🧝🏾‍♂️ Standing Between The Shadow & The Light

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My Chibera character story

This is my @chibera character back-story, written for the Chibera Character Story contest. Hopefully, I'll get to play this character soon - I love the sound of this RPG being built on Steem. Check it out, and consider donating to their Fundition crowd-funding campaign.

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Crabanaur crouched silently in the high branches, watching as the small troop of Elven warriors passed beneath him. If he made so much as a twitch, he knew he would be found. And then he'd have to kill all of them before they could cast an alarm and gather reinforcements.

Keep your blade clean today Crabanaur, he told himself. There will be time to spill blood; that time is not now however.

He looked across to the raven sitting in the branches with him, and gazed into the bird's eye.

Follow. He nodded towards the Elves below him. The raven flew off from the branches in the direction the troops were moving, overtaking them. Crabanaur heard the bird craw once it was flying ahead of the Elves, distracting their attention to allow its master to slip past and out of danger.

After several minutes, the young Elf dropped out from his hiding place and continued on his way through the valley, back to his temporary home hidden amongst the hills.

He wondered what had brought Forest Elves so close to the mountains. Were they searching for him? No point in worrying about it too much, better to head back to the Old Man and continue with training, let him know about the increased Elven presence, and deal with it.

Since being exiled by his kin, the Moriquendi (Dark Elves) he had endured nothing but misfortune. He was despised by his own people because of his mixed blood; although his mother's story was that she had been raped by a Calaquendi (Light Elf), he had his doubts. He had often noticed a longing gaze in his mother's eyes any time the topic was raised. After his affair with Morfindë, the King's daughter, his already tenuous place amongst his mother's kin was pretty much over.

 
So, he went in search of his father's kin. All he knew was that he was Máloquendi, the Forest Elves. He knew not which of the Forest Nations he may be from, and planned to visit all three of the great forests of Chibera. His problem however was that he was Sinda (in the tongue of the Moriquendi) - "grey". Being half-blood, he did not have the dark complexion of the Moriquendi, nor was he fair as the Calaquendi. His difference made him stand out; and hated by both kindred of the Greater Eldalië Nation.

Hiding in the valley, he had met the hermit Ceredir, who took him in and began to instruct him in the ways of Kithrhôd, an ancient Chiberan religion that sought to harness Mana by way of drawing upon nature to create technology. It was Ceredir who had taught him to commune with the beasts of the wilderness, although he could really only do it successfully with ravens. he had been living in secret with the hermit for nearly ten years, becoming quite proficient in the Kithrhôdiri practices.

Crabanaur still longed to find his father and his kin, hoping that perhaps they would accept him when his mother's kin and other Calaquendi bands he had encountered had not. Being a half-blood was unacceptable amongst the Elves of Chibera, the enmity between the Light and the Dark had persisted for millennia, long before the 'accident'.

He could move freely amongst humans and their towns, most had no love of Elves, so found him to be somewhat of an enigma. Those who had met and befriended were happy to sit with him, knowing he was an enemy of the Elves. Even some Dwarves tolerated him at the best of times, although one could never predict the mood of a Dwarf, as they were known to have wild mood swings. Most folk were still somewhat aloof with him, although that was morello do with his association with Ceredir than his half-blood appearance.

In order to disguise himself, he had cut his long, typically-elven hair, and wore a felt turban to further disguise him by covering the tips of his ears. His unique complexion was explained away as the result of growing up far to the south and east where the sand-dwellers hail.

Crabanaur had no real home; he felt as a stranger in a strange land. He possesses the mannerisms and traits of both his mother's and father's kin (Light and Dark Elves having distinctly different characteristics and beliefs). It was for this reason that Ceredir called him Tarimbë Moricala, "he-who-stands-between-darkness-and-light" or Sindoio, "grey bird", which is what the humans and dwarves of this province knew him by.

He had become quite proficient with sword, staff, and bow and was just as deadly with his bare hands. He could play sombre melodies on the Tanta (a harp-like instrument), and had even learned to write in the Elven language (both Light and Dark scripts), as well as ancient Chiberan, necessary for reading Ceredir's Kithrhôdiri texts. It had only been in the last year that he began to learn the art of Mana-crafting, the creation of Kithrhôd technology using mana-crystals.

But something deep within him was restless. As much as his home in the valley was safe from Moriquendi and Calaquendi alike, something deep within him yearned to move on. In his dreams, the World-Tree Aldamba sang a song that penetrated his heart and soul, calling him. He had never mentioned this to Ceredir, knowing the old hermit would not permit him to leave whilst his studies continued. However, as each year passed the dreams became more intense, and the song continued to play in his mind even in his waking hours. He knew he had to leave; it was merely a matter of when, not if.

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