Written by: Steve Turney

On Clayday of Movement Week during Storm Season moments before midnight in the middle of a raging thunderstorm Delica Sunwheel was born to Jenna, a follower of Dendara, and her husband Courier Sunwheel, a worshipper of Lokarnos. In a family of eight children already, she was the long-awaited first daughter that he mother had hoped for. She was also, Courier hoped, the last child he would have to provide for. Several minutes later, Durnel was born.

Delica was often the center of family attention as she grew up. Durnel, on the other hand, had a tougher time of it. First, he had to compete with hsi sister, the family's "little darling". Then there were his eight brothers who had already done everything about as well as it could be done. Occasionally, he would do something worthy of his family's praise, but more often than not he would find himself doing and saying outragous things to try and upstage his sister.

As Durnel grew older his bothers chose the paths their lives would follow. His oldest brother joined Yelm and achieved status and success. His next two oldest brothers followed the path of their father and joined Lokarnos. One brother followed Polaris and another followed Yelmalio where he died serving with a mercenary company. Of the three brothers closest in age to Durnel, the oldest joined Yelm and the other two chose to follow the adventurous path of Yelmalio.

By the summer of his fifteenth year, Durnel was beginning to show the broad shoulders and tall frame of his manhood. Meanwhile, Delica was becoming a beautiful young woman who attracted many boys her age. Even though Durnel was often jealous of his sister, she was slo the person he was closest to and he beat up more than one potential suitor of whom he didn't approve.

One night that summer the twins' mother sent them on an errand to one of her friend's house. As usual, it was just an opportunity for Delica to meet a possible husband. When Delica and Durnel were invited to stay for dinner, Delica accepted for both of them and it was quite late before they left and started for home.

On their way home that night the twins were attacked by a group of drunken mercenaries. Durnel fought them off as well as he could but before anything too serious happened, several Yelornans stepped in to save Delica. Fortunately, an Orlanthi who also happened to be passing by helped Durnel. The Yelornans insisted on escorting Delica home and allowed Durnel to accompany them; the Orlanthi benefactor, knowing where he was not wanted, left as quickly as he had come.

The young man that Delica met that night was Brandon Goldenspear, an initiate of Yelm, and she began to see quite a bit of him. as usual, Durnel took an immediate dislike of him. Unfortunately for Durnel, Brandon was bigger and stronger and so, for once, it was Durnel who came out one night beaten and bloodied, not Delica's new boyfriend.

Undaunted, Durnel continued to look for ways to break up the growing relationship between his sister and her new boyfried. His opportunity came when he overheard the two arguing over Delica's desire to learn how to wield a weapon. Durnel immediately sided with his sister and even offered to practice weaponry with her. Unfortunately, Durnel's plan didn't work and the two lovers remained together.

Finally, the twins' 16th birthday arrived. That day they went to the market with their mother to help choose what they would eat at the family banquet in their honour that night. After they had decided what to eat, Durnel wandered off to see what was new and exciting in the marketplace. As he wandered the market, Durnel was approached by a man displaying many Air Runes and who spoke in a thick Sartarite accent.

The stranger told Durnel that his name of Shenko and Orlanth had told him that he would find new followers in Chamoro. Then Shenko asked Durnel if he knew where there might be someone interested. Durnel laughed and told him he would soon be going to the Sun Dome Temple to join Yelmalio, as were all of his friends. Shenko then told Durnel where he could be found if the young man changed his mind and left. By the time Durnel returned home he had forgotten about the encounter.

That night, many of the twins' brothers and sisters joined them and their parents in a feast to celebrate their 16th birthday. Also, many of their friends and relatives were present as well as Delica's boyfriend, Brandon. After the dinner was finished, the twins' father stood and asked the two what gods they had decided to follow now that they were entering adulthood.

Delica, being the older of the two, rose first. To everyone in the room it was obvious what her choice would be. Her affection for the young Yelmist was well known and her mother's influence had been strong on her. Certainly she would follow Dendara. As she stoof there the room fell silent. Delica said that the day she met Brandon was also the day she chose which god she would follow. Out of respect for the women warriors that rescued her, she would follow their goddess, Yelorna.

As Durnel stood to make his announcement, he could see that no one was paying attention to him. Everyone was whispering to each other, talking about Delica's "scandalous" choice. Once again, she had "stolen the show". Durnel's mind raced...there had to be something he could do to grab the spotlight. Then Durnel remembered the Orlanthi priest. "I am going to follow Orlanth" was all Durnel needed to say to bring silence to the room and fix everyone's attention on him.

When Durnel made his announcement he hadn't really been serious. However, when everyone left the banquet his brothers started to berate him and tell him which cult he should join. The worst were his two Yelmist brothers. By the time everyone had finished talking to him, Durnel was determined to back up his words with action. Finally, Durnel's two Yelmist brothers threw him out of the house.

Early the next morning Durnel snuck back into the house to get his things and say goodbye to his sister. When the sun rose that day, Durnel found himself with the Orlanthi priest and by the time the sun set he was a lay member of Orlanth.

When Durnel arrived in Pavis he began to look for work, and with the help of Shenko he found a job with a local mercenary company. Durnel also began to attend regular services the the Orlanth Temple. After being brought up around the Sun Dome Temple, Durnel did not feel comfortable with the Orlanthi. Still, when a year had passed Shenko initiated Durnel into the Cult of Orlanth.

While at the temple in Pavis, Durnel's closest friend was Shenko. Shenko often brought Durnel on some of his shorter adventures, usually into the Rubble of Pavis. When Shenko was granted Runelord status, he made sure Durnel had a part in the cermony. If not for Shenko, Durnel may not have lasted long as an Orlanthi.

Durnel also received some attention from the High priest. After Durnel's interview for initiation, where he talked about his family background, the High Priest would, from time to time, invite Durnel to talk with him. At these talks, Durnel would often discuss the merits of life at the Sun Dome Temple. The High priest even went so far as to recommend that Durnel might want to consider some continued participation in the Sun Dome Temple rites. Usually, Durnel decided against this after discussing the matter with Shenko. Then, at the end of each of these talks, the priest would ask Durnel a riddle and tell him to ponder it well.

Just before the Cradle Battle, although Durnel did not know this at the time, the High Priest sent Durnel and some other initiates to accompany one of the temple priests on a secret mission. When they returned, after the battle had been fought, Durnel found the temple filled with dirt. Eventually, at the High Priest's orders, the initiates cleared the dirt out. As they began to excavate the temple they began to discover the bodies of Orlanthi priests and Runelords. Eventually, Durnel found the body of his friend Shenko. The next day Durnel left Pavis.

Durnel headed west and when he reached Sartar he found work in another mercenary company. Life here was hard, as Durnel was a new recruit, a foreigner, and a former Sun Domer in a strongly Orlanthi company. As time wore on, Durnel was slowly able to gain some acceptance, but still he found himself more often than not the outside in the group. Finally, as Durnel's 20th birthday approached, he took leave of the company and headed home.

Wehn he arrived home, Durnel did not know what to expect. Much to his surprise, everyone was glad to see him...at first. After he had told of his adventures of the past few years and that he was now an Orlanthi initiate, his Yelmist brothers would have little to do with him. His mother, as mothers will, was just glad to have her son home and alive after his long absence. Everyone else, except his sister, who was not there, treated him only slightly better than indifferently.

Back at home Durnel did little except mope and hang around. Sometimes he would get drawn into some contest or other with his Yelmalian brothers, but for the most part he did little. Eventually, his father began to get annoyed at having to support an idle child and began to get after Durnel to find work.

Durnel began a half-hearted search that turned up no work. Finally, he met one of Shenko's friends who told Durnel of a position open in Rone for an adventuring company led by the Duke's nephew. So it was that Durnel went to Ronegarth and met Lord Danar and his friends.

Return to the Runequest Player-Originated Materials Page.