Falger Ortio had grown up hearing his grandfather spin tales
of that brief, shining moment that had been Celtara. A
place of wonder and promise that had been wiped from the
face of Golarion out of envy and fear. Of course his
grandfather hadn't been there, that was before his time, the
old man had heard the tales of that place from his own
grandfather. By all accounts his grandfather's grandfather
had been there at the fall of Celtara, fought in its armies,
defended the kingdom with blade and spell until there was
nothing left but to run and hide.
Eventually Falger's forebearer had ended up in Brevoy, in
the wilder places near the border of the lands that had once
more been stolen. In time he had a family and he taught
them what had been lost, he told them they must never
forget, that one day they or their children must resurrect
the dream that was Celtara. Falger's grandfather had heard
the stories from the old man himself, even learned how to
cast a spell or two from him before he died. That was all
before Falger's time though.
An expedition had been mounted to establish a settlement in
the Stolen Lands while Falger was a kid. His parents had
joined, dreams of vanished Celtara dancing in their eyes.
They had left Falger with his grandfather with the hope that
they would send for him later once a settlement had been
established. Word never came though, eventually the
expedition had been presumed lost, it had simply vanished
without a trace. And so Falger came to be raised by his
grandfather, who was at once a hard man and a dreamer. Many
years before Falger had been born his grandfather had stood
amoungst the ruins of Celtara, had searched for some secret
that might help restore the kingdom, all he found were the
terrible injuries with which he had barely escaped from that
overgrown place with. True to the legacy that had been left
him though, he taught Falger as best he could, handing down
what remained of the secrets of the Celtaran Spellguard as
had been taught him years before.
Such was Falger's life for quite some time, studying under
his grandfather, and though he would daydream of a once
great kingdom he was content with his lot in life. Of
course such a state of affairs could not continue forever,
life has a way of catching up to people and making them move
on, and so it was with Falger Ortio. The situation in
Brevoy had grown worse and worse over the years, and finally
the touch of the uprisings began to reach even their
isolated home, and more and more refuges began to flee
south, looking to make a new home away from the coming civil
war. Falger's grandfather, sensing the time was right,
declared they would be going south as well, that they would
make one last try to bring back old Celtara or die in the
process. Visions of childhood tales dancing in his head,
Falger could not help but share his grandfather's
enthusiasm.
The night before they set off south, Falger's grandfather
had dug something up from an old chest, a worn old sword
that looked at least a hundred years out of fashion. He
said it had been there, that it has seen the last days of
that ill-fated kingdom. That now Falger should use it to
help win it back. It was under the awesome weight of that
charge that Falger began his journey south, adventure, pain,
promise, and loss all lying before him like a crooked trail
where it was impossible to see past the next bend.
