Edris Elwood
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| Edris Elwood | |
|---|---|
| Social Rank | 3 |
| Fealty | Valardin |
| House | Elwood |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 26 |
| Religion | Pantheon |
| Vocation | Knight |
| Height | tall |
| Hair Color | Dark Brown |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
| Skintone | Green |
| Family | |
| Parents | Taimi Whitefell, Enos Keaton |
| Siblings | Elin Moore |
| Cousins | Edain Valardin, Vance Valardin, Tabitha Valardin, Valen Valardin, Beaumont Valardin, Isabeau Telmar, Aurelian Valardin, Sophie Valardin, Malorie Valardin, Tristram Valardin, Umay Valardin, Katarina Valardin, Mercedes Valardin, Zara Valardin, Marisol Valardin |
| Journals | |
| Authored By / Featured In | |
| Active | |
Description
Tall of stature and broad of shoulder, with an athletic build and a noble bearing, this man garners a double take by most people. Anyone who gets a look at bared skin or his face will see a man transformed. Though is face retains its balance and ruggedly handsome features prior to the change, his skin is a pallet of the verdant and dark greens of forest leaves, from evergreen to deciduous. His dark hair doesn’t hide the crown of leaves that sprout from underneath it, as do little tendrils of fern like leaves here and there across his skin. Raised small brown roots crisscross his body too, like scarring patterns might be. With a society newly awakened to obvious magic, his appearance often provokes strong reactions; shock, fear or suspicion, wonder. But whether the beholder assumes corruption, inhumanity, or even something good like a potential blessing of Petrichor, it’s likely to be an unsettling one at first.
Personality
Quiet, though more out of some internal calm rather than antisocial or brooding behavior, Edris seems to epitomize being the dependable rock in the storm. He is rarely the first to speak, though his insights when offered are keen. His smiles are rare, though when they are given they are often very much as warming and welcoming as a sudden sunbreak. Though unfailingly polite and attentive, there is a mantle of reserve that often settles over him except to those most familiar to him. And for those he knows well, there is a playful and witty sense of humor that occasionally cuts through the stoicism that he wears as his usual face to the world.
Background
Growing up as a second child of a third child in a small county of the North, Edris had duties to keep him busy, but his personal aspirations were largely his own, without the weight of impending rule. As a result, he was able to largely focus his education and activities on that which he was most inclined. An avid outdoorsman and capable leader, he seemed to have the workings of an excellent ranger; though when his father died when Edris was in his late teens, his focus naturally fell to stepping into a more traditional path that he felt would honor him--he was knighted in his late adolescence and then served capably within the patrols and defenses as well as military campaigns both in and out of the Northlands; and when left to his own devices, spent many days or weeks wandering, hunting, and bringing back trinkets and treasures to his sister, cousins, and lady mother as he always had, a way to use solitude and communion with the mountains and wilds to heal some of the echoes of un-unseeable things of war, as well as a way to keep tabs on the local shav'arvani, with his trusted companions.
About 5 years ago his mother and Lord Acorn Hill negotiated a marriage contract for his sister Elin to marry Lord Rylan Moore, it was Edris that was chosen to accompany her south, first to visit his father's family, the Keatons, while Elin and Rylan courted. He fit in well with his sister's soon to be family; there were new wild places to explore, after all. New bands of shavs and prodigals to learn about. A beloved sister to see happily settled. Keaton cousins to become reacquainted with. And increasingly, a camaraderie amongst the Acorn Hill Moores as well. He was invited to stay longer, all the better to cement the new bond between houses, both due to his parents' marriage and the new one with the Moores.
After six months, news of his mother's sudden illness had him making his way home, when word reached him on his travels of the slaughter at Acorn Hill. Nearly mad with worry, he rushed back, only to find that she and her new husband and many of those he'd enjoyed getting to know slain. His deep and near-destructive grief was only compounded when he learned that his mother had also died of her illness soon after he received word of it at all; but rather than drown his sorrows in drink or other vices, he threw himself completely into helping to lead what remained of the scattered and decimated forces, aiding in the rebuilding efforts of the remaining family, hunting down of likely perpetrators or shavs trying to take advantage of the weakness. It was grueling, uphill work, but those underneath him thrived under his leadership, and both houses continued to benefit from a bond.
It might have been cemented by another marriage, his own, to one of the surviving Moores. But plans for that died the night the rest of the surviving family was butchered while he was away ranging, hunting down the location of another group of shavs who had been a thorn in the side of one of the villages.
Deep in yet another round of grief, and needing to work though what surely must have felt like yet another failure, he immersed himself in yet more work. He had built a strong relationship with many of the commoners there, especially the youngest survivors of the initial massacre at Acorn Hill over the years. He continued to range and considered renouncing his title and joining the faith. But the kinship he now felt in this land not of his birth stayed his hand as he wrestled with what to do.
The answer came not from his prayers, or the quiet and calm of the forest but from a missive waiting for him at the inn he'd taken up residence at. It did not come with an offered hand of a wife, but he was given the opportunity to keep fulfilling the promises between houses first made those four years ago, and join the new Barony of Elwood. He had been serving the people there out of grief and honor--now he would be able to honor the names of his sister and friends that spilled their blood on these lands by being claimed as one of their own, Lord Edris Elwood, Sword of Arden.
