I see that bow you carry. Any peasant may learn how to shoot, but only one man in a hundred can become an Archer, and join our ancient brotherhood.
- Tell me about Archers.
"Mine is the sky,
The Land, the Sea.
Mine are the Moons,
The Stars and the Trees.
On the wind shall I fly.
Bury mine quarrel deep.
For I have no home,
And ne'er shall I sleep."
That's a song the Horwathi nomads sing, but it's far older than they are. Long before the rise of the Ten Kingdoms, there lived a tribe of Men who claimed no land as their own. Exiled from Ardan, home of the First Men, they wandered over the face of the World, following the winds. They were called the Anomani (which means "Wanderers" in the Old Tongue of Ardan), and were universally mistrusted as a nation of half-breed Aelfborn, misfits, tricksters, and horse thieves who had no place in civilized society. Long did they wander, coming into conflict with Elves, Centaurs, and the First Men alike. The Anomani worshipped their own pantheon of Pagan, gods and fostered their own unique brand of myth and magic. Save the echoes of a few songs and fables, nothing is known of them today. Hunted and persecuted wherever they went, by the time Ardan fell the Anomani were all but extinct. Their practices have all been lost ... all save one.
The Art is called Il Gwailin ab Eyn, the Calling of the Winds." While most of the peoples of the world have learned to use bows, it remains an undisputed fact the Windcallers of the lost Anomani were the greatest Archers the World has ever known, capable of astonishing feats of marksmanship. The Windcaller's Art was born even before they were exiled from Ardan, when the Shining King of that realm held a great archery contest to find who was worthiest to marry his daughter. A dim-witted boy of the Anomani came to the contest, and despite the jeers of the other Warriors, his arrows flew further, faster, and truer than any other. When asked how he had won, the boy replied "the wind just told me to shoot." The Shining Lord was outraged. He declared that the Anomani had used sorcery to win, and exiled them from Ardan, the High Kingdom. The boy kept practicing his bow, however, and the winds kept talking. In their wanderings, the Archers of the Anomani learned that there are spirits of the air, unseen by mortal eyes, whose voices whisper in the wind. An Archer must listen to them, learn their secrets, and win their favor. Their hands will guide your arrow's flight, and their strength will hurl it home.
The Elves wrung the secret of Windcalling from the Anomani through torture, and quickly took the Art as their own. After Ardan's fall the Archer's Art was lost to the Sons of Men until the Age of Kings. Gerriant the White, oldest and most loyal of Cambruin's Champions, revived the art when he joined the High King's court. Gerriant's great oaken bow. "Dirgeharp," was crafted for him by an Aelfborn Archer of unknown name, who taught the old Champion the secrets of his Il Gwailin ab Eyn. Gerriant had spent his life mastering the ancient discipline of Windcalling, and taught the practice to many of the High King's warriors before his tragic death on the Day of Woe.
Every Archer must craft his own bow, tuning its string so that it will ring like a harp and call the Wind Spirits. An Archer needs a keen eye, along with strength of arm and will. An Archer also needs to learn to calm his heart, to listen for the wind's faint voices. If you have the mettle to harness the wind, you'll learn how to hit a target at a thousand paces, how to loose a dozen shots in a minute, or how how to make each arrow fly not only true but fast, striking with the force of lightning.
- How do I become Archer?
Hrytha was the greatest Archer in these lands. It were she who first taught me to hear and tame the winds. Alas, a Dark Fate claimed her. While Hrytha hunted, she fell prey to Herath, the Wild Hunter, a fell fey spirit who enchanted her and sent her away on shadowy paths, never to return. Herath was last seen in the Wildlands where the Aelfborn dwell, but has also haunted the frontier lands of the Hillmen.
We Archers have other enemies ... There are two other fiends who've cost me dear. Lord Althannor one is named, who dwells in lands where the undead reign. Another is a Minotaur named Galkan, who broke my bow when I fought him in the lands where Elves dwell. Find and slay ye any of these three, and in return for the favor I'll teach you all that Hyrtha taught me.
- Train discipline: Archer
- Done
弓を携えているようだな。どんな農民でも弓射を学べる。しかし、百人のなかで一人だけがアーチャーになって、わたしたちが属する往古の兄弟団に参加できる。
アーチャーについて話してください。
どうすればアーチャーになれますか。
リターは、この土地で最高のアーチャーだった。風を聞いて手なづける方法を、わたしへ最初に教えてくれた人物は、リターだった。残念ながら、闇悲運はリターを要求した。
狩猟をしていたリターは、異様な霊体である夜行狩人ことヘーラートの、犠牲になった。ヘーラートがリターへ付呪をおこなったことで、かの女は暗い諸道へ送られ、二度と戻ってこなかった。ヘーラートは、アルフボーンたちが住み着いた原生林で、最後に目撃されたが、高地人がいる辺境にも出没した。
わたしたちアーチャーには他の敵もいる。わたしを酷い目に遭わせた怪物がいるのだ。ガルカンという名前のミノタウロスは、エルフが住み着いた土地で戦ったときに、わたしの弓を壊した。二人のうちのどちらかを見つけて、殺害してくれれば、見返りとして、リターから習ったことの全部をおまえに教えよう。
分野の訓練を行う：アーチャー
終了
用語一覧
あ：アーチャー（Archer）、アルフボーン（Aelfborn）
え：エルフ（Elf）
か：ガルカン（Galkan）
け：原生林（Wildland）
こ：高地人（Hillman）
へ：ヘーラート（Herath）
み：ミノタウロス（Minotaur）
や：夜行狩人（Wild Hunter）、闇悲運（Dark Fate）
り：リター（Hrytha）
