Cael Blackstone (Lore)

Cael Blackstone is an Oronian human who served as the primary blacksmith of Neumuria after his father's death. He is credited as an expert craftsman, decent fighter, and honorable friend.

Closing Days of the Fourth Era
Cael was born in Oronia in 4E 681 to Balor and Ciara Blackstone. His time on Reverie was brief, as his parents wanted to venture to the famed world of Verra after the Portals re-opened. The Blackstone Family was renouned for their expert craftsmanship from weapons to stone. Oronia was well-built and had nothing extra to add onto it, so Balor made the decision to bring his entire family to Verra to start their new lives.

The Founding of Neumuria
Immediately when the Blackstones arrived in Verra, Balor saw an opportunity to build a settlement. He immediately went to work constructing the houses and fortifications. Ciara paid close attention to her son, Cael, who watched his father get to work. Elvar had a distain for the Blackstone family and often feuded with the youngest boy, Cael.

Elvar had no interest for agriculture, construction, forging, nor husbandry. In his spare time he would adventure off in search of relics. He found some notable tomes nearby and began to study magic.

Growing Up
Growing up, Cael was raised to honor his commitments and to help around the town. He was friends with a lot of people, but he did have one notable enemy. Due to the rivalry between his father Balor and an elf named Pyrravyn, his son Elvar would often chide with Cael. Even though the attacks were rampid whenever they saw each other, Cael kept his restraint out of shyness. It wasn't until the passing of Cael's mother where Elvar stopped harassing him as much.

The Apprenticeship
When Cael was 15, his father brought it upon himself to teach Cael the ways of becoming a blacksmith. Cael first attempted to make a sword. Due to other elements getting inside in the forging process, it soon became brittle. Cael would become annoyed, but Balor was very amused. Balor would encourage his son to never give up and practice as often as he'd like.

Months later, he would excel at making weapons ranging from swords, to axes, to daggers. He would also help his father when it came to constructing by crafting nails and hinges.

The Mayoral Election
At 24 years old, Cael's father had seen that Pyrravyn decided to run for mayor. Balor feared that Pyrravyn would use the political power to oust him and his family from earning income, or to banish him from the town. In order to try to prevent this, Balor ran against Pyrravyn. Balor had done business with almost everyone in Neumuria, and had ran on the fact that he was hard-working and supportive of the common folk. Unfortunately, the town became very political as each faction's supporters exchanged insults with each other. Balor would talk to his supporters about avoiding conflict and stating that the election had to be fair and honest. Unfortunately, Balor lost the election to Pyrravyn. Balor did notice, though, that Pyrravyn had bought off a lot of people. Balor would make sure that Cael would stay away from Elvar.

The Assassination
Only after a few months into becoming Mayor, Pyrravyn requested a weapon be crafted by Balor Blackstone. Balor, bitterly, crafted a Greatsword for Pyrravyn. Before Elvar's father left to meet with Balor, he told Elvar that their future looked bright.

At the beginning of their meeting, Pyrravyn had been assassinated. Balor scrambled to get out of there, but the assassins shot a toxin into Balor's arm that rendered it paralyzed. Elvar's mother rushed in to help both of them. The town believed that Balor and Pyrravyn fought. The town became angry at Elvar's mother because she couldn't explain how the death happened. The whole town turned against the two families.

Balor was all alone now. He had no family. He wept for hours. It wasn't until he heard an explosion later that day that he left the house. Cael saw Elvar's house in ruins. He remembered his father's warning about interacting with Elvar, but his good morals took over and he raced over to the house. He moved the rubble aside, and that's when he saw her. Cael saw Elvar's mother deceased on the floor with a noticable mark on her body. A book was nearby describing the uses of blood magic.

Cael got angry as he believed that Elvar's entire family were murderers. He believed Pyrravyn killed his father, and now Elvar killed his mother. He saw Elvar staggering out of the town, but didn't call for him. Instead, Cael hid the book. He swore that this was the last time he would ever be kind to Elvar. He screamed for help. Many townsfolk came over to help him.

On his Own
Cael had never been alone. He was always used to having his father around. He took after the family business and helped the townsfolk whenever he could. Unfortunately, Cael put too much into his work. He would often devote most of his free time to blacksmithing. He even found a cave containing various metals and would expand his business to civilians who wanted to learn and help out. Towards the end of the year, he became successful in his own right and would was proud of his accomplishments in forging a bond between himself and the others.

He would continue this trend for five years. He took notice of Elvar's return to the town, but never even gave him the time of day.

The Attack
During one night, there was an attack. The barbarian group known as The Amber Hoarde ransacked the town. Cael would grab his sword and help defend his neighbors. He took 6 barbarians down before he was knocked unconcious.

When he awoke, the city was devestated. His house and shop were raided and he took notice of losing the twin swords his father cherished so much. He saw first-hand that the land was dying.

The Amber Hoarde had taken a child hostage and the stranger wanted to find out if anyone would come with them to rescue the young girl. Cael spoke up, wanting to rescue the girl and recover the blades. Elvar mocked him. After they traded insults. The stranger decided that both of them would come along with. Much to their dismay, they agreed.

The Rescue Mission
The stranger, Cael, and Elvar went on a quest to rescue the young girl and recover the blades from the clutches of the Amber Hoarde. The trio found a cave, but it was occupied. A bear emerged from the cave and growled at them. Elvar stepped up, pridefully. Cael became annoyed at the realization that Elvar was going to use magic. Cael saw magic as the easy way out and wasn't as honest as the work someone does themselves. Elvar was able to subdue the bear with magic, and Elvar fainted. While Elvar was incapacitated, he told the stranger his side of the story about Elvar. When Elvar woke up, Cael cut his story short and went to sleep.

When day broke, they made their way to the Amber Hoarde's camp. They deducted that they were keeping the girl at the building in the center of the camp. They devised a plan to ignite a few tents to cause a distraction. After the deed was done, they met at the center building and proceeded inside. The trio decide to try the top floor. Out of pure luck, they found the girl; however she had a blade to her throat. Standing next to her was Shang Wei: Great Khan of the Amber Hoarde.

Shang ordered for the stranger and Cael to drop their weapons, but told Elvar to drop his tome. When they did so, Shang went on to explain that he wanted to trade the girl's life for Elvar's blood. The three were confused, but Shang revealed that Elvar's ancestor was Alteron--a powerful warlock--and Elvar's blood would grant him access to great power. During his monologue, Shang also revealed that it was his assassins that killed Elvar's father. Cael was shocked at the revelation and thought over his entire hatred for Elvar. He felt guilty.

Elvar agreed and approached Shang Wei. With the girl in the stranger and Cael's possession, Elvar would enact his plan. Elvar proceeded to transport them away from the camp and to bring down the tower. Cael would scream for Elvar as the tower collapsed. The stranger and himself were soon pursued by a few barbarians.

They ran as fast as they could while it was raining. They eventually slipped on mud and fell on top of each other. The barbarians were ready to kill Cael and the stranger, but it never happened. The townsfolk took up arms and pushed back the barbarian pursuers.

Elvar's Funeral
At Elvar's Funeral, Cael was the first to speak up. He acknowledged their rivalry and disliking towards one another. He exposed the truth of the deaths of Balor and Pyrravyn; that it was Shang Wei who ordered the death of Pyrravyn. He would mourn for Elvar as the stranger gave their eulogy.

After the funeral was over, the stranger was going to leave town. Cael walked the stranger to the edge of town. An elderly lady came up to them and thanked them for rescuing the young girl and recovering the swords. Cael was confused as he didn't recover the swords. Realization struck Cael and the stranger: Elvar survived. Cael said his goodbye's as the stranger left town.

Personality
Cael is a very honest, loyal, and kind individual. He believed that the bonds you form with one another are worth more than all the gold in the world. He fought for his friends, and the town, on many occassions. His true passion, however, was blacksmithing. He loved how you can create art out of the materials of the earth and strived to practice every day.