Gil was born in the year 1475 of the seventh era. It is currently the year 1492.
A bit over a year ago, there were rumours that a magical forge had been relit, a week’s travel west of the farm. According to the odd traveller or merchant that have passed through the farm since, this has caused something of a boom in the nearby towns, with merchants, smiths and others flocking to the area to attempt to capitalise on this opportunity. However, this influence hasn’t quite made it out to the sleepy farmstead Gil calls home.
Geography
Gil comes from a region known as Foscarden, in the province of Fëaforn. It is home primarily to humans, elves and dwarves.
Gil’s family farm is about 3 days' travel, on-foot, south of the nearest small village named Coeminster, and a few days north of a large mountain range.
Foscarden contains a large forest known as Carric’s Wood. It was deep in this woodland that the necromancer resided.
The Coeminster Pact
Fëaforn is ruled over by a coalition of Lords under an agreement known as the Coeminster Pact, named after the settlement in which it was signed.
One of these lords, Wymar Greycastle is the ruler of the province of Foscarden, where Gil lives. Wymar inherited the position from his father, Gerhart Greycastle, who was one of the founders of the pact.
Gil has heard legendary stories about the pact, its lords, its knights, and the great battles that lead to its formation.
His father was once a soldier of the Coeminster pact, and would have told stories about his time providing protection for local settlements from bandits, goblins, and wild animals.
The Journey So Far
So far on his quest, Gil has mostly been travelling East.
From the necromancer’s hut in Carric’s Wood, he travelled south to Coeminster. Here, he learnt that there had been rumours of a strange old man passing through. A merchant gave him a lift to Bartrioch.
In Bartrioch, a sprawling and diverse city to the south-east, Gil heard dark rumours of undead creatures attacking civilians to the east.
In the city of Solem, Gil met a band of zealots known as the Dawncriers. They were worshippers of a deity they called Leotorum, torch of the dark wilds, bringer of the dawn, and a number of other aliases. As well as spreading the virtues of their god through pulpitry, they also sought to venture out into the wilderness surrounding the city to vanquish “wicked” beings such as goblins, orcs, and giant spiders.
Gil went on a few missions with the Dawncriers, as they too had heard rumours of undead creatures in the area. They found and killed a pair of giant spiders that had been reanimated by some kind of druidic fungal magic. They were able to trace the creatures’ tracks back to an abandoned shack, which contained similar paraphernalia to the necromancer’s vacated shack where Gil started his quest.
In the shack, Gil found a tarnished silver broach, inset with seven precious stones of varying kinds and qualities and engraved with a draconic motif. He kept it, in the hope that it would lead him closer to the necromancer.
Also in the shack was a crude map of a nearby region known as the Vyndingeld Pass. After asking around, Gil discovered that here was an abandoned temple in that area where servants of the goddess Amlys, “the mist of death”, once resided. These cultists were known to practice necromancy, though the temple has been thought to have been abandoned many years ago.
Gil headed to the temple of Amlys, brazenly swanning in, expecting to confront the necromancer; however, he discovered instead that a band of Orcs had taken up residence in the temple, led by a powerful Orok mage. The orcs quickly overpowered and captured him.
For the last few days, the Orcs have been keeping Gil prisoner, torturing him for information about the Bunrwo people, their defences, and their wealth. They want to raid a festival being held by these people over the next few days. But of course, Gil has never even heard of these people or their festival.