Bitr the Blind (Ready)

[SteelEagle]

Name: Bitr the Blind

Sex: Male

Age: Elder

Species: Caribou

Eye Color: Brown. (Of no consequence)

Coat: A white-gray that is growing paler by the day.

Mane/Tail: Long and shaggy without a hint of care.

Physique: Old bones clank and clink audibly in his shack while tired old muscles do what they can.

Residence: Shack in the Spine of the World Serpent.

Occupation: None. Guide.

Cutie Mark: Not applicable.

Notable Talents/Unique Traits: Has a certain prescience of the area. Has more knowledge of the Spine than any caribou currently alive and a great many who are now dead.

History/Summary:

Bitr is an aged caribou who has seen much, but his old age is partially to blame for the fact he remembers little of his younger life. Like most he suspects he was a strong, capable caribou who went out on raids and cracked a great many ships for the good for the Clan Ivkrania. After nearly three decades of service to his clan, he was heartbroken when the Ivkrania were annihilated during a battle with Clan Jarges. The remnants were forced to become clients of the Jarges and forced off of their greatest lands. Bitr himself, even though he had counciled against angering Clan Jarges, nonetheless had to pay the price for his clan's idiocy. His family contained more than fifty members when he was forced to leave his land. But he was a good caribou and did not complain. Such was the fate of the defeated.

The coming season was harsh and Jarges was on the warpath, constantly draining the best and brightest of the Ivkrania in trade for food and supplies. Even that was not enough and there were only forty five members of his family left by the time the first winter was over. During the Spring, the elders of the clan convened to discuss how to renew the clan's spirit and strength. So close to the Spine, they decided to take the Clan to it so they could test their mettle. Some elders, like Bitr, howled at this outrage and called it insane. Two families left as did five members of Bitr's. He had forty members of his family left. But he was a good caribou and did not leave. Such was the strength of his loyalty.

That summer they moved into the Spine using the only tactic that had ever worked- small groups moving slowly across wide spaces. This way the ground did not open up and swallow them and the giant spawn-beasts would not find them. For the first week this worked and half the clan made it into the Spine with only ten percent of the clan being consumed by the terrors that lurked within, including four more of Bitr's family. All things said, very effective. However, Clan Jarges, fresh off of victory against the Aured, Asgarsa, Uriena, Krakia, and Scivoka, saw their first conquest leaving and launched a campaign to take what remained of their land. The remaining half of the Ivkrania were forced into the Spine in a wild and uncoordinated panic while those that were not able to escape were either destroyed or absorbed into the Jarges.

The uncoordinated fleeing into the Spine awoke its many great terrors. The following three weeks were ones of unrelenting horror. The weather grew worse, flash freezing groups of caribou where they stood if they were not able to avoid the Blue Breeze. Moments later they could be torn down into tiny ice cubes by powerful winds which could likewise pick up caribou and carts and whisk them far, far into the atmosphere. The ground would open up and dozens of caribou would vanish miles down into the earth. The clan was torn to shred and very rarely could one group contact another. Whispers in the night drove some mad. Some simply got up and wandered off into the snow. Beasts seemingly the size of mountains slithered, crawled, or ran out of the storm without warning and ate dozens at a time. Bitr watched as all this and more happened to his family. By the time they got to a copse of seemingly safe trees with a giant underground complex formerly used by the arm, Bitr had only two members of his family left. But he was a good caribou and did not complain. Such was the way of the Spine.

The fall was a terrible, terrible time. Starvation and violence broke out in the underground camp more than once and numbers dwindled. What was more, the dead started to become possessed by the evil magic of the Spine and a disease which seemingly no fire could purge ran like a forest fire across the survivors. The penetration from the outside by smaller but still violent and capable creatures didn't help matters as every day became a terrible fight for survival against hopeless odds. Parts of the complex were lost so slowly that it was hard to fathom. They entered with a thousand caribou and by the time Bitr himself put flame to the entire complex and allowed the restless dead to claim what remained, they had less than twenty. Bitr's wife was his family's only survivor beyond himself. Clan Ivkrania was dead. But he was a good caribou and did not complain. Such was to be his death, he presumed.

But the Spine would not allow him to go so easily. One by one the remaining members of his group passed away as they tried to find their way out. When only ten remained, a group of dire wolves surrounded them. Bitr bid his group to escape and engaged- he suffered terrible wounds and five of his group was killed, but he and his wife survived. Further into the forest he found a shack built out of ancient askr wood and enchanted local stones. It provided a reprieve, but was too late for his wife who had endured too much. While three members of the group were out searching for something to eat, he watched his wife pass away. He held her hoof and they both held his clan's Trolkien Amulet as she left him truly alone. He cried and wept and screamed, alone for the first time and with no elders to state law. He was no longer a good caribou and did not care when the rest of the group failed to return. He would have preferred to go to, but now knew he was being punished for his inability to stand up earlier.

He lost his eyesight not long after. A strangely aggressive moss infiltrated the shack and crept up on him at night, attacking his face in an effort to smother him. He destroyed it, but the user of fire burned away his eyesight. He now wears a blindfold made out of one of the last flags of his now deceased clan. The Amulet hangs around his neck and is the source of his only possible comfort. According to legend, the Trolkien Amulet is able to trap the spirit of a dying creature and act as a communication device between the living and the dead. He believes, perhaps foolisly, that he can speak to his wife through it and has convinced himself over time he can hear her talking back to him from beyond the Veil.

If that is the case, perhaps she is responsible;e for him becoming the greatest guide in all of the Whitescar. He seems to have a supernatural awareness of what lies before him, almost entirely negating his blindness ion day to day tasks but providing an entirely unique ability to caribou wishing to reach the Spine's mountains. More than a few clans have hired him out to help guide them and his success rate is without compare in history. The newly crowned HigH King followed Bitr's advice to the letter and got out only suffering one-third casualties, an incredibly optimistic outcome for any clan.

When not working for a clan or simply trying to survive, he writes, which was a talent he has always had. It was difficult to do so at first for him but he has gotten used to it and his vast knowledge of clan history has allowed him to ensure his clan lives on in his writings. As payment for his services he has only ever asked for the bare essentials as well for every clan that hires him to take a set of scrolls detailing the whole history of Clan Ivkrania in the most minute detail. After years of being a bad caribou after his wife's passing he is ready to be a good caribou again and make sure that his family and clan live on long after he has taken his last breath, the Trolkien firmly planted against his having chest one last time.

[Bellosh]