Kerlak - practitioner of earth magic, from the deep woods

In the village Kerlak calls home, he does not stand out particularly. Average height and weight. However, in the city he very much stands out. At least a head taller than those around him and muscular enough that he would be hard pressed to find clothing in the local shops. If he were interested in that sort of thing, of course. Fortunately for him, he knows how to make what he needs from nature and has no need of the wealth it would take to "enjoy" the local shops. Assuming "enjoy" were the correct term, he thought.

His long dark hair tied in a leather thong drew some disapproving looks. Until the lookers saw what was tied in the thong. Living serpents as hair ornaments tended to put a lot of people on the defensive. And helped Kerlak to avoid unnecessary disputes with the locals.

The serpent wasn't just ornamental. Kerlak could see out of the serpent's eyes and so could observe if someone tried to attack him from behind. This was just one of the many skills one learned from studying earth magic.

All members of his village were required to learn the magic of the earth before they were ever allowed outside of their village. The deep woods is a dangerous place, and a young one can easily disappear, to become food, or a ****, or worse.

In this regard, Kerlak did stand out in his native village. Kerlak was one of the best at reading the forces of nature that guide and sustain a practitioner of earth magic, making him one of the most feared warriors in the woods.

Given other choices, Kerlak would have refused leaving the woods with all the passion his heart could muster. But something had been happening to the women from his village.

Several grown women, and not a few younger women, had gone missing recently. These were mostly women who were very good in earth magic. For some **** to be able to carry them off with such sparse evidence left behind indicated something very powerful indeed. Or several somethings or somebodies.

He had traveled across many lands, to many islands. He had seen many strange sights. But still he traveled.

He had heard of several people who might be responsible for the abductions of his kinswomen.

He was sure they weren't all evil and had nothing to do with his quest. But there was the chance that one of them was.

For example, he had heard about a thief, part time adventurer. He hoped to cross paths with this person and find out if he knew anything about his kinswomen.

He had heard about a traveling merchant who specialized in rare goods. Kerlak wondered if his rarest goods might include women.

He had heard about a powerful mage. Some said this mage created creatures to capture women for his pleasures. Some said he enslaved women and turned them into these creatures and made them capture other women. Some said he actually used the women he enslaved to keep himself young. Only a meeting with this person could shed more light.

But the most disturbing tale Kerlak had heard was about powerful rulers of the various kingdoms and island cities who enslaved the women in their lands for their own purposes.

Kerlak had come to this latest city searching for …
A thief ...
A merchant ...
A mage ...
Someone important ...
Someone else ...