Mhuyler was once a simple Nomad, a member of the Clan of the Dancing Flame that wandered deep into the Southern lands in search of scrublands for their herds. Largely a tribe of the Southeast, the group ranged roughly around the city of Gem, often trading with the Despot for various needed supplies in exchange for some of the gems that the tribe was able to gather from the furthest southern reaches. Mhuyler was one of the greatest of his tribe, perhaps one day to be an honored elder or even the head of the clan. He had a loving and dutiful wife, several strong sons and daughters, and one particular favored child -- a fire-haired girl, full of spirit and promise, who bore a feminine version of his own name.
Then all of that was taken from him by the Guild, and their man, Nicola Murdans.
Hired killers came to his village, slaughtering most of the men and taking those women and children who they could to sell into slavery in Gem. Mhuyler was one of those fallen in battle, seeking to protect his people but having even failed in that. Yet death did not take him. The older nomad survived, amidst the field of his friends and brothers. He crawled out into the desert, delirious and grievously wounded, his life blood falling down to grace the dunes. Eventually he forced himself to his feet and made to lurch slowly across the Southland toward a destination he could not quite name...
He survived for 3 days, slowly lurching over the dunes. The mad beating sun bore down on him, hunger and thirst tore at his will. He felt the harsh voices of the women of the tribes, berating him for his weakness in failing to protect them, and the mockery of the men of the tribes for not dying with them in battle. He roared back at them, he cried precious tears, and finally he simply collapsed...
...that was when the Eye & Seven Despairs found him. During his long wanderings, Mhuyler had blundered unawares onto the very edges of the Shadowland of White Sands. In his last few minutes of life, the Deathlord came to him and spoke to him of all the things he had not accomplished. The last living descendants of his people carted off in chains, his favored daughter tossed into the Gladiator Arena to die, his descendants cast into an unforgiving underworld with none to sacrifice to them or bury their bodies. Alone, weak, poor. "Your clan," the Deathlord noted, "will fade away into dust. ...Unless."
It was damnation, Mhuyler knew. What the Deathlord offered could be nothing except a demons temptation, and yet he could not look away. He took the black chalice of exaltation, and rose again as a Deathknight, to be christened the Gray Rider.
The Rider lingered in the Shadowland of Gray Sands for a time, recovering his strength and thinking on what had happened to him in the last few days. He tamed one of the wild horses that roamed the Shadowland, destroyed several of the spirits that had sought to sup upon his rich essence and vital blood, and eventually found his way into the very heart of the Shadowland wherein he was met by his new master.
Despite his own hot blood and desire for vengeance, the Rider knew that he would accomplish nothing except a fast death against the Wyld Hunt if he did not accept his place and learn the facts of his new existance. Thus the new Deathknight returned with his master to the Cold House, and there he was trained in the magics of his state and the Philosophy of the Void until he was prepared to travel into the heart of the Labryinth and meet with the Dead Gods to which he had pledged himself. He emerged touched, and yet still somehow deeply disturbed.
"Go," the Eye said, then, "Save your people, and reforge them from the Dust. You have my blessing in this endeavor, so long as you take care and proceed cautiously."
the Rider began his quest in the Underworld, seeking out the ghosts and shadows of his tribe that still existed. Some he found wandering penniless in the extents of the Southern Wastes, others he discovered enslaved by the powerful tribal nations of the Underworld, and a few he even pulled from some horror or another. A chieftan and a hero once again, the Rider returned once again to the Shadowland of White Sands and then into the living lands. After visiting the site of the tribes slaughter for a brief time, the Deathknight set out to Gem, for his people had lingered under the wrath of slavery for too long...
What the Rider was up to during the time period of the Time of Tumult game...
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