Appearance

Renik Dacour is a slender man of average height, graceful and agile, good-looking in an angular sort of way. He gives the impression of being alert and quick-witted. He is pale skinned and clear eyed, and his hair is shoulder length, brown, and well cared for. His clothing varies to suit his surroundings. When traveling the woods or countryside he wears muted greens and browns. Currently he is dressed for city life; black calf length boots, grey trousers, dark grey shirt, black doublet. His armour is hidden beneath his outer clothing, a fine mithril chain of astonishing lightness and flexibility. Over this he tends to wear a long grey cloak, with his face often hidden from view beneath a deep cowl. Over each shoulder is sheathed one of a matching pair of magical short swords. An ornate silver knife is sheathed on his chest, along with a buckler on his left arm. This is black, expertly made, and studded. He has a number of pouches and vials attached to his belt.

Personality

Renik is a pleasant, genial fellow, with a ready wit and a smile never far from his face. He is capable of flamboyant acts, and calm introspection. He is polite and gentlemanly, considerate and careful. He is a moral man, well aware of the importance of promoting good in the face of a Wold filled with evil, but he is also a realist; he knows that grey areas exist, and sometimes the only way to do good is to choose between the lesser of two evils.

Though in his time he has experienced great loss and treachery, the experience has not made him bitter. Rather, when contemplating such events he feels great sadness. His path, that of the night-creeper, the shadow in the dark, the spy, is at somewhat at odds with his good nature, but events in his life have steered him down this road, and he knows what he is good at. He contemplates the paradoxical nature of his life, and finds it a pointed comment on the nature of life in general. The light is only ever defined by the dark.

History

1. The Bear's Tale

The great brown bear, known as Ul Ru Khier (Death Claw) by his dwarven masters, had in his day been the most feared of all the Ursine Outriders. Reared and trained to carry Dwarven raiders into combat, clad in gleaming plates of spiked armour, Ul Ru had been a truly awesome opponent, treated with respect by his masters and deference by the other bears in his unit. Many had been the foes who had fallen to his terrible claws, or been crushed between his terrible jaws. Legendary was his strength and ferocity in battle.

But as he grew older, the great bear grew dissatisfied with this life of servitude. Though his dwarven captors respected him, it was a respect born of fear, not love. And in time his simple thoughts turned bitter and vengeful towards them. The Black Dwarves had enslaved him, tortured him in the name of training, forced him to fight in battles that were not his own. Finally they took his chosen mate from him, and he could bear his servitude no longer. In a night of savagery and bloodshed he broke free, killing many of his erstwhile masters before leaving the dwarven caverns forever.

For many months he traveled, forever pursued or attacked by creatures intent upon his destruction. Until at last, exhausted, half mad with rage, bitterness and isolation, he came upon a quiet area of woodland that he might call home. And yet before him, clutching an axe, stood a human, one more enemy to strike down in his unending search for peace.

2. The Warden's Tale

Gradik Dacour had been warden of the Tenslade Forest since his eighteenth year, as had his father before him, and his father before him. So it had been for generations; the Dacours acting as forest wardens for the Baron of Dunskeep, in return for freedom of the forest and a place in the Baron's council of advisors.
When he was thirty five years of age, and three years married, he left his infant son and his wife, great with child, in order to perform his daily patrol. And on that day he came across a wild and wounded bear in the forest. The great beast reared to its hind legs, and would have killed him with a single sweep of his mighty paw, had it not been for Gradik's utter fearlessness and compassion. Standing there, face to face, he and the bear stared at one another for over an hour, neither moving. And something passed between them, an understanding and a bond that neither had ever experienced before. Gradik could not know that at that moment, far away in their forest cabin, his wife passed away giving birth to their second son.

From that day forth the bear, who Gradik named Elyuson (Heart of the Forest, in the language of the Dryads) became Gradik's constant companion. He became peaceful, placid and content, and so things passed for almost fifteen years until both the bear's shaggy coat and the Warden bristling beard were touched with grey . In time the legend grew up amongst the villagers and farmers of the Barony of Dunskeep that Gradik's wife, somehow seeing that her husband was about to be killed, gave up her own life in order to spare his, her spirit mingling with that of the bear. It was for this reason (so they claimed) that the two became lifelong companions. Consequently the great bear was treated with an even greater reverence than would be normally afforded to one such as he.

Gradik's two sons, Tarl and Renik grew up to be strong and healthy, and in time it fell to Gradik to choose which of them would become warden in his place. Normally the decision would have been simple, the responsibility would be passed to the eldest son. But Gradik faced a dilemma. The eldest son, Tarl, though stronger and faster than his younger brother, had grown knotted and twisted like the vine. Renik, by contrast, though physically weaker was morally superior, straight and true and honest. Though it flew in the face of tradition, Gradik was forced to select his younger son to succeed him.

3. The Brother's Tale

Tarl Dacour had been a sour child, resentful of his brother. Perhaps in some way he blamed him for the loss of their mother, perhaps it was simply his nature to hate. But Renik's selection over him by their father was the final straw. His heart turned irredeemably black, and he plotted terrible revenge against his family

His opportunity was not long in coming. The elderly Baron of Dunskeep had been ill for some time, and now, with his death, his son took control. The old Baron had been widely known for his compassion and generosity, and although there were some reservations about his son, they were over his excessively retiring, bookish nature. None could have foreseen the change that was about to take place.

Within days of gaining power the new Baron gave an indication of events to come. Taxes were suddenly raised, the militia expanded, and a new hard line adopted toward debt defaulters and petty criminals. The retiring son was proving to have teeth. The changes continued over the coming months, and before long the villagers grew to dread the name of the Baron. His rule was brutal and tyrannical.

This suited Tarl perfectly. He grew close to the new Baron, offering council that met with the approval of his despotic master. It was not long before he was firmly installed as the baron's right hand man. He collected the taxes, commanded the militia, and poured further poison into the already poisonous mind of his master.

There came a time when the Baron decided the Warden Gradik would have to be removed. He was proving too vocal a proponent of the villagers' rights, and stood in the way of the Baron's plans for the leveling of the forest to provide wood for barracks and land for his growing army to train. The problem was twofold. Firstly the great bear Elyson. Whilst Gradik was under his protection, none dared assault the Warden. And secondly his standing amongst the villagers. It was now that Tarl's true capacity for evil became apparent.

He informed the Baron that, unbeknownst to any save the Dacours, the great bear had an uncontrollable fear of fire, and that with this information he had hatched a foolproof plan to destroy his own father.

First livestock was found slaughtered, huge claw marks in their sides. And though careful examination of the corpses might have revealed throats carefully slit, few questioned the Baron when he announced a wild bear was loose in the woods. Next the Warden was called to the Baron, ostensibly to discuss tracking the marauding bear. Of course Gradik knew that no such bear existed; there had been no evidence of such a creature. Though he suspected the Baron was laying some form of a trap, he was unable to determine its nature, and was forced to play along with whatever game the he was playing.

In his absence a team of Tarl's most bloodthirsty and cruel soldiers surrounded the forest cabin where Elyuson kept guard. Using long, flaming poles, they were able to drive the terrified beast into a deep pit on the outskirts of the village. Then, circling the pit the soldiers drew their bows and fired arrow after arrow into he who had once been the greatest of his kind. Elyson died, and it was not a death becoming to so great a warrior as he.

Tarl then instructed his soldiers to drag the bear's corpse into town, claiming it had attacked the goat left as bait, and fallen into the pit. Here was the marauding bear that had terrorized the villagers and taken the farmers' animals from them. Tarl, however, did not accompany them.

At the moment the great bear died Gradik knew with terrible certainty his old friend was gone. He ran from the keep, praying that he might be mistaken, but in the main village square he saw his fallen comrade, surrounded by laughing soldiers, boasting to the villagers. With a terrible roar of loss and fury he drew his axe and charged at the soldiers, and before they knew what was happening one lay dead and another gazed in dumbstruck horror at the spurting stump of a severed arm.

But even his great fury was insufficient to overcome all the soldiers. He was swiftly overpowered, beaten until he could not stand, and dragged before the Baron. The Baron ruled that for harboring a murderous animal, and for murdering one militiaman in cold blood, and grievously wounding another, Gradik must be put to punished. He turned to the villagers and called out "How shall he be punished? Shall he be executed, according to our law, or shall he be set free to bring more death-dealing beasts of the forest to our fair village?" And the mob, many of whom had known Gradik for decades, who had been helped or cared for or supported by the Dacour family over some matter or another, called back as one "Execute him! Execute him!" And so it passed that Gradik Dacour, with the popular support of the villagers and farmers, was beheaded before the Keep gates, as his son Tarl looked on, smiling.

4. The Tale of Renik Dacour

Renik Dacour returned to the village that afternoon when he could find no sign of his father or Elyson at the cabin. The sight that greeted him as he approached the keep near drove him mad. There, alongside the decapitated heads of executed criminals, were the heads of his father and Elyson the great brown bear, mounted on iron spikes over the keep gates. He might have lost everything then, had he not seen a group of evilly grinning militiamen approaching. To their amusement he fled, first collecting what few family heirlooms he had from his home. Then he vanished into the forest, and nothing was heard of Renik Dacour for many weeks.

Tarl and the Baron thought their victory complete. Dunskeep had lost her only defenders, and what's more it had been accomplished with the complicity of the local populous. Their power was now unchallenged, save by a grief-stricken boy probably dead in the forest. The Baron ordered the woodland area nearest town felled, and the area beyond that cleared by fire. Work began building a standing army, barracks and training grounds.

But they had gravely underestimated the resolve and resources of Renik Dacour.

At first it was wagons leaving town that were raided, but soon even the soldiers feared to travel the woodland roads. Attacks were swift and deadly, and the occasional terrified survivor told of an invisible foe, a figure appearing from thin air and dealing death like some terrible avenging angel. As the attacks increased in intensity over the ensuing months Dunskeep became virtually isolated from the surrounding countryside of Crescent Valley, and The Baron grew angry and fearful as the villagers seized on the mysterious vigilante as a hero come to deliver them from tyranny. They named him variously the Shadow in the Forest, the Shade, and Renik the Green, depending on whether they believed the attacker to be the Spirit of the Forest itself, the vengeful ghost of Gradik, or Renik somehow become powerful beyond imagining.

The Baron commanded Tarl to lead his army into the forest, and not to return without the head of the outlaw. The army entered the forest the next morning, one hundred men led by Tarl and his six lieutenants. Fourteen hours later seven men, Tarl amongst them, stumbled out of the forest, half mad and quaking with terror.

Tarl Dacour was at once summoned before the Baron. He tried to explain how the woods themselves had closed around his men, how his army had become hopelessly lost and fragmented, how for hours and hours all they could do was fight their way through undergrowth that seemed to fight back like a live thing, waiting for the next distant scream as another man died. How finally, reduced to just his lieutenants, he had seen a tree come alive before him, and had been given this message to take back to his master; "The Wood is awoken. It ends tonight." The Baron had screamed with rage, and hurled his wine goblet away, hitting a guard in the face and soaking two retainers. And at that moment, melting from the shadows behind the Baron's chair; Renik Dacour appeared. Pausing long enough to whisper "For my father, murderer" Renik plunged his blade in deep under the ribs and up into the Baron's heart.

And yet, astonishingly, the Baron did not die. Though gravely wounded he somehow stood, and turned to glare at Renik with uncontrollable hatred. His features shimmered and blurred, and suddenly Renik was staring into his father's eyes. "You would not kill your own father, would you, son?" said Gradik Dacour. Renik fell back horrified. He was too stunned to notice his father slip a long silver dagger from his sleeve, and things would have gone ill for him had his brother Tarl not acted in that moment. Seeing his father returned from the dead Tarl screamed in terror, and drawing his sword he plunged it deep into his father's skull.

And as the two brothers gazed down at their father's body, a change came over it. the skin turned white and translucent, laced with a network of blue veins. The eyes grew larger, the nose and mouth smaller, until the creature lying between them bore little if any resemblance to a human. "Doppelganger!" Hissed Tarl, and both brothers understood at once the mysterious change that had come over the son when his father the Baron had died. No doubt the son had died at about the same time. Tarl and Renik stared at one another over the loathsome corpse. All in the room were frozen with horror.

Tarl acted first. Seeing his master gone and horribly discredited, certain that without his army and the authority of the Baron behind him he would be arrested and executed, he fled, taking his six loyal lieutenants with him. As he left he swore horrible vengeance on Dunskeep and his brother Renik.

Renik walked, stunned, from the great dining room and into the cool night air. By the time he reached the village square a great crowd had gathered, the story of the night's events having spread like wildfire. There was celebration and joy in the air. There were calls from the crowd for him to lead them, others to become Warden in his father's place. With a curt gesture he silenced them, and spoke.

"Men and women of Dunskeep. The tyrant is dead, and you are free. But do not rejoice too soon.

"You had it in your power to free my father when he was unjustly accused by Fenian. By your word he died. Perhaps I should tell you a little of this man you condemned to death so readily.

"Gradik Dacour, like his father and grandfather, was the Warden of Tenslade Forest. Do you know what that meant? Did you never ask yourselves why a Warden was required?

"When Dunskeep was founded, many generations ago, it was at the edge of Culverwood, the area of land we call today Tenslade. A great woodsman, Elyan Dacour, approached the Lords of the Forest, and requested permission to build a settlement there. That permission was granted, on the condition that from that time forth a representative of the villagers would maintain peace in the forest, allowing no harm to come to her. And so it was that the Dacours, for generation after generation, preserved this peace, and the forest slept.

"By your action, by the Baron's foolish attack on the woodland, that peace is now at an end. Dunskeep has declared war on the Forest" Renik pointed behind the crowd, up the hill towards the treeline. The villagers stared, first in disbelief, then in horror. The trees were closer, and growing closer still. Renik continued "And the Forest is fighting back."

The first seeds of panic grew amongst the villagers. "Save us! Help us Renik! Tell the Trees we are sorry!" But Renik Dacour shook his head.

"Even if I were so inclined, I could not. My father died before he passed custodianship to me. Though the Forest will tolerate me, it will not accept my commands. I cannot help you." Renik looked up, and the villagers did likewise; the entire village of Dunskeep was surrounded on all sides by dense, dark Forest, and it was pressing in fast. He sighed. "No-one can help you now."

Dunskeep disappeared from any map of the Wold that night. There was only one path through the Trees, and only one man was able to walk that path. Those few inhabitants of Dunskeep that did survive emerged from the forest many weeks later, terrified and starving, some with their eyes poked out, others shredded by thorns. The trees took Dunskeep apart, stone by stone, until all evidence of the human invasion was gone. And when all was peaceful, the trees slept once more.

Of Renik and his brother I know no more. I never heard tell of them again. I hope Renik is well, and his brother dead. But my hopes are small and foolish things, with no power to affect the Wold. When all is said and done, we are all of us just bystanders to events beyond our control. All we can do is record the passing of history, and hope that in so doing we can learn by our experiences, and pass our learning on to others. So it was with me, the tale of Renik Dacour, and the death of Dunskeep.

As recounted in the Red Wyrm Inn for the price of a meal and bed for the night by the blind bard Edgar the Wanderer.

Recent History

After leaving the ill-fated Dunskeep, Renik wandered for some time. Along the way he provided his services to various merchants and local leaders, retrieving stolen items, gathering information, infilitrating criminal gangs and the like. The most significant and dangerous of these jobs was for the Church of Alemi, in Bray. Clearly his reputation had preceded him; only a few days after arriving in town a priest approached him, and told him of a worrying development. It seemed that townspeople were coming under the thrall of a malevolent presence, and the church were powerless to prevent it. He was hired to infiltrate the growing cult, and determine the nature of the evil that threarened Bray. Disguising himself and spending several weeks gaining the trust of the affected townsfolk, Renik was able to uncover the source of evil, at great personal risk. Pursued by hordes of demented cultists he barely made it back to the Alemi Temple, bearing the BloodStone of Baahl. The priests were able to perform cleansing rituals on the evil artifact whilst Renik and others desperately fought back the demented townsfolk as they tried to break into the church and retrieve their master. With the cleansing of the stone, the spell was ended, and Renik recieved the undying gratitude of the Church. It seemed they were particularly impressed that astonishingly, not one of the brainwashed townspeople had been killed by his hand, even in the heat of that final battle. It was not long after that that the Church began to use his services on a regular basis. Though an upstanding institution, there were always jobs that required a delicate touch, and a level of plausible deniability. In this way Renik Dacour became a spy.

Most recently he has, through highly placed Church officials, been put in touch with a man named Marcus. On behalf of the Lord High Mayor of Plateau City he has been requested to go undercover to determine the source of an as-yet undetermined threat to the city. All that he has to go on are a number of curious posters that have been appearing around town, causing bizarre behavioural abnormalities in those that read them. Again he has gone undercover, using the alias Gullion, to get to the bottom of these events. Marcus has informed him that a group of adventurers have been similarly employed, and are currently working undercover at the Beer and Bath. He has gained a position at the same establishment, working as a salesman of snacks, snuffs and nick-nacks. In reality this position is more an excuse to gossip at length with the clientelle, gathering whatever information he can. He is to make contact with this group, and join with their efforts. He has found lodging in a run down establishment that suits his needs perfectly; no prying eyes, and two exits to his room. One he only ever uses as Renik, the other as Gullion.

Alias: Gullion

Appearance (Gullion)

Gullion is a short, stooped fellow, who might have once been healthy, but is now florid of face and running to fat. His skin is mottled, and shows evidence of a bout of the pox at some time in the past. His movements are rather maladroit, and his hands are often observed to shake a little, as if he has spent too much of his time at the bottle. His lank, greasy black hair is plastered to his scalp, and a beaded cap (which has seen far better days) is perched upon his head. His face usually wears an ingratiating grin, which parts to reveal unhealthy looking teeth and worrisome breath. He is generally clad in a grubby embroidered robe of indeterminate colour, that like his cap is showing its age. His shoes are red, and have long, pointy toes. He gives the impression of a friendly, worn out and slightly pot-bellied weasel. Recent History (Gullion) As far as anyone can make out, this has been a series of failed business ventures over half the Plateau, along with an unhealthily large number of heroic drinking sessions. His current lowly position is, he assures any who ask, just a temporary setback. He knows this fella who's got a shipment of otter fur coming in at cost, see, and this job is just tiding him over until he hits big on that deal. However people don't tend to question him too closely on his past, out of fear that he might actually tell them (he does tend to go on a bit). ;-)

Personality (Gullion)

Gullion is not the most savoury of characters. His fawning, leering nature quickly offends the snobbish, but to the more open minded he can prove an entertaining fellow. Never short of a yarn, a contact who he met last week who can get you two hundred weight of those at cost, or bawdy joke, Gullion is like a thousand other failed entrepreneurs in Plateau City. Quick witted, verbose, but lacking in any social graces or basic business sense, he survives nonetheless in a hostile world on his wits, his resiliance, and his unrelenting search for the "Big Deal".

Emergency Alias: Prash

Prash is a sad, withdrawn drunkard. He occasionaly rouses himself long enough to yell "Yarallabunchafugginbashtarsyeshtinkinbgroff...", before lapsing once more into his normal semi-comatose state. Occasionaly he will sober up long enough to beg for coppers, which he will immediately spend on cheap, nasty booze. Bearded, scarred and filthy, Prash is an ex-sailor reduced to drunken begging.

Online Character Sheet

You can see Renik's character sheet online here.