Of Lothar, and His Origins

A Hero is not born,

a hero is made -

he is tested and tried

in his early crusade.

And from one, such as Lothar,

the mightiest man,

we can learn a great deal

from knowing how he began.

The Tale of Lothar

by Floyd Fiftynames, Lisenced Bard

You cannot call Oakshadow a town. You can hardly call it a village, but it is more than a hamlet; an entire community is built up around it, with farmers from the outskirts coming to depend on it, and those in the other villages seeking out its tradesmen. One such tradesman was Valdemar, son of Manfred the Trapper, a leathersmith of some repute. Valdemar was one of the pillars of Oakshadow, and with three sons, two of whom were burgeoning men in their own right, and skilled tanners as well - his name was known from here to the Keep as a man who could make you a second skin.

Of the two grown boys, Lothar was the younger. Lucien, three years his senior, was moving into position take over the family business from his father. This left Lothar, all of seventeen years, in a position he had not truly planned for - to honestly begin his adult life, he would need to leave the family that had nutured him, and set out on his own. At this green age, Lothar was already independent to a point. He enjoyed sleeping outdoors in a tent he made for himself, and he would frequently obtain and prepare his own food to supplement the family meals (Lothar was large, and the combined efforts of his stepmother and grandmother could not fulfill the needs of his appetite). But he had always known the comfort of having a home and family to turn to, and to working for his father.

So when the opportunity to branch out presented itself, Lothar was quick to take advantage of it, and in so doing discover his abilities to compete in the wide world. Still, it took an act of family - in this case, Lothar's uncle, Elfred (a royal messenger and emissary who occasionaly visited, and who took Lothar on camping trips where he learned survival skills) - to break him out of the boundaries of sleepy Oakshadow. Elfred came calling to the young and unencumbered men of the village, putting together a task force to address a growing threat of wild animal attacks in the forest to the south of the village. Joining Lothar in this quest were Ajanni, a dark one whose family had migrated to the area to be farmers (Ajanni's canine companion, Githijji, was favored by Lothar as well), the innkeeper Riordan, the orphaned church ward Salem, the carpenter Josiah, and a farmer named Farkus. A local lad, Neris, also joined them when the group discovered he had been trailing them clandestinely.

After supplying from a local watchtower, the group set out in search of evidence of the animals' presence. They found it some ways south, when they happened upon a recently abandoned farmhouse - abandoned because the residents had been eaten by something. With this evidence in hand, Elfred and his party visited a local inn - the Stein-Shield - for a warm bed, a drink, and to learn more. While the discovery of the mauled farmer had been bracing to Lothar, he had seen death before. He had never seen a building quite the size of the Stein-Shield, however, and the awe he felt standing in the large common room caused him anxiety, so perhaps his discomfort could explain his reaction to seeing Elfred accosted by a large man in metal armor - with an insignia of the church, no less!* As the large man placed his hand upon Elfred's shoulder, Lothar's hand immediately found his club.

His club. You know, for a boy who had never really handled a weapon in combat against another man, it was quite impressive. He had crafted it himself, from a large, gnarled oak tree branch. The tree itself was a source of vegetable tannin for the family. Lest I bore you with the minutaie of a tradesman's life, allow me to tell you that tannin is quite important if you want to turn an animal hide into something useful or stylish. At any rate, the branch had fallen from the tree, and as Lothar pulled it from the rot, he found himself with the makings of a club whose head contained a considerable knot of wood on the end. He carved down the handle until it was about as big as the jawbone of a horse, and wrapped it in leftover leather from the shop. While no one would mistake it for a professional soldier's weapon, it was a devestatingly effective tool of bludgeoning. Would Lothar's first opportunity to use it be now? I'm afraid that, for the answer, we'll have to wait until next time.

FF

*More on the church another time.