Nolan Fairoak: Notes on the Biography
Ryan Fairoak flees the massacre at the Academy of the Blade alone. He is pursued by one of the demons. He loses the fiend several times over the next 3 years of wandering. His skills as a Ranger grow during this time. Finally, the demon catches him. Ryan and his lynx companion fight a valiant fight, but, in the end, it’s not enough. Ryan falls, and the demon leaves him for dead.
A troupe of elven forest wardens finds him in time to heal him. The group of rangers and druids are from a nearby elven outpost on the far edge of the Firelight forest, near a small human settlement. This elven community is different from the rest; they have a more Asian flavor. They meditate (as in ‘Zen meditation,’ as well as the elven sleep thing), they have a tea ceremony, and they practice a philosophy of ‘Mind, Body, Spirit.’ The elves befriend the swarthy human, and Ryan eventually assumes leadership of the rangers. Ryan is also the community’s liaison with the human settlement, facilitating trade between the two groups. Ryan marries a druid, the daughter of the elder elven ranger, and she gives birth to Jaylin, a half-elf.
Once Jaylin is old enough, Ryan takes him to the human settlement when he goes on trading missions. They usually stay a few days, and Jaylin gets to know the human children, mostly street urchins. They teach him the arts of the rogue when he’s in town while his father schools him in the ways of the wood between visits. As a young adult, Jaylin falls in love with a young lady of the human settlement, one of the urchins he used to run with. Before they are wed, Jaylin’s mother and father are killed investigating the death of one of the sacred white stags. The herd of silver-horned white stags and harts is the only one of its kind and has been protected by the elves of this community for generations (elven generations, that is). The evil beasts that slew Ryan and his mate were never identified.
Jaylin assumes his father’s role as protector and facilitator. He splits his time nearly evenly between the two villages. His son, Nolan, also learns the skills of ranger and rogue. Shortly after Nolan’s 17th birthday, another white stag is killed. His mother and father are ambushed and killed by the same beast that killed his grandparents. Nolan’s great grandfather, the elder elven ranger, tells him about Ryan’s history and gives him two of Ryan’s artifacts: a journal and a medallion. The journal recounts the story of the Academy of the Blade and the Banshees and contains a map to the location of the Academy. It also tells of the demons and their geas to destroy the Academy survivors. The medallion is a disk with the symbol of the Banshees rendered in enamel.
Nolan’s great-grandfather asserts that Nolan will never be safe as long as the Demons hunt the descendants of the Banshees and suggests that Nolan leave the village (after all, if he stays here, the demons will know where to look), and search for the other descendants. The strength of numbers may be enough.
See Nolan here:
http://www.jcdesigns.net/nolancolor.jpg
http://www.jcdesigns.net/nolan.jpg
