Ze Muff

 

History

Fourth Age

In 1174 he was born in Viliby, located in the southwestern parts of Midgard, in the country Julmul, as the youngest son of a father who worked as a gravedigger and a mother that was the growing town's herbalist.

Their family had not much to give their eight children but an early ticket to working life. A few of them hacked into the recently discovered silver mines of Kokhazami Knoll and often told of quite disturbing events going on there. A couple of the others gathered combat herbs and could tell of many strangers and, at times, also odd beings moving at the eyes’ edge or deep in the shadows. One of them helped their mother run the small shop, and another helped their father in the hard soil hacking and digging. The eldest, a pair of twins, had left the town in 1173 and had never been heard of since.

In 1186, as a former Skjald of their town was to be buried at his home, I noticed Ze Muff, albeit only briefly. A wiry, bony lad. Rather tall for his age, revealing that at least some wanderer blood ran in him. I clearly remember that when I began studying him, he turned. He looked right back at me, as if he could feel me scrutinising him, and then he vanished in the crowd before I could call him out.

Later I found out that he was the graver’s son, so I could have easily spoken with him and had his talent guided. I think he could have been even greater, and earlier, if I had managed to get him under proper training back then.

“Oh, if only the talent hidden among the gravel of the graves had not slipped away.”

~Skjald Ulrich

 

Exactly what he did after he met Ulrich is unclear, as he never explained it himself. But those of his town told of a child becoming filled with whispering voices, as if spirits of the nearby graveyard tried to touch him. And then one day in 1192, he was simply gone. I recall meeting him in 1193, where he stood for hours staring at the construction of Grimsborg. Just as if he tried to fathom the entire inner and outer palace and figure out every hallway, staircase, and room.

I approached him, as there was something about his aura I felt was interesting, and asked him his whereabouts and interest. Then he told me he came from Viliby, a small town in eastern Julmul. Where the construction of the distant Grimsborg had been the topic of most voices for a few years, eventually making him leave his home to come visit. As I was eager, I interrupted and asked if it was the same Viliby that the former Skjald, Jaki Haui, came from.

He confirmed and mentioned that it had been an odd burial, as a stranger seemingly woke him up in a strange way. A strange feeling that had grown ever since, and he heard voices from here as if he had been bewitched. And as it had grown on him, he was certain something stirred inside, and he had shunned other kids frightened that he would harm them. Finally, the tales Jaki Haui had told, the strangers’ looks, and the voices made him just walk off and head for Grimsborg and maybe find an answer to his questions.

I thought that the lad was well versed despite his age, as if it were elder spirits guiding his tongue. And his aura seemed oddly chaotic, as if shielding him as I wanted to pry further into his talents. Thus, I contacted a few of the mana manipulators I knew that evening and asked if they had room for a talented apprentice. Some replied positively, and I prepared to give him a solution to his considerations. I tried to find him in the following days, but he had left.

“It’s never good if raw manipulator talents are left to godly guidance.”

~Skjald Sejrik

 

In 1199, at a meeting in Efron with the lords of Fur Oracles and Triad Traders, I noticed him in the group of scholars aiding the negotiations of some trade concessions. I recall thinking that it was impressive how many details that wiry youngster could remember and that I should try prying into if he would become a Skjald.

But the moment I focused on him, he looked up and stared right at me with a sad smile. As he left the room, I remembered Ulrich and Sejrik both had mentioned a strange lad similar to this one. So I hurried after him, but the hallway was empty, and I did not see him for several years.

“If it was a dodging talent, or divine evasion, it became a growing question.”

~Skjald Valgrif

 

In 1217, now a grown adult, able to hold the voices firmly in check, he came to Muldum, as something drew him there. But upon arrival, the urge went away, he once said. He suspected it was the bullheaded god, but maybe due to his spiritual taints, it kept hiding in the shadows. It’s said he began studying lore regarding vampires, as he suspected the voices might have been vampires once.

Not much of his doings are known, but in 1230, one of the things he had been involved in at the capital of Skium became clear. And it was not at all related to voices or vampires. At a meeting in the Council of Light, now the archmage of the Bulls’ Order, he heralded a petition regarding Muldum.

A Markeoy king, Nefius, almost exploded in knife-fury at court as he heard the Bull’s order using the meeting to claim ownership of Muldum. The group was led by Mayor Tri-M and F.F. Jaeger, and as they owned it, they wanted it to be a free city, no longer paying taxes to the Kings of Markeoy. Amidst quite some tumult, their wish was granted.

In 1233, the fury of Nefius reached new heights when the Holy Star Order called upon the Council of Light to claim their peninsula for themselves and no longer be subjects to the Kings of Markeoy. Not believing his eyes and ears, as these ragtag peasant rascals dealt another blow to Nefius’s dream of a unified Markeoy, his rage unfolded as he noticed Ze Muff among the small group. A move tainting Nefius’s renown and forever sowing animosity between him and Ze Muff.

“We thought him of the astral divines, and then he was of the bullheaded’s flock.”

~Skjald Yell'a'beard

 

As he saw a free, less taxed vision in The Realm and to strengthen his position against Nefius, as well as getting closer to the source of his voices, the Bebram earthnode upon which Grimsborg rested. Despite the Bull’s order, he had chosen to stay neutral, as they delved heavily into combat herbs; he began supporting the 1st alliance in 1234. After that many library doors opened for him, and access to valuable information increased.

On a trip to the Grimsborg site in 1239, he noticed the extreme enthusiasm of the 1st alliance warriors and nobles, and he had an idea. Returning to Muldum, he proposed they should detach their militia and create a military order. Mayor Tri-M and F.F. Jaeger agreed.

Plans unfolded quickly regarding their military branch, as it detached Muldum from the constant stress the neutral Muldum had with the 1st alliance. They placed Laurentin Sorteg as its formal leader, Hel Gi as the clerical inspirer, and Ze Muff as archmage. In 1940, the first trio of their knights set out on the new path; Jezzer Nizenqual, Mizaz Müzliz, and Thorbi Elagarki.

In 1247, the first successful knights was announced: each was then rewarded with a strip of land just north, south, and east of Ze Muffs’ own estate. As the stream of knights continued, each knight was given land strips that encircled Ze Muffs’ estate. Thus, he created rings of security for himself in case the voices one day became right.

In 1248, he participated in the 1st alliances’ direct war, and in 1250 he attended the high king's coronation. And during the entire period of the realm he travelled back and forth between his residence, Muldum, and Grimsborg. Mostly using astral travel as traversing the world was time-consuming compared to the swift stepping in and out of the astral.

At the astral, no ancestral or ancient voices followed, so he often used the silence break to relax and explore the astral. There he met several other heroes, like Atallanti, Sessy, and more. He had come to like astravel, so at times he did it just to be there, and slowly he gained the interest of Vornir and Boriac.

In 1276, on one of his travels, he suddenly stood face to face with a Boriac and for once thought that now the aiding voices could have been handy, but he remained calm. Smiling, it told him he indeed should just relax; it intended him no harm. It merely asked him if he was aware of the changes in astral movements and the shadows passing by. As he thought about it and was to reply, the Boriac was gone.

Leaving the astral, he had a feeling that its shadowy, blurred mist had indeed changed since his first visit. As he stepped out, the silence that met him struck him with an impact that staggered him, and he almost fell back into the closing gate – or did he also feel a pull? Regardless, all voices were gone, as if sealed off by the Boriac or shunning him as if they had just been godly taints. Placed to confuse and steer the raw talent. There was only one thing to do, and he hastened to visit Zizu and then Kanziganthir.

Filled with new knowledge, he went to Grimsborg in the spring of 1277 and visited the nearby Fautyr tribe. They became quite disturbed by his story, and their conclusions were the same, and they believed it threatened their way of life and the stability of their community. He had been steered, just to weaken the bonds between strong ancient hordes. He hurried to Markeoy to find Nefius.

Searching for Nefius in Efron and Exicota, he even asked some of the Sproblin tribes that had been there since their arrival in 865 if they knew his location. He was stirred when one of their eldest, Shaman Zaria, spoke about a disturbance in their internal magic flow. And as he was at Chief Gizomerq when the hostile invaders of the Great Invasion surged into Midgard, he became an important liaison between the 2nd Alliance and the old Sproblins that decided to side with the realm.

After the battle of Weeping Plains in 1281, at which he duelled valiantly against an Aquerian lord and won. He participated in the cleansing crusade that ended in 1283.

“A self-made raw, grown from mortal straw, a shadow of withdraw.”

~Skjald Yell’a’beard

 

Organisation

As their archmage, he is one of the leading figures in the Bulls’ Order.

“No longer afraid of impacting on others, as he realised that was indeed his destiny.”

~Skjald El Mary

 

Special

He is capable of the most lengthy channelling of all humans.

“Once a godly fountain, he now sparkles with elder divine energies.”

~Skjald Sejrik