Burel Tassnehof

About Burel

He was brought to the digital screen, as it were, from a need to play someone who was upright and just. Who strove to do the right thing, not for the sake of the law, but because it was the right thing to do. Truthfully, I had gotten tired of playing either Paladin-esque characters or the somewhat dark lurker in shadow-magelings. And so, Burel was born. I think this was back in 1996, after I had already been with the 'Dagger for two years. God. Have I been playing for that long? In any case, his backstory changed a bit after Wendy invited me to bring him back as a visiting noble, since he was already in 'charge' of a nation in the world of Trae Kelsa. So then. I guess this'll make his history, and background, less maellable and more concrete. Also, it may give others (if they've got the strange need) to play people from this background and history, and perhaps from the Schism. Let's see.

History

Youth

He was born around the year 172 AR, during the height of a Thessilaneian summer, to his parents Geran Davian Aed Tassnehof and Elayne Isobelle Olivian Tassnehof. In the ten years the two had been wed, only once had the Duchess become heavy with child, and that was lost in late term due to an illness. Thus, the birth of Burel Gaius Tassnehof, was a godsend. It also helped Duke Geran attempt to solidify his hold upon his throne. To this end, the boy would be schooled in a manner suiting his station. At a tender age he was made to sit through the teachings of Thane Erebus Redclaw and a court mage named Melchoir the Grey. A hard thing to sit through, when one is barely out of diapers. It was during this time that the first stirrings of the civil war, called the Schism, started to take form.

For, sadly, the more progressive policies of Duke Gareth were digging into the sensibilities and styles of the older nobility. Much of the younger nobles, men who had struggled to reach their titles and postions were supportive, but the old guard had issue with this. For Duke Geran had a saying: "Our people, the peasants and the yeomen are not here to provide us with stability and station. We are here to use our station to provide them with stability and peace." And many were the old guard nobles who were used to their ways, using their serfs in the manner they had become accustomed too. That is, using them up and taxing them until they were little more than slaves. And it was during this time of learning and simmering civil strife that Burel was tutored with the same inclination and duty.

Unfortunately, the succession would not proceed in a manner that Burel nor his father would have forseen. For as the boy turned five, and the Ducal party was enroute to the neighboring territory of Heath, they were struck by an orcish raid. At this tender age, he saw the valiant men of the Crimson Guard overrun, his father use the ancestral blade Weatherstorm until struck by a dozen black orcish arrows, and his mother perish by throwing herself over him to protect him from the jab of a spear. To the only survivor, in this instant, was born a deep-rooted hatred for the green-skinned race. It was only twenty five years later that he discovered the truth of the matter, and his dislike for the orcs lessened. For his family had been murdered by the order of the Usurper-Baron Adolph Karl Wiglaf. Soon after the raid, the young Heir, now Duke, was discovered by the Dwarves of the Red Hills.

With the Dwarves

Found by a patrol of Dwarves, led by their clan-hold leader Beran, Burel was soon sent into seclusion with the hardy mountain-dwelling folk. His survival, and the ends of his parents were fowarded to the Thane of Meadowford, Erebus Redclaw, and a plan of safety decided upon between the two of them. The clan would protect and raise the youth, and thus keep him safe from the depredations of Wiglaf and his cronies. Whilst in the mean time Erebus would hold the country together until the time that Burel was in his majority and could actively defend himself. An agreement was made between the two, and his tutelage under the Dwarves began.

With the stalwart folk under the mountains of the Red Hills, Burel was taught how to use the sword and shield. The axe and the mace. The sling and the bow. How to fight in formation, and how to fight alone. How to protect against a man (Or dwarf in this case) on horseback, and how to threaten a man afoot from the back of a mighty steed. Along with this he was taught the skills needed to survive alone in the wilderness within and without of the clanhold. How to make do on the steep slopes of the mountains, or in the deep dells of the forests. Of all of the things he was taught, he was also trained to be a leader. The man did not understand why, truly, for memories of his youth before the orcish assault were hazy and dim. He believed he was being trained by the dwarves to help lead them in a war against the green skinned interlopers, but in the end, this prooved to not be the truth.

For upon his sixteenth birthday, he was gifted with four items. The family sword, Weatherstorm, as his birthright. A suit of mithral-inlaid platemail for protection against all that would ail him. Aetherwind, a sword faintly reminiscent of a katana, as Burel showed more aptitude with the sweeping cuts and strikes of those weaponry over the more blunt and heavier blades and hammers he had trained with. And lastly, the ducal signet ring, for rememberance and to show him the truth of what was out there. Thusly, trained and knowing how to take care of himself, the DwarfLord Beran gave the boy one last gift, this being a sack of gold and clothes to wear. And a mandate to find his destiny. And so he did so, starting by heading west. West, away from the Red Hills and everything he knew. And, amusingly, away from the troubles of the Schism. For while he was to be the man who ended the troubles, he knew little about them and knew less about the people who fought for him.

Travels in the World and Wood

After leaving the Red Hills, Burel made his way west and inevitably away from the conflict that had arisen because of his missing status. Surely, as he would state it, a few times he was caught up in a skirmish between the two sides. Once while trying to work his way out of the Hills themselves, and again just before he made it to the border with Derry, which at the time had closed their borders with the struggling nation. His travels took him from the place that was his birthright and into the province in which he would form friendships and emnities that would last until the current day. For Myrken would be a place of trials for the youth.

A time in which a band of uncouth troublemakers known as the Unnamed wandered the streets of Myrken and the government of the place seemed ill able to deal with the troubles they created. A band of 'heros' who called themselves the Third Arm also strove to right whatever wrongs the Unnamed had to offer. It was a delicate time in which much of Burel's unswavering dedication came into play time and again. Time and again he found himself targeted by their assaults, and coming close to dying himself on several occasions.The help of another foreign dignitary, who only went by the name of Once, did he manage to keep himself alive and mostly hale. In due time he was finally discovered by the Thane of Meadowford who had been searching for the missing heir almost since the day he had left the dwarven enclave of the Red Hills.

He had come searching for the man who bore the Ducal signet ring and return him to his people, for there was a civil war that needed to be settled. And it was not something that could have been done in a land that was a long journey away. And so it was in this moment that Erebus restored to Thessilane the rightful heir to the throne, and brought him back to his people. It would be more than ten years before Burel, now Duke of Thessilane, would return to the province in which he had first tested himself against the darker aspects of the world.

Home

Burel was proclaimed Duke in the capitol city of Thessilane, Meadowford, by the Thane and immediately placed at the head of his armies. While he would, in time, becoming a more than capable commander and leader of men, this would be the first time he had to keep control of men other than himself upon the field of battle. His very first engagement, little more than a skirmish really, led to the devestation of not only the force sent against him by General Turhil, but of his own command. Boros Bridge was a field of battle that Burel would never forget and forced him to recruit the assistance of the Gray Lancers and their expertise. For while he knew how to fight, he did not know how to command. From their commander, he learned not only how to command, but also when and why to draw his sword. Important things to know when you were expected to lead your forces from atop a nearby hill and leave the slogging to the men that you commanded.

Also, he was taught when it was important to charge into the fray, and when to inspire those around him. Tempestro Starr taught him much of these things, and was another lesson which he would never forget.

((work in progress))