| I am a native Athasian, born and raised in a small vale about 10 hours journey from Tyr. The vale stands as a small island of Green in the surrounding wastes, and its influence on my early life was substantial.
Once the land there was barren, from the deprivations of defilers during the time of the Cleansing Wars and the Age of the Sorcerer Kings. Several hundred years ago, my great-grandparents worked to redeem the land, and restore it to life. Through the patient nurture of Wayness, a human druidess of water, and the vigilant patrols of B'ndrussn Tschai, an elven ranger/psionicist/preserver the land grew green and became in time the thriving settlement of Greenvale. Early in life, though, I learned well that the lushness of the vale was an anomaly, and that life on Athas was harsh. When I was but fourteen, a group of defilers, seeking to tap the power of the land for their own corrupt uses, attacked the vale. They were repelled, but not before draining the life from a section of the vale -- and from both of my parents. Under the care of the residents, Greenvale was quickly restored to health. Even then, though, I knew in my heart that this was not enough. That Athas would not be safe until the source of the corruption itself was eliminated. My great-grandfather took me into his care after I was orphaned. As I joined him on his patrols, he began teaching me the lore of the rangers. During this time, I also began to respect the power of the mind that Unseen Way provides, and to cherish the Path of the Preserver which Bander still embraces with whole heart. At age twenty, I somewhat naively set out into the world to eliminate the source of the corruption all by myself - unaware of how daunting a task that really is. Eventually I arrived in Tyr, much the worse for the travel. In Tyr, however, I discovered that I was NOT alone in my struggles, and that there were others who also sought to restore the Green Age to Athas, and to eradicate the defilers responsible for it's corruption. SOL Chazaq was born. |