Sylvalor Risk

Before getting to the story of Sylvalor Risk, one of both the greatest bandits and heroes the deep south has ever known, we must first address the matter of his parentage. His father, Sylfir, came from the high-elven capital of Syllhil in the Hollow Thicket of Erudica. The traditional life of a Sylvan elf didn't appeal to him, though, so he set out for a life of adventure. He spent a few decades doing just that, but in the end it wasn't adventure he found, but rather love.
Much further south, in the capital city of Praedium, Doveport, there was a highly reputable banker who commanded respect and adoration wherever he went. The wealthy upper class was limited in the pastoral kingdom of Praedium, but where it existed it was thick. Despite all of his successes and wealth, however, his greatest achievement was his daughter, Melinda Risk.
When the bandit gangs that plagued the deserts south of Doveport eventually reached the capital, those wealthy upper-class citizens reached out for the aid of adventurers. Sylfir's troupe was the first to answer the call. They handled the job swiftly and excellently, earning themselves quite the reputation, as well as a high-class party to thank them for their troubles. But Mr. Risk would eventually grow to regret having thrown that party, as it was the night his daughter met the love of her life, and his reputation plummetted.
Because at that day in age, in his social circle, not only did the wealthy upper class marry the wealthy upper class, but they were damn sure all going to be humans. Sylfir, as we've already discussed, was most certainly not. Yet he fell head-over-heels in love with the beautiful banker's daughter, and she with him. It didn't take long for him to ask her to be his, and even less time for her father to say no. She was persistent, and if the marriage itself didn't ruin the Risk name, the way her father acted in the face of such a tribulation certainly would.
So, they left. Melinda knew she would never love anyone the way she loved Sylfir, and she wanted to spend her life with him even if that meant giving up all of the things she had grown accustomed too. They went south, the only direction they knew her father wouldn't follow them, and found the small desert village of Stillwater, along the Black River. It was so deep in the kingdom that heading any further would have likely taken them into the Skald Desert.
After getting acquainted with the town and married in the village's temple, the pair pooled the money that they had left to purchase a ranch not far from the village proper. Though it wasn't nearly as bad here in the deep south as it was in the city, they still experienced hatred and fear for their relationship. They decided it would be best to live on the outskirts of town, and the ranch would give them both plenty to do.
Enter their first and only son, Sylvalor Risk. Here, in the deep south, a half-elf had never been seen or even heard of before. The hatred and fear intensified when Melinda began taking her baby boy into the village with her, and it grew and grew. Just as things were beginning to become too much for the pair, Stillwater was attacked by a ruthless bandit gang. Their savior? Sylfir. The hate and fear became much less vocal. They were gracious for his assistance, gracious enough to keep their opinions to themselves. But Melinda could never stop seeing the way they looked at her little boy, so she decided not to have any more children.
While she might have thought this to be the right thing, sparing hypothetical future children from the pain and suffering that her firstborn was sure to experience, it meant that Sylvalor would grow up an only child, secluded at best and shunned at worst, the only half-elf for miles and miles. To describe his childhood as hard would be an understatement, as would calling his teenage years rebellious.

The Black River Gang

One of the most well-known bandit gangs in southern Praedium, the Black River Gang had been driven out of Doveport and then, years later, chased out of Stillwater. While Doveport was not surprising - they had grown too big for the britches, and knew going in there was a chance for failure - what happened in Stillwater was unexpected. So, its surprisingly cunning leader, a volcano dwarf who went by the decidedly less-dwarven name Leon "Bullseye" Barber, instilled a plant within the village to determine what exactly was going on and how they could get their revenge.
It didn't take long for the human woman Nancy Herveaux to infiltrate the small town and learn of its reluctant protector, nor of his rebellious teenage son Sylvalor, who had been terrorizing the village for years because they treated him like a monster - a vicious cycle that Syl was much too young to see. Leon realized his best opportunity for revenge would be to turn the protector's son into the fiercest bandit the south had ever seen, then see how he reacted when the gang eventually returned to Stillwater... and he saw his son on the other side of his sword.
Nancy got to work, charming Sylvalor slowly to her side, teaching him how to hold a hand-crossbow, how to throw a dagger, how to blend into a crowd, and many of the other prerequisites of banditry and bank robbing. It took only a year of training before Sylvalor had shown enough to interest Leon. He brought him in and started taking him out on raids and other missions. While they never returned to Doveport, they robbed plenty of smaller banks in the few towns and cities found throughout Praedium and even into Mirynd.
It didn't take long for stories about the "vicious highwayman with pointed ears, face hidden behind a skull-print bandana and brown-leather cowboy hat." Especially once Risky got his hands on the incredibly infant gnomish feat of engineering called a gun. He made these devices his own, utilizing his alchemical prowess to improve their ammunition, and his own engineering capabilities to enhance his own guns - of which he had a rifle and a revolver.
After enough time had passed, Leon and Nancy pitched the idea of hitting Stillwater, and Risky ate it up. He was unaware of his father's role in the village, but wanted to make all those people pay once and for all for how they had treated him. The job went off without a hitch, until the Sylvan knight rolled into town on horseback, quickly killing two of the bandits as he proclaimed his warning against them ever stepping foot back in this town.
Sylvalor recognized the voice, of course. Leon watched as his eyes grew wide, and the relationship he had developed with the boy suddenly hit him with a sting of pain. He wanted to make Sylfir pay, but never thought of what might happen when Risky realized his father was fighting him. Much to his surprise, Sylvalor stood and approached the knight. He pulled down his mask and asked... "despite everything they did to me, you protect these people?" Naturally, Sylfir was stunned. He laid down his sword and turned his back on his son, mounting his horse and leaving.
On that day, Sylvalor left Stillwater with the intent to never look back.

The Town of Elderspring

A decade passed of Sylvalor and the Black River Gang improving their abilities and reputation. They hit almost every bank in the deep and mid south, slowly working their way back up toward Doveport, and plenty of villages and travelers between them. Eventually, they came to the town of Elderspring. It was one of the handful of cities the gang never touched on a large scale, as they needed to have cities they could visit to relax and have some fun in between gigs. But it had been quite some time since the gang had visited, and Sylvalor had never before been there.
They partied as hard as ever for several days, but Risky took a special interest in one barmaid. For all his skills and abilities, Sylvalor was nothing if not charming. He spent each night and most of each day with the woman, a human named Amelia. And when it was time to move on, they parted ways, each knowing their time together had come to an end.
But a few months later, when the Black River Gang returned to Praedium from a foray into Mirynd, Elderspring was the first town on their path so they stopped again. Though he didn't go looking, Amelia found Sylvalor herself, unhappiness etched into her expression, and a rather large bump hidden beneath her dress. While she was attracted to the sense of danger she felt around him before, knowing her child was on the way changed her opinion. She demanded he and his friends leave Elderspring and never return, because she didn't want their daughter to know her father was a monster.
It was the first time a human had hurt him with words in a long time, but something clicked in ol' Risky. He had never intended to create life, to bring another half-elf into this cruel world. But as the realization set in he finally took a second to step back and look at his life, and quickly hated everything he had become. He turned to his laughing cohorts, who thought the situation quite funny, and drew his revolver. The laughs quickly dissipated, and the Black River Gang listened as Sylvalor made his demands. Risky was no more. He was going to hang up his bandana and retire, and they were going to leave Elderspring and never return.
But the laughs returned. Because nobody left the Black River Gang except by way of bloodshed, and nobody told Bullseye where he could and couldn't go. Not anymore. A subtle gesture sprang the gang into action, but Sylvalor quickly dropped two or three of the lesser members each with a single bullet to the head, before turning his revolver on Bullseye himself. "Let me go. Leave me be. And leave this town forever." Through gritted teeth, Leon Barber slowly raised from the table, gathered his things, and left the tavern, the rest of the gang in tow.
Turning back to Amelia, Sylvalor told him the location of his parents' ranch, and that she could find or contact him there if she ever needed anything at all. With a final glance at her belly, he turned and rode off, once again having the intention never to return.

The Death of Risky, the Life of Sylvalor

Returning after all those decades, Sylvalor wasn't sure how his mother and father would react when he first set foot on the ranch. But they welcomed him with tears in their eyes and outstretched arms. Thanks to some clever stories and tales, the people of the town never learned that it was their half-elven son who had attacked their home all those years ago, so he was much more welcome than he anticipated. They believed he'd been off training, learning how to protect them like his father did, and they were grateful.
Over the next several years, Sylvalor lived a very different life than Risky. Instead of traveling from village to village to rob its inhabitants blind, he traveled whenever there was word of terrible monsters or similar plagues. Solo adventurers were rare, especially in the deep south, but Sylvalor Risk had created life... and though he'd likely never get the opportunity to meet her, he would damn sure do everything in his power to protect her.
He was nearing fifty when the letter finally came. It had been 15 years since he met Amelia, 15 years since he had stepped foot in Elderspring, 15 years since he had hung up the bandana. His heart fluttered when he saw the seal in the raven's claws, but he almost couldn't bring himself to open it. When he finally did, it wasn't the invitation he was hoping for. Instead it was a plea for aid. The letter explained an invasion, one that happened so slowly and progressively that none of them had noticed it at first, but now the city was under the thumb of demons. The letter demanded Sylvalor reach out to the capital for aid, but he had a different idea.
He hopped on his horse, Bulleit, whistled for his dog, J.D., and headed off to gather a few friends he had made in his adventures. For the first time, Sylvalor wasn't a solo adventurer. He was the leader of a troupe, just like his father had been almost a century ago. The five of them rode across the desert to Elderspring and entered the town like a bandit gang, but they weren't there to plunder.
It was a long, hard-fought battle, but Sylvalor and his companions eventually took back the town of Elderspring from the threat of demons, just in time for the leader to catch a bullet in the shoulder. It was intended for his head, but 'Bullseye' was never exactly a name Leon Barber lived up to. The Black River Gang seeped out of alleyways like the demons that had just been defeated, laughing at their trickery. They looked different, as if they had made a deal with the devil and it left them unnaturally scarred.
But Bullseye underestimated Sylvalor's new friends. They promptly fought back, destroying the Black River Gang once and for all, killing each and every last one of the fiend-infected members before scouring the town for any holdouts. The job was done. The town was safe.
Sylvalor and his friends mounted back up, nodding to an applauding crowd of survivors from the city as they shouted cheers of thanks, when Amelia stepped forth with a straight expression, holding the hand of a teenage girl. Sylvalor Risk had just fought demons and fiends and all sorts of terrifying monsters, but for the first time his heart skipped a beat. His expression faded, and he froze.
"Roxanne, I'd like you to meet your father, Sylvalor Risk."

The Legacy of Sylvalor Risk, Hero of South Praedium

Sylvalor Risk was no longer a rancher who occasionally picked up contracts. Tales of he and his companions' feats that day spread quickly throughout the deep south. They had become known as Skald Company, protectors of the southern towns and villages that other heroes wouldn't touch because of their proximity to the Skald Desert. Sylvalor and his four companions, alongside his horse and dog, traveled all over in the years that followed, becoming heroes many times more.
But after each mission, Syl would return to Elderspring, which he now called home, to get to know his daughter a little bit more.

Species

Half-elf

Ethnicity

Praedian