Myrf Kyl

Myrf Kyl is a human rogue/fighter who works as a special operator for The Shield. He is a gifted archer, able to strike an opponent under cover at 600 feet. His nickname is “the protector” because of a tenacious drive to defend his brothers in arms. Because of his family background, he fundamentally aspires to goodness and the protection of the innocent but his difficult past has left him at times skeptical and suspicious of people and their motives. He makes up for these doubts with an unerring drive to doing his duty as a soldier at all costs - trusting that by doing his job, he can accomplish good in the world despite his own, personal misgivings. Thus he is the consummate professional and expects the same of those he works with. He doesn’t like emotion or interpersonal complications and bonds best with strong, silent types. He gets along particularly well with Dwarves, having fought alongside them in a number of campaigns. The shield dwarf Morgran of Clan Hammerhand of Earthfast has long been an ally of the Kyl family. One exception to Myrf’s even temperament is that, particularly under the influence of ale, he has been known to bring out his small Chondathan lute, merrily to regale his comrades with Cormyrean ballads. He is keen gamer - some might say a card shark. It is perhaps through gaming that a repressed anger toward humanity in general expresses itself the most - he is ruthless in a game of cards (though never a cheater)! Neglect and abuse as a child has left him somewhat stunted in stature, but what he lacks in size and athleticism he makes up for through sheer force of will, nimbleness, keen intellect and intuition, occasional guile and the force of his arrows!

Family History
The Kyl family has been an important part of the community around Blustich village in Cormyr for over 1,000 years. The Kyl family farm stands some distance north of the village on the eastern edge of Hermit’s Wood. The origin of the Kyl family name (probably originally “Karl”) is unknown and is considered anachronistic not just to Cormyr but to Faerun in general. It is likely that the origin of the family name is linked to the well-known (in the region) legend that many generations ago a great warrior demigod (probably Gudvard Gunnar, champion of Vidar the Vagrant, Patron Saint of Protectors of the Innocent) appeared to “The Ancient Kyl”, blessing his lineage with great martial prowess and declaring them protectors of the weak and innocent. The family holds that their surname signifies “Man” or more specifically “Warrior”.

It is said that, shortly after this visitation, a pack of wolves numberless in nature began to stream forth from the wood, ravaging the countryside and village. None seemed able to conquer the wolves or drive them back into the wood. The story goes that this Ancient Kyl (or “Ancient Karl”) ventured alone into the dark forest with his longsword, faced the grizzly-sized, ruddy wolf-lord and defeated him in single combat. Afterward he hunted and slew every other wolf until not a single remained. Until this day, no wolf has ever again been seen in Hermit’s Wood.

The Kyl family blessing was passed down from generation to generation, always strongest from heir to heir. Many Kyls fought and many died in wars throughout the history of Faerun, but always the Kyl heirs would return to their beloved family farm seeking the peaceful life.

In 1343 DR, Lute Kyl was born, heir to the Kyl legacy. (He is Mryf Kyl’s third great-grandfather.) As Kyl men are wont, he sought to fulfill his martial calling by joining the Militia of the North raised by Myrmeen Lhal during the Goblin War of 1370-1371. Here Lute fought alongside Hammerhand mercenaries and became fast friends with the young dwarven warrior Morgram Hammerhand. Lute brought great honor to the family and was recognized by Azoun IV with a medal for heroism.

The following decades were cruel to the Kyl family. Bit by bit the Kyl men died by war or by plague until 1465 when Myrf Kyl was born to Grim Kyl, the sole remaining Kyl heir.

Biography
In 1465 Myrf Kyl was born. The only son of Grim Kyl, the last remaining heir to the Kyl legacy, and his beloved Esvele. His father taught him in the ways of the warrior and imbued in him a sense of duty, particularly the duty of a warrior to protect the innocent from the “wolves” of the world - those that would prey upon the weak.

In 1474 Grim Kyl joined a company of mercenaries hired by the villagers of Blustitch to sail to Alphar Isle in the Sea of Fallen Stars to destroy the pirate horde (led by the upstart Immurk II) which had been devastating the Cormyrean coastal countryside. None returned from that expedition.

One dire night in 1475, Immurk II and his band fell upon the Kyl farm. They viciously slaughtered Esvele the Fair, burned every building and crop, slayed every beast, salted the earth and stole away the boy Myrf.

For the next seven years Myrf was a slave to the horde. He cooked for them, served them, played lute for them, and even learned some of the ways of the rogue as he was forced to scout, spy and steal for them. They mistreated him badly. Lack of nutrition and physical abuse stunted Myrf’s development and his relatively slight stature today is surely a shadow of what it otherwise would have been.

In 1482 the course of Myrf’s life was forever changed by a singular event: One night while a slumber aboard the pirate horde vessel Black Claw, Vidar the Vagrant (The Planeless God, Strange God of Vengeance), appeared to Myrf and granted him unsurpassed prowess with the bow. As a token of this bestowal, Vidar offered a small leather piece. (Myrf has since fashioned this piece into a finger guard and it remains his most prized possession.) Arising well before dawn, Myrf stole a bow from the armory and commenced a systematic work of death upon the crew. When all were dead, he pointed the craft north, away from Cormyr, beaching it near Tsurlagol near Impiltur.

(Myrf never talks about his epiphanic experience with Vidar. He is very sensitive not to be labeled as one of The Chosen. He does not believe that he is one and he doesn’t want the attention or drama that would come from it if others thought he were.)

The years 1482-1484 for Myrf were consumed by an insatiable desire for vengeance. He briefly joined the thieves’ guild in Tsurlagol but found apprenticeship boring and purposeless. He had a burning need to quench his bloodthirst and undertook to hunting down each officer in Immurk’s horde to kill him. The work took him throughout Cormyr and Impiltur and culminated with the apparent assassination of Immurk II on a crowded street in the city center of Tsurlagol (sniped from an upper window of a nearby tavern). Due to corruption within the city watch, the body of Immurk was never recoverd, however, and Myrf has tried to ignore persistent rumors that his foe is alive somewhere in the Pirate Isles.

His drive for vengeance having been fulfilled, Myrf now turned his attention to fulfilling his destiny as a Kyl. The “Many-Arrows War” was raging in the dwarfholds in the north and Myrf volunteered his services to the Hammerhand mercenaries fighting to protect their homelands in Earthfast. He would have been rejected due to his slighter build and lack of experience had it not been for his family name. Morgram Hammerhand, now a respected officer in the militia, recognized the progeny of Lute the Protector and vouched for him. Myrf’s prowess as an archer was quickly recognized as a great boon by the Hammerhands, though his skillset and temperament never quite fit that of a standard infantryman. Myrf fought in the war until 1485 when the dwarves became besieged by the foul orcish forces. Morgram, now his fast friend, urged Myrf to use his unconventional skills to cross enemy lines and seek aid from the Crown in Cormyr, which he did. Unfortunately no help was to come from Cormyr as she was involved in wars on two fronts herself!

Unable to return to the aid of his Hammerhand brothers, Myrf joined the Cormyrean army and spent two years serving the Crown of Cormyr. He didn’t fit well into the role of conventional soldier and, instead, became a foundational piece of an experiment in irregular forces. An unknown, but influential advisor to the Cormyrean Crown advocated the need for such forces in the face of the inevitable unconventional threats to come in the age of the Second Sundering. Myrf took well to this new approach to war and received a commission as a lieutenant in a scout-recon unit charged with harassment, assassination and sabotage. His group was credited with much destruction of Netherese and Sembian assets during the war.

Unfortunately General Shemov, supreme commander of Cormyrean forces, had a strong distaste for this unconventional, cowardly way of war and Myrf was its very visible face - renowned family name, friend of the Hammerhands, wartime hero in his own right. In 1487, after completion of the wars, Shemov framed Myrf’s unit, fabricating evidence that, besides their heroic accomplishments, they also regularly ravaged and pillaged local Cormyrean villages. Shemov pointed to Myrf’s admitted (though involuntary) association with Immurk’s horde as proof that “once a pirate and a scoundrel, always a pirate and a scoundrel!”

Shemov’s treachery worked. All irregular units in the Cormyrean army were immediately disbanded and Myrf was dishonorably discharged and banished from Cormyr. Because of his association with the Hammerhands, they were forced to disavow him and he is officially not welcome in Earthfast anymore, though his close ally Morgrand is still his dear friend.

Disavowed and homeless, Myrf made his way west and settled in Baldur’s Gate early in 1488. Along the way he met the young tabaxi Ma’ahni Distant Rain and they became friends. She introduced him to the thieve’s guild in Baldur’s Gate but he again found the work boring, the organization lacking discipline and the ideals far from those his father taught him.

It was in 1489 that the same mysterious advisor to the the Crown of Cormyr contacted Milka of Fury Chapterhouse, The Shield recommending Myrf as an agent. Milka was putting together a team of scouts to support the Flaming Fists in their effort to rout out stubborn bands of encaved lycanthropes left over from General Ikhal’s treachery in the middle of the century. Myrf and Ma’ahni were happy for the more exciting, better paying work and fulfilled this assignment honorably. Korbo Naburu the kenku was a valued ally in several missions during the lycanthrope campaign. Together they made several journeys into the Wood of Sharp Teeth.

Having spent his entire time in The Shield so far working with the Flaming Fists in the lycanthrope campaign, Myrf the Protector is now looking forward to undertaking new and exciting jobs!

Personality Traits
He is always calm, no matter the situation. He never raises his voice or lets his emotions control him.

Ideal
Professionalism - He does his job. He takes it seriously and expects others to do the same.

Bond
His family was always protectors. He aspires to that by being the best soldier he can.

Flaws
He admires good in the abstract but is skeptical and suspicious of people's true nature and motives.

He doesn't like interpersonal complications.