Nalor hailed from an old clan of dwarves. Originally from Druma, their wars with the other four sects left their area to the humans. The shame was not so great in the loss of battle as it was in the loss of wealth. This focus on wealth, the constant aim of avarice, was replete by the time Nalor came to be. His elders pushed him to be an expert craftsman, prepared him to be a merchant, but such a future was not in the stars for him. Instead, a horrific smithing accident with molten steel left him with scars on his hands, sapping much of his nerves in the digits and hindering his fine motor control. A craftsman he could not be.
His family, with little tolerance for failure (or handicap as it were) cast him out to make life on his own. It was not fully out of malice, but they were poor - another mouth to feed was more than they could manage. So it was Nalor wandered the lands of Avistan, working his way slowly Northeast. He made his way to the Riverlands.
One evening, he had to take refuge during a great storm. There was little else than a large tree next to a riverbank, however, so that was the shelter he took. Before he knew what had happened, he awoke to find his skin black and a woman standing over him. She was one of the fair folk.
"A dwarf in the grass? Now I've seen everything. You've been hit by lightning. Can you hear me?"
It turned out the tree, a lightning rod for the current from the sky, was just the conduit Nalor needed in his life. The druid told him Gozreh had blessed him as one of his chosen; she would show him the ways of the wilds. Thus, Nalor learned to hunt, cook, and work the weirding magecraft of the wild folk.
A solitary people though, the druids often met during the warm season and departed as the leaves changed. Food was scarcer, and it was easier to provide for smaller numbers. Nalor made his way North, having heard of the opportunities available in the River Kingdoms. Feuding lords left empty seats for help. He availed himself to House Orlovsky as a chef, his expertise with wild game a hit with the nobles. Even cold in the North as they were, their halls kept him warm through the winter.
However, a talk of a charter circulated the town in the new year. Perhaps this chance could restore some honor to his diminished line - and perhaps it could advance his own personal glory...
