Swol Penderghast

On a Windsday evening, in the month of Harvestide, in the small village of Ardhaven there was a small house. In this small house lay an ailing mother lay in child birth. The child was born still, and all expected the mother to pass from the world to accompany the soul of her newborn child. As the family stood in grieving about the bed, an owl landed on the window of the house. The mother's strength returned in that moment. The village wise woman spoke, saying that because the child was a seventh son of a seventh son and born under the sign of the arrow while Arvoren and Yondall were in conjunction, the child would live to be named one of the Children of Destiny. As the wise woman uttered these words, the still child that lay in the arms of a grieving mother began to cry. Looking to the owl that sat in the window, the mother named her child Swol, which she claimed meant strength of owls.

*So was Swol born.*

Swol's childhood was lonelier than that of the other village children. While he grew to be a strong and healthy child that could run and play with the rest, his eyes were sharper and saw the things that another child would never question, and so he began to be seen as "different" from the rest. Gradually, he became an outcast that was never included in the happenings of the town. This behavior, however, never really bothered Swol. He bore a great burning curiosity within his chest, and so spent his days wondering the region around his village learning of all the things that sat upon the earth. A village hunter, of the name of Ghast, became aware of Swol's wanderings, and took it upon himself to teach him the woodsman's craft. Even the knowledge of plant and animal that Ghast was able to impart upon Swol did not satisfy Swol's burning hunger to learn. He desired to not only know the plants and animals, their habits and lives, but the why of them. To see more than the things that rested near his home town, but to see the wonders of the world. One day, while exploring the woods, he fell into an ancient ruined room buried beneath the earth. In that room, on a pedestal lay a wrought right pauldren and brace that shone like silver and was beautifully worked to have the shaping of the face and wing of an owl from shoulder to wrist. When he saw it, Swol knew that his future was to explore the hidden places of the world. To find the great works of art and to discover the feats of ancient science. He passed a tearful parting from his mother, took his leave from his good mentor, and bid fairwell the village, his home. Taking upon himself the name of Swol Ghast, in honor of the home he was born in, and his first teacher.

*So did Swol grow.*

In the first five years that Swol traveled he saw marvelous sites, endured hardships, found treasures, lost fortunes, and grew wise in the ways of nature. But even all this could not satisfy his passion for knowledge. So he took it upon himself to find a master in the ways of learning. A master to teach him the things he could not teach himself. It was in this way that Swol met a man of magic, Pender, a scholar and lover of wisdom. From Pender, Swol learned the language of the ancient elves, the principles of magic, and the known history of the world. Yet, even here in the high studies that he had immersed himself in, it became clear to Swol that he could not be satisfied. He took up his cloak again, and strode out into the wild to find the history of the world for himself and to bring knowledge back to the civilizations of the world and usure in a new era that would rival and surpass the great cities that stood before the Twin Cataclysms. In leaving, Swol gave himself the name of Swol Penderghast, in honor of those who formed him into who he had become.

S*o did Swol walk.*

Now, having heard that the city of Alistair's Stand stood at the border of the unknown, Swol has come to that brave city seeking the ancient hidden things. He seeks those courageous souls that would stride into the unknown with him and seek the relics of the past. Look for the man with the image of the owl seeking the path of Destiny.

*So does Swol live.*