The sea broiled violently, white walls of water crashing over the sides of the Emerald Lady as sheets of rain fell and lightning split the sky. Beneath the thunder and rain, Guiscard Aldebrand Therault, also called the Storm Dweller (though not by any present company), could still hear the boisterous shouts of the men attempting to keep the floundering ship above water. Guiscard had been on board the Lady for just over a week, after dropping a small fortune as advance payment for boarding, and when the winds suddenly changed direction that morning with thunderheads creeping into the horizon, the crew immediately looked upon him with distrust and wary caution. The seamen did prove to be a rather superstitious lot, that much of the stereotype proved true enough in Guiscard's case. Still, when the winds grew stronger and the rain and thunder forced the traveler below deck, the ship's crew worked tirelessly securing the sails and following their captain's commands. With a furrowed brow, Guiscard walked precariously over to his bunk, grabbing a nearby post for support as the ship rolled on the sea. Glancing to ensure his sword remained beneath his cot, he drew a small, worn pouch from his pack beside his bed, found a relatively stable crate full of, well, Guiscard was not quite sure what its contents were but he pushed it against the wall just the same. Just as he was about to take a seat, a huge wave rocked the vessel and caused the weary traveler to smash his head against the wall. Wincing, he recovered and took his seat, cursing his fortune and brushing away the fleeting thoughts of the irony of his name.
She was the one who called him Storm Dweller first. It was a mockery, and she persisted in it until no one knew his given name as well as they knew him as the Storm Dweller, the pitiful foreigner who had shown up on her farm with nary a coin or possession save the rags on his back and a rusty sword on his belt. He was young and proud back in those days, and when she had offered him shelter he refused, claiming to be descended from a thunder god. She laughed heartily and told him then that he should be at home just fine as the rains poured down on him that day. Guiscard was amazed at how vividly he remembered that laugh, honest and bright as a spring morning.
He gripped the leather pouch a bit tighter, leaned his head back against the pitch-covered wooden wall and closed his eyes.
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Guiscard Aldebrand Therault, also called the Storm Dweller, was born to Lord Remus Volefort Therault and his wife, Emaliana, nearly thirty years ago in a village called Dunstad. Guiscard's father ruled over the small fief to which Dunstad owed allegiance, and Remus and Emaliana were visiting the village elder on business when the time came for Guiscard to be born. Luckily the elder's daughter was training to be a midwife and helped Emaliana deliver their firstborn son. Emaliana called him Edric, but Remus demanded that he be named after Guiscard the Bright, Remus' great-grandfather and founder of the Therault legacy. Remus did make a concession to his wife when she persisted by granting her wish that their son bear Emaliana's father's name, Aldebrand, as well.
Guiscard's early years were spent by his mother's side, surrounded by books and sages. He learned from the greatest minds Remus could coax into coming to his humble keep. When Guiscard was six, Emaliana came down with a fierce fever and was bedridden for weeks. As Guiscard's father seemed perpetually engaged in political matters, the captain of the family's guards, Asher Benolte, took up care of the boy while his mother recovered. Under Guard Captain Benolte, Guiscard learned his first lessons in duty, honor, and swordplay. Remus was not displeased, as he thought the time for Guiscard to learn a warrior's trade had come. Indeed, all the noble houses of surrounding fiefs engaged their heirs in martial training at such an age, and Remus aspired to bring his holdings into a glory rivaling the most prestigious of his neighbors. One evening after dinner, Remus took Guiscard into the great hall and stood him next to the high seat. "This seat will be the envy of all your rivals, the bane of all your enemies, and the greatest glory of our House, my son," Remus told him. "When you inherit my seat, none will be able to stand against you."
By the age of 12, Guiscard was squiring for Captain Benolte and attending his father at court. Indeed, Remus was growing his influence quickly and had arranged a marriage for young Guiscard to the eldest daughter of one of the more powerful Houses in Altera. However, Guiscard showed no interest in marriage; instead, adventure called to him. Captain Benolte shared old war stories and tales of his travels before he enlisted with the Theraults, and Guiscard was inspired. He wished to see the world and experience stories and tales like the ones Benolte told him for himself. He often stole out beyond the keep's walls into the woodlands, much to his parents' disdain.
War came soon. An argument between two merchants on a roadside grew into a murderous affair, and due to a mishandling of the situation by a local official, it erupted into an all-out conflict between House Therault and House Gorgand. Remus and the Patriarch of Gorgand, Admar the Brute, sent men to garrison the border towns of their holds and engaged in several small skirmishes before word came from a Royal Emissary: they were to lay their blades aside and allow the Royal Court to mediate the conflict. Neither lord was pleased with the demand, but House Therault submitted first, followed quickly by Gorgand. It was during one of these skirmishes, however, that Guiscard saw his first man die. It was on the point of Captain Benolte's sword as the man charged maddeningly towards Remus Therault brandishing a pickaxe, and his end would have been tortuous had Benolte not granted him a clean death.
Lord Therault sent his son to stay with his betrothed's family the day after Guiscard turned 16. Remus told him, "You are nearly a grown man, Guiscard. You have made me proud, yet your potential still lies unmeasured. Learn what you can of these nobles to whom I am sending you, and find the sources of their strength. You are my true son, and your glory will outshine my own." Emaliana embraced her son with tear-stained cheeks and pressed her lips to his forehead. As she released him she closed her eyes and said a silent prayer to Bilworth that he keep guard over her son as he traveled. Captain Benolte gifted Guiscard with a newly forged iron sword, freshly sharpened and oiled, along with one of Guiscard's favorite tomes from the captain's collection. As Guiscard pulled himself up onto the wagon that would carry him away, he looked back upon his father, mother and mentor and saw them for the last time. The trip to his betrothed's hold was to take three days and two nights. However, on the first night of the journey their camp was set upon by bandits. The Therault guardsmen fought bravely and well, but they were outnumbered. The bandits were all slain or routed, but all the guardsmen were either killed or mortally wounded. Guiscard himself remained unharmed, yet he could not shake the emotions that overcame him. It was here that Guiscard Aldebrand Therault slew his first man, and his second. The first was a bandit that took the young man for an easy target and found cold iron instead; the second was a Therault guardsman begging for a quick death.
Unable to bear staying in a place filled with so much death, Guiscard fled from the camp in the night with only his pack and his blade. He ran blindly through the trees until dawn and collapsed near a gurgling brook. For days, Guiscard wandered the wilderness. At first it was simply because he had no idea where he was or how to get back to his father's keep. But when he overheard a patrol riding the road four days after the bandit attack, he hesitated. He did not recognize the bardings of the soldiers and they appeared fresh from battle. He followed them to a village nearby where he heard the news: Gorgand had sent the whole of his army into Therault's holding and siezed the keep of Remus Therault. Some rumors were they had butchered the entire noble family, but others said they imprisoned them all. All agreed on one point: House Therault was no more. Guiscard listened in utter disbelief and said nothing. He later learned that Admar Gorgand had indeed taken Remus and Emaliana as prisoners, imprisoned or killed the entire household, and had convinced the Royal Emissary that came that it was in the Crown's best interest to allow him authority over what was formerly House Therault's holdings. Guiscard also learned that Guard Captain Asher Benolte had given his life in defense of his lord. Guiscard Aldebrand Therault walked aimlessly from the village with hardly a blink or a sound.
For a while, Guiscard attempted to raise an army to free his mother and father from captivity. He would secretly travel in the night between towns and villages that formerly owed allegiance to his father. At first he felt quite successful, earning pledges of loyalty and service from several good men. However, word of his activities quickly reached Gorgand and the brave men who had stood up with the heir of Remus Therault, along with their families, were all executed. Unwilling to risk more lives, Guiscard went into exile.
For four years Guiscard traveled from town to city to stronghold to town, selling his service as a swordsman where he could, trading pelts and meat where he couldn't, and drinking as much wine as he could afford. One afternoon he wandered drunkenly to the outskirts of a city of which he did not know the name and passed out in a farmer's field. He was awoke inside a cozy log cabin filled with a mesmerizing scent of cooking beef, mushroom soup and freshly baked bread, and realized he had not eaten in days. When Guiscard raised his head a massive jolt of pain surged through his entire body. He had experienced hangovers before, but this was worse than any before.
"Awake, are we?" The voice was sweet, soft and tinged with laughter.
Guiscard did not dare move, or even open his eyes. "Where am I?" He heard some shuffling to his left and then footsteps coming towards him.
"You are in my home, and under my care. And there's no use refusing it because you are in no condition to leave," came the answer.
"Did you poison me?" Guiscard braved peering from one half-closed eye. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen; honey-brown hair that shone with a reddish glow in sunlight, deep blue eyes that seemed to see more than any eye should, and a smile that immediately made him feel somewhat healed.
"Though I have the craft, no, I am not your poisoner. I am afraid that particular honor belongs to your own foolishness." The way she slightly tilted her head took the edge off the last word. "Now sit up for me and eat something."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Lorelai. Now eat!"
Guiscard devoured everything she put in front of him. It had been days since he last ate, he had not eaten any food this good in months. After he had finally finished, he rested his head once more and tried to remember where he had been. He fell back to sleep within minutes. The next day he awoke to the sound of thunder and rain. Feeling completely refreshed and seeing no one about, Guiscard threw back the blanket his caretaker had placed over him and stood, albeit quite slowly. Seeing his swordbelt hanging on a peg next to the door, he lashed it around his waist and set foot outside. The rain fell heavily from a gray sky, soaking into the soft grass and soil surrounding the cabin. He stepped out into the torrents and raised his face to the downpour, letting the water pool in his deep eye sockets and run down his neck. Thunder gently rolled across the meadow, and for the first time in recent memory Guiscard felt at peace.
Her voice called from the edge of the cabin. "Are you planning on leaving in this weather?" When he did not respond, she urged, "Come back inside. Gain your bearings and let this awful weather depart ahead of you before you continue your journey."
"I am at home in this weather, Lorelai. This violent lightning and thunder, the rushing unpredictable wind, the soaking rain..." He paused, then added, "It's like the storm is my brother, and we share Laets as a father."
She laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound Guiscard would ever hear. "You look like a storm dweller, from my old gran's stories." When his expression said he did not take her meaning, she elaborated. "The storm dwellers were a strange folk who did not believe in building homes or accumalating any sort of what most folk consider wealth. They lived out in the open fields and let rivers of rain water run over their beds. They wore only the barest necessary clothing, and they also claimed kinship with the Storm God."
Guiscard remained silent for a long while as the rain continued to fall, though the thunder grew more distant. Lorelai stepped out next to him and gently hooked her arm into his. "Come on, then, storm dweller. You may be immune to cold sickness, but I am certainly not. And I will not be leaving you out here unattended after I have worked so hard to heal you only to have you struck by lightning, and even the fabled storm dwellers were not immune to that!"
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More to come....
