Terron Miller

Born to a rural farmstead in the Kingdom of the South, Terron was the oldest of five. As such, he was first on the field, tending to the crops and the livestock, milling the wheat, and chopping firewood to keep his family from freezing. Terron's mother was a staunch follower of the Lady of Spears, and imprinted that belief into Terron in his youth. His father was more absent, he stuck to the fields in much the same way as Terron, only really talking with the boy when it came to showing him how to perform tasks around the stead.

One night, as Terron had just finished cutting a set of firewood, he heard a commotion from inside the house. Rushing over and inside, he saw his father on the floor and a man clad in black leathers standing over his body. Terron didn't have time to think as the man was smaller, but quite faster than him and was upon him in an instant. Instinct kicked in and Terron stuck the man upside the head with his wood axe. There was a still moment, then the man stumbled and fell onto the floor as well. Terron rushed over to his dad, who was a lost cause. Terron's father grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer, telling Terron that he was proud of the man he became. Then he slipped the ring off his finger, which was given to his father, and his father, and his father before him. He pushed it into Terron's chest, telling him that the stead was in his charge now.

The funeral was, deservedly, quiet. Both Terron's father ,and the man Terron learned to be a simple bandit by digging through his belongings, were buried in the forest surrounding the farmstead. Terron's father was given a grave fashioned out of an old, broken millstone carved with his name, age and a quote. "May he watch over us from beyond and smile." The bandit was given a wooden cross adorned with the buckler he wore as a centerpiece. Terron wasn't sure how much the man deserved, but this felt appropriate.

For a few years after, Terron stayed on the farm, as per his claim. It was hard, though, seemingly innocent things would remind him of that night, of the man he killed. Sometimes he'd pick up the axe and instinctively hold it the way he did then, or he'd walk by the graves while wandering through the forest. It got to be too much. So, on the eve of his 20th year, he told his family, the brothers and sisters that had now grown into capable labourers by their own rights, and his poor mother, that he was leaving. This came as a surprise to his siblings, but it seemed as though his mother had been expecting this. She presented Terron with a simple leather breastplate, saying that she wanted to protect him no matter where he was. He took up his old wood axe, and took the buckler on the bandit's grave marker. It was better for him to use it than for it to gather rust on an unmarked grave. With that, Terron set out into the wider world, looking for adventure, fortune, and a bit of truth to the fairytale stories he was read as a child.