Rhoss

Old King Rhoss, the Reborn

Railclaw Chancellor

long and long ago, Railclaw was merely the name of an old mirror pack mostly lost to history, and the den which eventually sprawled out into Railclaw City was merely a private home called Redbarrow. A captive Railclaw warrior, a widow whose heart turned to vengeance and a wandering minstrel were brought together there, and with the tale-telling and encouragement of the former, the latter two bore a clutch of eggs. So begun the long, rumor-twisted tale of Rhoss, hunter-king of a growing clan.

Rhoss's childhood was relatively peaceable. He was raised and guided by an experienced mother, saw the dragon he regarded as stepfather rise from prisoner to pack-leader, made friends and foes and kept his head clear of guilt or self-doubt. He apprenticed under a foreign diplomat's careful guidance and took up sword at the side of a paladin of the prodigious Order Custos. Rhoss was offered rulership of early Clan Railclaw once he was grown. To the dismay of his teachers in Custos, he accepted, and under his long rule the clan flourished.

Rhoss found love, first merely an unreturned crush on the clan's librarian, Luch, and later a blossoming romance with an Empatheian warrior, Siivvullok. He raised sons and daughters, bringing them up not only as his heirs but as hard-working, appreciative fellows with a place in the highs and lows of society. He befriended the late Sir Toxin and his own half-sister, princess and later queen Nott of Empatheia. He led soldiers against neighboring clans, saw the fall of terrible beasts and wayward civilians alike, and he wept for them all late at night. Peace was his true love, even more so than Lady Siiv.

Peace was what he sought when he retired from the throne, leaving his mother and brightest sons in charge of the clan. The peace he found was short lived. He'd chosen to go to serve in a temple devoted to the great eleven, but went missing shortly afterwards. Now, decades later, old King Rhoss has come home to Redbarrow. He can hardly recognize the place.

Art by Skellestri