Rekjin

Rekjin is an ascended Twisted Troll from Annarion. He was the first god of the Hunt and Divine Huntmaster, who trained and handed over that title to Vargasuul.

Transformation and Awakening

Rekjin was born a Dwarf. His original name was Yaldi Goldgrim. After being captured by the Poets of Strife and subjected to numerous horrific rites, he became one of the twisted trolls and succumbed for an unknown amount of time to their battle lust, until a battle with Adysian gnomes placed innocent children and their elderly caregiver in his path. Another troll killed the old man, but Rekjin came to himself and singlehandedly defended all of the children. Though they shrank from him in fear he stood with them and defended them from all comers until the Poets' army was forced back by the surprisingly stalwart Gnomish resistance. At first the Gnomes tried to kill Rekjin, but he swatted their burning arrows from his hide and bellowed at them to stop endangering the children. Nonplussed, they stopped shooting, and the children ran to their parents. Rekjin was allowed to depart in peace, wandering Adysia, and opposing Kendu's forces when he could. He avoided civilized people, both to avoid being attacked and because it took some time for him to completely master his rage. That struggle along with his dangerous journeys left him with a respect for the tenacity and strength of the Twisted Trolls, and with sorrow and weariness over the wrath that defined almost all of them. Eventually he met and befriended the Baalin Dimmidoris. The two traveled and fought together for a time after the defeat of Kendu Donnegan , and eventually the people of Adysia came to respect the strange green warrior and the elf-panther.

Encountering the Demon

Rekjin lived in Adysia for nearly a century before meeting what would be his nemesis: the Demon Draurneoth. Though not a priest, his nature made him sensitive to the presence of negative spiritual energies. Rekjin began to sense such powers near the sites of calamitous events. Notably mass arson, droves of murders and suicides, crop burnings, all done by seeemingly normal people. He tracked these traces of energy from town to town, eventually "seeing" (despite the perception being internal) as the power moved from one person into another. He knew then he dealt with a demon. With the aid of the elderly Gnome priest Kartic Whitepenny Ohaln, who turned out to be one of the children Rekjin saved long ago, the demon's identity was revealed. Armed with that knowledge the two found the demon, and Rekjin played bodyguard to the priest as Ohaln attempted to exorcise it. Draurneoth tried in turn to possess each of them, but neither was in the slightest vulnerable due to faith and an iron will respectively. Draurneoth was returned to the Abyss .

Vendetta with the Lord of Strife

Draurneoth, Lord of Strife, was drawn to Adysia again and again by his own agenda and by the taint of pain and chaos left in the land by the Poets of Strife. Each time he came, Rekjin and any allies he could gather were there to help drive him back. The first time he returned, Ohaln banished him again, but as Ohaln died during the third exorcism attempt someone else had to step forward and finish the task. No one expected it to be Rekjin, least of all himself as he was no priest of Dmalthtome like his friend, but some internal force seized hold of him. He dropped his bow, raised his hands, and abjured the demon in his own name rather than that of any god. He declared Adysia his to protect, and laid a banishment on the demon with his will alone. Draurneoth had never been more surprised than he was when that actually worked. Rekjin was successful despite many injuries, and the battles continued down through the centuries.

Old Age

Rekjin lived a very long time. Due to the nature of their creation, twisted trolls were practically immortal unless burned or dissolved and had no fixed lifespan, but the way they lived took a toll on their bodies and could kill them eventually. Constant combat, spiritual war against a greater demon, and internal war against his own nature twisted the might hunter until he was gnarled as a thorn bush. He never lost his strength, however, and despite easing his steps with a walking stick in peaceful times he could still spring into combat with incredible speed. He walked the old forests of Adysia whenever he could not sense Draurneoth in the world, and kept travelers from losing their way.

Godhood

Rekjin was elevated to the position of god of the Hunt after Annarion was destroyed partially due to successfully stalking a demon for hundreds of years from body to body. He performed his duties well, protecting the remaining worlds and then the newly forming one from rampaging Astral Beasts and blessing hunts and hunters on many worlds. When Vargasuul surpassed his teacher, Rekjin gladly handed over the title of Divine Huntmaster. Rekjin also gave Trollkar his name. In Sistona and surrounding lands Rekjin is also called Saint Rekjin the Hunter, due to the attempts of the Church of Night and Day and later religions to incorporate the many troll tribes. Nomadic trolls generally pray to Rekjin before hunting no matter the day or season, which was a problem for the Church if he was a god, but not if he was a Saint, and as the trolls' legends about him did make it clear he had once been mortal calling him a saint was a suitable compromise. This has only ever been partially successful. If Rekjin chooses to appear among mortals, unless he is specifically going among trolls, he usually takes the form of Yaldi Goldgrim again and pretends to be a simple Dwarven merchant... albeit one with calluses and scars on his hands consistent with centuries of archery.