Strahn Wyverntongue
High amidst the peaks of the Lost Emerald mountain range, the sight of winged beasts circling the cloud striations is a common one indeed. Plentiful enough are the common birds of prey, the black-beaked eagle, the shrieking falcon, and the much prized war shrikes of the renowned Thurillion Air Guard which trains in a nearby principality, but unquestionably the chief among these aerial lords is the Silverglint Wyvern. So named for the near reflective quality of their abdominal scales, these poisonous predators soar through the frigid skies with almost complete invisibility from below, picking and choosing their prey with calculating ease.
Atop the mountain cluster known as the Skyreach Palisades, a single culture of people, simply referred to as the Martor by their subterranean Dwarven neighbors, exist in unison with the cliffs and aeries of the ancient geography. A hearty and versatile stock, they are the sole hunters of the mighty Silverglint Wyverns and regale in the challenge provided by felling one of the mighty menaces.
Strahn Wyverntongue was a hero among the Martor. Raised from birth to appreciate the hunt in all its forms, the legendary warrior felled his first wyvern with only thirteen winters behind him. The scales of that first creature were used to forge a suit of armor which Strahn wore until the end of his days. Such was the prowess of the young hunter, that he eventually increased the challenge of his hunts by limiting himself to melee weapons only. Even among the Martor, such hunts were rare and often ended with a well fed wyvern soaring back to its sequestered lair.
The Martor were well versed in the ways of their Dwarven allies, the Fireheart Clan, who lived in the tunnels and caverns beneath the Skyreach Palisades. Few Dwarves were comfortable joining the hunting parties which stalked the clouded slopes, but the Martor were often seen sharing in subterranean activities when not actively involved in a hunt. It was here that many of the weapons and armors of the Martor were crafted with the painstaking precision of Dwarven craftsmanship.
As Strahn aged into a well seasoned warrior, the Martor elders utilized the fame of his exploits to send him onto forays into nearby principalities to exchange treasures, to share tales of his adventures and to forge bonds of community with these potential allies. The talented Strahn occasionally participated in flatlander hunts, but they often lacked the spirit of attempting to better the master of the skies above the Lost Emeralds.
In the spring of his thirty-seventh year, Strahn Wyverntongue would undertake the final wyvern hunt of his mortal existence. Facing an aging and frenzied opponent, the veteran Martor fell victim to a bitter twist of fate when the facing of the mountain which had raised him broke away during the combat and cast him into the soaring abyss below. One of the under-hunters survived the wyvern’s rage to relay the sight of Strahn vanishing into the cloudy nothingness on his way to the stony ground some several thousand feet below.