Markku Tovainen

Markku Tovainen and his family are former nobles of Torlund. Born the 18th of Layft, 6711 S.U., Markku grew up with his parents, Moira and Lors, and his older brother, Arrik, in Corlas. The Tovainens were loyal vassals of the Lancoves, the royal family of Torlund, and Markku often spent time with the princess, Reagen. Seeing the friendship that developed between the children, King Johnathan and Queen Tayat proposed a marriage between the princess and Markku, which was agreed to by Lors and Moira. By age 13, Markku and Reagen's friendship had begun to blossom into a young romance. Reagen even bestowed her royal lady's garter upon Markku, who now carries it with him at all times. Around this time, the wizard Orm arrived in the city and took up residence as the Arcane teacher at the Royal Palace's Knights training school. He claimed he had travelled from The City of The gods to put his knowledge and experience to practical use. He quickly charmed nearly all he met, appearing kind, intelligent, and trustworthy. Markku was fascinated by the wizard and was jubilant when Orm agreed to teach him the fundamentals of spell-casting. The lessons were difficult, but Markku was a bright student and learned the basics of wizardry over the next few years. Markku could have learned more from Orm if given the opportunity, but the impending events of his life would soon send Markku far from home.

When Markku turned 16, his family celebrated with a sizable feast and party, drawing myriad guests from the capitol, including Orm, a number of other nobles, and even an appearance from the royal family, though Reagen remained long after her parents had retired. Markku revelled through the night, enjoying his fill of food and drink, thankful for the joys of the present and eager for the exciting times ahead. He was betrothed to a beautiful and kind princess, the city was prosperous, and he was learning magic! He could even perform a few basic spells, finally mastering them after years of training and practice. Markku knew his future was bright; he joyfully anticipated marrying Reagen in a few short years, and woke each morning eager to learn more from his mentor and friend.

A few months later, in the depths of winter, the Lancoves were surprised by a sudden coup. Officially, the entire royal family died suddenly in their sleep from an incredibly aggressive disease, though some sceptics question this story and there are rumours that the Lancoves actually were killed or possibly fled amidst a coup. According to the line of succession, Lord Rodger of Lancove was the heir apparent, but he declined the throne, instead appointing King Kal of Hercalos and his family, nobles from the north of Torlund. To Markku's knowledge, the Lancoves survived the coup and fled the country. The Tovainens were one of a small handful of noble families also forced to flee the capitol, as they were ardent and faithful supporters of the royal family, not to mention the public engagement of Markku and Princess Reagen. Remarkably, Markku's immediate family was largely spared during the coup, though an uncle was killed and a younger cousin remains imprisoned in Corlas. Markku's family escaped the city and left the country as quickly as possible, heading northeast to Kaswell to meet a man named Thoven Koda. Thoven aided the family, leading them across the Amberhurst Mountains that separate Torlund and Mer-Rein.

The Tovainens found refuge for a short time in Mer-Rein, resting for a few days in Oakentear, a high elf town in the north of Lanmoor. Lors and Moira knew the family wouldn't be safe for long that close to the border, but decided to risk a short respite before braving the road again. Unfortunately, the Tovainens woke late one night to the sound of Thoven bursting into the room, frantically declaring that they needed to leave immediately. As the family quickly gathered their belongings, Thoven explained that a group of mercenaries, or perhaps bounty hunters, had arrived in town and were searching for them. Thoven ushered the family out the door to the back alley of the inn, leading them cautiously to the edge of town. Just before Markku and his family escaped town unharmed, they were ambushed and a chaotic melee ensued. Markku had no idea how to fight back, having never even been in a fist fight before, and so was quickly separated from his family as he was forced to leap away from the men, dodging and rolling to avoid their attacks. He ran to the forest on the edge of town in an attempt to shake several pursuers. Markku ran through the woods until his body was spent, losing both himself and his assailants in the process. When Markku could run no more, he stopped, collapsing behind a large oak tree, overcome by exhaustion and falling into a weary slumber.

The next part of Markku's life is detailed in The Epic of Heigel, but in summary, Markku met an eccentric wood gnome named Heigel in the forest, who taught Markku to wield a staff and defend himself, all the while wearing a ridiculously over-sized hat that, more often than not, fell across his eyes, completely obscuring his vision, and with his pet squirrel, Phillip, perched upon his shoulder. Despite all this, Heigel proved an excellent teacher and a fast friend, and as he instructed Markku, they traveled together for nearly two months before reuniting with Markku's family. By this point, the Tovainens had travelled over halfway through Mer-Rein, constantly on the move to evade the mercenaries, and though they had returned to Oakentear as soon as possible, they had found no trace of Markku and presumed him captured or dead. Thoven, too, had become separated from the family in the chaos of the ambush, though the story in town was that he had survived and left the area shortly thereafter. Naturally, the family was overjoyed at Markku's safe return; Lors thanked Heigel for his help and to one day repay the great debt if the gnome ever found himself in need.

Markku and his family continued their travels west, eventually settling in Bluelog. The family used what money they had left to purchase a small farm and try their hand at modestly living off the land. Lors sometimes found work as a copyist, thanks to his noble education and fine penmanship. Arrik soon fell in love with a local girl (Cinnia), got married, had a few kids, and settled into his new life as a commoner. Markku, however, was not ready to give up so easily. His studies with Orm and Heigel had empowered him with confidence, while his close relationship with Reagen instilled in him a fierce desire for justice and retribution. He had also heard rumours of the state of affairs in Torlund and feared, if the more worrying rumours were true, that his homeland was falling into despair and ruin. Fuelled by each of these reasons, Markku vowed that he would one day see the rightful monarchs returned to the throne.

By Markku's 17th birthday, later that spring, he had decided his best option in the area was to join the city guard. Markku realized that in order to return to Torlund, restore the Lancoves to the throne, and marry Princess Reagen, he would almost certainly need to recruit an army. Joining the city guard would provide combat experience, as well as an extra source of income, not to mention the possibility of advancement and leadership experience, all of which would help him achieve this goal.

About 2 years after joining the guard, Markku was on watch when a familiar man entered the city. Markku quickly recognized that the man was Orm and approached his old teacher and friend. Orm asked about Markku's family and said he was relieved to hear that they all made it out of Torlund safely. Orm also offered his condolences to Markku on the passing of Princess Reagen and her family, but Markku confided in Orm his belief that the Lancoves had survived and were on the run, and that he planned to one day restore the Lancoves to the throne in Torlund. Orm seemed quite surprised by Markku's story, asking him to repeat it several times while expressing great interest in helping Markku find King Johnathan. Furthermore, Orm asserted that his current work would likely take him through Bluelog quite often and offered to continue Markku's studies in wizardry. Markku leapt at the offer and began meeting with the wizard every few weeks whenever he was back in town. Orm asked that Markku keep his presence and their renewed friendship/tutelage secret, even from his family, as his work was sensitive and he needed to maintain his anonymity. Markku reluctantly agreed but was excited to learn more spells and was just happy to have an old friend back in his life.

A few months before Markku turned 20, Commander Mercer assigned him and several other guards to accompany and protect an important diplomat traveling from Bluelog to Girdev. It was a simple journey, and most of the trip passed without incident. However, as the party neared the city, the guards became less alert, thinking that their travels were essentially complete and it had been a job well done. The guards were thus caught by surprise when ambushed by an attack. Markku called for the guards to rally to protect the diplomat, shooting off a few fire bolts and frost rays before he was knocked unconscious by the first wave of attackers. Markku awoke several weeks later, his body burned and feet ruined. He learned that the remaining guards had successfully protected the diplomat and pulled them to safety, sounding the alarm and drawing additional guards from Girdev to repel the attacking goblins. While Markku and several other guards had been carried off, a rescue mission was launched, and Markku's body was discovered 3 days later. Recovered by the guards, Markku was taken to Girdev, where the medics were eventually able to revive him. While Markku made a full recovery, his body was left with strange, star shaped burn scars, which covered his chest and arms.

Once he recovered, Markku returned to Bluelog and resumed his guard duties. He was commended for his actions in the defence of the diplomat, which contributed to his promotion a few weeks later. Markku continued serving in the guard, supporting his family as they learned to manage the farm, but saving away a small portion of his wages each month. Markku stopped seeing Orm in Bluelog, and assumed that he was traveling in search of King Johnathan. Shortly after Markku's 25th birthday, he was promoted once more to the rank of Captain and given responsibility for a small group of guards, including Sergeant Broxx Bearbane, and Privates Kyvan Gysseghymn and Oor Khazad.