Aimhan the Free

Aimhan the Free, born Aimhan son of Kadsen, was a famed firkin explorer who wanderded the world in the 14th and 15th centuries. He detailed his exploits in his autobiography From East to West, A Firkin's View of the World , inspiring others to explore the world and giving birth to a whole new culture of world-wandering firkin known as the dhuilë.

Origin and Youth

Aimhan was born in the year 1290 on the island of Lanngarrow, the home if the firkin, known in their own tongue as eilefen. Aimhan was the 7th child of a family of tailors, and in the end he shared his childhood home with 11 siblings and 3 orphaned cousins.
It was not known at the time, but scholars of later years have compared Aimhan's date and time of birth with charts of Onora's Weave, and hypothized that the boy was born under very special circumstances - under the crossing of no less than four, possibly five Threads. Such a blessed birth would explain the almost messianic heights reached by the firkin of such humble origins.
Aimhan spent his youth learning the ropes (or rather, threads) of his parents' livelihood. Upon reaching age 40 in 1330, he became a certified tailor and began to work full time in the family business. He spent the next two decades working in the shop with his siblings, and with the retirement of his father in 1351, responsibility for the business was shifted into his hands.
He soon grew weary of the life of a tailor, and began to dream of a loftier life. He had heard many tales of the elves of the east, their beautiful coastal cities and the sunrise over the endless ocean. He wished to see this land for himself, and in 1359, he gave up his share of the family business and began to prepare for what would be the first of his great expeditions.

First expedition (1362-1377)

In the summer of 1362, at the spry age of 72, Aimhan set out from Lanngarrow on a merchant vessel, traveling east along the coasts of the Sea of Sorrows . He spent some time with the humans of that region, before heading to the mouth of the river Rhitherac and up to Lake Anatunca .
From there, he headed east, intent on crossing the great Alhara Desert. The Kindushel of that region took great interest in this lone little creature, whose kind they had seldom seen. With their aid, he crossed the arid wastes of the desert, and beheld the highest peaks of the Worldscar Mountains.
The desert gave way to grasslands, and soon to the tropical rainforests of the aethelean elves. They received him warmly, and he spent much time among their kind. Eventually, he reached the easternmost peninsula of the continent, and bore witness to the sunrise at the edge of the world.
He spent many years with the elves, and upon announcing his departure for his homeland, the elves invited him to partake in festivities on Mount Concord. There he spent many a day and night, and filled with love for the world and its inhabitants, he vowed to act for the good of all mortalkind, Kith and Other alike.
Aimhan began his journey back towards Lanngarrow in the autumn of 1373. He crossed the Alhara once more, and continued his way west, towards the lands of the setzá. There, he proved his worth to the ferocious lizardkind by racing with them atop a razorbeak, a carnivorous bird the setzá were very well versed in riding. By some chance he outrode the chieftain of the local tribe, who recognized his skill in the saddle and rewarded with him the ritual scarring of his people.
15 years after setting off on his adventure, in the year 1377, Aimhan returned home. The eilefen were eager to hear of his tales of the wider world, and he became a local celebrity, though not all were approving of his influence on the younger generation.

Second expedition (1381-1421)

Aimhan began his second and overall greatest expedition in the winter of 1381. He sailed upon another merchant vessel, headed north towards Hungering Sea. He sailed the entire length of The Abyssal Divide, meeting with various cultures of men.
He eventually reached the frigid Hungering Sea, which he had heard was once a land inhabited by elves, before the Sundering. Upon its icy waters, he witnessed ghosts of elves who fell to the terrible deluge, many lifetimes ago. He sung to soothe their sorrows, and they told him their tales of old in return.
Sailing eastwards, Aimhan eventually reached the arctic lands of the Shantyr elves. There, he partook of their Midsummer traditions, and hunted with them in the glow of the midnight sun. He made contact with many tribes of Others in the region, but was notably silent when it came to describing their location.
Years passed, and the firkin ventured south towards the lands of the highborn melorari. He saw their grand cities and complex waterworks, the result of millenia of millenia of lording over the riverlands. He learned of their many rituals and beautiful culture, and took a special liking to their wine.
In the summer of 1402, Aimhan began his journey back towards Lanngarrow. He traveled the north side of the Worldscar Mountains, and beheld the terrible corruption which poured down from the fortress known as Bleddyn's Cradle. From there, he journeyed to the lands of the ashurtarâg dwarves, and observed the ways in which they turned the riches of the earth into beautiful crafts of steel, gold and gemstone.
Journeying again through the lands of the setzá, he made an impression on the locals by describing his encounter with their chieftain from two generations ago. They treated him with great respect, and with their aid, he traveled quickly through the great grass sea, to the lands of the humans, from where he would sail once more to his home island in the year 1421.
Upon his return, his stories had taken root and inspired others of his kind to take up the mantle of explorer. At the age of 131, he was considered a paragon of his generation, though many the elders much disapproved of breaking the isolation the eilefen had relied on for safety for millenia.

Third expedition (1423-1449)

Aimhan began his third expedition in the winter of 1423, commissioning a ship to take him north once more, along the shores of Mundus Minor. By this time a very famous man, he was lavishly received by the local humans, who offered him an armed entourage to join him on his journey. Aimhan politely refused, but expressed his gratitude and promised their show of kindness would not be missed by the world.
He traveled towards the Shrouded Peaks Peaks, and at their eastern end, he climbed the stairs of the great yukhara-guǧutsu (the great stone tree), also known as the World Pillar. From its great height he saw the great grasslands to the north, widely settled by the industrious humans.
He continued his way west, towards the river Kinzal, which he sailed downstream towards the Rimefang Sea. He sailed its entire frigid length, and spent quite some time with the gruakhai slaves there. He disapproved of the plight the men of the west had subjected them to, but there was naught he could do to change the minds of their masters. In the cold forests of the north, he met tribes of escaped gruakhai slaves, and he learned of their sorry pasts.
Aimhan then began his journey back south, left with a bitter taste of the men of the west. He quickly passed their cities and towns, built by the hands of enslaved kith. He reached the mountains once more, and was welcomed there by the dwarves of the misty hills known as shukmaltarâg. They told him of the mysteries of their homeland, their legends and myth, of the first men, the Ocean Folk who had reached their shores, refugees of the great cataclysm.
Aimhan's journey reached its zenith at the western end of Mundus Minor. There, at the end of the earth he beheld the last sunset, and his mind was filled with the mystery that was the lost home of the Ocean Folk.
He returned to Lanngarrow in 1449 at the age of 159, by now an old man by the standards of his kind. He wrote his autobiography, titled From East to West, A Firkin's View of the World , which he published in 1453. He spent many years in retirement, feeling the weight of the years on his bones, but the mystery of the Ocean Folk still lived on in his mind.

Fourth expedition (1464-)

In 1459, Aimhan came out of retirement to announce his greatest expedition yet - to journey across the western ocean, to the homeland of the Ocean Folk. He then began to plan out his expedition, and was joined by several young firkin who had grown on the stories of Aimhan the Free. Eager to join him on this great adventure, they set out with him into the unknown on 1464.
They sailed the southern coast of Mundus Minor up to its westmost peak, where they stopped for a time to say farewell to the land. In 1465, Aimhan's ship The Pelican set off towards the endless western ocean, never to be seen again. It is unknown whether their ship ever made it across the ocean, or whether anything remains of the land they went looking for.
In the current year of 1522, it has been 232 years since the birth of Aimhan the Free. Firkin rarely live past the age of 200, so it is widely accepted that he has surely perished on his last voyage.