Work in progress! Brackets are notes to myself.
For as long as he could remember, Koldin has ridden a horse. From the moment he could walk, his parents placed him atop his first pony, Loshik. While other children would play amongst themselves, Koldin would spend time with Loshik, riding across the vast plains of Southern Brevoy, dreaming of the day he would be old enough to earn a real horse. As Koldin grew, he became too big to ride Loshik any longer, and his faithful pony was retired to his father's stable.
Koldin's father, Borig Shensik, was well known throughout his village as a great horsemen, and as one of the greatest archers in the land. It was claimed that he could pluck two birds from the sky with a single arrow, and few were brave enough to challenge the hulking Borig to prove it. A simple man, Borig was happy to provide for his family through hunting and trapping, and wanted nothing more than for his son to follow in his footsteps. Koldin, however, had always dreamed of more than the simple life his father led -- he wanted to earn the title of Horse Lord.
... Ambushes on the roads connecting local villages were becoming more and more common, and Koldin felt a strong need to protect his fellow plainsmen. Matters of law and order did not particularly concern him, but when his people were being killed, the time to act was obvious. Thus, he joined the local militia and was given the position of forward scout.
After proving himself more than capable (how?), Koldin was promoted to the position of mounted archer and given his own horse. As luck would have it, his horse was the runt of the litter, and could hardly maintain a sustained run, but this did little to hamper Koldin's combat effectiveness. His natural bond with the animal combined with years of dedicated training made Koldin a fearsome foe when mounted on horseback. His fellow militia members never hesitated to recount the tale of how Koldin rode through the plains, on the back of a sickly horse, and fired arrows at ambushing bandits, never once hitting a comrade. The men knew they could trust his aim to be true.
[bounty hunting/FE]
[finding/breaking a horse]
[work in name of village]
[joined expedition because of expertise/village razed]
After spending a month in the plains with his horse Mesha, he returned to a village burned to the ground, his mother and father brutally murdered. Even poor Loshik was not spared. As he gazed upon the burning wreckage of his past life, it was then that Koldin resolved to find out who had raided his village, and to exact revenge upon them. He knew now, more than ever, that he would earn the title of Horse Lord, and use his skills to find the bandits that had done this.
