Turvold

As some in Teleria like to say, the only things taller than Turvold’s stature are the tales told about him. Quite where he comes from no one in Teleria can say with absolute authority, though his mighty horns, huge build, and incredible strength all lend credence to the claim that he is certainly no mere mortal. According to Turvold himself, he grew up among the Old Norr, that boastful race that once inhabited the frozen north of the world. Most claim that he is the son of a union between a Norr hero and a giant, which would go a long way to explaining many of his characteristics. Certainly, he seems to have inherited the Old Norr’s legendary proclivity for drinking, boasting, and adventuring. Great swathes of Teleria’s population, from Anhelt to Peltas to the Lost Isles, have heard of Turvold, dragon-slayer, mountain-conqueror, the mighty half-giant. In Aravia, the saga-weavers who serve the High Elf monarchs recall how the hulking barbarian came to the aid of an Elven mage beset by a wicked Demonspawn of Siroth. In a desperate bid to see her protector victorious, the mage cast a spell of unyielding strength on Turvold’s sword arm, its after-effects still visible in the arcane blue energies that yet suffuse the stony skin there. In the dismal swamps of the Sorrowlakes, Lizardmen talk of how Turvold once got into a headbutting contest with an Ogryn warlord during the height of the Gaellen War. The warlord was beaten, but refused to concede, so Turvold headbutted everything the Ogryn held dear, most specifically his hoarded trophies and grand hall. By the end, his possessions were in ruins, Turvold’s formerly straight horns had a distinct bend to them, and the warlord was acknowledging his inferiority. In western Anhelt, jesters in the service of the Banner Lords and troubadours traveling between the Free Cities have perhaps the most stories about Turvold. Their accounts range from the time he was hired by one vainglorious noble to watch his expensive carriage during a grand feast — Turvold wrecked the vehicle after taking it for a wild, drunken ride over a cliff and somehow survived unscathed — to the time he was accused of stealing gold from a shrine to Lumaya by a particularly zealous member of the Sacred Order. Turvold responded by bashing in the knight’s gold-plated armor and then, after the knight had discarded the then-useless equipment, donating it to the Church of Lumaya. Even among the followers of Siroth, there are stories of Turvold’s greatness. In one tale recounted by apprentices of a number of dark sorcerers and necromancers, Turvold once slew a servant of Siroth who was in the process of raising an army of the Undead. For some reason, one particular skeletal knight refused to collapse following the necromancer’s destruction, and instead followed Turvold wherever he went, unwilling to acknowledge that he was already dead and pleading with Turvold to turn him into a mighty warrior. Supposedly, Turvold did just that. The tallest of tales mostly concern Turvold’s sword, a vast wedge of tempered steel and gold finish that is almost the size of an ordinary man. Perhaps it was forged by an Elven smith whose family Turvold saved from bandits, or was given to him by a knight Turvold rescued from a landslide, having held back the collapsing slope single-handedly while the man escaped. One of the most enduring accounts holds that Turvold acquired it after he battled the great dragon, Kuldath, atop an erupting volcano called the Thundermount, in the heart of the Deadlands. He wrestled the monstrosity, so it is said, matching the creature of Siroth sinew-for-sinew, eventually strangling it with his bare hands. Afterwards, he found a sword that had been lodged in the fire-monster’s flank and had come free. Turvold recovered it, and has wielded it ever since. It is possible that not one of these stories is true, though many likely have their origin in reality. Regardless, while some may scoff and claim no one could possibly achieve such feats, few indeed are those who would defame Turvold to his face. The barbarian is a mighty warrior and fearless adventurer in every sense and, despite his great age, he still claims that his best escapades are yet to come.