The Assassins

Keldirk was born in a small fishing village off the coast of the Azure Sea, some twenty miles East of Gyrax the capital city of The Principality of Ulek. The village was called Wimbledon Heights. His father, Mykal, like most men in Wimbledon Heights, was a fisherman and owned a large fishing vessel called Fairwinds. His father was very successful and supplied almost one quarter of the village's fishing exports. Keldirk lived in one of the grandest houses in Wimbledon Heights and his mother, Ellspreth, and two brothers were never left wanting.

Life was good for some 14 years until his mother caught Mykal with another woman. This was devastating to her and she quickly divorced and took her youngest son, Addam, back to her parents to live. This left Keldirk and his older brother, Zhak, with his father. His father, however, was a changed man. Maybe it was the realisation that he had lost the woman he truly loved, or that in the eyes of the community he was no longer renowned and universally liked. In any event Mykal did not handle the separation well. His fishing business suffered and he was forced to sell the townhouse and move into a smaller abode.

Zhak and his father fought constantly until, one day, his father cast Keldirk and Zhak out. Zhak, who was 18, joined another fishing consortium while Keldirk - still relatively untrained, and unable to financially fend for himself - was fostered off to monastery located in the Haven Hills. Brother Juan, Acolyte in the Brotherhood of Trithereon (God of Individuality, Liberty, Retribution and Self-Protection) took him under his wing and he took his first steps down the road of religious understanding. In time Brother Juan learned that Keldirk had little or no aptitude for the tenets of Trithereon so he began to teach how how to bear arms for his god, (become a military priest). The Brotherhood of Trithereon battled constantly against the murderous hordes that crept down from the Drachensgrab Hills in The Pomarj and it was against these creatures that he was to be pitted. His training was short and incomplete, the Brothers preferring their soldiers to learn their skills under real combat conditions.

Unfortunately, during his first battle he was captured by a viscous group of Gnolls - large 6-7' dog-faced bipeds - and taken back to their home, a vast walled citadel called Stonheim. Here Keldirk was imprisoned and tortured extensively. Things were bad for him as the questions the torturer asked were such that he had no answers. They asked things like "How many troops are coming from Keoland? What is the Baton of Retribution, and who has it now? When is the invasion scheduled?" Keldirk was badly beaten and bruised, and left to starve in the dungeons of Stonheim Castle.

Some time later, dazed and confused, he was dragged from his cell and taken up into the daylight. Here he was chained to other prisoners, while two humans walked up and down the line talking in a foreign tongue with the Gnoll captain. One of the humans grabbed his arms, feeling his biceps and seemingly sizing him up. The human asked him his age, he replied 16. The human seemed satisfied and Keldirk, along with 7 others, were removed from the line as the remaining prisoners were slaughtered where they stood.

In the weeks that followed he was fed well, and even given wine and women as he desired. The others, a dim-witted bunch really, thought that salvation had arrived but Keldirk, being more discerning, knew better. One day the group was lead from the cell and taken to another room where they were forced to don armour and take up arms. Then one of the humans entered the room and addressed them all.

"Listen lads", he began. "You have been selected above your peers to perform in the 'right of passage'. The one who makes the 'right of passage' will be given all that he desires and shall be trained to become a fearsome killer. The others... well... they are doomed! One by one you will be released into the Valley of the Dead. All you will have is the armour you wear and the weapons you hold. There are no rules except one: Only one of you will leave the valley alive. It is up to you who succeeds. There is no escape and no salvation. You kill or be killed."

So it was that Keldirk was thrust into a large valley, nestled between massive mountains. The valley was some 3 miles wide and 5 miles long with only one negotiable exit. The valley was thickly forested and many small streams bisected its girth. Keldirk hid in a small crevice for several days before emerging in the hope that the number of his 'opponents' would be reduced. His natural agility, intelligence and knowledge of weapons served him well and he quickly despatched the remaining three men. As the third man died he heard a trumpet blast that signified the end of the contest.

The human was at the exit as he emerged. He clasped Keldirk in a warm embrace and called him brother. In time he came to like this man, Polimious, and he took Keldirk back to the assassin's isle where his formal training began.

He since discovered that every year Polimious travels to the Pomarj to recruit new 'apprentices'. The right of passage is an annual affair that has been in place for some fifteen years. The Gnolls from the Pomarj don't know about the assassins and believe that the ceremony is part of their religious duty. Keldirk was given a Bone-handled knife that, Polimious says, will enable him to move among most Gnolls without fear. The blade has some religious significance to Gnolls. Only students who have completed the right of Passage are given these knives (called Dhak Foq Shickal.)

Keldirk excelled in his studies on the assassin isle, but never really embraced the ideals of the Family. He was chosen to go to East Almor before he had even completed his training, an honor rarely bestowed.