Esra Oakheart

''This is a contribution by Matthew Bacon. For further information on contributions please read The Guide to Contributing.''

Esra Oakheart, is the son of unknown tribal parents, (born the year 2688 SS), was raised in the Wilds north of Direguard in Cannalt by Throfer Oakheart. At the age of 16, he became a soldier in the Cannalt army until he was framed, discharged and had his family murdered by what he suspects was a royal plot. Now Esra has joined Two and Two Half Men, In the hopes of one day avenging his fallen family, and reconnecting with the Oakheart clan. A clan of Dwarves that have all but been destroyed.

Personality
Esra is not a typical Human, his blood belongs to a line much more archaic and tribal then his refined continental cousins. Therefore he has always struggled to connect to those around him, this was also not helped by his isolated upbringing where the only company he had was his adopted Dwarven father Throfer Oakheart, the wild animals and occasional human which strayed out too far north.

To friends, Esra is a staunch and loyal defender, never afraid to jump into harms way. His background as a soldier has made him a practical and resourceful fighter who is more then capable of exacting severe damage to his enemies. Esra is not a firm believer of right or wrong, and is capable of seeing the world as grey, this was developed from the stories he was told of how Throfer Oakheart came to bear the responsibility of Esra, and also the betrayal of the seemingly benevolent city state of Cannalt.

Esra is a strong believer in Dwarven values and often feels sympathy for the Dwarven lot in life, He spent ample time drinking with Durian Greyaxe, and following his death at the hand of Erich Reimund took his pendant as a solemn debt to get revenge and repay the grudge that was made.

The Desolation of Oakheart Hold
Esra Oakheart was born into The Frozen Expanse, an area north of Uzul Danar and on the outskirts of the continent of Erde. Esra remembers little of the first year of his life but sometimes in his dreams remembers the cold chill of the tundra.

The tribe of his birth, like other Northern tribes were forced south to hunt in and around the mountains because of the good hunting conditions and well provided shelter, On the particular excursion after the year of Esra's birth the tribe moved further south then they ever had before, perhaps because of the presence of a master sorcerer who commanded great levels of raw magic. Because of the tribes proximity to the south, they found themselves at odds and competing with the nearby Oakheart Hold, the ancestral home of the Oakheart clan. After considerable skirmishing the tribe decided they needed to put an end to the Dwarves for the sake of survival and tasked their master sorcerer to implode the great Hold in one mighty spell.

During the skirmishes between the two sides, The Dwarf Throfer Oakheart was a trapper who helped supply Oakheart Hold. He was highly aware of the animosity between the Dwarves and the tribe, on one day trapping, he witnessed the the great destruction of the Oakheart Hold by a might spell. Upon returning to the ruins of the hold he found few survivors. For those who had survived, they decided in the furor of revenge to initiate a counter attack on the tribe. Throfer himself did not agree with the decision but knew he had a duty to his fellow clans men.

Upon arriving at the tribes camp the Dwarves who were few but still enough, laid waste to the tribes camp, they butchered the men, women and children indiscriminately with only revenge in their eyes. At this time Esra was in a tent with his mother, his father had gone off to defend the village and was killed in the massacre. As Esra's mother was cowering in the corner with her son wrapped in her arms, Throfer and two clansmen entered her tent. In a fit of panic and rage, his mother tried to attack the Dwarves with no weapons,but one of the three clansmen, Barfin Oakheart, threw her to the ground and butcherd her on the spot. It was at this point that Throfer really came to terms with the barbarism that was taking place, he noticed a small child (Esra) left on a pile of hand made rugs and blankets and just before Barfin and Keef Oakheart could kill the child, Throfer stabbed them in the back and ended them.

As Throfer looked around at the bloodbath that had happened around him, he heard the soft wail of a crying child and the more muffled crying of Esra's mother who had somehow survived the onslaught and had dragged her dying body towards her son. Throfer feeling incredible pity for the women made eye contact with her and noticed a great pain and sorrow, her sorrow was however not for herself but seemed to be the eyes of a mother who wanted her son to survive. Throfer picked up the blankets containing Esra, and at that moment, with the eyes of his mother watching made an oath to look after the boy in penance for the conflict that had ended up destroying both the tribe and the Oakhearts.

As Throfer Oakheart was leaving the tent the rest of the camp was quiet and still save for a few Dwarves surveying the area, Throfer knew he could not go back now, he had killed his own clansmen, so he ran of into the woods going south away from Uzul Danar and into the Northern edges of Cannalt to raise and atone for the misery that occurred that day.

Youth
As a young child Esra spent most of his time living of what the woods north of Direguard could provide. Once Esra had learnt the basic skills he would go off on his own adventures, be it venturing down to Direguard itself, or to meet or fight, strange creatures that exist in the darker part of the woods. At age 10 Esra saw the first signs of the effects of war even on his remote life. Direguard, having one of the largest supplies of timber in Cannalt underwent a serious deforestation program headed by the Governor of Direguard, because of badly needed supplies for the Cannaltian war of independence.

Early Career
guard for the military -

arena fighting-

Falling in love-

Betrayal
Betrayal event-

Murder of Wife and Child-

Discharging from the military-

Goes off to adventure to find those who killed his family and reconnect with Throfer. he believes the group of adventurer's he found will help him

Meeting on the road to Vol Thorim - Friday 23rd March 2717SS
As Esra travelled west along the Merchant road to Vol Thorim, Esra bore witness to the events caused by Jillienne Twink, Soverion Sin and Father Amorth at Ravensden Castle. However did not know of what transpired until he met the party for the first time further down the road during a fight with a mountain troll. After dispatching the Troll, Esra decided to travel alongside the party, because he could tell they clearly were skilled and perhaps capable of helping him find out what happened to his family.

When the party arrived at Vol Thorim they made their way to see Serget Ironset, the King. The party explained that a horde of zombies from Ravensden Castle were heading this way. Following this conversation the party explored the city.

Esra travelled to the bank to see if any of the Oakheart's possessions had been lifted from the bank. It was common place for Dwarves to spread their wealth between the other holds in the event of disaster. The clerk told Esra after he showed them his Oakheart pendant that the majority of wealth had been sent up to Highmountain. Having this knowledge at hand it confirmed to Esra that what the clerk was suggesting was far a greater task then Esra would be able to handle at this moment in time. Resigned to carry on with this task in the future, he decided to meet back up with the group.

For a short story of what happened to Esra while the party were at Ravenden Castle, see - The Lonely Road

The Colosseum at Hamalin and the Midday Massacre
As the party headed east to Hamalin to meet up with Tibbot Yan, a supposed ally of Erin Sy'Qar. They came across an advert for the yearly arena competition that occurs in the Colosseum of Hamalin. The party signed up for the group competition and continued to head to the mage quarter of the Baron of Hamalin's keep. Upon arriving at the keep the party bore witness to The Order of the Black Rose taking part in a grand display of military might which was being overseen by the elites of Hamalin including Erich Reimund and, Soren Reimund, the General of The Order of the Black Rose. After that the party carried on their way to the nearby tower, and met Lady Gennan, a squire who one day hoped to become a knight.

After the party ascended the tower, they met with Tibbit and Erin who told the group of the current political state of Hamalin. They said that The Baron, Erich Reimund was planning to declare his rule over Nesfenu and mobilise forces south west to Boheime which would ignite, according to the pair, a near continental war. The party agreed it was necessary to stop this from happening because they knew that it would make solving the mystery of the void rifts a lot harder if the world was at each others throats. The party decide to try and blow up the keep of Hamalin during the Champions meal the day after the final of the Colosseum, and therefore Esra had even more reason to win the competition.