Characters/PCs/Yule
From Westaven
[edit] Yule
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Race: Aenean Male
Base: Pollexia; Eneini; Eneini
958 -
[edit] History
Fall, 957 AE. It was a season of viscous weather that ravaged the Pollexian coastline and the inhabitants of Eneini alike. It came to be known in the local sailor dialect as a "yule"--a squall of intense proportion, a whirlwind, a tempest. The largest number of lost ships long to date was that fall. The day a sailor along with the rest of the crew found Eneini’s port as a safe haven from the sea that almost took their lives just before they docked their ship in the harbor. The men, drunk with both rum and life, celebrated their near death experience. That was the night a young barmaid was taken by a smooth-talking sailor with two different colored eyes. She spent just one night with this young sailor, never see him again or even learn his last name, for he sailed from her shore before dawn, already overdue in his ship's port destination.
A fleeing moment of youthful passion left this young barmaid pregnant and without a father for her unborn child. She bore the child and named him Yule after the storm that brought his father into port. She loved her child and always went down to the docks when the weather looked as if the gods wanted to drown the world with their storms, fleetingly hoping that Yule’s father would return. The months turned into years. Yule grew without a father. His mother's love overshadowed the fact that her son was bastard-born; however, Yule always longed to meet his father, the man with two different color eyes just like himself, one green and one blue.
Then, one storm too many later his mother became ill after countless nights at the docks waiting for his father. Why she never moved on to another relationship will always be a mystery to Yule. The illness moved quickly, making his mother bedridden. Yule was only 16 when this happened. He did what he could for his mother until the night she passed away. Yule was filled with anger for the bastard father who never returned, and he vowed to find that sailor before he took his last breath.
Soon Yule found himself homeless and without family to support him. He was well known on the docks and did minor jobs to keep food in his stomach. Soon the odd jobs and grace for the orphan child diminished and Yule’s newfound anger drove him to the life of a dock thug. He preyed on the weak and elderly, since his skills were poor at best. Soon he joined other misguided youths on board ship to put food on his plate, and in time his natural skills with a sword outweighed his skills on deck. They soon used those skills to fill their purses and toss back some scraps to keep Yule employed.
This went on for years, this downward spiral of life. The weather was nasty, so Yule went down to the docks to pay his father a visit in the event that his ship docked that night. There he saw an old man cloaked and well dressed. Yule’s anger and greed at this mugging opportunity were running strong this night. Yule slipped off into the shadows and jumped the old man. To Yule’s surprise this old man did not frighten or flinch to his attacker, and it seemed that he closed the gap between them. He was armed with nothing more then a cane. Yule grinned and offered the old man his life for his money. The old man smiled back and told Yule that one could not bargain with something one did not possess. Yule, a bit unnerved at the old man's calm, claimed that he would have his life if he didn’t give up his wealth and quickly. Somehow, the old man inched forward again. This unnerved Yule even more, since there was not even an ounce of fear in the man. Yule drew his dagger to make his point more real. The old man shook his head but once, and with the speed of a striking snake he disarmed Yule with his cane. This infuriated Yule into drawing his other dagger, only to endure the same result accompanied by a chuckle from the old man. Disarmed and embarrassed, Yule lunged forward only to be struck again with the cane with the accuracy of a master swordsman. This rattled Yule, but he was still standing. Yule then cried out, “Your luck is over old man!” and lunged again. Due to its speed, the boy didn’t even see the blow that put him to his knees.
On his knees Yule could first see stars, then his life started to rush over him like the tides. Soon he saw his childhood and what a happy boy he and his mother were together, and he saw all that she gave to make him a good son. Her sacrificing love flooded his emotions. Then the reality of the last three years took hold. He was embarrassed at what he had become as a man--far less than what he had been as a boy. On his knees tears started flowing from his Yule’s eyes, and the old man must have looked into the boy’s soul through those watery eyes. He could see the boy in the man. The old man gave him a hand up and told him to go home. Yule stood and did what he was told.
The next months were lean months since Yule had decided that very night that he would starve to death before he would take from the weak or steal again. He only worked honest labor since the night with the old man. He saw the old man around town, but always he bowed his head in shame. The old man took an interest in Yule and watched his change of venue with curiosity.
Then it happened. Yule walked into some other dock thugs mugging an unsuspecting sailor. Yule tried to stop the men from robbing and beating the man, but Yule, the new found savior, was soon punished for standing against the angry dock thugs. Beaten down and dripping with his own blood he limped to the old man and knocked on his door. Without a word the old man mended to his wounds and asked him if he would like some work. Yule nodded his head.
He worked for weeks for the old man until no chore was allowed to pass that Yule did not do for his new found father, a man named Tyrouse. Yule stayed with the old man for two years until Tyrouse saw the anger leave and the boy return. With this new spirit the old man yearned to teach the gift of the sword to this obviously gifted young man. One early morning after his chores the old man asked him if he was ready to learn and "do what is good in this world." Tyrouse reminded him of the beating he received trying to save the other man. "You, Yule, have a good heart and the making of a great swordsman. I can teach you this only if you use it for what is good and no other reason." With a grin Yule's training began.
Yule was relentless in his study. Far more than Tyrouse could have dreamed did his pupil's skills progress. He never missed a day without training or letting it interfere with his daily chores. Yule’s skills were unmatched by any other student that the old man ever trained before. Seven years of intense training Yule studied under his master with only the payment as a house servant.
As Yule’s skills improved with the sword, and as the wars of Pollexia against Lognia reached their peak, Yule asked Tyrouse if he should soldier for his country. The Master said simply:
“Men are weak and their hunger for power is strong.” Then he paused for what seemed an eternity, finally uttering, “Men become kings either by the sword or by birth, and many are corrupted by this power, leading to doom for themselves and for all around them.” Looking Yule deeply in the eyes he almost whispered, “They all need power to keep peace or domination. The line is not easy to see, depending on which side of it you stand. Therefore as yourself this: is the current war of this nation for land, for good, for power? Is it for peace or domination?” He sighed. “After the birth of kings soon is born the child named war. There will always be a war to fight and king to follow. What the world needs are ‘warriors for the good,’ and these men follow no king or selfish desire.” Tyrouse grinned and put his hand on Yule’s shoulder. “You are not a soldier, my young swordsman, you are a redeemer for goodness.” With eyes filling up like small pools with every passing raindrop Tyrouse said, “I have spilled blood for kings of different banners, and I can see their faces in my dreams as their life slipped away from them like the sea breeze, never to return to their lungs again.” Yule never witnessed again the emotion he saw that day from Tyrouse. Yule inquired with eagerness to know more of his Master’s past, but he was merely told, “Betrayal opened my eyes to leave my land and country to start again anew, far from my home. Here I would be a ‘warrior for good’ who answers to no one king and no one man.” Then, obviously realizing he said too much of his past, Tyrouse slapped his knee and said, “You are not a master yet! Get back to your training.”
Eventually the day arrived when Tyrouse said he needed to go for reasons that "cannot be shared." With a smile they embraced as master and student on the docks of Eneini, not fifty feet from where they had first met years before. "Yule, it is your time to make the world a better place. Go out, leave my house as I myself leave it. You are the most talented student I have ever trained. We will come back here in the future, where I will wish to hear of your heroic deeds and see how you have grown from boy to thug to man and--now--to a warrior for good. I will meet you here in one year’s time." Yule could not speak, since any words would have turned into tears, so he returned his most heart felt grin--perhaps his lip quivering a bit--as his master sailed out of the harbor.
Within six months Yule met Shimtalk……and history writes itself.
Now, after the passing of many years with Master Tyrouse, Yule no longer wants to punish his father, since he realizes the man never knew he had fathered a son. And yet, Yule has a deep rooted passion to meet this man--for no other reason than to tell him that he had a son and to claim his last name.
