Rynn

Rynn is a young woman in her early twenties who grew up in a small remote village situated in the foothills of the mountains on the great central continent of Drakan. Like almost all small human settlements, life was hard work; a constant struggle to survive from one winter to the next and the threat from neighbouring Wartocks was ever present. Many families were very poor and mainly relied on income from selling weapons and other wares to the various traders that sometimes passed by. Journeys to the nearest town in the district were few and far between. After the death of her parents in a Wartock raid, she was left alone to look after her younger brother Delon but she was often aided by the village priest, Atimar who quickly became like an uncle to them. Rynn, although at heart a simple village girl and not very well educated, made up for it in exceptional combat skills which she learnt quickly after the death of her parents when her hatred for the Wartocks was the strongest. Within time, she was promoted to one of the village guards and was known as a respectable and honourable fighter amongst her village people. She is often very over confident, believing she can deal with almost anything as long as it involved her sword.

Order of the Flame
Rynn and her brother, Delon, are attacked by a group of grulls and wartoks while walking back to their village. They knock Rynn unconscious and take her brother away. When Rynn awakens, the village is burning, and most of the villagers are dead. She finds the village elder, Atimar, who has suffered a fatal wound. He instructs Rynn to find the tomb of Heron and the Soul Crystal within. With the crystal, she can re-awaken the dragon, Arokh. Rynn follows Atimar's dying commands, traveling to the village temple and finding the tomb of Heron beneath. With the Soul Crystal in hand, she makes her way up into the hills to Arokh's Lair, fighting grulls and other monsters along the way. When she enters the lair, the presence of the Soul Crystal awakens Arokh from stone slumber. In recompense for freeing him - as well as after hearing Rynn's need - he offers to undergo the Bond with her. The two beings fuse, their souls becoming as one. With Rynn mounting upon Arokh's back, they fly out after the army that abducted her brother. To be continued...

The Ancients' Gates
After sealing the Rift Gate and trapping the soul of Navaros - as well as losing Delon in the process - Rynn and Arokh return to the ruins of her village. She begins digging graves for the villagers while Arokh flies up and down the valley, searching for any sign of survivors, but finds none. He returns to Rynn upon hearing the Grand Summons of the Order upon the wind, coming from the north where the city of Surdana once stood. Rynn decides to stay behind to finish burying the dead, but Arokh cannot wait for her. He flies off to the north.

To Surdana
With nothing left but her dagger, she heads north, following Arokh's trail. She discovers that Surdana still exists and has prospered during the Fallen Age. The commander of Surdana's armies, General Dehrimon, tells her that their ruler, Lady Myschala, wishes to speak with her. Her dragon has gone ahead on a task from the lady. He also tells her to be careful, as there are grulls and other undesirable creatures along the road. No sooner than she left the general, she is accosted on the road by a bandit named Olak. She easily bests the creature and his cohorts. Arriving in the city, she witnesses an attack. A man, purported to be a spy, runs out into the square. When he is surrounded by members of the watch, he transforms into a demonic being. A sorceress, Jade, appears and casts a spell on him, banishing him away. She tells Rynn that this creature was a Desert Lord, a demon from the world of Sessool. They are the ones Surdana is fighting, which is why Arokh was summoned there. Rynn goes to the palace to meet with Lady Myschala, who tells her the story of the Ancients' Gates, magic portals used by the Order in ages past to quickly traverse the world of Drakan. However, the Gate behind the palace was special - the Mother's Eye - because it was the gateway through which the Spirit Dragons left the mortal realm. The Mother's Eye connected to four other Gates to connect with the spirit world. They intended to open the gates and reawaken the dragon mother, Mala-Shae, to help stop the threat of the Desert Lords. That was why they summoned Arokh. Arokh returns from his travels, telling Rynn how the gates can be opened through the use of a rune. He flew to the place where the rune was kept, but has found the forest sanctuary it was enshrined in has turned into a dark and tangled swamp - the Shadowmire - in the intervening centuries. Rynn must go in on foot and find the rune.

The Shadowmire
Rynn gears up and proceeds into the swamp. She contends with the trogs, who are pagan, toad-like denizens of the swamp. Helping a few villagers along the way, she makes her way to the Tree of Mourning, the shrine which holds the rune. This brings her face-to-face with the trogs' chieftain, Toadfist. Besting the trog, she takes the rune and leaves the Shadowmire behind. With the rune, Arokh is able to power up the Mother's Eye. However, they cannot go through it as yet, since the Gates must be active on both ends for a portal to be opened. Lady Myschala tells them there are two Gates to the north, where the city of Meridia once stood, and two more are located in the far south in the Desert of Tears, the homeland of Jade's people. They decide to head north first, as Meridia is much closer. As it has been so many centuries, Arokh does not remember the way. General Dehrimon instructs them to fly to the Andrellian Isles, there to meet with a Surdanan merchant fleet that regularly trades with the northmen of Ravenshold, which rests on the ruins of Meridia. Leaving Surdana behind them for a time, Rynn and Arokh fly northward.

The Andrellian Isles
When the two Bonded arrive in the isles, they find it in the grip of a fearsome storm. The crew of the merchant fleet are pinned down in a crude harbor. The storm keeps them from setting sail, and there are wartok encampments nearby who continually assault them. Rynn and Arokh fly out and destroy the catapults the wartoks used to attack the harbor. The trouble the men there had ran deeper. A grull shaman named Bonegrinder summoned the storm, and it will not abate so long as he is alive. Their only defense against Bonegrinder's was the magic of Master Sevoth, but he had since been poisoned in a wartok attack. Rynn needed to find his medicine pouch so he could be healed. Moreover, the captain of the merchant vessel The Raging Queen - Fandrill - told Rynn that two of his men had abandoned their post, taking many supplies as well as the captain's charts. It is likely they took the medicine pouch as well. without those charts, the ship was not going anywhere. Rynn and Arokh assault a nearby base from which the wartoks were launching their attacks, discovering the two men trying to treat with the wartoks in return for safe passage. The wartoks claimed they needed no help and quickly executed the two men. Rynn managed to reacquire the medicine pouch and charts and returned to the human encampment. They revived Sevoth, but his magic powers were drained following his illness. A great barrier protected the northern islands where Bonegrinder's base were, and only Sevoth could dispel it. Rynn needed to go to a nearby mine and collect mana crystals for Sevoth to increase his power. Once she had done this, he cast a spell to undo Bonegrinder's barrier, and Rynn and Arokh flew to the wartok base to deal with him once and for all. Bonegrinder summoned Mezzidrel, a sea dragon who had served the Dark Union during the Dark Wars. She was no match for Arokh, and the dragon of the Order killed her. Rynn then infiltrated Bonegrinder's base, finding the storm to be not a result of his magic but being channeled from a great, arcane me