Arahad of Gondor

The Story: Farmer, by birth. Ranger, by training. Hunter, by his actions. When Arahad was nine years old, his village was attacked by corsairs, who destroyed all he knew and killed everybody he loved, save for his sister, to whom the captain took a fancy. Arahad was made a cook`s assistant in the captain`s household, while his sister Alette was made the captain`s "personal" slave, sometimes being loaned to his friends. That was why when she was loaned to a noble who didn`t know what was good for himself he ended up throwing her into the bay with weights chained to her when she resisted. Arahad heard about it as soon as the captain returned with the news- and the noble`s severed head. He was twelve then. A few months later he was sold into being a galley slave. Everybody told Arahad he wouldn`t last a year. He proved them wrong. Eight years of labor hardened him into a strong, tough young man- and a hateful one as well. He never forgave the corsairs, and he never forgot the sight of his family and friends as they were cut down, the smell of the village burning, the sound of the screams, the taste of the blood in his mouth, or the feel of the slave driver`s whip on his back in the galley. He lived as an unremarkable individual, not remembered by the many captains he served under, save the occasional mention when asked for stories of their travels about the slave that had been in the galleys for years. Then, eleven years after he was made a slave, the ship was captured by a Gondorian frigate that had shown up at the worst possible time. He enlisted, having nowhere else to go. After serving several years in the military, he turned his focus to hunting down and killing the captain. There was only one problem: he didn`t know the man`s name. The captain was, in fact, a rising star in the Merchant Houses at the time of the raid. Arahad had actually heard of him many times during his service: Ciryatur the Bloody-Handed (one of The Indomitable`s many scum-of-humanity characters).

Equipment: Arahad started his service as a Blackroot Vale archer, and his tastes show it. His favored weapons are a longbow and bastard sword. His particular examples of the weapons were made by master craftsmen of the Union of the Silver Shield, gifts from a Dwarf merchant whose life he saved. He also carries a hatchet for cutting firewood, which can serve as a weapon if the need arises.

Skills: Archery, swordsmanship, "living off the land", hunting.