Posted by Grallon on May 9, 2000 at 05:49:16:
In Reply to: *frown* posted by Grallon on May 9, 2000 at 05:47:48:
*******added rank 1 hour 0**** Role + From these early conjectures, we come upon the oldest physical proof, found
Role + ENCYCLOPAEDA HETERODOX
Role + Historical Entry: deSzendrianen, Erlien
Role +
Role + One of the most enigmatic figures of the later days of the War,
Role + Little is known of her personal life, and amazingly enough, even
Role + less is known of her actual specific role in the closing days of the War.
Role + It is rumored that the Tower had held files on her life and actions, but
Role + unfortunately any documents held therein were lost in the Great Sacking.
Role +
Role + What is known for certain, is that there is at least some basis for the almost
Role + folk-story status that most of the tales of her accomplishments have turned into.
Role + Considering the preponderance of second hand information and sketchy half
Role + destroyed documents that have survived from that day, it seems plausible that
Role + at the very least, she played a large part in the planning and execution of many
Role + of the greatest victories achieved by the great warriors of the War.
Role +
Role + Despite the obviously mythical and exaggeratory nature of most of the “feats”
Role + ascribed to Erlien, it has proved possible through extensive research, with a
Role + fair amount of extrapolation based on the social, economic, and political
Role + situations of the day, to piece together an almost complete “history” of her
Role + life and actions. You are urged to understand the level of conjecture required
Role + to rebuild the life of a figure of such antiquity that has so much dogma attached.
Role +
Role + Hatched to a widower on the coast of the recently rediscovered village of Szendr
Role + it is apparent that, despite recent rumor and conjecture, she grew her formative
Role + years in a relatively calm and complacent life, devoid of any mystical “miracles”
Role + affiliated to her youth. If she was outstanding in early life at all, it was only by
Role + Virtue of how quickly she grasped the concepts of Offence and Defense in war
Role + which her father, a retired soldier, taught to the local corps of village defenders.
Role +
Role + When she was still a young chick, barely large enough to support her own weight
Role + on her wings, her father had fallen ill and was delusional and bed ridden. It happened
Role + that a village nearby, which was an historical competitor for food with Szendr, chose
Role + this time to mount an attack on the food storage units that the Szendrianen’s had
Role + stock piled for winter. The village leaders came to her father for advice on how to
Role + meet the enemy, but Erlien stopped them from entering the room, insisting that only
Role + she disturb him…so she entered the room and put forth the question to him.
Role +
Role + Immediately he started babbling nonsense in his delusion, spouting tactics that would
Role + be absolutely disastrous should they be enacted. After calming down her father, Erlien
Role + found, to her horror, that the Village elders had entered the room behind her, and had
Role + heard the destructive tactics advice from her father…and were now discussing their
Role + implementation. She alone saw the folly in said tactics, and tried valiantly to convince
Role + the Elders to change tactics…for she had a plan that would be almost fool-proof…
Role + Unfortunately for her village, and her Father, they chuckled and continued preparing
Role + to act on her Father’s advice.
Role +
Role + The outcome was disastrous. The Village lost all of its provisions for what would prove
Role + to be one of the hardest winters on record. It is during this winter, that it is believed Erlien
Role + acquired her skill at stealth, organizing the children of the village into a covert force to
Role + infiltrate the enemy village and bring back through stealth enough food to keep people
Role + alive.
Role +
Role + After the winter was over, the Village council placed the forty five deaths due to starvation
Role + on the head of Erlien’s father, and she was forced to watch him executed by electric shock
Role + from the village mage. It is believed that it is this occurrence that lead to her to struggle the
Role + remainder of her life to bring to death every mage she met…as well as being the motivating
Role + cause for her base distrust of any sort of civilization.
Role +
Role + It is at this time, that she abandoned her Village. Historical tradition has her making a moving
Role + speech to the Village Elders, condemning them for cowardice and stupidity, and announcing
Role + what History claims as her “First Prognostication” claiming she would find a Village worthy
Role + of her and her knowledge and skill in combat, and that they would heed her advice and it
Role + would lead them to an eventual Victory.
Role +
Role + While the exact words of the speech have been lost in antiquity, it can be assumed with almost
Role + assured validity that she did in fact make the speech…for by all accounts from her enemies and
Role + allies, she was more than a little verbose when she believed she was in the right.
Role +
Role + It is at this time when she makes her entrance into the actual annals of history, making her way
Role + to the seat of power of the remnants of the Mages of order, in order to find the Village of which
Role + she spoke.
****added when I got into the village******
Role + recently in an excavation at the site of Old Galadon. What was found are scraps
Role + of records from everyday life: A butcher shop ledger, and the registry at the local
Role + assassin's guild.
Role +
Role + For many years this proof of her entry into the area around the Tower known as
Role + "Thera" is the only record we have of her existence. It is a good five years
Role + before she is first listed in the Rolls of Battle. What she did during this time
Role + has been a subject of myth and mystery since the Tower fell. There is no proof
Role + however to back up even the most mild of miracles attributed to this time in her
Role + life. The only thing that can be said for certain is that these formative years
Role + were spent in large part in constant combat. Tower records of her" disruptive
Role + exploits" to use the Tower term abound with accounts of skill in combat that
Role + could only have been learned through battle.
Role +
Role + As we move forward in time, the facts of her active life become clearer and
Role + easier to confirm.
Role +
Role + Let us take the common myth of her famous lesbian exploits. While there are zero
Role + confirmed reports of any lesbian activity, or blatant sexual activity for that matter
Role + there are records of her words that would lead one to believe that she was almost
Role + militantly Amazonian in her view towards the value of most males.
Role +
Role + (for a complete psychological profile, referencing her "father trauma "as well as
Role + her need for acceptance, please read the 'Minds of barbarians', a companion
Role + volume to this Encyclopeadia)
Role +
Role + Other myths, such as her intellectual debate with Balgrimnr and her thought
Role + consuming rage at times in the presence of mages and servants, seem to contradict
Role + each other to such an extent that without physical records, it would be extremely
Role + difficult to verify or otherwise lend much credence to their historical validity.
Role +
Role + Most of the records that survive from this era of her life show her struggling to
Role + understand the various ways of death and victory in the world of her day.
Role + By the sheer variety and number of her battles, it can be seen that she would
Role + throw herself into almost any situation hoping to learn anything she could of
Role + survival or victory.