PCs:Thorfinn Kiff

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Thorfinn Kiff

Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class: Cleric/Rogue
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Residence: Suneal Thorpe, T'Nanshi
Affiliations and Titles:

• Speaker for the Hands of Dru'el
• Immortal of Dru'El
• Manager of Moon Tree Enterprises
• Warmaster of Le'NoFaythen'T'Nanshi 6th Division - Retired
• One of T'Karna Loash (The Forsaken Three), wielder of Le'Athyed'Dru'El

Beginnings

I was born Thorfinn Hausselkiff, an only son of Elzbeth and Theyrin, in northern M'chek near the once T'Nanshi/M'chek warzone. Our family live that of a farmers lifestyle in the rough conditions. Despite the proximity to the war, we were happy as I remember. My parents and neighbors taught me about the land and the value of work. My father was very skilled with a longsword, which seemed odd when I remember him fending off the occasional ogre or goblin that came to cause trouble. Our family lived in M'chek, though we shied away from the war. I remember we would have Nanshin friends overin late hours and locals as well. I thought nothing of it despite everything going on around us. They helped us with the farming through advice and such. Their conversations always last long after I slept. I remember the dark day vividly still. I returned from another trip through the barren and bandit filled hills of M'chek that would have surely have my mother scolding me. This time something was different. I remember the shouting from the farm and the sounds of steel. I saw my father fighting a dozen men. Most wore coverings that I didn't recognize. I remember panicking and stepping backwards and tripping over my mothers body. I thought she was dead. I heard the word traitor and the world seemed to slow until a bright flash of light brought the awful sight into focus again. I remember the crackle of the arcane energies in the air and how it smelled. I remember the unmistakeable ping of cloven metal as his blade snapped into pieces. I saw my father, Theyrin, thrown through the air and land lifeless where he fell.

The men rode off and I ran to his side but it was too late. I'll always remember how cold and dark a place the world felt that day as I ran into the Forest of T'Nanshi with half my father's sword and their deaths on my mind.

A Curious Elf

I spent my early years in T'Nanshi consumed by anger and guilt withering away. Before things took a terrible turn for the worst and the darkness was about to consume me, I met a curious elf with flaming red hair. By chance he was lost, new to the city. He asked what I was doing, then introduced himself as Celedor Dedwend. Celedor was newly a priest of Dru'El. He and I grew to be close friends. Through his wisdom and antics, I found a hope and the veil lifted from the dark places. Through Celedor, I met others that shared his faith, noteably his mentor Manuel the White, Nadrin Dy'Ner, owner of the Moon Tree Valendel Cy'svarilo, Talin Na'Eldamar, and the human turned elf Melakin Skyw'eder. Their friendships saved me.

Learning the Truth

Out of the formation of Blandenburg as a nation, I grew to know the High Priestess of Dru'El there, Nanshileeshan'Yerak. Later I discovered she held another title of Herald of Dru'El. She seemed quite blessed by the father in a number of ways. I don't know how old she was. In one of our conversations, she asked about my past and of my parents and such. I told her the story. Later, Nan had me go to the Moon Tree in Blandeburg and while there, a woman came to deliver a package for Summer. At the request of Nan she also spoke to me. It turned out that all those years ago, Nanshileeshan'Yerak was one of the Nanshin that often came in the night to speak to our family. She found my parents that day and with Dru'el's grace was able to return Elzbeth. I never knew as I thought them both dead. Nan and Elzbeth never knew I had returned that day, thinking I had perished somewhere in the warzone. Growing up, I knew my parents under different names. Even my last name was not quite as I thought. I found out from Nan this was in part for safety. My father Theyrin once fought for M'Chek in the war with T'Nanshi. It was shortlived as he thought it wrong. Nan helped a small group of folks that lived on both sides of the warzone come together and work together. My family and a few others wanted nothing more than a world without war for their children. Nan helped lead an effort that my parents were part of. Eventually they were discovered and men from M'Chek came. Marcus Deth and his men came personally that day. Deth killed my father. But now, Elzbeth was alive. She lived in Blandenburg and volunteered as a teacher at the local orphanage.

Elzbeth Kiff

Fortunately I was able to spend time with Elzbeth. She was a strong and kind soul. We spent time catching up as we could. It was shortlived however. Sadly, when Lord Nekas'rof, the demon known as Azlae, plagued our lands, he attacked the Orphanage in Blandenburg. His intention was to make a statement, kill the women and children there, then consume their souls. Before he could do such a thing, my mother, Elzbeth Kiff, did the only thing she could to save them from this fate. She took the lives of the children and then her own to save their souls from the demon. I can't even imagine.

A Blade Reforged

(To Be Written)

Le'nofaythen T'Nanshi and the Drotid War

With increasing threats to T'Nanshi, my current wife at the time, Ellowin, and myself decided to enlist in Le'nofaythen T'Nanshi. We were accepted into their elite 6th division under Warmaster Trethlawn and continued to try to make T'Nanshi a safer place. Several years later, with the Forest somewhat quieter, war began to brew on the horizon. With a number of senior Le'nofaythen veterans retired or away, the Council of Nine and Logistics Warmaster Di'leren approached me and asked me to step into the role of Warmaster for Le'nofaythen T'Nanshi. I had never led an entire army before. It is one thing to work with others, it is another to command an entire nation to fight and be responsible for their lives. With the belief that I could re-align Le'nofaythen with the beliefs of the Father and the Spiritland as a whole, I accepted the position on the 6th day of the first month of the year 2226. Not long after, the current Voivode of Drotid, Kasseshisrath, destroyed all treaties and launched a war that would see Drotid take over Elysia, find a stronghold in M'Chek and attempt to make in-roads into T'Nanshi.

I was present the day Elysia fell. It was a dark day and the city was unprepared for the Drotid tactics. It was all any of us could do to hold off the Drotid forces and get as many people to safety as possible. As for T'Nanshi, we waged a long campaign against Drotid and kept them from ever holding any permament grounds in the Forest. Through the bravery of those around me, we sacked every attempted encampment and pushed them entirely from the Forest.

Fractured Soul

I saw the Drotid Fort in M'Chek fort first-hand after being captured and taken there along with my wife at the time. In a terrible Aarilaxian blood ritual, I was sacrificed on an altar and the life was drained from me as my wife watched. What transpired next, I cannot say. Dru'El saw it fit to return me, but when I returned, I was not whole. Something was missing. I later discovered that out of this ritual, Drotid had forged weapons from the life drained from me, spreading pieces of my soul across the battlefield so that I might feel the power in their blades and feel their blades as they took the life from those around me.

Works In Progress

Moon Tree Enterprises

I first began helping out around the Moon Tree in the capitol city of Le'Or T'Nanshi along with Blossom. Later on I joined the Moon Tree in a more official capacity with the opening of the Public House brewery in Silverfall. As Valendel Cy'svarilo spent more time away I assumed more of role managing the establishments, though leaving the primary tenders to the day to day duties. Some say they really just manage me more than anything. Later on we opened a Distillery in the heart of Blandenburg.

The End of a Plague

After a prolonged absense following the death of her sisters, Storm and Wrath, the Evrakian half-demon, half nymph, Plague began making appearances again. Under the guise of a businesswoman interested in collecting numerous odd and magical creature parts, Plague sought the service of others. Her acquisitions were also to try and include the recovery of artifacts of great significance. Even then, her intentions began to form as several amulets, old artifacts of Toostan were slowly recovered, in some cases causing a direct loss of life to the surrounding area at their removal. Messages were circulated publicly throughout the Forest by Thorfinn. They warned of Plague's activities and served as a warning to those that would knowingly aid her. Even as she sought these items and aid, and continued to retrieve large quantities of remains for some end, the hunt for her was on. As her intentions and a real threat began to form, the destruction of the Forest and a total upset of balance in nature, the Forest began to call out to its people and allies in the form of an emerald messenger and vague visions. At first, the messenger song brought with it thoughts and feelings that identified with the recipients faith or something meaningful. As the songs persisted, the messages began to change callings, a need for protection, a balance upset and other hastened warnings. Visions of decay and destruction, of a man in white, a man with shiny blades, a man with an emerald heart, and a darkness watching from the shadows were just some of the few odd visions glimpsed. Thorfinn felt a strong desire to protect the Forest, even more as the visions and the songs persisted. He reached out to allies inside and outside the Forest to ensure a solid front against the half-demon. It was during a conversation along the T'Nanshi warfront with several prominent 'Ents that he was first called the name of Emerald Heart. He was not sure what that meant in all of this but he took their wisdom and returned home. It became apparent that Plague's gathering parties needed proper chaperones. The first proper gathering party chaperoning happened by Fletcher Millstone, which resulted in thwarting her retrieval of an artifact of fire. Meanwhile, several others began compiling the lists of her gatherings. It was decided that Plague could likely make a whole army of constructs with the sheer amount of ingredients and items she gathered along with the ancient magic she knew of and her own demonic ties. No one was aware of how true this really would become. A strange and powerful poison began appearing among various people, the discovered work of Plague. Fortunately, the Healer of Cha'reth, Aevaeadon, possessed a truly great gift of healing and was able to counteract this poison. In fact, it was discovered that he was the only one who could. Reports of Plague's movements and activities began to come in and more opportunities were found to strike out at her and keep her from her artifacts. Her home was discovered in Ferrell, and after a house-cleaning call by Fletcher and Thorfinn, she was relieved of two more artifacts. In the end, she was denied just over half of what she sought. Still, she possessed enough to begin her plans as she set in motion monstrous creatures of her own creation, constructed out of the massive amount of animal parts she gathered, cruel malformations and corruptions of their former selves. In a bold and destructive move, Plague attacked the peaceful centaur village of Cor'vallen attempting to lay waste and bring total death to them all. A large gathering of allies and concerned people formed and moved quickly to face the evil head-on. Through hard-fought battle, Plague's creations were destroyed, including a corrupted 'Ent, something which she twisted to her will. Plague had been there but eluded us, narrowly escaping. Fortunately, Cor'vallen was restored. Plague, again, set her creatures loose on the temple of Verossa in western T'Nanshi in an attempt to decimate all those that reside there. Her hordes were beaten back and with the Storm Mother's blessing, they recovered. A second laboratory of Plague's was discovered just across the border of T'Nanshi, in Drotid. With another large gathering, her lair was attacked and her twisted creatures destroyed, including twin dracoliches that she had bent to her service. It was discovered later that Plague was using teams of dwarves to survey the forest including landmark sites. Using this information, Plague had tunnels dug underneath Zvidureth and there she portaled her creatures to the town, terrorizing the village for well over a day. Many brave people fought to defend the town until the source was located and the portal and creatures destroyed. Then, everything went quiet from her. Her creations, her diseased plants, and sightings of her in and around the forest all stopped. Eyes and ears went out everywhere, until finally, reports and sightings of her south in Mikona came. Plague had been there stockpiling supplies for a dwarven army. The Guard was alerted and Plague's movements tracked, but she just barely escaped into the Underdark with the supplies. Even though Plague had left the city, she left behind a contraption that had been powered by one of the artifacts that she possessed. Fortunately, swift action by the M'chekian Guards, Blackhawks, and other volunteers located the device and destroyed all of her creations there. On the heels of this recent discovery of Plague, warnings by an emerald messenger, the Forest itself, suddenly were heard again throughout the Forest. Rumblings in the treetops, oddly felt in recent days, resumed in greater frequency. On its heels was an army of dwarven mercenaries and monsters. A large group had gathered in Le'Or as the Le'nofaythen garrison was emptied at Thorfinn's command to secure the city. This group fought the brunt of Plague's forces down into another tunnel complex of Plague's design. Through the choking acid, stench and absolute dread, everyone pressed on. Thorfinn felt the urgency of the Forest like he had never felt before and knew that the source was dying. Empowered by Dru'El, his faith and this strong protective desire and connection to the source, Thorfinn pressed forward calling everyone onward determined to lead them through. Plague's creatures fell to the might and determination of the group until they reached her. She had shielded herself in what seemed inpenetrable isolation as she struck out again and again at the source of the Forest. Thorfinn felt the roots in the throes of death make one last reach towards him and in this moment he reached out to them. By the power of Dru'El and his own strange and powerful connection to the Forest, he penetrated the shield along with the Healer Aevaeadon. Fletcher, in quick thinking slipped into Thorfinn's own shadow as he emerged through the shield to face Plague. Surprised, Plague turned her magic tome of destruction towards Thorfinn. As the spell lept forth, Fletcher stepped from Thorfinn's shadow and removed her head but not before catching the full brunt of her magic, searing a gaping hole through his body that bled with a terrible blackness. Plague's magic immediately began to disperse even as Fletcher's lifeless body fell into a shocked Thorfinn's arms. Archibald Thel, through his powerful use of the arcane was able to transmute and tear down the shield erected by Plague to let everyone else pass. Aevaeadon, in an amazing ability of prayer and healing along with the prayers of everyone there was able to heal the Forest. They had won. The Forest was safe. Even as the Forest had healed, Fletcher still lay lifeless. Aevaeadon prayed and healed Fletcher's body, then asked Thorfinn to place both hands upon Fletcher's chest and join him in prayer. Thorfinn did so and prayed fervently for his dear friend, calling out for his return. In that moment, Thorfinn felt a small part of himself leave as the light and life returned to Fletcher's eyes. Right then, Thorfinn knew the blessings that were given that day.