THE
EOPHYRHIM
HUNTER-CLERIC
GAULIVAN |
Gaulivan was a well-known
hunter of the Eophyrhim
elves for most of his life, having a hand in creating the
Arvins festival, and winning the coveted Master Hunter title twice. The last 50
years of his life, he was a Hunter-Cleric, a title devised for the hunters who
overthrew the Eophyrhim
Clerics in 9675 b.S. Gaulivan died by his own hand in
9625 b.S.
Biography. Gaulivan was the child of Marravis and Tremal, two high ranked nobles in
Eophyrhim society. His parents were not wed when they concieved him, but upon
his arrival they did so. Gaulivan was raised as a normal boy, receiving his
first sword and hound at 20 years of age in 10299 b.S.
Gaulivan was excited to join the hunting groups, and as soon as he had trained
his hound, he tagged along on a hunting trip. Gaulivan's
hound
was eager and
paid no heed to Gaulivan's commands, joining the other
hounds
when taking down a
stag. As if by fate, Gaulivan's
hound was gorged by the Stag's horns, and the
beast stole away into the woods without being killed. Gaulivan became furious,
and once his hound
passed away in his arms, he took off into the forest to find
the stag. The hunters tried to follow, but Gaulivan was a man enraged and sped
away.
|
|
|
Gaulivan went missing for two weeks. His parents worried about him, but assured
each other that if their boy was not to return, it was because
Queprur wanted
him. They went on about their lives.
When Gaulivan came back to the colony, he was beaten, tattered, and his left arm
was broken. He had lost his sword and his boots. But he carried, in his right
hand, the head of the stag that had killed his
hound, the horns still covered in the
blood of his dog. The tear of the neck on the dear was crude and ragged, as if
an animal had ripped it off. Gaulivan assured everyone that no animal had beaten
him to the kill, and a new, smoldering chill burned in his darkening eyes.
Gaulivan was slowly nursed back to health, for he refused to be
magically
healed. But he itched to hunt again. His parents began to worry about him, for
he was almost like a caged animal; pacing inside his family's treehome, glaring
out the windows with his cold eyes. At night he sat before the slowly
decomposing deer-head and lit candles, as if worshipping the deer.
The concentration Gaulivan placed upon that deer head made him a more capable
hunter, through meditation and refinement of self through prayers to
Coór.
When Gaulivan was well enough in the spring of 10295 b.S., he returned to
hunting. He was one of the few Eophyrhim
hunters to not use a
hound, and carried
only a dagger so he could face his kill. His skills quickly increased and he
was marvelled at for decades at the kills he brought home single-handed.
Gaulivan continued to worship the deer-skull in the home of his parents.
He felt his bridled fury increase each time he hunted, and each time he
prayed to Coór he gained a new handle on the power that swelled within him. He
worshipped openly less and less, and hunted more and more. Some accused him of
favouring Arvins, but he never replied.
Things were calm for the Eophyrhim, until a chilly night in 9758 b.S. A troop of
hunters led by Gaulivan were out working, when they stumbled upon an unwelcome
caravan of human hunters. The
Eophyrhim hunters attacked the caravan, but most
of the humans
escaped. A massive hunting party ensued, Gaulivan rounding up
hunters from other Eophyrhim
colonies to join the search.
The Hunt lasted for 7 days, when all 35 of the escaped
humans
were returned to
their site alive. Gaulivan then began a speech, claiming that this hunt was a
gift to the Eophyrhim
from Arvins, and to properly claim the gift and be proven
as hunters, they must kill them the way the
Great Hunter does. Gaulivan then
wrenched back the head of a human
he had caught, and ripped away at its neck
with his teeth, severing the jugular and marring the windpipe. Some of the
hunters were disgusted, but those who had caught humans
killed them by a break
to the jugular, either by knife or teeth.
Gaulivan was a skilled hunter whose well-bred looks caught the eyes of the
ladies. Gaulivan saw few of them, he was so focused on hunting and destruction.
But in 9624 b.S. his eye fell upon a lady who entered the hunting party with
only a pair of grey hounds. Her name was Kerliss, and she was 63. She was old
for a beginning hunter, but she was a woman, the only one in the party. Through
the course of fifteen years, her talents grew immensely as a trainer as her
hounds worked efficiently. Thatnos and Tarmos were responsible for bring down a
large number of deer in the Paelelon, and when they died at home side by side in
9609 b.S., the forest was given a chance to recuperate.
Kerliss was heartbroken and she refused to hunt. Gaulivan, knowing the pain of
losing a hound, visited her nearly every day, trying to convince her to return
to hunting. She refused. Not until he took her bare-handed hunting did she
return back to the party.
Soon Kerliss and Gaulivan were inseperable. Neither used
hounds, and both
carried only daggers. The smoldering glare Gaulivan had known since youth was in
Kerliss' eyes as well, and most assumed they were to be wed soon.
As tensions grew between Gaulivan and the Clerics, Gaulivan's parents disowned
him in. This angered Gaulivan, but he held in his anger, for use in the
Arvins
Festival where he captured 7 humans, earning the title of Master Hunter.
All the while, clerics became angry. Hunters were spending more time in the
forest, and less time worshipping with the rest of the tribe. They were accused
of favoring Arvins, but the hunters were too busy to bother with answers.
Kerliss and Gaulivan were nomadic, moving throughout the forest as they
worshipped Arvins,
Queprur and
Coór in their own way. They also began living by
the light of the moon and sleeping during the day, so that they could have a
more profitable hunt, and away from the distractions of the colonies.
Things got worse between the Clerics and the Hunters. Clerics would chase away
quarry when they desired attention and worship, and Hunters would purposely
pursue their kills through and around Cleric's quarters.
Tempers finally reached their boiling point in 9675 b.S. In a rare appearance by
Gaulivan at a colony worship, he was selected and ridiculed for lack of
dedication. The anger tore from Gaulivan, and all the power that had been
bridled within him was released. He stormed toward the Clerics and killed all 12
at the ceremony, with tooth and hand. He then preached to the colony his way of
worship, vowing most of those in attendance. He then gathered the Hunters he
trusted and proceeded to lead a rampage through the colonies, killing every
cleric he saw. He selected one of the Hunters, blessed him and gave him the
title of Hunter-Cleric. He ravaged through every colony, handing the stolen
mantle of Cleric to a Hunter and moving on.
Each Hunter-Cleric began laying down the new Rules, as the hunter-clerics
believed Coór
would have them. Each colony's rules seemed to be the same.
Gaulivan, however, took no mantle and returned to the forest, where he left
Kerliss waiting for him.
Gaulivan and Kerliss remained Nomadic, travelling from colony to colony in the
early years to ensure success of the new System. He began hunting less and less.
No one is entirely sure if he decided to bless himself, or was tired of living,
but in 9625 b.S. Gaulivan and Kerliss were found in the forest outside
Gaulivan's home colony, their wrists gnawed through, as if by beast.
Importance.
Gaulivan created the Arvins Festival, the most celebrated festival in
Eophyrhim worship, and was the main shaper of the
Eophyrhim way of life as it is
now. Little
has changed in the tribe since his death, and it is doubted little will.
Information provided by
Viresse
|