Oliveryn's Page
Oliveryn was born to an aristocratic mother and a drifter father, in the great city of Troll's Bridge. Troll's Bridge is in the vast Almebezbikian Empire that stretches far and wide.
Oliver's father, Luvian, came from a middle class family near Armee's Canal. He worked as a farmer with his father until he left home to become a traveling minstrel. After five years, the minstrel show broke up leaving Luvian destitute. Finding work in the kitchen of an aristocratic family in Troll's Bridge, he worked until they found out he could sing and tell epic stories with a flair. Hiring him as their new court minstrel, Luvian performed his best, attracting crowds of aristocrats and nobles to his performances. House Chicdell found great interest in Luvian, bringing him to their family as a their court bard.
After a season of performances at the Chicdell Estate, the real reason Luvian was hired became known. Hardun Chicdell needed an assassin to keep his rivals in the Council of Houses in check. A traveling bard was the perfect cover to bring the silent hand of death to Lord Chicdell's enemies. Luvian was brought into the family and highly trained in all types of assassination techniques. At first, Luvian balked at being trained as an assassin, but Lord Chicdell put the pressure on Luvian by announcing the marriage of his daughter Susana.
With the knowledge and contacts that Luvian had and the marriage consummated, the Chicdell family bound Luvian to them. At first, the arranged marriage between Luvian and Susana was tolerable at best. Susana was six years the elder at twenty-eight and felt cheated at having an arranged marriage to a commoner. She was the eldest daughter of House Chicdell and no one else in the family had had such an arrangement in the past. During the next ten years their marriage would become strained and also become the happiest time for both of them. After three years of marriage, Susana finally conceived, having a baby boy they called Oliveryn, or just Oli.
At this time Luvian was still working as an assassin for Lord Chicdell and was good at his job. Over time, Luvian's heart was becoming more troubled in what he was doing. He constantly had doubts when confronted with the person that he was to kill. Luvian did not know what this person did and personally did not really care. He had a son now and wanted out of having to kill people for a living. He just wanted to sing and write stories, but Lord Chicdell had other plans for Luvian.
Luvian confided in Susana that he wanted to quit his job as a court bard for her father. At this time, Susana never knew that Luvian was an assassin. Luvian felt he did not want to put Susana in danger by revealing who he was and what he did. Later, word got back to Lord Chicdell about Luvian's desire to leave. Lord Chicdell decided it was time to let Luvian go. Along with some hired hands, Lord Chicdell confronted Luvian about his desire to leave his eldest daughter. A blade was drawn and Luvian was stabbed. He was left to die in an alleyway, blood pooling around his body. Luivan was never heard from again.
Lord Chicdell had a letter forged in Luvian's name, saying that he was leaving and would not be coming back. That a child would slow him down, being a travel minstrel, and he could not stay in this place any longer. Lord Chicdell handed the letter to his daughter and feigned grief with her over the lose of her husband.
Oliveryn, at this time, was growing up as all young lads do. He played with the manor servants and got into all kinds of trouble. As with all growing children, the manor seemed to be a little bit more cheerful with a laughing and playing child. As Oliveryn grew older, a question among the noble house grew. Would Oliveryn be counted as an heir? In the years since Luvian's disappearance, Lord Chicdell had become ill and was nearing death. The only living heir of House Chicdell was Jogthin, the second eldest child of Hardun, but Jogthin suffered from mental retardation. Given this, Jogthin could not fulfill the duties of a Chicdell Lord.
With Oliveryn's mother being of noble blood, but his father a drifter, the Council of Houses was divided on whether Oliveryn should be counted as the only male heir to Chicdell House. A settlement was reached in the Council that would change Oliveryn's life forever. On Oliveryn's twenty-first birthday, he would to be given Luvian's prized rosewood lute. A quest was proposed that Oliveryn would, if completed, become the next heir to House Chicdell. That quest would be to find his father. Once Oliveryn's father was found, the lute would be returned to him. If Oliveryn's father accepted it, Oliveryn would be the next Chicdell heir.
Oliveryn was never told of this decision and Susana was forbidden to tell him until his twenty-first birthday. With Susana's heart still broken from Luvian leaving, she could hardly bare to see her only son having to leave in his prime. So, with the wealth of House Chicdell, Susana hired the best teachers and craftsmen to give Oliveryn a life that he could choose for himself.
On Oliveryn's twenty-first birthday, Susana gave him his father's prized lute. Oliver had been trained in all arts including bard lore and stringed instruments. Often, Oliveryn's mother would have him play a song for her that his father always played for her. Oliveryn wanted to know why he was being given the lute. At this time Susana told Oliveryn what he was to do; all about his quest to find his father. If he chose not to go on the quest, he would banished from the city and the House as a drifter, never to be allowed back.
Being forced into doing something was not always something Oliveryn liked, but to see his mother in tears over this, softened his heart and he accepted the quest. Trained in bardic lore, he figured his first best bet would be to leave Troll's Bridge and head to Redemption. The first likely place his father would have gone.
