Lords of RPG

Pallo Meer drew looks wherever he traveled.  First of all, he was tall and gangley, with a shock of bright red hair, that seemed to have a mind of its own, on the top of his head.  He had a fresh face, and was youthful enough that he could get away with shaving every couple of weeks.  Pallo wasn't sure of his exact age, but he was old enough to drink (though he didn't), old enough to marry (though he hadn't), and he had been on his own since he was a wee lad from Ghent.

Pallo dressed in the rough clothes of a farmer or laborer, and though they were clean, they were thread-bare and stained from travel.  The young man was known to whistle when he walked.  He was a notorious thief of fruit growing on trees near the roads he traveled.  And he seemed to nearly always be smiling.  But, nothing we've talked about so far explains the attention Pallo Meer drew where ever he went.

The real attention-grabber was the wooden staff that Pallo carried.  It was about 7 feet long, 3 inches in diameter, and had rough bark on the outside of it, as though it was a recently cut tree.  Here and there, limbs grew out the side of the staff, and they featured living leaves from various breeds of threes and multiple kids of flowers.  The staff was alive, and growing, despite not having roots in the ground.

And then there was the effect Pallo and his staff had where ever he traveled.  Things tended to grow...and grow fast on the ground that Pallo walked.  Dirt trails would be covered in grass minutes after he had passed.  Established roads would be home to scores of saplings and volunteer trees after his passing.  If he stayed in a dwelling for two long, long forgotten seeds in the ground would sprout, and lift the foundation, and crack the walls of the building.

The road from Ghent to the battlefields of the Last Great War were long, and with Pallo's passing, they were overgrown with plants of all kinds.  Pallo stayed away from inns and taverns on his journey, instead sleeping under the starts in a fields along the road.

You young lad was odd enough that he gathered no companions, and few felt safe to speak with him...for fear they might sprout some plant growth on their own person...or some equally nasty curse.

Pallo was used to being along, and didn't seem to mind.  He actually found it odd when a little boy ran after him, just outside the town of Merquaith.  The boy yelled as he ran, "Are you a wizard?!?"

Pallo laughed.  "No, I'm afraid not."

"Are you off to the war?  My dad and older brothers are there!"

Pallo slowed, and then stopped, turning toward the boy.  He could not be more than 8 years old.  "I am off to war.  I hope your father and brothers return healthy...and perhaps a bit richer for their efforts."

The 8-year-old caught up, and stopped in front of Pollo.  It was impossible not to notice the little vines sprouting from the ground around the feet, and three saplings rising from the ground nearby.  "I thought you said you weren't a wizard?"

Pallo straightened his arm holding his wooden staff, and leaned on it more heavily.  "I'm not...its the staff.  A gift from God."

The boy scoffed.  "Right!  Sure it is!  Which god...and why'd he give you a gift?"

Pallo Meer considered that question for a moment.  "I have no idea what I was given the gift...but Crago the Founder gave it to me.  A tree grew from my father's grave...and I had a dream that Crago wanted me to take the tree.  To chop it down, and travel the land, restoring the natural world wherever I went."

The boy looked the staff up and down.  "So, why take the staff to the war?"

Pallo tapped it on the ground three times, and the saplings growing around them shot up another three feet all of a sudden.  "I've restored deserts back into grassy plains.  Brought forests back from human clear-cutting.  I've restored areas burned down by volcanic eruptions.  And now...I aim to heal the wound this war will put on our world.  I suspect I was given Verdant for this very purpose.  That everything I've done was a prelude to me being at the site of this war."

The boy nodded, as he looked in wonder at the wild plant growth around them.  "I could come with you...and see my dad...and my brothers."

Pallo smiled, but a bit of his loneliness showed through this particular smile.  "No...no.  You return to your mother.  She'll be needing your help in the coming days.  You're the man of the house...you can't shirk your duty."

The young boy shuffled his feet, looking at the ground.  Then he looked up, smiled wildly, and ran for home.  "Good luck, Mr. Pallo!!!"

Pallo Meer looked around at the primordial forest that had grown around him during his visit with the young boy.  The road ahead of him and behind him were gone...but he remembered the direction he was going, and he'd pick up the road again shortly.

Pallo smiled, and started on his way again.  "Bless the Founder."