Character Reflection
Merely a boy, some twenty years ago, Eschelon endured what no child should ever suffer, the death of his parents. Of noble birth, his father's Barony should have protected his family, and yet Eschelon grew up an orphan with little knowledge of why, or even how, his parents were killed. Dedicating his life to scholarly pursuits, their fate drove his ambitions and later his determination to learn all he could, about Middle Earth, about Anghor, indeed about his very lineage.
Ghostly Vision
The Feast of Lemuralia brought strange tidings from Eschelon's ancestry when he recited an incantation to rid his new found residency of ill omens. Instead, an older ghost appeared, hunched and tired and holding a floating book, he almost didn't recognize Eschelon, barely acknowledging him in his doddles. After some coercing, the spirit was revealed to be
Léobald, Eschelon's maternal grandfather.
He wove a worrisome tale of love, loss, and perseverance. Léobald, a man of Gondor, was once in love, but the woman,
Nessath, was an outsider according to his people, who cast her out as a witch. Léobald couldn't bear losing his soulmate so instead they fled together from
Gondor and settled in
Rohan. During their journey, Nessath would teach him the finer arts of wizardry, and the history of that dark mysticism.
Once safe in Rohan, their knowledge and skill granted them vocations as the premier scholars of the eastern plains, while their love would beget a child, Eschelon's mother,
Háwyn. Later when Háwyn came of age and while still keeping their origins a secret, they married her off to a wealthy baron,
Baldred, Eschelon's father. The two seemed to have been happy and they too would have a child,
Eschelon.
savagery. Whether directly or indirectly involved in his child's death, Eschelon's grandfather could not say, but it is a clue that is sure to reignite the passion of his hereditary history.
Benefits of the Dead
So distraught was Eschelon by his grandfather's revelations, he incorrectly recited the Lemuralia incantation! This in turn led to a magical flame embracing the room and leaving all those within branded with a rune on their forearms and a foreboding of fire.
Hellfire Curse:
All of the Wandering Minstrels take double damage from all fire sources.
The burned hand teaches best. After that, advice about fire goes to the heart.
- Old Rohirrim proverb
