Eisen Russ

Eisen Russ, a Human Arzhel, was born on the 17th of Nasreen during the fourth age in the year 187. He is currently a Priest of his deity Roëna, the Emissary of The Skyfire Fellowship, and well on his way of earning a name for himself and his tribe. Known as "Sir Barks-a-lot" he is known far and wide for both his love of canines and deep hatred for Goblins. Quite often you will hear his battle cries echoing throughout the lands as he mercilessly stalks and decimates any Goblins who lack the sense to grant him a wide berth.

Birth
Eisen, however, was not born Eisen Russ. His true birth name which could only be assumed from the carving on his cradle was "Velik". Eisen in a twist of fate was born into the Black Ox Tribe, a Tribe of Arzhel who had fallen into cultish worship of the god Onûs. The Black Ox Tribe had become bloated with followers and became arrogant because of their size. At the front of the tribe sat Danir "The Slayer", Holder of the Grimfang, and Priest of Onûs. Danir was known for uniting the cult under his cruel rule and leading brutal raids that resulted in a significant number of civilian deaths. It is rumored that he had even given Arzhel tribal locations to the Blood Orcs so that he could find amusement in their Slaughter and convert the survivors.

Danir's reign ended when his tribe was eradicated in a single pitched battle against the forces of Chieftain Gunner Fellhammer and the Silver Hawk tribe. Gunner, the Chieftain of the Silver Hawk Tribe owed the victory largely to the efforts of his talented general, Jölnir Russ. Gunner's rapid rise to fame allowed him to amass a substantial army of various smaller Arzhel tribes - a feat for any Chieftain and one that helped cement his reputation in the region. Smaller tribes traveled for miles to join Fellhammer and the Silver Hawk tribe, combining their forces to move against the nefarious Black Ox tribe. The only survivor an abnormally large baby boy found blood splattered in a cradle clinging desperately to a dagger. The baby was found by the Vala of the Tribe, Nilnji Russ, wife of Jölnir Russ. She saw the fire in his eyes, a passionate fire, one that reminded her of her beloved goddess Roëna. Next to his cradle lay the Grimfang, and thus both the child and the weapon were captured.

After much argument it was decided that Nilnji would take the boy and raise him as if he was her own, and that the tribe would not present him with the truth of his origins until he was ready. Nilnji saw that the baby was gripping the iron dagger so tightly that he was cutting himself, and so she named him Eisen Russ, or Iron Red.

Childhood
Eisen's Childhood was typical of those expected to lead in Arzhel society. He was shown hardship and war from the day he could properly hold a blade. Eisen showed talent for warfare, and quickly became known for his almost animalistic demeanor while training. Eisen was commonly seen with his tribal white rabbit fur on out in the woods alone, this quickly earned him the nickname "The Mist Wolf". He also took great interest in war. His adoptive father was a skilled tactician as well as a talented swordsman - teaching Eisen from a young age how to hold a sword. Eisen quickly showed a preference for the heft and weight of the axe, and chose instead to specialize in that direction. His skills grew quickly as the young Arzhel trained obsessively. He could often be found slumped against his training dummy fast asleep after spending countless hours attacking it in attempts to hone his skills.

As a Teen
Eisen readily became known for pulling pranks in his teens. Even daring to play tricks on the mightiest warriors of the clan in the hopes of provoking a fight. It was at age 15 that Eisen would get his first taste of real battle. While out on his rite of passage into manhood, Eisen stumbled across a lone goblin. Eisen, armed with only his tribal knife, fought savagely surprising the lone goblin. Eisen managed to defeat the goblin, claiming its head as a trophy. The Gothi of the Silver Hawks proclaimed Eisen a man, and a feast was held in the honor of the young warrior and the others who had achieved adulthood that day. Shortly after this Eisen would come into contact with a young girl named Runa Mistwalker who would become Eisen's closest friend and later be betrothed to him. At the age of 16 Eisen was told of his true origins and his birth parents' treachery. It was at this point that Eisen also received the Grimfang. Eisen's relationship with Runa grew deeper and their love began to blossom during an incident that Runa calls "Eisen's Bear Folly". Eisen, in a vain attempt to impress Runa, taunted a grizzly bear in a show of arrogance after a recent hunting excursion. After Eisen sustained a critical injury from the bear's attack, Runa used the opening to drive her weapon through the bear's neck - slaying it outright and humbling Eisen tremendously. At 18 Eisen was commonly seen pushing to the front lines of skirmishes with blood orcs. It was at this point Eisen also entered into the service of Roëna, taking on the mantle of priest shortly after his 19th year. At this age he also began stalking the woods on his own at night. Eisen viewed everyone else as a liability and something to slow him down, feeling that others could not assist him if they could not perform at his strenuous pace. Eisen frequently attempted to traverse the most dangerous areas alone - and often pushed straight into the front lines of battle, this quickly earned him the title "Eisen the Mad". He managed to put his adopted brothers to shame, all of whom were unable to live up to his prowess. The children of Russ held little of their father's talent for battle, with the youngest Glamjir refusing to fight altogether! It was then that Eisen found his voice to be a weapon, screaming like a madman charging alone, often able to cause his enemies to take pause before engaging him as they evaluated his combat skill (and sanity). Because of this he would earn his favorite nickname among his people "Storm Wolf": for his voice split the air like Thunder, and his Axe struck his enemy as quick as lightning.

Adult Life
Eisen's adult life seemed to blend with his teenage years seamlessly, fraught with conflict and little change to his "devil may care" attitude. He almost viewed battle as one big joke seeming to never be defeated, which many attributed to some strange blessing from the gods or an inconcievable amount of luck and good fortune. One day while traveling home, Eisen heard a whimper as a dire wolf pup was on the trail howling alone. Eisen was perplexed and almost vexed that such a noble creature would abandon its pup - however Eisen quickly noticed the cause of the pup's distress; there not five yards from the pup lay its mother dead on the ground. It seemed that the creature had been slain by blood orcs, though he could not fathom why they would not skin the creature and take the pup for their own as blood orcs were known to do. Since dire wolves are sacred to many Arzhel tribes, Eisen decided take the body of the wolf back to his tribe along with the surviving pup. The tribe granted him permission to skin the wolf and wear its fur - a great honor amongst his people - and gave the dire wolf puppy to Runa as a gift. Runa was given permission to raise the pup until maturity, whom she affectionately named Lunajil or Luna for short. To this day Eisen proudly wears the She-Wolf's fur into battle.