Elffred Holdbrand has always felt out of touch with both his family and his ancestry. A son of a Highlander innkeeper, he was never keen of either fishing, tending to the tavern, his father’s farm, or of horses. The only chore he ever had any liking of was chopping wood, which served as a good outlet for his angst. As the youngest child, he would often be victim of his older brothers’ pranks and trickeries. He was taught to read by an old bard who frequented the inn, and has always felt at peace with his books, which he would procure (with money stolen from his father’s coinpurse) from all sorts of travelers passing through Old Holdbrand’s Inn on the far outskirts of Nordengrad, and listening their stories of magic, history, unexplored lands and ancient ruins. He has always found magic a most interesting topic, much to the dismay of his family, who, albeit being somewhat more refined than other Highlanders, considered such things taboo. Elffred would often have to hide his books, sometimes unsuccessfully, receiving a beating and having his books taken away. His father would often sit him down, explaining to him that his path was already chosen, and it would be as a farmhand, or at best an innkeeper. Coming of age, Elffred realized he couldn’t live the life his family intended for him. For two years he silently planned, gathering resources and stashing them in a shoddy cache he hid in the forest. One evening he was talking to a member of a merchant group hailing from Vrakai, who he convinced to take him along on the trip back home, in exchange for money and help. From there, he thought, he could ask around for information on the Druidic Order. Next day, on dawn, Elffred gathered from the forest what meager supplies he collected – a shoddy woodcutting axe, smoked fish, several books on different topics, a fur coat and a good pair of boots – and left with the group. He would spend the rest of the week working on the company’s ship, headed to Santegia. He found the work difficult, having no experience, and after nearly getting himself and another crew member thrown off ship during a storm by a sail he tied too loosely, he was directed to spend the rest of the voyage scrubbing the deck. After arriving to an inn near Santegia, he was told he would have to sleep outside the inn, since he couldn’t pay for a bed. He was assured by his merchant friend that he would wake him up as soon as they’re ready to depart. The next morning, there was no sign of his ‘friend’ or the group, and Elffred, desperate, realized he was left on his own, penniless and in a strange land.
