Kayril

Kayril, as imagined by user KnightOwlet.

## Description

Kayril is a huge, old Eagle Owl. His posture is hunched, his eyes lack the bright orange lustre of a young Eagle Owl´s, and the formerly dark feathers on the tops of his wings are now fading to a dull grayish brown. But far from being decrepit with age, he radiates a tired strength, like a gnarled old oak.

A veteran warrior, there are many small scars on his legs and talons, and a long battle-claw scar down the left side of his facial disc. Age has slowly crept up on him with a multitude of small aches and arthritic joints, causing him to hunch forward a bit and constantly fluff up his plumage, as if on the verge of a thronkenspeer (threat display).

## Personality

Having lived a full life, raised a daughter, and given the second half of his life to the defense of the weak, Kayril feels that he has done his part for owlkind. There is nothing he desires (unless a death in dignity), nothing he looks forward to, nothing he is in a hurry to meet. He continues to fly with the Search-and-rescue Chaw, but prefers to leave most of the work to the youngsters. The young Guardians who fly with him on missions love the fact that he gives them responsibility while still staying a reassuring presence in the background, ready to bail them out of trouble if the need arises.

When he makes up his mind to go into combat, Kayril is a terrible adversary. Huge, strong, and with the experience of years of fighting, he seems unstoppable, going through enemy formations like a knife through butter. Long pursuits leave him winded, though - there is no denying his age -, so he takes care to end a battle quickly and decisively. He never derides or despises the enemy, always affording them dignity and respect.

Kayril has been a brash young warrior when he was hardly fledged, matured into a disciplined, eager soldier, then a thoughtful leader, and now, near the end of his life, a great calm has come over him. He has seen it all; nothing the world can come up with has the capacity to perturb him anymore. He will not volunteer advice, but if a young owl comes to him with a question, he can be a font of simple wisdom.

## History

Before he became a Guardian, the young and hotheaded Kayril fought, caroused and skirmished his way across the Beyond as a hireclaw. When war erupted in the Northern Kingdoms, he went there and hired out as a retainer to the Hollow of Fjall. The young Castellan Dame Diana believed in having the best troops for her Hollow, and had the mercenaries trained by her knights. Kayril learned discipline, and it did him good. The formal training, the responsibility and the horrors he witnessed in battle conspired to calm his temper, making him (or so he felt) a better owl.

They also taught him compassion; he realised that there was more to life than killing foes and taking heads. When the war was over, he retired to the Great Tree together with fellow soldier Molly to start a family. They had a daughter, Cait, who grew up to become a Guardian in the Tracking Chaw, and a while after she left the nest, the couple went their separate ways. They still love and care for each other, but both realised they had burdened each other with their shared memories of violence. Molly took up with a young male Eagle Owl raised at the Great Tree, and his charming innocence of the cruel world eases her war-scarred mind and gives her the peace that Kayril, the fellow battle-hardened veteran, couldn´t. Kayril approves and is glad she is happy.

While Molly went into Ga´Hoolology, Kayril continued to do what he did best in the service of the Great Tree; he felt a moral obligation to repay the owls who had given him and his family shelter and peace. But his mind was no longer on the fighting. He still fondly wears the dried berry necklace that his daughter made for him as a chick, to remind himself what he is fighting to protect. Responsibility and duty will keep him going for as long as he has still left.