Myharl (prime)

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Myharl Gryphonwind
MYHARL GSIV WIKI PORTRAIT.JPG
The Dark Tower
Commissioned artwork by Mates Laurentiu
Race Giantman
Hometown Wehnimer's Landing/Cold River (adulthood), Southron Wastes Nomad (childhood)
Class Merchant / Former Morganatic Noble
Profession Warrior (Wyrmslayer)
Religion Koar (The Great Drake), Kor'thriss (Guardian of the World), and the Champion Voln
Affiliation(s) Master at Arms of the Warrior Guild, Master in the Order of Voln, Member of House of the Rising Phoenix
In-a-Word Large
Disposition Once friendly and warm, more recently distant and grim
Alignment Equivalent: Neutral Good ]
Demeanor Bloodthirsty (particularly towards wyrms)
Primary Trait Exceptionally tall (10' 5"), Kroderine Soul
Secondary Trait His towering height and hulking frame cause him to get in the way a lot
Flaw Propensity to be a loner that is growing more prevalentt
Greatest Strength Berserking
Greatest Weakness Berserking
Habits Frequent whiskey and occasional pipe-weed
Hobbies Master crafter, master forger (all weapon types), sheath maker, shop owner [Gryphonwind Ventures], and avid wyrm hunter
Soft Spots Dark Elven Women
Likes Testing his mettle
Dislikes Zealots, dishonesty, and crowded rooms
Fears Dishonor to himself, Disappointing loved ones
Loyalties Lumnis, Lorminstra, Phoen, and Ronan (By association to Koar)
Best Friend Far too many to list
Spouse Divorced; Married 5109-5122 to Ladies Aurla, Psyryn, Yterria, and Yieshia
Loved One Lunaryna (Beloved Friend/Past Love)
Children None
CHE and MHO Membership
CHE House of the Rising Phoenix
House of the rising phoenix.jpg
MHO Affiliations House Daingneach Onoir
(Resigned 5111)
Greater Elanthian Merchant Society
(Defunct) 

Editor Note (January 8, 2022): Having only recently discovered in December that player characters can have wiki pages, this is a work in progress that I intend to complete in the coming weeks as I pore over decades of logs for details, names, and dates and flesh out my character's backstory and history in the game. Missed my original target of year-end due to a busy schedule, so new goal is first quarter of 2023! Please note that content currently here is mostly in "first draft" while I work towards a coherent story. 
 — Player of Myharl

Current Appearance

The first thing you notice about Myharl is a kilt of shadowy valravn quills cinched by a silver-shot wyrm's talon sporran he is wearing!
You see Myharl Gryphonwind the Dark Tower.
He appears to be a Giantman.
He is of an extraordinary height, even for a giant.  He appears to be an adult.  He has darkly rimmed, piercing black eyes and deeply coffee-hued skin.  He has a bald head.  He has a well-defined face, a broad and strong nose and a sloe black silver-touched beard pinioned into a single elaborate braid by a dark wyrm's-eye aetherstone.  His features have a firm, statue-like quality to them.
He has a set of five lustrous onyx rings in his left eyebrow, a fiery crimson tattoo of a dragon's talon on his face descending from beneath his left eye, a pulsating blue sunstone ring in the upper ridge of his left ear, and a small dark shard-shaped mark on his neck.
Dark shadows twist and swirl around him.
He gives off a bloodthirsty demeanor.
He is in good shape.
He is wearing a slit-visored black alloy greathelm crested with shining disir feathers, a hooded undansormr scale cloak lined with floccose niveous warg fur, a mesh black alloy aventail, a side-swept crimson sagum cloak bearing the Warrior Guild Master at Arms crest, a petite nacre moonflower encased in emerald leaves, a securely buckled armor harness crafted of rugged leather over a full suit of black alloy platemail with a thick arming coat fashioned from layers of hinterboar hide underneath, a pair of black alloy vambraces, some undansormr scale gauntlets, a kilt of shadowy valravn quills cinched by a silver-shot wyrm's talon sporran, a hip-slung palladium-edged weapon-belt with a glowing white sacred warsword hanging from it, a sturdy ko'nag case, a frostworn hinterboar hide satchel, a pair of black alloy leg greaves, a pair of ko'nag-framed snowshoes afixed with buckled straps under some cord-bound hinterboar hide boots hitched with rugged ice cleats, an oversized scuffed leather backpack with a rope-secured bedroll, a length of silk climbing rope securely knotted to a three-tined grappling hook, and a krodera-bound black alloy tower shield slung over his shoulder.

Current Sate of Roleplay

Currently, Myharl is experiencing a major shift in his story line—a new chapter.

New visions, prompted by the Eye of the Drake, set his path to the edge of the world, beyond the Long Snow and into the Hinterwilds. Soon upon arriving, merit was given to his foresight as a fierce dragonic figure soared overhead beneath the dark skies and glowing aurora. This was the place of wyrms in the long-ago dreams which led him from the desert wastes. It goes unquestioned that his fate has led him into the endless winter, however the place is tainted by dark magic. Ancient magic. A force that relentlessly wears away at his soul. Day-by-day he grows distant, darker—more grim. The once joyful, fun-loving giant has grown starkly cold and notably more bloodthirsty (even for the berserker that he is). However, something draws him back from the edge of darkness after each trek into the long night. A distant warmth, a whisper, a mysterious anchor to light...

(Myharl closes his eyes briefly, placing his hand upon his chest. His fingers brush against a small nacre moonflower donned upon his cloak. After a moment of silence and deep breath he steels his nerves, draws his warsword, and readies his shield before marching resolutely into the gale-thrown night.)

[OOC Note: Myharl's DEMEANOR has been set 'warm' for over a decade. To represent his "'darkening'" from the Hinterwilds, I have been moving the demeanor 'dial' descending every few weeks. It will eventually reach 'cold'. I wanted to leave an OOC note about this here as character demeanor affects the results of several verbs and systems in game (such as hugging). I don't want someone to misunderstand Myharl's demeanor change as personal or targeting them from an OOC perspective. It's entirely a part of roleplaying this chapter of his life and set as a global default.]

Ongoing Current Chapter Notes

As the current part of Myharl's story unfolds, I'll be keeping notes here until there's enough detail to warrant a new section. Only a few months into this new chapter and there has already been a plethora of amazing inter-charter roleplaying that has been pushing the story along quickly! It has been fun discovering where the story leads itself.

  • The Eye of the Drake is not an artifact of the Great Drake, Koar, but of an ancient evil entity of shadow (origin suspected from the Age of Drakes. Perhaps a Ur-daemon?).
  • The blazing eye in the artifact is not that of one of the Great Drakes, but rather a manifestation of his own bound wrath (apparently of uncommon potency, and what the entity seeks to unleash).
  • Myharl's life quest, which was guided by the Eye, has actually been the entity conditioning him to become a "dark champion" bent to its will.
  • The call ever-Northward throughout his life was intentional. Could the location of the entity be somewhere in the Hinterwilds?
  • Gryphonwind, the Ishan Seer from Kilanirij who he thought had sacrificed her own life to save his was actually a manifestation of the dark entity. He has opted to keep the surname once dedicated to her memory, now a reminder to be wary of deception and betrayal.
  • The ancient magic "darkening" him in the Hinterwilds is somehow directly connected to the entity, the wear upon his soul its intent.
  • Myharl, who has always had faith in Koar since associating him with the Eye, is amidst an existential crisis (Does he follow Koar? Has he ever truly?)
  • Despite this knowledge, he feels an unyielding pull to return to the Hinterwilds time and time again. He can only thwart this call for relatively short periods.
  • His disdain for wyrms has only increased, as has his bloodlust. Regardless of what lead him North, wyrms killed his family, and his wrath towards them is beyond measure.
  • After encountering the entity in a shared vision with a friend, triggered by the Eye, unusual writhing shadows (similar to the entity's appearance) have begun appearing around his flesh, they seem to only dissipate when he is in close proximity to that same friend.
  • Myharl has stopped calling the power the Eye holds over him his "Fate", and has taken to calling it his "curse" instead.

Notable Achievements

Wyrm Slaying

Historical Encounters 

The Encounter (Restday the 2nd of Lormesta, 5111)

Battles

Victories

Big Game Hunter

  • Silver-Scaled Cold Wyrm Kills: 33
  • Azure-Scaled Cold Wyrm Kills: 30
  • Snowy Warg Packmother Kills: 27
  • Cinereous Chthonian Sybil Kills: 3
  • Total Big Game Kills: 93

Politics

Guilds, Societies & Trained Skills

Adventurer's Guild Information (as of Tilamaires the 28th of Fashanos, 5123)

Awarded Unique Titles

  • Caligos Diving Champion (Won both 1st and 3rd place at 5120 high dive competition) [External Link: Official Forums]
Pictured: Myharl Gryphonwind in 5114 of the Modern Era, then decked in golvern platemail, locked in battle with an invading demon as Wehnimer's Landing is engulfed in flames around him.
Commissioned artwork by Mates Laurentiu.
Pictured: Grand Lord Myharl Gryphonwind with Forlorn Maiden, the spirit that haunts his warsword, in 5121 M.A. Posed standing before Mount Aenatumgana, he is wearing his typical light travel outfit and is leaning on a keg of his personal home-brew cinnamon whiskey, Gryphonwind Special.
Commissioned artwork by Mates Laurentiu.

Gryphonwind Ventures & Myharl's Office

Gryphonwind Ventures is Myharl's shop. The shop is located in Wehnimer's Landing at the first block of Ebonwood Way (Lich# L337) inside the hexagonal stone building with a pair of large golden gryphon statues flanking the doorway.

Founded in 5110, the business began as a quaint single-room antiquities shop specializing in veil iron rarities and relics from ages long past. This early venture was highly profitable and the selection of wares quickly expanded as did the storefront.

In 5112 the shop was officially registered with the Wehnimer's Landing merchant guild, and Myharl established his office in the west wing of the establishment. The location is as much a base of operations as a functional storefront, and when he's in town, Myharl can most frequently be found loitering within.

In 5113, Dallin Proudmire, a professional bard and scribe, was hired to verify new wares to be displayed and tend to the shop while Myharl was away on his adventures. He has since become a partner in the venture.

Gryphonwind Special Cinnamon Whiskey

Gryphonwind Special is a home-branded whiskey distilled by Myharl. The grains he uses are flavored with a hefty amount of fiery cinnamon and sweet amaranth greens, and lightly infused with hints of ground bitter delphinuris (delphira) leaves and sweet salorisa (saloryss) flower petals.

He distills a new barrel every year, and ages the spirits for five years in sephwir kegs which he keeps stowed in the back room of his shop, Gryphonwind Ventures in Wehnimer's Landing. In the shop Foyer, he usually keeps a small stock available to purchase at a cost of 1 silver. He sometimes will provide a keg and free drinks for a special event he is attending if such offering is appropriate for the event protocol. The drink is served in wooden flagons, which he insists is integral to drawing out the the true flavor of the whiskey. 

A Veniom-Bound Silvery Sephwir Keg (an oversized carved wooden flagon of Gryphonwind Special)

The Frigid Argent Wanderlust

The Frigid Argent Wanderlust is a sloop Myharl purchased to assist with importing various wares to sell in his shop, Gryphonwind Ventures. It can usually be found docked in Wehnimer's Landing when not pressed into service. He doesn't regularly participate in Open Sea Adventures because his goals and interests are focused elsewhere. Also, because being on the water "feels funny" and he doesn't enjoy the experience.

The Gryphonwind Crest

Pictured: The official merchant crest of Grand Lord Myharl Gryphonwind of Wehnimer's Landing. Blazon: Hexagonal Argent, a gryphon rampant Or armed taloned and beaked Gules.
Artwork created by player of Myharl.
Myharl attends to his merchant's guild official insignia of certification, making the insignia as presentable as possible.

Blazon as certified with the Wehnimer's Landing Merchant Guild: Hexagonal Argent, a gryphon rampant Or armed taloned and beaked Gules.

(Layman's Terms: A hexagonal white crest emblazoned with a rearing gold gryphon bearing red talons and beak)

Primary Weapons & Armaments

Myharl invests primarily into a single set of gear that includes his glowing white sacred warsword "Forlorn Maiden" and His black alloy armor set. While he does purchase other non-combat equipment from time-to-time, the bulk of his fortune is spent on improvements for this, his 'end-game' set of combat gear. The following list will be maintained and updated as improvements are made to the items.

A Glowing White Sacred Warsword — 10x (+50), T5 Ensorcell, S6 Sancitfy with Holy Fire, GEF + Unique Custom Fire Flares, HCW/HDW, Unlocked Lore, Perfect-forged, Max Light, Holy Bastard Sword crafted of mithril w/ Legacy Permabless +5 against undead, named "Forlorn Maiden" [1,017 difficulty] Includes matching 'Incorporeal Forlorn Woman' legendary spirit beast. Wielded with Weapon Bonding and Tainted Bond.

Full Suit of Black Alloy Platemail — 7x (+33), T5 Ensorcell, S5 Sanctify, Unbalance Flares, Spiked, VHDP/HCP, Unlocked Lore, Max Light, Holy Full Plate crafted of black alloy w/ 5% Resistances against Crush/Slash/Puncture, +3 Health/Stamina Recovery (25 charges max) [802 difficulty]

Krodera-Bound Black Alloy Tower Shield — 10x (+50), T5 Ensorcell, S1 Sanctify, Fire Flares, Spiked, Fully Unlocked T2 Harnessed, Unlocked Lore, Max Light, Holy Tower Shield crafted of black alloy; bears the glyphed coat of arms of the House of the Rising Phoenix [626 difficulty]

Black Alloy Vambraces — Fully Unlocked T4 Brutal/Cunning Fancy Greaves (Switchable Lightning Flares/Fire Flares/Plasma Flares) with Ghost Flare Messaging, Spiked, HDP/HCP, Unlocked Lore, Max Light, Holy Arm Greaves crafted of black alloy w/ +10 CON enhancive with upgraded charges (105 charges max). [282 difficulty] Can hold/equip/sheath two daggers.

Slit-Visored Black Alloy Greathelm Crested with Shining Disir Feathers — Anfelt Armor Zested, Acid Flares, Spiked, FDP/HCP, Unlocked Lore, Maxlight Greathelm (head/neck) crafted of black alloy w/ +8 STR enhancive (19 charges max). [61 difficulty]

Mesh Black Alloy Aventail — Acid Flares, Spiked, LDP/LCP, Unlocked Lore, Maxlight Aventail crafted of black alloy w/ +6 AGL/+7 Max Stamina enhancives (53 charges max). [14 difficulty]

Pair of Black Alloy Leg Greaves — Acid Flares, Spiked, LDP/LCP, Unlocked Lore, Maxlight Leg Greaves crafted of black alloy w/ +11 DEX/+8 Harness Power Bonus enhancives (17 charges max). [18 difficulty]

Other Notable Items & Gear

Radiant Phoenix Down Mantle Clasped by a Jacinthe-Flamed Arathiel Jewel — Holds Very Large Amount, Can be Tucked, Closes, Ethereal Flames Illusion Prop (Worn as a pin, functional)

Hooded Undansormr Scale Cloak Lined With Floccose Niveous Warg Fur — Feature Concealing Hooded Cloak, Closes, Epic Deepened to Hold Gigantic Amount (Worn over the shoulders, functional)

Kilt of Shadowy Valravn Quills Cinched by a Silver-shot Wyrm's Talon Sporran - Kilt/Greatkilt zested, Holds Slightly Large Amount (Worn over the legs, functional)

Sweeping Krodera-Bound Pauldrons Adorned With Ki-lin Horn Spikes — +7 DIS enhancive, persists, huge number of charges (Worn as a pin, functional)

Twisted Widowwood Band Grasping A Glowing Madstone — +6 CON enhancive, persists, huge number of charges (Worn on fingers, functional)

Sparkling Balenite Ring Crowned With A Wintry Everfrost Shard — +7 DEX enhancive, persists, huge number of charges (Worn on fingers, functional)

Crude Leather Wristband Dangling Several Petrified Warg Fangs — +7 CON enhancive, persists, huge number of charges (Worn on wrists, functional)

Tattoos & Visible Markings

  • A fiery crimson tattoo of a dragon's talon on his face descending from beneath his left eye
  • A small dark shard-shaped mark on his neck (Branded by the hand of The Exiled Nexur)
  • A knuckle-to-shoulder stygian tattoo portraying Koar's awakening on his arm
  • A stylized spiral of flame tattoo that wraps around on his arm
The flames depicted in this tattoo seem to branch off from the flames tattooed around his shoulders.  Each of its highly stylized wisps of flame forms a symbol within the curls.  There are a total of twenty six different icons that appear esoterically down the length of the arm, and they are accompanied, in fine silvery script, by the words, "May the Lords and Ladies of Liabo enlighten the Path of ancient knowledge and sacred wisdom."
  • A pair of flaming drake's wings tattooed on his back
Stretching from shoulder-blade to waist on either side of his spine, the tattoo is an excellent rendering of a pair of inferno-wreathed drake's wings that lay furled and quiescent.  Ebon inks create the delicate boning, while sanguine hues limned in plum create tiny veins.  Twenty-three runes, barely visible within the blistering flames, represent each of the Arkati, though noticeably missing from the helix of runes is the crown of Koar.  This symbol is instead inked in bright gold at the nape of his neck.

About the Dark Tower: General Information & Life Story [Quick Summary FAQ]

Myharl is a berserker and noted wyrmslayer who frequently hunts beyond the Long Snow in the Hinterwilds near Cold River village, a place he considers a second home. When not braving the wintry wilds, he can usually be found either warming himself by the hearthfire in Rawknuckle's Pipe Den or taking refuge from the frigid galewinds beneath the ancient pine tree in the village center. He is frequently in the company of Kestrel, the village lookout, as the two share many late night watches together. When outdoors in the Hinterwilds, his eyes are often scanning the aurora-illuminated skies as he awaits sighting a wyrm aloft over the Angargreft or Boreal Forest locales.

He is also a citizen of Wehnimer’s Landing where he is known as a bounty hunter for hire and long-time merchant. He is the proprietor of Gryphonwind Ventures (established in 5110 of the Modern Era) [External link: Shop Listing ] which is located at the entrance to the Wehnimer’s Landing shopping district. He is a registered guild master and Master-at-Arms of the Wehnimer’s Landing Warrior Guild, a master in the Order of Voln, and member of the House of the Rising Phoenix. His moniker, "The Dark Tower" originated as a nickname from his years training at the Warrior Guild. The name began as a playful jest about his unusual height, but later—through trials and tribulations with his brethren—became a title of honor and respect.

He was born in the hour of Ronan on Tilamaires, Eorgaen 18th in the year 5079 of the Modern Era, the youngest of three children and the only son of giantman nomads Lokran (father) and Maeralea (mother). His eldest sister disappeared before his birth (lost in a sandstorm and presumed dead). His other sister and parents were all killed in 5097 when his tribe's encampment was attacked by wyrms. His name is an amalgamous play on multiple giantkin words which can be roughly understood as "gift of the feast" and was bestowed upon him in celebration of the massive white sandworm the tribe hunters, including his father, fell on the day before his birth.

Family names are not a tradition practiced by his tribe, yet are often necessary for business matters in the Empire and its holdings and frontier outposts. Gryphonwind is the name of a long-ago friend who sacrificed her own life to save his. The name was adopted by Myharl as his surname to honor her memory.

Myharl’s appearance is noticeably different from most other giantkin whose clans and tribes have been long-established in the regions surrounding the northern reaches of the Dragonspine Mountains. He is unusually tall (towering well over ten feet) and bears deeply ebon-hued skin. This appearance, while atypical for highmen in Northern Elanith, is common among members of his tribe.

He migrated to the northern frontiers during the third decade of his life, but hails originally from deep within the desolate barrens of the Southron Wastes. Nomadic like most giantkin tribes, his family was one of many comprising a wandering desert tribe of highmen that have traversed the wastelands for countless generations. His journey as an adventurer began when he was exiled from his tribe after inadvertently activating an ancient and mysterious artifact he refers to as the Eye of the Drake.

The clanless tribe bears no name, but the elders profess that they are the descendants of survivors from a once magnificent giantkin kingdom far to the north. A nation that fell in ancient times during a war against a great evil. Their predecessors, forced from their homeland and driven south, adopted the practice of unending migration in lieu of founding another homestead. Though unsure whether the story of the tribe's ancestral origin has merit or is nothing more than fanciful folklore, later in life Myharl did find what appears to be the remnants of just such an ancient highman kingdom. Located deep in Stoneharrow Swale between the port city of Solhaven and the frontier surrounding Wehnimer’s Landing, within the ruins is even the visage of crowned giantkin king worked into stone. He sometimes wonders if this place could be the forgotten lands mentioned in the myths of his former kin.

In his early twenties, during the years immediately proceeding exile from his tribe, Myharl found work with an Issimr merchant caravan which plied their trade by transporting goods across the wastes between the Grot'karesh fortress city of Kilanirij and the Turamzzyrian Empire. Frequent visits to Elstreth and Idolone, as well as the occasional long haul to the grand city Tamzyrr, slowly introduced him to the common cultures of North-Western Elanith. His interest and curiosity about those cultures would grow until he eventually parted ways with his Issimr friends to explore the northern bounds of the Empire for himself.

Relationships & Marriages

Pictured: Grand Lord Myharl Gryphonwind in the company of his former wives at his Wehnimer's Landing shop, Gryphonwind Ventures. From left to right: Grand Lady Psyryn, Myharl, Grand Lady Yterria (seated), Lady Yieshia (kneeling), and Renowned Lady Aurla. Commissioned artwork by Mates Laurentiu.

At intervals throughout his adult life Myharl has courted various women. He discusses few, but always spoke fondly of Lunaryna with whom he shared a brief—though fiery—relationship soon after his arrival to the frontier. However, his travels across the Empire and northern wilds frequently interfered with establishing long-lasting intimate relationships, and the two would eventually amicably part to walk different paths.

Upon the fourth decade of his life, after deciding to make Wehnimer’s Landing his home and base of operations, he discovered the opportunity to establish more permanent companionship. He was married to a quartet of dark elf sisters who bear estranged, rarely discussed, ties to Faendryl nobility. Of the four, the eldest sister is Renowned Lady Aurla (Magess of the Flame), followed by Grand Lady Psyryn (Master Healer), then Grand Lady Yterria (High Priestess of Koar), and lastly the youngest of the four, Lady Yieshia, who Myharl affectionately refered to as his "little magess".

Myharl and his former wives made their home at the private suite on the second floor of the Raging Thrak Inn in the town square of Wehnimer's Landing. In the summer months they could frequently be found relaxing in the suite's private bath and in the winter, warming themselves by the massive hearth in the living room. They spent many happy years together involved in local politics, helping to defend the town in times of need, and working for the Adventurers Guild to mitigate bandit activity in the surrounding regions.

However, after nearly a decade and half, the sisters suddenly received a missive summoning them for business back in their homeland. Afterwards, much of their time was spent away tending to family matters. Meanwhile, Myharl's treks beyond the Long Snow became more frequent and sustained in pursuit of hunting wyrms. Over time, the sisters and Myharl grew apart and rarely spoke. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months between seeing one another. Finally, at the end of their waning days together, the sisters departed a final time, cordially with narry fanfare. After months without word, Myharl accepted their companionship had faded away. In the winter of 5122, after having requested and receiving word of their welfare, Myharl dissolved the marriage, finalizing the divorce with town officials.

Upon marrying into dark elf nobility and becoming a morganatic noble, he had donned the title Grand Lord, which he maintained until their divorce.

By pure happenstance in early 5123, Myharl and Lunaryna's paths crossed once more, nearly two decades after their long-ago brief romance. In the following weeks they quickly rekindled their friendship after realizing that over the many years they both had retained a quiet and mostly unspoken admiration for one another. Their two souls, so altered during their time apart, reforged a connection, though one that is vastly different than what they once shared. The two can often be found sitting side-by-side, but they wouldn't be mistaken for more than close friends. However, any who know Myharl well would take note of an instant warming of his demeanor whenever he is in her presence.

Part I: Acquisition of the Eye & The Journey Begins (5097 Modern Era) [Backstory]

Pictured: The Eye of the Drake, an artifact in possession of Myharl Gryphonwind. Commissioned artwork by Mates Laurentiu.
Eye of the Drake

a shadowy crystal ball containing a mysteriously shifting eye blazing with an unknown power

Myharl's tribe were not the only highmen who made the wasteslands their home. Another, more ancient group of giantkin migrants were those who the tribe elders called, "the cursed." They had arrived in the Southron Wastes likely thousands of years earlier. The tribe's migration routes always steered clear of the mountain stronghold of their clan. A dark place called Kilanirij. For the most part the cursed had likewise avoided the tribe, seeming more interested in maintaining their fortress city than the activities of nomadic goat-herding peoples eking out a living from the harsh lands. That was until one day, a cafila of three cursed approached the tribe's encampment at sundown.

The three strangers spoke in a strange mesh of the Gaintkin language and another tongue foreign but very similar-sounding to Elvish. They referred to themselves as Ishan; travelers on a quest seeking to solve some ancient mystery. The Ishan called their paths crossing with the tribe's caravan, "a destiny".

The tribe elders were wary of the Ishan, but believing that all giantkin share an ancient lineage, they still cautiously invited them to rest by the evening fires and offered them hospitality of food and water. Of the three, one was an older man with deep scars indicative of many battles, another a younger man who seemed more learned than his company, and the last a young woman with an otherworldly air about her. It was the third who piqued the interest of young Myharl. She was several years his elder, yet still the youngest of the three. He found her form appealing and her forbidden moniker intoxicatingly unique. The interest of youth appealed for him to get closer to her, and so as the three Ishan sat around the warmth of the fires speaking to the elders, he lingered.

The eldest recovered an object securely wrapped in layers of canvas from their belongings as the younger man regaled the elders with a tale about ancient evils from the past reawakening. They were seeking a way to unlock an ancient puzzle. The old man unwrapped the object to reveal a veil iron ark crowned by a pair ornamental gold dragons, and the younger of the two pointed to six golden seals around the ark's lid explaining how no method or magic had been able to penetrate the box or remove its locks. They believed that within was a powerful artifact that could be used to fight a coming evil, and their quest was to find a way to free it from its prison.

As the two men continued engaging the elders with stories about ancient wars and forgotten times, the female Ishan took notice of Myharl's presence and seemed to immediately recognize his interest in her. She smiled softly, motioning him closer. He complied, and the two began a friendly conversation. She introduced herself as Gryphonwind, and explained she was a seer and diviner of the future sent to aid her fellow travelers. As Myharl and Gryphonwind shared food and drink, the legends and myths she told him summoned an even greater curiosity from within. Devoid of awkward banter, the demeanor of the conversation seemed as if the two were longtime friends.

As the evening grew late, just as Myharl had worked up enough courage to invite her to spend the night with him, she abruptly interrupted to ask if she could divine his future. Tilted by the offer, he drew closer to sit at her side and agreed. She reached for a small woven basket worn at her hip and pulled out and handful of polished dark stones. Each was carved with a strange rune. She cast stones upon the sand at their feet. As the stones landed, Gryphonwind gasped before her breaths became near silent. Eight of the nine stones had landed with their runes facing downward in the sand, the ninth and solely visible rune bore a symbol that vaguely resembled a landslide.

As she stared at the stone, it began to violently twitch as if taking on a life of its own. Suddenly, it began to draw a line in the sand as it danced its way towards Myharl. Glancing up to notice the look of abject horror marring Gryphonwinds visage, he leapt to his feet. The stone continued towards him across the sand, and he began stepping backwards. As he withdraw the stone gave chase wobbling frantically across the sand. Now frightened as well as startled, Myharl quickened his pace in reverse until accidentally stumbling into the older Ishan. The obstacle sending Myharl sprawling backwards as he fell over the seated man. In a bid to right himself, Myharl grasped for leverage. The stone stopped moving the moment his hand landed squarely on the ark. Quickly removing his hand from the artifact, its seals loudly popped open one after the other.

The stars seemd to vanish from the night sky as an unnatural shadowy black fog sped across the landscape to envelope the encampment. Tendrils of shadow seemed to grope and caress every surface accompanied by the sound of incoherent whispering voices. Then came an ear-ringing bestial roar so loud it seemed to shake the ground itself. Several massive winged draconic figures soared low overhead, their forms discernable only as their metallic scales reflected the carmine firelight below. A contrasting moment of silence followed until overpowered by a growing cacophony of anguished screams. Seized by terror and unable to move Myharl watched as the beasts plowed through the gathered crowd of his tribesmen. Their massive razor talons shredding flesh and stripping bone as they belched caustic fluids that washed away skin and flesh in an instant. Many of the giantkin drew their weapons, fighting back against the beasts, but others seemed statuesquely motionless, as if frozen in time.

Gryphonwind cried out Myharl's name, which seemed to shake him from the unnatural paralysis binding him. She shouted, instructing him to open the ark. As he moved towards the artifact, one of the beasts shifted its stride and charged toward him. Rearing back to raise its fierce talons before striking, Myharl helplessly stared at the wyrm sure that those were to be his final moments. They would have been, but with jarring impact, Gryphonwind's body slammed into his as she threw herself atop him like a shield. Pulling her weight away from him and rising again to her feet, she desperately pointed at the ark. In response, Myharl quickly crawled across the sand until his hands rest on each side of the unsealed vessel.

He strained to pry open the tightly closed lid, and his eyes shifted again to Gryphonwind just as a silvery talon violently burst through her abdomen from behind. The beast roared again, masking the words she screamed as blood erupted from her lips. The lid gave way and the ark was opened. A blinding flash of light from within the artifact pierced through the darkness. The beasts roars suddenly became high-pitched screeches as they withdrew back towards the shadowy fog. As the light spread across the encampment Myharl's last sight of Gryphonwind was life's light fleeting form her eyes as her impaled corpse was wrent into the evaporating darkness.
Instinctively reaching into the ark, Myharl pulled forth the fiery glowing orb from within. An otherworldly flame-filled eye gazed out from within the crystalline sphere. Clutching the ball tightly, Myharl raised it high as he screamed out her name.

The sensation of a thousand infernos wracked across his body as the beasts continued to shriek. Seeing dozens of bodies littering the blood soaked sands around him, Myharl turned his eyes to the orb. His gaze locked involuntarily with the fiery eye within and the violence around him faded into absolute darkness and silence. There was only the eye. It seemed to gaze into his very soul as an overwhelming rage welled within. A feeling of anger and righteousness. He was aware of nothing else except the fiery red glow of the eye. However, soon he realized that he was not alone, and as the eye shifted, it illuminated the massive golden figure that bore it. A great gold dragon, much like the beasts from the shadows, but enormous and surrounded by a glow in a hue of gold Myharl had never before seen.

For what simultaneously felt like an instant and like eons, the golden figure observed Myharl. Then it commandingly uttered a single word. A word beyond comprehension. Reality returned in an instant to Myharl's awareness just as an explosion of luminous golden thunder pulsed from the orb, the distortions of light eradicating both the shadows and the vicious wyrms.

Myharl fell unconscious. When he awoke, he found himself still holding the eye, but surrounding by the warm glow of the campfire and the deep indigo of the star-filled night sky. The threat was gone, but the roars and shrieks had been replaced with the sounds of crying and pain-filled moans. He placed the eye back in to the ark, and weakly slid its heavy lid securely back on top. Among the dead nearby were the two male Ishan and a dozen of his tribe. Many more were grievously wounded. Gryphonwind's body was nowhere to be seen.

As the sun's light kissed the eastern skies and the last of the wounded had been tended to, those that had seen the events that transpired kept a wide birth from Myharl. He was confused by the look of fear in the eyes of his kin. Fear of him. They formed a circle around him, as if guarding a prisoner. Hushed whispers crawled through the crowd. The last of the slain were being wrapped in shrouds when the tribe elders finally approached. They were grim and hesitant.

Proceeding a long silence, they finally elaborated... After discussing it with the tribe, they had all agreed that whatever evil curse was lain upon the people of the Ishans had now been cast upon him. It was no longer safe for him to be among his kin. He was a danger to them. With hurtful disdain they exiled Myharl, demandeding he return the artifact to Kilanirij and never again return to the tribe.

He protested, he demanded, and finally he begged the elders to reconsider. However, realizing there was no way to convince them otherwise, Myharl beseeched the elders to at least be allowed to bid his family farwell. Enclosed by a circle of warriors, he was escorted to the blood-soaked mass of shroud-wrapped bodies. As his tear-filled gaze wandered across the pile, someone in the crowd angrily quipped, "You no longer have family here. Take your curse and be gone!"

Part II: Visions at Kilanirij & Travels to the North (5097-5104 Modern Era) [Backstory]

Myharl was allowed to attend the funeral pyres, and afterwards he accepted the small clay jars in which the ashes of his family had been gathered, along with two more holding the cremated remains of the Ishans. The contingent of armed hunters ushered him to his family’s tent and—with watchful eyes—they observed closely as he prepared to depart. Though he had not cognitively reckoned with the death of his sister and parents, he still felt a maelstrom of rage and sorrow swelling within, prompted by the detached indifference towards him suddenly bestowed by those who had always been in his memories. He felt betrayed. Abandoned. He was alone.

Entering the beit al-sha'r, he gathered the sparse belongings from within. Among them, his father’s jambiya which he secured at his side next to his own. Also, an assortment of travel gear, preserved goat’s cheese, and several waterskins filled by his mother the day before from the shallow sandstone well at the encampment. After dismantling the tent and neatly folding its black fabric into a parcel, he harnessed his father’s ebony wastesdrgon and laden it with the hefty pile.

Snugly tucking the funerary jars and veil iron ark within the goat fleece fabric, he then briskly mounted the lizard and yanked the reins, yawing the beast so its scaly tail dramatically feinted those gathered. Without words, recognizing it would be the last time he was among his former kin, he slowly and deliberately rode through the breadth of the encampment, searing his eyes into the elders as he passed. He rode away from his home, and into the darkness enveloping the setting desert sun—he road towards Kilanirij.

Still in progress...

Part III: The Great Empire & Finding the Drake (5104-5109 Modern Era) [Backstory]

In progress...

Part IV: New Home In The Frontier (5109-5122 Modern Era)

In progress...

Part V: The Vixen & the Maiden — The Acquisition of Forlorn Maiden (5111 Modern Era)

Pictured: Forlorn Maiden, the haunted "sacred glowing white warsword" of Myharl Gryphonwind. Commissioned artwork by Mates Laurentiu.


Item Profile for Forlorn Maiden.

In progress...

Part VI: Endless Winter: Shadows & Talons (5122-Current Modern Era)

In progress...

OOC Questions & Answers

These Q&A originated on the Official Gemstone IV Discord, in the #roleplaying channel. Conversations that I felt relevant enough to catalog are archived in this section. 


(12/07/2022) What are you looking for when it comes to roleplay in Gemstone?

(12/08/2022) What information do you put on your character's wiki page and what information, if any, do you deliberately avoid putting on there?

(12/10/2022) Without getting into basic vs premium or prime vs plat -- do you feel like your roleplay support/opportunities are a good value compared to what you pay? Do you think roleplay offers a fairly equitable experience despite the increased monetization of Gemstone?

(02/06/2023) We've discussed the tragic background story trope here a few times, so let's make that our next topic.  Do your PCs adhere to or buck the trope?  How so, and why did you make those choices?  Did you start off with that story, or did it evolve over time?

(02/06/2023) What's your PC's/NPC's relationship status?  Single, divorced, never married, throuple, it's complicated?  None of my business?  And as always, why?

(02/07/2023) Tell us about your PC's immediate family.  Are they close with their mother, father, and siblings?  How many of the latter do they have?  Are they an eldest, middle or baby in the family?  Where are they now, relative to your character?

(02/09/2023) Has your PC ever been accused, arrested, and/or convicted of a crime?  Through the justice system, in their background history, or during a story?  What were the charges, and were they innocent or guilty?  As always: why?

(02/10/2023) What questions does your character avoid answering?  Why?  Are they forthcoming, trusting, trustworthy, or introverted?  *OR UP TO SOMETHING?*  As always, why?

(02/13/2023) Are there elements of your character's nature, temperament and history that you have made changes to since you started playing them? Why did you make the change, and how painful and/or fun was it to do so?

(02/14/2023) What is your character *passionate* about?

(02/17/2023) How did you come up with your character's name?  Does it have a source in other fiction or the real world?  Or was it just a collection of syllables that worked for you?  Was it part of a family tradition?  Do they have any nicknames?

Behind the Scenes

The player of the character Myharl first discovered GemStone III in June of 1996 during summer vacation from his sophomore year of high school. He played regularly for the next eight years and was active as the game world transitioned from GSIII into GSIV. He played only one character (name intentionally redacted) before going on hiatus in 2004. After nearly six years absent, he returned in the fourth quarter of 2009 and began his Elanthian experience anew with the creation of Myharl whom he has played exclusively since.

Myharl's date of birth (and even the hour of his birth) are exactly the same as the player's—relative to the Elanthian calendar. Perhaps a less than creative approach, but the idea was to keep the character somewhat relevant in perspective over the years. As the player has grown with time, that often gets reflected in aspects of Myharl's persona. 

Year-End Progress Reports (2009-2022)

This section includes the year-end data for Myharl's character progression as recorded on the night of December 31st for every year since the character's creation. This report will be udpated at the end of each new year. It's not particularly useful data, but it is a fun reflection of progress made over time.

OOC Contacts

I don't publicly share my contact info, and don't normally share it directly with others in GS. However, if you need to get a hold of me OOC and cannot contact me in game, I have created a stand-alone Discord account @Myharl#6607 that is only used for the Official GemStone IV Discord and for direct messages regarding GemStone IV. Feel free to DM me there or send a friend request if it's regarding the game and I'll follow up when I have time.

Requiem Request

While it’s certainly not a part of the plan, being involved as a part of an ongoing fantasy world that spans decades and includes multiple generations, it is inevitable that sometimes players pass away. Their characters too pass on, often leaving in their wake legends and legacies as well as heartbroken friends and loved ones. It is a morbid topic to be sure, thus my inclusion of this section at the very end of this character entry.

Over the years I’ve lost more than my fair share of old friends and great allies in the world of Elanthia. Some prepared the closure of their character’s story—others were taken unexpectedly. This section is to reflect on the potential that I, the player of Myharl, could one day meet my end before the grand stories of GemStone reach conclusion. I despise unfinished stories. And so, this section presents how I would want to envision Myharl’s stage-exit from an in-character perspective should the unfortunate unexpectedly happen.

If his story dramatically shifts, this section is maintained to express how I would desire closure to the character’s story in the present.
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