The citizens of Embryl have long known that it isn't just the Iraen barbarians they need to be watchful of. The Caer Bryr is home to its fair share of monstrous creatures... and perhaps most famously is the werewolf clan known as the Silvershed Clan. Although they typically don't tread too far from the forest, they have been seen. They are real. And they are dangerous.
Gnawl was a member of this clan, alongside his older brother, Kail. Close as could be, Gnawl was always yearning to tag along with his brother's hunting expeditions, and longed to be as capable a fighter as him. Never quite as clever a hunter, Gnawl was never picked on expressly, for fear of his older brother's wrath, but never really chosen to do anything important. Many claimed he had too much wolf in him despite not being able to change quite as fully as the others.
But finally, after years of aspiring to be the hunter his brother was, Kail told Gnawl that he was bringing him on a hunting expedition! And not just against any old animal - they were going after the brazen "monster hunter" Sir Borwin Remirir! Renowned as a fearless slayer of the creatures of the forest, Remirir had boldly claimed that he would put an end to the Silvershed clan, and Kail believed it was time to knock the haughty human down a few pegs! Kail and Gnawl approached in the cover of night to Remirir's home, aiming to break in and kill the human! Alas, the two were unprepared for the dashing knight's skill - it turns out, his bravado was not all bluster. Kail was run through by a silver blade, and in a fit of animal rage, Gnawl assaulted his brother's killer, to little avail. His only claim was a lucky blow he managed to get on the knight, leaving a pair of claw marks down the knight's right side. Equally incited, Sir Remirir decided to capture Gnawl instead of granting him death, hauling him through the streets of Embryl and publicly humiliating him, before having him carted off to Branderscar Prison.
Now Gnawl languishes furiously in his cell, still struggling to break his chains now and then with no measure of success. He knows he is scheduled for execution... yet he cannot rest until he is free! Sir Remirir must pay for Kail's death! Gnawl cannot die without tearing the rest of the face off the so-called "Monster Hunter"!
