The Gray Man
A mysterious figure from Dwarden's history and folklore, the Gray Man is generally depicted as a supraliminal being, existing just out of the perception of most mortal beings, but who chooses to intervene from time to time, often in the most mysterious ways and with enormous gaps of years, even centuries, between appearances. For the scholarly, history suggests that the Gray Man appeared well before the time of Mandador, but for most of the people of Dwarden principally from legends regarding St. Yathamian and his embassy to the Endolin Fields west of the Black River, near Arberd Island, where the half-orc warlord Gren once ruled. The Legate Yathamian alone could see the Gray Man, wandering amidst a copse of trees in Endolin, and asked the spirit to intervene, if he would, to humble and subdue the peerless Gren, who no warrior could best in strength, skills of arms, or battle craft. Thus three times in as many years, the Gray Man appeared before Gren's castle on his magical island, and each time he convinced Gren to indulge in his mightiness, relinquish his will, and soften his spirit. In so doing, Gren's kingdom crumbled, and the men of Endolin rebelled once more in the Battle of the Deacons, in which two hundred deacons ordained by Yathamian himself and a desperate army of peasants fought Gren's decayed army. Alas, even in his fallen state, Gren proved unassailable to any man, and the strength of magical girdle, spear and sword proved the end to many of them. The last hero of the Endolin villages, the young knight Balrand, could not defeat Gren either, and he was thrown down and soon to be killed. However, the Gray Man suddenly appeared, and somehow subdued Gren's enchanted strength enough for Balrand to rip off the magic girdle and claim it for himself. However, in so doing, the Gray Man blocked Gren's terrible spear of wounding with his own hand in order to get close to him, and lost his other arm with Gren's vorpal sword of wounding as he grappled with the half-orc to save Balrand from death. The Gray Man then held Gren's spear with his bleeding hand while Balrand guided Gren's sword into his chest with the monster's hand still grasping the hilt, for no other weapon would harm him. The Gray Man disappeared immediately after this, but was seen in and around the Endolin Fields in the days, months and even months thereafter, with villagers witnessing strange sights and prodigies related to the Gray Man, often involving his wounded and missing hands.
The Gray Man is also known from the legends of Saint Thayrion the Votary, patron saint of the votary paladins of Dwarden. A figure from the early days of the Order of the Beleaguered Shield, Thayrion had been tasked to destroy the Anti-Archdeacon Theokron the Damnator. The Gray Man appeared to help Thayrion in this near impossible quest, for Theokron was known to be extremely powerful, but did so at first in alarming and disturbing prodigies the meaning of which only the answered prayers to Mandador could reveal. Due to his mysterious guidance however, Thayrion ventured on three other quests before attempting to face Theokron, accumulating magical items and relics required to fight the Damnator. In his final quest before facing Theokron, he embarked upon a mystical quest to realms unknown, and returned to Dwarden with the Archon Sword, so named by Thayrion, who called the Gray Man the Gray Archon, the moniker by which the Order calls him.
After the time of Thayrion, few tales are told of the Gray Man. However, the Archon Sword was used to destroy the Damnator, but was then kept as a holy relic, and brought forth from time to time to destroy great evils, and was held by the Grand Preceptor. It eventually passed to a member of Thayrion's family named Thelyrand, who once again beheld the Gray Man's often disturbing oracles, eventually causing him to seek out the Grand Preceptor and claim use of the sword. With it Thelyrand became mighty indeed, slaying great undead giants, and fighting the forces of the mighty dracolich Grandolin. Eventually, Thelyrand flew the cloud dragon Grellemelolomeend, or Cloud at the Eclipse, and with his companions and the great heroes of the Order, they destroyed Grandolin's physical form. Cloud at the Eclipse was slain, but the Gray Man, who fought in this battle personally in the form of Kalmond the Grim Knight, transformed in the last moments into a cloud dragon himself, and helped Thelyrand escape the volcanic blasts that came with Grandolin's destruction. When Blessed Thelyrand was an old man he refused to give up the holy avenger, and was proud before holy men and younger more deserving knights. Therefore, the Gray Man came to Thelyrand's castle and took the great knight's hand, and stabbed the other, taking his life as well. The Archon Sword disappeared with the Gray Man much as it has come, and has not been seen since.
The Gray Man himself has not manifested in any direct way known to the Order since the time of Thelyrand, although the common folk still speak of him in hushed whispers, and claim to have witnessed him in the wild, in their fields, or even in their homes. Mysterious and unexplained, the Church of Dwarden avoids categorizing him in any concrete terms, as it is said the Gray Man sometimes visits clerics who insult him, and take their life. However, the Gray Man may come to help those in dire need, but no one knows who he might aid, or why. For most all of Dwarden, the Gray Man remains an enigma and mystery that still inspires apprehension, curiosity, hope, and fear of the unknown.
