Arlin Greyrunes

For as long as he can remember, Arlin has been marked by two, gray runes on his inner forearms. His parents, when they were alive, told him only that the runes appeared there one day when he was barely a toddler. Arlin suspected they were hiding something from him, and from time to time would inquire anew. But the answer was always the same.

He and his parents, fur trappers both, moved around a lot, never living in a large community and never remaining for more than a year or two. As Arlin's thirteenth birthday approached, he noticed his mother's increasing nervousness. She would break down in tears when she suspected Arlin did not notice her watching him.

They had been living on the shores of a large, forested lake for just about a year. When the stranger came, Arlin was down by the lakeside gathering fresh water as he did many mornings. A full head taller than Arlin's father, yet seeming impossibly slight, the man was swathed in a heavy gray cloak. Menace rolled off the strange figure as he pushed open the front door and stepped inside.

First came the choked scream of Arlin's mother – a shrill cry that stopped too abruptly. Next was the heavy crash of Arlin's father smashing backward through the door and landing sprawled upon the ground. The Stranger strode through the splintered doorway, knelt down over Arlin's father, and plunged his finger tips into the man's eyes.

The Stranger followed Arlin through the forest for over an hour. Arlin hid as best he could, but the Stranger seemed somehow to know all the boy's secret hideaways; it was like he knew what Arlin's own father had known. When the chase came to an end, the Stranger found him hidden in the high branches of a tree. Arms of liquid darkness stretched up and encircled him, dragged him down from his vantage, and held him at eye level with the gray cloaked figure. He had no face, just a black gauze mask wrapped loosely around his head.

Arlin remembers very little of what happened next, the frenetic blur of action as he struggled fruitlessly to fight the slayer of his parents. Most of it was lost to the pain as his forearms burned as though seared by acid. The Stranger recoiled even as tendrils of darkness lashed out from beneath his cloak and wrapped around Arlin's neck. Dragged down to the lake, Arlin was held beneath the chill waters until oblivion swallowed him whole.

He awoke on the far lake shore, wet and battered, but alive. In the ten years since, Arlin has taken the name Grayrunes, though he keeps the runes themselves covered up. No longer a helpless little boy, he's learned how to handle himself in a fight. He's picked up a little bit here and there about who the Stranger was, but has found precious little about the Grey Runes or why he is still even alive.

Arlin Grayrunes (WC)

Race: Human
Gender: Male
Rank: Novice (5 XP)

Attributes
Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d8

Skills
Climbing d6, Fighting d8, Investigation d4, Knowledge (Dark Cults) d4, Notice d6, Stealth d6, Survival d6, Tracking d6

Derived Stats
Pace: 6+1d6
Parry: 6
Charisma: 0
Toughness: 7 (Base 6, Armor 1)

Edges
Two Fisted, Nerves of Steel

Hindrances
Enemy – Those who are hunting the Gray Runes (m), Vengeful (m), Vow – Uncover the Secret of the Gray Runes he bears (M)

Gear
Axe (STR+d6), Swort Sword (STR+d6), Dagger (STR+d4), Leather Armor (Armor +1), 25 Coins

Notes
Character has 5 XP to represent some of the time spent in training