PCs:Vroshgrak Treesitter

The small monastery in Suneal Thorp is Vrosh's first memory. While sitting on a cold stone slab, he would watch the wood finches dart about. Nature always was more appealing to the infant than anything else.

Gradually as he grew from infant to toddler to child, his father's heritage became more visible. Many of the other children would make fun of Vroshgrak. Despite the monks' chiding, the kids continued to tease him. When he got frustrated, rather than lashing out, he would run into the forest to escape their ridicule at least for a few hours. As the years passed, he would venture further and further from the monastery and he would stay away for longer periods of time. These times alone were his favorite, when he was alone, he could bath in the streams, eat bugs from the loam, or do whatever other impulse came over him. Loving his freedom, he would withdraw when strangers came to visit the monastery or merchants come to trade in the local inn.

When he arrived as a baby in swaddling cloth, he had no name, and so it was up to the monks to decide. When he would play on the rocks by the stream, he would slip so often, and the sound of him slipping, falling and hitting the rocks became Wosh-crack, which got convulted by child speak into "Vroshgrak". His surname of Treesitter was given to him by Calm-Amidst-The-Storm, the wizened leader of the monastery who had noticed the harmony that radiating while Vrosh was by himself in the forest. This relationship between the young half-orc and the spirit of T'Nanshi seemed much more natural than any contrived relations with other sentient beings. Calm-Admist-The-Storm therefore encouraged Vroshgrak to do what he wanted, and reach his own inner peace.

When he turned twelve, he came upon a wounded wild cat in the southern tips of T'Nanshi. This was just a year before the start of the war; and it was obvious to Vrosh that a human had been hunting deer in the area to feed himself, and this poor cat got stuck on a carelessly placed snare. After fixing a splint for the trapped cat and he took it upon himself to nurse it back to health. While the cat was recovering the farmers started taking root in the southern tips of the forest, and the war broke out. The devastation in the first years of the war was so encompassing, and overwhelming, Vrosh dubbed the cat 'Firestorm' in recognition of the storm of violence and greed that had descended. The cat earned the first name of Nida, by Vroshgrak tapping his knee, to get 'da cat' to come over to him.

He had completely left the monastery by the time he was 16. His home was now whichever tree had the widest canopy of branches. The cleanest waterfall would be his bath. Over the next fifteen or so years, Vrosh had a few encounters with M'Chekian forces making their way north, beyond the typical boundaries of the fighting. Nida happily stayed by his side, they always ate the freshest deer, and took great delight in scaring greedy lumberjacks, miners away from the natural bounty of the forest that they had set their eyes on.

When he turned twenty he took a trip down to Mikona, to see if there was any hope of saving these people. Everywhere he turned crowds of buildings, and people stretched to the horizon. This completely alien environment scared Vrosh immensely. He had a short talk with Drem before returning north and joining the T'Nanshi resistance to the M'Chekian aggression. His first encounter with another T'Nanshi fighter was with the illustrious Green Raven. She showed him many tricks, and tips to help avoid the swords of the M'Chekian army. Of course, the only thing that saved him from Korithal's fists, or Peregryne's spells, or Fynch's sword, or Sa'rai's katanas was running away into the forest. Despite many hard losses to these, and others such as Roland, Jake, and Drake as the war progressed, Vrosh kept pushing for his side. Knowing that if they took what they wanted, they wouldn't stop with that strip, but they would slowly advance, devastating all of the forest he loved so dearly.

While he wasn't battling the human forces at the front, he spent much time in the north, with his friend Psaryk. Psaryk was instrumental in showing him which berries cured which poison from which spider, and which caves were warmest to sleep in during the cold winter months. Another benefit of befriending Psaryk was getting to meet all his friends. Most notably: Mari Briggs, a druidess of O'ma, Anton Tsu, a monk of O'ma and Sharani, a Ranger from the eastern reaches of the forest. Mari and Anton in turn introduced him to Erek, Geriand, Elesai, Voyor, Adhin, Kira, and Delen. Many of his friends went to form Shemathen'Le'Yeritath, an elusive society based around the principles of protecting nature, and keeping the balance.

Soon enough, while sleeping in a rotten tree stump in the northern reaches of the forest, near the Deglosian Mountains, a human ranger named Rien stumbled upon Vrosh's sleeping form. Rien was about as civilized as Vrosh, and as well needed somewhere to sleep away from the cold. When Vrosh woke up to Rien cooking a snake he had caught, the two started talking and immediately hit it off. For more or less the rest of Rien's life whenever you saw either of them, the other wasn't far away.

Vrosh still actively fought in the war, and had met several other warriors: Tor Varson a noble barbarian, Hermonius Fox a skilled warrior, and Emrys Y'Coeden, a wise follower of Skern. They lead Vrosh on many daring attacks against the horrid M'Chekians. Although we scored many victories, the prices of these victories were high, and they took a grievous toll on Vrosh's emotional health. To co-opt the damage being done by dealing with the slaughter on the warfront, Vrosh spent much of this time alone in commune with nature, or talking to Mari and Elesai.

He joined the Shemathen'Le'Yeritath around the year 2080, and learned much from the wiser more learned druids of the Circle. As time passed, and their will to remain faded, Vrosh took a spot on the Circle. Kira and Delen retreated to their barn on outskirts of the relatively new city of Elysia. This estranged them from Vrosh who didn't like Elysia much more than he did Le'Or T'Nanshi or Mikona. As his friends got sucked into the administering of various cities and organizations Vrosh remained in the forest, with Rien spending much time by himself.

One day, while Vrosh was traveling to the army base at Dendigath, he crossed by the Fairy Gardens. Much to his horror he found that the M'Chekian army had invaded and laid waste to the peaceful fairies, nymphs, dryads and sprites that lived in the gardens. As Vrosh charged into their ranks, he realized that Mari who was so offended of their treatment of this holy land had engaged them. Once Vrosh reached them, he and Nida tore into the ranks, mauling several before Sereg from their nearby lair tore apart the cowardly M'Chekians. Drake's cruel blades dealt a critical wound to Nida Firestorm and in the days after the battle Vrosh spent all his energy to ease her suffering. After Nida passed away, Rien first, then Mari, Elesai, Emrys, and others began to notice how suddenly age crept upon Vrosh. He was losing his hair, his skin was getting wrinkly, and his speech slipped into a series of even more animalistic grunts.

Rien spent more time away from Vrosh, and Vrosh could tell something was wrong. Although the story of Rien is different, they lived together and so many things affected both of them. One day Rien brought home a wounded bear cub, which he called the maelstrom. Vrosh so disheartened over the loss of Nida, just whimpered Nida over and over when maelstrom was about. The bear nurtured Vrosh back to the closest form of sanity he would have for the rest of his life. He named it Nida Maelstrom and she followed him for many years to come. As their bond grew, the two of them ventured out to hunt fish together more often and Vrosh met many new people. Among the more notable were: Sun-And-Moon, Kham, the Trethlawns, Mari's husband Melonius, Meilil, Daria, Sea'Mar and Melakin.

Although he felt a marginal connection to many of them, no one kept him interested more than momentarily. Call Vrosh selfish if you want, but his concern was more about the welfare of the forest, the creatures living in it, the plants growing in it, the spirit for the forest itself. His delusions grew worse as he had various encounters with Lord Soble Natassiou in the forest. After a few months of this torment Vrosh was convinced he was a manifestation of one of the original spirits that had inhabited Avlis before the gods. His friends tried their best to dissuade him of this thought, but something about it stuck with Vrosh. He would wear clothes like the rest of them and for a time even joined the South Avlis Trade Federation, but this was more an outward show than any inner reconciliation between reality and his persona. Vrosh's poor business skills and lack of ambition to earn money quickly had him on the edge of leaving the SATF.

Another group of adventurers Vrosh spent some time with was the Guild for the Advancement of Knowledge of Nature. At first Vrosh thought this was a group of people likeminded to him, who would explore nature with a light step, not taking, just simply observing and learning about the various plants and animals. As their true purpose became clear to Vrosh, he quit in disgust, and spent much of his time in the future working against collection agents that the AKN had sent into his precious forest. There is a similar story out there about Vrosh and the Avlis Arms and Armor Association, except he never joined the 4A. Their profiteering and mentality of the world as theirs to take and plunder its resources struck a particular nerve. He spent many nights hiding in the rubble and shale, hoping to scare unwitting miners and stop them from eating the mountains. The trees that are southwest of Dendigath outpost were favorite targets of lumberjacks, were also favorites for Vrosh to hide in the branches of, leaping out and attacking those who sought to steal from the forest. These tactics which he employed to protect the essence of T'Nanshi as he saw it, gained him many enemies and much disdain, but that didn't matter to him because as he viewed it the humans live for such a short span their attentions are on their immediate gain and even the elves are short-lived compared to the magnitude of the forest's longevity.

His day to day activities basically were composed of the various tasks and pleasures described above. No routine to speak of, no set pattern to follow. A day down by the front, a day up near LeOrTNanshi, a week in the west, a night in the forest of midnight, enforcing Dagath's proclamation, a raid into M'Chek, a fortification near Drotid pass, cleansing the Orc Caves in Ferrell with the army. Nothing was done in a hurry, no rushes in Vrosh's life. Living to his own tempo he took some things as urgent, while procrastinating on others for months. One day a request came up for him to and other volunteers to stop a suspected slaughter in Minur Khuzad by the M'Chekian Alpha Corps and the Ebony Order. Vrosh liked the dwarves and gnomes of Minur Khuzad, and he felt that if and his friends could get to Minur Khuzad and stop these people from whatever they had planned it would deal a mighty blow to those who sought to destroy, pillage and plunder natures bounty.

When Vrosh and his friends got there, no one is sure of what happened. Which groups of people were there, what alliances were being made, what plans were fulfilled is unlikely to ever be known to anyone except the gods. One version of the story goes as follows, told with a view that Vrosh would likely enjoy. The M'Chekians brought various allies, including the Ebony Order in order to help with the destruction of the Gnomish Research Institute and their effort to frame the T'Nanshi army of the crime. The Gentleman was at the institute waiting for the Alphas and the Ebony to arrive. Once they did, he propositioned them with some sort of deal. As the T'Nanshi army arrived to protect the weak and helpless citizens they were besieged and wounded by the Gentleman. The army of the forest arrived too late, and brought too little force to stop the destruction of the portal, and the chaos that ensued. Vrosh watched as his friends were taken down by powerful magics and by the whirling blades; he became enraged and lost all sense of mortality, charging at the hideous monster in the center of it all, the Ravager. After a protracted battle which the M'Chekians and the Ebony stayed out of, Vrosh was overpowered by the creature of legend and his soul was ripped from his body. He ended his life as merely food to the Ravager's unending appetite for destruction.

Thus ends the story of the Elk of Dagath, Member of the Council of Seven of Shemathen'Le'Yeritath, Rangermaster of T'Nanshi.
Source