King Guttrel

For the first time in all the lifetimes of the men alive, the snow had begun to melt from the hills which they called home. Geberra was their name for their home, the only safe land in which men could survive. The lifetime long winter had ended, and now began a time of bounty, a time called spring, of which stories had been passed on by the elderly. To the surprise of the men of Geberra, whose life had been synonymous with hardship, Geberra itself had awoken, in the form of budding plants and animals returning to graze the hills.

Cultivating the winterroot ceased to be the only source of food, and the men became strong eating the flesh of animals once again. The farms returned, and the crops were harvested following the instructions of old. Such teachings had only begun to be recorded so that the teachings would long outlive the teacher. Lives were filled with happiness, and houses filled with children.

It was during this time of bounty that the men of the villages ventured further from their homes, seeking new hunting grounds and new places for homes. The winter had hemmed the people in close together, and even lands that men once lived in were given back the wilderness and the beasts. There was one such group of men, led by a great hunter named Guttrel, who aimed now to hunt the beasts which fed on the flesh of men.

Guttrel was born near the onset of winter, and had seen the numbers of his folk dwindle. He had seen the borders of the villages retreat, had seen the families devastated by famine and beast. He gathered to him men who had suffered similarly in their lifetimes, hard men filled with anger at the world that had so wronged them. Together these men created an arsenal which men had not before used; armour of thick animal hides, mighty bows with strong, deadly arrows, and axes fashioned large enough to bring down a beast three times the size of a man. The men of Geberra had never warred against each other, and Guttrel intended to start the first war of his people against the beasts of the wild.

The day of their outset he had stood before the men he had gathered, and spoke of a new land for men of which he had dreamed. 'From this day forth, the land shall be the realm of men, not beast,' he shouted out to them, his voice strong as the winter wind. 'I have given you the weapons to claim it, and I shall lead you against our foes. Together our claws are mightier than any beasts,' as he held up his mighty axe made of a huge bough of hardwood, 'and our teeth sharper!' as he held his longbow in the other hand. The men gathered responded with mighty cries, and brandished their weapons as well. 'Geberra is a land of men, to be roamed freely by men and the crops harvested by men. Their is no room for these demon beasts which have plagued us since the beginning, and bring us fear and death. Together we shall bring our sons life and our wives the meat of the land!'

The hunters took up cries of Guttrel's name, and in turn he cried out 'GEBERRA!' He turned and led the men from the hills of Geberra to which they had gathered, leaving the families onlooking from the village outskirts. Many of those onlooking were the men preparing to build new villages in the lands to be freed from the beasts, having busied themselves constructing carts needed to haul supplies to new lands. From these men too came the cries of Guttrel and Geberra, and the children joined in, continuing until the hunter's party had left their sight.

At the head of the party, Guttrel spoke with other men that had led their best hunstmen from the farther reaches of Geberra. Old Thymun was one such village leader, who was recognized by the red cloak he clad himself in, taken from the flesh of great mountain beasts which he had hunted in the winter. He was Guttrel's elder, and greatly respected for leading his village through the hard winter, providing a great deal of food that other villages went without. Beside them walked Yeten Beastslayer, who had survived an attack on his village by such evil beasts they now hunted, though they had destroyed much of the village, and only a handful survived, now most of them a part of the hunting party. His name came from the deeds he did to survive, of which he bore many disfiguring scars on his face and body. Thick, dark facial hair had been grown to try to cover much of his wounds, though he could not wield a bow since.