Ret

''Battle may be coming to the Hulun tribe. The warriors among us may rejoice thanking the gods for an opportunity to gain glory and honour but the old and the young will be fearful. They will think of losing daughters, sons, mothers, and fathers. We must start the festival early with a bang to distract their languished minds.''

Ret is a warrior and weapons-crafter of the Hulun tribe. Once a slave of the Raven, he is eager to exact his revenge upon his former captors. Ret is an emerging personality amongst the tribes.

Description
Ret is 5’7” tall and has a muscular build with a generous layer of fat evenly distributed around his body. His skin is tanned deep beige, and is rough from labour. There are two large, bright red tattoos of ravens burnt onto the back of his hands branding him as a former slave of the Raven tribe. His eyes are the light green of grass, and his hair is chestnut brown. His beard is long and unkempt, but his hair is short and uniform. His nose is crooked and jagged from having his nose broken. This resulted in him needing to breathe through his mouth, and his mouth being continuously open. Ret often smells of wood, fire, and guts from being a weapons-crafter.

Ret could be defined by his work ethic. While never being the most athletic or intelligent member of his tribe, Ret always was able to harness his dedication into achieving success. Self-conscience about his shortcomings Ret focussed his efforts into becoming one of the tribe’s best weapon-forgers.

Ret’s weapon forging, and friendly nature made him well known in the community. Neighbours and friends know that Ret is always willing to lend a helping hand whether it’s collecting some fire wood for them or feeding their livestock. Most of Ret’s time is spent serving the community, but when left alone he often hunts small game, and gathers berries to prepare new meals. He was beginning to think of starting a family before being captured, and once heard that the way to a woman’s heart is through her belly.

Ret is twenty years old.

Background
After Ret’s ransom was paid by diplomat of the Hulun tribe, he was taken to the edge of the tribe of the Raven’s territory, given a horse provided by the diplomat and released. He had been held as a prisoner of war for 4 grueling weeks. Knowing it would take a while to get back into the safety of his people’s region, Ret quickly fashioned a short spear and used it to kill a rabbit. He skinned the rabbit, separated the meat from the bone, and placed it underneath his saddle letting the galloping of the horse tenderize the meat as he rode home. He knew he would spend the long ride thinking of the events that led to him becoming a slave of the Raven tribe.

It was Grism, a veteran warrior of the Hulun tribe, who light-heartedly scoffed at him when setting up a target for one of his neighbour’s daughters to practice using her sling on. She’s only 12, but I bet I’ll see her on the battlefield before you. It embarrassed Ret, he had spent the last 6 years of his life making weapons for the tribe to use in battle, but not once had he ever joined in one himself. He became determined to join the next group assigned to protect one of the weaker tribes.

The flash of the battle ran through his head. He was quickly captured from on top of his horse by a net. He was placed on the back of one of the horses of the attacking tribe, and taken back to their region. Ret soon discovered that he was taken captive by the Raven tribe. Before being taken to a wooden hatched prison cell that would serve as his home for the next 4 weeks, he was branded by bright red Raven tattoos burned into the back of his hands, and his long hair being chopped off his head. Ret knew that the Raven tribe used the tattoos to label their prisoners as slaves, and that cutting of the prisoners hair indicated that they were defeated in combat.

As Ret started getting closer to his own region he became aware of how uneasy he now was with Ezra’s excursions into the woods but knew he could never express it out of respect for K’harg. Ret spent the rest of his journey fantasizing that the weapons he would craft one day being used to humiliate and defeat the Raven tribe.

Ret’s family are undistinguished within the Hulun tribe.

Role in the Story so Far
At the Feast of Xa Ret, joined Grolik in some mock combat, attracting the attention of K'harg's son, Baras. Ret offered his services and was expecting a call up (though he did warn of the perils of war), but none came and like so many was left to defend the camp. It was Ret's suggestion to set snares around the camp to trap any potential invaders, a suggestion taken up by Grolik. He took up a position alongside Lugana and Bolen at the south-western gate, trapping the panther of the druid Lomnu. Ret was first to attack the beast, seriously injuring though not killing it. As it broke free to attack him, the beast was slain by the spears of Eyg and Bolen.

Ret kept his own counsel during the 'trial' of Marek but was assigned to track him down alongside Eyg and Amond the following day. Eyg personally selected him after witnessing his strength agains the panther.

Amond, Eyg and Ret followed Marek's tracks as far as an old cairn...

Beyond the Fourth Wall...
Ret was an original character and PC in the Warriors of the Plains created and played by philipjm. During the first chapter, Ret was NPCed pending Phil's return. The description and background in this article are lifted from the original character application. The italicised text in this article is taken directly from Ret's in-character posts in the game thread.