Tharian's parents Nathan Nelvane and Seliena Silvermoon met in a quiet little grove in a corner of the Blessed Realm of the Kithicor Woods. Nathan was traveling alone one morning on a holy pilgrimage to the temple of Mithaniel. There he was to take over the duties as the high priest. He heard the sound of a woman screaming in rage and went to investigate. Ahead in the clearing he saw twelve men tormenting a women dressed in forest garb. They had her above a pit and were taking brands from the fire and where driving them into her body. Nathan, being slow to anger and sure in his god, called their attention to himself and tried to persuade them from their evil intentions. The bandits, thinking him to be a defenseless traveler, taunted him about his ridiculous clothes. They then told him how they would kill him slowly over an open fire and feed him to the demon in the cave below. The bandits continued to laugh at him and said that they had already had this female ranger for payment to the beast as their monthly tribute, so they could afford to take their time with him. They then dropped the ranger into the pit and rushed towards him. This enraged Nathan and he called upon Mithaniel aid him. There was a flash of light from the morning sky, and when the light touched each of the bandits they burst into a roaring column of flame. Many tried to run but none escaped the ray of truth that burned their flesh and sent their souls to the deep realms of the Abyss.

Then there was a thunderous roar from within the pit followed by a female war cry of challenge. Nathan rushed toward the pit, and seeing the rangers weapons in a pile beside the pit slowed down enough to grab them. Without concern for his safety he dropped down into the pit. After a fall of about twenty feet he dropped the weapons and tumbled forward to absorb most of the impact. He stood up and was looking at the back of a hideous demon that stood over ten feet tall. Its skin was a green-red and it had wicked horns sticking out of all parts of its body, and it oozed a vile yellow liquid that melted all that it touched. He could just see the ranger dodging a vicious blow from the demon's horned hands. He grabbed the weapons and ran to the other side to face the demon. He raised up his holy symbol and called upon Mithaniel to give him strength and drive back the beast. While the demon hesitated the ranger grabbed her weapons, a short sword and a strange-looking sword that was slightly smaller then a bastard sword with metal triangles attached about halfway up the blade. Nathan was momentarily distracted by the beauty of this women and when their eyes met he knew that he could never love another.

The demon, seeing a weakness in his defenses, lunged forward with teeth bared and claws extended. So smitten was Nathan that he did not notice the approaching danger. The demon would have surely had him when the ranger became a blur of motion and thrust forward with the strange blade, driving the blade into the foul thing's chest. The demon's howl of pain and outrage snapped Nathan out of his trance and he began casting a spell to attempt to banish the beast. The ranger raised the strange blade into the air and it gave off a bright blue light that burned away the blood of the beast. She then took up a defensive stance in front of Nathan. The demon began another attack that the ranger barely managed to beat back. Just then Nathan finished his prayer and the demon was surrounded by a white light. The demon screamed as it was drawn towards a black portal that appeared behind it. The beast managed to grab a side of the pit and was pulling itself back out of the portal when the ranger's blade found one of its puss-filled eyes. The demon's scream could be heard as it was pulled into the portal and then portal slammed shot with a crack of thunder.

The ranger introduced herself as Seliena Silvermoon, a ranger of Kithicor woods. She told Nathan that she had been tracking down the cause of the disturbance to the balance of nature in this area when the bandits surrounded her and used some type of foul magic from a black book to hold her in place. She thanked him for his assistance and offered to guide him the rest of the way to the temple. Nathan agreed and went to give a short prayer for the damned souls when he came across the book that Seliena had mentioned. It was made of some type of black scaly skin with a brass image of a demon's horned head on the front. When he reached to pick it up a black tentacle lashed out and grabbed his hand. He had the feeling of something evil trying to invade his mind but was able to fight it off. He decided that a book this evil could not be left laying around so he tried to destroy it. All of his and Seliena's attempts failed and he decided to take this book to the temple and destroy it. The rest of their trip to the temple was uneventful and a great feast was held in his honor where he asked Seliena to join him. She agreed and they had a wonderful evening together. In all of the excitement Nathan forgot to mention the book and it was placed with the rest of his things in his chamber.

Over the next five years Nathan advanced his faith in leaps and bounds and his congregation went from a small showing of locals that numbered no more then forty to a vast fellowship of thousands. He was sought out by Kings and Queens for his wisdom and knowledge, bearing gifts of incredible value as donations, just to hear one of his sermons. He was offered the hand of many beautiful young daughters; even some of royal blood but he had eyes for only one. Nathan courted Seliena and finally convinced her to stay with him and be his wife. She even went so far as to give up her wandering ranger ways to spend more time with him. Even though she loved him more than life itself her heart was that of a caged wild animal and Nathan saw this and offered to give her anything she wished. Her simple request caught him totally by surprise, for she asked for a forge to be built in the small grove outside the temple so that she might find some freedom in the creation of beautiful things as many of her ancestors had in the days of long ago. A request was sent out throughout the land to find someone to build this wedding gift for his bride. One night after a long day of frustrating interviews to find just the right person to build this forge there was a knock upon his chamber door. When he answered the door he looked out to see not his chamberlain but an unlikely pair, one stocky dwarf and one fair-skinned elf. When asked how they got past his guards they both just looked at each other, smiled and introduced themselves as Galien Stormhammer and Semmeria Farlonia. After a brief interview, for a reason Nathan could not quite put his finger on, he knew they were the ones for the job.

The forge was completed in two months and the wedding scheduled for the following day. The ceremony was held at the temple with the grand high priest Balisor residing, with people from all over the nearby kingdoms and some from the far reaches of the all the known lands. After the ceremony and the reception that night Nathan led Seliena down the trail to the forge. When they came to the forge there was a soft silvery glow about it from the full moon shining down on it and Seliena began to weep with joy. The forge was a work of beauty and art in and of itself. It perfectly blended the requirements for the forging of any known works that only a dwarven mastersmith could have laid out; with the open airiness of an open glade in the forest during the spring and a sense of freedom that only an elven mastersmith and druid could capture. They laid in each other's arms under the stars with the moon shining down upon them as they made love to one another.

For the next three months life was heaven on earth for them both. Seliena worked in the forge turning out works of exceptional quality and beauty and Nathan with a new strength tackled the job of tending the temple and gaining even more worshippers for Mithaniel. Nathan did start to have very bad headaches any time would think about the missing evil book, the pain becoming so intense he was forced to his bed. When he would awake he would forget about the book for a time, when he did remember about it the headaches would start again....

The dwarf and elf even stayed on and taught Seliena many secret skills known only to them and ways to combine dwarven solidity and dependability with elven beauty and enchantments. Long did they toil on their separate joys but always found time for each other. Then Seliena found out that she was pregnant and things slowly began to change. Nathan started to have dark dreams of power where he ruled the kingdom instead of the foolish ones who had to seek him out for simple advice. He became more reclusive and started to shirk his responsibilities as high priest. When Seliena was around he was full of good cheer but when she was away at the forge the dark thoughts came more often. They plagued him day and night, day after day and finally he found its source. The book that he had found so long ago had hid itself under his bed and had slowly worked its way past his defenses. But by this time it was too late, the darkness was one with him and he was one with it. The book was called the Tome of Scorian and it had a will and mind of its own but it lacked a body to interact with the outside world. And now it had one, for it took over this once-good man and made him its own.

At this time Seliena was working in the forge when a chill went through her body and she had a vision from the god Mithaniel telling her that the man she loved was gone, replaced by an abomination calling himself Scorian. She was told to flee with Galien and Semmeria to the Nexius Mountain to the East and there seek out the dragon Belvan. She did as instructed and fled, taking only what she needed to survive and her ancestral blade the yarkbolka 'Tharigannia'. She made it to Mt. Nexius without incident or pursuit, for Scorian was still weak and a tiny bit of Nathan somehow survived the transformation. Scorian killed many on the night of his birth, using their blood and souls to gate in demons from the deepest depths of the Abyss. He then set them loose to kill and destroy more of Mithaniel's faithful. Some even turned their backs on the light and swore allegiance to Scorian and became his Dark Ones, all the more powerful for having made the transfer of their own choice. The one place where Scorian and his minions could not go was Seliena's forge for it was unsoiled by the book and they where held at bay by a silverish light anytime they tried to enter. Any that stepped too close were burned to cinders by the holy light. This enraged Scorian to no end and he sent assassins throughout the lands to find and kill Seliena, thinking that this would end the spell of protection that thwarted him at every turn.

Seliena was taken in by Belvan and given all she could want except the one thing she wanted most, the return of her husband. Their child was born at the exact time of dawn, a healthy boy who she named Talien Nelvane. He was born with a silver birthmark of a yarkbolka in the palm of each hand. At the same time an orphaned faire dragon egg under the care of the big-hearted drake hatched and a baby faire dragon that Belvan named Randor was born. Belvan's laughter shook the cavern that was his home as he declared the two 'clutch mates'. The two smiths approached Talien and began to sing in a song of blessing upon the babe, the deep rumbling voice of the dwarf and the elf's light melodious voice mixing into a heart-rending harmony. They sang of days long past, both the good and bad. How throughout the ages there comes a time when the balance swings once again in the endless dance of life. The song filled Seliena with great sadness and joy at the same time, for it gave her hope for her son's future. As they both came to a close they each took one of Talien's hands and with words long forgotten to man and beast, placed a blessing of great power upon him to protect him from magic, especially that of the demon that had destroyed his father.

With the dragon to protect them Seliena raised Talien for the next eight years in the ways of her ancestors. He grew at an incredible rate and by the age of seven was helping his mother at the forge. Throughout this time he was also given lessons by Belvan in the ways of the world around him - how one must be ever vigilant and on one's guard against the forces of evil. Talien spent many hours playing with Randor in the cave and as he grew older they began to sneak out and play on the slopes, and sometimes even to the valley below. One day when in the spring of his tenth year he and Randor where climbing down a slope into a hidden grotto with a small lake that was fed by a waterfall. Talien would often go here to think when his mind was troubled. Randor flew up to Talien and told him he saw someone on the other side of the waterfall. As they cautiously approached the stranger from above, Talien noticed another figure sneaking up on the first one. When he looked again he saw a bit of sunshine reflected off a wicked looking weapon in the hands of the second one. Talien reached down and grabbed a rock and with a silent prayer to Mithaniel threw the rock with all his might. The rock sailed across the grotto and struck the assassin in the back of the head, causing him to scream in pain. The first figure swung around and drew a gleaming long sword with one hand and a dagger with the other. Without the aid of surprise the second figure seemed to hesitate and started to back away from the first. This was the only opening the first needed and he drove his sword through his opponent's throat.

The victor looked up then and seeing Talien he lowered his hood revealing what appeared to be a man with some elven features. Randor flew down to the figure and landed on his shoulder. They began to speak back and forth in the elven tongue, then Randor flew up to Talien and told him that the figure was a half elven ranger named Nighthawk and he would like to thank Talien for saving his life. So Talien climbed down the rest of the way and approached the ranger. The ranger reached into his backpack and took out a roll of parchment and handed it to Talien telling him that it was a treasure map to an ancient treasure far to the south of this mountain. He also took off a gold and silver torc with blue gems from around his neck and said that legend has it that one must have this, the Torc of Melanna to get the treasure. Nighthawk said he must be off to track down the one who had sent this assassin and said farewell to his rescuers but that he would one day return to see them if he could. When they returned to the cave they were greeted by an evil sight. The place was completely destroyed: there was charred and melted rock all over. When they came closer they saw the body of the once-mighty Belvan pieced through the heart by an wicked looking spear. He searched through the rubble for hours but his mother was nowhere to be found, the only thing he could recover from the wreckage was his ancestral blade 'Tharigannia'.

He went over to the body of his dead teacher and friend Belvan. He prayed to Mithaniel and asked him to help his mother and to lay to rest the spirit of his friend. He then laid down on the hard rock and went into a troubled sleep. He had a vision from Mithaniel and it told him that he was brave and unselfish to think of others before himself and for this he was to be rewarded with a blessing that would enable him to learn the lessons that this life had to offer at a faster rate than normal. He also told him that help was on the way.

Unknown to Talien, his mother had been taken captive by a group of demons led by a chaos lord sent by Scorian. They took her to the glade where the forge was and prepared her for sacrifice. Scorian approached with an evil sacrificial dagger and was about to plunge it into her heart when the bit of Nathan that was left exerted itself and stayed his hand. She managed to escape her bonds as the two struggled for control and she ran for the forge, but just before she crossed the threshold to the forge the chaos lord sent a spear that pierced her body. She fell across the threshold and crawled to the anvil in the center of the forge. With her last breath she called upon Mithaniel to take her soul and instill it in this place that the evil about might never have it. An image of Mithaniel appeared and with tears in his immortal eyes he granted her request. The glow about the forge increase an hundredfold and many of Scorian's minions were destroyed before they could retreat to a safe distance. Scorian, now in full control, howled in frustration and pain from the silver light and with a word of power transported himself to his own fortress.

Talien awoke the next day to find Galien and Semmeria fixing breakfast over an open fire. The body of the dragon Belvan was gone and when he asked about it he was told that the body of the noble dragon deserved better then to be pinned to the wall like some trophy and had been laid to rest in the way of his kind. They took Talien and Randor off to Umbar, a human mastersmith just out side the city of Freeport. At first Umbar did not want to take on such a young apprentice, as he already had a fifteen year old one named Hamial. But while they were discussing his fate Talien wandered into the forge and noticed that the forge had been left unattended and a half finished sword was about to lose its temper because of it. He began to stoke the fire back up and worked the steel of the blade to prevent its ruin, even at this age he possessed a great strength for one so young. When Umbar heard the noise he rushed into the forge thinking that Hamial was overstepping his training, only to find Talien working the forge as one long familiar with it. The elf and dwarf just smiled at each other when Umbar agreed to take him on as his apprentice. This of course earned him the resentment of Hamial who up to this point in his training had only been allowed to stoke the furnace and do small works of iron.

For the next five years he put his heart and soul into learning as much as he could from the good master Umbar. He spent all day and some of the nights perfecting the lessons learned and rediscovered a few techniques that had been lost for the working of weapons. His success enraged Hamial and in the summer of Talien's sixteenth year Hamial devised a plan to rid himself forever of this pest. Hamial trapped the forge with engraving acids and oil so that it would explode when Talien went to stoke the forge the next morning. And the morning was to be a special one, Talien had just received his journeyman status and this would be his first work as a journeyman, but instead of heading straight for the forge he was distracted by a playful Randor who demanded attention. So it was that master Umbar stoked the forge and set off the trap instead of Talien and was killed. Hamial was caught and sent away to prison for his crimes, for earlier that night he had been out drinking and boasting of what he had done to get rid of the "pest" Talien.

With no place to go Talien wandered the lands, doing small smithing jobs to feed himself and Randor. He started to hear a voice in his head telling him to go to the temple of Mithaniel to the south. There he was taken in for a year's time and taught the rudimentary skills of a Paladin, but before he completed the training he was sent to the city of Freeport. There he was to report for duty in the heavy Cavalry to fight the growing threat of the Dark Lord Scorian.

Talien was put into a the 15th heavy Cavalry unit and trained in horse mounted combat which included: how to train a horse for combat, care for one and even trick riding. He also learned tactics, wilderness survival and how to use many weapons including: short bow, dagger, lance, javelin, spear, hammer and a specialized style of combat using his yarkbolka. Because of his quick learning and his ability to lead others he was given the rank of corporal and sent out to his first battle. In the battle of Woods End he led his small detachment in a flanking maneuver that forced the enemy to be trapped between a dense wooded area and a river. This earned him a promotion to Sergeant and he was singled out to be recruited into the Order of the Sun, a group of Paladins used as a shock force against the powerful evil threats that Scorian brought to bear. In the next battle his immediate superior was slain by an unlucky stoke from a bane's blade. Talien assumed command and drove back the group of banelings attacking the small town of Riverdale, and he was promoted to Lieutenant second grade. The battle to follow left him with a scar across his face from a minor demon's spear that he dispatched, and then drove the creature away sending many of them to the abyss personally. He was decorated for valor and heroism and sent to the forward lines to engage a larger force in a staying tactic until reinforcements could arrive. He successfully completed this mission with light casualties while handing out heavy losses to the enemy; and he was promoted to Lieutenant first grade and became well renowned for his skills and heroism.

Over the next two years he led his troops to many minor victories and it seemed as if Scorian's forces had been defeated. He was sent to engage a small force of orcs in Southern Ro. Things went well until a being astride a black demon horse appeared and opened a portal to the abyss allowing thousands of dark creatures to enter this realm. Talien's forces were quickly overrun and he was left for dead on the field. When he was awakened by Randor it was to a gruesome site, the entire city razed to the ground and all the sounding area reeking with the smell of dead bodies. A small patrol approached him and he was taken to high command to report what happened. After a sham of a trial he was accused of dereliction of duty and cast out in disgrace. Angered by the injustice of the trial where he had become a scapegoat, he began a search for something to give him the power to destroy Scorian.

He wandered for the next two years searching for something, anything, to aid him. His search finally led him to an evil temple deep in the dark elves' realm. After dispatching the demon guardian he found a black crystal skull on the altar. Here is where Talien turned his back on the god Mithaniel and took up the Black Skull of Power. For to use such an evil thing, a pact must be made with it himself. So in his search to stop evil he had become it..... For the next twenty years he served Kilengar and did many evil acts. He saw the very pits of hell and the deepest realms of the abyss and he was death incarnate to all he faced. One day Kilengar sent him to slay a female ranger that was troubling him. When Talien had tracked her down and cornered her he could not bring himself to slay her. She looked like his mother from a time that he could barley remember. But by staying his hand he had condemned himself to the wrath of Kilengar and he knew his time was limited. So he did the only good thing he knew he could and went to the crucible of time to destroy the Skull. To destroy it he had to jump into the crucible holding the skull. Mithaniel, seeing this act of redemption, took his soul before Kilengar could claim it and remade his soul in the Light. He has been given a chance that few ever receive and even fewer can live up to. For if he fails, his soul is Kilengar's to torment throughout the ages - but even worse are the memories that still haunt him from his dark past. So was Talien reborn as Tharian..........