3. Zach, servant of the people

Zach, servant of the people


  • Character Name: Zach
    NWN Log-in: beng4eva
    Forum Log-in: Rei_Jin

    Raised in Peltarch by his uncle after his parents died from a bad case of kobolds, Zach's childhood was much like anyone elses who lived through the events of the last two decades of Peltarch's existance. Riots, earthquakes, freak waves, plagues, and various other maladies caused by and solved by adventurers left him with a somewhat skewed view of life.

    His uncle Joram taught Zach many things as they struggled together through what passes for everyday life in this realm, but at night Joram grieved for his lost sister. He always tried to hide his grief from Zach, but the young child had sharp eyes and ears. When he was young, Zach didn't know what to do or say, so he said nothing. What can a child say to a man who is grieving?

    As he grew though, he learnt more. Watching from streetcorners as battles took place in the alleys and lanes he saw the heroism and foolhardiness of adventurers in equal measure. He also saw the pain of death and loss, and the lengths that those with the resources could go to to see those that they loved restored to them gave him hope… but when someone refused the call, he learnt more about grief, and about how others cope with it.

    Some, in his view, dismissed it as nothing more than "the way things are". They didn't grieve, didn't mourn, often didn't even waste a moment for the dead. Others were stricken by their loss and could take months or even years to recover. This wild discrepancy seemed at odds with how those who live a mortal existance should behave for him, and so he began to look to the immortal for guidance.

    After talking with those adventurers who would spare him the time, he learnt of the plethora of deities that would answer prayers for those who were faithful, learnt of each of the pantheons that existed and the major deities and power struggles within them. It all seemed very interesting, but it wasn't a great help.

    You see, Zach had come to believe in people. Not as a sort of deific force, but in that when good people band together, no evil can stand against them. Stories of Catti-brie and Regis, Drizz't and Elminster, the Simbul, and others from old left him dreaming of standing with sword in hand against a tide of foul drow (Drizz't excluded, of course), or with his bow singing with a storm of arrows as he faced the frozen berserkers of the north. He didn't want to believe that only the gods could save him, so the pleas of the Ilmateri priests and the soft words of the Lathanderites didn't appeal to him.

    He grew older. Taller. Sprouted facial hair and acne in equal measures. Realised that girls were different and started to chase them. It was at this point that Joram took him aside and taught him of chivalry, of respecting women and treating them like you would a beloved sister. Joram shared with him that that was why he was still single after all these years... he couldn't look at a woman without feeling the pain in his heart from the loss of his sister. Zach listened and heeded his uncles gentle words, and chased them no more.

    A year or so later, there was a lot of disruption in Peltarch. Ghosts started appearing and disappearing in the middle of town, people were being drawn into the past (or so it seemed) and others started dying in large numbers. Rumours of demons and other foul things floated through the town, shortly followed by freakish earthquakes and tidal waves where they've never had tides before. All through this, adventurers worked to solve the mystery like some sort of superpowered detective service.

    Several of those who came to help the city were from the south, from Norwick. Druids and Rangers, those with a tie to the woods came and cared for his city, for the people he knew as his own. The stories he overheard from them seemed very different to those he heard from others. Whilst they battled monsters and equipped themselves with the riches this earnt them, they also gave back to the world. They cared for the plants and animals, but more importantly they cared for the people without regard for station or society.

    One night when things were calm and the night was clear, Zach snuck out of their house in the docks and skulked his way to the public gardens. The gardener Martin paid him no heed as he knelt in the moonlight to offer a prayer to Mielikki, that if she cared for the people as much as he thought she did, that he would serve her and her alone for the rest of his days.

    Whilst he didn't receive an answer directly, he went to bed that night with a sense of peace he had never felt before. The coming days and weeks saw him time and again find himself in the company of travellers who spoke of the glory of the Forest Queen. Slowly but surely he learnt more about her, about those who followed her and about how to live following her tenents. His uncle noticed and was pleased that Zach finally had a path to follow.

    So, it was on his fifteenth naming day that his uncle Joram gave him a gift of a silver Unicorns head on a pendant (a holy symbol of Mielikki) along with a purse full of coin and a note that declared his enrollment in the Temple of Mielikki for training in the faith. He travelled to a hidden forest glade across the Icelace Lake and spent the next few years learning from those who shared the grace of the Lady of the Forest.

    Now, he has returned to Narfell to travel the realms and to tend to the people and plants of his home. The animals are cared for by the druids, but the city has few who look at its place in the balance of the world and care for it as it needs.

  • ICC

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