Colliding Destinies

Tywin Lenal

Tywin Lenal was born on the 4th day of the 3rd month of the year 569 PS.

He grew up quite normally for a young Elvish man. being of a noble family, he was taught many things, including many of the arts. he became most proficient with musical instruments, the most skilled of which was the violin.

one day, while practicing the violin in the courtyard, he noticed someone watching him.
After several attempts at trying to talk to her, he finds her performing with her flute in a local tavern. he finally can stop her and talk to her after a performance. The Half-Elven girl whose name was Clara became a fascination for Tywin, and they spent many long evenings talking about the ins and outs of music, the art of performance, and many other topics besides.

when they were both age 20, they met a couple of dwarvish drummers and decided to pursue each of their dreams of being great performers. the dwarf's names were Urduk and Lovrir. they traveled for a time, singing and making money in many of the taverns across Moonveil. eventually ending up in the town of Fallholt, where they decided to stay for some months. At this time, Tywin's fascination went from a curiosity to a crush.

after much prodding from his dwarvish brothers, he finally decided to condense his attraction much to her poorly concealed excitement.

they spent another 3 months in Fallholt with no plans to leave anytime soon. Tywin had gathered enough coin to buy a small farm where they all could stay permanently if they wished.

that winter was especially harsh. and with it came a plague that was unexplainable by medical or arcane practices. Clara caught this sickness. and Tywin sits next to her bed, unable to do much more than put logs on the fire and a warm rag on her forehead.

after 2 weeks of this, she passes in her sleep.

Tywin is wracked with a deep grief, unable to stay in a place where so much memory resides, He gives the Dwarves much of the gold they had earned, and he left.

He spends the better part of two years wandering from town to town, playing violin. all the while writing drafts of songs before throwing them away. no words or notes quite enough to illustrate his grief.

close to the end of his third year of wandering. he finishes the song. a song where he pours all his emotions, his love, his rage, his sadness. he releases this song to the world and, to this day, he has sung this song to no one but one person.

he found himself performing at a tavern in the town of Croydon on the borders of Lamnora Forest. He sings of the forest, the Fey legends tied to it, the many tricky creatures, a word of wonder and caution. all the while his audience watches on in amazement at the astounding tales.

he is approached one day by a woman who introduces herself as Sela. She sits with him and talks about her admiration for his work, calling herself a "patron of the arts."

they talk for many hours about many topics before he looks off into the distance sadly and excuses himself. he didn't expect to see her again, assuming she would think him insolent and rude.

She approached him again the next night.

She sits across the rounded table from him, "I very much hope I didn't make you uncomfortable the other night. I'm afraid I can come off quite forward sometimes. I only wished to convey my appreciation for your tales."

He gives her a sad smile and says, "I should be the one to apologize. I should not have left you so abruptly and be assured, it wasn't you who made me leave."

She gives him a thoughtful look before speaking. "You are one who has seen much." she lays a hand on his. "And has known more grief than anyone should."

He stays frozen in his seat but simply nods. "It has been years. You'd think it would have left me by now."

She leans closer and places a hand on his cheek. "Our grief never truly leaves us, and we should be glad for it. You loved and were loved in return, and there is nothing more precious in this world than that."

She wipes away a stray tear, and they sit in silence for several minutes.

He clears his throat before speaking again.

they spend the next several nights talking about each other.

she reveals to him that she grew up with a tribe of druids who reside in the woods and he talks about his family home, his bandmates, and Clara until he has nothing more to speak of.

by the end of his stay in town, they resolve to travel together and they spend another year going from town to town.

During this time, they get closer and closer until a romance blossoms between them.

They spend the rest of that year going to several places. Tywin even shows Sela to the town of Fallholt where he meets his old bandmates and performs with them after so many years.

He found happiness again with his love for Sela.

One night, she talks to him. "You know many things of me, my love, and all of them are true. except one."

He looks confused but allows her to continue.

She breathes in a nervous breath. "My name is Selamera and I was not raised by druids. I am the Archfey who presides over Lamnora Forest."

Tywin is speechless. making small noises now and then, trying to speak before working up to some wit. "I always knew you were a royal pain in the ass."

she smacks his shoulder but laughs along with him. She gets serious again. "I have a responsibility to my forest to return whenever I am called to tend to its growth and health. I don't know how long I will be gone. I don't want you to wait for me. Go be the magnificent person I know you to be and, if you'll have me, I'll return to you, and we'll continue."

Tywin takes her hand in his and lifts it to place a kiss on it. "I will always want to have you and will always wait for you."

She smiles and embraces him. "that may be so, but I want you to keep your free spirit so we'll go with a happy medium. you will do something for me. Call it a task. perform for me in every tavern in Moonveil, gather legends and stories, then come to me when I call. When you return to me, we will spend the rest of the time we have together talking about the stories of the world and we will live together in happiness."

He gives her a teary-eyed nod. "I will do this for you, though it pains me to be apart."

She nods thoughtfully. "I believe I have a solution for this as well." In her hand, a green light shines and condenses in the form of a platinum ring. "as long as you wear this ring we are tied together. you will be able to talk to me and me to you. and in you will reside a fraction of my power to help you defend yourself should you need to. So, I suppose what I'm saying is this, Tywin Lenal will you marry me?"

He smiles and looks between the ring and her in surprise. He, again, gathers his wit. "I thought that was my line."

She laughs, "Well you were taking too long. I beat you to the punch."

Tywin puts the ring onto his wedding finger and a ring engraved with emeralds appears in the same place on her hand.

They share a tender kiss and in the morning they share a goodbye.

He travels for many months before ending up in the capital city of Milmond in the Odd Knight Tavern. In this place, he befriended Cinder Burnheart.

he continues to perform there, gathering stories for his great love to the present day.