Gale Windswept's page

About Gale Windswept

Introduction
Gale's mother was a young married farmer and his father an elf. After he was born, his mother was forced to leave her village with Gale in her arms, a mule, and a small wagon of goods to start a new life. It was the most her wounded lover would do for them. Gale’s mother traveled far before settling in frontier lands near Grozni Forest and making a homestead there.

Being isolated far from other homesteads and even further from any town or village, Gale had few friends to play with as a child. As a consequence, the natural world around him and the farm animals became his childhood companions. He practiced stalking butterflies and crickets near the house, learned which berries were tasty and which were not, and trained the goats to keep his mother busy with mischief.

As Gale grew older, he began to wander farther from home. He learned to track and to stalk. His mother bought him his first bow at age 16, from which Gale taught himself to make more of the weapons and taught himself to hunt. He divided his time between helping his mother run the farm and exploring the wilds near their home. He never traveled far, however, for he was always needed on the homestead.

So Gale’s early adulthood passed, with little contact from the civilized world and much contact from the ferrel one.

At age 50, Gale’s mother met a new man- one who could accept her and her bastard son- and was soon wed to him. With three people now there to work the land and a new trade-village establishing within a few days travel, the farm was finally able to produce an income. The new promise of bountiful harvests and peaceful years to come brought an unexpected change to Gale’s life. He now had more free time. With the new income, his mother and step-father hired labor from the nearby village. It soon became evident that Gale was no longer needed there.

As Gale’s 30th birthday approached, his parents began asking Gale if he wanted to see the world. Gale was reluctant at first, having only known this one place for so long being so fond of it. However, his step-father regaled him of tales of grand places far away, forests older than time and cities more wild than even a newly wed barbarian’s tent. After much encouragement and reassurances from his mother, Gale gave in. On his 30th birthday, he left home, for the first time with no intention of returning.

Gale traveled, week upon week, across plains and over mountains, through valleys and under canopies. His step-father encouraged him, “Seek Absalom! That is where your journey will truly begin.” As Gale traveled and heard others’ tales of the great city, so he felt his step-father’s advice was be true. After many long months on trail and ship, Gale finally arrived at his destiny.

Once finding the City at the Center of the World, however, it did not take long for Gale to find his way into the ranks of the Pathfinder Society.

Update 1: Life and Death
After several successful and relatively uneventful turns of service with the Grand Lodge, Gale is beginning to learn the perils of adventuring life. While on assignment two months ago in Kaer Maga, Gale had a particularly nasty run in with a troll. Fortunately, Gale was literally able to walk away from the encounter- but only just barely.

Taking a lesson from that experience (never be first through the door when a troll is in the room), Gale decided to play it much safer in his next outing for the Society. His caution paid off as he successfully navigated several encounters with plague zombies without becoming ill. Later, Gale’s knowledge of healing would help much in the quest to find a cure for the mysterious disease that plagued the Darkmoon Vale and threatened to wipe out the nearby Fey realm. However, the final showdown with the dark cleric was to be an all too perilous one for Gale.

The fight started well, with the party successfully sneaking up on the foul cleric and her cultists. However, things quickly turned for the worst when the evil wretch surprised the party with a bane spell and then sent the party’s cavalier fleeing in terror. Gale and the remaining two companions held their own well against their foes. The druid’s animal companion slew one of the zombies while holding another at bay. The Tian inquisitor exhibited exemplary bravery, voluntarily entering into a flank between two zombies so that she could keep pressure on the priestess.

However, angered by the stinging arrows Gale kept sending her way, the cleric summoned a spiritual weapon to harry the ranger. Gale took deep cut from the magical scythe while a zombie moved up to threaten the ranger. On the next round, Gale faced a choice: Run, or stand and fight. Seeing little benefit in running now, he chose the latter option. Gale took a step back and away from the zombie, then sent another arrow at the wretch in front of him. Devastatingly, it only missed her throat by an inch. Even more devastating, however, is what was to come next.

Taking advantage of Gale’s moment of distraction, the scythe struck out again. This time, its blow was all too well placed. The fickle blade of the scythe slid right through Gale’s flesh, his muscle and sinew, and his bone, nearly severing his head from his body in a single blow. In a fleeting instant, the light in Gale’s body was snuffed out.

The battle lasted only a few seconds longer. The zombies made little headway against the bear and the inquisitor, while the Druid hid in the woods and the cavalier tried to rejoin the fight. The evil cleric, her spells spent, was left with little more to do than swing her own scythe and attempt to flee. It mattered little for her what she did, however, as the bear soon found her flank and the inquisitor’s blade soon found her head.

Gale fought valiantly and died a brave death. He was not lightly rewarded for it. After saving the Fey and the village from their nightmare, the party graciously bore Gale’s body back to Absalom. There, at no small cost to them selves, they found a priest to restore the spark of life back to the half-elf. (Thank you Swanson, Mike and John!)

Gale is now penny-less; but after a long rest on his mother’s farm to recover his wits and his body, he looks forward to being back on the job again.

Update 2: Wild Life