(Archive) Greymane, Sun of the Pirate Queen

*"Be it the flames of Hell or the Abyss itself, I will ignite the darkness with the fury and flame of my god.*

*- Greymane*

## History

    Greymane Hellstrider never had a place he could truly call home. His father, Kaddok Hellstrider, was a man of the sword and naturally this led him to many a battlefield to push back the darkness that threatened the world. This also led to Greymane traveling along with his father and mother as they moved from battleground to blood filled battleground. His mother found work as a nurse in the medical tents and he spent most of his early childhood falling asleep to the sounds and screams of dying and injured men.

By the time Greymane was 5 years old, he lacked that childish innocence of youth that defines children. Scared by this, Kaddok and Magna, his mother, left the battlegrounds in order to provide a safe haven for their child's development. They eventually settled in Vigil after several months of travel north.

Greymane quickly developed into something of a social creature, now that there were children his age he could interact with. He became the leader of a small group of children, calling themselves "The Sentinels", where they went on many an escapade throughout the city.

That changed when one day, when, during the winter of his 7th year, Greymane got into an argument with Atreus, a rival of Greymane's who had long vied for control of the Sentinels. After a few choice words had been spoken about Greymane's heritage and vice versa, an all out brawl began in a back alley between the two boys as the Sentinels looked on.

It was at this moment that Greymane's Daemonic blood decided to manifest itself. After receiving a rock to the jaw, Greymane screamed in rage. His nails grew into long, serrated claws as he mercilessly tore out the other boys throat in his blind fury. Atreus looked at Greymane in absolute horror as the lifeblood gushed from his gaping throat.

"M-mm-monster" He gurgled as Atreus bled out in the back alley.

Greymane looked at both the viscera covered claws and Atreus in utter shock as the claws receded into his skin. All seemed to go silent for a moment, before the other children began screaming in horror and shock at the now lifeless body of Atreus, scattering every which way. Greymane looked at the chaos and horror around him and bolted for the nearest city gate, the arctic fluff wafting down, growing heavier and heavier.

Soaked in Atreus's blood and with the snow coming down, Greymane dashed out from the city drawing looks of both concern and confusion from the guards and the townsfolk. He kept on running, eventually collapsing underneath a natural shelter formed by a fallen down oak tree. He sat there shivering from the cold, terrified by the things that had happened to him and the fate that had befallen Atreus, before breaking down and sobbing, the cold freezing his tears the moment they fell to the ground. Eventually there were no more tears to be shed and he fell asleep under a makeshift blanket of dead leaves.

The following morning, his father found him with the help of some bloodhounds. Kaddok forcefully wrenched the frozen child from the cocoon of ice and quickly swaddled him in furs before trudging through the snow and ice back to their home. Once they arrived at their small abode, Kaddok threw the boy by the fire and waited while Magna grabbed her medical gear and swiftly performed first aid on the boy.

After several hours, Greymane regained consciousness and seeing his parents waiting patiently for him, broke down in a flood of tears once more. His mother embraced him while Kaddok stood silent and waited for him. Greymane turned to his father after releasing his mother, and received a resounding slap across the face before being embraced fiercely.

"Don't ever make your mother and I worried like that again"

Hearing his normally quiet father speak like this, Greymane was utterly shocked. Kaddok set the boy down and left for work soon after.

Magna took him by the hand, "Its about time you knew about my side of the family Greymane." She sat him down and told him the story of the House of Griffins.

#### The House of Griffins

The House of Griffins were a noble family in a forgotten land far to the West. They were responsible for the security of the borders of this aforementioned land and commanded a sizable military force. However, like all things, they fell on hard times. Political opponents blackmailed them into almost bankruptcy, and along with this, they slowly stripped the family's political clout by using the king's advisers. After a generation of this, the family was almost in ruins. It was at that point that the family head, whose name has been erased from history, summoned and made a pact with a Glabrezu named Vraendund. The daemon gave the head unholy magical powers in exchange for weaknesses in the borders of the now forgotten land. The head readily agreed and the pact was made. Using the powers granted to him by the demon, the head ruthlessly butchered those who had caused ruin to his family without mercy and instated himself as the new ruling power. Not 5 years later, hordes of invaders streamed through the breach in the border, making sure that the survivors knew that the new ruler was responsible for the horrors brought upon the people. After repelling the invasion, the people rebelled against the family head, executing him and most of the family with the only survivor being Greymane's great-great-great maternal grandfather.

### History Cont.

"We have the daemon's taint in our blood Greymane, I can teach you to control it, and your father's ancestry will help, but you have to be willing."

Greymane looked at his mother, completely agog, and quickly agreed after a moment, remembering the death of Atreus. So, his mother taught him to control his blood, quickly finding him more focused when he used a spell-book, while his father gave him training in the way of the sword. Greymane was quickly enrolled in the local public school and was taught of of the deities. He quickly grew an attachment to Gorum, his father's god. Greymane grew quickly into a tall, strong young man, when his father was called for the Mendevian Crusades.

Greymane came home one day to his mother in tears and a small note on the table from his father detailing that he had been called to war, by a daughter of Shelyn, Ashlynn. Greymane quietly accepted this news and simply hugged his mother. Several years passed before he heard of his father's return. Kaddok returned sporting many heavy wounds, and evidence of daemonic corruption eating away at his body.

Kaddok embraced his family, before quickly falling prey to the daemonic corruption eating away at his physical form over the next couple of days.

When asked what happened, Kaddok simply smiled "I took lives in the name of Our Lord in Iron while some followers of the Lady of Light tried to redeem the enemy and show mercy." he said weakly. Greymane was devastated at seeing his father slowly waste away and vowed that the daemons who had taken away his father could only be redeemed by one thing, death. Greymane continued to receive his training by the local paladin orders, before being rejected from the orders, being deemed as "Unwilling to forgive and follow what makes a paladin, a paladin". After this happened Greymane received a gift in the middle of the night. A warm voice told him that if he wanted to redeem others, they would be willing to grant him power as a tool of her anger. Greymane instantly agreed and swore a vow to this voice. When he woke that morning, Greymane was filled with a sense of purpose and a drive to visit a small port to the south-east.

That morning Greymane donned his armor, grabbed supplies, and left for the port after a tearful goodbye with his mother. Along the way, he found that he gained the ability to supplement the sword skills given to him b his father with the divine wrath he had been given to embody. This came especially true when he came across several bandit bands and gave them an option, redeem or face the wrath of his god. After traveling through the snow for several weeks, he arrived at the seaport and found passage on the nearest trip.

During that trip, a strange storm quickly enveloped the ship. The wind was colder than normal and the lightning was an oddly bright red as St Elmo's Fire descended upon the ship before it quickly capsized beneath the waves. Greymane woke up on the shores of Fiends' Reach, confused, without much of his gear and oddly satisfied, the sense of drive now gone. He trudged up on the sand and got himself settled in Dougls's tavern.

## Appearance

Greymane is a tall, fit man, with hair the color of molten steel. His hair is usually bound behind him, running almost shoulder length. He can usually be found in a breastplate emblazoned with a griffin underneath a blazing sun.

## Personality

Greymane has little to no regard for his own safety, often charging into the thick of a fight, even when it puts him at a disadvantage. He is not a very wise man, it causing much mental stress to balance his blood-lust with the mercy of his god's tenants. He is firm and faithful to those he deems as friends and is not fond of talking about his past except with those he is very close with.

## Relationships

Abraxas-"I don't really know what to think of this strange gnome that has a penchant for sitting on my shoulder. His obsession for collecting things as pets is a bit worrying, but for now he doesn't seem too bad."

Ashlynn-"A bit strange but overall a kind and good person who has clearly both been through and done a lot of shit."

Julius DragonWood-"Nice bloke, we had a good talk and he bought me a beer..... damn that was a good beer. You know what, we need to drink more often." *Gets up to go get a drink*

Cadence DragonWood-"Power hungry, ambitious to the extreme and from what I've seen more capable than the average Joe."

Kane DragonWood-"Smells of magic so strong I can see it wafting off of him. Kind guy. Seems like he spends a lot of time alone."

## Aspirations

To redeem and cleanse the evils that plague this realm with divine predjudice, fulfilling the quest given to him by Sarenrae.