The Story^D^D^D^D^D Epic Beginning of Reapent Calvin'efiver

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This is what I prepared for a bio, but is a little long in its entirety, which can be found on the MNGN Message Board (Link in Sig)...

Prologue
Reapent Calvin'efiver began life as Reaper Gem'efiver, the youngest of thirteen siblings of the Dwarven Clan Gem'efiver. There were his father and four brothers and their families, each with as many children in it as Reaper's own family. This clan was known for their uncanny ability to seemingly 'resurrect' fine gems from any stone. At one time, it was said, that a Gem'efiver could get more fine gems from another clans' refuse pile, than the original workers had gotten from the freshly mined stone!

The Clan's ancestors had moved from the Frostfell continent, hundreds of years ago, to the continent of Khorvaire, yet they still maintained a great reputation for the finest gems with House Kundarak, often called upon to provide 'special' services for them, as well as for clans in the Mror Holds.

The Event
The Gem'efivers began their new domain in Khorvaire, just after the War of the Mark, outside of the city of what would come to be known as Sharn. (Sharn, being linked with the plane of Syrania, had enhanced power of flight and levitation) While the humans that would come after them used this power to build great towers up, the Gem'efivers, used this power to delve deeper into the caves of the long dead Dhakaani empire. It was a profitable time for the clan.

At the uppermost level of their domicile (which was still deeper into the ground than most humans feared to tread) was a Great Hall, where the clan ate and drank and danced. Below were the living quarters, and lower still the unending mines. In the center of the Great Hall there was an enormous arch. The keystone of which was the largest single solid piece of granite any in the clan had ever seen. No one *ever* went through the arch.

One particularly festive evening, the clan was celebrating a very profitable fulfillment of a very important order from House Kundarak. Reaper's eldest brother, (Reap was the youngest of the 13) had single handedly hewn a gigantic piece of granite, and in doing so discovered nearly 50% of the gems needed for the order. Songs were sung about the deed, he was carried around like a hero... Reap was happy, but secretly seethed with anticipation and jealousy... He was not yet allowed to mine much more than a pebble. Most times he was left back with his other 'youngling' cousins to pan for nuggets in the granite dust. After the latest celebration, he could wait no more...

Once the rest of the clan had either gone to sleep or returned to work in the mines, Reaper crept back to the Great Hall. He approached the central arch with the Dwarven Axe of the Ancestors. It was this axe that had been used to cleave out the Great Hall some 400 years ago. He approached the giant Keystone with trepidation.... If he could hew that, surely there would be enough gems to fill a dozen Kundarak orders! Reap had been told to never go *thru* the arch, but he had never been told why. There was no way he could have known that it, in truth, was the very source of the clans' power; a coterminus with the plane of Syrania! He heaved the great Axe with both hands, paused momentarily with it over his head, then cleaved it into the center of the Great Keystone!

There was an immediate searing light emanating from the stone. The Axe shattered in his hands. Reaper then felt himself floating.. nay propelled, upward, accelerating as he neared the roof of the Great Hall! He was forced straight through the solid bedrock, into chambers above, through alternating layers of cave and rock, until he was shot like an arrow out into the azure blue sky.... a sky he did not see, as he stared directly into the ever growning, ever widening hole in the earth that used to be his home.... that used to hold his family!

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Aftermath
Reaper was soon caught in one of the ebbs and flows of a levitation eddy that carried him over the city of Sharn, where he landed safely in one of the older sections of town. He ran back to the Clan home as fast as he could, which still took over an hour. As he approached the gaping maw in the ground, he heard two voices. it was his 'cousin' Amgis and his warforged servant Sondeg (more of a big brutish nanny than servant, really). Amgis, an elf who rarely showed true emotion was crying, and Sondeg almost looked like he could too, if only his construct body had the mechanism to do so. Reaper knew immediatley that all hope was lost, and he was ashamed. He couldn't bear to see his friends or admit what he'd done. He left running into the woods, lost now more than usual, more than ever.

After wandering aimlessly for several days, Reaper finally came up with a plan. Actually, it was more of a direction than a plan. He decided to head northeast towards Thrane, and seek the council of the Silver Flame. At least, if he was not accepted there, he could continue northeast and hopefully find some meager subsistence back in the Mror Holds.

But once again, Reapers stellar sense of direction led him yet further astray. He travelled northwest instead of northeast... straight into the depths of the Eldeen Reaches. Here, he met some clergy he believed to be representatives of the Silver Flame. But the druids he had encountered were far less than altruistic. In fact, they had been banished from Thrane by the Silver Flame for their teachings.

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False Prophets/Salvation
Reaper still did not realize his mistake. He was taken in by these false clergy. They accepted him and made him one of their own. It wasn't long before he took the name Reapent, to remember why he was there. He spent several years learning from these men, learning what he thought were the ways of the Flame, healing, learning to forgive himself, yet he could never forget. They followed a deity Reapent had ne'er 'fore heard of, Calvan. It was at his final ceremony, the one in which he was initiated as a full clerical member of their order, that the consequences of this misconception were made clear. The final words of the High Priest.. "Welcome to the damned, Reapent Calvin'efiver!"

What!?!?! Reapent roared. He had grown older and filled out some, and was significantly more intimidating than he had been when he arrived. "Th,th,that's right" stuttered the priest..... "Ww,ww,,,wwwwe are ALL damned!" "Explain yourself!" bellowed Reapent, as he grabbed an axe from the woodpile. He had not felt the heft of an axe in many years. It felt good. The preist explained that either one is saved or one is damned. If you are saved, once you die, you go to your reward. Once damned, you are damned forever, and your fate is inexorably destined to roam the Mournlands after death. Since everyone at some point in their lives does something bad enough to become damned, clearly the only way to be saved, is for your family to kill you before you can commit any such atrocities. And of course... *he* knew what Reapent had done. Reapent offered to save each and every one of the false clergy then and there. None would challenge him in his rage. He swung his axe mightily, with his free hand knocking the priest to his altar, the axe coming down towards his head.....

It hit... and relieved the priest of all the hair from the top of his head. What little hair was left on the sides instantly turned white. "I'll be part of this 'religion' no longer!" mocked Reapent, as he strode toward the door. One of the lesser priests, whom reapent had actually thought of as a friend until now, asked him, " But Reap, where will you go?!? " Reapent flung the axe to the ground at his feet, and smiled just a little. "To earn back my salvation."

Epilogue
Reapent Calvin'efiver. He kept the name to remind him again of what he had done, who he had become, and what he must do. He was haunted by dreams of his brothers and sisters. Dreams that seemed... too real. He could only hope that the influence of the Quori on the continent of Sarlona could help him to understand these dreams, to make them real. And so he traveled yet again, farther from his home in Khorvair, farther from the lands of his ancestors there and on Frostfell. Towards uncertainity, but for the first time in a long time, with a purpose: to save his soul and to investigate the meaning of these unsettling dreams.

Not long before, his cousin Amgis had made the same journey to Sarlona, but with a different purpose. Amgis went to seek out power. The Gem'efivers had instilled good values in him, but believing he was now alone (almost) in the world, he turned to Magic. He was becoming more and more accomplished, yet could only go so far on his own. He too, set out for Sarlona, (accompanied by Sondeg for a while, for Sondeg knew not what to do with himself). Neither Sondeg nor Amgis could know that Reaper yet lived.

Reapent often thought it would have been better if Reaper had died with, or instead of, his brothers. Truly, he now felt that Reaper had indeed died on that day. And Reapent Calvin'efiver, born on the day of his self-emancipation from the Eldeen Calvanists, now bourne on a ship bound for the Harbour of Stormreach, prayed that he would indeed find there, that which he seeks.