Aviyon, the great wanderer

the great wanderer

"May the great wanderer Aviyon guide you on your travels"

When the climate got colder during the time of chiefs, the once-established trading routes between all the dwarven clans became harder and harder to travel frequently, especially during the colder months. Eventually, They became more and more self-sufficient out of necessity. Eventually, the clans stopped travelling altogether.

Aviyon and the nagreadi

Aviyon was only a child. She sat in the cart with her parents while they rushed home with their supplies in another especially cold autumn. It had already started snowing and riding became harder every day. When they reached the clearing about half a day's ride from the town, they heard branches breaking and loud footsteps running towards them. One of the smaller trees on the edge of the clearing exploded in a loud creak as a huge monster jumped into the clearing. In a few bounds, it had reached them and jumped.. It rammed the horse with its plated head, instantly breaking the horse's neck from the impact. It growled and looked at the people who had fallen off the cart. They scrambled to their feet and grabbed their spears. They held the spears up and shouted loudly, hoping to scare the beast off. They had never seen a beast like this before. It stood on four powerful legs, covered in a thick hide with a thin layer of fur. Its head was enormous, and the top of it, along with its sternum was covered by a shining grey plating, like a piece of bony armor. Saliva dripped down its teeth as it growled deeply. The father thrust his spear. But the tip ricocheted off the grey plates and he stumbled. The beast wasted no time and with one swift headbutt knocked the father off his feet. The mother now thrust, aiming between the grey plates. But she too missed. The beast jumped forward and with its claws pinned her to the ground. As the teeth sunk into her shoulder, her screams drowned out the sound of hooves. From down the path, a man rode into the clearing straight towards the beast. The beast looked up as the man jumped off his horse and brought down his warhammer with all his might onto the head of the beast. A loud crack echoed through the clearing as the grey plate crushed and shattered. The beast collapsed and nearly crushed the woman beneath its weight. The beast in one last desperate attempt, took a swipe with its spiked tail, hoping to hit the attacker, but instead hit the father and shattered his leg. The attacker took one more swing, now with the other end of his warhammer, and the spike penetrated the already cracked skull. The beast instantly went limp and the snow quickly took on a deep red color. The stranger knelt down and quickly tended to the injuries of the man and woman. He took some herbs from his pouch and rubbed it on the wounds. As he fixed the cart to his horse and lay the parents in the cart, Aviyon finally dared to come out. She asked who he was. "Hey there little one. I'm negreadi from the North. Where is your village? Then I'll get you back there safely".

There they received more care from the village and eventually recovered. But only partly. Her parents would be unable to properly walk or work anymore. Aviyon was given to the care of another family as her parents could no longer provide for her. The village helped where they could, giving food, firewood and such. Aviyon didn't know the name of the stranger, he left as soon as he was confident the parents were taken care of. He had only introduced himself as nagreadi, meaning stranger. Since she was given so much help by others, she wanted to give something back. Especially to the stranger who helped them on the road. Without his help, skills and knowledge, she and her parents would have never survived.

Aviyon's scrolls

So she committed herself to learning the skills of the nagreadi. She trained herself to fight with the warhammer, a weapon previously unfamiliar to her clan. And she tried to learn about all the plants and herbs in her area. Learning about building techniques, hunting strategies, tending wounds, recipes and many more essential skills. Aviyon had a particular knack for botany and mapmaking. So she started to map out the region and plants surrounding her clan. And asked all of her village clan members where they had travelled and if they could explain the route. She tried to master all other skills too, but soon discovered a single lifetime would not be enough to become a master of all. So instead she wrote everything down. She would draw or write down in such detail, that a dedicated apprentice of the trade would be able to use it to learn the skill from it.

Barkaru's pressure

Aviyon had planned to make 3 copies of every scroll. One to give to the care of the village .. scrollkeeper .. One for herself to study, and one to eventually give away to another clan. She had planned to try to find the nearest clans and map out the routes once she hit adolescence at 50 years old. But when she was only 35, the volcano Barkaru, which had been dormant for nearly 100 years, erupted again. The village harvest was cut short by the volcanic winter that followed. Forced by hunger Aviyon left, taking her scrolls, and joined by a few others to find the nearest clan, to see if they could trade for some food. Aviyon mapped the entire journey and eventually, they reached another clan. Avyion and her companions were given food by the clan freely. Aviyon asked if they needed anything in return, and discovered that they needed completely different things than what she had been studying and writing. :( Her companions travelled back with the food but Aviyon stayed; obsessed by all the new things she could learn here, and things she could teach them. Over time she discovered that many of the needs the other clan had, were solved by the skills she taught them, albeit indirectly. So she kept on learning, and writing, and took on a few followers. Where Aviyon excelled in botany and mapmaking, she took on only followers who outskilled her in other respects. So that she could not only teach them, but they could also teach her. After 5 years of teaching and learning, the volcano erupted again. Even though no hunger drove her this time, she felt the need to travel again, and share her skills and knowledge further. Torn between the desire to go back home, and to find the nagreadi, she set out again with her followers.

Barkaru's envoys

In the new clan, they found that they had different skills and needs. Knowing the value of each other's skills and goods, the clans agreed to send a small envoy after every volcanic eruption between the clans.

Personality Characteristics

Representation & Legacy

Aviyon tried to learn all about learned all the botany and maps of the world. She wrote down all other skills she couldn't learn herself, and she travelled from clan to clan sharing this knowledge. Triggered by each volcanic eruption, she travelled and shared. The depth of knowledge she brought made others follow her example. And each clan would train a few of their clan members with skills and knowledge, and send them out every time the volcano erupted. Aviyon became not just the name of a person, but of a profession: the one who learns and writes down skills to share.

Species

Dwarves

Ethnicity

Kádi Dwarves