[Flashback] Parental Guidance.

[Talhar]

17th Day of Summer, year 501 AV

The frisky summer breeze was flowing freely through Tahlar's hair, that was still dreadlockless at the young age of nine, while he was playing merrily with his Arctic Timberwolf pet. Joukka, as Tahlar had named his pet, was around 8 year old and an active wolf. It was Tahlar's best friend and companion, it had even saved him from an icy death by sensing the danger the moment Tahlar was stepping too closely to the icefishing hole on his little toddlerfeet. His father, Folthe, brought Tahlar with him to do some icefishing at the mere age of 5. He had left him in a self-constructed den next to the husky sled but somehow he got out. And a terrible faith would have fell upon him if it wasn't for Joukka, Tahlar was standing on the rim of the large icehole before his father woke up from his slumber and before clearly saw who or what was standing before him Tahlar was already leaning too far over to hold his balance. Tahlar was waving his arms around wildly, trying to regain his balance but before he completely fell Joukka leaped over the icehole and pushed Tahlar backwards with his frontpaws. Tahlar cried for half an hour, probably more because of the tumbling he did on the raw ice than of the danger he was in, but instead of blaming or being angry at Joukka, he hold him tight and wailed loudly.

When they got back to their tribe and Folthe told the tale, at home with an enchanting voice and the story spinned with the finest words, the first thing he received was a slap in the face by his wife, Feonia, and then a teary kiss on his lips and a warm hug. Tahlar was sleeping under a blanket already, under the watchful eye of his beloved Timberwolf Joukka.


Folthe was at the main fire in the tribe, roasting a piece of the polar bear he and several others of his tribe caught this morning. It was a fierce battle for the polar bears are the largest bears in the world, only to be matched by the Kodiak bears, luckily the polar bear they encountered was a female and roughly half the size of a normal male polar bear. Else they would surely have retreated or most likely would have suffered several casualties in the battle. The men at the fire were talking and at some point their conversation started to be about Tahlar and that he was coming of age and should be taught how to hunt and that someone should teach him a trait. There aren't many kinds of crafts taught in their tribe, but everyone knows a craft. His father agreed and said, and I quote, " I will teach the young boy to become a hunter so fierce and so strong, that Morwen Herself...would invite Tahlar The Kreiger ( Warrior ) to her Ice Palace's doorsteps. ", the men roared with pleasure and the women laughed and clapped their hands in prospect of seeing such a highly praised boy grow up. " These hands, and this heart, will guide my son in the craft of Carving. For I have seen that this lad's hands are not just hands...but blissfull hands, filled with passion yet sturdy like a warrior's. I'll guide him, and with Morwen as my witness, he will become a master artisan carver. " Said Feonia as the men again howled with fierce pride for their fellow tribesman and the woman went over to hug Feonia and they all laughed and told stories, sung, danced and performed 'till the night fell.

18th Day of Summer, 501 AV

The next day Folthe called out for Tahlar, which came running straight away since he knew better than to defy his father, and instructed him to pack up his hunting gear and load it in the husky sled. " And don't forget that package near the bed! " Folthe shouted as his son hurried off to collect his father's gear.

After bringing his father's bow, quiver with arrows and spear to the sled he waved goodbye to his father. " What are you doing lad? Get in, you're coming with me this time! " Tahlar couldn't believe his ears, the day had finally come, he was allowed to go hunting! " Yes sir! " he said without hesitation, he got on the sled and off they went, towards the enormous wilderness " The Northern Wastes.

[Talhar]

18th Day of Summer, 501 AV


Rigorous gushes of wind were blasting over Talhar's face eventhough he was hiding behind his father's back so most of the wind would be blocked by him. He clenched his fists, which were encased in warm and furry gloves, around the wooden pallistrade of the sled and glanced around his father's back to see a magnificent sight. As far as the eye could see, all over the horizon line, were darkgreen exalted trees, standing mayestic over the white snowcovered ice, looking down upon the mere humans. Talhar tried to block the wind and snow with his glove to see more of this grand view but Folthe, his father, sped up the pace with a quick snap in the air with his whip and Tahlar was forced to hide behind his back again.

After a while they stopped a bit further from the woodlands, put on their snowshoes and walked towards the treeline. At the border of the gigantic forest they stopped and father took the mysterious package of his shoulder and gave it to Talhar. " Here son, these are for you. Use them wisely. " Inside was a lengthy quiver filled with sturdy wooden javelins with bone tips. Talhar was exhilarated, it was the best gift anyone has ever given him. " Thank you dad, I'll use them well! " He said with a strong voice like he was already a fullgrown man. His father laughed and patted him on the head. " Come my little hunter, let's go catch some deer. " Talhar placed the quiver sideways over back and followed his father.

" You have to remember to walk directly into the wind and to place your feet slowly on the soft ground with your heel first, avoid stepping on twigs or branches. "

Talhar did his best but he couldn't help making noise, even if it was of low volume. Suddenly his father stopped dead in his tracks, Talhar barely saw it in time and stopped too, miraculously without sound.

" Come here boy, and don't make ANY sound. There's a deer further ahead with her children. Take out a javelin and launch it at the closest child, aim to kill but take your time. I'll take out the deer. "

Talhar swallowed away the tension and slowly reached for a javelin, he wrapped his hand firmly around the most stable position of the shaft and held out one hand to aim more precise and calmly stretched his right shoulder back while bending his arm, waited a second to make sure he had good footing and then hurled his javelin in a small arc at the small deer, he hit target and the deer was bleeding heavily from his right frontleg, the javelin pierced the muscular leg completely. Talhar's father had shot his arrow straight through the deer's neck, flattening it instantly but it wasn't dead yet.

The small deer were running away but the wounded was moving at a walking pace, because of the pierced muscle and heavy bleeding it was weakened severely. " Go put him out of his misery son. "

Talhar took out another javelin and persued the deer at high speed, it didn't take long for him to catch up to it. The deer wasn't even walking anymore, it was laying sideways on the leafcovered ground and breathing heavily. It's dark black eyes were big with fear and Talhar was hesitating, but he knew that every man in the village had to hunt or there wouldn't be enough food to feed everyone. For the sake of his tribe he had to kill this deer, and his tribe meant more to him than this deer, much more. He raised the javelin high and pierced the deer's neck. Talhar breathed heavily, it gave him a high adrenaline rush combined with sorrow and an angsty feeling.

His father had quietly snuck up on him and placed his hand on his shoulder.
" You did well son, you're a born hunter. I know this must be awkward for you, but remember that it's all a part of the great cycle of life. People and animals alike, they kill to feed their nest. We kill to feed our tribe, we did nothing wrong son. "

Talhar felt better after hearing that and he knew his father was right, he knew it himself before his father had even said it, but he just needed reassurance.
He hugged his father and after carrying the 2 deer back to the sled they went back to the tribe for it was almost nightfall and Morwen's Light would shine upon them tonight. Which meant it was time for a fest.

[Talhar]

18th Day of Summer, 501 AV

During the entire trip back home Talhar couldn't stop thinking about his hunting experience and what a thrill it was. He wanted to go back right away but he knew that was impossible so he decided he'll just enjoy the feast tonight and try to forget about the hunt. About an hour after departure they arrived at the tribe's camp and Talhar proudly sported his quiver of javelins and kill over his shoulders.

Nearly everyone that was available came congratulating him on becoming of age and padded him on his back or head. He smiled broadly and his chest was filled with pride, this was the best day ever for him. His mother waited at the fire and stood there patiently 'till Talhar set the deer on the rug close to the fire and went over to tell his mother all about his experience. She gave him a big hug and listened intently and amused by his grand tales and broad gestures while telling the story of Talhar The Great. She glanced a few times with shimmering yellow eyes at her husband, clearly extremely proud and happy everything went great. His father meanwhile told everything to his friends, up 'to how the trees smelled at the moment of the throw.

As more and more groups of people showed up from their hunt, the preparatios for tonight's Morwen's Lights feast began. More logs were put on the fire, a deer was skinned and put on a spit over the fire to roast it while they spurt grease over the deer. The excess grease dripped off the dear and spat in the fire. Talhar went to play with his friends and Joukka, his Arctic Timberwolf pet, while it was still light.

The sun started to set after a while and the glimmering waves of light started to shimmer through the night, beautyful bows of yellow, pink, red, green, blue and violet were shining through the night. As far as Talhar and his tribe were concerned it was the most beautyful sight to behold on the whole of Mizahar.
Everyone was relaxed and happy laying on their furry rugs or sitting on their wooden benches. Some were smoking, some were cuddling and some were in deep thought, but all were watching the nightsky.

But then, when everyone least expected it, disaster struck. Since it was Morwen's Light night even the guards were watching the nightsky and a male polar bear was able to sneak up close enough to strike a guard, instantly killing him. The man's howl of alarm was heard a split second before it fell silent again, but that was all that needed to get everyone ready to counter-attack. Men and children of age were all running towards their weapons while the smaller children and women were running towards the middle of the encampment, the fire.

The polar bear must have smeller the roasting deer and decided to take his chances. Although a polar bear is a fierce creature to say the least it was still a suicidal mission to attack a Vantha camp alone. The polar bear circled around the camp, not dumb enough to rush to the deer head-on. The guards were now in groups of two while the other men encircled the women and children to protect them.

The tribe's chief shouted in a loud voice that when someone spotted the polar bear they must shout for reinforcements before going after it. Since Morwen's Light illuminated the sky it was relatively visible but nevertheless they had to take precautions for polar bears were natural camouflagers on the ice and if anyone was unlucky enough not to spot it in time it would lead to certain demise. One of the guards heard a shuffling and noticed the polar bear trying to sneak inbetween two guard groups, he shouted a howl of warning and threw his javelin which pierced itself into one of the bears paws which enraged it and made him perch backwards and shake off the javelin. It was a bad decision to make but the polar bear's animal mind couldn't force himself to stay low or run away. Half a dozen javelins were thrown within seconds and half a dozen more a second later. The polar bear was perforated and fell backwards with a loud thump, he was dead before he hit the ice.

Nobody was happy he died though, they still clearly remembered the silence that followed the first howl of warning of the night. The howl that made sure nobody else died that night.

They found the guard and placed him near the fire, after he was identified they covered his face with a piece of leather and consoled the man's family. Talhar was struck with fear and sorrow, it was the first time that he was this closely related to a death and he didn't know how to deal with it. After consoling the family and guiding them to their tent everyone grouped at the fire, appointed new guards for duty tonight and the rest went to their tents to spend time with their own families.

Talhar crawled up on his bed and hugged Joukka tight, the dog never left Talhar's side during all the commotion caused by the polar bear, ready to protect Talhar at all costs. It didn't take long for Talhar to fall asleep through his silent tears.

[Talhar]

19th Day of Summer, 501 AV

The next day there was a big ceremonial funeral for last night's fatality.
Many people weeped and mourned the loss of a great family member or friend. But responsibilities do not leave much time to rest, food had to put be put on plates and chores had to be done. Today Talhar's mother took him with her to learn the art of carving.

" Son, are you willing to take up the carving craft? It is not easy to become a master crafter and you will spend many years before you become one. "

" I'm up for it mother, I want to learn it and I'm sure I'll become good at it someday! "

Feonia smiled as he said that full of confidency, the young man is truly growing up.

Feonia explained the basics of carving, the importance of several tools, mostly the tools used for the beginning of the carving process, like removal of excessive material and warping the material if required.
Talhar also learned that carving isn't simply picking up a hammer and chisel and hacking away, but with careful planning and a gentle touch the true masterpieces are born.

He was given a small plank of wood of which he had to carve out several smaller pieces, all of different sizes but all sizes had to have relevance. They weren't supposed to be picked randomly but with planning. They had to have usefulness, like the size needed to make a mask, a ring, a staff, a cane, ...

Talhar finished his job in topspeed and without thinking too much into it, when he finished he proudly presented his work to his mother and asked what she thought of it. Feonia commented that it was certainly done at great speed but that they were all too small, He hadn't carefully measured every piece, he had followed his intuition more than his ruler.

He tried again and this time it took longer but nearly all of them were done properly. His mother was happy with the result so far.

[Talhar]

While putting away all the wooden pieces Talhar was asked to come up with something easy to carve for his first project. He thought long and hard and after weighing the difficulties of several different projects like necklaces,
19th Day of Summer, 501 AV

bracelets, rings, masks, sculptures, staves, poles, ... he decided he was going to start his carving craftsmanship with a mask. He knew it wasn't the easiest choice he could pick but he felt his very first project needed to be a challenge.

He went to his mother and told her he wanted to make a mask. Feonia was a bit sceptic at first and tried to reason with Talhar and to persuade him into making a plain bracelet instead. But his decision was made, he wanted to make a mask.

His mother finally caved and ordered him to bring several plank pieces of size 25x25.

" Look son, you haven't taken the easiest route and as such you will probably have trouble creating your first mask in one go, so be prepared to restart often. "

" First, you'll need to draw a rough sketch on the wood of how you want the mask to look like. Then you need to saw, carefully the piece in such a way that only the rough sketch of the mask remains, I suggest you go for a broad mask and don't saw too close to the sketch but give it a bit of leeway. Once you're done you can come see me again. "

[Talhar]

19th Day of Summer, 501 AV

Talhar got right on it, he was excited about making his first carving and he was thrilled that it was going to be a mask. He searched and found a charcoal to draw the rough outlines for the mask but he found it difficult to make round shapes on the rough wood, he always ended up making squares.
After a while, and some tossed aside wooden pieces, he finally got the hang of it and made, in his eyes, an excellent outline for a fearsome mask.


After he showed his sketch to his mother she decided to help him out a bit with the drawings since he had so little experience with drawing so far. She asked him all kinds of questions about how he wanted the mask to look like. He was a bit sulky at first since it was made obvious to him that his oh-so-fearsome mask didn't quite cut it. It didn't take long for him to get excited again though and he added all kinds of things to the mask, like paint, horns, patterns...

In his head the mask looked a little like this:



Words can not describe his surprise as his mother drew a very similar sketch on a larger piece of wood, since they required more wood for the horns and such.

Now for the sawing part, his mother held a close look on his son for she was a mother still and could not help but worry about her son who was handling such a delicate job with such a large and scary saw. She decided she would do the horns separatly and glue them on the mask later-on, she told Talhar that he was not yet skilled enough to do the horns and told him about her plan. Again he sulked, as he was still a child afterall, but he continued to work catiously, determined to show his mother he was a skilled carver.

He came up with a rough sawed out lining of the mask, relatively well done but not that great either. All in all it was a good job, for a 10 year old.
He showed his work to his mother and she was content with the piece shown before her.

She told him it was now time for a rather dangerous aspect of maskmaking, the warping of the material. It was time to hydrate the mask and put it in a vice so that when it hardens again it will remain in the slightly bend position which makes it easier to put the mask on. But if you bend it too far the mask will crack or break, forcing you to start the entire process over again.

Talhar hydrated the mask in icecold water for a while and then put it in a vice carefully and slightly bended it, not by much though for he was too scared it would break since he was still inexperienced. And now he waited for it to dry.

[Talhar]

19th Day of Summer, 501 AV

There were no festivities, singing or dancing held this night, for it had been a day of mourning and sadness, for a precious member of their tribe had been burried that day, in the icecold waters will his body remain forever encased in it's beautyful shell and its soul will have flown towards Morwen for salvation.

Talhar and his family were sitting in their tent, Feonia took the opportunity to ask Talhar about his dreams and hopes for the future. She told him about the Icewatch and their honored and powerful status across Avanthal, and inquired about his desire to join them. It was no secret that Feonia had big dreams for Talhar.

Talhar listened carefully to the beautyful tales of the Icewatch and their honored position in the name of Morwen and the citizens of Avanthal. But Talhar responded...

" Mother, as much as I admire and honor the Icewatch, it is not the path laid out for me. For I wish to travel and see the world, in the name of Morwen I shall bring peace and happyness wherever I go. I shall honor the name of Morwen and spread the word about her loving cradle that is Avanthal. That, is my future. "

Feonia was taken aback by Talhar determination and clear vision of his future, whilst it wasn't the future she had hoped for Talhar she was clearly proud and joyeous about it. She looked at her husband and together they smiled proudly, for they had given birth to a wonderful boy.

[Talhar]

The next day, in the early hours of the morning Talhar's father left for a hunt while Talhar and his mother continued the making of the mask.

He slowly unwinded the vice and took out the mask carefully. It was bend in a good shape but Talhar saw some small cracks running vertically over the middle of the mask.

Talhar and his mother ignored the small cracks for they were too small to start the whole process over and they were easily covered up once they painted the mask.

Talhar was instructed to drill two large holes in the mask with a large drill made out of stone, Talhar kept drilling by rotating the wooden handle of the drill. Once he finished the two holes he was told to make the borders and insides of the holes smooth with relatively rough sandpaper.

Once that was done they made small imprints with gougers for some relief, pasted the horns on with glue and started the painting process. It ended up being much like what Talhar had imagined and more. He was so very happy with his new selfmade mask that he nearly dropped it by running around, showing it to everyone who at the camp.

Once his father and the other men came back from the hunt and gathered around the fire to tell tales and relax together Talhar proudly showed off his mask again to everyone and their pet dog. Some made jokes which caused Talhar to stick his tongue out and others patted him on the shoulders, back or head.

Talhar's parents watched the whole scene with great amusement while holding eachother in their arms under a nice warm blanket with Joukka at their feet, watching over Talhar carefully.

[Dusk]

XP Award! Talhar XP Award: Hunting: 1 XP, Carving: 2 XP Lore Award: Lore of Walking on Snow, Lore of Becoming a Man, Lore of Dealing with Grief, Lore of Carving (basic)