Bluhill Rushwood
Introduction
Bluhill Rushwood from Clan Hawkspaar is an aeronaut or Helmsman who has become famous throughout Alven with the news of his travels throughout the continent.On board his Welkinship, The Spaar, he has flown and landed in some of the most remote parts of the country that had been hitherto inaccessible to humans.
Bluhill's exploits have been well documented in the Gazettes of Highfort and other regional daily publications. His main claim to fame is to have flown into the northern wastelands of Farside, The Farlands. To achieve this feat, Bluhill and his crew had to fly over the high peaks of The Farside Mountains. With a small crew of four, he managed to land his Welkinship on several of the high plateaus dotting the dense forests of the Farlands. Once there, our intrepid adventurers were to discover some of the ruined cities of the Ancestors, The Doomanses. After a disastrous landing which saw two of the crew lose their life, Bluhill decided to make the return trip to civilization. It is rumoured that some important artefacts were found on the plateaus by the crew of the Spaar and then given to The Arkivon for safekeeping. We can only presume that these artefacts might be powerful magical items. Maybe a new Rod of Power was discovered? How exciting!
Early Life: an Helmsman is Born
Bluhill was born in a modest family of fishermen and crofters whose cottage stood on the shore of Loch Spaar. His parents were proud clansmen of Hawkspaar and supplied the chieftain's family in their Aikholm residence with fresh fish and shellfish.Loch Spaar is a magnificent place: the large mountain loch is set like a jewel amid the high peaks of the The Great Towers Range, and benefit from one of the purest and clearest waters anywhere in Alven.
It is said that from an early age, Bluhill was adventuring and exploring the foothills and secluded valleys around Loch Spaar, learning how to hunt and defend himself against the many dangers that lurk in these wild parts.
Bluhill was never interested in continuing in his parents' footsteps, and being of a learning disposition, was sent to train and acquire his letters at the small clan academy in Aikholm. This is where he fell in love with the science of aeronautics which was still in its infancy at the time.
Bluhill was lucky that the then chieftain of Clan Hawkspaar, Lochan Gladstone, was a great fan of the new technology and had many men of his Militia working on the development of the first clan ships.
As a teenager, young Bluhill was roped in to help with the construction of the airships and fell in love with them. It was not long before he was put in charge of one of the balloons and the rest is history as they say.
Exploring the Remote Valleys of the Great Towers
As soon as he was given the Helm, Bluhill convinced Lochlan and the rest of the clan elders to give him free rein to fly high into the valleys of the Towers. Lochan was looking to expand the clan's mining activities further west into the mountains as some of the crystal mines in the Hawkspaar foothills had become less productive in the last few years.Bluhill was given the task to prospect the numerous valleys of the high mountains and work out if deposits were present. Bluhill would also plan a route from the air for a group of specialist mine builders to trek through the difficult terrain.
So, Bluhill took with him his best friend, Stonebar Briarwood, an excellent cartographer, and the two of them discovered a few emplacements for a new mining community - one of the discovered deposits spurred the creation of a new mining town high in the mountains: Minaik (Min -aik).
Going North
After their success in the Great Towers, Bluhill and his friend Stonebar were able to build their own Welkinship and started to look further afield. The Spaar was built using the latest technology and many surmised that the Welkinship's performance was enhanced by an object of power, maybe a ring. Both had always been fascinated by the tales their oldMaster Seer had told them when they were young about the Farlands: the wild legends of the cursed lands of the Ancestors.
In their twenty-fifth year, the two friends set up their now-famous expedition to the Farside mountains and the Great Alven North. Bluhill added another two members to their expedition: Clareen Gladstone, one of Lochlan's daughters and an excellent historian, and a Louves militiaman by the name of Belmont Despres.
Belmont was a controversial choice, but the Louves man was typical of his race: tall, large, and an excellent fighter, which would have made him a good choice against the prospective dangers of the wastelands.
The expedition set off in relative secrecy on the second of Youngtyme during the celebrations of The Feast of Carnos.
The crew of the Spaar wanted to make the most of the upcoming season's warmth to cross the Farside Mountains and take advantage of the relatively good weather and currents over the peaks. Bluhill and his team reached, Swinhelm,the keep of Clan Boarsden a month after they departed from Aikholm.
The arrival of the airship caused quite a commotion among the clan population: most people had never seen an airship before, and many were curious - and somewhat frightened - about the contraption.
After accepting hospitality from the Boarsden clan elders, the young team of explorers was on their way. They flew above the mountains on the 7th and 8th of Suntyme, but it was not until the 20th that they landed on the first plateau for the Farlands.
Mysterious Finds
Not much is known yet of what was found among the ruins of the Ancestors' citadels, The Doomanses. Bluhill has promised a full account of the astounding sights the Spaar's crew was met with when they landed among the ruins of the fabled cities.According to the survivors of the expedition, the cities are a testament to the great builders our Ancestors were and not even Highfort, the capital of the Thanes, can rival in scope and grandeur with the old buildings.
However, much was destroyed and, according to Bluhill, it was difficult to find anything still intact in the ruins.
Besides the difficult terrains, the crew had to deal with the creatures roaming the forests: predators that none of our hardy explorers had seen before. At night, the four of them slept in the ship for safety and explorations only took place during the day with Belmont acting as guard and lookout.
Disaster Strikes
In the end, it was not the mauling of beasts or the ghosts of the Ancients that spelt disaster for the crew of the Spaar, but a terrible series of thunderstorms - quite common at that time of year in the Farlands. The storms forced the airship to make an emergency landing in a forest clearing.
Two unfortunate crewmen lost their lives in the accident: Bluhill's friend, Stonebar, and the Louves soldier, Belmont. According to the survivors, it seemed that Stonebar and Belmont were ejected from the ship before it landed and could not be saved from their fall.
Brokenhearted after the death of their friends, Bluhill and Clareen turned back the ship and, after some repairs, retreated to the Boarsden lands. They landed on the outskirts of Swinhelm on the 15th of Lutyme.
Celebrity Status
It did not take long for the explorers' story to reach the ears of the regional gazetteers and news of the exploit and the tragedy reached the confines of the capital in a space of a few weeks.
It soon became THE topic of conversations in the Hall of the Thane and many after-suppers were spent discussing the ins and outs of the explorers' journey, and what might have been found in the Farlands.
When Bluhill arrived in Highfort to discuss his findings with the Arkivens, every clan house extended an invitation for supper. Bluhill of Clan Hawkspaar became a huge celebrity and his name was on everyone's lips during the Dark Months of that year.
Bluhill himself became tired of the attention and at the start of the Light Months, he returned to Aikholm where Clareen had been recuperating.
New Endeavours
It has been two years now since the ill-fated expedition, and the writer is not sure, at this time, if Bluhill will ever return to the Farlands. In the meantime, I have it from a close source to the man himself, that he is writing a book about his experience in the wastelands. I, for one, cannot wait to read it.
For the The Alven Roll Call by Marshal Odmin, Man of Clan Gusson
Story Leads:
- What did Bluhill really find in the Ancestors' citadels?
- What really happened to cause the deaths of both Stonebar and Belmont?
- What kind of creatures and new dangers did the explorers meet in the Farlands?
- What did the citadels look like? Could anyone read the inscriptions?
- Why is the Archive so keen to know what was found? Are the artefacts kept in the Library for safekeeping?
- Did Bluhill - and Clareen- tell the Arkivon all they know? Did they keep some of the artefacts for themselves or hidden?
More to come ...
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