The Colonel

Gather ye round and hear the tale of The Colonel, faithful servant of Tytun, Black Cock of the Westfold, who finds justice in darkness:

Orphaned at a young age when a night raid of Vulpin bandits laid waste to his village, a kindly prior from the Avium took him in. Soon the prior discovered the youngsters affinity for the divine, and his training in service to a higher power began.

A time of trials and darkness it was, as the fear and anger he felt during the bandit attack haunted his dreams and threatened to lead him down the path of evil.

But not all that is death and darkness is evil. As he stood alone on the temple steps at midnight, he felt the thirst for vengeance rise in his breast and threaten to overtake him. And at that very moment, he was struck by a vision: a great owl filled the entire night sky, talons bared, descending on him.

But The Colonel was unafraid. At last, all was understood: he was to be a messenger. Death is but a part of the Great Cycle, and the darkness that hides the predator also conceals the prey.

Now it would hide them no longer. As he felt the divine power course through his spirit, his eyes transformed the night into day, and all those who threatened him would find their own eyes blinded by Tytun's supernatural darkness. And the darkness that had laid heavy on his soul? Vanished, now replaced with holy purpose.

He traveled beyond the Humblewood, into the Westfold, to render any aid he could to those living far from the safety of the Alderheart while spreading the words and deeds of Tytun. Beneath the sun he healed the sick and fed the hungry. When it fell behind the horizon, he watched, and waited.

The bandits came again. By night they approached, and what plans had they for the humble farmers and merchants of the Westfold? Feast and slaughter! But the night would offer them no protection from a servant of Tytun; he saw their coming as if it were a clear, bright day. He uttered a word of divine judgment, and for the first time they felt the terror of the night as their eyes were clouded in darkness. The villagers rallied; no bandits survived. He set them on the march, and the bandit hideout was found and destroyed. This is how he came to be known as The Colonel.

Knowing for a time there would be peace, The Colonel returned east, to see what had become of his homeland. Here he met his old smoking buddy, Sniggler, and his old drinking buddy, Hedwig, both of whom he had known from his days at the temple; and also Bunkus was there. Together they traveled to investigate the Scorched Vale, ever wary of the dangers it posed to the good and innocent people of the Humblewood.