Aer'o's page

About Aer'o

Aer’o never knew his birth family. He was just an infant in a family of Chelaxian farmers who were waylaid on the outskirts of Arthfell Forest while on a trek to start a new home in Andoran—a trek they had undertaken because of Aer’o’s odd appearance. It was long rumored that his mother’s side had a “weird taint” to it, but Aer’o was the first in a number of generations to exhibit any traits. The Chelaxian locals referred to him as that “cursed angel baby,” and his family decided to move before it became more of a problem.
So they packed up their meager belongings and headed for Andoran, where they had relatives living near Carpenden. While skirting along the northern edge of Arthfell Forest, they were attacked by brigands. Aer’o’s mother sought to hide in the woods. When she realized she was still being pursued, she quickly hid Aer’o inside an old hollowed-out tree before leading the attackers away. And so it was that Urisk the Brownie found a tiny baby wedged into his home. None of the other homesteaders survived the brigand attack.
Urisk took pity on the tiny orphan, and the baby soon became the unofficial mascot of the good fey of Arthfell Forest. He became their little “Peapod.” But this peapod quickly grew into a tall, strong young boy. “Peapod” became “Longshanks”. And while he may not have been cute and cuddly any more, his strength of will and body was well appreciated by the good creatures of Arthfell Forest.
Peapod Longshanks loved his adopted family, but as he matured he became aware of the world outside of Arthfell Forest, and knew his place was not among the fey. He burned with a curiosity for the world from which he came. His rebellious teen years led him to running off to the “big city” of Oreden. After sowing his wild oats for a time, Peapod Longshanks came to the attention of a Cleric of Erastil, who took him off the streets, and, ironically enough, helped Peapod complete his emigration to Carpenden, though to this day, Peapod remains ignorant of his origins and distant relatives in the Carpenden area. Peapod appreciated the calm order of the farming communities surrounding Carpenden, and enjoyed reconnecting with the land, albeit from the perspective of civilization. While he held a place in his heart for the wild fey forest of his upbringing, he felt wonder and amazement at how these humble farmers could transform the land to their will, bringing life and sustenance to so many through the use of order and law.
The cleric decided it was time to begin Peapod’s formal education and sent him to a temple of Erastil for training in the priesthood. Unfortunately, Peapod’s grating and awkward personality did not win him many friends, and left him with little hope in becoming a priest. (He never could understand channeling positive energy; ironic, since he had it in his blood.) Peapod quickly alienated virtually all but the most tolerant of the priests, and he was gently urged to leave the temple. But the high priest recognized the wisdom in Peapod’s soul, wisdom usually shared in the most awkward and painful fashion possible, so he steered Peapod toward an old friend of his, an Osirion Zen Archer of Irori named Zefu. Peapod reminded the high priest of young Zefu, wise, yet socially grating. Indeed, one of the reasons Zefu had spent much of his life wandering the world--offering training, advice and wisdom to anyone willing to listen--was that he usually wore out his welcome rather quickly, despite his amazing talents and abilities.
Always searching for answers, many of which he’ll never find—answers forever lost with his family to the tides of time and violence in Arthfell Forest long ago--Peapod finally found a measure of peace as an acolyte of Zefu.
Peapod Longshanks became Aer’o, Zen Archer of Irori.
Aer’o learned both the importance of the martial arts, as well as the art of remaining still in both body and mind--as well as the language of Ancient Osiriani. (Zefu claimed it was an exercise to train Aer’o’s mind, but Aer’o always suspected it was mostly out of Zefu’s desire to converse in the original language of the land of his birth). After mentoring Aer’o for several years, Zefu knew that Aer’o’s journey was only beginning, that his insatiable curiosity would mean he’d never be truly at peace behind the walls of a monastery. So Zefu introduced Aer’o to a friend in the Osirion faction of the Pathfinder Society. While not feeling any particularly loyalty to the Ruby Prince, Aer’o appreciated their desire to seek ancient knowledge & lore, to seek answers to age-old questions. So he joined the Pathfinders, and agreed to report to Amenopheus.
Unfortunately, he’ll never learn the answers to the two questions that will always haunt him: Who were his parents? Where did he come from? But those are only a few of the myriad questions that fire his imagination, which led him to seek the path of knowledge and wisdom. And the Pathfinder Society seemed the perfect organization to help guide him along that path.
Then, Aer’o went on his first mission for the Society, which led him to the ancient Osirian city of Eto. While such a decadent place pushed Aer’o out of his comfort zone, he was fascinated by his first real exposure to a society so steeped in the arcane arts. After performing several tasks for Grandmaster Torch (Destiny of Sands I & II) and completing his Society missions, Aer’o decided to pursue his newfound curiosity in the arcane. He was quickly rejected by a number potential teachers who felt he was too stupid or too grating and annoying to possibly have any aptitude for the arcane arts. But Aer’o knew they were wrong; whether it was from his upbringing with the fey, or just his curious and stubborn nature, Aer’o knew he could learn how to perform arcane magic. Then, Aer’o met an ancient Osirian sorcerer of the Empyreal bloodline. And Aer’o found he did indeed have a natural knack for arcane sorcery. It touched a deep part of Aer’o’s soul, and helped him feel reconnected to his adopted fey family. He quickly mastered the basics of the arcane arts. But his curiosity for the arcane had already begun to wane when his teacher passed away.
So Aer’o unpacked his old monk robes, and returned to his true path: the path of the arrow. Perhaps his continuing missions for the Pathfinder Society will one day lead him to the answers he seeks.