Thorvik "Lorefinder" Dalver

The Travelling Cartographer

Growing up in the Rekarak Mountains, Thorvik spent many of his days scaling the cliff-faces and rocks that overlooked and surrounded his home, Rothkelin. From ledges he would sit and admire the view, wondering what was beyond the horizon. One clear day, he was inspired to carve into the rocky face what he saw - a rough map of trees, hills and rivers. It started small, but each day he would climb up and add to it, until there was little space left. When he began he was young enough that the maps would appear mostly as nonsense with giants and monsters roaming the lands and crowding the borders, inspired by the tales he heard around the fire. These tales had crept their way into his drawings, until he began to crave a real understanding of his surroundings. The older he got the higher he climbed, and his sketchy maps gradually became more informed, but still with a few inclusions of monsters in the darker places he had been taught to avoid. It was of no surprise to his family or neighbours when Thorvik finally left home to explore more of the world, armed with his rolls of parchment, journals and drawing implements.

Thorvik's family lived on the outskirts of the village, tending their herd of goats and working their piece of farmland. His days were spent working alongside his mother and brothers with the goats, or his father on the farm, but always he would long to climb the craggy cliffs instead. As soon as his chores were done to satisfaction, he would speed off with a bright smile and a promise to be safe. His brothers would laugh, joking that he was more goat than boy, but still they would watch closely and were always conveniently working nearby in case he should fall. Of course, he did fall, numerous times. Mostly he came away with little more than cuts and scrapes that quickly healed, but when he was ten he broke his arm for the first time. One of his brothers had challenged him to go a little further than usual, when two dragons swooping in a playfight overhead had distracted him enough that his fingers had slipped. He did not fall far, but it had been enough. His brother never challenged him again. Yet still, he was not dissuaded from climbing. Once his arm had fully healed, he was back out on the cliffs, climbing ever higher.

Dragons of Rekarak

The dragons were always there, but almost all paid him little to no attention, apart from one. Thorvik's climbing had been of little interest to Keruki, until he had begun to draw. He had been completely unaware of her attention, or for how long she had been watching, until the day she saved his life. He had reached the highest point so far and had gone from scratching onto the rocks to drawing on parchment. He'd worked hard and saved enough to invest in what was quickly becomming more than just a vague interest or hobby. A sudden strong gust of wind had torn the page he was working on from the piece of wood he had been leaning against. Without thought, he had lunged after it and only then realised how far he had already been leaning out from the ledge in his concentration.
Thorvik had heard tales of people who had been close to death, and how they had said their lives had seemingly flashed before their eyes in those moments, but he remembered little other than feeling fear like he'd never felt before. This fear had turned into stunned confusion when his fall was suddenly broken by something hard, but not rock. Then he was falling upwards. Keruki had caught him on her back, then angled towards a wide ledge where she could safely land and deposit him back onto his feet. It was not a smooth flight for either of them. The dragon had never borne a rider, and the young human had never ridden an airborne creature. The years of climbing had given Thorvik a wiry strength, and his reactions were quicker than most (if not quick enough to prevent the fall in the first place), so he had been able to grab some kind of hold onto the dragons scales. Still, when they landed, somewhat ungracefully, he was relieved to let go and feel the rock beneath his hands and feet once more. Before he'd had chance to utter a shaky thanks, the dragon had leaped away, only to return with his map clutched in one claw. So began an unexpected companionship.
Friendship between the humans and dragons of the Rekarak mountains was not uncommon, but there had been a time when the two species were far from friends. They now hold a respect for one another, and on many occassions this respect strengthened into friendship. What developed between Thorvik and Keruki was a bond so deep that they were hardly ever far from one another. The human learned to ride a dragon, and the dragon learned to bear a rider. From Keruki's back, Thorvik could now draw accurate maps and finally had the opportunity to go beyond the horizon, much further than he had ever dared dream.

The Dalver Family

Father:
- Korellan (b. 1116)
Mother:
- Hekkila (b. 1121)
Children:
- Kedrath (b. 1147)
- Thenrir (b. 1149)
- Thorvik (b. 1153)
- Baldan (b. 1153)

Lorefinder

Thorvik received the name of Lorefinder after a number of years travelling and exploring. His interests had developed to go beyond just creating accurate depictions of the land. Wherever he chose to explore, he would stay to fill pages of his journal with sketches and stories, learning about the people, history and local folklore. No-one is quite sure who called him the Lorefinder first, but somehow it was a name that stuck and one he would adopt from then on.

Scale comparison between Keruki and Thorvik

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