CHAPTER 1 . . . forest life
Briar was born in the Golmore Jungle with the name Rhan, and was the ninth and last child of a viera matriach named Veshe. Their village was a relatively new one in the depths of the wood, being formed from the remaining members of multiple other villages that were attacked and destroyed by Garlean army attempting to subjugate the viera. Veshe, took a very militant approach to leadership, stressing the importance of strength in combat in order to fend off any future attacks from outsiders. All of her daughters were personally trained by Veshe herself to become formidable defenders of both Wood and village.
Rhan, however, struggled with any form of traditional viera weaponry, lacking the steady hands and focus for archery, and being too skittish for close quarters combat with a spear, even after many years of Veshe attempting to make a fighter out of him. After repeated failures, Veshe's hopes of him turned into scorn, especially when Rhan turned out to be male, meaning upon reaching maturity he would be outcast from the village, an almost certain death sentence for Rhan given his lack of fighting ability. Many of his peers and elders often viewed him as a nuisance as well, annoyed by his many desperate attempts to prove himself, most ending in failure, and followed their leader in seeing him as a lost cause, pitiable deadweight at best.
In order to avoid his mother and clanmates' constant disappointment, Rhan spent much of his childhood wandering the wood just outside the village, learning a love for the varied flora that flourished there. He was sometimes being accompanied by his eldest sister Arna, who, unlike Rhan, was her mother's pride and joy as a formidable fighter with a stalwart personality. However despite their polar opposite standings in their mother's eyes, Arna often lent an ear to Rhan's troubles and tried to ensure he stayed safe in his outdoor treks, making sure to warn him to stay away from the bramble patches in the wood where no flowers bloomed, and the shadows grew a life of their own.
CHAPTER 2 . . . exile
One day though, after a particularly bad failed attempt at training and subsequent verbal lashing from his mother, Rhan fled from the village, and in his distress, stumbled into those forbidden dark parts of the wood where the Green Word fell silent. Much to his surprise when he realized where he was, there was no immediate danger apart from the thorny branches, and Rhan found the quiet of it a welcome solace from his troubles. It became his secret hideaway over time, a way to escape from not only the judgement of others, but also quiet his own self deprecating thoughts. Little did he know that he was becoming ensnared in the jaws of something far more sinister....
CHAPTER 3 . . . scion
to be revealed...
