- Pronouns
- He/Him
Slimy_Froggy
Patron
I was over my max amount of words per post in my character profile, so I'll link this backstory to that thread. This is my char profile: LINK!
Rahm; Caparii, Scholar, Scribe, Druid, Engem, Savage, Beast. The untold story.
After many years, a man called Christopher, who went to Rahm's desk at the Royal Library to ask him for help, got to Rahm's emotional side. A side that reminded him of his past, a thing that he hasn't done for a long long time...
Rahm doesn't set short term goals, he lives in the now and philosophizes about the far future, but never does he think about the far past. The far past, where he took a vow, so shameful, it would taint the rest of his life. A vow made in despair, when nothing else could save him...
Rahm set out through the woods, away from his parents shack in the marsh-forests. He journeyed through grassy lands and oak forests, where he saw many new plants, that he carefully inspected and tended for a little while. He loved nature, for loving it was in his nature, Shalheranna demanded it. He enjoyed his trip and slept under the stars. Until he encountered a group of merchants, on their way to a small village to sell their wares. They talked to him in the common language, that he did not understand. They were kind to him and so, he was kind to them. He went with them to the village and there he learnt to speak some basic common tongue. He made a lot of friends, who had never seen a Caparii before, for this race lives a solitary life, protecting the woods from harm of evil intentions. He learnt to read and soon he could write as well. His interest in knowledge was immense. He kept on reading. He asked travelers if they knew anything new and through his hunger, he ate the entire library of this small town. Rahm had become a wiser man, though his need to travel unexplored lands and find the wonders of nature within ate away at his mind. After a good talk with the best of his friends, he decided to leave the town behind. He went further into the wilds, where he often remembered his good time among the people of the village and the stories of the travelers.
After a month of sleeping underneath the stars, he came upon a huge old hollow oak, in which a caparii woman lived. She grinned at him kindly as he approached her door. She invited him in and prepared some herbal tea for him. He lived with her for a while, where they slowly began to know each other. He came to understand she was a strictly religious woman. Worshiping Shalheranna in a very orthodox extreme way. She came to know he had been in a town with other races, she knew he had a love to find new plants, she knew his passion was gaining knowledge. All of this was against her beliefs, but she didn't let him know, for she wanted him to pay for his heresy.
There, in the hollow oak hut, the Caparii woman betrayed him. She told him a very special fungus grew in her basement, one of which she had never seen before. It grew in the very back, she told him. While he went searching in the basement for the special fungus, intrigued to gather knowledge about it, the religious extremist locked the basement behind him. When Rahm tried to get back into the house, the trapdoor could not be opened. He did not understand and called for the Caparii woman to open the trapdoor, since he thought it must have been a mistake. She then came to him and they spoke in their native language, Fae. The Caparii woman was a witch, or so it seemed, for her voice had changed from a sweet soft to an awful crow-sharp sound. She told Rahm he went "Too far from his roots", because he was speaking common all the time and mingle with crowds of men, elves and the like. "Shalheranna created us to guard the forests in solitude, but you, bastard goat, you walk among the people like they are your equals!" She spoke the last word with much distaste.
Rahm was captured by a religious extremist, a witch even! She just wouldn't let him out. Days gone by and Rahm survived in the darkness of her basement by eating the few fungi that grew there. After two weeks, he ran out of food. After three weeks, he screamed for his life. The caparii extremist came to the trapdoor and spoke through it. Rahm begged her to find some way to agree with his release. She then asked him. "If I let you out, will you continue to mingle?" Rahm was a fair person, never told a lie, and so he said. "Yes, this is what I do. I swore an oath to teach anyone who want to be taught, for the men from the village were so kind to teach me their common tongue and thus open a world of knowledge for me. Ever since I was taught to speak the common language, I have wanted to teach others the wisdom I have gathered in my Caparii life." She spit at the trapdoor. "FOOL!" Rahm heard her nails scratch on the trapdoor. Both Caparii were bound not to hurt each other. Bound by their beliefs in Shalheranna. So she clawed at the trapdoor instead. When she calmed down, she chuckled. "Oh well then... I will release you on one condition. You shall never speak Fae again. If you love the other races so much, then you shall only speak their language." This way, the extremist witch was sure he would not be seen as a true Caparii, for he could not speak the native language, and thus he could not put the race to shame with his awkward way of behaving. "I..." Rahm didn't know what to answer. He wanted to be released, but he also wanted to remain himself, which he could not be if he vowed not to speak his native tongue again. "DO not HESITATE!" The witch cried, chuckling awfully. "Alright!" Rahm panicked. "I vow... I vow never to speak Fae again! Now let me go!" He banged his fists on the trapdoor. The extremist Caparii laughed an awful cackle. She flung the trapdoor open and shouted down towards Rahm, blocking out the light. "If you dare speak Fae again, and sully our magnificent divine race, I will take from you, by the power of Shalheranna, your Caparii soul!" She cursed him, then she took a step back. Rahm's eyes had to adjust to the light coming from the gap. He was incredibly thin from hunger, but managed to climb out. The witch extremist just laughed at him while he ran away like a cripple. Thoughts shooting through his head. {I have made an oath to teach everyone that is in need of teaching, I could not break the oath. But now my oath has led me to swear a vow not to speak Fae ever again! Am I losing myself by the very oath I thought defined me?}
He ran and ran and even onward, until the snow of the north stopped him. There he fell to his knees and sank down, too tired to move one more muscle...
He awoke from the sound of rolling stones. Or was it something else, voices? the sound changed a bit as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and saw vague silhouette's of short people standing around him. Their skin reflected the bright sunlight in the white snow. Or was it their armor? "He's done got his mind back, lads!" He heard one shout. "By Korog! A thin fella aren't ye?" They said to him. "Take some mead, lad! and some pork right off 'ta bone!" The last Dwarf said as he handed him some food and drinks. Rahm took them without hesitation. "Thank you very much. You are so kind." He said in common, still remembering his vow and curse. The Dwarves laughed as a warm fire that's heated by the wind. "He speaks common eh?" They laughed again. "Ye, Caparii, ye come with us to Korog's Standing. I bet ye Dwarf King Seth will give ye a warm welcome!" They first went to Tahkul-Rimtar, a Dwarven outpost where all the Dwarven knowledge was stored. This town was closer, so Rahm could first gain strength before going to Korog's Standing. But when Rahm got his strength back, he did not want to leave Tahkul-Rimtar. He wanted to learn more from the books he had read. So the three Dwarves took their leave from Tahkul-Rimtar and left him to read the books...
After a while, Rahm had read all public books and went away, to roam the wilderness once again. From this point history about Rahm is known. He went back from his journey through the wilderness, only to find Tahkul-Rimtar abandoned and fallen into ruin. He then took up residence in a tree-home close to the ruins. He wrote many books, before he got noticed as a well known scribe. He then served the queen as her personal scribe and wrote on her epic wars and heroic acts. During one of these events, he was on board a war air-ship. Being on it, he had to contribute to the war, not just by writing about it. A captain screamed orders; it was Kharn Sicarus (Warwolf ), captain of the largest air-ship of Altera. "Fill the powder-sacks, ready the cannons, fire on my command!" He shouted. Rahm, and all others on the ship, did as he commanded. All cannons fired at the same time, a giant explosion of sound. Rahm looked around after the loud bang, and saw the cannon next to him had imploded. He looked confused and went to rub his face to clear the confusion. His right hand did not meet his face, but a gap where his jaw used to be. From the huge amount of adrenaline, Rahm did not notice the shards of the cannon next to him flying across the hull and bashing off half of his face. Noticing it now, the pain kicked in and he fell unconscious.
He woke up in the hospital tent of Queen Leminth, who was just addressing the soldiers there about a portal they had to destroy, a portal of Queen Grief, their nemesis. He wanted to get up, but was pushed back down and ordered to rest. Luckily, the doctors were able to heal some of his jaw so he would be able to talk in a few months time, but his face and broken horn would forever be messed up. Years passed and Rahm continued to serve Queen Leminth in recording history and tending to the Royal Library of Port Silver...
Now, Christopher, the man that came to the desk of Rahm Kennysson, had a request. He asked Rahm to help a small Caparii, a child, learn the common tongue. It seemed as though he found the Caparii very recently. The small child had scars all over her face and her left horn was cut off by a weapon of sorts. Rahm looked at her and crouched to meet her face. "A small little one, aren't ye?" He said in Common. Christopher sighed. "haven't I told you. she speaks no common tongue!" Rahm nodded. Yes, he knew... He stared at the caparii walking curiously through the library. "I will give you a book! there she can learn it from!" Rahm then said, but Christopher was skeptical. "A book? Can't you just teach her?" he said. Then Rahm walked away to find the book, but froze right to the ground when he heard the small Caparii ask the man in Fae for food. Christopher could not understand... How could Rahm leave a small child to starve and die? One that had seen such hardship already, seeing the scars on her face. Rahm sighed and tears filled his eyes. He looked at her over his shoulder, then turned around and slowly walked up to her. He crouched and while he did so, tears made the fur under his eyes wet. He then spoke, he spoke in Fae. "I will help you, little one." and then he collapsed, crying, for he has let the terrible curse of the witch unleashed upon him. Christopher nor the Caparii did understand. But he send them off, to return some other time for the lesson.
Now, to find a way to counter the curse that has been bestowed upon him, he reaches for Dav'id and Chalkan Engem. They preach to get back to your roots and this is what Rahm believes he needs. He wants to get as close to his Caparii roots as possible and prays to Shalheranna whenever he can, to make the curse upon him harder to succeed. For by now the evil witch must have felt the curse has been put in motion...
The Journey
(from now on, it's not backstory but happened rp)
Rahm had to find Chalkan to become part of the Engem Clan. He decided to travel to Hound-Ru with a host of people, a dwarf, a greyling, even a nakat, anyone, so that they might hear wisdom in Chalkan's words as well. They set off at Vera Vigi, where they traveled the sea northwards for a day. At night they made camp at a wreckage of an old ship "The Tidebreaker". There, one of the men told a story about missing kinsmen and a giant seamonster... After the story, the men and women went to bed, while the Dwarf King Seth took watch. @Seth_Jenkins
The Dwarf puffed out several plumes of smoke into the night air from a weathered pipe, bored... "So dwarf..." Someone sayed. He adjusted the pipe to the corner of his mouth to speak. "Aye, Greylin'?" "How about I take the first watch. I am nocturnal, it should be rather easy for me." "How about ae gae find somethin' ter stub me toe on violently..." "If that is what you enjoy doing I'll happily oblige you and make you unoccupied." "Ach, yer can gae take ae bloomin' nap Greylin'"
He turned in his chair, adjusting his pipe again in his mouth. King Seth looked over at the shipwreck full of silent sleeping people, then swore at the rain. He moved himself to under the trunk of a tree to stay out of the rain. From there, he watched the sputtering fire. As the rain increased, the glowing embers crackle and diminish, the Dwarf sighed; "'nother thing ter do for t'e mornin'..."
They walked through the desert the next day, only twice did they get a relief from the awful burning sun. Once a mighty tree shaded them, the other time the navigator Lemarc (Lemarc ) got them to an oasis. They refreshed in the oasis and refilled their water. The child Sheila made a special construction with palm leaves and Rahm's horns to get him some shade. @bettemus99 . While they left from the oasis, slowly a sandstorm rose and became more and more intense. On their way out, they lost half of the party. A crew went back to find them when the storm stopped. Luckily all arrived in the shelter of their camp. The next day, after a trip through a forest, they arrived at Hound-Ru...
Chalkan Engem.
Chalkan held a short speech, very inspiring to Rahm, though some of the adventurers were bored and did not pay much attention. After his speech, Chalkan asked Rahm why he came all the way to Hound-Ru of all places. Rahm, for the first time in his life, as he saw no other way of explaining why he wanted to join the Engems, told his story. His history from joining towns to leaving the witch with a curse on his soul. Chalkan asked him several other questions before he was sure. He told Rahm to stay for the night. the next morning, Chalkan would get him and they would have a ritual to become an Engem.
The morning broke and the ritual was done. Rahm Kennysson had become Rahm Engem. To show the world his devotion and to stay true to his new Engem beliefs, he let Chalkan give him tattoos. The first tattoo given was on his right arm, which showed patterns of nature with the phrase "Through my nature as I am, my connection with Shalheranna." The second tattoo given was on his left arm also with patterns of nature, but this time for his roots. A forest from which the Caparii were made by Shalheranna, along with the phrase: "Made by the divine, yet keepers of her crafts." The third tattoo was around his waste up to his shoulders, a circle. It standing for the circle of friends that one has to hold close, also for the circle from which one must keep its enemies. The phrase along with it: "My way is with my roots, through that, I determine my allies." The fourth tattoo was on his face, a set of tribal shapes, underneath his eyes in small letters: "I determine where to look, but my mind what to see." As a reminder that knowledge in the end allows you to see things that some without knowledge cannot see. The fifth and last was an engraving on his hooves, with no phrase, just the words: "walk" on the first hove and "On" on the second...
During the giving of the tattoos, Chalkan offered Rahm to become their druid, as a profession. Of course, with his devotion to Shalheranna, he accepted. He knew he could not stay in Port Silver to be a librarian and decided to devote his life, for the sake of his Caparii soul, to Shalheranna and to his roots, through being a druid for the Engems.
The Undead approach
To all good things must come an end, and so also to the Engems. In the end, the true Engems retreated further and further into their highlands as new idealistic Engems changed their culture and their ways of life. Rahm saw this happening and decided not to follow the true Engems nor the new Engems, but to retreat to solitude. He has done so for many years, until something happened to Altera.
While going about his daily business, he felt a hostile presence. He saw it from afar and smelled a rotting scent. As he moved to strike it, he noticed the hostile was undead, a creature of Skraag. With distaste he jerked his weapon out of its skull. After this first meeting, he became alert. Before too long there were ten of them walking through his forest. Then even more came! Rahm, like all others in Altera, was pushed away from his home by the endless wave of undead creatures...
Maddened by the sights of these horrors in his sleep, haunted by these nightmares, he retreated further and further into the forest. This went on until he happened upon a wooden fort with a white flag waving above it, on it; a brown tree. From afar, he saw the inhabitants fight against the undead, to eventually be driven to a rickety raft, which they used to peddle themselves to safety; to the north. Rahm shouted to get their attention, but they were too occupied to notice him. He saw them leave, and with them he saw his hopes to ever leave this world alive fade away...
Then suddenly, in the corner of his eye, there was another raft! Savages occupied it. He swam towards it and dragged himself aboard. The savages daunted by the sight of this large wild caparii, let him on board. Rahm figured out they used a common language, mixed with mostly bodily expressions. He stayed with them for a while, and found a strange appeal to them. They were the embodiment of Rahm's earlier thoughts. They were everything society was not. They went against all laws and rules Rahm ever learned. They were, in Rahm's eyes, truly one with nature. Rahm adopted their ways and in a ritual to join their ranks, he scratched out all the tattoos he had, which reminded the savages of a world with cities and rules.
The savages settled in a different place every week, having to flee from the undead as they marched relentlessly towards the north. Rahm, though maddened, still had some intellect left. He persuaded a large broad shouldered man, named Victor (The Tottot ) to take him with him to a new world. Rahm then informed the savages to hide themselves among the crates and supplies of the ships that sailed away, packed with people. Making use of Victor, Rahm set foot on the new shores and ran off, together with his tribe, to settle on an island in the south...
Savage Times
Their tribe prospered. These early times in the new world, there were many people exploring. Alone, or in small groups. These were the tribe's main source of food and materials. The explorers came with rafts, small boats, larger boats. Sometimes packed with rope, flint and steel, repair materials for the boat, wood and nails. Rahm started off by eating the explorers' supplies; the sea-biscuit and the dried fruits. But he found himself frowned upon. At times, the savages of the tribe he was in even became aggressive to him for not adopting their ways truly, after the initiation. They forced him, he had to eat meat...
And not just any meat. Rahm knew of the savages' diet. Their lust for human flesh. He saw in their cannibalism a lot of truths. Rahm was taught by the tribe that an animal will view a man as a beast, and the other way around. So why don't we view ourselves as such too? What makes an animal life or meat better than a human's? On top of that, he saw the strongest men of the tribe ate the best parts of the humans. It was as if they got their strength from eating the strength of others... Rahm turned to cannibalism in time. Twisting his mind into a being that was far from the Rahm he used to be...
As the new world was mapped over the course of a few years, the island Rahm was on remained a black spot on the world map. It was a place of mystery, and as such attracted attention. People wanted to know what was out there. They heard stories of unspeakable horrors from those that survived to tell the tale. They heard stories of treasure from the explorers that had been in the belly of the island, in the deep dark caves that were home to the savages. Before too long, Rahm's island was known as Horror Island.
The treasures, the danger and a chance to make a name for oneself lured many warriors and hunters to the island. They were hunting for cannibal-heads and the artifacts they had stolen from the early explorers of the new world. Rahm came across these men and women more often as the year grew older. From these meetings, he learned his best bet to stay out of harm's way was to trade with them. If they wanted information on the where-abouts of treasure, Rahm would trade it for an item, or for a bodily sacrifice; he had a hunger for people's pinkies. But Rahm did not get out of all encounters unharmed. There were times the aggressive visitors just came for a fight, and he gave them just that. He stamped his hooves and waved his horns in the air in an aggressive display. Several times he charged, horns first. Some times he trampled the aggressor to death. Rahm had taken to killing others by the time the horror island was mapped...
Redemption
Years of darkness, memories of the undead, eating meat, killing people, thirsting for blood. They left a strong impression on Rahm's outer and inner self. He twitched very often, he bloated like a goat, he yelled; he was truly savage. By the time he was reunited with an old family member of the engem tribe, he looked truly evil. His jaw shattered from the incident with Queen Grief, his Engem tattoos scratched out into scars, his broken horn, blind in one eye and all his fur tangled into knots and blotted with dried blood and other filth. It was Wayne Engem (Zenrak ) who found him in this state, deep beneath the surface of the island...
Rahm twitched at the sound of his name: "Rahm? Is that you?" Resounded through the cold cave. The echoes of a weapon dropping on the stone floor vibrated through the dark. "Rahm, what have you done to yourself?" Wayne insisted to communicate. "I leave you be, you leave me be, go now, go!" Rahm replied in despair, conflicted by his former self now introducing itself. "I'm not leaving without helping you. Come back with us, Rahm." Rahm breezed and stamped his hooves on the rocks; aggressive display again, the beast he had become.
Wayne left that day with a sore heart and a dry throat. Rahm stayed with his thoughts even more conflicted than they were before. Wayne Engem had planted a seed in Rahm's mind. A seed that found soil to grow from, as Rahm's former self flashed before his eyes. He saw his old home-tree again on the slopes of the Highlands of Hound-Ru. He saw hundreds of books lined up, perfectly categorized in the Royal Library of Port Silver. He heard Queen Leminth speaking to an army of brave heroes as they stood before the portals of Grief. But these images and sounds were broken, as pieces of several jigsaw puzzles all piled on one heap. Yet, they stayed in his mind.
Rahm was now certain: He wanted to return to his former life. But how? He knew he had to get in touch with someone who was not a cannibal and he knew just how to do it. There was a colony south of the island, of men and women who came to establish a settlement. He went there, one dark night, when the wind deafened all other sounds. He took a colonist; a woman by the name of Apricot (Samiwashere ) and dragged her to the cells where the savages prepared their human meat. He locked her inside, to watch her and observe her. To force her to show and teach him how to come back to people that were not cannibals. "W-what do you want?!" she squealed as she woke up in the cell. "Show me how to come back to you" Rahm said in reply. But she had no idea what he was going on about. Not being able to help, Rahm mimicked her every move, trying to be like her.
Of course, this did not go unnoticed. The colonists rallied up a host of men and women who were brave enough to go to the island and find the missing girl. Among these people were two Engems; Wayne and Dav'id (Goldengem25 ). They found Rahm, where he always was, in his cave. Rahm pleaded for them to help him come back to them, to save his twisted mind. They agreed if he'd show them to the girl. Remarkably, nobody attacked Rahm or tried to hurt him. He showed the group to the girl and they freed her. Rahm, thankful for the Engem's willingness to help, went with them. They took him into the nature, to a beautiful spot. There, he was told to do things to redeem himself and to meditate for two weeks, until they returned. Their cryptic way of saying things first confused Rahm, but he was sure; "This will be my redemption."
The endless road of redemption:
Through meditation and conversation with Dav'id, Rahm found out why he had gotten so mad. It was not only the sight of the undead; it was the Caparii witch's curse. She cursed him to take his Caparii soul if he broke his vow. Now, in this new world, his soul was taken from him. He ate meat, he was aggressive, he got joy from harming others. It was the only things he did and all he did, very much unlike a Caparius. Dav'id and Wayne now showed Rahm his first baby-steps to redemption, for "The road to redemption is infinite, Rahm." They spoke...
Rahm; Caparii, Scholar, Scribe, Druid, Engem, Savage, Beast. The untold story.
After many years, a man called Christopher, who went to Rahm's desk at the Royal Library to ask him for help, got to Rahm's emotional side. A side that reminded him of his past, a thing that he hasn't done for a long long time...
Rahm doesn't set short term goals, he lives in the now and philosophizes about the far future, but never does he think about the far past. The far past, where he took a vow, so shameful, it would taint the rest of his life. A vow made in despair, when nothing else could save him...
Rahm set out through the woods, away from his parents shack in the marsh-forests. He journeyed through grassy lands and oak forests, where he saw many new plants, that he carefully inspected and tended for a little while. He loved nature, for loving it was in his nature, Shalheranna demanded it. He enjoyed his trip and slept under the stars. Until he encountered a group of merchants, on their way to a small village to sell their wares. They talked to him in the common language, that he did not understand. They were kind to him and so, he was kind to them. He went with them to the village and there he learnt to speak some basic common tongue. He made a lot of friends, who had never seen a Caparii before, for this race lives a solitary life, protecting the woods from harm of evil intentions. He learnt to read and soon he could write as well. His interest in knowledge was immense. He kept on reading. He asked travelers if they knew anything new and through his hunger, he ate the entire library of this small town. Rahm had become a wiser man, though his need to travel unexplored lands and find the wonders of nature within ate away at his mind. After a good talk with the best of his friends, he decided to leave the town behind. He went further into the wilds, where he often remembered his good time among the people of the village and the stories of the travelers.
After a month of sleeping underneath the stars, he came upon a huge old hollow oak, in which a caparii woman lived. She grinned at him kindly as he approached her door. She invited him in and prepared some herbal tea for him. He lived with her for a while, where they slowly began to know each other. He came to understand she was a strictly religious woman. Worshiping Shalheranna in a very orthodox extreme way. She came to know he had been in a town with other races, she knew he had a love to find new plants, she knew his passion was gaining knowledge. All of this was against her beliefs, but she didn't let him know, for she wanted him to pay for his heresy.
There, in the hollow oak hut, the Caparii woman betrayed him. She told him a very special fungus grew in her basement, one of which she had never seen before. It grew in the very back, she told him. While he went searching in the basement for the special fungus, intrigued to gather knowledge about it, the religious extremist locked the basement behind him. When Rahm tried to get back into the house, the trapdoor could not be opened. He did not understand and called for the Caparii woman to open the trapdoor, since he thought it must have been a mistake. She then came to him and they spoke in their native language, Fae. The Caparii woman was a witch, or so it seemed, for her voice had changed from a sweet soft to an awful crow-sharp sound. She told Rahm he went "Too far from his roots", because he was speaking common all the time and mingle with crowds of men, elves and the like. "Shalheranna created us to guard the forests in solitude, but you, bastard goat, you walk among the people like they are your equals!" She spoke the last word with much distaste.
Rahm was captured by a religious extremist, a witch even! She just wouldn't let him out. Days gone by and Rahm survived in the darkness of her basement by eating the few fungi that grew there. After two weeks, he ran out of food. After three weeks, he screamed for his life. The caparii extremist came to the trapdoor and spoke through it. Rahm begged her to find some way to agree with his release. She then asked him. "If I let you out, will you continue to mingle?" Rahm was a fair person, never told a lie, and so he said. "Yes, this is what I do. I swore an oath to teach anyone who want to be taught, for the men from the village were so kind to teach me their common tongue and thus open a world of knowledge for me. Ever since I was taught to speak the common language, I have wanted to teach others the wisdom I have gathered in my Caparii life." She spit at the trapdoor. "FOOL!" Rahm heard her nails scratch on the trapdoor. Both Caparii were bound not to hurt each other. Bound by their beliefs in Shalheranna. So she clawed at the trapdoor instead. When she calmed down, she chuckled. "Oh well then... I will release you on one condition. You shall never speak Fae again. If you love the other races so much, then you shall only speak their language." This way, the extremist witch was sure he would not be seen as a true Caparii, for he could not speak the native language, and thus he could not put the race to shame with his awkward way of behaving. "I..." Rahm didn't know what to answer. He wanted to be released, but he also wanted to remain himself, which he could not be if he vowed not to speak his native tongue again. "DO not HESITATE!" The witch cried, chuckling awfully. "Alright!" Rahm panicked. "I vow... I vow never to speak Fae again! Now let me go!" He banged his fists on the trapdoor. The extremist Caparii laughed an awful cackle. She flung the trapdoor open and shouted down towards Rahm, blocking out the light. "If you dare speak Fae again, and sully our magnificent divine race, I will take from you, by the power of Shalheranna, your Caparii soul!" She cursed him, then she took a step back. Rahm's eyes had to adjust to the light coming from the gap. He was incredibly thin from hunger, but managed to climb out. The witch extremist just laughed at him while he ran away like a cripple. Thoughts shooting through his head. {I have made an oath to teach everyone that is in need of teaching, I could not break the oath. But now my oath has led me to swear a vow not to speak Fae ever again! Am I losing myself by the very oath I thought defined me?}
He ran and ran and even onward, until the snow of the north stopped him. There he fell to his knees and sank down, too tired to move one more muscle...
He awoke from the sound of rolling stones. Or was it something else, voices? the sound changed a bit as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and saw vague silhouette's of short people standing around him. Their skin reflected the bright sunlight in the white snow. Or was it their armor? "He's done got his mind back, lads!" He heard one shout. "By Korog! A thin fella aren't ye?" They said to him. "Take some mead, lad! and some pork right off 'ta bone!" The last Dwarf said as he handed him some food and drinks. Rahm took them without hesitation. "Thank you very much. You are so kind." He said in common, still remembering his vow and curse. The Dwarves laughed as a warm fire that's heated by the wind. "He speaks common eh?" They laughed again. "Ye, Caparii, ye come with us to Korog's Standing. I bet ye Dwarf King Seth will give ye a warm welcome!" They first went to Tahkul-Rimtar, a Dwarven outpost where all the Dwarven knowledge was stored. This town was closer, so Rahm could first gain strength before going to Korog's Standing. But when Rahm got his strength back, he did not want to leave Tahkul-Rimtar. He wanted to learn more from the books he had read. So the three Dwarves took their leave from Tahkul-Rimtar and left him to read the books...
After a while, Rahm had read all public books and went away, to roam the wilderness once again. From this point history about Rahm is known. He went back from his journey through the wilderness, only to find Tahkul-Rimtar abandoned and fallen into ruin. He then took up residence in a tree-home close to the ruins. He wrote many books, before he got noticed as a well known scribe. He then served the queen as her personal scribe and wrote on her epic wars and heroic acts. During one of these events, he was on board a war air-ship. Being on it, he had to contribute to the war, not just by writing about it. A captain screamed orders; it was Kharn Sicarus (Warwolf ), captain of the largest air-ship of Altera. "Fill the powder-sacks, ready the cannons, fire on my command!" He shouted. Rahm, and all others on the ship, did as he commanded. All cannons fired at the same time, a giant explosion of sound. Rahm looked around after the loud bang, and saw the cannon next to him had imploded. He looked confused and went to rub his face to clear the confusion. His right hand did not meet his face, but a gap where his jaw used to be. From the huge amount of adrenaline, Rahm did not notice the shards of the cannon next to him flying across the hull and bashing off half of his face. Noticing it now, the pain kicked in and he fell unconscious.
He woke up in the hospital tent of Queen Leminth, who was just addressing the soldiers there about a portal they had to destroy, a portal of Queen Grief, their nemesis. He wanted to get up, but was pushed back down and ordered to rest. Luckily, the doctors were able to heal some of his jaw so he would be able to talk in a few months time, but his face and broken horn would forever be messed up. Years passed and Rahm continued to serve Queen Leminth in recording history and tending to the Royal Library of Port Silver...
Now, Christopher, the man that came to the desk of Rahm Kennysson, had a request. He asked Rahm to help a small Caparii, a child, learn the common tongue. It seemed as though he found the Caparii very recently. The small child had scars all over her face and her left horn was cut off by a weapon of sorts. Rahm looked at her and crouched to meet her face. "A small little one, aren't ye?" He said in Common. Christopher sighed. "haven't I told you. she speaks no common tongue!" Rahm nodded. Yes, he knew... He stared at the caparii walking curiously through the library. "I will give you a book! there she can learn it from!" Rahm then said, but Christopher was skeptical. "A book? Can't you just teach her?" he said. Then Rahm walked away to find the book, but froze right to the ground when he heard the small Caparii ask the man in Fae for food. Christopher could not understand... How could Rahm leave a small child to starve and die? One that had seen such hardship already, seeing the scars on her face. Rahm sighed and tears filled his eyes. He looked at her over his shoulder, then turned around and slowly walked up to her. He crouched and while he did so, tears made the fur under his eyes wet. He then spoke, he spoke in Fae. "I will help you, little one." and then he collapsed, crying, for he has let the terrible curse of the witch unleashed upon him. Christopher nor the Caparii did understand. But he send them off, to return some other time for the lesson.
Now, to find a way to counter the curse that has been bestowed upon him, he reaches for Dav'id and Chalkan Engem. They preach to get back to your roots and this is what Rahm believes he needs. He wants to get as close to his Caparii roots as possible and prays to Shalheranna whenever he can, to make the curse upon him harder to succeed. For by now the evil witch must have felt the curse has been put in motion...
The Journey
(from now on, it's not backstory but happened rp)
Rahm had to find Chalkan to become part of the Engem Clan. He decided to travel to Hound-Ru with a host of people, a dwarf, a greyling, even a nakat, anyone, so that they might hear wisdom in Chalkan's words as well. They set off at Vera Vigi, where they traveled the sea northwards for a day. At night they made camp at a wreckage of an old ship "The Tidebreaker". There, one of the men told a story about missing kinsmen and a giant seamonster... After the story, the men and women went to bed, while the Dwarf King Seth took watch. @Seth_Jenkins
The Dwarf puffed out several plumes of smoke into the night air from a weathered pipe, bored... "So dwarf..." Someone sayed. He adjusted the pipe to the corner of his mouth to speak. "Aye, Greylin'?" "How about I take the first watch. I am nocturnal, it should be rather easy for me." "How about ae gae find somethin' ter stub me toe on violently..." "If that is what you enjoy doing I'll happily oblige you and make you unoccupied." "Ach, yer can gae take ae bloomin' nap Greylin'"
He turned in his chair, adjusting his pipe again in his mouth. King Seth looked over at the shipwreck full of silent sleeping people, then swore at the rain. He moved himself to under the trunk of a tree to stay out of the rain. From there, he watched the sputtering fire. As the rain increased, the glowing embers crackle and diminish, the Dwarf sighed; "'nother thing ter do for t'e mornin'..."
They walked through the desert the next day, only twice did they get a relief from the awful burning sun. Once a mighty tree shaded them, the other time the navigator Lemarc (Lemarc ) got them to an oasis. They refreshed in the oasis and refilled their water. The child Sheila made a special construction with palm leaves and Rahm's horns to get him some shade. @bettemus99 . While they left from the oasis, slowly a sandstorm rose and became more and more intense. On their way out, they lost half of the party. A crew went back to find them when the storm stopped. Luckily all arrived in the shelter of their camp. The next day, after a trip through a forest, they arrived at Hound-Ru...
Chalkan Engem.
Chalkan held a short speech, very inspiring to Rahm, though some of the adventurers were bored and did not pay much attention. After his speech, Chalkan asked Rahm why he came all the way to Hound-Ru of all places. Rahm, for the first time in his life, as he saw no other way of explaining why he wanted to join the Engems, told his story. His history from joining towns to leaving the witch with a curse on his soul. Chalkan asked him several other questions before he was sure. He told Rahm to stay for the night. the next morning, Chalkan would get him and they would have a ritual to become an Engem.
The morning broke and the ritual was done. Rahm Kennysson had become Rahm Engem. To show the world his devotion and to stay true to his new Engem beliefs, he let Chalkan give him tattoos. The first tattoo given was on his right arm, which showed patterns of nature with the phrase "Through my nature as I am, my connection with Shalheranna." The second tattoo given was on his left arm also with patterns of nature, but this time for his roots. A forest from which the Caparii were made by Shalheranna, along with the phrase: "Made by the divine, yet keepers of her crafts." The third tattoo was around his waste up to his shoulders, a circle. It standing for the circle of friends that one has to hold close, also for the circle from which one must keep its enemies. The phrase along with it: "My way is with my roots, through that, I determine my allies." The fourth tattoo was on his face, a set of tribal shapes, underneath his eyes in small letters: "I determine where to look, but my mind what to see." As a reminder that knowledge in the end allows you to see things that some without knowledge cannot see. The fifth and last was an engraving on his hooves, with no phrase, just the words: "walk" on the first hove and "On" on the second...
During the giving of the tattoos, Chalkan offered Rahm to become their druid, as a profession. Of course, with his devotion to Shalheranna, he accepted. He knew he could not stay in Port Silver to be a librarian and decided to devote his life, for the sake of his Caparii soul, to Shalheranna and to his roots, through being a druid for the Engems.
The Undead approach
To all good things must come an end, and so also to the Engems. In the end, the true Engems retreated further and further into their highlands as new idealistic Engems changed their culture and their ways of life. Rahm saw this happening and decided not to follow the true Engems nor the new Engems, but to retreat to solitude. He has done so for many years, until something happened to Altera.
While going about his daily business, he felt a hostile presence. He saw it from afar and smelled a rotting scent. As he moved to strike it, he noticed the hostile was undead, a creature of Skraag. With distaste he jerked his weapon out of its skull. After this first meeting, he became alert. Before too long there were ten of them walking through his forest. Then even more came! Rahm, like all others in Altera, was pushed away from his home by the endless wave of undead creatures...
Maddened by the sights of these horrors in his sleep, haunted by these nightmares, he retreated further and further into the forest. This went on until he happened upon a wooden fort with a white flag waving above it, on it; a brown tree. From afar, he saw the inhabitants fight against the undead, to eventually be driven to a rickety raft, which they used to peddle themselves to safety; to the north. Rahm shouted to get their attention, but they were too occupied to notice him. He saw them leave, and with them he saw his hopes to ever leave this world alive fade away...
Then suddenly, in the corner of his eye, there was another raft! Savages occupied it. He swam towards it and dragged himself aboard. The savages daunted by the sight of this large wild caparii, let him on board. Rahm figured out they used a common language, mixed with mostly bodily expressions. He stayed with them for a while, and found a strange appeal to them. They were the embodiment of Rahm's earlier thoughts. They were everything society was not. They went against all laws and rules Rahm ever learned. They were, in Rahm's eyes, truly one with nature. Rahm adopted their ways and in a ritual to join their ranks, he scratched out all the tattoos he had, which reminded the savages of a world with cities and rules.
The savages settled in a different place every week, having to flee from the undead as they marched relentlessly towards the north. Rahm, though maddened, still had some intellect left. He persuaded a large broad shouldered man, named Victor (The Tottot ) to take him with him to a new world. Rahm then informed the savages to hide themselves among the crates and supplies of the ships that sailed away, packed with people. Making use of Victor, Rahm set foot on the new shores and ran off, together with his tribe, to settle on an island in the south...
Savage Times
Their tribe prospered. These early times in the new world, there were many people exploring. Alone, or in small groups. These were the tribe's main source of food and materials. The explorers came with rafts, small boats, larger boats. Sometimes packed with rope, flint and steel, repair materials for the boat, wood and nails. Rahm started off by eating the explorers' supplies; the sea-biscuit and the dried fruits. But he found himself frowned upon. At times, the savages of the tribe he was in even became aggressive to him for not adopting their ways truly, after the initiation. They forced him, he had to eat meat...
And not just any meat. Rahm knew of the savages' diet. Their lust for human flesh. He saw in their cannibalism a lot of truths. Rahm was taught by the tribe that an animal will view a man as a beast, and the other way around. So why don't we view ourselves as such too? What makes an animal life or meat better than a human's? On top of that, he saw the strongest men of the tribe ate the best parts of the humans. It was as if they got their strength from eating the strength of others... Rahm turned to cannibalism in time. Twisting his mind into a being that was far from the Rahm he used to be...
As the new world was mapped over the course of a few years, the island Rahm was on remained a black spot on the world map. It was a place of mystery, and as such attracted attention. People wanted to know what was out there. They heard stories of unspeakable horrors from those that survived to tell the tale. They heard stories of treasure from the explorers that had been in the belly of the island, in the deep dark caves that were home to the savages. Before too long, Rahm's island was known as Horror Island.
The treasures, the danger and a chance to make a name for oneself lured many warriors and hunters to the island. They were hunting for cannibal-heads and the artifacts they had stolen from the early explorers of the new world. Rahm came across these men and women more often as the year grew older. From these meetings, he learned his best bet to stay out of harm's way was to trade with them. If they wanted information on the where-abouts of treasure, Rahm would trade it for an item, or for a bodily sacrifice; he had a hunger for people's pinkies. But Rahm did not get out of all encounters unharmed. There were times the aggressive visitors just came for a fight, and he gave them just that. He stamped his hooves and waved his horns in the air in an aggressive display. Several times he charged, horns first. Some times he trampled the aggressor to death. Rahm had taken to killing others by the time the horror island was mapped...
Redemption
Years of darkness, memories of the undead, eating meat, killing people, thirsting for blood. They left a strong impression on Rahm's outer and inner self. He twitched very often, he bloated like a goat, he yelled; he was truly savage. By the time he was reunited with an old family member of the engem tribe, he looked truly evil. His jaw shattered from the incident with Queen Grief, his Engem tattoos scratched out into scars, his broken horn, blind in one eye and all his fur tangled into knots and blotted with dried blood and other filth. It was Wayne Engem (Zenrak ) who found him in this state, deep beneath the surface of the island...
Rahm twitched at the sound of his name: "Rahm? Is that you?" Resounded through the cold cave. The echoes of a weapon dropping on the stone floor vibrated through the dark. "Rahm, what have you done to yourself?" Wayne insisted to communicate. "I leave you be, you leave me be, go now, go!" Rahm replied in despair, conflicted by his former self now introducing itself. "I'm not leaving without helping you. Come back with us, Rahm." Rahm breezed and stamped his hooves on the rocks; aggressive display again, the beast he had become.
Wayne left that day with a sore heart and a dry throat. Rahm stayed with his thoughts even more conflicted than they were before. Wayne Engem had planted a seed in Rahm's mind. A seed that found soil to grow from, as Rahm's former self flashed before his eyes. He saw his old home-tree again on the slopes of the Highlands of Hound-Ru. He saw hundreds of books lined up, perfectly categorized in the Royal Library of Port Silver. He heard Queen Leminth speaking to an army of brave heroes as they stood before the portals of Grief. But these images and sounds were broken, as pieces of several jigsaw puzzles all piled on one heap. Yet, they stayed in his mind.
Rahm was now certain: He wanted to return to his former life. But how? He knew he had to get in touch with someone who was not a cannibal and he knew just how to do it. There was a colony south of the island, of men and women who came to establish a settlement. He went there, one dark night, when the wind deafened all other sounds. He took a colonist; a woman by the name of Apricot (Samiwashere ) and dragged her to the cells where the savages prepared their human meat. He locked her inside, to watch her and observe her. To force her to show and teach him how to come back to people that were not cannibals. "W-what do you want?!" she squealed as she woke up in the cell. "Show me how to come back to you" Rahm said in reply. But she had no idea what he was going on about. Not being able to help, Rahm mimicked her every move, trying to be like her.
Of course, this did not go unnoticed. The colonists rallied up a host of men and women who were brave enough to go to the island and find the missing girl. Among these people were two Engems; Wayne and Dav'id (Goldengem25 ). They found Rahm, where he always was, in his cave. Rahm pleaded for them to help him come back to them, to save his twisted mind. They agreed if he'd show them to the girl. Remarkably, nobody attacked Rahm or tried to hurt him. He showed the group to the girl and they freed her. Rahm, thankful for the Engem's willingness to help, went with them. They took him into the nature, to a beautiful spot. There, he was told to do things to redeem himself and to meditate for two weeks, until they returned. Their cryptic way of saying things first confused Rahm, but he was sure; "This will be my redemption."
The endless road of redemption:
Through meditation and conversation with Dav'id, Rahm found out why he had gotten so mad. It was not only the sight of the undead; it was the Caparii witch's curse. She cursed him to take his Caparii soul if he broke his vow. Now, in this new world, his soul was taken from him. He ate meat, he was aggressive, he got joy from harming others. It was the only things he did and all he did, very much unlike a Caparius. Dav'id and Wayne now showed Rahm his first baby-steps to redemption, for "The road to redemption is infinite, Rahm." They spoke...
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