I am called Cheldenwen Knickersnack, and it was I who first found the Gelvgerwen, known as Jolanda, lost in the wilds and half mad with hunger. I took care of the child as I could, which is no mean feat for one of the Halfling folk! It was the year of the Mor'audru Jeoldor, a frightful time in those lands due to the scarcity of food and great snow storms.

Her story is a tragic one, full of mishap and unluck. I heard her story then as I fed and gave her warmth by my fire. While I've attempted to catalogue her other adventures and feats, I know more of her at this time than any other. She told me much in her sorrow and shame that, today, she would not relate on her own without much prompting and probing.

Jolanda had been born in the Treban Sagebrush, located in Anli'Nefsith. Her father was Clan Chief, her younger brother destined to be Chieftain after their father. She was apprenticed as a healer, learning the arts of herbs and medicines, content with the life that was planned for her.

The storm raged about us, and I remember Jolanda shivered as she related her childhood memories to me. But as she related more recent events, my blood turned cold for I could see a killer growing inside of this child and the chill of the air was nothing to that in my blood.

It was at this time that I learned that an Outrider band had ambushed her brother, Bjorn denwen Bjorn, who was scouting the edges of the family lands with a small hunting force. Only two survived that ambush, and they returned to give warning of imminent attack.

There had been rumors that the Outland Raiders had been attacking small villages, raiding them for food and holding up for the coming storms. I was a bit surprised that there was a band of the size Jolanda related, and that they would dare attack a Clan, but these were hard times and hunger will drive many to dare things previously unthinkable.

Jolanda's father, Bjorn Trekhal'reban, was chieftain by blood right and he took the news of his son's death with a somber demeanor. Raising his ancient sword, heirloom of the Clan and Family, he ordered the defenses made and Jolanda was shuttled off with her nanny to her rooms. Her nanny stuffed Jolanda into a closet, which she then posted herself before as guard.

I can only piece together what happened after this. Jolanda's memory was not clear through her grief. The Outriders had killed all they came across, be it babe, child, woman or warrior. Jolanda's nanny met this fate, but her body had shielded Jolanda's hiding place from investigation. Jolanda waited hours in silence before venturing forth, walking over the bodies of family and clan, and skirting the noises that could only bring death.

As Jolanda made her way outside her ancestral home, she saw the body of her father, pierced with arrows, being dragged by a raider who had not yet noticed Jolanda as she hid in the shadows. Picking up a rock, Jolanda smashed the raider's head. After this, Jolanda wandered in shock and has no clear memory until I came upon her. I surmised from this that the training she had received as a healer had progressed to the point where Jolanda was just learning the ways of an empath and the shock of violence against another must have been a great burden to her.

So it was that I learned of the destruction of Clan Sagebrush, and so it was that Jolanda, having no living family left and in one of the worst winters in history, became my travelling companion. We went far abroad, mapping and exploring new territories and Jolanda proved an apt pupil for she had a head for directions and rarely would lose her way. To this day, if I asked her, I'd bet my house that she could detail out a section of the world that we'd only passed through all those years ago.

Eventually we reached a small town, at least it was back then, of the Crossing and I took Jolanda before the Gwalkhalo Agonar, and we related the fall of Bjorn who was a member of the Dilug'Tregwal.

After relating the story to our fullest, Agonar rose from his chair and spoke these words, "Child of Bjorn, you have feas-kirm, Blood debt! It is your task to avenge your Clan's honor, to wield your father's sword and rebuild your clan!"

And so it was that Jolanda became a member of the warrior caste. For many moons she trained herself, honing her skill in preparation of the day she would meet the Outrider Raiders that had stolen her birthright and tarnished the honor of Clan and Home. Under the wings of the Guild's greatest warrior, Dangelo, Jolanda became a fearsome force. Along side of the greatest heroes of the day, Jolanda defended the town of the Crossing against the many invasions of goblins and unholy creations.

While working guard duty in the village Kaerna, Jolanda was forcing back a surge of the Urguden that occasionally plagued the land. She was facing one while flanked by another when the sound of horses reached her ears and she looked up to find herself near an Outrider bearing her father's sword. With such bloodlust as I can only imagine, she sliced her broadsword at the troll she had been facing, cleaving it in two and on the backswing sliced the head from the second troll flanking her. She cried out challenge against the Outrider and before he could act she'd pierced him through.

She recovered her father's sword from the body of the raider and brought it forth before Agonar who said, "So! Let it be known that the child of Bjorn has satisfied feas-kirm! Go forth from this day as a Warrior, and be an example of honor and power!"

Having satisfied the debt of blood laid upon her, Jolanda began work as a mercenary. She hired herself out to the City of Riverhaven where she made a good living. She grew depressed though the trials put to her were no small matter and one day, having been gravely wounded for the sixth time in as many hours, she took the Long Road in search of enlightenment and healing.

It was on this road that she met a mage who had lost all of his worldly possessions to the crocodiles of a nearby swamp. He beseeched Jolanda to help him recover his items and, throwing her fate to the wind, found herself facing two crocodiles. The first she blasted with her father's sword, and it sank to the bottoms of the swamp. The second leaped at her, crashing in her chest and taking her last breath... for a while she walked a path of stars, lost in eternity and free of mortal cares, when she heard the thoughts of her long-dead brother, Bjorn.

Following the voice she was suddenly plunged back into life, gasping for breath. Nearby was her brother, long thought dead and now truly so. In his hands he held her father's sword and the amulet of the Guild of Barbarians, given to her by her old instructor, Dangelo.

How Bjorn managed to live, how he returned to give her life again trading his own, Jolanda never knew. She felt weak and in need of training. Once again she joined Dangelo and recovered her lost strength. Towards the end of her training, refugees began flooding the town of the Crossing, the influx of which was wreaking havoc throughout the province.

She returned to the fast growing city and quickly despaired for the numbers of people were tremendous. She quickly began organizing to have these people trained in various guilds. She held meetings with other leaders in the Crossing in an attempt to find a way of controlling the hoards.

In the end, Jolanda was one of those that despaired of what was happening and knew that the City officials had to take steps themselves. But their cries seemed to fall on deaf ears until one day one of the Lorethew returned to the Crossing from his home in Theren Keep. In his charity, he donated monies and his mansion for the use of creating a society to help manage the influx of refugees and get them started in a trade of their liking.

Jolanda joined this group and spent many moons that turned into years dedicated to teaching. She rose to a seat in Council and for a time became Chief.

She married one of the members she had become close to, Tyler the Healer, for in him she saw what she could have been. He took care of her wounds on those times when she went off for her weekly hunting trips, but he became ill and had to return to his homelands across the ocean. There are also rumors that Jolanda called challenge to her old friend Dangelo, but the reasons and results are shrouded in mystery.

While serving on the council, I'd met Jolanda once again over a drink. We shared our adventures and I related to her the sad story of one of our mutual friends, Timothy. A mad mage had roused the fires of Dirge and destroyed his wife and children. Jolanda, always one to think with a sword first, cried challenge and took it upon herself to storm the citadel of this mad mage.

I don't know the full story, though I hear it told that she carries with her a finger bone burnt by fire and her father's sword now carries a large jewel. No doubt there is more to the tale, but if so I do not know it.

Jolanda continued to teach for many years, but the desire and burning furnace within her demanded that she return to the wildlands and live the life she was born to. And so she took leave of the Council and returned to the wilds and was rarely heard from by those in more civilized areas. Reports of her location are varied. They say she was seen in a canyon of giants, having mastered new arts of fighting which were taught to her in visions from the gods. She was also seen in such faraway places as Shard, where she waged a war against the Adan'f. Eventually reports of her faded, and nothing was heard about her for many years.

I had almost forgotten about the child who came to me when I saw her again. She had new scars and had aged quit a bit. I learned that she had returned home to see what was left of her people. She referred to the once gracious land as Mor'vet Orm'wir-elba, which I can roughly translate as "The Cavern of Sorrow".

Jolanda related to me that upon returning to her homelands she could not again set foot in the evil that her father's halls had become. The land was blighted, and the few Gelvgaen who remained did not wish to serve under the Sagebrush banner. Jolanda could not unite her people, which was the task given to her by Agonar all those years before.

Eventually, Jolanda visited the local shaman-priestess who said to her, "You have spent much time among the provincial folk. You have married into them, taught them, supported them, and warred for them. You haeth a higher cause, you haeth clan-obligation! All ties to the provincial peoples are cut! I set upon thee this geiss! You shall forsake the love of your husband, for you are married to the sword and your people! The heads of two hundred raiders shall you take in amends to our suffering. Your arm is ours to wield until such time as you fulfill your obligation. Swear to it!"

Jolanda replied, "By the spirit of Everild and he that is known as Trothfang, it shall be so!"

And so it was that Jolanda, seeking raiders to fulfill clan-obligation and clan-debt, returned to the outskirts of Shard where we met once again for a drink, and she related these later tales to me.