The Lonely Road To Vengeance - Chapter 1 - (34 years ago)

  • Balgruuf Hammerhand owned the Fellstar forge in Ivarstead, nestled at the foot of the Throat of the World. The forge had been in his family for generations. Balgruuf had spent his childhood learning how to shape steel from his father before a thirst for adventure had led him to join the Imperial army. It had been a hard decision, he loved his family very much and there was girl in the village named Hilde who had caught his eye. Balgruuf never felt confident enough to to talk to her but she often smiled when she looked at him. Her eyes sparkled and her golden hair flowed down her back like warm honey, but the draw of adventure was too great. Ivarstead was a place people stopped on their way to somewhere else. Whether it was pilgrims on the way up the mountain to seek the wisdom of the greybeards or adventurers seeking glory and riches. People rarely came to Ivarstead, they mostly just passed through. Balgruuf was terrified of the prospect of growing old without seeing the world or tasting adventure. So with his father looking stern but proud and his mother crying and fretting he had set off to find adventure

     

    Life in the Army came very easily,  after a tough upbringing with early mornings and hard work in the forge the work of a soldier seemed light. His natural ability caught the eye of the legate and he was was moved out of the rank and file to join the skirmishers. He was taught how to move with stealth and kill silently with knife, sword, axe and bow. He was taught tracking and survival. Able to work independently his small unit would move behind enemy lines destroying supply conveys or disrupting enemy camps. They would often strike in the dead of night turning restful peace into blood soaked chaos, leaving the enemy forces exhausted, weakened and in disarray before the main infantry had drawn a single sword.

     

    He spent several happy years travelling the empire facing everything from bandits to uprisings before his leg was injured in battle forcing his retirement. He could walk well enough and even run for short distances but he could no longer march any great distance and sneaking was out of the question. So after years of adventure he returned to Ivarstead to joins his father working the forge. He felt things could have been worse, he had saved some of his pay, had treasured memories of his travels and he found working with his father relaxing. Besides Hilde was still there, she still smiled when she looked at him and her eyes still sparkled  the difference was that his time in the army had given him confidence to spare.

     

    Balgruuf and Hilde were quickly married and before a year had passed they had a son that they named Brynjar. His parents doted on their grandson and Balgruuf’s days were spent working talking and laughing with his father, his evening were spent with his son and his nights were spent wrapped in Hilde’s arms. He felt truly at peace, his years of adventure were done and this was his reward.

     

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Comments

2 Comments
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  May 22, 2016
    Been waiting for this Minophis. Nice piece of background.
    Looking forwards to your next instalment.
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  May 21, 2016
    Was wondering where you were. Nice to see another post.