Erodir Aurvandil

Erodir Aurvandil

## Description

Erodir is blue-skinned with a long white beard. He's not as tall as most Frost Giants, but stands taller than most other races.

### Armor

Erodir usually wears robes or similar clothing. However, he as an interest in fashionable clothing as well, thinking it a fascinating part of cultures other than his own.

## History

Erodir was born as one of 14 siblings of a noble family in the Frost Giant society and can trace his lineage back to some of the first Frost Giants that settled in the Temple of Frost. He worked for many years in a ceremonial position of sorts assisting with the little education young Frost Giant nobles were given before being put into command of hunting and raiding parties or other labor fitting their family names. This education mostly consisted of practical ways to survive the harsh land they lived in and which races were considered lesser. Being everyone else. Some were given the title of Jarl in societies outside the Temple of Frost, where they would teach their subjects the same hate and that as a Frost Giant, you could only count on your own to protect you while the rest of the world hated and feared you.

As he grew older and took over the charge of teaching young ones the ways of the Frost Giants, Hrugnir of the Frost brought his youngest son Valandil to him one day. "Knock some sense into this little runt or I'll have him thrown to the Dragon under the Forge. He keeps wanting to look at maps and is asking too many questions. Give him personal lessons." Hrugnir then proceeded to hand Erodir a whip. Erodir had been teaching Frost Giants for hundreds of years at this point, but had never allowed punishment as part of his practice. He reluctantly took the whip from Hrugnir.

Years pass.

After taking the younger giant Valandil under his wing ad despite Hrugnir's wishes, Erodir encouraged Valandil to speak his mind, but in secret. With time, Erodir had become more and more affected by the questions about the rest of the world Valandil kept asking. He could simply not answer them, which frustrated him to a great deal. He went to several elders and asked calmly to be given resources to explore outside the cold snows they inhabitated to bring knowledge and other cultural views back to the halls of Frost. Not entirely unexpected from the nobles of Frost Giant society, and especially from King Hrugnir, they reacted violently and gave him a choice to stay and be executed or be banished for life.

Erodir pleaded with the King and the other nobles for what felt like days, but eventually accepted banishment to keep his head and prepared himself to leave the home he'd lived in for over two thousand years. Rumor had spread quickly of the sentencing, and had reached Valandil's ears. At first light on the morning Erodir was to leave, Valandil snuck past the guards to speak to his teacher and friend, begging him to take Valandil with him south. Erodir refused at first, but thought that with no one to encourage his student to keep using his mind in secret, the younger giant might be faced with an execution of his own before long. Despite the king's blood running through his veins. Erodir smuggled Valandil out with him in his wagon and started travelling south. When they had put some distance between them and Frost Giant lands, Valandil asked Erodir where they would go now to survive the banishment.

Everywhere. Meet everyone." Erodir replied.

And with the two of us, I'm not sure I want to think of it so much as banishment."

"We are going on an adventure."

After years helping Erodir build a college for preserving knowledge and meeting strange beings of all races, Valandil left on a journey of his own to investigate the rumors of an underwater city. Erodir remained behind to receive the confused newcomers that kept coming to Kullinzios as a consequence to the infamous Warp Gate and the echoes it left behind. Valandil never returned and was tragically assumed dead. It was then Erodir grew close to a moriquen elf named Moi, the leader of a community called Ascension that had settled near an oasis. The two shared many similarities such as their common thirst for knowledge, but Moi was quick to anger and ended up inciting conflict throughout the lands. They had numerous debates on what it meant for the world that the Moriquen had a strong military presence. While Erodir was strong in his belief that it would only invite war to their doorsteps, Moi insisted it was only to protect his loved ones. It turned out that they would all need that protection before long.

It was not long after this, Elheil Lonenheim made himself known to Erodir.

See: The Meeting and The Black Galleon

Erodir's pursuit for knowledge had gotten the better of him after the battle of The Black Galleon and while meeting with the dark sorcerer Elheil, the two formed an alliance. Erodir had set his eyes on the grimoire he had heard so much about and knew Elheil was the only one who possessed the power to help him. While he told himself he did so out of noble reasons as to help his race and ultimately betraying Elheil to save the world, the terrible need in him to learn what knowledge the book held was the true source of his motivation.

Some months after this, one of Erodir's employees came running through the main gate when Erodir had finished another chapter in his new book "The Elarikan Mutation : Beasts". The kitchen boy was soaked in rain and out of breath. "My... My.. lord Erodir." Erodir looked up at the young man and said briefly. "Catch your breath, my friend. And it's just Erodir, remember?" The boy nodded and sat down on the steps leading towards the dinner table and the study.

"The birdkeeper outside, she has news of an imminent attack on the Ascension! From the entity know as Elheil. Many will come to aid them. She asks when you need her services to fly you south!"

Erodir stood up from his desk and walked over to the window overlooking Asagarth and the hills to the west that separated the north from the south. He poured himself another cup of absinthe and took a long sip. There was a storm brewing outside. "Tell her that won't be necessary."

 See Attack on Ascension.

 When the dust settled, Elheil met with Erodir, Moi, and the other members of Ascension. Elheil had brought them all there to witness him demand Moi's allegiance. The moriquen elf was infuriated that his well laid trap had been for nothing and spit in Elheil's face. This led to Elheil summoning a horde of sabertooth cats to attack the group. Before Erodir could act, Elheil spirited him away to a small camp in the highlands. Erodir was concerned that this would reveal him working with Elheil to the others so he purposely injured himself and traveled to Ascension as fast as he could. Moi was waiting for him by the gates to Ascension, which had grown to become a large fortress. Even though Erodir tried to explain he had no idea why he had dissappeared from the attack, Moi was not having any of it. He proceeded to threaten Erodir that if he had turned his cloak, Ascension would burn the College to the ground, with him in it. This marked the end of their long friendship. The grimoire itself ended up being destroyed, but at great cost. The College, Ascension and everything else in Kullinzios were completely wiped out by Elheil's final command later known as the Second Calamitous.

See The End of the Beginning.

Among Moi's followers, there was Lelida. She was a kind-hearted archaeologist investigating the events after the first Calamity. After paying Erodir many visits at the college, named Anour College after it had been rebuilt a second time, the two started traveling on excursions together to find out more about the mystery involving the Warp Gate and the Court Emperiotus. Erodir had never met anyone who could see right through him like Lelida did and so it was that he fell in love, an emotion unknown to him for over 2500 years. They lived a peaceful life together for decades until the inevitable happened.

See An Unexpected Visit and The End of My Days

Years pass..

Feeling fulfilled with the purpose of bringing his people to a place of tolerance and learning, Erodir walked the halls of the Temple of Frost observing the much larger Frost Giants. It had been a difficult path for them to accept others while still retaining their culture, but the difference now was that raiding parties were not exclusively made out of Frost Giants. A few nixe elves hellbent on wreaking havoc had joined them and the Giants found that the elves' archery skills proved to be very useful in battle. For a pacifist like Erodir however, the days started feeling more and more empty as they flew by. It was known that the older you get, the faster time passes so one could imagine what that was like for Erodir, having lived for 3000 years. The thought of traveling south again crossed his mind from time to time, but he always ended up deciding to stay. He was certain that every hill, tree, ruin and oasis would remind him of Lelida. At this point, she would surely have passed due to Fold age.

His choice to stay however, was about to change. He had received a letter from the barkeep and mage called Rune asking for his help...Erodir saw it as a sign and starting packing a cart with his belongings. It would seen the scholarly Frost Giant would return to the south once more...

### Skills:

Alchemy, Extensive theoretical and historical knowledge, Cold resistance

## Personality

Erodir usually has a calm demeanor and enjoys talking about scholarly pursuits. He loves hearing about other races and their cultures and always carries a notebook with him to make notes for his book writing.

However, even though he is initially friendly to all manners of peoples, he is prejudiced against evil characters and especially people following warlike pursuits.

### Beliefs

Born into the faith of Ymir, the first Frost Giant, but as a scientist he is not devoted to any religion.

### Quirks

His insatiable curiousity sometimes lead him to do strange things, such as collecting vomit in a bottle to research it later. (based on an actual occurence)

### Relationships

He prides himself on having good relations with most of the people he meets. His longest friendship is to the elf Frey, whom he has traded with many times. His closest friend was his student Valandil who came down with him from the North, but Valandil dissappeared. He is in a loving relationship with the half-elf Lelida, an archeologist who shares his passion for scholarly pursuits. They live and work together at the College.