Reunion: Xyranthes' Background

© 1998, Peter Ross and Mark E. Becker

Xyranthes is about 5"9', slim ( About 150 lbs), Mid sholder length silverish blond hair, pale , but not sickly, compexion, and peircing blue eyes, the color of the deepest sea. Our travelor wears Brown almost mousy coloredflowing robes, with a Maroon vest, and cape and cowl of a lighter maroon than the vest. A belt of woven flax and soft leather boots completes the apparel. A staff of Yew wood and a leather backpack and satchel are carried. The Satchel holds papers, Ink, and quills. Also a pair of reading glasses, several small books, journals, maps, and scrolls fills the satchel. The Backpack holds 50ft of silk rope, several bottles and pakets of herbs, both medicinal and cooking, a grappleing hook, flint and steel, sulpher powder, several blocks of three different kinds of wood, twelve animal pelts, several paint and dyes in labled bottles. Animal fat and other bodily fluids and parts are also in jars, each labled as to its contnts. This is mostly for the making of glues and other toy products. Finaly a Water skin, a small hand held bow and a quiver of five arrows, adorn the Toymaker.

Xyranthes knows the following Non weapon proficiencies, Animal handeling, Bag pipes: play and make, Brewing, Carving, Cooking, Dancing ( not too well, but passible), Direction sence, Disguise, Etiquette, Fletching, Fire Building, Fishing, Healing, Herbalism, Leather working, Lip reading, Medical treatment, Pottery, Puppeteering, Religion ( Aezian worship of Eral), Riding land based, Set snares, Singing ( again not too well), swimming, Tracking, Weather sence, weaving. Xyranthes has a permenant spell of "Know Words" which translates all spoken words into a lauguage know to the hearer.

It was a cold windy day in the land of the Gondorian Confederation. The War of Autonomy had, and probably would continue to plague the dreams of the new king of Gondor. Xyranthes turned away from the window in the Royal Bed Chambers, sighing discontentedly. How fond his hopes had been for his nation. If only the Elves had listened to his pleas, and released the human lands back to human control.

Xyranthes turned back to the window, and resumed his gazing at the half ruined city of Merilion. He could remember the last time he had come to this city as a simple Toymaker. It had been unseasonably cold, for it was May and frost still covered the ground. Xyranthes lead his old mule down the winding crevice, and into a wonderland. The City of Merilion had been built on a major magic fountain. A vortex of energy fueled the Mages and levitated the Five Floating Islands, which where five nearby hills that had been uprooted and positioned in their orbits around the Imperial tower.

Inside the massive sphere of green marble that topped the white tower was the Imperial Island. Like its five sisters, this floating island had once been a nearby hill. However this island had been shaped into the Royal palace and surrounding estates instead of having structures built on top of the hill, like the other islands.

Xyranthes had paid the state tariff, and had begun to set up shop when an Elf Merchant objected to a "Human disturbing my customers, with its presence".

Xyranthes was forced to move his wares elsewhere. However this ill treatment rankled deep within the toymaker's heart. As Xyranthes slept that night, Eral, creator of all, appeared to him. Eral commanded that Xyranthes led his people out of the Elvish rule.

The next day, Xyranthes made an appointment to see the Elven Regent. Xyranthes was appalled at the opulent splendor of the Imperial palace, while far below the human populace starved on the minor rations the elven lords doled out.

Xyranthes demanded the elves to leave the land of Gondor. The regent had him thrown out of the palace.

Xyranthes came back every day for ten weeks, each day calling for the elves to leave peacefully.

On the 71st day of his entering into the city, Xyranthes nealt down and prayed for Eral to show the elves a sign. At once the sky darkened. The whole city of Merilion was plunged into night. Six hours later, the Regent summoned Xyranthes.

"Human, my Mages and Clerics tell me that you are responsible for this sudden darkness over my city. Why?"

"Regent, for seventy days I asked you to free my homeland, to surrender your rule to the rightful rulers of this land. Each day you refused. This I swear, the Suns shall never light this city until the elves surrender their power and authority back unto the humans."

And Xyranthes left.

The Elves brought magical lights into the city to light the streets. And Xyranthes prayed again to Eral, to give a sign of his displeasure.

The next day, a flock of birds, so vast that it covered the city, descended on the houses of Merilion. The birds broke into the store houses of the Elven merchants, and ate the bread of the elves. And again the elves summoned Xyranthes, and questioned him.

"Human, my Mages and Clerics tell me that you are responsible for these birds in my city. Why?"

"Regent, for seventy days I asked you to free my homeland, to surrender your rule to the rightful rulers of this land. Each day you refused. This I swear, the birds shall never leave a crumb of bread to eat on the elven tables in this city until the elves surrender their power and authority back unto the humans."

And Xyranthes left.

And so the elves began to eat rice and other vegetables. And Xyranthes prayed again to Eral, to give a sign of his displeasure.

Eral sent frost, heat, rain, fire, and lice. And still the elves did not leave the city.

Finally Eral said unto Xyranthes, "The Elves' hearts are hardened against you, go and bring the fear of the sword, and wash this land in blood, for the hearts of the elves shall not soften until death walks among them."

Ten long and bloody years later, the elves finally surrendered the land of Gondor to the humans.

Xyranthes became king of the humans, and for three years reigned as a good and wise king. He learned the intricacies of political manuvering, and learned how to avoid political entangelments very quickly. However all his great knowledge was not enough to escape the revenge the former Elvish Regent had planned for Xyranthes.

On the fourth annaversary of the independance from the elves, Xyranthes met with a cruel fate. The Regent of gondor had been a powerful mage in his own right, and had laboured for the last three years on a spell that would bannish Xyranthes from the lands he loved. As the king greeted the guests to the grand cerimony, the mage Laufric, former regent, stepped foward from his place in line, and relesed his spell, Xyranthes disapeared from Aezia, drifting through the other worlds in this universe.

Xyranthes has been bouncing around for a while now. He's had many adventures on a number of worlds, though he may not remember all of it clearly. His latest jump brings him to a world that is apparently completely inhabited by humans. Xyranthes vaugely remembered several other worlds, but his memories of Aezia were clear. It was Not Aezia.

Wandering about, Xyranthes started getting a look at his new surroundings. He was in a light woodland, near a clearing. In order to get acclimatized, he decided to sit down under one of the trees near the edge of the clearing and watch things for a while. After a moment, he picked up a small bit of wood that was nearby, took out his pouch knife, and began to wittle the piece of Pine into a small deer.

As he concentrated on his work, he noticed that people -- humans -- were setting up carts and tables in the clearing. Apparently some sort of carnival or market was being set up. Soon, some of the people noticed him, sitting at the edge of the forest, and one of the men wandered over, with a young girl at his side.

"Daddy, look at what that man's making!" the girl called out as soon as she could get a good look. The girl was not quite in her teens, had dark brown hair, and was lean and healthy -- not the look of a lazy city dweller.

"That's quite a piece of work you have there. Ever think of selling it?" the man inquired, and a shrewd expression formed on his face, which gave Xyranthes the impression that he was a merchant.

"Well, what would you value it at?" The old Toymaker reponded.

"Oh, I'd say one or two copper bits, at least. My daughter Jodie here seems to like it," the man replied.

"Then its sold, only I'd say your daughter can have this one. Just tell me how to get to the nearest town and its yours," smiled the old Cleric-King.

"Really?" the girl exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly.

"Done. Just follow the road down the hill, and turn left at the fork. It'll take you to the town of Courdins."

Exchange made, Xyranthes took his leave of the pair, and following the man's directions, soon found himself in a quaint little town. He settled there, and within days was delighting the children of the Courdins with his creations. He eventually learned that the father and daughter he had met were wandering merchants who had just been in town for the gathering that day.

One of Xyranthes best customers was a man named Dmitri, who was a member of the town council, and whose son had taken a liking to Xyranthes' toys. Once Xyranthes overheard Dmitri talking to his wife about a complicated problem the council had to deal with, and knew he could help. At first, Dmitri was hesitant to take political advice from an old toymaker, but when he saw the wisdom in the old man's words, he came around. From that point on, Dmitri came to Xyranthes often for advice, and eventually brought him in to the council himself.

Word of Xyranthes wisdom spread across the kingdom, eventually arriving at the Royal Court. Exactly two years after his first meeting with Dmitri, Xyranthes received an invitation to audition at the Royal Court for a position as sage and advisor. As this was an invitation one can hardly refuse, Xyranthes was on the road to the capital city of Almaise within two weeks.

His audition went well, his probationary period virtually flew by, and before he knew it, he was an official advisor to the King.

One night, about three weeks later, Xyranthes lay on his bed in the royal antechamber. The night was sluggish, and a warm fog had rolled into the capital. Unacustomed to the heat, Xyranthes drifted in and out of a restless sleep. Thoughts, memories and dreams drifted about his head. Mostly thoughts of his new life pressed heavely on his conscience.

One point in this life replayed over and over in his mind. That and the face of his first benifactor, Dmitri.

"Dmitri, Ahh yes, I remember Dmitri, smallish boy ( or am I just unusualy tall for this world?). He had this quaint little singsong type of voice. Almost like the Irish lilt at the end of his words."

"The first time he came to me was about, cows. Seems the cows where going stale. Now when my goats got stale, I gave them a good dose of apples. The fammers 'round here didn't want to give their cows apples. In the first place the cows digest the apple juice into something a bit more potent than vodka (now where was that word from?)."

"However I convinced the farmers to drain some of the juice from the apples. You cut the apple into thin slices and lay the slices out on a slab of slate for the sun to cook them. Then you feed the cows the slices. The tannick acid helps to keep the cows good and hale."

"Dmitri was so happy that I solved the problem, well I never thought the position I find myself in now would have happened because of some cows, but it just so happened that... "

Suddenly a bluish light attracted the attention of the sage. It appeared to be a young man; tall and thin, with long, blond hair. He was dressed entirely in black, and wore a bronze amulet on a leather loop, and a golden pin -- circular, with two points flanking a central diamond-shaped head -- on his turtle-necked collar.

At once Xyranthes recognized a being of power, and knelt upon the floor. The sense that this was a being of good and purity was almost palpable to the sage. At once the cleric felt a sence of Erals blessing upon this being.

Xyranthes made up his mind to obey and serve this one in whatever he asks. Anxiously the sage awaited the being to speak. He did not have to wait long.

"I've arranged for you to come here," the being began, without preamble, "for a special task. One that isn't entirely unlike those you've performed, but with a unique spin on it. There is someone here who needs your help. You may not recognize him at first, but you will over time. The quest he is about to embark upon could be dangerous, and will require your talents to be completed successfully."

"Vitam est obiture, Obiture est vitam. To Live is to obey, to Obey is to live. I shall do all that I can," the Sage replied

"Your healing abilities have been unavailable because your patron deity cannot access this world," he informed Xyranthes. "I will act as a temporary stand-in, if you will accept it."

"It is Erals wish, I shall serve you, and I ask that you use me. Gladly do I place my life and skill at Thy command. I feel the blessing of Eral upon Thee, and hence I accept Thee as my master, untill Eral returns me unto himself."

Before continuing, the being closed his eyes, smiled, and muttered something that Xyranthes could almost make out as, "Oh, brother." Then quickly continueed.

"You will meet your charge on the northern road out of the city, tomorrow morning at dawn. Look for a boy with a Drake. And show him this," he says, takes the pin off of his collar, and hands it to Xyranthes.

Xyranthes stared at the strange symbol. Turning the pin over in his hands, he internalized the style, the flow of the metal. When the cleric looked up, the visitor was gone.

The next day, Xyranthes woke the king before dawn, and explained what the cleric felt the monarch should know. The King was somewhat annoyed at the disturbance, but he put up with it because of how valuable the Sage had proven himself to be.

Leaving out some of the nights visitation, the cleric told the king of why he might be unavailable for a time. This annoyed the King a little more, but because of how much he liked the old Sage, he allowed it.

Reciving the kings blessing (such as it was), the cleric packed a few things, finding that someone had placed a large bag of gold in the sock drawer, as well as a note of credit. The old cleric smiled and wrote a missive thanking the king for his generosity.

Once packed, the cleric set off for North road, looking for the boy and his Drake. Just as he was about to leave the castle, he heard what sounded like an explosion. Looking to the west, he saw smoke begin to rise into the sky, and a pale red glow begin to light up the nearby buildings.

Xyranthes was tempted to detour so he could at least see what had happened. If anyone was injured, he wanted to help them as best he could. However the scheaduled meeting was foremost on his mind, and this might be some sort of diversion by the enemies of he who Xyranthes was to help.

Since the sky in the east was beginning to lighten, indicating that dawn was approaching, he decided to hurry over to the rendezvous, checking to see if any police are around, and have them go to the explosion. He saw some going there already, so he hurried to meet the person, thinking that he might attempt to lead him back towards the explosion, hence having a assistant in aiding any injured victims of the blast.

As Xyranthes hurried over to the north road, a strange person ran out of a nearby inn. Starteled, the cleric paused in his trek. He watched the young woman rush headlong toward the explosion. He thought to himself, 'That girl, I've seen her at the palace, but I've seen her someplace else, almost... something like a dream, but more real. And animals, lots and lots of talking animals. I wonder if...' The lewing of an animal brought the intrepid cleric back to the here and now, and Xyranthes turned back to the task at hand.

As Xyranthes passed through the gate, he saluted to the guards on duty, but they seemed to be too busy to respond.

Then he was at his destination. However there was, aside from an old peddler, no-one. No Drake, no boy, no one of any import. The tired cleric sank to the ground, exhaustion begining to wear on his body. Then a tremor was felt in Xyranthes bones. Someone was comming, someone important. A sense of urgancy began to creep into the cleric. Standing, the cleric peered at the north road's gate. A shape began to come into focus. A boy on a lizard.

'Ehh,' he thought to himself, 'I thought I was suposed to find a boy and his Drake. This little slip of a lizard would make a hatchling look huge. Blessed Eral, and however your 'Melard' in this realms name is, let this be the one.'

The boy seemed to be only paying attention to his destination. Perhaps going a bit insane, the cleric decided to walk in front of the charging drake. Pretending to not have noticed the drake and his boy, the cleric prayed that this would work. Using a few furtive glances, the Cleric saw the boys legs were withered. Strangely, for a moment, the boy looked familiar, but the legs were wrong. He remembered a... drat its faded again.

As the Drake hurtled along on a collision-course with the old Toymaker, the boy riding on its back yelled, "Get out of the way, you old geezer! do you have a death-wish or something?"

Xyranthes chalked up the impertinance of the statement to the boy's age, but the particular phrases struck him as being somehow out of place. No one that he had met on this world so far had ever used such colloquialisms as "geezer" or "or something", that he'd noticed, but they somehow struck a familiar chord within him, almost as if he'd heard them before... SOMEWHERE else.

He stood his ground, however, and the pair was forced to come to a stop before him.

"What's your problem, you old coot?" the boy demanded.

Now that Xyranthes could get a better look at him, he definitely felt that the boy was familiar somehow. He reminded Xyranthes of someone that he had met a long time ago, far away, under unusual circumstances. The exact situation escaped his memory for the moment, however.

It wasn't so much the way the boy looked -- brown hair, cropped clumsily, small but muscular arms (one seemed somewhat swolen), and even smaller, whithered legs -- but more in the boy's bearing, and in his eyes. The boy's poise was much greater than Xyranthes would have expected in one so young, and there was a timeless look in his eyes, that Xyranthes had seen in only two places before: one is his own mirror, and the other was, well... The details escaped him.

The boy was looking at him, expecting an answer.

"My problem, young man," he responded, "is my dislike of young rascles, who think they can ride helter skelter though public roads with no thought of their elders. However that is neither here nor there..." Just then the image of a strange place appeared in Xyranthes mind.

FLASH

Him and this young man -- but somehow not THIS young man -- sitting at a table, talking. The young man wearing some strange black cloak and uniform. The scene flashed again, backwards, bringing him to a ship -- not an ocean-going ship, but one that sailed the stars. An attack, and everyone believing themselves doomed. Then another ship appearing out of nowhere, driving the attacker away. Once they reached port, he met the captain of the rescuing ship, and sat with him to talk...

FLASH

Stunned by the powerful vision of a former lifetime, Xyranthes clutched his head, and colapsed as his mind rebelled at too much information. Gasping out a plea for help, the cleric colapsed at the feet of the drake.

For a moment, the boy simply watched the inert lump of the man, wondering what in the world could have happened. He was about to move on when he got some sort of feeling of familiarity -- both for the old man, and for what just happened to him. This suddenly inspired a fit of compassion in the boy, temporarily overriding the task that he had been so intent upon.

The Drake sidled up to the old man's inert form, and sank down to a sitting position. The boy then slid off, and started examining the old timer. As he did so, something fell out of the man's pocket. It was a small gold pin -- the one that was given to Xyranthes by the mysterious visitor the previous night.

The boy picked up the pin and looked at it. An expression of complete and utter surprise took over the boy's face for a moment, as he recognized the Logo of the Rebel Alliance. He looked down at the old man again, and scrutinized his face.

"No, he's not from the Alliance," the boy commented, mumbling to himself, as he continued examing the old man. Then, suddenly, he was hit with a flash of memory: passengers disembarking a spacecraft, happy to be alive -- one seeking him out, as the captain of the ship that saved them -- a long and bizarre conversation, that revealed a meeting of two beings with a similar nature.

"Xyranthes," the boy breathed, finally matching a name to the face.

He then looked up and glanced around the area. Spotting a nearby tree, he climbed back up on his Drake's back.

"C'mon, Shard," he said, addressing the Drake, then pointed to the tree. "Let's pull him over there, 'till he wakes up."

Shard gently took part of Xyranthes' cloak in his mouth, and pulled him over to the tree. They managed to get him sitting up against it, then settled down on the grass nearby to wait for him to awaken.