Nathaniel Graythorne's Backstory

A Short Biography of Nathaniel Graythorne

Family: Nathaniel was born in Hinnom valley, south of Jezrel, 32 years before the War of the Ten Kings. His mother, Jinle’a, had the blood of angels in her and could no doubt have chosen a mate from among the ranks of angels, but fell for a simple human farmer named Kenneth Graythorne. Jinle’a bore Kenneth three children: Andrea, Nathaniel, and Matthew. Andrea and Matthew lived fairly normal human lifespans, and their great grandchildren now live scattered about Westlay.

Nathaniel grew up and married his childhood sweetheart, a lovely young girl named Emily. She bore him four children: Dora, Jason, Michael, and Grace. Emily and Kenneth were both killed in the first raids during the War. Nathaniel stayed behind enemy lines while Jinle’a led his children to the south during William’s Gambit. It was over fifteen years before Nathaniel found his family again, and by that time, his children had families of their own and could not bring themselves to reconcile with the father they thought had died or abandoned them. His great grandchildren now live in an estate in Tindell, knowing Nathaniel only through Jinle’a’s stories.

Wartime Service: Nathaniel was an intelligence specialist during the War. He would often infiltrate giant encampments with his friend “Silent Mike”, both disguised as orc slaves. They would listen in on battle plans and transmit key details back to the city, and Nathaniel would often add insult to injury by winning large sums of gold from the giants through card games. With detailed knowledge of the enemy, the Jezrel militia was able to hold off the giants much longer than expected, but ultimately, it became clear that the city was going to fall.

William the Fox, one of Jezrel’s captains, devised a plan to evacuate the city. He and an elite squadron of archers, including Silent Mike, stationed themselves on a high rock and waited to ambush a group of giants patrolling outside the city. The plan was to draw the giants’ attention long enough to create a gap in the patrols so that Jezrel’s civilian population could flee on horseback, with most of the militia following on foot. The archers knew this would be a suicide mission, but their deaths would not be in vain. Many giants were slain, and Jezrel’s people and army made it safely to Tindell. Jezrel’s army later fought valiantly in the Battle of Thunder.

Nathaniel remained in orcish guise throughout William’s Gambit, placing illusory archers along the hills in order to slow and frustrate the giants’ progress. Unfortunately, he was injured in the fighting and was unable to flee. For the rest of the war, he remained active behind enemy lines, poisoning food and sabotaging equipment.

Postwar History: After the war, Nathaniel traveled the world seeking to make it a better place for his descendants. In the wild, he’d kill dangerous animals and even whole tribes of goblins through clever use of illusions. In society, his focus was on financially devastating those who exploited and mistreated others. He created the “Nate the Great” persona for two reasons: first, to lend credibility to the idea that he’d gained treasure from defeating goblins, and second, to fit in to high society so he could gain access to high-stakes gambling.

Nathaniel recently heard stories of a Sir Galron, a powerful and rich warrior who’d bullied, oppressed, and stolen from many widows in the area. Nate played up his persona as the naïve do-gooder son of a wealthy businessman, gaining invitation to Galron’s card game where he was expected to be an easy mark. Instead, he slowly accumulated wealth through careful and clever play, culminating in winning Galron’s armor and sword. In an outburst of anger, Galron stood and threatened to kill Nate with the very sword he’d lost in his final bet. Nate cast a spell to freeze his opponent, drained his strength, and took his things, selling them and distributing the proceeds to the local widows. A representative of the Kingsmen who had been at the card game believed Nathaniel would make a fine addition to Rogar’s team, and invited him to the outpost.

Philosophy: Nathaniel prefers to defeat enemies by striking them at their weakest point: their mind. He favors clever use of illusions and misdirection, preferring to convince an enemy to walk off a cliff or into a lion’s den rather than trying to attack directly. Convincing an enemy that he is a friend is often a precursor to that enemy suffering a freak accident.