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This story was a character background for a D&D 4.0 character I created.

Denarr was born to a family of outcasts, banished from the civilized world due to their appearance. His family and a small group of other
"weretouched", lived as a roaming party within whatever dense forests they could find, when humans would arrive and being to build or populate an area to close to them, they would relocate to another, unoccupied location. They attempted to keep away from any populated areas and avoided any well traveled roads and were excellent survivalists. It was only fitting for them to put all of their faith into Melora, the god of the wilderness and sea. The reason for this is mainly because of their attachment and reliance on nature, but also because her shrines can be found throughout the wild which allowed them to frequent them without worry.

One day while Denarr and another young Shifter were out gathering various provisions, they heard a commotion coming from along the edge of the forest. They both slowly made their way forward to see what it was. To their surprise they found a group of soldiers that appeared to be setting up camp. Both of them knew that this would mean they would have to move again and decided to not mention anything to their rest of their group as they were growing very fond of their current home and dreaded having to leave, and for all they knew these soldiers could just be passing through, so why risk moving if they didn't have to.

Days had past since the discovery of the soldiers and Denarr decided to view their camp in hopes that they had left and the Shifters could remain in their current homes. To his surprise, and enjoyment, the camp was no longer there, but it appears as though they had left very recently as the ambers of their fire were still hot. With his worries now gone, he decided to return home and begin working on his chores.

As he got closer to his encampment, an eerie calm fell over the forest. He then heard a loud sound, like metal on metal, and he stopped. Moments after he paused, he heard yet another loud sound followed quickly by screaming. He started dashing towards his camp only to stop short once he was able to see what was causing the noise, his camp was being overrun with soldiers!

He crept closer and began to recognize the white and blue markings on their uniforms as those from the camp on the edge of the forest. Dread fell over him as he began to realize that he was responsible for this. He had to do something, so he unsheathed his dagger and prepared to charge the closest soldier, but right before he could he watched the soldier fall to what appeared to be a small swarm of undead. His camp has now become a battlefield for these soldiers and undead.

With his rage subsiding to uncertainty, he made his way around the edge of his camp until he arrived at the group of living tents. He watched as a group of undead ravaged the tents and searched through each container. He felt a sickness hit his stomach and began to run in hopes of finding a secure location where he could regain his thoughts.

Unsure of how much time had past, he decided to return to his home to see what the outcome of the battle was, assuming it was over. He returned to find the remains of what could only be described as a slaughter. Human soldiers and undead bodies both littered the ground with no sign of his family or the group they travelled with. As he made his way towards the living tents, he was greeted with a mighty blaze, as he witnessed everything he had in the world perish in flames, his whole camp had be torched. But which group did this? What of his family? Why were they fighting here? All of these questions raced through his mind.

With little left, and no sign of hope for the future, he headed towards the only certainty in his life, a local temple of Melora. He travelled for some time and was only a short distance from the temple when the woods fell eerily silent once again. After his last experience like this he began travelling more cautiously. As he started to pass by a large tree, he was met with a strong backhand of somebody, or something, hiding behind it. He fell to his back and looked up to find a humanoid figure in dark robes standing over him with multiple undead minions to his side.

With a quick laugh he pointed towards Denarr and grinned. The undead minions began to approach him as Denarr started to crawling backwards. Within seconds the undead creatures were to him with their arms reaching out with a violent hunger burning in their dry, dead eyes. Feeling this was his last moments a quick prayer was muttered to Melora just as a bright light suddenly flashed forward burning the creatures and pushing the dark figure backwards.

From behind him stepped 2 slender elves, each wearing green cloaks covered with leaves. The first with his arm extended with his palm towards the undead and the second with his hands together and his eyes closed in deep concentration. Another burst of light flashed forward from the palm of the first elf and the undead creatures fell to the ground, their bodies lifeless and broken.

The dark figure raised his arms as he backed up a few steps and an invisible force shot out from his body pushing Denarr back multiple feet while the two elves were unaffected. The dark figure turned to flee but the second elf had opened his eyes and instantaneously the evil figure was encircled by glowing symbols which appeared to cause him pain but he looked unable to move. Indiscernible words are uttered and after a quick blinding light, the evil figure falls to the ground. The first elf makes his way towards the fallen body and begins to recite a prayer to Melora causing the body to slowly burn and disappear.

The second elf helps Denarr to his feet and escorts him the rest of the distance to the temple where Denarr collapses due to exhaustion. Hours later he wakes up to find himself laying on a bed within an strange tent that he's never seen before. As he sits up and looks around he notices that the tent is bare with only a small bed (nicely constructed with sticks, rope, and a bedroll) and a small table in the center of the tent with a lit candle placed on it with other items. As he gets closer he can see that a meal is prepared and sitting on the table a long with a folded parchment. He begins to read the parchment which starts with a short prayer and goes on to explaining what had happened after he passed out.
He quickly ate the meal and emerged from the tent to find a low light coming from inside the temple. He entered the temple and kneeled down next to the 2 elves and began praying with them. After multiple hours of praying to Melora, he returned to the front of the tent with both elves and all 3 introduced each other.

Both elves were clerics of Melora and a local kingdom had requested for them to follow and destroy the dark figure and his army of undead. The soldiers were called to offer the clerics support as they had lost one of their comrades in a recent battle and the dark figure had almost doubled his army by the time they arrived.

The clerics were unsure if Denarr's camp was involved and assumed it was not intended and merely coincidence. With their mission complete and the remaining soldiers returning to the kingdom to bring the news of their success, the clerics were planning to return to their travels on their lifelong mission of banishing all unnatural creatures from those forests protected by Melora.

The clerics offered the tent along with any additional supplies they had to Denarr as they were preparing to leave but Denarr declined, instead offering his services to the clerics as he had no purpose in life and wish to dedicate his life to both those who saved his life and those who carry out the work of Melora.

With the evidence of his booming faith, the clerics accepted Denarr's offer and allowed him to accompany them. Over time, he began to display divine powers which the clerics attributed to his unquestioning faith and devotion. After 5 years of traveling and various encounters, Denarr and the clerics found themselves back at the familiar temple where their journey began, now a small settlement has formed near the temple which brings more worshippers to this once quiet temple.

After their prayer session and offering their services to the locals, they began getting ready to return to their travels when Denarr requested to stay here to assist the locals as they do not have a dedicated cleric to turn to for guidance and help. The two clerics were proud of the advancement he has made in the 5 years of travel and were confident in his abilities so they honored his request and offered some parting guidance for the young cleric along with a small financial contribution to improve conditions for the locals and the temple.

Day in and day out, he offers everything he can to assist the budding settlement. Working to help the good of the people instead of himself is his belief and he will continue to strive for it. He has also been training up and coming members of the community in the teachings of Melora to help him with the running of the temple, although his ultimate agenda is to have a replacement ready for when a request comes for his services from another kingdom, just as his mentors had done, which enabled them to save his life.

During the 5 years of traveling with the clerics Denarr learned a great deal, including a great deal about guilt, fear, and vengeance, all things he left behind in his past and has grown because of them. He places his faith in Melora and no longer has a fear of humans, he no longer thinks about his family with a feeling of guilt, and lastly, he has no sense of vengeance in his heart for the loss of his friends and family (although he does get a little over joyous than most clerics when turning undead).