Gurney

**Gurney Jindredth** is a human fighter, active in the war against Buggo in the 1st century BDR. Born in the town of Falbraith, in the Southern Reach,

## History

### Early Life

Gurney was born to a traditional Falbrain commune-family. As a child, his Eldermother Andara taught him a nursery rhyme that she claimed would protect him on cold, dark nights:

> Spirits, spirits, heed my cry/Listen to this lullaby/Spirits, leave me to my fate/Oh spirits don't be late
>
>

He trained as a warrior under Susaine, the head of the Village Watch, and eventually became her lieutenant, leading sorties against the bandit queen.

He fell in love with the baker's apprentice, Kannis, and the two planned to adopt a child and begin their own commune-family. They never got the chance.

### The Ruin of Falbraith

In the days before the death of Falbraith, Gurney was out on patrol when he encountered a goblin wielding a sword of pure, ungleaming black steel, set into a golden hilt with a single ruby adorning the crossguard. The goblin attacked Gurney fiercely, fighting at a supernaturally expert level. However, within a few minutes of fighting, the goblin began to falter. It didn't seem to understand why. One moment of failure was all it took: the goblin was dead and the sword lay at Gurney's feet. He took it back to Falbraith as a trophy.

Gurney began to train using the sword, noting its superior heft and the way it seemed to allow him to dominate every skirmish. The sword began to speak to Gurney, offering him praise and giving him new battle strategies. He was surprised, but she seemed nice. She introduced herself as Astra, and pledged her help to him as a reward for freeing her from the goblin's clutches. Gurney and Astra grew close. He began to confide in her, and treat her as a close friend. He grew distant from Kannis and Susaine, and suspicious of those who would take Astra away from him.

One day, during training, something....snapped. Ereb, a boy Gurney had known since he was a pup, challenged Gurney to a sparring match. Ereb was one of the top new recruits of the town guard, and was already proving himself to be a fierce warrior. He came close to disarming Gurney once or twice. The match raged on for some time, with all the members of the town guard coming out to watch. Gurney was furious. He couldn't believe that this little punk was going to beat him. Like I said, something snapped. He caught Ereb by surprise and took his head off. As the whole town guard moved in on Gurney and Astra to arrest them, she whispered something in his ear.

"Gurney, do you trust me?"

He looked down at her, shifted his stance, and prepared for battle.

"Astra, I love you."

From there, it was a simple matter. Her thoughts flowed into his movements. They worked in tandem, looking out for each other, parrying and slicing their way through the town guard. And then the town. They were in the zone, an unstoppable whirlwind of blades and death. Kannis confronted them and lured them to the bakery. They fought to a standstill, but Kannis was unable to stop them. Before the killing blow was struck, Gurney faltered, driving Astra into the center pillar of the bakery. The resulting collapse trapped Gurney under the rubble, and when he emerged the village was empty. In his rage, he razed the rest of the buildings to the ground. Falbraith was no more.

Over the next few weeks, Gurney and Astra carved a swathe across the Ronk-Dand border, descending on helpless villages, driving villagers out for sport, hunting them, killing them. A band of adventurers heard about the terror plaguing the southern border and set out to investigate it and stop it. They disarmed Gurney, took Astra from him, and left him for dead in the wilderness. The morning after Gurney woke up without Astra for the first time, he felt free, and he felt lonely, and he felt scared. He tried to put the events of the last month behind him. Then, one day, he heard that the party had fallen, slain by one of their own who had gone missing. He darted north, towards Hiberna, in the hopes that he could run, if not hide.

### The New Party

After a long march, Gurney arrived in Hiberna, exhausted, the blood of goblin raiders dripping from his gauntlets. After a long night of drinking the nightmares away, he found that the town guard would not let him continue his flight alone. Reluctantly, he joined a caravan of armed freaks who had been given clearance to leave: Lenny, a cunning rogue; Tolko, a brave bard; and several magic users. Regrettably, Lenny and Tolko learned magic some time later. He quickly realized that with goblins - and Buggo - haunting the Sovagxe woods, he would be safe from Astra. However, Gurney is a guardsman, and it was his duty to defeat Buggo's forces. With the war seemingly at an end, Gurney prepared his next moves...