Characters/PCs/Davlin Hargold
From Westaven
[edit] Davlin Hargold
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Race: Aenean Male
Base: Pollexia; Hadrian; Tipperary
21 April 950 - 7 October 985
[edit] Description
The first thing people noticed about Davlin were his green eyes, not the muddy green one so often sees but the luminous green of tree leaves at noon. Set amid the slightly gaunt light umber of his face and the deep black of his hair and beard, Davlin’s eyes fairly jumped out and often caught strangers off guard. Some of this effect lessened as the “Kovath Snow,” a family name for the white hair so prevelent on the Kovath side of Davlin's family, crept into his hair and beard. However, even his eyes could not hold one’s attention for long; invariably strangers’ eyes were drawn to the deep and jagged scar that raced from above his right temple to just below his eye. At 5'11" Davlin stood slightly taller than most but at 150 lbs he seemed almost too thin. Although certainly not handsome and far from ugly, Davlin’s was a face that was rather hard to forget.
[edit] Brief History
Davlin was born in Hadrian to Torson Hargold of Hadrian and Janæl Kovath of Civnadia. Torvald Hargold of Hadrian and Areth Brackton of Tipperary were his father's parents. Bryn Kovath and Namia Tweldon, both of Civnadia, were his mother's parents. Davlin was born the youngest of three sons, although he only knew his oldest brother, Osseric, having never known about Gereth.
Because of Davlin's ability to conjure fire, his parents gave him into the hands of the priests at the temple of Altuth in Hadrian. He studied under the direction of Priest Ulta for a number of years. He later had a falling out with the elders at the temple and was expelled. He continued his study of magic with the help of mages he could find during his travels which included a visit to Dorish of Fallstaf.
Davlin had been living in Tipperary when he received word that his mother, Janæl, was dying. He rushed to Hadrian where found his mother comatose from the effects of copper rod seeds. Davlin revived his mother and remained at her side until the "city guard" came seeking Davlin. Davlin escaped capture with the help of Magrest, Jass, Shimtalk and Borist. Shimtalk later revealed that he believed the "city guards," whom Davlin had recognized as being thugs in disguise, were actually hired by Osseric.
Shimtalk took Davlin to Eneini where he was reunited with another former student of the priests, Gelash. Davlin and Gelash joined Shimtalk along with Eaidig and Yule to hunt down and capture the thieves who had ambushed Shimtalk and Borist and susequently killed Borist. After the failed attempt to rescue the young thief Tormby from Gharvsmin, a priest of Gharv; Davlin accompanied Shimtalk and the others back to Eneini. The same day of their return to Eneini, Davlin was killed in the Eneini Merchants Guild Hall by Marshall Wovsy.
[edit] History
The following was taken from Davlin's journals in Tipperary.
[edit] Significant Event Time Line
| ? | Hargold family flees the area near the Blacken River in Odalisk and resettles in the kingdom of Hadrian. | |
| 894 | Torvald Hargold is born in Hadrian. | |
| 896 | Areth Brackton is born in Tipperary. | |
| 901 | Bryn Kovath is born in Civnadia | |
| 903 | Namia Tweldon is born in Civnadia. | |
| 916 | Torvald and Areth marry in Hadrian, Torvald begins running merchandise between Lallyx, Tipperary and Hadrian. | |
| 917 | Torson Hargold is born in Hadrian to Torvald and Areth. Areth dies due to complications during the labor. | |
| 922 | Bryn Kovath and Namia Tweldon marry in Civnadia shortly after the new year. Janæl Kovath is born later that same year. | |
| 925 | Bryn inherits his father’s fields to the NW of Civnadia. | |
| 933 | Torson Hargold begins managing his father’s business in Hadrian. | |
| 934 | Torson convinces his father to expand their trading south to Civnadia and Nosrick. Torvald gives Torson full responsibility for all business from Hadrian southward. | |
| 941 | Torson Hargold and Janæl Kovath marry in Hadrian. | |
| 942 | 9 August Osseric Hargold is born in Hadrian. | |
| 948 | 24 January Gereth Hargold is born and dies in Civnadia. | |
| 950 | 20 March Davlin Hargold is born in Hadrian. | |
| 954 | Bryn Kovath dies suddenly of a heart attack, Namia dies within days of a “broken heart.” Janæl inherits the family lands in Civnadia. She convinces Torson to move the family to Civnadia. | |
| 1 | Davlin discovers the joy of fire. | |
| 955 | 2 | In an effort to hide Davlin’s interest in fire, Torson sends him to study with the priests in Hadrian. |
| 957 | Torvald Hargold dies leaving full responsibility for the family business on Torson. | |
| 958-967 | 3 | The Hargold family lives in Hadrian during the winter months and moves to Civnadia during the summer to allow for closer oversight of the fields there. Davlin continues his studies both in and out of the priests’ care. Osseric's distain for Davlin grows. |
| 967 | 4 | Davlin witnesses his father’s murder in Civnadia. Osseric forces Davlin to leave his studies with the priests by ensuring that he is conscripted into the Hadrian military. Osseric assumes full control of all the family’s holdings. |
| 968 | 5 | Davlin is discharged after proving that he is definitely not soldier material. He doesn’t leave entirely empty handed though, as he gained his distinctive scar while training. Davlin returns to his studies with the priests, suspecting but unable to prove that Osseric was behind his military stint. |
| 970 | 6 | Davlin is expelled from the temple in Hadrian. Davlin travels to his mother’s home in Civnadia. Osseric disowns Davlin. |
| 970-980 | 7 | Davlin seeks out other mages attempting to broaden his own skills and to rally the mages (and the public in general) in seeking acceptance of magery from all levels of society. He has small successes with the first but only dismal failure with the second. |
| 980-985 | 8 | Davlin withdraws from society and ceases to seek out his fellow mages. |
| 985 | 7 October 985 Davlin is killed. |
[edit] Narratives
[edit] The Joy of Fire
Terrible news has reached the Hargold home in Hadrian: Janæl’s father has died. Torson, ever the caring husband, gathered his family and traveled to Civnadia. Davlin was only four and terribly confused by all the crying and where was Grandpa Bryn? It seemed the funeral was barely over when Grandma Namia took to her bed. Merely two days after burying her husband, she too had passed away. Confusion upon confusion, mother had said that Grandma and Grandpa were gone and wouldn’t be coming back.
Unable to deal with the flood of emotions surging through the house and raging through his own mind, Davlin bolted through the kitchen and through the small grove of trees behind the house. He stumbled and fell on the old rocky hill where nothing grew and the last remains of an old tree stood against the sky. He felt as if the anger and pain in his heart would burn him up, it was as if fire filled his mind. Suddenly Davlin felt heat against his face and he looked up to see the old tree burning with intense flames. Davlin sat transfixed by the flickering light, he felt the tumult of emotions wash out of his mind and into the fire where they burned away leaving an empty void. The warmth of the fire rushed in and filled the void and where once pain had rage now warmth, the warmth of fire, filled Davlin with joy.
[edit] A Time to Learn
Davlin became facinated with fire. He constantly threw objects into the hearth to watch them be eaten by the dancing flames. Worse, small fires seemed to spring up around Davlin. These never did any real damage but the look of ecstacy on Davlin’s face when they did appear worried his parents. Being devout followers of Altuth, they turned to the priests for help. Would they take young Davlin in and train him in the ways of Altuth? With a regular payment from the Hargold silver, the priests in Hadrian were most willing to take charge of young Davlin. So it was that Davlin began his studies but in his new and cold stone home there was little chance for a fire to warm his heart.
[edit] Power and Loathing
After a year of having her son live alone in Hadrian, Janæl could not bear to have him stay away. Torson, not wanting to see Janæl pine for their son, made arrangements for a priest to continue Davlin’s training in Civnadia. With continued payments to the Hadrian temple and a stipend for the priest, Torson arranged for his son to return to Civnadia. It was not long after his return that Davlin learned to keep his fires secret. He began learning the rituals and prayers required to gain access to Altuth’s power. He found this to be terribly tedious; after all, he already had the ability to start fires so why should he learn the rituals and prayers to light the candles? Davlin continued to study under his superiors but instead of simply learning the dogma and rituals of Altuth, Davlin was always looking for the mechanics behind the ritual and so without realizing it the priests of Altuth began training a mage. Davlin also did his best to search out texts which, if incomplete and often full of invective, gave him at least a glimpse into the workings of mages.
The year of Davlin’s absence from Civnadia was, in Osseric’s mind, the best year of his life. Finally he had regained the center of attention that had been wrongly taken from him by his upstart brother. If that year was his best time, then the day that Osseric learned of Davlin’s imminent return was his worst. Torson, knowing that his sons would one day be trading on their own (surely Davlin wouldn’t want to become a priest), made sure that they received training in the use of weapons, “A staff for Davlin, if you do well you’ll one day carry a broadsword as I do on the road. And a shortsword for my short son Osseric. Don’t look so grumpy Osseric, you may still grow to be Davlin’s real big brother.” To add insult to injury, it was clear even at this young age that Davlin would always be taller than Osseric, not to mention that everyone always fawned over his beautiful green eyes. Is it any wonder that Davlin quickly found himself the target of an unseen tormentor? Osseric loved to see his younger brother in tears but loved it even more as suspicions never once fell on him as being the source of those tears. He even went to great to lengths to comfort his little brother, all the while planning his next attack on young Davlin.
[edit] Betrayal - 18 July 967
Whenever Torson was in Civnadia during the summers, he and Davlin would often spend evenings together in the sitting room. Davlin would seclude himself in a corner of the room working through his studies while Torson reviewed the needs of the fields and of his small army of merchants. On other evenings, they would walk through the fields exchanging news of the day. It was during such a walk that disaster struck again at the heart of the Hargold family. Torson had begun his inspection of the fields earlier in the day and Davlin, finally free of his venerated mentor, was hurrying from the house toward his father. It was then that a horseman emerged from the shadowy trees on the far side of the field. Davlin watched in disbelief as the man raised a crossbow and shot his father in the back. Apparently not realizing that he had been seen, the man wheeled the black horse about and headed for Civnadia. By the time that Davlin could reach Torson, there was little more that he could do than to hold his father in his arms as he died.
After informing his mother, Davlin set out for Civnadia to find Osseric. Osseric was often encouraged to spend the evenings with his father and Davlin but more often than not Osseric preferred to spend his evenings in the Three Cups Tavern and it was here that Davlin was headed. As he neared the tavern, Davlin saw Osseric speaking with a man astride a black horse. Dumbfounded, Davlin could only watch as the man galloped away to the south, a crossbow slung across his back. Could it be possible that Osseric had a hand in their father’s murder? If he did, Davlin knew that whatever evidence of it there was had ridden off with the horseman.
Davlin returned home to grieve with his mother but Osseric did not return until late the next morning and the news he bore did little to cheer Davlin. A thief had been killed south of Civnadia and among his gear a crossbow was found. Davlin had little doubt that his father’s killer was indeed dead but he also had little doubt that the one behind the murder was even now staring him in the face. “If only we had a way to show our appreciation that father’s killer did not get away with his crime,” lamented Osseric. Little did Davlin realize the import that one statement would have on his life.
Only one short month had passed since Torson’s death when a messenger from Hadrian arrived. He bore orders from Hadrian that one of the Hargold sons must serve Hadrian and Pollexia through service in the Hadrian army. Osseric protested that due to his father’s death, he was now repsonsible for the care of his mother and oversight of his father’s holdings. The Hargolds, however, wished to show their loyalty and appreciation for the protection of the king and the emperor so Davlin would serve in Osseric’s stead. Davlin’s first warning that his life was about to change drastically was when Osseric burst into the room where Davlin was studying with his tutor and announced, “Davlin, you can finally pull your weight around here and I can cut a monthly drain on the family silver. You have just joined the army! There’s a messenger downstairs waiting to take you back to Hadrian and your priest friend will be accompanying you as he’s no longer wanted here.”
[edit] Secrets Kept
It becomes quickly obvious to Davlin’s superiors that he’s not the best soldier in the world but skill isn’t exactly a requirement for infantry. Davlin’s lack of ability was drastically highlighted when an accident involving practice swords left him with a horrid gash which nearly claimed his right eye. When Davlin began telling his follow soldiers that he felt it was his duty to protect the innocent and that he just couldn’t support the idea of expanding Pollexia through conquest, his superiors overlooked his dissent because his hard working attitude inspired his comrades to excellence. However, when some of those same comrades began expressing sympathies similar to Davlin’s his superiors acted without hesitation and Davlin was promptly discharged. As he left, Davlin overhead his former superior wonder aloud, “Why would someone so poorly suited to this life volunteer for service?” Davlin certainly had not volunteered, he had been ordered into service but perhaps those orders didn’t originate in Hadrian but in Civnadia.
Davlin, rather than return in disgrace to Civnadia and risk the further attention of Osseric, went to the temple in Hadrian. There he convinced the priests to again take him under their care with the assurance that his mother would continue to pay for his care as his father had. True to his word, when Janæl recieved word from her son that he had returned to the priests and was now living among them she began secretly paying the required tribute of silver. While Davlin wrote to his mother about why he was discharged and why he would not return to Civnadia in disgrace, he never mentioned his suspicions about Osseric’s involvement in his father’s death nor his belief that Osseric had arranged for his conscription into the army.
[edit] Disgrace
At age twenty it was time for Davlin to prove his worth to the temple by proving his ability to use the marvelous powers granted by Altuth and to show that he could support himself and the temple. The second was simple, Davlin was exceptionally good at teaching for being so young (he had been instructing some of the youngest initiates at the temple for nearly a year now). His superiors were sure that Davlin would be a powerful priest capable of breathing new life into their slowly fading religious order. The day that Davlin dreaded was fast approaching. On his birthday Davlin was required to demonstrate his abilities in full sight of his mentors and his secret would be revealed. Davlin could accomplish all the tasks set him but not because Altuth had granted him access to her power because of his faith but because he had been able to draw on the power that constantly surrounded him to accomplish his tasks. Davlin was no priestly initiate but a mage, one of the horrid blasphemers he was so often told to despise. Davlin reasoned that if Altuth was so powerful then it was impossible for mages to steal her power and so mages were no more counterfeits than were the priests of the other gods. His careful study of the rituals used by the priests, the magical efforts of the fringe cults and, of course, the scant information he could find on mages seemed to back up his views.
In an effort to prevent yet another disgrace for himself, Davlin attempted to convince his superiors that his views were correct and that they should actually embrace the mages rather than shun and deride them. Appalled that such a promising student would have the temerity to propose such a blasphemous idea, Davlin was immediately confined to a bare cell to “purify his soul.” After a week of seclusion, with only meager meals, Davlin was freed from his “time of meditation.” Davlin was asked whether he could now see the error of his proposal. Much to their dismay, Davlin not only stood by his previous assertions but provided backing from their own libraries. Davlin quickly found himself back in a cell but within an hour he was back before those who had so recently been his instructors, mentors and friends. Without reading it, Davlin knew that the parchment on the table bore orders to expel him from the temple, excommunicate him and possibly worse. Before the formalities could begin, Davlin ignited the parchment on the table and those on the shelves behind the priests. In the ensuing confusion, Davlin fled the temple.
Unsure of whether his actions had branded him an outlaw, Davlin traveled cross country to Civnadia. Janæl secreted her son in her home. She learned that while the priests had not alerted anyone outside the temple of Davlin’s blasphemous actions, they were indeed seeking him and the wrath of Altuth awaited him when they finally found him. Janæl convinced the priests that avenging themselves on her son would alienate a very pious believer who was more than willing to continue making large donations to the temple. In exchange, the priests agreed to be content with Davlin’s self-imposed exile from the temples of Altuth.
Davlin, however, faced the most painful aspect of his actions in the temple when Osseric discovered that not only did Davlin not remain in the army but that he had returned to his studies and been expelled from the temple. Osseric forced his mother to reveal where she had secreted Davlin. Osseric then had Davlin dragged from the house and thrown into the road. There Osseric cursed his borther and proclaimed, “If you are not good enough for the army nor for the temple then you are certainly not good enough for this family! Get out!” Within a day the local magistrate had confirmed Osseric’s actions to disown Davlin and so it was that in a matter of weeks that Davlin was expelled from every home he had ever known.
[edit] Wandering
Over the next ten years, Davlin spent his time seeking out other mages in an attempt to learn from them and he also tried to convince anyone he meet that magery is a benefit to society rather than a source of evil. Davlin realized that people would respond better to someone who could heal wounds and ease illness and so focused his learning efforts into the healing arts. Davlin had moderate success with improving his skills but failed miserably in his efforts to rally public support of magery.
[edit] Settling Down
After ten years of rejection, Davlin withdraws from society. His only contact with anyone comes in brief brushes with the people of Tipperary where he tutors any of the villiage’s children for cheap and heals their injuries.
