About Brother GaelinBrother Gaelin
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Weapons & Armor quarterstaff, dagger, short bow (20 arrows), chain mail, shield
Gold 66.8 gp (108.2 of 175 spent)
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Personality Gaelin's nature is intrinsically tied with his faith in the Earthmother. He works to see the good in people, and tries to serve the needs of the many before those of the few. He has simple tastes and indulges in little, preferring a good day's hard work and a friendly meal after to the vices most men are drawn to. Having spent much of his life in a Chauntean enclave, he is both ill equipped for the structures of 'proper society' and known for frequently quoting the teachings of his deity. Background There are countless number of smalls villages and hamlets scattered throughout Faerun, where common folk live out the quietest of days, troubled by nothing more than the simplest of troubles. Though our tale starts in such a place, sadly, the soul we follow has had a much harder path. But from such darkness, perhaps greatness will rise? A little more than twenty years ago, the River Shining Tavern in Daggerford was the talk of travelers up and down the Sword Coast. Or, more precisely, the proprietor's striking daughter, Ilyra. The auburn-haired lass received gifts, honors, and proposals from each passing merchant, visiting noble, and eligible young man in the area. She craved the attention, but even moreso, she longed for both adventure and an escape from her quiet life. So it was that Sir Godrick Redmane, a knight in the Order of Aster, happened to spend a couple days at the tavern awaiting his allies. Godrick was drawn to her youthful beauty just as Ilyra was overwhelmed by his magnetism and experience. His righteous air and noble sense of duty quickly won her father's blessing, and within two moons the pair were wed. Ilyra saw a life before of adventure, romance, wealth and fame - all her dreams realized. Rarely does reality match one's dreams, and when their honeymoon ended and Ilyra found herself pregnant, Redmane sought to protect his bride by bringing her to his family homestead, a quiet farm on the outskirts of the hamlet Zelbross. Redmane returned frequently between his duties to the Order, and though he showered her with love, it paled in comparison to the fantasy of wealth and riches that the fairytale wife of a holy knight should possess. No, instead her husband gave his spoils to the Church while she worked the farm alongside her in-laws... and she hated them, her husband, and her unborn child for it. So it was in 1473 DR that Gaelin entered the world, into the arms of a bitter, uncaring mother. For a time Redmane stayed close, tending to both his heir and his seemingly ailing bride, yet in the end duty called him back away. Redmane's parents took over much of the duties of parents as Ilyra became prone to disappearing into her room for days on end. Obidiah and Myren were simply, honest loving folk. Obidiah had for a time in his early years worked as a mercenary, but had found a simpler, peaceful life as a farmer, and bore great pride in his son's commitment to the Morninglord. Myren knew little beyond their hamlet, and considered her grandson a blessing from the Earthmother, having only herself born one child beyond infancy. So Gaelin was raised on simple values of family, faith, and duty. In the shadows Ilyra stewed in her selfish thoughts. She wanted the life of luxury and affluence she had dreamt of, and felt betrayed that Redmane had not provided such (though he had never promised to). In the end, she determined to get it. She began traveling to the market whenever passing merchants came through, and one in particular struck her fancy. He began returning with more frequency, but Ilyra kept their meetings secret for some time. Simple meetings became lovers' trysts, and Ilyra began plotting a way for her to embrace her desired life. Then, in 1480, fate removed the thing denying her rightful life, her husband. Sir Redmane had been, for some months, hunting and fighting members of the Vigilent Order, a cult of Asmodeus hidden within Waterdeep. Alongside the deva Jinnaoth Ir'Gadohn and his allies, Redmane fought to prevent the First Flensing, a ritual to summon Asmodeus into the city of Waterdeep. The band was successful, but the cost had included Godrick Redmane's life. As chance would have it, word reached Ilyra and Godrick's parents in Zelbross while her paramour was in the quiet hamlet. Not two nights later she was gone, having abandoned her life as Ilyra Redmane, and her son with it. Already grieving the loss of their son, Obidiah and Myren were further devastated with Ilyra fled. But for Gaelin's sake, they continued on. And in time, Gaelin began to show hints of the man his father had been. Though he had his mother's slight build, and seemed ill at ease among people, Gaelin bore his father's ideals, even at a young age. He did what he could to help his grandparents and those in the town, though garnered few close relationships. Still, he had a kind soul and a sense of duty. In 1484, after increase bandit raids on the small hamlet, a plague struck the village, claiming more than 75% of the populace, Gaelin's grandparents among them. He did all he could to care for them in their final days, even as he risked exposing himself. When the dust cleared, the few remaining souls fled the ghost of a community, leaving Gaelin, only a lad of 11, with no path. As chance would have it, a strange, gray skinned horned man came to the Redmane farm and found the boy. The tiefling sorcerer Kiidarne had been an unlikely ally of his father in the battle against the Vigilent Order. In his recent travels he had seen the woman Ilyra, whom he had met once, on the arm of a known Zhent agent, an infant being carried by a servant and her pregnant with another. When he had approached her, she had dismissed all his questions, including his words regarding Godrick's progeny. So, Kiidarne had recalled the path to the small hamlet. And it appeared not a moment too soon. Not knowing what else to do, Gaelin went with the strange character before him. They traveled together for a time, the rakish tiefling and his awkward boy-child charge. Eventually, Kiidarne let Gaelin in the care of a small woodland sect of Chauntea, run by another past acquaintance of Godrick. Here, the faith of Gaelin's grandmother and her teachings found union in purpose, and as the years past, Gaelin grew into a dutiful servant of the Earthmother. Gifted with the hands of a healer and the blessing of the Goddess, Gaelin has now reentered the world as a man of faith, aiming to pick up the mantle left by his father. |
