Author Archives: Rask

About Rask

Rask Fellmar of Thater that Was. Rask was born in the small village of Thater, not far from East Pass Fort in Aegir. He never knew his father, a Raidensblud or at least a solider in the Aegirian army. His mother made a household with another man, and Rask gained a half-brother and several Fellmar cousins. Rask ran away and joined the Aegrian army as soon as he could. After seeing far more brutality and evil than he ever imagined, his home is gone, he is a deserter twice over, and he is an exceptionally well-trained warrior.

Protect and Serve

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Rask holds Ca’armine’s shoulder when the priest of Raiden wakes him for his watch on the platform.

Rask looks into Ca’armine’s eyes and speaks queitly, “A moment please.”

After a few minutes Rask nods, his thoughts Gathered.

“Ca’armine, what we have… won’t they come to us?”

Rask shivers a bit, and focuses and quietly prays to Raiden to shield his mind

“If Sassy can sense it he will come for it however he can, right? That probably means Bandy…”

“We are don’t need to target them, they have targeted us right? Didn’t Alexis say he could tell Varisimuss was scrying on him, probably from the Pool near Greyfax? Or at least, in that direction. ” Rask nods East.

“There are others who will seek it also, or will when they learn of it.”

“We need to be ready for them to come to us.”

Rask looks North, towards the mountains in the darkness to the North.

“Instead of attacking Bandy on his home turf, perhaps we should set a location that is to our advantage?”




We Begin With Ourselves: The Stag Pool

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On the small platform at the end of Rask’s watch, he wakes Alexis, who has the next watch. Rask shares his watch observations with Alexis and then pauses, looks at Alexis with a bit of penitence and speaks quietly so as not to wake the others:

“Alexis, you bade me to focus on protecting Ca’armine and Ethelred and I agreed. After the camp the White Stag led us to, I was focused on protecting you, when you freed us from the call of that accursed inn, it was clear to me that I had been led astray…”

Rask hangs his head a bit, pauses, and then continues.

“The White Stag pool, then the Inn, then Zrithak in my dreams the other night… I am worried that my mind is weak, I have been working to strengthen my will, but I am worried it may not be enough…”

Rask’s concern hangs in the air, an unspoken request for aid lingers between the two men.

Iron Focus

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The morning after Alexis has shared the mantra and symbol of the Inner Watch, Rask wakes with renewed focus. He recites his daily prayer to Raiden and adds the mantra of the Inner Watch at the end.

His exercises are efficient, powerful, precise. His physical and mental existence aligned like never before.

When he is done, he catches Alexis and Ca’armine’s attention and approaches them.

“Brothers, ‘in the spirit of ‘We begin with ourselves,’ I have had an insight I would like to share with you. My path has been driven by a need for vengence for Thater, recently I have been focused on Shasherak, I believe in part because of my anger at being Dominated by his shadow in the round room of lightning. Even without the Black Blade, I have a weakness for anger and rage. I pray to Raiden that my anger be righteous and not pull me from my Path. I share this recognition of my weakness and ask you aid my in guarding against it. Thank you for all your guidance and support, up to and after this moment.”

Rask bows his head and offers a prayer of gratitude to Raiden.

Inquiries into the Inner Watch

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Rask approaches Alexis in the evening, near the end of the two weeks of focusing, training, and regrouping.

“Alexis, if I may, the Inner Watch? You’ve spoken a few times about it, and every time it… stands out?”

Rask is a bit unsure of himself.

“I don’t… I don’t listen for it, but it catches my attention almost is as if I were. It seems that you have learned more about it since you first brought it up, would you be willing to share what you have learned?”

Rask seems almost called to learn more about the Inner Watch from Alexis.

Thater That Was

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A few days after Alexis mentions the refugees in Thater and Barrick of Gahnil, Rask speaks up over the evening meal.

“Thater was my childhood. It is gone. The Worn Stone Tavern is burned down, there is no place for the songs of Kark Bergthison to ring out and capture the heart and mind.  No tap of the barrel for Heward Jordand to pull from to give to his thirsty customers. The Cobalt Forge is cold and empty.”

“Even if somehow things have changed, because of our journey and the Tear, and Thater is not destroyed, that is not my path. If it is safe to look in on the refugees in the crystal ball, that would be nice, but I am too far gone from Thater, too many battles,”

He pauses.

“Too many strange travels. Thater is not my home. The path forward is clear. I too am no Barrick of Gahnil, it is not my task to gather the refugees of Thater and comfort them. Nor is rebuilding Thater my path. My work is far more grim. I am resolute. Raiden will guide us. You are my brothers. Whatever comes, I will not waver. “

Rask is determined, focused, perhaps a bit more hopeful than he has been since meeting the Crimson Calling. He is sharing where he stands. Not convincing himself, nor trying to convince anyone else. Stating facts.

“Praise Raiden. We will stop these enemies of humanity together. Sasherak, Bandesing, whoever it may be.”

Rask takes a bite the remainder of his food, and looks to his companions to see if they have any questions or comments.

Doubts and Questions

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Late into the two weeks of contemplation, exercise and study, Rask approaches Ca’armine while the others are busy with their work.

“Ca’armine, do you have moment to talk?” Rask asks quietly and nods his head to the side a bit to indicate privacy.

The two step away from the others a bit and Rask continues quietly.

“Things have changed. This… is not the same world we left. We all can see it, I can feel the raw power of Aegir again, you can feel Raiden again right?”

Rask pauses for Ca’armine to affirm.

“I have been focused on stopping the Dark Hand, stopping Bandesing, it’s why we joined this group. What if Bandesing doesn’t exist here Ca’armine? Did we defeat the Dark Hand by changing history? Is there a new enemy we don’t even know about?”

Rask is confused, uncertain and concerned, even vulnerable.

Meditations and Movement

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Rask helps set up camp, hunts and gathers with Gustav and Ca’armine. He prays to Raiden joyfully everyday, and does the short forms of exercises as usual until enough stores are gathered. Once stores are gathered and camp is set, he prays even more often. Whenever it seems appropriate asks the others questions about nature, plants, survival, focus and concentration.

His solo prayer and training become meditative. He talks deeply with Ca’armine about strength of will, how to maintain focus and resolve. He speaks of these same things with Alexis and Ethelred. He watches Gustav but only asks the ranger about nature, tracking and the like.

He talks with Ethelred about the crafting of weapons and armor, sharing his perspective as a warrior and learning about the basics of the methods of building, shaping, joining the materials to make arms and armor.

He sets aside his spiked gauntlet entirely at some point as the weeks pass. He makes it clear that he is happy for it to become raw materials again if no one is excited about using it.

Those who know go to look for such things may notice that most of his fighting maneuvers are focuses on subduing the opponent with the flat of the blade, the pommel, even and knee or elbow. The moves are precise and clearly powerful, there are no movements that sacrifice precision for power, and his focus is clearly not on deadly slashes and thrusts. He is steady and deeply focused throughout the forms.

Rask is calmer, more focused at the end of the three weeks. He walks a bit more quietly, reacts a bit more quickly, and is more nimble.

History Lesson?

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Four or five days into Elthered’s Compass project, Rask approaches Alexis while Alexis is between tasks and the group is resting after Ethelred has been working on his Magic ‘Compass,’ the in the misty first ‘room,’ or level of this strange place, he waits for Alexis to acknowledge him and then respectfully speaks:

“Alexis, do you think it would be useful to us all to better understand what you know or have heard about Sasherak, this King Illceros, and that ‘Kobos’ place the dwarves,”

Rask pauses and glances down, a little ashamed of having slaughtered the dwarves so brutally,

“mentioned?”

Rask pauses breifly, before resuming his inquiry.

“The Dragon and Spider,” the warrior glances at Alexis’ ring briefly, “they are connected to King Illceros, right?”

“Was… Handonis telling the truth about the Time Magic? Do we really need giant hearts as anchors?”

Rask is confused and perhaps even a bit frightened.

Cut Off From the Raw Power of Aegir

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“There’s something happening here, but what it is ain’t exactly clear.”

While Ethelred crafts his magical compass, Rask keeps watch, cleans his gear, tends to camp, and does his exercises much as he always does when the group camps. He prays to Raiden before and after his exercises and before he settles in for the night. He often joins Ca’armine in ritual prayers to Raiden. Those that might notice such things may see the look of concern and disappointment that occasionally flashes across his face when he uncharacteristically falters during his exercises, or even more rarely stumbles during chores. It is similar to they way he carried himself in the Grasslands on the way to the First Gate, but missing the bitter fury he carried then.

After a few days, and shortly after a round of prayers to Raiden, before settling in for the evening, Rask speaks to Ca’armine and Gustav.

“Ca’arm, do you understand what is going on here?” The question seem somewhat Rhetorical, and the warrior continues before Ca’armine can start to answer.

“I’m cut off from Raiden, or Aegir I guess?

Rask looks to Gustav briefly.

“Mage-Eye did say that my tattoos channeled the Raw Power of Aegir… Like I was in the Grasslands, I’m not as fast or as tough here. It feels like part of me is missing. I’m getting more used to it, but that… worries me that much more.”

Rask pauses and looks at the ranger and then the priest, more sad that worried, really.

“You two can stall call on The Power though, and when you do, I feel that connection again…”

Rask smiles wanly, recalling the comfort Raiden’s protections bring.

“I think Hadonis may not have been completely lying Brothers. This place… something is different here…”

He pauses, clearly asking for Ca’armine and Gustav’s thoughts this time,

“What do you think is going on here?” Rask guestures broadly

Hadonis’ Inevitable Betrayal

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Rask settles into the comfortable chair, having scraped his battle-weary battered body off the floor. He slows his breathing and closes his eyes and seems to be on very of sleep when he mutters, “Hadonis… giants…”

His eyes open and he sits up.

“Hadonis was in league with the giants from the beginning! It was a win-win for him,: if we survived great, we are more powerful allies, if we died, potential rivals were neutralized and he would gain our treasures.”

He pauses, clearly tired to his very bones.

“His hearts-anchor thing must have been ruse…” Rask trails off, tired and deeply body weary.

He looks around for a moment to see if anyone registers that he has shared what he, in his exhaustion clearly believes is an important revelation, and collapses back into the chair. The warrior begins to snore softly.