Quird wondered, if such a great
philosophy had come from these people, where were the harsh forges that made
them strong? The great daily trials and struggles to survive, that make
everyone humble before the miracle of life? Such ideas were storng in his
people but all he saw was posturing and foolish facadery. Maybe the
difficulty they have speaking clearly is important? Or is that facial hair
more hindering than it appears?

Doubt filled his mind, and for a moment he felt a haze overcome his thoughts.
A moment of opaque clarity that obscured the world but opened him to...

Shaking it off, Quird focused on restocking his supplies. Fresh water for his
skin, and some soft rock the dwarves attempted to pass as bread. A few pieces
of rawhide, and a fresh pelt made of a creature far smaller than a mammoth or
bear. Yes, useful things, for a journey that had no clear length. How long
would he stay here, learning form these dwarves?

Not long.

Role

Chapter 5

Guided about the dwarven lands by the inhabitants, Quird came across
something he hadn't expected. A Cloud giantess, named Ilvani. Having left her
home to explore the world as a Warrior, she appeared typical of the giants
found in the Lands outside of Quird's home. Both strong and determined, yet
fixed within a warrior caste - to adventure and dance with death wherever she
may go. Struck both by the surprise and her beauty, Quird could do little but
gape and pass a gentle greeting and a prayer to aid her on her way. Soon
after, the audience he had saught with Thror was granted.

The great dwarven lord's voice echoed about Quird as he rested amongs the
trees. They spoke of his wisdom, and the Men-ji. How the meaning of it had
become somewhat lost and distorted over the distance it travelled. How
important pain and anguish were, and their partners anger and fear, in
creating a stronger individual. Although Quird had long since learned to
suppress adverse emotions in his tranquility training

with the Priests, the encounter shocked him in many ways. The dwarves are a
very different people, with a culture that seemed alien. The wisdom he had
been raised to believe in, altered to fit the Giants culture - losing much of
it's foundations with the dwarves. And with the realisation, came both a
fondness and a sadness. Something within Quird could feel nothing but
admiration for Thror. And yet a feeling that they would be unable to
reconcile came as well. That there was something else...

As a parting request, Thror asked that Quird grow himself a beard and stop
being like a 'bloated elf'. In acceptance of this, Quird has promised to
massage his chin and do his best to grow his facial hair. Although Thror's
follow-up request to bloody a wizard and rub his face in it may be beyond
Quird's peaceful nature. Such is the way he has been raised - for the Men-ji
have no others with which to wage war, and sparring among them is done with a
great respect toward those they practice with.

Feeling the air move once more, Quird decided to continue out into these
strange lands. Thror said that each dwarf was different - each one able to
teach him different things about dwarven culture. And though none were like
himself, it was also true he is like no other. To learn more he would have to
search.

Role

Chapter 4

Walking over land, Quird made a decision instead to join the roads that criss
crossed below instead of dodging the moe civilised areas. His spiritual
strength had always flowed from his environment, just as that of all the
Men-ji is believed to do. While in the harsh cold wastes of the Northern
mountains had evoked a strange tranquility, here he could feel more alive. As
if the whisper of the grass growing had a voice that tinkled playfully in his
ears.

Days of travel brought him to several cities, and several disturbing sights.
To Hamsah Mu'tazz, where smiles were lies. To Galadon where they had cleared
miles of healthy, life giving forest to feed into their mills. Further, he
found Voralia, where there was not even a guild of nature-gifted priests on
the entire island they had flattened and cleared. And finally to Udgaard. It
was this that Quird found most disturbing.

Where the city blighted the land, they had burned vast swathes of ground to
clear the space around it. Acrid smells filled the air, tainting the nose and
eyes with a stinging filth. And the river, oh the river. Where it flowed
clear from the mountains, it turned to a torrent of filth exiting the city.
People down stream were saved from drinking pure efluent only by the rivers
great force that diluted it with the thousands of gallons it pushed through
their dams. A people known as the Onehearts lived in this shadow, inviting
Quird in and answering his questions on the world. A short time there and a
piece of information gave him a glimmer of hope.

Heading south once more, Quird was fortunate to meet someone with the same
destination as himself. A fragile looking young priestess who claimed the
burden of the world's ails was on her shoulders, and she had the potential to
heal it. Calbaseeti was something Quird guessed was inbetween a human and an
elf. Her bright eyes were captivatingly exotic and her jewelry shined with
more than the simple glamour of polish. There was a spiritual might to this
dainty thing that made Quirn want to laugh at the irony. No. The Men-ji have
open hearts, and open minds. Even to the angry, hateful ways that make the
dwarves so passionate?

Together they spoke in agreement of a better way to guide the people of this
world. Those who were not fortunate enough to be born with great gifts and
insight. To lift up the hearts and minds of people who didn't think like them
- both headed south to ask for the power to do this. Both headed to the
shrine of Rayihn.

Role

Chapter 3

Love is a powerful bond. You can feel it for a person, so deeply it pains you
to think of losing it. Perhaps a pet that has been such a faithful companion
you have no simple way of repaying it's compassion. Or even an object - so
fluidly part of you, that your personal pride extends to it.

This is the strength of emotion that Quird feels for the land. As a living,
breathing being it extends beneath, around and beyond us to contain and
shelter all life. Like a tortoise and it's shell. Those who don't understand
this basic relationship are destroying everyone elses blessing.

To this end, Quird is willing to do what is necessary but remains against the
notion anger is the way forward. Even when death is needed to remove the
cancer of those defiling nature, love and forgiveness is the way forward. The
process is one of surgery and healing, not revenge.

Role

Chapter 2

Inspired by his disappointment in Thror, his religion not being as close to
the Men-ji's imagining of it as Quird had hoped, Quird turned to Rayihn.
Determined to prove that the passion of Love can forge a far stronger bond
than any anger or revenge, he has begun to come to terms with how great a
challenge that is. Anger drives the wars onward, it's negativity becoming
like a furnace amongst it all. And although Quird avoids feeling it himself,
he finds it great quantities in friends and foes alike. He has even realised
he breeds it. Yet his point remains - his love for the Land and his emotional
bond to it have made him a great warrior. In one way, this is a success. In
another, it is a failure.

Quird left his tribe as a spiritual acolyte with a gift for healing. He has
turned that gift to manipulating nature into a weapon. Thorny plants that
grow at astounding rates inside someones chest. Briars that thrive until they
reach dangerous proportions, in order to sting at intruders. Seeds that
sacrifice their life to give bursts of flame and fire. To Quird these are
small sacrifices to fight back the Lands pain. But he has had to sacrifice
his own ideals in order to make himself this way. Love remains strong but
peace seems distant.

For now, he consoles himself with the knowledge that each blow he strikes
back is lessening the Land's own pain. It is pushing back civilizations
advance. This is not healing in the most traditional sense but it is surgery
against a force that is invading Thar-eris. With each step forward, Quird
wants to put a greater stress on consolidation. He has devoted time to trying
to replant and regrow the Ashes of Nowhere. He searches the land for places
of great beauty, to show his goddess Rayihn how the Land has gifted us with
beauty that compares to her own - in the hopes he can petition her for more
aid and more power. To him, his goddess is a strong and powerful woman but he
understands she may not be completely on his side. Whatever he can do to
bring her in, he is doing.

Moments of meditation are becoming sacred to Quird, and he studies if not
practices the life of an aesthetic - someone who can act as a spiritual
guide, healer and teacher in a time of peace. Amongst the Outlanders, he
hopes to gain a reputation as all three above that of a warrior.

Role

Chapter 1

As Quird grows old, his friends seem to pass. His greatest fear is forming a
calous in his heart that would prevent him from continuing to love the new.
In an effort to shed the old, he is planning a flower for each precious
person he has lost. Mourning them is the only way to go on loving them.

As the new Harbinger, Quird feels the weight of responsibility. As he has
been a faithful child to the Land he adores - he is now a father to those
around him. An elder to cherish, nourish and punish. To this end he will be
haughtier than his usual self, although he's never bragged beyond telling
everyone he was born as strong as he is.

The garden will progress and Quird plans to reveal newer flowers toward the
end of his life to save time updating in between.

Immortal Comments

PK Gank-O-Meter

Title History

PK Statistics

Skill List

PK Wins

PK Wins

PK Wins

PK Wins

PK Wins

PK Deaths

Leveling History

Timeline

Mob Deaths

Edges