[Kipi]

Alturiak (February) - 1349DR- The Year of the Bridle

Several townships were in danger and a hero's assistance was required. A crazed dragon was nearby, fully in the Rage, which caused them to act instinctively, blatantly ignoring their own intelligence. The dragon Hexamateles was certainly more than a match for many though and many villagers and would-be heroes had already been slain. Hexamateles was also depriving the locals of food and livestock and so, had to be swiftly dealt with.
The call for heroes spread far and wide, it wasn't long before Kylath was considering aiding the towns. His motivation wasn't mere greed as many others who were interested in this mammoth task, Kylath wished to make a difference and do a truly good thing.
Soon he traveled to the afflicted areas and met with others who had the intention of slaying Hexamateles. Fighting the dragon in greater numbers was likely to make the task easier and so enlisting the aid of a ranger, cleric and mage, the group set out to hunt their prey.
Upon entering a forest clearing the dragon swooped down on them. Its claws instantly killed the mage. The remaining three adventurers fought bravely against the beast but were fighting a losing battle, the cleric deserted them, fleeing for her life while Hexamateles was distracted.
Kylath dealt a massive blow to one of the dragon's front legs causing it to rear up on its hind legs and cry out in agony. By some fluke, one of the creature's claws smashed into and sliced through his breastplate. Kylath fell and the dragon limped away, the ranger followed assuming that Kylath was dead after suffering such a grievous injury and wanting to take the opportunity to destroy the dragon at its weakest hour.
He lapsed in and out of consciousness in great pain. However, Kylath was not alone, as he believed; he was being watched by a benevolent half-deva.
She'd been watching him for some time now, at first witnessing the progress of would-be dragon slayers and now this human who had struck a chord within her. She couldn't bear to see this man die but equally couldn't reveal her presence to the Primes. She saw that Kylath may not wake again and decided to take a risk, to heal him while he was unconscious and then disappearing before he awoke. This was best for everyone. She kneeled beside him and began the healing spell, making sure that it wouldn’t seem obvious that something unnatural had caused him to survive, Kylath woke just before the spell was complete and saw his benefactor and was awestruck by the being before him. He refused to let her leave and although the human was in no state to stop her, she didn’t really want to leave and the damage had already been done.
She introduced herself as Rhilassa, a traveling cleric who had heard the dragon’s anguished cries and rushed to see if she could help the local villagers assuming that it was attacking them again. Rhilassa had to make an excuse to leave despite her wish to tarry longer with Kylath. He also seemed disappointed in this, but she promised that she would visit again and he reluctantly let her go.

And so, this was the situation was for the next few months, with Rhilassa visiting Kylath for the odd day every few tendays. They talked for hours and couldn’t bear to be apart but her commanders in Elysium, one of the Upper Planes, forbade any kind of relationships with Primes, especially those that they had not sanctioned themselves. She had to be sure that they didn’t find out so she couldn’t spend too much time on the Prime Material Plane.
Gradually she built up her confidence to reveal her true nature to her friend, Kylath. He didn’t reject her, as she had feared, it was almost as if he had sensed there were secrets and was relieved that it didn’t turn out to be so much worse. The burden was now shared, as he had to keep Rhilassa’s presence secret from those he was now adventuring with, as she had to keep him secret from those she knew in her homeland. Despite these great problems, their relationship blossomed and they vowed to find a way to settle down together someday. This was given more urgency when the couple found out that Rhilassa was pregnant and they would soon have a child. With the gold he had earned from his many adventures, Kylath bought a remote farm in preparation to settle down.

Not so long after, Rhilassa gave birth to a son who the pair named Sh’rarn, an elven name that they felt reflected their new son and meant ‘Son of Light’. Rhilassa then went to meet with her superiors in Elysium; she did not want to worry Kylath so he wasn’t forewarned. Unfortunately her Solar commander took the news harsher than her worst fears. It forbade her from seeing either Kylath and/or her son ever again and bound her to Elysium by taking away her ability to teleport. In addition a Geas spell was forced upon her, to prevent her from taking any way back to the Prime. Rhilassa was to be an example to others who would consider breaking the rules.

Kylath knew nothing of this only that his soon-to-be wife, had vanished without a trace. None of the locals had seen her.

Eleint (September), 1372- The Year of Wild Magic- 2 Years Ago.

It was just another day for hard work for Sh’rarn, cutting logs for the fire and helping his father with the tasks of running a farm. Lately his father had been gruffer than usual; it was soon to be Sh’rarn’s birthday…and the anniversary of his mother’s disappearance. Thanks to this, the boy’s birthdays were rarely happy affairs despite the efforts of his father.
Father had gradually been turning to drink as the answer, though of course this only served to make him more irritable and even dangerous. In these alcohol-induced fits of rage he blamed himself and the birth of Sh’rarn for Rhilassa’s desertion of them. Sh’rarn knew little of his mother, only what his father and the locals had said, but he didn’t truly believe that she had deserted them willingly. Now he could get away from his father, attempt to find his mother and carry on her good works in Faerun. Secretly he had been training his combat skills and soon he intended to leave. He felt guilty about leaving his father to fend for himself, but he’d try to send gold back when possible and hope that he would accept it.

A tenday later it was time to leave, Sh’rarn snuck away in the darkness, full well knowing that his father would oppose his leaving, he just hoped that his disappearance would not be seen as a betrayal.

Several days later he heard the sounds of swords clashing over a nearby ridge, what he saw astonished him. A huge force of humans and goblinoids were fighting each other and even though the humans were outnumbered they seemed to be getting the upper hand. Nearby were some impressively armoured men giving instructions to runners. Sh’rarn cautiously wandered over…

One of the men attired in plate armour looked in his direction and spotted him.
“Ho! Who are you?! And what are you doing here?”
“I..er..”
One of the others stepped in and saved him, “He’s obviously no spy for the goblinoids! He’s barely armed. What’s your name, son?”
“Sh’rarn, sir. What’s happening here?”
“We're fighting the goblin heathens that threaten the area.”
“How? You're not on the battlefront, nor so you appear to be spellcasters.”
The man glanced back at him “We fight them with strategy, these men could be overrun if they didn’t know the enemy tactics, how they fight and what they do”.
“I’m interested in learning more.”
“Really? You could always visit our stronghold nearby”. The armoured man gave directions and Sh’rarn headed off. He really was interested in this ‘Red Knight’. Knowledge seemed to be saving lives here and yet the faith was still relatively unknown. Perhaps he could learn more of his faith and even spread the word of its existence. Surely this was a cause his mother would approve of.

Upon arriving at the stronghold Sh’rarn was welcomed by an acolyte, “Sir Kiradien sent word for us to expect your arrival, I hear that you wish to learn more of our faith?”
Sh'rarn nodded.
“New initiates are always welcome as are those seeking knowledge.”
They discussed the finer points of the dogma and beliefs in the faith and Sh’rarn confirmed he wished to join after hearing after more of the details. After completing some tests designed to check his abilities, the hierophant suggested Sh’rarn become a Paladin similar to Sir Kiradien and to train with him. Over the next two years Sh’rarn traveled with his new mentor, learning much of the foes of mankind in Faerun.

Kythorn (June), The Year of Lightning Storms (1374 DR).

It was finally time to leave the stronghold of the Red Knight and his mentor behind. Soon he would be spreading the knowledge of the Red Knight by himself.

Rhilassa witnessed the young paladin leaving the stronghold through a scrying device in Elysium. She had been watching Kylath and Sh’rarn for a while now, since the Solar had relaxed the rule somewhat, however, she was still not allowed to visit the Prime Material Plane or communicate with anyone on it. It was at least slightly more bearable being able to see them.
She was proud of the path her son was taking, she only wished she could see him in person…