Born to a former soldier and sellsword turned huntsman and sheriff for a father and former traveling trader turned general goods merchant for a mother, Weylin would have had a comfortable childhood in any city. He was born in a town in the Spine however. His entire childhood was spent working hard to help both of his parents in any ways he could when little then as he began to come of age shift into his father's work as a huntsman. It was not easy but he did not hate it either.
Things were peaceful until the autumn he was 19. One of the
towns in their little network of
settlements did not have any of their usual traders or people arrive to buy and sell goods. Weylin's father decided to investigate and took Weylin with him. What the pair found was charred
ruins, burnt and rotted corpses of both people and livestock alike, and the remnants of chests and contains littered all around. He didn't know what it was, but his father did. It was the aftermath of a raid. It could have been giants, bandits, or orcs. An arrow left behind pointed towards orcs. This alarmed the both of them as peace with the local tribes had been established when the first settlers arrived from the Reach nearly a century ago. As they turned to hurry back home and spread the news, Weylin by sheer chance found a newly past mountain dog and her puppies. One still managed to cling to life by some stroke of luck, but would starve soon. His heart couldn't handle any more tragedy so Weylin took the pup home with him.
For the next several years at the prompting of Weylin's father the settlements all prepared for further raids by this unknown band of orcs. Time continued to pass, but no further sign of them ever came. Eventually the settlements lost interest in staying so wary and one by one they all forgot about their training, their stockpiling, and their makeshift defenses. Only Hilltop, Weylin's home town, did not move on to a peaceful life. Weylin's father continued to train Weylin and the other men of the town in the basics of using a weapon. Armor was made from leather and what metal they could spare. Weylin even raised his growing dog Snow to guard him and his family on top of helping him with his hunts.
Hilltop finally gave into the desire for its old peaceful life as well shortly after Weylin turned 22. His father continued to advocate caution and preparedness, but it was finally falling on deaf ears. Months past before a similar
event to all those years ago as another one of the other settlements had no traders arrive when they always had. Weylin's father immediately put his armor on and grabbed his sword to go check it out. Weylin went with him as no one else from the town would. He left snow behind and the two set out.
The father and son never did make it to the next town. A small group of orcs ambushed them along the way. Weylin was caught completely off guard. He managed to take only a single shot before he found himself in a life and death struggle with one of their attackers. The two fell to the ground with the orc trying to bash him across the head with his mace and Weylin desperately trying to prevent it. Eventually he dug his dagger into the orc's eye. Blood dripped to his face as the orc screamed out. The opening was just long enough for him to sink his hatchet into the orc's neck. His attacker finally was dead and he struggled to his feet with heavy breaths. His father had managed to kill two of the brutes, but the last remaining one had shot two arrows into his father before fleeing.
Weylin's father dropped to the forest floor before Weylin could get to him. The wounds were not deep but the lose of blood and the poison on the arrows' tips left him with little time remaining. The last words Weylin heard from his father were, "Go. Warn the town. Find your mother. Love you son." His father lost consciousness after and soon past away. He did not have time to morn though. He took his father's sword and made for his home as quickly as he could on his tired legs.
What Weylin found at Hilltop was chaos and death. The preparations that had been so carefully made for years were of little help with no one taking advantage of them. The defenses were unmanned, armor was hanging on racks inside of on bodies, and weapon were left to rust in attics instead of in hand. Hilltop's fate was sealed and it would soon be nothing more than the charred ruins its sister was. Weylin could do little to help against the slaughter. All he could do was hurry to his home and pray his mother was safe.
His hopes were real when Weylin arrived to find his mother alive. A cut had seen her shoulder unusable and another causing her to limp, but she was alive. White's face was stained red and the body of an orc with their throat ripped out was nearby. His mother did not ask him where his father was. The sight of his sword in their son's hand was answer enough. She had him shoulder a pack containing their most precious valuables and the family fled back towards his father.
Weylin buried his father after taking his wedding ring from his finger. They did not have time to morn before needing to press on. His mother seemed fine at first but with every passing hour she worsened. Town after town they fled to in hopes of finding help and to warn. Each time they were met only with ruins. After days of searching, his mother finally collapsed. Her wounds had festered despite their best efforts and she had lost too much blood before they left. They exchanged their final words and then he buried her as well after she past. No child should have to personally bury both of their parents, but he did. He and White fled further into the wilds around the Spine until no familiar tree or stone was in sight.
Weylin finally had time to mourn his parents, but it could not last long. He tied his parents' wedding bands to a leather strip around his neck and pressed on. There was nothing left for him to return to the way he had come. All that was left was the unknown before him.
Except Weylin never did truly find peace and come to terms with his parents' deaths. His mourning for them continues and saw him isolate himself for months within the wilds of the Spine. Eventually he began to venture around others and found himself dealing with giants,
dragons, orcs, centaurs, and much much more.
The single biggest event for him was meeting the half-orcess Zeri while she was on a mission in the Spine. The two found themselves escaping a troll together only to be stuck and nearly dying in an old, abandoned dwarven city. Since their escape they faced many trials together and grew close.
But one day Zeri finally left to explore the wider world leaving Weylin behind. A new kind of lose he had to come to terms with and a long overdo decision needing to be made on his path forward....