Dolok Kadarn's page

It was another rainy afternoon in Gudrun. Fog was creeping in through the muddy streets of the shanty town, poised on the brink of two rivers. Once a small fisherman village, Gudrun was on the direct path of refugees running from the demon incursion in lands known as Sarkosis then, but simply called Worldwound now. Because of that position Gudrun has seen worst parts of human nature (as well as natures of all other species).Usualy Dolok hated rain, but today he was happy that it was there. He let the rain fall all over his face, hoping no one will notice the tears in his eyes. A long, very emotional farewell with his family left him vulnerable, and no amount of armor could help there. He was confident that his brother Jarmil will be able to take good care of his their twin sisters Arana and Aleida, as well as their mother Shelen. Jarmil was a farmer, a pigkeeper actually, and he was good at it. Jarmil had the knack for handling domesticated animals, and he was an astute merchant. Must have picked it from their father. "Their father" - although his siblings never made any point of it, neighbours in their small village made sure he did never forgot that they did not have the same father. He was a bastard, born out of wedlock, pure and simple. But his mom never regreted it. She simply told anyone that she had to do it and she did it. Plain and simple, no excuses, no explanations.

Mom was different. Mom was always a soldier, a fighter in the crusades, and she had different mentality than most if the people in Gudrun. And she made sure that Dolok was raised in a similar way. Whenever he was crying or complaining to her about other children (and often adults) teasing him, she would simply tell him to suck it up and endure it. "You are not like them my boy, you have the strength, you can take it. Be strong Dolok, be strong"

And he has been strong. All thought his life. He was courageous enough on that day when he had the dream. Other kids, even most of adults were shunning Walk of Lost Gods. Surrounding Gundrun rose the weather-worn standing stones of old Gundrun’s deities, with monuments to Gorum, Gozreh, Sarenrae, Torag, and Urgathoa being the most prominent. As refugees passed and settlers returned to Gundrun, they brought with them their gods as well. More than a hundred carved logs, metal markers, and etched stones leaned amid the ancient monoliths, memorials to the innumerable deities of Sarkoris—many long forgotten. He was playing there, running among the monoliths, chasing butterflies over the etched stones, and as usual he felt asleep, exhausted from his games. And then he dreamt of Her. Back then he did not knew who She was, but he felt her kindness, the goodness in her and he enjoyed basking in her light. Many times later he would come there, to the Walk of Lost Gods to play and dream of Sarenrae.

It was here that one day he dreamt of his first adventure. He was 15 at the time, already a big and strong boy, he was helping his brother at the household but still he could not help and disappear from time to time to relax in his favorite way. After the dream, he knew exactly where to go, although he has never been there before. He traveled north for almost half a day, until he found a cairn. He slept outside, frightened by the distant howls of wolves and other creatures of the night, but nothing happened to him. Tomorrow morning, on the 10th of Sarenith, Day of the Burning Blades, sun which was just rising above the horizon illuminated an entrance to the cairn and a wheel of dancing flaming sunlight appeared clearly. With no fear, Dolok approached it and touched the symbol. The doorway opened in front of him, and he stepped into a dark crypt where an armored skeletal figure awaited him. It was there that Dolok met Khair of Solku, great champion of Sarenrae from the days of old, left here unto this world to do one final task in the service of the Dawnflower. He was to train an apprentice, a successor of a kind. And Dolok finally appeared.

It was a strange time for Dolok. He was still spending most of his time on his family farm on the edge of Gudrun, and then he would disappear for two to three days to listen to Khair's stories and train under him. One might think a sentient, skeletal undead creature would be a very scary sight, but Dolok felt secure with Khair, for he knew that although he did not look like it, Khair was still in the Everlight of their lady. Soon he knew most of "The Birth of Light and Truth" by heart, but Khair went a step further. He was teaching the boy not only to recite the words, but to understand the meaning conveyed. And Dolok learned - he learned about compassion and patience and peace. But most of all, Dolok learned about redemption. For it was a sad, yet hopeful story of Khair's life. After some time, Dolok understood that his apprenticeship is a final step of redemption, an atonement of a kind of a fallen paladin who has shown true repentance. It was due to the story of Khair's life that Dolok came to be wary of paladins and their orders, their high ideals sometimes so high that they were quite removed from the ordinary people they have pledged to protect. It was that story, which told of a great paladin who heroically fought against a demon in order to protect a village. Due to his great skill, paladin overcame the demon who tried to escape, and Khair followed him doggedly. They fought a running battle and Khair was determined to win. To finally banish this creature once and for all and to return to the village, to be recognized as a great hero he really was. And he did won, but returning back he found the village pillaged and destroyed. While he was chasing the demon, blinded with his fury and his eagerness to win, lesser demons raided the village. Village he was assigned to protect...

Numerous were the stories told by Khair, some embarrassing, some full of hope and adventure, but still they were nothing compared to his training. Sword wielding lessons, education on demons and devils their temptations and their weaknesses, fragility of human body and strength of human determination - all of these were eagerly accepted by young Dolok. Numerous tests were devised by Khair, and as a reward for passing some of them Dolok gained tokens. Various minor items, pieces of equipment, then the shield and armor, lance and finally - a scimitar! Still he remembers fondly that only few days ago skeletal apparition gave him one final gift - a small silver pendant shaped in the image of goddess. The moment Khair placed the holy symbol into Dolok's hand, a loud rumble shook the foundation of the cairn. "Go now boy, your apprenticeship is finished here. Now you are worthy of becoming a Knight of the Shield. But remember, you must keep earning that right every day!" And with that, a single sun ray broke through the ceiling of the cairn and engulfed Khair. Dolok still remembers the sound he heard through the chaos surrounding him. Throughout the rumble and the heat and the light dancing around he could not see Khair anymore - but he heard this sound. He heard a very soft "Thank you" followed by Khair's laughter...

Dolok is an athletic, wiry tall man, with a thin sharp-featured face. His skin is very tanned, tending toward a copper-ish coloration, showing that he has spent significant amount of time in the open. He has long, blonde hair, usually worn in a single braid at his back, no facial hair, and radiant blue eyes which seem to be constantly in motion. Smile rarely leaves his face. His blue hair and blue eyes show that there is a bit of Ulfen blood in him as well, but Dolok Kadarn considers himself a Kellid.

He is wearing an obviously very old and quiet dented green breastplate armor, with only a few hints of blue. The armor has obviously seen better days, seeing that it was punctured, bruised and patched in several spots. However, despite obvious patches, it seems that armor is still functional, offering ample protection. Strapped across his back is a round wooden shield, with a metal rim running at it's edges. Shield itself has a simple five points white star painted on it. At his hip there is a curved sword just a bit shorter than a long sword. The outer edge is viciously sharp, and the back is flat, giving the blade a triangular cross-section. The sword also has faint green-bluish tinge to it, showing that both the sword and armor were forged from similar metal.

Dolok came late for the beginning of the festival. His arrival on the second night went largely unnoticed by anyone, since most of the people were involved in festivities happening all around. After some wandering, he managed to find a very nice stable, and he made sure that Hareika (his horse) was properly stabled. He spent some time grooming her, and gave her the last of the carrots he brought from home. He thought of maybe going into the night, filled with laughter and revelry, but he quickly decided against it. The ride to Kenabres was very long and he was quiet tired. So he bribed the stable boy with a few remaining pieces of silver, and went to sleep on a very comfortable haystack.

As usual, in the morning he was up at the crack of dawn. He helped around the stables, ignoring the astonished looks of several stable hands, and joking with them lightly. He even went so far as to offer them to share his paltry breakfast, consisting of some stale bread, few choice pieces of dried meat, one sausage and a small quantity of dried apricots. Next, he undressed to his waist and went to wash himself up at the nearby well. Finally, he went to retrieve his mother's final parting gift and walked outside into the city which was still waking up.

Looking at all the various entertainers, Dolok was honestly delighted and his eyes betrayed it. He went to see all of them - although the old diviner lady seemed to charge quite a lot - either not enough diviners around, or she's really good enough to ask for so much. And that guy with gray hair manipulating that giant bubble - hmmm, that was a treat. And it even seemed not to be magical...

Remembering finally what he is carrying with himself, he locates a nice free spot, with a few stumps in the shade of an old oak. Sitting down on one of the stumps, Dolok slowly unpacks the present from his mother. In his minds eye can see her face clearly, saying her goodbye, and he can still hear her voice "Take this my son. It has been a long, long time since moors and hills of Sarkosis heard this sound. Take it and spread it's sound across our ancestral lands." Lost in his thoughts, Dolok starts playing and one constant, legato sound starts drifting across the city. Almost spellbound, Dolok does not notice that at his feet, children started gathering as he plays his Great Highland Bagpipe.