Monrath Lonewalker: Down the Mountain

At dawn, Monrath breaks down camp. He cracks the ice capping the river and drinks his fill. In the morning hours he descends Kelvins Cairn and hunts the Harper Seals. One crack. Dead. At noon he drags the bodies back to camp, two or three at time if the day was kind. In the evening he strips the hide, brines the meat and picks what is left off the bones for his supper. The eyes are his favorite. He lights a fire, but not for warmth. Heavy flat stones stacked over a deep pit hold in the smoke and embers. The meat cooks slowly. The frosthyme and sea brine make it tender and salty. Too long, and it's leather, not long enough and it turns the stomach. Monrath's is perfect. After ten days of hunting and cooking, he brings his smoked wares to Targos and trades with the human men there. He trades for sharpening stones and good rope. Coins are pointless weight. Sometimes there is a bear, and he has a new cloak. Sometimes the beasts of stone descend from the mountain, and he must defend his camp. At night he is alone. It all he knows.

When the seal herds grew thin, Monrath moved south for the summer. The forest was strange to him, but full of life. The huge city of Miribar made him feel sick. So many people living atop one another. Men who only traded coin. He never came back. The Lurkwood was full of foxes and elks. That summer he gathered many pelts and antlers. The simple folk of Ten Towns would trade well for these. Sometimes there were elves. They told him not to hunt, but didn't stop him after he killed the first few. Sometimes they did well, and he would seek medical aid from the Forest Witch. She was small and seemed weak, but he liked her. She traded healing magic and unguents for the strange parts of the animals humans didn't want. Teeth and bladders. Ribs and skulls. She liked his wares.

Near Summer's end, the elves made it clear they wanted him to leave. They sent a strong warrior to scare him away. Monrath didn't know stronger warriors existed, but that day he learned an important lesson. He was defeated but not killed. It hurt his honor, but rather than run in fear he recovered and followed the warriors trail back to their camp. They were mad he found it and confused when he offered them all the hides and horns and meat he'd gathered that summer. He asked them to teach him.

Now, years later he has returned to Kelvins Cairn. In the morning he hunts the Harper Seals. At night he is alone. In the summers he returns to Lurkwood and trains with the Elves and the Fey there. They task him with small quests to right wrongs in the forest. He goes to the Witch for healing. He learns much. When they ask him to go to Waterdeep, a city by the sea far to the South, ruled by men in masks, he refuses. They tell him to return home, and that his training is done. He will not get stronger without facing mightier foes, and they rest in the south. He doesn't understand, but life is change, and the seasons come and go. The mountain will be there forever, but his life is fleeting. Stronger foes to the South. Cities of men. Coins and ships. Music and walls. Honor is his new prey.